creating dolls for dr sketchy brighton

I've been a little out of control lately, putting Dr. Sketchy Brighton back on the UK map! In addition to meeting some stellar people and getting everything organized, I've been able to get my art on too.

Since this is my first event, I didn't have any photos or videos to post, so I had to thumb through all my cerebral folders to come up with a way to present our Back to Skool event visually. Hmmm . . . back to skool? What could be more fun than naughty, sneaky, stinky St. Trinian's SKOOL GRRLZ? Uh, nothing.

And this is where ebay my ebay comes in! When in creative limbo, do an ebay search. Weird advice? Not for me. Nothing gets my creative mojo back faster than looking at strange items on ebay and imagining even stranger things I can turn them into.

Enter a big box of bendable MAJORETTES. A little paint here, some ink there, a whittled down bamboo skewer and VOILA! Dr. Sketchy Brighton Skool Grrlz.

Did somebody say a box full of wind-up soldiers? KER-POW! Paint, ink, masking tape, bamboo skewer . . . DANCING Dr. Sketchy Brighton Skool Grrlz! (Watch the video to see the "dance.")

I know it's much more realistic to have real humans in photos and videos, and I'm sure I'll be posting loads of those in the very near future, but something tells me we haven't seen the last of these little plastic entities. They're already kicking holes in their boxes screaming to get out . . .

By the way, did I mention we give prizes at our Dr. Sketchy Brighton events? Any guesses what some of those prizes might be?

grouchy pink grrl does it again . . .

. . . only this time she's been BURIED IN BETSY'S CLOSET! Marianna, the terribly hip creator of Betsy's Closet contacted me through cookiechang.etsy.com and asked if she could feature my sweatbands in her latest entry, Hiding in the Gym. How could I possibly say no?

So thanks to Marianna for giving cookie chang a shout out! If you're interested in purchasing said sweatbands, check 'em out here:
black sweatband with art patch GROUCHY PINK GRRL
and
very pink sweatband with kissy kiss art patch

And while we're on the subject of cookie chang . . . I recently listed some great new products -- 1" magnets on collector art cards. They sound unassuming, but just you wait 'til you have one of your very own! There are 24 to choose from -- all images of my original mixed media paintings from 2000 to present. Choices choices.

May I suggest a starter of "marvin"? My take on Bjork. Her cheeky grin will assure you that any tiptoed midnight fridge fests will be kept strictly between the two of you!

grouchy pink grrl makes an etsy treasury!

Uh-oh, uh-oh, Punky Brewster, we'll always be the best of frie-ends...

Hey, I haven't thought about Punky in . . . forever! But Britt (brittg.etsy.com) has and she's put together an adorable etsy treasury of items she thinks "could be for a modernized Punky Brewster," including my very own grouchy pink grrl sweatband (which you can purchase here)!

Thanks Britt! =(V)

cookiechang.etsy.com makes a top five!

Cheers Melissa Carter (CASEmethod.etsy.com)! She listed cookiechang.etsy.com as her top five etsy shops! Have a look HERE.

follow the carrot brick road . . .

Spring done sprung! To celebrate, kpie and I are putting up a new fence in our garden, painting older fence panels and gates . . . and making garden art. Here's the first of what I hope will be several to liven up our porch and garden area.

I'm currently painting several coats of clear acrylic to weatherize this painting -- which, in a former life, was a cabinet front. I primed it with a flat latex (emulsion), sketched out a basic design with a Sharpie (the garden theme accidentally bounced out); then painted it with acrylics, oil sticks and ink. I'll be securing it to a fence post along the porch to break up the panels.

It measures 23"x27" and I'm calling it, Follow the Carrot Brick Road. More to follow!

all images ©copyright ramey n. holsman

instructions for your hand-painted art patch

Thank you for purchasing your very own hand-painted, original ART PATCH by me, Ramey Holsman (aka cookie chang)! I'm repeating the instructions that came on the label and adding some aftercare tips here . . .

IRON-ON INSTRUCTIONS: Always pre-wash clothing (t-shirt, coat, trousers) before adhering art patch. DO NOT USE fabric softener. Hats and bags may be a little more tricky to wash, just make sure the item is clean or new. The iron-on backing is "HeatnBond Ultrahold," and states it will adhere to most surfaces.

1. Peel off backing paper.


2. Position on desired material, adhesive side down.

3. Place clean, blank paper (bond works best), on top of patch and firmly press pre-heated iron (WOOL, low setting, no steam) for 8-10 seconds. Allow to cool before testing. If a corner or side is not properly attached, press iron down for another few seconds and allow to cool before testing again.


AFTERCARE:
After properly ironing on your art patch, you want to take care of it so it lasts! All of my art patches are hand painted with fabric paints and inks, then heat fixed for permanency -- which means you can machine wash them, but make sure it is always COLD water, then line dry. (The adhesive is heat sensitive, so if you put it in a hot dryer, the adhesive will heat as well and the patch will most likely fall off.)

Often when you take the item of clothing out of the wash, the art patch may well look like this -- all wrinkly (sometimes even more than shown):


That's OK. Gently flatten it by hand as best as you can, then set your iron on WOOL (one notch over is fine):

Place a clean piece of white paper over the top of your art patch. Regular bond works best:


Once your iron is heated, firmly press for approximately 3-5 seconds. This will flatten the patch and strengthen the adhesive bond. DO NOT iron the patch without a clean piece of paper between the iron and patch.


Don't over do it on the time. Just iron long enough to flatten out the patch, then line dry as usual -- no dryers! Your art patch should last and last . . .


And of course, be sure to check cookiechang.etsy.com often to see what new creations are waiting there for you!

a gorse is a gorse of course of course . . .

The proverbial "they" say you learn something new every day. I'm not sure if that's true for all 365 days of the year, but I'm pretty pleased with what I learned today. Or rather, what I put into action after learning last night.

As my past posts will tell you, I jump back and forth between art and wild mushrooms here. More art than wild mushrooms – mainly due to the tiny seasonal window of picking opportunities. But this spring my foraging eyes have lifted off the ground and followed my nose up a few feet to one of the sweetest smells in the Ashdown Forest – and one that certainly baffled this Pacific Northwest grrl's nose the first time I smelled it.

"What is that?" sniff sniff. "Coconuts?" sniff. Honey?" sniff sniff. "Citrus-Flower-Coconut-Grass? WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!"

Then my nose led me to the prettiest bright yellow flowers growing amongst . . . the scariest looking thorny leaves I have ever seen! But of course I felt compelled to find out if they tasted as wonderful as they smelled.

So I discovered a wonderful site last night whilst searching out information on GORSE FLOWERS! It's called eatweeds.co.uk which I've bookmarked for future foraging information. They had a delightfully simple and fresh gorse flower cordial recipe that had me up and moving early this morning preparing to gather enough of the little yellow flowers to make a double batch of the stuff.

So today I picked GORSE FLOWERS . . . in the pouring rain and serenaded by a lone cuckoo (the first I've heard this Spring). I filled a 12 litre bucket about a fifth of the way up with flowers and snacked on a few in between snagging my fingers on the sharp thorny leaves. Once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy and only took about 40 minutes for 8 good sized handfuls.

The eatweeds.co.uk recipe was extremely easy to follow (check it out) and I've ended up with more than a litre (double recipe) – some of which I've made into ice cubes for easy storage . . . and for experimenting over the next few weeks! I'm thinkin' martini?

Meanwhile, I'm finishing off a sublime glass of ice cold gorse flower cordial and sparkling water (1 part cordial to 4 parts water). It is the perfect spring tonic! If you're lucky enough to have gorse growing nearby I highly recommend trying it yourself.

(NOTE: Always make sure you know exactly what you're picking before you put it in your mouth!)