Amazing Pushpin Portraits

Try looking at this picture from a distance. I've found that it appears to become more lifelike as you back up.

Michigan artist Eric Daigh creates these incredible portraits using ordinary pushpins!! According to his website, between 25,000 and 100,000 pushpins are used for each piece.

via

Here's the artist and his wife.

Crazy, right?

I wonder if he's built up a lot of strength in his fingertips?

Here's an interesting article on Eric Daigh if you'd like to see more of his amazing work!

Kelley's recommended podcasts

I have sort of a short attention span, and during long hours of painting and drawing, I sometimes need a little extra entertainment to keep myself focused. Here are some recommended podcasts, all of them free.

This American Life. One of the most popular radio shows today, you've probably heard of this one - and my love for host Ira Glass - before. It's sort of a variety show. Each episode they choose a theme, and feature various stories about everyday people, some humorous, some poignant, some fictional, some topical, but always fascinating.

Stuff You Should Know. Every episode Chuck and Josh choose an interesting historical, scientific, or cultural topic - such as "Who was America's first murderer?" - and discuss it thoroughly. They keep it entertaining with their witty repartee and frequent references to the Simpsons and Ghostbusters. The casual format is like listening to two funny, well-read friends having a chat. My recommendations: "How Lobotomies Work," and "What are Japanese Stragglers?"

RadioLab. Similar to This American Life, RadioLab often starts with a philosophical question such as "What is the mind?" and ponder it from various scientific angles. Jad and Robert keep it upbeat with their unique style of quick editing and imaginative sound effects.

Snap Judgment. Normal people tell interesting stories from their lives. Simple formula, endlessly entertaining.

WireTap. A little different from the others, WireTap consists mostly of short comical skits between host Jonathan Goldstein and his continually scheming friend Howard. This podcast makes me laugh out loud on a regular basis.

Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me. Part quiz show, part comedy, and part news show. Every week they feature a different celebrity and quiz them on ridiculously obscure topics. Very, very funny.

Does your home need an embroidered seallama?

I've been inspired lately by some of the wonderful embroidered hoop art I've been seeing on Etsy. I wanted to make one of my own. At first I was going to embroider a skyline pattern, like I've seen in Moxiedoll's shop, but then I thought - why copy someone else's idea?

So I decided to go with a seallama - a mythical animal my husband is very fond of (and I'm 99% sure he made up.) I bought all the materials for $5 at Joann's Fabrics. Next I sketched some seallamas on paper.

Once I had a llama I liked, I drew it on the fabric with a white charcoal pencil. Then I embroidered it, using the pencil marks as a guide. I used white thread for the top half and light blue for the tail. When it was finished, I superglued the ends of the fabric to the back of the hoop, so it will all stay in place.

The whole project took me about an hour. Now the seallama, that beloved symbol of dignity and hospitality, greets all visitors who enter our home.

Amazing toilet paper rolls!

Enjoy these amazing toilet paper roll cutouts by Anastasia Elias!

I wonder how she came up with this idea, and how she is able to cut such precise shapes inside the roll? Her website does not say how she does it. Maybe she takes apart the roll, then glues it back together again?

You can see more toilet paper roll cutouts here! I tried to choose a favorite, but there are so many great ones! 

Portraits...embroidered?!

This is crazy.

This is not your grandmother's embroidery. Artist Daniel Kornrumpf creates these incredibly realistic hand-stitched portraits. I couldn't find any info about his process, but you can see in the photo below that the portraits are actually very small:

His depiction of skin tones is really beautiful. Also notice how the direction of the threads follows the contours of the face. It really helps enhance the 3-D illusion. I wonder how in the world he developed this technique, since I have never in my life heard of a man doing embroidery. More power to him, though! Wouldn't it be cool to have your own portrait embroidered by Daniel?

The Weirder Side of Etsy

Angler Fish the Cuddly Creature from the Deep by sleepybowie - $50

Etsy has sometimes been accused of being all "owls and cowls," meaning that they tend to favor and promote a particular style and look among their sellers - generally the cute, the soft focus, the pastel-colored, the "shabby chic." (Hate that phrase.) So here's a shoutout to those Etsy sellers who are not afraid to be a little crazy. Like this stuffed angler fish. Now that is crazy - crazy awesome.

Anna and the Meat necklace by mabgraves - $155

Xbox Controller Soap by digitalsoaps - $15.50

The description says, "scented with Mountain Dew fragrance oil, a gamer's best scent."

Rectangle magnet by mincingmockingbird - $4

Small fleece Squid Hat by ObeyMyBrain - $35

This whole shop is full of hilarious photos of various marine life on this guy's head. Check it out.

Monday Motivation

Today I just happened to stumble onto all sorts of great motivational stuff on the topic of pursuing your goals and dreams, totally by accident, too.

I found the above graphic on the blog Making Things Happen. Once I heard an art teacher say that his students sometimes moan, "it's going to take me ten years to become a good artist! Why should I even try?" He says to them, "ten years is coming no matter what." Meaning, in ten years you'll either be a good artist or you'll be looking back and wishing you had put the effort into being a good artist.

Why Not Pillow in Sunshine - $45

Secondly I found this awesome pillow. I love the font, the colors, everything. What an inspiring message to wake up to in the morning, right? Too bad the price is way more than I'm willing to pay for a pillow. I'm going to see if I can DIY an imitation pillow.

Thirdly, a friend on Facebook posted this quote, "If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done." -Bruce Lee

Good stuff!

GIVEAWAY

Mother's Day is coming up, folks. Are you prepared? If not, don't worry, I am here to save you.

I've decided to jump on the giveaway bandwagon. Visit my friend Amy's site, Ponder & Stitch, and leave a comment on her blog post for a chance to win a 9x12 custom portrait from yours truly! These portraits make awesome gifts for Mother's Day - believe me, they eat this stuff up.

Giveaway ends April 6th. Good luck!

Tribute to Edward Scissorhands

By Nicolas Duffaut

So apparently last year was the 20th anniversary of Edward Scissorhands. I know I'm a little late to the party on this, but today I discovered a blog showing a collection of artists' and illustrators' tributes to the movie. It's really interesting to see such a range of styles and treatments - some of it is funny, some cute, some dark. Kind of like the movie!

By Nicolas Leger

By Amélie Fléchais

By Ken Garduno

Check out the Scissorhands 20th blog to see more great art!

Elephant Man Portrait Postcard

(image source)

I found this on Etsy today: a postcard with an original drawing of The Elephant Man on it. Imagine mailing this postcard to someone you dislike. Just the blank postcard, with no message written on back. I think it's a great idea.

But am I willing to pay $75 just to make someone feel confused, and maybe a little threatened? At first I would say no, but then again, the postcard comes with a signed "certificate of authenticity." So now I'm kind of on the fence. What do you think?

Holy...

(image source)

As featured on Regretsy today: Etsy seller portraitsbymel is offering a custom portrait of yourself with Jesus!

This is so awesome. Seriously, why didn't I think of this? I love the guy that the artist has chosen to include in this sample. He just looks like he's pretty stoked, man, to be buds with Jesus and all. I also like the way Jesus looks, despite his four-fingered hand - he's very recognizable, but very chill and relaxed too. 

To be honest though, this artist is pretty skilled, and at $97 for an 11x14, this is quite the steal. I should get one for my pastor.

(Bonus: at another Etsy shop, you can get a drawing of yourself and Justin Bieber on a unicorn!)

You see flowers in these weeds

I wanted to share these beautiful photographs by the Sartorialist with you. With her sweet smile and blue eyes, the girl above is my favorite; this would be an excellent photo for a portrait.

If you've never visited the Sartorialist's blog, you're missing out. He's a well-known fashion photographer who takes pictures of stylish people around the world. Although usually he favors sharply-dressed New Yorkers and Italians, occasionally he'll post photos of someone you never thought would appear on a fashion blog, such as this Mennonite family.

I like how he finds beauty in unusual places and unusual people.

Mixbook

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

I made this collection of all my Etsy orders from last year on Mixbook. Mixbook is one of many online photo book publishers, but it's a little bit different because you can collaborate together with your friends to create books online. The site was actually started a few years ago by some friends from my church, so yeah, I have connections. Anyway, I made a book with each of my Etsy drawings from 2009, along with the customers' photos and their comments.

It's part personal keepsake, so I can have paper copies of all the drawings I mailed out. It's also part advertising tool. I had a copy of the book sent to my parents for two reasons:

1. Because I love them
2. Because I want to make money off of them

My parents are highly skilled at bragging and are great Drawworm ambassadors to the world. Now they have a nice book to show their friends, who have children getting married and grandchildren being born, and maybe their friends will want some drawings.

I look forward to getting the book in the mail and seeing how it turned out! Hopefully the drawings look okay in printed form.

Drawworms in their natural environment 2

Look at this! My last customer was kind enough to send me this photo of her framed drawing. I really like the black frame she picked out; it's very classic. I hope her parents like their anniversary present!

Cubicle Makeover

Before

 After

About two weeks ago I decided to put some fabric on the walls of my cubicle in an effort to make it a less depressing workspace. I found this canvas fabric from Joann's Fabrics for a good price. I liked the vine pattern, and it's not too girly either. I took this crappy closeup photo with my cell phone, so please excuse the poor quality...

 

Everyone who walked past my cubicle noticed the new addition. Female co-workers generally gushed, "oh it's so pretty! What a great idea, I love the colors," etc etc, while male co-workers generally made jokes about my efforts to bring "a woman's touch" to the cube and asked what the man who shares my cubicle thought of it, and he would make jokes about "a woman's touch" back at them.

I think they're just too embarrassed to admit that they think it's awesome.

Vintage IKEA

Via Cowie and Fox

The words "vintage IKEA" almost seem like an oxymoron, don't they? Perhaps it's because IKEA furniture pieces aren't exactly built to be family heirlooms. Even though I knew that IKEA was founded in 1943, I was still surprised to see these ads from as far back as 1965.

Although the retro look is definitely there, it still feels like the IKEA we all know and love. With the popularity of the show Mad Men, I bet that IKEA would do really well if they reproduced a few of their old designs in some sort of nostalgia campaign. I really like the orange couch in the photo above.

...I would pass on the avocado-green shag carpet, however. (In the dining room, no less!)