HUGE Week!!

It's been a big, busy past week here at Felted Chicken!!! I've had 4 sales (which pretty much doubled my total sales in February). Not only have I been getting ready for The Pink Parlour Festival by running around town getting stuff & finishing product, but I also am working 40 hours at my job, AND have made my FIRST GIANT Etsy sale!!!

I sold the Angler Fish!! He will be missed because he has had a permanent spot on our bookcase in the living room for the past year. He is going to a great home in Germany!! It's my first major sculpture sale & it feels awesome!! I feel kinda justified & like an official Artist!!




















And here is a Custom Cupcake that I made for a customer this week, too! It's a sweet Chocolate Cupcake with Frosty Blue Icing!! It's got me thinking of making some more interesting Cupcake Color combinations.




















OH!! I forgot to mention before....

I just listed my 100th item in my Etsy Shop!!! Gots lots of stuff, now just need lots of buyers!!! HAHA!!!

An All-Out Esty Assault!!!

Yep, doing another Etsy Surge in the next couple weeks!! Got lots done on my day off yesterday, including getting photos of 20+ new items that I will be listing in my shop. Here are a couple of new Cupcakes that I just listed!!






























Got lots more Cupcakes and New (re)GIFT BAGS that I will be listing!! Be sure to check out my shop for the latest additions!!

AND THE WINNERS ARE....

Yep, that's right!! WINNERS!!! (randomly picked by using Random.org)


GINNY from The Mom 2 Dancers Blog

AND

Nicole (or) k_towngrl823

**So GINNY & Nicole, I need you to email me at FeltedChicken@live.com -

(actually just Ginny cause my stupid computer won't allow me to open your email link from your blogger profile) with your Choice of Cupcake Color!!! I know Nicole likes the Blue one, but need both your addresses & Ginny's color choice! The sooner you email me, the sooner I can get your cupcakes in the mail!!!)


YEA!!! I decided to give away 2 Felted Cupcakes because I was so humbled and excited by how much interest there was in my little GiveAway!! Thank You to everyone that entered.... and don't worry, I will try to keep you all reading with some awesome posts I have planned for the near future!! PLUS, I think I will do another GiveAway soon!!


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Plus just wanted to share a few Featured FeltedChicken links!! This week was great for seeing all the links & posts Featuring my little Felted Creations (many thanx to you guys!)

First Etsy Storque Feature!! - Top 10 Tax Time Tips From Outright
Featuring my Felted "Burning Dollar" Plush!

Featured on Dabbled Blog - Fabulous Felted Snake
With pictures of the Black Mamba

Picture on Dude Craft Blog - DudeCraft Flickr Pool Roundup
Including the picture of Black Mamba biting my hand

In 2 Etsy Treasuries! - California Dreamz, & QUE Cute
The Treasuries include a Felted California Set & Gut-Zilla!

Thanks to all the links & views this weeks!! I promise to keep working hard! Am just now building the wooden Mechanical Parts (ran into some trouble) for the Koi & Frog, got some more Sweet Treats in the works, and a new crazy, rock'n idea that I might start today!!!

LAST DAY TO ENTER!!!

Yep, you've got less than 16 hours to Enter to win one of these Super Cute Felted Cupcakes with a Cherry on Top!!!




Thank You to everyone who has entered so far!! So many new friends!

I will be announcing the winner tomorrow morning!

Just to remind you how you can enter....

1. Follow my Blog! - Then comment on THIS post - Feb 1, 2010 - "Blog Giveaway #1"
2. Blog about this Giveaway - Then comment with the link on THIS post.
3. Tweet my Giveaway - Then link to your Twitter Account here so I can find & follow you!
4. Become a Fan on FaceBook - Then remind me on THIS post.


ENTER HERE!!!

Filming Commercials is Hard Work!!

I'm still tired after my long day of work on Thursday!! Got to work with my brother on filming a commercial for his company, and learned alot about setting up lights, cameras, and green-screens. It was a ton of fun, got to hang out with my brother for a couple hours, and got to meet Kobe Bryant! He was the star of the commercial! He's super nice & he is who I made the Felted Snake for!! his nickname is the Black Mamba & he was really excited & loved the snake!!

Here are a couple pictures of the action from Thursday....




















Here are also a few nice pictures of the Black Mamba....






DON'T FORGET.....

Tomorrow is your last day to Enter the FELTED CUPCAKE GIVEAWAY!!! I'm going to check out the links right now!! So many awesome people have taken the time to comment & so many nice comments!!!

TOMORROW NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT....
THEN ANNOUNCEMENT ON MONDAY!!!!!

Snakes & Cupcakes are No Joke

Today's post is full of in-process PICTURES!!! YEA!!! So to start it off here are a couple of pictures to prove that I am super serious about CupCakes!!! Here are a couple of working photos of the new slew of Cupcakes & Cherries that I'm finishing up!












Don't forget...
Enter to Win your very own Felted Cupcake Here!!!!
Still got plenty of time to enter, getting off to a great start!!


And also included in this Picture Post today is a series of Photos that show the Airbrush Painting process from my newest Felted Sculpture!! It's a custom piece that I did for my brother (actually it's the first "celebrity" piece I've done, and hopefully will have picts of said celebrity and the snake in a couple days!) He's a Black Mamba Snake!!! Very cool, the snake is kinda boring, but had fun doing all the shading & painting!!



















Here is the snake all plain & white needle-felted Romney Wool. 99% of all the sculpting was done before I started to paint him. So, got the airbrush out & mixed the watery acrylics & was ready to go!




















Started with a yellowish base color all over the snake. Wanted to have the under color to be warm instead of white.




















Dark brown was next. This is the start of the dark shading & super dark body color on the top. You can see how I started to shade the top scales while trying to leave the lighter space in between.




















BLACK BLACK!! Yea, He's starting to come to life!! This is the first of many, many layers of Black color for the body & even more shading.




















After many layers of black, he's almost done!! I like how his scales turned out with the lighter lines between the diamond shapes. I was trying to make him pretty realistic (well, a little general, but has all the details. I've been trying really hard to work on adding uber detail cause many of my favorite felting artists are those that make tiny super fine detailed sculptures! So Jealous!)




















So here he is!! Added a few details on his face to help make it pop. He turned out pretty cool, wish the subject was a bit more colorful, but hey, this is what the Black Mamba looks like, so whatcha gonna do?







This is his done & shaded under belly!! Like the ridges!

Don't forget about the BLOG GIVEAWAY!!!

.

Blog Givaway #1

YEP, THAT'S RIGHT!!! FeltedChicken is hosting it's first ever Blog GiveAway!!!! You could win your very own FREE Super Sweet Felted CupCake, just in time for Valentine's Day!!! I'm making lots of new Felted CupCakes w/ Cherries on Top for the Pink Parlour Festival as we speak, so I have a ton of new colors!! If you are the lucky winner you get your choice of color!!


















What Do I Win?

You win 1) Super Cute Felted Cupcake! Your choice of color: Red, Orange, Yellow, Lt Green, Blue-Green, Blue, Purple, Black, or Tan!! So many to choose from!!


How Do I Enter?**

Easy!! Just do one of these easy this! You CAN enter multiple times!!

1. Follow my Blog! - Then comment on THIS post - Feb 1, 2010 - "Blog Giveaway #1"
2. Blog about this Giveaway - Then comment with the link on THIS post.
3. Tweet my Giveaway - Then link to your Twitter Account here so I can find & follow you!
4. Become a Fan on FaceBook - Then remind me on THIS post.


Who Will Win?

It's very important that you leave a comment on THIS post for ever Entry because I will number each comment & choose a random number using RANDOM.ORG. So if you want many entries, do one of the 4 things & comment for each one!!!


When Will it End?

The chance to enter the contest will end on Sunday February 7th at Midnight!! I will pick the random winner on Monday morning & post the winner!!!

















**I've always wanted to type out some "Small Print". Don't know if anyone will actually read this, but I think its funny!! Blah, Blah. There isn't anything to disqualify you from entering, I think.... You can be a friend, family, or stranger. The Felted Cupcakes are really cute! And depending on how this giveaway goes, I might do another. That's why it's titled "Blog Giveaway #1". And who knows, if I get enough traffic I might giveaway 2 Cupcakes. We'll see how it goes. If you actually read this small print, comment with "small print" and you get a Bonus Entry!
*** Just realized I'm dumb & it should really be called "Fine Print"!!!

Monday Teaser...

So I'm going to post something on Monday that I've never posted before. I'm going to try and be a little more pro-active with connecting to fellow crafters online, so be sure to check back. February is a new month & there might be lots of fun & exciting FeltedChicken shenanigans coming.....

Sneak Peak....
It just might have something to do with this....

New Cupcake Design!!!

YEA!! Did get some photos done yesterday. I hate the winter sun cause I never think about going out to photograph my stuff until afternoon. In the summer I have good sun until like 4-5 pm. But now, I get shadows by 3:00!!! Today's a bust with pictures anyways cause it's raining! It hardly rains here in SoCal, but it's been rather wet this past week.

I did get some awesome picts of my new CupCake designs though!! Just listed them in my shop. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE how the cherries turned out. It's crazy how you come up with the most creative stuff when you are pressured for time. I made the little stems last minute, and LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out! I think they look pretty realistic. I also love the yummy colors & shading & cuteness.... actually I love how I did them!! Ego much?








I also am experimenting with some new material. I did a test last night (actually I'm going to turn it into a X-Mas present for my niece) & am really happy how it turned out. I need to get a couple things to make the custom order I got for it, but will post pictures tomorrow of process. It's pretty cool.

Have a great Weekend!! Only 2 more till Christmas!! Get your shopping done... in my shop :)

Obvious Conclusions...

**Thanx krex for inspiring these thoughts!!**

It's funny, at points last weekend (especially Friday) I was swearing that I would NEVER NEVER NEVER do another Show again. It was too much stress, too much pressure, too overwhelming.

So what changed my mind?

Well, I think it was Saturday night, we were driving home after the first long day kinda talking about how things went & what the day was like, and I came to some obvious conclusions....

1. It won't be this stressful every time. I hadn't realized that I wasn't going to have to make as much product for every show. I think I was under some delusion that I would sell out every item that I had for sale, and would have to restock it all in the future. Well, that didn't happen!! I have plenty of stuff that I can list in my shop & plenty of product to take to the next show. I can instead focus on making more AWESOME sculptures to sell instead of spending so much time making the small, easy stuff.
2. Just because I don't sell at the show, doesn't mean people won't buy. I knew this one in the back of my head, but was so worried about selling stuff there, that it wasn't until Sunday that I really started to focus on handing out business cards & telling people about my blog. I know that doing shows is about networking and getting people exposed to your work, and there is no reason that someone who took my business card at the show might not check out my shop & buy something they passed over before.
3. Not every show is going to be a winner. My parents used to own a Comic Book Shop when I was little, and they would sell at many-a Comic Book Conventions. They told me that there were shows where they didn't make a single sale all weekend!! Also Unique Los Angeles is a huge show (almost too overwhelming) and after talking to a fellow vendor, I learned that this specific show is very Design & Clothes & Bags based. There are other shows that are more arts and hand-made crafts based that I might sell better at. You never know until you try!

So now that I have a more realistic view of what doing shows is going to be like, I feel better about it. I think I just had nothing to compare it to. I did really well, so I am happy with the whole experience. I also know that starting your own business (crafty or otherwise) is really expensive, and most people fail, and most people do it for years without any real recognition. I'm okay with that... for now.

And going with the thoughts of #1, I'm excited about making new products and to continue expanding my current designs. I did get to make a few new sculptures for the show. I sold many of them, but have a few that I need to photo & list in my shop.







Need better pictures of my new Palm Tree. It has battery-powered X-Mas lights, with the battery pack hidden in the base. It's super cute & lights up! Definitely need to get this one photo'd today!
























Everybody thought these were HILARIOUS!! I thought they were cute & funny. They are just little bits of felted coal. Made the same way as my sushi, except that I dyed the wool with Acid dyes (which was kinda hardcore & complicated).














New CupCakes!! Love these & the cherries!! I think the stems came out perfect!! I need to photo these too... so much to do even after the show's over!!









HeeHee!! New design, need to tweak it a little bit to make it more awesome. Got some materials (casting resin) to try out on this little fun sculpture. You can't kill this little fishy!!!

At A Snail's Pace

So I've been getting back into things real slow... Need motivation. I finished the custom order yesterday & thought it was so cute that I made an extra for Lance's cousin's daughter's 2nd birthday (that was alot of - 's).

It's a variation of my CupCake bag with Sprinkles!! Pretty cute, especially for little girls.

Didn't get much else done yesterday, except some errands & video games. Did make some Chili last night for dinner cause I miss Fall. My mom used to make Chili the first cold night of the season. It is like 80˚ here in Southern California, but hey, I can imagine it!

Gotta come up with a cool idea to make next. Maybe something awesome to help pad-up my portfolio for applying to Grad School. Applications are due sometime in December, so gotta a couple of months to get a few things made. I'll keep you updated, hopefully an amazing awe-inspiring idea will pop into my head today & I'll get working!!!

Feeling All Mathematical-like

Had another great day off yesterday! We got up early & got some breakfast, we over to the bookstore, & stopped by Best Buy to grab a couple movies. I'm excited, cause I think I want Lance to get me an Iphone for my B-Day. I need a new phone, & since he's not the most surprising gift-giver, he usually just buys me what I want. I'll let you know, I'm sure!!

Like I said in the title, I'm feeling very Mathematical-like. I started reading "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. I'm surprised because I get most of the basic physics so far (I was dumb & lazy in high school and never took it). So I decided to do my own crafty experiment. I was working on my newest Felted Critter (awesome), & decided to time how long it takes to poke the wool 1,000 times. Here are the results....

Needle Felting Pokes

1 Poke	1/3 Second
100 Pokes	30 Seconds
1,000 Poke	5 Minutes
100,000 Pokes	8 Hours, 20 Minutes
1,000,000 Pokes	3 Days, 11 Hours, 20 Minutes
*	*
1 Second	3.33 Pokes
1 Minute	200 Pokes
1 Hour	12,000 Pokes
1 Day	288,000 Pokes

I usually sit and needle felt for hours at a time, so I hope this helps illustrate just how much I poke & poke & poke & poke & poke.....

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I forgot to post some pictures of my New Yummy Needle-Felted Cupcakes I listed last week. So I thought I'd throw them in today!! Here's a Carrot Cake Cupcake & Chocolate Insanity Cupcake!!