ACEO and Crafting Jitters

Mix n Match ACEOS @ LiPeony

I just made my first ACEOs which are Art Cards Edition or Originals. Which is basically 2.5" x 3.5" little cards of art. This is the first time I made them and I think they turned out great! I also started taking pictures of my art against a wooden box I got from Kate's Paperie which is a pretty high end little paper, stationary, semi crafting store. Though the prices are a bit steep the collection of paper they have is wonderful! Rolls and rolls of colors, patterns and texture. Actually going inside the store and the website reminds me a lot of the Etsy aesthetic.

I've been making prints for the craft fair this Saturday and I'm very nervous. I got my wonderful sister to help again. =D . I also got some new displays and this time I'm going to try to aim to look more "neat" my other ones were kind of packed and messy due to all the little origami dolls I had. Well... we'll see! This November has been so packed... 10 page report which actually isn't much... it's the 25 papers I have to read for research, also need a new computer too... leaning towards a laptop create more space for my craftiness, midterm and my usual work, class and volunteer work. By Friday it'll be aaaaaaaaaaaall done! Woot! If you're in New York City on Saturday stop by BIM and mention my blog or twitter and pick up a little freebie =D.

Brr Chilly! Hot Soup!

Shark Fin Soup Surprise @ LiPeony

Brr! It's November and it's getting chilly... it's times like these that I savor the many many different soups my mom boils up. Growing up there was hardly a day that goes by that I don't drink some weird concoction of soup that my grandma or mom makes. Now I'm sure everyone has heard of Hot and Sour Soup or Won ton Soup or Shark Fin soup but there are so many soup recipes that are passed down from family to family and shared among friends. Each one is made for a specific ailment. In fact there's a soup for every ailment. Though it's hard to near impossible to really find any Chinese restaurant that serves these homemade soups as there are far too many and their textures and tastes range from sweet "papaya and fish soup" to the bitterest soup consisting of an herb that makes my tongue want to run away from my mouth.

But there is one soup I love that's great for the winter it's sort of like the Chinese version of beef stew. It's called Oxtail Soup. Basically oxtail bones/meat, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes boiled. The meat is tender and falls right off the bone, the carrots and potatoes are soft but slightly favored by the beef soup base that has the pinch of sour and acidity from the tomatoes. My mom would make it in a huge earthen clay pot we have at home.

Li Family Oxtail Soup

1 large carrot (more if you like carrots/less if you don't like'em)
3 large potatoes (more if you like potatoes/less if you don't)
1 large tomato (adds a nice acidic sour taste but if you don't like it, don't add too much)
1 whole ox tail (usually the butcher will cut into large chunks)
4 quarts of water

Chop the vegetables into large chunks. Bring the water to a boil and put all the ingredients inside. Boil for 1 - 1.5 hours depend on how soft you want the vegetables to be (My mom does 2 hours and everything is very soft but not mushy) The great thing about this recipe is that you can add any substitute for the vegetables though this is the traditional one I have at home. It makes a great soup over rice or just by itself a awesome hot steamy meal. According to my mom it promotes the circulatory system... but who knows? It just tastes awesome to me.

Until next time... stay warm!

RAWR! Take on the World!

Dragonslayer Chibi Girl @ LiPeony

Have you ever waked up ready to take on the world? Well sort of feel like that today. I was humming the "Rocky" theme song putting my clothes on adn even brushing my teeth. Yesterday was a really crappy day due to P.O issue and another department at work being extremely rude to me for no apparently reason. But today is a new day! I spent last night drumming up new designs and art. I have pages and pages of designs but only a fraction of them get finished. One of my favorite ones is the newest one about Knight Chibi Girl.

I don't think one needs to wait for a Knight in Shining Armor to come and save her.... this girl puts on the armor and goes out to defend herself. I'm also a huge fan of games so being a cool knight slaying monsters and what nots is a dream only lived in that video game world =D On a side note my friend saw this print and said it reminded her of Marioland because of the bright colors. Hmm.... I like colors =)
My next and last fair of the year is The {NewNew} 2 - day sale at Brooklyn Indie Market on November 14th - 15th. There's a 10% off coupon to use for anything under the tent so that's a pretty darn good deal. I'll be there Saturday and would be introducing my Gentle Giants Prints. The little elephant above is a preview of it. They'll be 8" x 10" since most of my art is at 5" x 7" I wanted some softer larger prints. I think I will put it up in my etsy shop but I have to go and get supplies to pack larger prints.

For the display I got a old metal laptop tray that I can use to put my magnets on and make a small shelf on one side. For my art I think I'll have a few displayed and one or two books to flip though. I was thinking of making the flipping books kind of like story style with a small sentence under each print. Don't know...

Until next time... go forth young knight!

Flying High

Chibi Pilot @ LiPeony

It's well into fall and it's so so very cold! Brr! I've just been doing sporadic artwork and custom orders. This October has definitely been revving up in my little shop and the post office has been jam packed lately. I was reading an Entertainment Weekly and they were making a film of Amelia Earhart and even though I'm deathly afraid of heights the idea of soaring around in the sky has been one of my biggest daydreams when I was young. I remember dragging out a cardboard box and plopping myself in it, dreaming that I was one of those crazy aerial pilots! I made a small print above just for that. It also represents something else... that no matter how young or old, your dreams are never out of reach... what they say.... the sky's the limit?

So when you feel down and out and that what you wish for seems so far... just look up because your dream like the sky is limitless... you just have to drag that little cardboard box out once in a while and remember... you can fly

Until next time... always remember I'm here rooting for you! Yes YOU!

Sick n Soup

Sharkfin Soup Surprise @ LiPeony

Last Saturday's craft fair went pretty well. There was a good amount of families that attended though most were outside playing with their kids in the many tiny amusement like rides and the BBQ and bake sale. I must say the stuff at the bake sale was delicious! I brought a lime cupcake and had to buy three more because they were just THAT GOOD! Though there was a quick and torrential downpour in the middle of the afternoon but after that the weather was awesomely nice. I had the coolest table roomie Jess from ClineCreations! She's such an awesome gal and her Chinese knots are beautiful and her artwork simply took my breath away! Seriously they look as professional as Chinese brush artists. Check out her shop!

I did okay but my display was much too cluttered because I was trying to do so many things at once. The same thing goes for my shop. It was way too cluttered so I decided to go back to my roots and draw again. Now I'm way happier. I did earn a small profit but I also came down with a cold so that stinks! I've also been working with my wacom more often and drew the little print above entirely by hand on the wacom. Trust me it's like relearning how to draw all over again! I love how it turned out!

I'm glad my next craft fair is November 14th at the Brooklyn Indie Market. That gives me plenty of time to relax and recuperate for it! =)

Until next time take care yourselves! =D

How To Make Simple Pin Tag

Little Bat Pin @ LiPeony

It's two days before my first craft fair at All Angel's Church this Saturday October 3rd. If you're in the neighborhood stop on by it's close to the Museum of Natural History! So... I've had heck of a time on displaying and tagging my items. I came up with a very very simple way to make tags for my little pins like the one above. All you need is:

1. Your Business Card (1 side is blank)
2. Tape
3. Pin/Item
4. Stamp Pad ($5 @ Staples)
   
5. Alphabet Stamps ($5 @ A.C. Moore with 40% coupon) (Mine were small so I labeled one side and put them inside a long box to easier pick them out)
   

Pull out a small piece of tape and put it underneath the pin with the sticky side facing you and not sticking to the item.

Next hover it over the card until you find a place you want it and press it down firmly on the blank side of the business card. The tape should stick the pin to the paper.

Next up I combined the letters to form the words I wanted and used a rubber band to fasten them together and pressed it on then situated it on the card. Since the set I brought only had 1 of each letter I had to get a bit creative with making sure I only used each letter once in a word.

Wa-la! I added some tiny bats and it's a simple tag for my bat pin. Also because it wasn't wide enough I planned for the word "pin" to fall off the side. You could easily have put it across the long way. The good thing is that it's fairly simple and the materials are cheap and easy to get. Another good thing is that it's also your business card so if you forget to put it in or w/e or when the person takes it out they can see where they got it from. This is great for little items like magnets, earrings, rings, pins etc. Get creative with it. Hope this helps.

Until next time... wish me luck at the craft fair!

Busy Busy Week

Black Cat Felt Pin @ LiPeony

SO I was on ye olde twitter when I found out the NewNewTeam Twitter found that I've been featured in Super Cute Kawaii blog! They have and showcase the cutest things especially kawaii which is Japanese for "cute". So I'm extremely happy with that! SO I'm extremely happy about that =). I think you can submit your shop and items to be blogged for free here in : Submissions. If you think your items fit that genre I suggest you try. If you love to look at awesome kawaii items I suggest you visit their blog.I'm still getting things together for my first craft show of the season. The above is the flyer by them. If you're in the neighborhood, drop on by! I also have my first midterm this Thursday so... sigh... when it rains. It pours! I'm spending all day tomorrow studying like crazy =D

Until next time... bundle up for Fall =)