An exciting Adventure Time announcement!

Those of you who follow me on instagram probably saw this yesterday, but I am so excited I had to share it with my blog readers too!

A while ago I was asked to contribute to an upcoming Adventure Time Crafts book for Cartoon Network, and the book comes out next Tuesday! Today I got my preview of the book and I am SO excited to share it with you.

There are tons of amazing tutorials by some awesome crafters; The Slivered Blade, Chalkboard Nails, Yummy Pancake and the book itself is created by Chelsea from Love & a Sandwich.
My particular tutorial is for painting your own Treetrunks shoes!

The book is available for preorder on Amazon now, but it's officially out on October 7th.

Chelsea has already posted a free tutorial from the book to make some awesome Adventure Time Finger puppets. Check it out here.

Rainbow Pinata Cross Stitch Pattern

As you probably saw in Sunday's blog post, my newest craft addiction is cross stitch. I initially started is as part of my uni project, but I think I'm going to continue with it. It's been a much more relaxing way to stay occupied on long tube journeys than playing angry birds and pet rescue saga!

Besides a few little cacti, this Rainbow Pinata is the first proper cross stitch project I've done in years. It's inspired by my Mexican Project and the adorable Adventure Time pinata Manfried.

Here's the pattern for anyone wanting to stitch this!

Picture Catch Up #1

Over the past few weeks I've been frantically crafting and sewing ready for the start of term on Monday. This project is based on Mexico so I've been drawing inspiration from Mexican parties, plants, artists, food and crafts so I've been doing lots of colourful embroidery and applique as well as lots of illustration and pattern ideas.

Here's some pictures from my sketch book work, I'll be posting a pattern for my Pinata cross stitch later in the week.

Don't forget to enter my Kelsea Echo Giveaway for your chance to win a $40 gift card for her shop!

Etsy Love - Origami Cuteness

After my research on the J Pop artist Kyary Pamyu Pamyu I started looking at traditional Japanese techniques that could have influenced her style. Recently I've been experimenting with origami and, naturally, have turned to Etsy for inspiration. Here are my fav origami Etsy finds:

1. Whimsical Duchess / 2. Kidivist / 3. Noodle Hug / 4. The Paper Crafterie / 5. Studio Snowpuppe / 

6. Karin Leather / 7. Fiber Lab / 8. Studio Armadillo / 9. Wide Sky Papercrafts

Simple leather (or pleather) crafts

Yesterday at uni we had a whole day of learning different finishes and crafts with leather. We learned some pretty cool effects and tricks are were easy and really fun to do. So I immediately hit pinterest to find a way of sharing these techniques with you guys. Of course you can use pleather or some other kind of material to make these too.

1. Magic braiding

This was one of my favorite techniques I learned yesterday but I wouldn't even begin to know how to explain it to you. Melissa Esplin describes it perfectly in her Magic Braided Leather tutorial. Don't forget to check out Melissa's other posts too, she has a flair for craft and design and updates her blog with great tutorials regularly.

2. The Five Stranded Braid

I didn't learn this technique yesterday, but it's on my list of things to try. I love this effect because it looks strong and decorative at the same time. Design and Form shares a brilliant step by step tutorial on how to achieve this beautiful effect.

3. Leather Wrapped Bracelet

This Leather Wrapped Bracelet tutorial by Lebenslustiger looks a little harder than the others but totally worth it. For anyone wanting Faux leather cord for this, Nature Beads on Etsy has a nice selection.

4. DIY Leather tassels

FACT: Tassels are awesome. They're super simple to do and very effective. You can use them to spruce up presents, stick to shoes and bags, make keyrings and jewellery with. Miss Renaissance.com/ proves just how awesome they can look with her DIY Leather Tassels. Her use of colour and detail makes these tassels look extra special and makes great inspiration for creating your own.

Etsy Love - My Little Pony

The My Little Pony converse I did a couple of weeks ago got me searching etsy for some fun My Little Pony inspiration. There is so much bright and fun MLP love on Etsy, so I thought I'd share a little of it!

Check out more of my Etsy Love here.

1. Ketchupize / 2. Ika Boushi / 3. Captured My Soul / 4. Shnookers / 5. Hungry Panda Supplies / 

6. J Seames Illustration / 7. The Paper Pony Place / 8. Hipster Octopus / 9. Athenas Wink

Blogwatch - 27/10/13 - Halloween Crafts

It's Halloween really soon! So this week I'm sharing some of my fav Halloween tutorials from some awesome bloggers I've just discovered. I hope these crafts get you in the Halloween spirit!

I love these black cat nails by Beauty by Arielle. They look really effective and simple to do.

These cute spider cupcakes by HollyDays look too cute to eat. They're perfect for all year round too.

These pom pom spiders by A Pinch of Joy are a fun and easy craft to do. I love the spiders cute googly eyes.

I think these pumpkin balloons by The Celebration Shop are a genius idea.

This Halloween centerpiece by Lil Luna is so simple and striking. A perfect decoration for a Halloween dinner or buffet table.

I want to eat all these adorable spider cookies by Cake Whizz, they look so delicious.

Etsy Love - London

Today is the day I move in to my new flat in London. I'm so excited and nervous! I've never lived this far from home so it's going to be tough being so far from my amazing friends, animals and family, but I know there are lots of new and exciting opportunities in London.

I decided it's probably apt to schedule a London themed Etsy treasury today. So here are my top London themed Etsy goodies:

1. Freulein Stephi / 2. My Tiny Tot Creative / 3. ihomegift / 4. Amordress / 5. Paper Tango / 6. youlovedesign / 7. plastique / 8. Jezebel Charms / 9. Seahorse Bend Press

Mermaids & Goldfish Russian Dolls

This is a custom order I finished last week of some mermaid Russian Dolls. They're based on my original Mermaid Matryoshka but personalised to look like the customer - as a present for her penpal. The customer wanted open eyes instead of my usual closed eyed dolls - I think the new open eyed look is super cute, I also love the brunette hair colour too. She also wanted some little goldfish including in the design.

Want some of your own personalised Russian Dolls? Contact me through my Etsy Shop or at ponychopsshop@gmail.com

Don't forget to enter my Celine H20 Giveaway!

Etsy Shop Crush - Sombrilla Verde

When I came across Sombrilla Verde, I just had to share their adorable creations with you guys.

They sell loads of creative things, including plushies and illustrations, but I'm especially in love with their little gourds (this is the best definition I could find for gourd, I hadn't heard that word before).

These cuties are so adorable, full of character and unique.

[Etsy Shop]

Etsy Shop Crush: What. No Mints?

The first thing that caught my eye about "What. No Mints?" was their name. I think a good shop name always helps draw people in, and What, No Mints is certainly the kind of name you don't forget.

What. No Mints? is run by Sasha from South Florida. Her creations are obviously very inspired by her love of nature and science. This shop is full of geeky, colourful and adorable crafts and goodies. Each ornament is lovingly crafted with great attention to detail. I love the geeky element of this shop, my bestie is a crafter and a science geek so it's given me a ton of birthday present ideas!

[Etsy] [Twitter] [Blog]

Etsy Shop Crush: Stedi

Stedi provide a new, more modern twist to embroidery and cross stitching. They combine beautiful colours and threads with objects you wouldn't usually expect to be embroidered. I love their functional embroidered spice racks and shelves.

Stedi is run by Elena Kirsanova, a Netherland based designer who is inspired by combining different materials such as textile yarns, wood and metal. I'm a big fan of Elena's work, I think the items she sells are so original and unique.

[Etsy] [Facebook] [Pinterest]

Introducing Milky Robot

I've always been a big Blythe Doll lover, I love their creepy cute expressions, big, cold eyes and lollipopesque (ha, is that a word?) stature. 

I have three of my own that I intend on customising in the next few months and showing you all the progress pictures. In the mean time though, I want to introduce you to one of my wonderfully talented sponsors, Milky Robot. She customises Blythe dolls and makes the most adorable doll dresses! I'm so in awe of her Blythe dolls, she has seriously inspired me to start the process of customising my own!

 Hello! I have been active with Blythe's and customizing them for about 4 years now! I started customizing my own dolls fairly quickly after discovering these big headed girls and became addicted! This year I took a plunge and started airbrushing most of my work and I'm in love with the color range I can get on them. Fantasy haired Blythe's are my favorite to work on, they make a fun canvas and I can really go crazy! I have been sewing for Blythe for a couple years now but only the past year took it more serious and started sewing each week to fill up my shop. They are the perfect sized doll to sew for and have similar bodies to the vintage Skipper dolls.

Other than Blythe customizing and sewing, I also design and make plush monsters, handspun yarn and other yarn-y goods! I'm obsessed with crafts and I have at least one project I'm doing daily!

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