Etsy Blogger of the Month: LizsWares

Say hello to January's Blogger of the Month!  (Better late than never, I always say!)



Liz has been a member of the EtsyBloggers team since 2009 and has been making jewelry since she was 12!  She's got a great shop full of beautiful beaded neckaces, bracelets, and earrings.  Here are some of my favorites...

A gorgeous gift for your Valentine:

Pink Swirl in Translucent Heart Earrings

Perfect for the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday:

Irish Bracelet Set Lime Green and Copper Beaded

And fit for a merrmaid:

Beach Beauty Shell Beaded Necklace

Don't forget to check out her shop and blog, and see what's there that might be calling to you...

• LizsWares Etsy Shop
• LizsWares Blog

Day 6 of my 31 Day Drawing Challenge

6. Draw Your Favorite Word

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Adorbz.  I think I invented it.  I certainly use it too much!  I used this photo as a reference.

Family

Earlier I mentioned that Saturday we had all drawn pictures of our family, and I shared mine as my Favorite Place to be.  I was so happy with the ones the kids made that I wanted to share theirs too!
Lia's Family

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JoAnn's Family

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Esme's Family

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Ant's Family

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Day 5 of my 31 Day Drawing Challenge

5. Draw Your Best Friend

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I'm not so good at drawing from life. I didn't even use an eraser this time. It's not quite right, but *WAY* better than I used to do!

(And yeah, she was a little stressed that I was drawing her and wasn't smiling...)

The Best of Super Bowl 2012

Funny Commercials:
~CRV Matthew Broderick's Day Off
~Kia Optima Dream Car
~Bud Light Rescue Dog (also made me cry at the end)

Made me Cry:
~Best Buy Innovators
~Budwieser Prohibition
~Chevy Sonic Stunt Car
~Toyota Camry

Made Lia Laugh:
~Cheetah Velostar
~Doritos Man's Best Friend
~eTrade Fatherhood


Drawing of Lia by Lia
Movie to see:
~John Carter
~The Lorax
~Avengers

Hot:
~H&M David Beckham

Honorable Mention:
~Elton John Pepsi
~Chevy 2012 Mayan Apocalypse
~Cars.com
~Coke Bear catch
~Dorito Sling Baby
~Dannon Oikos John Stamos
~Hyundai Think Fast

And the Very Best:
~Vampire Audi
~M&Ms

Day 4 of my 31 Day Drawing Challenge

4. Draw Your Favorite Place


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Well this might not make sense if you're just passing over it, but with a little explaining...

I was gonna try to do a sketch of Flat Rock or mebbe of the bed (LOL).  Perhaps the Oswego or Syracuse skyline... Then I thought I could somehow do Jacqueline's arms (hard) or a sketch of New York State with a heart where Oswego is, but I didn't do any of that.  I could say I had no time to do a proper drawing, but I'm typing this out right now and I could be drawing, but I *did* draw today... And that's what you see here.

You see, today was Lia's 14th birthday, she was going to an overnight with her church group, and we were going to run a few other errands and spend some time with some other LGBT families.  This stressed me out: the errands on my day off and visiting with people I don't know so much...  I'm not good at realizing when or why I am stressed, I just get really touchy.  And I was about to start my period.  *rolls eyes*  Horrible excuse for moodiness but it happens and I never realize WHY I was so overly emotional about [fill-in-the-blank] until after the fact.  (I'm working on this.)  It doesn't matter exactly what happened, but I had a break-down in the car full of everyone, and they all supported me and made me feel so much more a part of the family than I realized I was.

Later at the LGBT party, we were asked to draw our families.  This is what I drew.  And as cliché as it might sound, of all the places I could go, my favorite place to be is with them.  Wherever that may be.  ♥

Day 3 of my 31 Day Drawing Challenge

3. Draw Your Favorite Food


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I got brave & decided to draw with a pen.  And with no reference photo.  I've not done that in a while.  So, kinda goofy, but I did it!  ^-^

Day 2 of my 31 Day Drawing Challenge

Perhaps if I had not procrastinated until almost midnight to do this, it might not be such a rough sketch and it might have been a better photo too...

2. Draw Your Favorite Animal

A rabbit of course!  I chose Fukusuke-pon and used this photo for reference.  ^-^  (Apologies to pon and yasuko. 福助と靖子への謝罪)

Day 1 of my 31 Day Drawing Challenge

1. Draw Yourself

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I didn't mean to make it so realistic. I just was gonna do a quick little kawaii sketch, but I wanted it a *little* realistic; so I opened a photo, and this is what happened! XD

Draw a Dino Day

On Monday, after a blizzard dumped 3+ feet of snow on us, we took some time to celebrate Draw a Dinosaur Day!


Lia and her spotted brontosaur


JoAnn's many attempts at a "cute" dinosaur


Esme's singing dino


Ant created a whole scene!


And my disco dancin' dino!
Stay tuned to see my dino finished!

Groundhog's Day Mani

Here is a cute manicure that is perfect for tomorrow!


Blizzard-y nails with little groundhogs!
That one on the left saw his shadow!  XD
How I did it:

• After preparing my nails for painting (cleaning, trimming, shaping, basecoat), I painted them with a plain white color.  It took a few coats because my white always seems to leave visible brush strokes.
• Then I topped that with a sheer coat of Wet 'n' Wild #438. It's a cream-colored opalescent polish with tiny iridescent glitter flakes.
• Then I used a clear silver glitter polish just to make it more blizzard-y!
• Next I used a random pearly brown color I have - no labels on it anywhere! - to make my little groundhogs on a few nails.
• Then I used black & white with 2 small dotting tools to dab on the noses & eyes.
• To make the lighter belly on the one groundhog I used a sheer flesh-color by DuraGlow called Sea Shell.
• Of course I topped it all with China Glaze Fairy Dust, because one can never have too much glitter, and a clear top coat.

I would love to see your nails if you try this!  Please feel free to leave me a comment with a link to your photo of them!

Illustration Friday: Prepare

31 Day Drawing Challenge

This is me preparing for a 31 Day Drawing Challenge I will be undertaking very soon.... Anyone care to join me?  I'd love some company, motivation, competition...???

Photo Friday

Cloudy

Illustration Friday: Highlight

This may be interpreted incorrectly by me, but I choose believe this is what was intended...

The Illustration Friday topic for last Friday was "Highlight" and thusly, I've chosen a few of my illustrations that were my highlights for 2011...

Gaia Me


Sea Turtles bookmark


Soaked in Her Love


Nyan Girl


Unicorn Side-view


Jenn & Sarah


Friends


I'm working on another kawaii girl right now that I had so hoped to finish by the end of December, but the coloring keeps crashing my program, so it's taking so much longer...

What were your creative highlights from 2011?

Photo Friday: Best of 2011

Last Friday, the Photo Friday prompt was 'Best of 2011' and with that in mind, I've gone through my photos and chosen one for each month.  They may not necessarily be the *best* photos to a professional photographer, but they are definitely the best to me...  (Click any to view bigger...)

January: Snowy Woods


February: Shoveling Snow


March: First Robin


April: Peep Army


May: Spring Garden


June: Shine Masquerade


July: 2 Baby Bluebirds


August: Grandma x2


September: Flying South


October: Halloween


November: November's Beaver Moon


December: Happy Holidays


What were some of your favorite photos this past year?  Comment with a link!

My Best Reads of 2011

Bunny Read Bookmark, available on Etsy

Someone on one of my Etsy groups asked about our favorite books from 2011 today, so I went to my Goodreads to check it out. I added 93 books to my 2011 Shelf - although I probably read more, just failed to record them - and there were 11 that to which I gave 5 stars. Those are:

• The Candymakers by Wendy Mass - Told from the point of view of 4 12-year old contestants in a national candy making competition, this story has mystery, friendship, and a very satifying ending.
• A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass - A coming-of-age story about a 13-year old girl with synesthesia and how she learns to cope with it and life.
• The End of the Line by Angela Cerrito - An intense tale about a 13-year old boy coming to terms with accidentally killing his friend.
• Keeper by Kathi Appelt - A tale of a 10-year old girl convinced her absent mother is really a mermaid, but is she? Finding out may be more tragic than never knowing.
• The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry - A successful woman, on the brink of marriage, returns to her childhood home to care for her aging father, and in the process redraws the map of her life.
• The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars by Steven Brust - Actually not the 1st time I had read this.  A story of an artist and his relationships with the artists he shares a studio with, which seems to mirror the fantasy of the Hungarian folk-tale he tells.
• Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers - Another tale of a troubled young man who discovered that he wants to *be* Debbie Harry, although he doesn't think he's gay.  What to tell his girlfriend?
• XVI (XVI, #1) by Julia Karr - Set in a dystopian future, this is the story of a 15-year old girl who doesn't want to turn 16, which means getting a tattoo to show the world they can have sex with her. Then she learns a shocking secret that turns her life upside down.
• Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella - What seems like just a light-hearted, mystery/ghost story, turns out to be a touching tale of family and friendship.
• Phenomena by Esme Parks - I know I am biased, but really it was great IMHO! Told from several points of view, this tale made me laugh out loud so many times!
• Dragonbreath: Lair of the Bat Monster (Dragonbreath, #4) by Ursula Vernon - Comic illustrations combined with hilarious text and an exciting adventure make this entire series 5-star!

Another book that I've started that will be sure to get 5 stars, although I've not finished it yet, is Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. While I am not what one would call a comic geek, I do have an interest, especially from the art-side of things, and this book is such a great resource!

What were your favorite reads this past year?

A Bevy of Holiday Beverages

Each holiday season I like to treat myself with fancy beverages, that I don't usually have, in the evening before bed.  This year I decided to take some pictures...

This morning I added Marshmallow Madness to my coffee; I love these things...

A few nights ago I had a handful of peppermint marshmallows in my cocoa...

And a few days before that I had a delicious chocolate-dipped peppermint peep in cocoa...

What are some of your favorite holiday beverages?

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

We have a winner for the Faerie Garden Fancies' Holiday Giveaway!

I had random.org choose for me, and counting from the bottom up I got...


Many congratulations to Ayden!

As soon as she receives her surprise holiday package, I'll post it here for all to see!  Thanks to everyone who entered!

December Give-Away at Vanillery Gardens

I wanted to take a moment to share an awesome give-away going on over at Vanillery Garden right now.  If you like cute stickers, then you won't want to miss this one!  And while you're there, do stick around and check things out, because Natalie has the cutest little blog, full of sweet art & sound advice!

Holiday HOPpenings!

Now through December 14th you can get FREE SHIPPING on anything in my shop! Just use the coupon code HOHOHO11 when checking out...

..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ ALSO A HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY! -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

At the end of the FREE SHIPPING sale, I'll be giving away a special holiday surprise!

Here is how to enter:

1. Hop over to my Facebook Event
2. Click *Join* in the upper right corner.
3. Comment with your favorite item from Faerie Garden Fancies

On December 15th, I will announce the winner!