(Inside A Black Apple)

Happy Friday!

A look at some of the things that were added to the shop today:

And, hooray! Another great update is complete!
If you didn't get the piece you were after, I am very sorry...it is such a stressful and strange thing trying to navigate the shop at the update times. The good news is that with this update, if you didn't get your mitts on something new, there are a few things that were added that there are plenty of!

The "Little Misfit" pin pack...freshly in the shop, as well as...dum da dum:

The Hedgie Family totes are here! I wanted to hug my UPS man when he delivered them this morning...they are just perfect. I love them so.

Just a quick and boring note about painting-pricing before I head off to, oh, be a real person.
An astute customer would probably have noticed, over the evolution of my shop and the last two years, that my prices have slowly, but steadily increased until now. In the beginning I was simply charging far too little for an original work, because it was so important to me for my work to be within the grasp of almost anybody who wanted to own a piece. That is absolutely still important to me, and now I think I've finally worked out a rubric that is fair to me and to my buyers.
A happy medium, if you will, between undervaluing my work and becoming inaccessible for the people that love it. So, for the foreseeable future, the cost of the paintings will hover around a distinct price-range, which is dependant mostly on size and simplicity (for me...I know that all artists do this differently). Hooray! Now that's all laid out...I feel much better, for some reason. It's just something that I worry over a great deal.

Happy Weekend, lovelies, and thank you for all of the incredible support. You're the bee's knees.

Impossible Things

Jackalope Baby     8"x10"x1"

&

Heidi     10"x10"x1"

Two newly completed paintings that I just love...
They'll be part of the shop update tomorrow, and I have to say...quite hard to part with! Those people who notice tiny details might spot that I'm also debuting a new painting-signature, after wrestling for a long time with the idea of signatures on the front of paintings much to the chagrin of some of my customers (I know...I am wierd) I finally formulated a simple "monogram"-ish one.

Happy Thursday, my sweets. I've got a hellofalot of work to do today! See you tomorrow at 2:00!

Bandit Tees for Littles

I whipped up four kid's tees (2 smalls/2 mediums) from the erstwhile hedgie screenprinting project!

( EDIT: The tees are regular kids (not toddler size) 6 (small) and 8 (medium)! Sorry for the confusion.)
 

They are the only surviving evidence & I have to say, they are pretty cute for being affiliated with that whole conundrum. They're pre-washed/shrunken and feature ye olde Black Apple clothing labels (I used to design and make appliqued tees/sweaters/skirts and bags and sell them locally before Etsy came along. Did you know? I stopped because everyone from Old Navy to Target started making "faux handmade" appliqued tees and sweaters and I just couldn't handle it.)

If you have a little, and you know how dashing they would be in this bandito teeshirt, you'll want to be around for the shop update on Friday at 2:00 Eastern! Also in hedgie-wear news...I hear that the new hedgehog totes will be in this weekend! Hooray!

Enids and Wolfbabies for storing your moolah

Just a really quick note to let you know that the Tinymeat + Black Apple collabo wallets are up in Tiny's shop and they look amazing! I'm totally about to snap a few up for myself.

Wolfbaby Vs. Foxbaby & Tiny Enid

(EDIT: I think that Mike is only keeping one in stock at a time, so just check his shop directly if one of the designs seems to be sold out! Don't worry, he'll restock them!)

Vice Versa

Hello!
I didn't fall down a well, so don't worry about my little blog-break. I've been busy with real world-y things, but not boring ones. Fun ones, mostly. Like helping paint living rooms (which is very fun to me) and learning that the slang for margaritas among some is just 'Ritas and also...acquiring a new car.

This weekend, my big event was bringing one of these home:

Holy Moley, A New Car! We went to the Nissan/Volkswagen dealer, and folks, I have to tell you...After all of the scary stories of the VW's, and after walking onto the lot and spying these right away, I knew it was love. I just walked right up to the car (the Nissan Versa hatchback, for curious minds) and just kinda knew that was what I would drive home that day. You have no idea what this means to me. I have been driving a 1994 Aerostar minivan (that's right, a 13-year old minivan) since I was 16 (so, 8 years). It doesn't have air conditioning. It doesn't have a cd player. It is too feeble to drive more than a couple of hours away. So this is big for me. Really big.

It may not looks as crazy-cute in the Innernets picture, but I promise it is a cutie in real life. I am just currently too lazy to run downstairs and photograph it in its natural habitat! Well, that, and it is covered with a nice film of pollen...which has descended on my neck of the woods with a fierce vengeance.
But I love my car. I really do. We're going to drive it up the Easy coast this summer (probably for Renegade...I'm still not 100% on whether to drive or fly) and I can't wait.

*Sigh*
A car that is healthy enough to take a road trip in...

Anyway, I know that lots of folks are eagerly awaiting the next shop update (which will include the sculptures/"action figures", paintings, hedgehog plush, some kid's tees, and maybe a doll or two!).
So, the next shop update will be:

Friday, at 2:00 pm Eastern. Hooray!

I've been painting quite a bit lately, and here are a few of the pieces that are finished:

Neko Case Girl 6"x8"x1"

Mary and Mitten   8"x10"x1"

I've got 4 or so more that are in-progress...one in particular that I'm just crazy about. Will post as they are ready to show!

Thank you again for all of the car advice. Really. I couldn't get back to most of you, but I'm tellin' you that it really helped alot in making a big decision. Actually, when I got to the lot, the first thing I said to the salesman was "So I hear that the VW's have a habit of the windows spontaneously falling in", to which he replied: "Yes, that's true. They used to be held up with these little plastic clips". Now, how would I know that if I hadn't had all of your stories, good & bad, to help me out?
I wouldn't have.

xoxo

The Little Things

Wow! Thank you so much for all the VW advice! I was so surprised that so many folks had $0.02 to put in on the subject. I'm in the thinking phase now, and am going to actually drive some cars tomorrow, so I'll keep you posted on how the whole shebang goes off.

For Friday, some little things that caught my eye or come my way or made me happy this week:

(New Timer)

(Small drawings/paintings on wood plaques that I made this winter...they hang in my living room)

(My old favorite-stand-by tote from the wonderful I'm Smitten)

(odds and ends on my sewing table, including a new linen Japanese-style hedgie pin cushion)

(New flats for spring)

(Late-Birthday mail from a good friend)

(Hedgie totes on their way)

(Guess who)

Happy Weekend, sweet peas!

Lemony

New Favorite Spring Sweater
(lemon buttons people! lemons + pointelle = spring perfection for me)

Josiah and  I went shopping last weekend for some new spring clothes...the Anthro store for me, and Urban Outfitters for him (okay, and for me). I got the sweater at Anthropologie, and I double and triple-checked, but it appears to be one of the many things that can't be gotten online. I love it so.

I spent the afternoon at my sewing machine, pretty-fying some dud clothes. I always do this, after spending time in a real-life Anthro store...I remember how I have all the ric-rac, buttons, and vintage trim in the world, and if I apply a bit of that magic to a boring or dud-ish article of clothing, voila!
It really is amazing how much of their aesthetic can be so easily duplicated by throwing some buttons or lace onto a plain sweater or skirt.  I will have pictures of the resulting pretty sometime soon, I promise.

But back to the subject of lemons.

The time has come for me to buy a new-to-me car. I've been looking at the two Volkswagon station wagons (the Passat and Jetta models) and I think we're going to go check them out this weekend in person. I know I can count on at least a few of you guys to have some VW experience...so, if you please, thoughts?

My only pal who had a Jetta had a bit of a lemon...and I'm just wondering if it was a fluke.

Applehead Doubletime

Thank you so much for all of the sculpted-figure-love!!!
I wasn't expecting such a great response...I often think that maybe I just love something that I make. I hardly ever assume that someone else will love it, too.

These are two things that came from my studio yesterday...this little one is almost like a Black Apple "action figure":

I think that perusing all of the amazing designer vinyl toys at Kidrobot resulted in her chunky, stylized stature. I would so love to design some toys with them, or another toy manufacturer!

Here is a new illustration featuring this gal:

It's available in the shop, naturally.

Some other good things:

*The new Mark Ryden work is all up in the gallery section of his website.
Amazing.
Funny though, my stump girl appears to have an illegitimate stump baby (see if you can spot him at the bottom of the page!) that she didn't know about.

*Speaking of stumps, have you seen the incredible stumpy cake that Heidi made for her little guy's recent birthday? She is such a cool mama...I either want to
A.) somehow be her kid or
B.) be just as neat when I'm a mom.

Option B somehow seems more likely ;)

When they come to life...

For the past week, I've been working on some 3D sculpture-versions of my girls & creatures...I suppose it was spawned by all the needle felting that has been going on in my studio.

Here are two little cuties, the one on the left is a combo of painted Sculpey, needle-felting, and fabric. The little chubster on the right is entirely painted Sculpey:

"Dunce Girl" 3"x7"  &  "Little Cat Girl" 3.5"x11"

This sculpture is a larger one, with a giant (13" long, so it's relative!) needle felted deer and a sculpey/fabric passenger:

"Little Brown Fawn Rider", 13"x8"

These pieces will be part of the next shop update next week!

I'm really loving this.
I'm doing much better with these 3 dimensional figures than the screen printing mishap I detailed to you yesterday. Thank you for all of the pointers and thoughtful messages about printing, by the way! I am considering a gocco, but I'm a little bit afraid because it is (supposedly) a dying system (meaning, I'm afraid I won't be able to get supplies soon).
Thoughts?

In addition to the originals-update next week, I'm going to be stocking up the shop soon with some new hedgie totes, a brand-spankin'-new pin pack, and some limited run posters. Posters! I'll keep you updated on all that stuff as it arrives, as well as when the update will be.

Happy Sunday, my dears!

The Worst Screenprinter in the World

I know that one question has been driving you crazy lately. You spend all your time wondering, (Snow-White's-Evil-Queen-Style):
"Who is the worst screen printer of them all?"

But not to worry, because I will be your obliging magic mirror and simply inform you:
Um,
Me.
It's me.
I'm the worst.

You know, I heard all the talk.
"It's super messy".
"It's really involved".
"It requires about 200 separate steps to take place from start to finish, all of which up the margin of error just another few notches".

Okay, that last one was actually me...
But seriously? I cannot believe how complicated it is. Over the last week I proceeded to mess up in every conceivable way my road to (hopefully) printing some simple little patches and tees. My Pre-existing respect for screen printers is renewed ten-fold, because so many of them rock so hard, and I couldn't even muster one decent screen.

However, it's okay. Really, it is.

I don't have to be a "Renaissance-Crafter", despite my desire to be. It is okay with me to know how to sew and paint/draw and design and that be pretty much it. I've been trying out all sorts of new media in the last few weeks, and that is a frustrating thing for me (as I'm sure it is for everyone) because I like to instantly be good at something, instead of toiling away trying new things that you really have no idea how to do well (or at all!)
Methinks that it might be best if I leave the screen printing to the professionals, at least as far as Black Apple, shop stuff goes...after all, in the massive amounts of time it takes for me to make a feeble attempt at creating a screen with which to print, I could easily complete a painting or two, and that just makes more sense. I'm going to hang up the squeegee for the time being, and just forget about the whole demoralizing deal for a bit!

This doesn't mean, however, that everything new that I've tried lately is in the rubbish bin...not by a long shot! I've still got some sculptural pieces that I'm working on/experimenting with that are really coming together well, and I'll share those soon, so's you don't think I've become totally inept.

There you have it, a big, gaping moment of humility, for you, from me...your never-to-be-Renaissance-craftista.

PS: The image at the top is of the few (bad) prints I managed to eek out of the one screen I managed to burn at all properly. The detail is all crummy and wierd, and due to a misshap with some of the screen-clearing fluid I had to apply to some areas that wouldn't clear, it has kinda dissentigrated. So the screen is now dead, much like this process is to me.