Vance Studios- fine art and photography

Vance Studios opened on ArtFire.com 5-1-09, and her studio categories include architectural prints, beach, floral prints, sunrise prints, train, boat, car prints, food, poster prints, and collections.  She's got a bit of something for everyone!  Her biography reads: "I've also been the crafty one on my family. I inherited my fine art abilities from my maternal grandmother, and my "vision" of developing ideas from my father. Together, they (sometimes a dangerous combination!) cause me to stretch beyond my 'craft comfort zone.'
I graduated from college with a BA in interior design and jumped feet first into my new career as a commercial interior architect. With great devotion and a gene of perfectionism, I worked long hours leaving no time for my own art. Since then, the economy tanked out and I've suffered two layoffs and decided to remove myself from the architecture field. I'm now a Contracts Administrator, which has nothing to do with my degree and college training. With more stable and reliable hours (but a longer 60 mile commute!) I am able to give myself an escape into my own little world of art!
I am currently located outside of Washington, DC, in northern Virginia. Each of my smaller fine art and photography pieces are printed in-house, matted, and sealed in an archival poly-sleeve so that I am able to ensure the best quality. For larger pieces, I work with a trusted printer to ensure the same level of quality-control. Every ink line, stroke of paint, and shutter of the camera relays a pART of me, to which I would only entrust the best."

Her customers absolutely rave about her work, saying "Your oustanding photo arrived today!!!!!!!!!!! I just adore it!!!!!!!! Magnificent work! Many thanks to you and keep it up!", "Oh Christine!!!! Thank you so much for your photos! The color saturation is AMAZING!! Your note cards---pulease! I love them! I thank you for your original drawings. What a great talent you have--be proud, C! I will ONLY come to you for ALL my photo needs :)", "OH VANCE I ADORE YOUR CALENDARS! YOUR PHOTOS ARE SO SPECTACULAR! BRILLIANT! SUPERB! AMAZING! NOW I GET TO GAZE AT YOUR PHOTOS EVEN WHILE I'M AT WORK ;) THANK YOU FOR THE SAMPLER PHOTO!-LOVE IT!", and "Goodness Vance! Your notecards are just brilliant!! You cannot find such true and saturated color like you have! Off-The-Hook--Beautiful!! Then, you included one of my all-time favorite photos! I have stared at the Cherry Blossom photos for hours :)"

Vance Studios can also be found on blogspot and Twitter.  Below is a sample of some of her beautiful work.  Be sure to stop by and see what her customers are so excited about!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Valentine's Hearts from CreativeCritters

I thought I'd share some of my items with hearts today, since Valentine's Day is fast approaching.  My angel doll was sewn by hand and wears a pretty white gown with a red heart print.
I have lots of jewelry featuring hearts as well.

I also have some adorable and silly heart magnets.
And these little Angel sculptures are just too cute!
Thanks for checking out my hearts!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Plush World of Warcraft Characters from CreativeCritters

Below are some of my handsewn plush World of Warcraft Taurens and Murlocs.  I created the patterns myself and sew each character by hand.  I use felt, fleece, and velboa fabric to sew the bodies, which are stuffed with poyester fiberfill.  The Taurens wear clothes made from leather and carry weapons sculpted from polymer clay.  Both Taurens, and Murlocs have jointed limbs, allowing them to be posed.  Each creature is a one of a kind creation, and would make the perfect gift for any fan of the game.  The pictures below are clickable, and will take you directly to the listing for more detailed information.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

House Morbid- handmade art for the darker mind

House Morbid, on ArtFire.com, offers some very unique handcrafted boxes, monsters, charm bottles, hair accesories, sugar skulls, and creepy bottles.  Their studio announcement reads: "We specialize in handmade art for the darker mind. Skeletons taking tea. Giving your sweetie a heart,anatomically inspired, of course,to show your love. Or having something on hand to make the nosy office gossip think twice about poking around your desk again. If any of these things have ever crossed your mind, you have come to the right place. We have offerings for all those tastes and more. From the mundane with a twist to the truly disturbing. If you do not see what you are hunting for, just ask."  House Morbid can also be found on Amused Delerium, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and MySpace.  Below is just a sample of the great items that can be found in this fun shop.  Be sure to stop in and see all they have to offer!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Gramma's in the hospital again

For those of you who don't know, I live with my 93 year old grandmother and take care of her. Saturday night I had to call the ambulance because she was having trouble breathing. She didn't want me to call, but I was really worried about her. After the paramedics came she finally agreed to go to the hospital. It was a good thing she went, because it turns out she has bronchitis (again). Last spring she spent 2 weeks in the hospital after bronchitis turned into pneumonia. She really hasn't been the same since she came back from the last hospital stay. She was lot weaker and was starting to forget things and get confused. It's not easy being her sole caregiver. Unfortunately my mother lives in another state, but we've been on the phone together nearly every day. She's coming to visit next month, which I'm really looking forward to. Not only will we be able to take care of some of Gramma's affairs while Mother's here, but it will be nice to have someone else help shoulder the load for a bit. Plus it will be nice to see my mother again and spend some time together.
When I talked to the nurse at the hospital today, she said Gramma was doing a little better than yesterday, although they need to get her blood sugar stabilized (she's diabetic). She doesn't seem to be coughing quite as much as she was, and they had her sitting in the chair for a few hours. She's still on oxygen, but her appetite seems to be returning a bit. They want to send her to a nursing home (one we're quite familiar with) to do her rehabilitation after she gets out of the hospital. Her doctor works there too, so she'll be comfortable with him there. I'm doing all I can to keep her spirits up, and trying to avoid upsetting her in any way. I didn't mention that the heating element in the oven died yesterday. If I told her, she'd just get all worried and upset. Hopefully I can just replace the element, and we'll have a working oven again. Unfortunately I can't bake any polymer clay until we get it fixed (not to mention dinner- LOL). I'm paying all her bills now, as well, so she doesn't have to worry about that either.
I hate seeing her weak and confused, because that's just not Gramma. It's hard to believe she'll be 94 in April. I can only hope that it's a healthy and happy 94. If anyone deserves to be healthy and happy, it's Gramma.
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Utterly Eclectic- handcrafted and vintage jewelry and supplies

Utterly Eclectic opened her shop on ArtFire.com 12-9-08.  She offers beuatiful vintage and handcrafted jewelry as well as jewelry supplies.  She grew up in maine in a very creative family. Her father was an engineer who could fix or create anything and her mother was a seamstress who sewed, knit , crocheted and quilted. She lived in a very creative family and had developed many interests, with jewelry making and collecting being just one of many. Below is a sample of some of the wonderful items you can find in her shop.

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Loom knit stuffed animals, Christmas ornaments, and catnip toys

A few months ago I was looking for a quicker way to knit stuffed animals.  I decided to try my hand at some of the knitting looms I've seen in the craft store. These are circles of various diameters (mine are plastic) with evenly spaced pegs around which you wrap your yarn.  The looms allow you to create a knit tube with no seams.  I started with a very small loom, and slowly added to my collection.  The smallest ones are great for tails and similar long, thin cords.  As the circles increase in diameter they can create arms, legs, bodies, hats, sweaters, and more.  Some of the first items I created with the looms were catnip toys, which I stuff with my own organic catnip.
I used my two smallest looms to create the head, body, tails, and ears on my catnip dog, cat, and bunny.  I've also found loom knitting to progress a bit faster than flat knitting, and it's a little easier on my hands.  I used the small loom to create tiny hats for some of my Christmas ornaments (I knit the scarves in the regular manner).  And the purple stockings (which hold some adorable polymer clay kittens) were knit with a small loom as well.
Very recently I've been knitting teddy bears.  These stuffed toys are very soft and cuddly- great for children and adults alike.  I think everybody should have at least one teddy bear.  I made the little purple bear first, with Valentine's Day in mind.  This is the sort of gift I would love to get.  When I saw how well he turned out, I thought I'd try my hand at larger bears.  All of these were created with my own patterns.  When my cream and gold bear turned out so nicely, I figured I'd do a slightly different bear in red, pink, and white (another good one for Valentine's Day).  In my opinion, she's even cuter than the gold bear (although he's quite adorable himself!). 


I hope you enjoyed all my loom knit creations.  There will certainly be more to come.  I'm mulling over ideas for a knit dragon, among other creatures, so be sure to stop back often.  You never know what you'll find at CreativeCritters!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters