Paper and thread: Hand embroidery!

The other day I thought I'd try my hand at embroidery work. I must say that it gets quite addicting for some reason. :P I sort of figured it out on my own but you can find tutorials online on how to do embroidery work on paper. That's what I did here. 





This is just a basic hand-embroidered greeting card. Not so bad for my first time, I must say! I had some great little brass brads to attach the embroidery to the actual folded card. Made my life alot easier, and it looks pretty classy! I can't wait to try this on textured watercolor paper!





I also did the embroidery work on this art print I was working on for the etsy shop. It looked boring before I added the embroidery work. All of a sudden, it perked it right up! Fun stuff! I don't know why it took me this long to actually doing embroidery work. :P Paper and thread were meant for each other.

Panda better hold on to that kite! Its gonna blow away!

Panda loves to fly kites. Especially his bamboo-themed one. :P I've decided to introduce art prints to my etsy shop this week. Very exciting. I have one more to unveil that uses embroidery techniques but I'm still working on it. :P These will be limited edition prints. Only 50 will be made. They are signed, numbered and dated. :D

"Go where the wind takes you"

5" x 7"

Digital Illustration on Heavyweight Matte Paper

I have a love affair with folded paper.

New card designs this week! I haven't listed these yet as I am still working out the kinks in the PDF files, but I just couldn't resist posting them right away. :D These are shaped cards. A little more intricate to cut out but still pretty fun to make. Hope people will like these. :) 

Good things come to those who wait...

I listed two new Valentine cards the other day. Still trying to figure out the ins and outs of my Nikon though because now my shots feel cold and I'm just not happy with them, but they're better than nothing, I suppose! New backdrop though! Trying to add a bit of pizzazzz... Yes, that's right. I said pizazz. :P I got my first sale today though! So exciting! 

I've been feeling kind of blue lately and that's why I didn't feel like posting a blog the other day. So today I resorted back to the things that always make me laugh no matter what and oddly enough, clips from Flight of the Conchords usually do me the trick. If you can't laugh after watching this, you aren't human: 

Prints galore!

So many awesome prints, so little time. Today I wanted to highlight a favorite etsy seller jenniferladd that I came across on flickr the other day. Her purses are absolutely gorgeous! If I could have one of each, I totally would. I tend to gravitate towards the casual purses that can tag along with me no matter what the occasion, and these are totally it. 

Besides making wonderful purses, she also makes these absolutely adorable baby booties. HOW CUTE ARE THOSE? Don't they make you want to have a baby? XD I adore her use of bold, colorful japanese fabrics in all of her products. Great stuff. 

One funky fresh panda

Today I listed my first printable stationery set! I'm totally excited. I wanted to do something kind of whimsical and I finally found a use for that little doodle I drew a few weeks back. Very very thrilled with how this came out.

The set includes a flat card, folded card, gift tags, bookmarks, and a letterhead. I can't wait to design another set. :) I am debating whether I should include the option of pre-printed stationery sets. I feel like that can only get more expensive for the customer and in these days, I assume people would want to cut costs as much as possible. I don't know. I'm still weighing the pros and cons between selling pre-printed vs print-your-own. What do you guys think?

My friend Bradley also created a Facebook group for my GOVANGO etsy site! Just search GOVANGO in the groups section if you want to add me! :)

Cards, sewing, and needle-related accidents...

Today I made a bunch of Valentines Day-themed cards. It was alot of fun. Unfortunately, I had a bit of trouble with my camera today. It kept giving me really low-lit images even though I was in a pretty well-lit room with ample light from a nearby window. I really need to get better at using my Nikon d80. Such a confusing little machine compared to a point and click camera that I was so used to before I got it. :P Technology is never always on your side I guess...

Besides cards, I was itching to make a pencil case! I'm so happy with the way it came out. Its just soooo daaarn cuuute that I can barely let myself list it on Etsy. Its made of felt, of course. And buttons! I need to use more buttons in my work. I think they lend a bit of charm.   

Unfortunately, during the making of this pencil case, I actually sat on a needle. Yes. my butt was a temporary pin cushion for like the 16th time now. So I got very fed up and made myself a pin cushion for all my needles to sit on. Its like a small pillow. I tried to look for a small doll that I didn't really care for and pretend that its my ex-boyfriend or somebody that I really dislike... something I could use for a pin-cushion/voodoo doll (kill two birds with one stone, I say!). But also, this pillow cushion will do. 

So I caved in and got a blog...

Blogging isn't anything new to me, of course. I have another personal blog on livejournal dedicated to just... all things life-oriented and I've had that blog for years. I decided to make this one to showcase the small projects I've been so avidly working on lately, predominately for my etsy web shop, as well as anything else I feel I should share alongside my work. Hopefully, I'll feel more compelled to make more weird stuff later on! 

Anyway, here's two items I listed today on my shop: