Moon

I wrote a poem for a swap on swap-bot, I think it turned out ok. I am going to print it out and make it look awesome for my partner (I'll post pictures of course). But for not here is my poem. (I plan to write a matching poem named 'Sun', I'll post it when it is finished).

Moon

By Valerie Kessler

The giver of LIFE, Sun is setting.

She is second to none

Even as she drifts beyond the unreachable,

Preparing for slumber.

In the sky, more visible with each ray of darkness,

Moon.

Soft, and more forgiving then her sister.

On her best days, she catches the light of her sister and shines in back, enough to light our way through the thick darkness.

One her worst days, she is only a shadow, lost in the velvet oblivion, making it seem as if we are alone with only the star children for company.

But we keep faith, and with the tiniest of slivers,

We see her again and are over-joyed, for we always knew she had never left.

Even in the unimaginable,

When her sister, Sun has no life left to give,

When all life has either perished or frozen into eternity,

Moon will still be here, watching all that remains.

As sun rises from her slumber,

And moon fades into the sky,

We forget that she remains always,

Not sleeping, ever watching.

Enjoy!

Happy Henna Time

So I am typing this with one hand. No worries, I am not hurt or anything. I drew henna on myself and that takes about six hours to dry. I was going to go to bed, so my hand is mummified in toilet paper (what is recommended for going to bed with drying henna). But before i mummified my hand, i took some pictures, yea! Now if you aren't familiar with henna, think of it as a really long lasting (up to four weeks), intricate (and awesome) temporary tattoo.

The henna itself comes from the leaves of the Lawsonia Inermis plant, aka the Henna plant, which is actually a small tree. 'Henna' comes in three colors, but only the traditional (orangish-brown) is true henna. The leaves are ground up and turned into a powder which is then made into a paste and applied very finely. The paste has to remain on the skin for several hours in order to 'dye' it. The pictures I took are of are 'fresh' (ie: still with the paste on)' the actual henna won't be as dark (i may take pictures of it then too).










I drew this by myself, freehand, it took at least an hour. I think for my first time (the last pic is my favorite piece until i smeared it a bit). Well i hope you enjoy my first ever bit of 'body art'. :)

If you are interested in learning more about Henna, check out The Henna Page. Goodnight/good morning and enjoy.

To People who abandon their pets

To the people who take their pets and leave them not at a shelter, not even at animal control or someones house or a pet store (which will take them to animal control), to those who leave them on the street, at a park, or in a field.

So maybe you didn't want your pet anymore, maybe he or she peed behind the sofa, or scratched your chair. Maybe you got a new job, got married, had a baby and didn't have time for them anymore. Maybe they just weren't as cute as they were when you got them at six or eight weeks old. Maybe they belonged to your son or daughter and they didn't take care of them enough or they went off to college and you didn't want to take care of them in their absence. Maybe you found out you, your kids, your husband, your aunt who visits all the time or your grandma who lives with you.

I don't care. I don't care why you did it. You, are an irresponsible low life. Did you think they would be okay? Did you think that someone would take them? Did you think that they are animals and could take care of myself? Maybe you felt guilty. You probably did, maybe it was for five minutes, maybe a few days, or even a few weeks or months. But eventually he or she fell out of your mind, and you forgot about them.

But guess what. They are still here, and they are not okay. I see them everyday, single day. Every time I step outside, or even go near my doors. I see them, cold, wet, alone. They come to me and cry for food, and for love. I give them what food I can, I pet their wet fur, I feel the scabs under their fur, I feel the bones under flesh. I hold them and cry as they purr with my fingers and know I cannot take them in and give them my undivided love, a home, a warm bed, all the food they can. Why I can't do this doesn't matter, the point is I cannot.

And I shouldn't have to. I shouldn't have to see them suffer because of your irresponsibility. I shouldn't have to feel that gut wrenching pain. I shouldn't have to be the one desperately trying to find them a home or to take them to a shelter. Because you should have done that in the first place.

Pets are living, breathing beings, and they are not disposable. They are domesticated, they don't have all the skills to care for themselves in the wild, especially if they are raised indoors. They have been breed, by people to loose some of their wild instincts, and to fit into human life style. They are breed to love people, to stay by their side and to depend on them for food, water, shelter, and affection.

So thank you people for helping contribute to the unwanted pet population, thank you for contributing to animal suffering, and thank you, for making me try to clean up your mess. I will try to catch them, take them to a vet, and maybe, just maybe I will be lucky enough to find someone to love them.

Some fun facts for you:
-There is an unknown amount of stray cats and dogs in the US, but it is estimated that there is around 70million stray cats.
-About five to seven million animals enter shelters each year, about 60% of dogs and 70% of cats are euthanized, mainly because there is no one to take them home
-The cost of spaying or neutering a pet is less expensive then caring for one puppy of kitten for a year (average litter is 4-6)

Kiwi's Blogger Follower Swap #4 (Etsy Feature #1)

I know the title might seem a little weird, however, it is for a swap on swap bot. :) It has been a busy weekend, and now it is snowing! I haven't had much time to make anything (I am sad because I wanted to make something for my mom, maybe a little belated present).


So since I haven't made anything the past few days, I will feature one of my favorite etsy shops! (Yea Etsy!)


The first Etsy shop, goes in the realms of one of my biggest passions, Asain Ball Jointed Dolls. The Mushroom Peddler, aka Sarah Seiter designs, sculpts, and casts her own ball jointed dolls. I have been watched Sarah on both of her Deviantart accounts for years (she is a very talented artist of many ) and she has an absolutely beautiful eye for making these dolls. The dolls featured in her shop are anthropomorphic dolls. Many of the dolls are 'monthly' (meaning they can only be bought on their particular month of the year) but they are well worth the wait. Featuring adorable, fantastically detailed animals such as a turtle, rat, and cat. The current doll is a wolf. Like most of her dolls, 'Howl' is available in White, or for an additional fee, in a custom painting colors.

These dolls are not for the casual collector, the basic price for Howl is $215.00 USD, but for someone who is willing to spend the expense on them, they a great addition to anyone's home. I really look foreword to having one of her creations in my home to join my other dolls. Even if Sarah's lovely dolls are not in your budget, check out her shop and Deviantart pages: The Mushroom Peddler for doll art and Mystic Unicorn for drawings and paintings.



Disclaimer: This Photo (Howl, blank) is property of Sarah Seiter, The Mushroom Peddler, it was used only for the sole purpose of showing how awesome her work is.

Inchies!

So... apparently I like tiny art. I joined a site called swap-bot (hello fellow swappers, I know you are out there) where I fell in love with inchies, which are simply 1"x1" pieces of art, the baby sister to twinchies which are 2"x2" pieces of art, the child of ATC's (2 1/2"x3 1/2") and the cousin of matchbox art (taking a a standard 32 count matchbox, or making one and decorating it and filling it with tiny things). There is just something about the challenge of making a 1" piece of art look great. I have tried several methods for making them, and love experimenting with them.

From what I have seen, cutting and layers various paper, pictures, quotes, stickers, and embellishments. It is like making a tiny collage or scrapbook. I haven't made too many of these (outside of using stickers)because I lack a lot of pretty paper and embellishments (although I here my mom has been holding out on me).

I enjoy doing drawn inchies, it's really fun to try and fit a complete drawing in that tiny space. I have also (for a swap) drawn a large picture and cut it up into inchies (forgot to take a picture though). That swap was a pain because I kept loosing the inchies and thoughts I would have to start over.

Now my favorite inchies, are (of course) the ones that take the longest. I take my cardboard inchie base and wrap fabric over it, and embellish with other fabric, ribbons, buttons, and beads. These take at least fifteen minutes, and up to an hour to make (not including drying time). I have also seen cross-stitched inchies but have yet to try them, maybe in the future.

And now for your viewing pleasure... some of my inchies!







Well I hope you like them, the 'Starry Night' inchies are my favorite (second to last picture). Next time I feature inchies (which I will because I love them) I will show off some of the ones others have made for me.

Hello All!

So I am redoing this blog, I am starting over and going feature my craftiness of all form. I love to create things, I enjoy writing, drawing, painting, sewing, sculpting, photography, and trying whatever I can find.

I have recently jointed swap-bot and I have learned about inchies and gotten into inchies and ATC's.

I may also feature other artists, make tutorials, and hopefully have fun. I'll be back some time this weekend to show off some of my inchies Ive made recently.