Zip Zip's Doodles

For my next "Beautiful Thing" I present another silly doodle. This one was done on a page from the book ZipZip Goes to Venus. That title alone is inspiration enough!

Without further ado, I present "Beautiful Thing #6":

Question & Answer

This weekend my "Beautiful Thing #4" was a collaboration with my lovely husband. For some time now he's been working on a visual Exploration of the Western Shorter Catechism. A mighty undertaking, I assure you. So this weekend he asked for my assistance and I was happy to oblige--I love working on projects with him!

We spent much of Saturday afternoon holed up next-to and inside-of a culvert in a local canyon, wiring twigs and branches, scouring for plant debris, getting funny looks from passerbys, and generally having an all-around good time. For as often as we talk about creating potential works of "installation art," it was nice to actually get out and do it! It was a small project in scope, but very satisfying none-the-less.

Some photos of our work in progress:


And the final result (with Matt's graphic finessing):


To see more of Matt's Catechism Project, click here.

Yellow Confusion

Today's "Beautiful Thing" is not something that I created in a single day, but rather a project that I was inspired to finally complete. I've had this vision in my head for awhile, but wasn't sure how to execute it. I stumbled on this photo several weeks ago [via OutsaPop] and was so taken in by it. Such loveliness...So inspiring...

I'd envisioned a necklace featuring those same twists and turns. I painstakingly made several tubes of fabric stuffed with poly-fil a few weeks ago, but I wasn't sure how to finish the look.

Then last night I was getting ready to go hear John Meeks in concert and got a hare-brained idea that I had to finish this project immediately and incorporate it into my outfit. Surely you creative types know what I'm talking about. That sudden and undeniable urge to create that blind-sides you and leaves you helpless to do anything but tackle your idea right then and there. I find this happens often with jewelry. If I don't have just the right pair of earrings to wear, I decide that the only solution is to sit down immediately and make a pair to match my outfit. Of course this always makes me late to wherever I'm going, but I get such a high from having made something that I find it's worth it. (Open apology to all my friends and family--Sorry I'm always late.)

So that's how "Beautiful Thing #3" came to be:




It's just a proto-type and still a work-in-progress, but I'm quite happy with the result. I'd like to make them using white and gray jersey fabric, and wearing them with a simple t-shirt. A nice excuse to visit the fabric store anyway. If I get really ambitious (which is my goal these days!), I'll make some to sell in my handmade etsy shop. I think they'd be a nice compliment to my fabric earrings. We'll just have to wait and see what happens...

It Grows More Than Six Feet in Height

I am by no means an "artist" in the proper sense of the word. I prefer to lable myself as a "crafty dabbler" flitting to and fro among the crafty-arts, occasionally hitting upon something that suits my fancy. I've never been good at drawing, but I've happily doodled my way through many a lecture in college. All that to say that today's "Beautiful Thing" is not actually all that beautiful, but it was a labor of love and spontanaeity. I've seen so many people use pages from old books as drawing paper, so I thought I'd give it a try. I've got loads of it laying about from making Novel Novels, so here's what I came up with. It's mostly just scribbles, but it was fun to make.

Beautiful Thing #2:

Freshly Tilted

New in the shop today:




Happy Shopping!

Confession

As apparent from my utter lack of posts the last few months, I've had SO LITTLE motivation to do anything. Seriously, from the state of my bedroom and kitchen sink, you'd think an utter slob had moved in and taken over the joint. (I'm a very fortunate woman to be married to a man as loving and patient as my amazing husband!) I became a full-time housewife last fall and it's been a much more difficult transition than I ever imagined it could be. For so many years I've dreamt of a time like this--a time in my life to pursue my passions, write my memoirs, tackle major craft projects, learn to knit/crochet/sew(better)/macrame/fill-in-the-blank, and take time to be an all-around better, more joyful person. But suddenly, when this dream became reality, BAM!--I'm paralyzed. I find myself completely out of sorts, listless, un-motivated, AND to my utter despair, I'VE BECOME BORING!!! Yikes kites! What's happened to me?

I can chalk it up to me being a people person (which spells disaster when I'm faced with spending all day by myself) and being pregnant (12 weeks along--whohoo!), but it's gone beyond the point of ridiculousness. Ultimately, I need to take responsibility and become the inventive, silly, fun-loving person I know I've got hiding inside of me. It's time to get craftin' again, by golly!

So in a new resolution and determination to keep The Tilted Tulip alive and kickin', I've decided to create one "beautiful thing" every day for the next ten days to jump-start my motivation.

Now that my deep-dark confession is out of the way, I present my first "Beautiful Thing":



To many more days of craftiness, general happiness and overall contentedness...

Freshly Tilted

New items in the store:

As well as some re-listed classics:

Happy Shopping!

Luck of the Irish

Festive bits of green around my house...

Happy St Patrick's Day!