LiveJournal

You are viewing thetoymaker's journal

The · Toymaker

Make toys! Play more!

Recent Entries · Archive · Friends · User Info

01:15 pm
5/21/12

1 comment
Leave a comment

thetoymaker

It's not easy being a cat.

It's not easy being a cat. It's a lot of work. You have to take a lot of naps.

And chasing string is so exhausting.

So I need to stretch and exercise... I keep in shape by yawning.

In the morning after breakfast I like to do some serious daydreaming.

In the afternoon I have drinks with friends.

Refreshing!

Stop making so much noise!

It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it.

---

There are no ordinary cats. - Colette


09:55 pm 5/20/12 1 comment Leave a comment	thetoymaker Eclipse There was a wonderful eclipse of the sun tonight. It was very mysterious. Even though it was light out the light all changed to a blue hue. Everything looked very surreal. The birds stopped singing for a few minutes. Then, all was back to everyday golden light. Did anyone else see it? -- Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling. ~ Walt Whitman


07:25 pm 4/28/12 4 comments Leave a comment	thetoymaker Painting on linen A couple color studies. I like the composition of the roses but I am not entirely happy about the colors. I may redo it. Marilyn. . . . . -- The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne. ~ Chaucer

12:08 pm
4/18/12

1 comment
Leave a comment

thetoymaker

Things that make me happy...

1. Colors

2. Stephen Fry

"I suppose the thing I most would have liked to have known
or been reassured about is that in the world,
what counts more than talent,
what counts more than energy or
concentration or commitment,
or anything else - is kindness.

And the more in the world that you encounter kindness and cheerfulness -
which is its kind of amiable uncle or aunt -
the better the world always is.
And all the big words: virtue, justice, truth -
are dwarfed by the greatness of kindness."

~ Stephen Fry

3. My family which includes two cats.

How about you? What makes you happy?

Marilyn.

.


09:08 am 4/13/12 2 comments Leave a comment	thetoymaker Rise and Shine Oh poor neglected blog... here are some pictures to feed you.

03:44 pm
3/25/12

Leave a comment

thetoymaker

Color study on a rainy day.

It's a cold, rainy day and I've been living it up, installing new printer drivers and trying to get my scanner give me better results. This was my test drawing that I colored up after scanning.

I'm also messing around with textures and different colors.

Wow, it's raining hard. And windy. Good day to be indoors.

Marilyn

--

“May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire.”

04:07 pm
3/13/12

Leave a comment

thetoymaker

Designs for the Day

Working like crazy on my online shop. I did a companion pack to my Wildflower fabrics. These are small, complimentary prints, dots, stripes, plaids and almost solid prints as suggested by Barbara in my last post.

Getting closer to publishing day. I just need to work out the details on the file delivery system and then on to beta testing.

I need more hours in the day.

If you have any more suggestions, I'm all ears. I'm thinking I might do a batch of frames next. Any ideas?

Thanks so much,

Marilyn.

A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are for. ~ John A. Shedd

.

09:50 pm
3/11/12

7 comments
Leave a comment

thetoymaker

Pattern designs...

I'm building an online store where I can sell embroidery patterns and digital scrapbooking files.

The hard part isn't designing the art it's figuring out the delivery system, how to email large files. So I've been up to my ears in shopping carts, 300 dpi jpgs, png files, it's fun like a puzzle but a lot of problem solving.

Does anyone do digital scrapbooking? Do you have a favorite site that you use? Anyone use Etsy to buy patterns?

What do you like better, big prints or little prints? Frames? Borders? Cross stitch or regular embroidery?

Themes? What is hard to find? Birthdays? Graduation?

Any advice, suggestions, recommendations, ideas would be hot.

Marilyn.

--

Don't be afraid to attempt something new.

Remember, it was amateurs who built the ark.

It was professionals who built the Titanic.

04:36 pm
2/25/12

7 comments
Leave a comment

thetoymaker

Writing, Drawing, Writing

I've been in a writing, painting, drawing and rewriting frenzy these last few months, so I haven't really blogged much. Life has pretty much looked like this..

The boy cracked me up with these super hamburgers that he made. They were the size of baseballs, stuffed with green chilies and cheese.

McQueen and Mister Pretty sit on my desk and keep me company.

The Wonderhub is making another Selmer classical and a tenor ukelele. The wood grain is beautiful. The ukelele has a turquoise sound hole inlay.

I've been baking a lot lately. It's inexpensive and tastes so much better than store bought. The brown loaf is made with whole wheat, rye flour, coffee and cocoa powder. Delish!

How about you? What's cooking in your kitchen?

Marilyn.

There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself. ~ Ruth Stout