(Inside A Black Apple)

Present-Day #1

Hello!
I have been doing loads and loads of shipping, and generally catching my breath after the one-two-punch that was Renegade, then the shop update! Since you guys are absolutely the bee's knees and I appreciate you so much, but don't get to show it as often as I'd like to...I decided to have some wee gifts to give away this week to blog folks.

It'll go like this:
Just leave a comment, saying hi, quoting a Smiths lyric, repeating a limerick to me, whatever you'd like.
You can do this until Monday (so, up til' Sunday night @ 11:59 EST). I'll draw a number, and then whoever's comment matches that number will get the present! Please make sure that your email address is with your comment, and that its correct, because I gots to email you to get your mailing address!

Today's present is....

...a beautiful tin of black apple-illustrated coasters manufactured by My Favorite Mirror! (photo courtesy of those fine folks as well).

I'll be doing a few more little "present days" throughout the week!
Happy Weekend, sweet peas!

Rascally Sophie Dolls!

Look who I woke up to find sleeping (or rather, drowsing) in my bed today!
What rascals.
They must've run out of the studio on their quiet little feet and hopped in when nobody was looking. It is very treacherous for dolls outside of the studio (as there is a little cat-moster on the outside named Miette waiting to carry them off), so they must have really wanted to see me.

They will be waiting for you, safe and sound, in the shop update today.
2:00 pm eastern is right around the bend!

What's in store...

Here are some of the very fun items that will appear live in my shop on Tuesday at 2:00 EST:

A new (big!) painting that was completed over the weekend:

 
Twins    11"x20"x1"     Acrylic on wood

I went crazy over the giant wooden plaque that it is executed on, and this seemed to be the perfect image for it. The edges are painted a beautiful light pink. I'm a little bit over the moon for this painting!

A few simple, kinda illustrative hedgie paintings that I also wrapped up this weekend (both measure 10"x10"x1", and are acrylic on canvas):

And I am SO excited about these:

I made  a very limited run (5 to be precise) of beautiful prints of the Wolfbaby image that originally appeared on the teatowels! They are printed on gorgeous, toothy white Arches heavyweight paper and each is hand-embellished with light pink glitter. They are signed and numbered, and arrive sleeved.

Some other little fun things for the update:

Some lovely little pocket mirrors...

and adorable, unlined hedgie journals/sketchbooks.

Happy Monday, everyone!
It's back to work, back to work for me.

New Hedgie Tees!!!

Just a little note: Here is the  sneak preview of the hedgie tees that will go up in the shop on Tuesday, as promised:

(A close-up of the grown up tees)

The lighter blue is the kid's size...I have 2, 4 + 6. In the adult size, I have S-XL girly tees, and M-XL guy's tees! They're American Apparel, super soft, and utterly adorable for everyone.

I'm a busy  bee, and I think that the update Tuesday is going to have some really great stuff. Back to work (painting, sewing, packing orders) for me, and I'll show you more artwork tomorrow!
xoxo 

Miss Derringer

Miss Derringer  8"x10"x1"   Acrylic on wood

This is my newest finished painting!
I'm crazy about those evil-eyed trees...

I'm just a-catchin' up on orders and painting and having a nice quiet time, listening to This American Life and watching wierdo movies. I hope everyone's weekends are going well! I'll have a little post about the new tees tomorrow, so you can all get another look at what will be going up in the shop on Tuesday.

The Renegade Report, Part 2

So, we were pretty tired, and darn well sold out of a lot of things...but we tromped back over to the McCarren Park Pool for day two. This time we were armed with a big cooler of drinks, which made everything...well...a bit more laid back.

I look hilarious in sunglasses, and they don't really stay on my tiny nose too well...so I decided to go for broke and just get heart-shaped ones.

The whole time we were there, I was deeply jealous of Heidi's kids. They were just chilling out under the table on a big quilt...eating pizza and ice cream...and generally being lucky ducks:

That is the life.

Piece of evidence number 139842 that Heidi is the coolest mom: on Sunday, she started to teach her older son, Mr. K, to embroider! There is a beautiful picture + Heidi's version of the story in this post.  He designed and stitched the best robots, and I knew they had to be mine. Luckily, he is the entrepreneurial sort, so he was excited to sell them.

Please note the price tags, because they are awesome. Especially the one on the right with the "price-slashing". I cannot wait to press them gently and frame them up for my studio!

With his proceeds, K bought the coolest Jenny Harada tree. When he came back from his shopping, I asked him to take me over there so I could get my own tree. Her stuff is amazing! There are so many softies in the world, so I think it is really special when you find genuinely quirky and amazingly designed ones like hers (or Heidi's, of course).

The design of the stump part is just so perfect and cool! Not to mention they are so Suessian and reminded me of trees that the Lorax would defend.

Oohhh I had such a great time, it's worth repeating. Tiring, but great. Oh, and the lovely Marilyn has some cute Renegade pictures up on her Flickr, including one of me with all my stuffs! 

Happily, the house has been put to rights, and so I am free to catch up on shipping and make some stuff! Hooray, hooray.  So even though  I sold lots of stuff last weekend,don't dispair!  I'll still have a good little stockpile of cool stuff for the update next week!

Happy Friday, my dears!

The Renegade Report, Part 1

I'm back!
We got in late last night, tired and dirty, and now we are putting the house to rights. Everything is such a mess (studio, laundry, bedroom) and there is so much to be put away...and I just really wanna make stuff. I want to sew. Maybe this weekend.

Anyway, Brooklyn was great (visiting is wonderful, as long as I know I don't have to live there). Renegade was FANTASTIC, due in no small part to having:

A.) A rock-star spot at the fair, and amazing neighbors, in two of my favorite crafty pals the adorable Heidi (and cute fam) + that saucy minx, Kate Black. I felt very comforted by their presence.

B.) The best two helpers there could be.

and
C.) All of the amazing fans! You applets came out in full effect, and I felt very loved.

Here is my little tent/setup (photos are from the first day):

The whole-tent-view.

The table with originals + The Sophie Dolls + etc.

My print display (very cute, no?) and some tees (the ones on the right side are the new ones in kids and adults sizes!)

The doll family + my helpers just after set up.
(Thank you so much, Sarah and Josiah, for being the best elves ever this weekend. It would've been an impossible task without such good help!)

I was really, really happy with how everything looked...the display, etc.
I was nervous about everything, but it all went super smoothly, and we nearly sold out on Saturday (the first day!!!). I was legitimately worried we would have nothing for the second day of the show. We did, albeit a very scaled-down version.

I cannot justify any more glued-to-the-computer time while the aparement and studio is in shambles, so I'll be back tomorrow with part two of my report. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came out, said hi, chatted, and took things home with them.
You made my first Renegade a huge + fun success!

No Sleep Til' Brooklyn (yeah, I said it)

I stole your post title, Meg Rooks.

Well, after SO. MUCH. WORK. I think we're really almost ready for Renegade Weekend.

I've got my magazines (both respectable and trashy) and comics for the trip...

I'm running on very little sleep, due to packing,
errands,
last minute-making,
shipping 4 days worth of shop orders,
errands
and a minor car wreck (!!!) with an irresponsible teenager who backed into my beautiful little car all in the last 24 hours.

But. Despite the fatigue, I did manage to eek out some very cute duncies this afternoon.

I will be back one week from now, with loads of pictures, hopefully some good stories, and a big update that will include a big new batch of ADORABLE tees, a few of which I'm taking to Renegade (hint: I've got around 30 kids tees! And some grownup sizes. Hooray!).

In the mean time, wish us luck...we're off in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, with lots of little hostages in tow:

Have a good week, my little applets! See you soon.
xoxo

As long as I have you...

As long as I have you    16"x20"x1"   Acrylic on canvas

This is the newest painting I've been working on.
It's quite large (for me, that is) at 16x20, but sometimes I find it really great to paint a little larger. Especially when there is more going on in the piece, like multiple people and a hedgie and an airplane in the mist. It will be part of a massive update to the shop when I get back from Brooklyn! That will be a fun day indeed.

I'm keeping busy doing last-minute stuff for Renegade (making sure everything is priced, packaging up prints, etc.) and I still want to fit in a crop of Dunce girls, so we'll see if that happens. It could go either way...

I hope you all have wonderful weeks ahead, and just so you know, there are still a few of the Hedgie tea towels left in the shop! Happy Monday!

xoxo

Green Berets

Clearly, I love tea-towels.
I feel kind of obsessed with them, well, the making of them, these days.

My sketchbook is full of potential designs, but this is the newest towel...sweet, hand-dyed, light blue with a black + white + light-olive green print. I just listed them for sale in shop! Most of them are there, and a few are coming with me to Renegade. Good grief, that is coming up so soon! Next weekend!

Miette frolicking in a sea of freshly-dyed towels:

(EDIT): There was some concern about Miette being near my cloth products, for customers with cat allergies. Let me reassure you that the towels were laundered (for heat-setting) and pressed after he was laying near them. When I sell tees dolls and such, he's not allowed near them and they stay out of his reach until they're shipped off. Just a little FYI for concerned peeps.

Back to painting and planning. I'm in a productive frenzy, which I should really take advantage of, instead of being married to the interwebs.

Happy Weekend!