Dia De Los Muertos!

We spent yesterday at the Day of the Dead festival at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. There were so many talented artists there selling work!  It was so awesome to be surrounded by wonderful costumes & beautiful art. I LOVE the folk art look of the altars, sugar skulls, masks, & skeleton figurines. The festival was such a celebration with live music & dancers... even though it was in a cemetery!

Most of these skeletons are hand-made of paper-mache or clay.  I just LOVE them!! So fantastic & so inspirational!  I wanna make skeletons now!

It's a Good Day at Work....

When a couple of the creative director guys at Disney call you sculpted work "Bad-Ass"!! I've sculpted on quite a few of the Disneyland, DisneyWorld, Disney Tokyo, etc. rides in my career. But this was the first time that anyone actually said what I made was "bad-ass". Sculpting is what I do, it's not really a big deal. I like working on the theme-park rides cause then I know that my sculpted work is seen by millions of people every year. I don't get any name recognition, but I've always said that I "wanted to make art that my Grandma could enjoy." Well, now tons of kids & families get to see my art. It's hard, sweaty work.... but somebody has to do it!!


Movie recommendation...

So we've watched a few really good documentaries in the past couple weeks, but I want to recommend one that I've been thinking about.




It's called "Confessions of a Superhero". It's an awesome documentary that follows 4 of the costumed actors that work the "Hollywood & Highland" area. They work outside the Grauman's Theater & take pictures with tourists. They are all aspiring actors that are making their way through life. It tells of the 4 character's background & what they do in their everyday lives. I just like how it shows these iconic Hollywood attractions' real-life alter-egos. Their stories are awkward, sad, inspiring, weird, etc.

It's very cool & I totally recommend it if you have an evening!!!

I miss Vegas & Unemployment....

Do you have a "Day-Job"?

I just wanted to vent a little about how having a Day-Job kinda SUCKS! I love what I do at my job... but I miss vacation... I (surprisingly) miss being unemployed... I think it's the TIME that I miss. I love being on vacation cause it's an excuse to do whatever you want, spend money you really shouldn't, and eat whatever without feeling guilty. Despite the worry I felt when unemployed, I miss the 8-14 hours a day that I could work on my art. Now I get home & have maybe a couple hours to work on stuff. It really was nice to have unlimited time to start & prefect my craft.

It's funny cause I'm trying to work on the Predator Munny to finish it in time to submit it to the KidRobot contest, so I'm working like 3 hours after I get home from my Day-Job. Lance is so nice cause he is willing to go get us Fast-Food cause I'm busy working on it. It's nice, but annoying cause I don't seem to have any time to just chill. I think it's pretty much self-imposed business, but there always seems to be something that I HAVE HAVE HAVE to get finished. I have a craft show in July (which is getting close) that I haven't done much for, so I'm sure that I'll be frantically working on that once the Munny is done.

Sorry for the "pitty-party", but I just am feeling slightly overwhelmed. PLUS - I have the Art Supply store that I work at on the weekends to keep that job going.... ARGGGG!

This is the show I will be selling at in about a month!!!

OMG!! I'm so there!!

So Lance happened to show me a News clip of a dinosaur walking around a Japanese Mall, and from that I have found WALKING WITH DINOSAURS: LIVE!!!

OMG!!!!! I am so there!! It's a beautiful live show with life sized dinosaur puppets!!! From what I've seen, they are so beautifully sculpted & AWESOME!!!

I don't think I can emphasize how freak'n EXCITED I am about going to this!!! The show is going to be in Los Angeles in September & I am SOOOO going (even might have to pay for the most expensive seats because I want to be up close!) I LOVE dinosaurs & this is so awesome.

Here are a couple of videos of the dinos. I am just soooo impressed with how beautifully sculpted the costumes are & how awesome the puppetry is.....

Great Weekend!!

Had an awesome (busy) weekend!! Lots of fun family time! Spent Saturday with Lance's family, great time, great food!! And my brother was in town for business Sunday. We met down at the Lakers Game. Great seats, great food!! We even got into the secret "Celebrity Bar" where all the stars go during half-time. Saw a couple celebs: George Lopez & Adrian Brody. Then we met Kobe Bryant after the game (and by-the-way... Kobe is a "hugger")

Here are a few picts from the game yesterday!





Picture of the Famous Lakers' Girls!!
















Picture of some of the game action from our seats!!















Pictures of me & my Bro on the court!!


































And just to remind you...

Here are some pictures of the Black Mamba Felted Sculpture that I made for Kobe Bryant!!

Guest Blog Spot!

I just wanted to let everybody know about a guest Blog Spot I wrote on one of my favorite blogs:

Dabbled.org

Nancy was awesome enough to ask me to share a tutorial about my airbrush work. I did a photo tutorial showing the progression of some Chocolate Cupcakes!!! Please check it out....

(preview)




And my Movie Gig is going well!! I had to sign all these wavers about how I wouldn't Blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc ANYTHING about the production!!! So far it's pretty tame, and i wanted to share a picture with you!










Ever wonder what People Who Work on Movies drive to work???
Well, I'll give you one guess which car is mine (here's a hint):

Truck... Big Truck... Fancy Truck... Truck... Beetle... GIANT Truck...

You guess.

It just keeps coming...

Thought I was busy before... Now I just got a call to work on a movie for a few weeks. I'm excited about the money (totally need it), but then not excited about how tired I will be (plus the lack of time I will have to make all the new sculptures I have in mind). I do have a custom order that I HAVE to do this week (mini-Angler Fish!!!). Plus I get to keep my awesome job at the Art Supply Store!!! I love working there, but let's just say it pays a wee less than the Union work.

So don't want to officially say what movie I will be working on, but here is a teaser picture of one of my favorite toys I had as a kid....





You connect the dots....

This also means that I will probably be Blogging even less than I have been :(
I will try my best...
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Pink Parlour Festival Picts!!

Even though it was supposed to be a relaxing day off after my show yesterday, I still found myself running around like a chicken with their head cut-off!!!!

The Pink Parlour Festival was a ton of fun!! Didn't sell a whole lot, but handed out plenty of business cards, made some great connections, got some amazing feedback on my work, & had interest in some special orders!!

Here are a few picts of my table set-up. There's even a couple picts of Lance, who was awesome all day & helped me out with displaying everything.

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!!!!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

So it is the beginning of a long week of rain here in SoCal. They are predicting that it could be the worst rain storms in the last decade, which kinda sucks cause my house is old & totally not rain-proof. Also, when you live in a place where it rains like days out of the year, it's annoying cause I count on having warm, dry days to help with crafting. I work a lot outside with painting, or hanging things to dry, or taking pictures. Well, glad I got a bunch of stuff photographed last week, cause it's going to be a while before I get out there again.

So here are some awesome in-process picts of my jumping frog!! He's all dyed & has his joints put in. I put grommets in the joints to help protect the felt, then put some small nuts & bolts in to have the movement. I just need to finish the detail on him, add a couple more joints & make the box & hardware, still a lot to do to finish, but he's coming along!!


Upload pictures





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Question for my Fellow Crafters!!!

So I've got a question to those of you that sell at Craft Shows regularly:

Do you customize your table or booth display for each show or season... OR... Do you just keep the same setup for every show?

I'm going through my products & thinking about what I want to sell & how I want to display it for the upcoming show Pink Parlour Festival. I see that it's about 2 weeks before Easter & was wondering how many of you really tailor your products to the holiday or even the feel of the show. If you are selling at a more Artsy Show, do you feature more fine art pieces, or a more Crafty show, do you show more hand-made DIY stuff?

Or do you even think that much about it?


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A Paranoid Saturday Night Post....

So, I don't know if it's the fact that I've been listening to the CNN coverage of the catastrophic Haiti Earthquake all day, or the fact that (I'm not gonna lie) I've had a couple of glasses of my favorite Boxed Wine, but I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs about having a 72 hour Emergency Plan. It got me thinking, cause I live in a place that fears to have a mega earthquake & could possibly fall into the Pacific Ocean.

While at home this Christmas, my Dad & I had a conversation about what to do in case of an earthquake. He's a structural engineer & knows a hell-of-a-lot about what happens to your house during an earthquake. He gave me a great bit of advice that I think about everyday. He said that if you are involved in an earthquake, the best thing to do (contrary to the popular belief of standing in a door way) is to crouch down near a large piece of furniture, like a couch or cabinet. This way, if a floor of your building were to collapse, you might be able to hangout in a small space that is left after the furniture takes the majority of the impact. Or if there is time, run to your staircase. The stairway in a building is one to the strongest areas of the house cause there are multiple walls that surround it.

I want to share this link with you also:

Building your Family's 72 Hour Kit

It just gives you a great guide-line for what you should have on hand in case you are involved in an emergency. They say you should have a 72 hour kit because in the event of a catastrophic event, emergency services might not be able to help you for 72 hours, and up to 6 days. It's been 4 days after the Haiti Earthquake & there are so many people that are in desperate need of aid.

So there is my paranoid, slightly drunken post for the day. Please check out the link, cause even if you don't get everything on the list, at least it might get you thinking. It's got me thinking, and I THINK that I might grab a few more canned goods to store in the pantry the next time I go to the grocery store.

And to quote our not-so eloquent former President regarding the Earthquake in Haiti:

"I know a lot of people want to send blankets or water... Just send your cash."

...

Looking at a New Car!!

So after having to stuff everything in my tiny little 2004 New Beetle, I was thinking about getting a slightly bigger car. If I'm gonna try & do this whole Craft Show thing, not sure that my Bug will be able to cut it. Luckily we spent the day out at the L.A. Auto Show yesterday!! It was like going to every car showroom you could image, but all in one place!

This is a picture of me in my next car!! They checked my credit & it's pretty good, although the monthly payments are a bit high for me right now!!!
















I think this one was the Mercedes SL550. It retails for about $125,000. It was funny cause a lady said that I looked "really cute" sitting in the car.... um... well I think spending over $100,000 on a car, anybody would look cute!! I think it's a standard feature included in ever Mercedes!!!

But I did actually see a few cars that I would think about getting (used, never buying a new car again!). I liked the Scions alot! Lots of room & cute & funky, also a few others, like the Tricked-Out Bentley!

OH!! And I finally got to sit in my dream car.... The Dodge Challenger!!! That car is so hot....

SoCal Spites Me...

Got up this morning, and SoCal has decided to kick me while I'm down. It rained a little last night (just a bit, enough to dampen everything). That's what's great about living somewhere where it rains, maybe 3 days a year, you don't really think about it. I had some felt stuff "drying" outside... well...

CURSE YOU SoCal... CURSE YOU!!

Oh, well.
Back to work...

Even StarBucks Knows....

... How awesome & cool felt is! I haven't got to personally check this out (been locked away in my crafty dungeon) but Lance's Cousin texted me these picts from Starbucks the other day. Felt is all the rage this season I guess! Just remember when you go into Starbucks to buy your Pumpkin Spice Latte (my personal favorite of the year) that MY FELTED ITEMS are hand-made here in Sunny Southern California, and not in a sweat shop or by giant robots (that eventually will grow AI & take over the world - Terminator Style) in China!!


























I am planning on finally taking some picts today, I know I lied about listing new items everyday! It always seems that my Felty Eyes are way bigger than my Felting Hands. I've got a few things to photo today & lots of stuff almost done!! And with ONLY 2 WEEKS LEFT, I don't have time to be lazing about! Well, I'm off to work... and maybe play video games a little...

UNIQUE L.A. DECEMBER 5 & 6!

So I just realized that I never made an official announcement about FeltedChicken being a vendor at the Unique Los Angeles Show!! If you live in or around the L.A. area, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come by the show & do your Christmas or Hannukah shopping and support Hand-Made Artists!!

When: December 5&6,
11am - 6pm both days
Where: California Market Center
(110 East 9th Street - Map It)
Cost: $10, with partial proceeds going to the local non-profit 826LA! Entry gets you an exclusive-to-the-show limited edition tote bag, a free drink ticket, unlimited re-entry for both days, and access to our great lineup of free workshops. (children 12 and under are free)


I've been working really hard the past 3 weeks getting ready. I'm just waiting on my last couple of supplies (i.e. I'm out of white wool which makes it really hard to finish alot of my projects). I'm hoping to have a ROCK'N booth, selling sushi & (re)GIFT BAGS & Needle Felting Kits!! Plus my mom is coming into town to help me out for the weekend!!! YEA!!!

I'm still working hard, finishing up some stuff, starting some others, got some more (re)GIFT BAGS & sushi to photograph, got some things that I would like to start... etc... Been working 10 hour days, been ordering pizza every night, drinking too much boxed wine... etc...

So PLEASE be sure to come by the show & see all my hard work!!

Thanx!!

Hello Kitty!!

I feel like my brain is running 100 mph right now, I worked all weekend, but we did get out on Friday night for a Super-Fun time. We went to an art show that was celebrating the 35th anniversary of HELLO KITTY. It was awesome! Since it was Friday the 13th, it was officially "Goth Night", so there were lots of people dressed up. The line to get in to the show went down & around the block, but we totally had the hook-up & got to go in the back door!! There were paintings & drawings & sculpture by a ton of pop-culture artists & toy designers. I really wanted to buy a print from "Angry Woebots", but it was like $150, and I'm poor again, so no. Here are a couple of picts from our night out!!









































*The last picture is of the print I wanted to buy, so awesome, if you've never seen Angry Woebot, he's awesome!!!

I also got some new bags done yesterday & started to get some of my supplies in the mail! I got some new sushi containers, so I can put some BRAND NEW SUSHI DESIGNS sets together. Very exciting! I guess things are slooooowly coming together. Still got lots to do!!

Paychecks are nice!!!

So sorry again for the lack of posting these couple weeks. Been hard at work doing some actual job-type work. It's super tiring cause we are working 12 hour days, 6 days a week. BUT... on the super awesome side I totally made like $600 on Saturday!! Getting those paychecks again feels great!

Only have had a couple "Celebrity Sightings" while working this week. I guess Adam Sandler's Production offices are located on the Sony Picure Lot, so I've seen him a couple times. He's seems super nice & slowed down and said hi to us while we were sitting outside on our lunch. Also saw Dana Carvey (spelling?!?!). Kinda cool, but not too exciting.

And you know what's hilarious? I've made 2 sales since I started back to work, PLUS a custom job that I'm working on. Why is it always seem to work out that way, when you have the time, you don't make any sales, but when you are super busy, you make multiple sales?!?!?!?! I can't complain, I always feel so honored whenever I make a sale!!!

The only other bit of news that I have is that I final applied to that Crafty Show for December!! I'll probably hear if I get accepted by Friday, so wish me luck!!! I'll also post picts of my newest custom job when I get it done, it's super cute & awesome!!!

Thanks for your patience, And sorry for posting with no pictures... It's so boring...

Work, Work, Work...

So I am warning everybody again that I probably won't be doing many Crafty-style Blogs for the next couple weeks cause I'm finally working!!! YEA!! I'm not so excited about actually doing said work, but I will be super excited to get my paychecks! My savings have slowly dwindled down a jingly piggy bank, so a couple weeks of work will do me & my bank account well!

It's nice to be back to work, I feel a bit more motivated & feel good with moving my body & doing manual labor all day. I have today (Sunday) off, so I'm trying to get some stuff done around the house. I also signed up for Weight-Watcher's again. Since I've been off, I been kinda REALLY bad about eating healthy & working-out. I was lucky that a pair of my work pants fit, or I wouldn't have had anything to wear!! So with working 11 hour days, I figured now is a perfect time to get back in it!! I've done it before & I really like it!

So hope everybody had a great weekend. I wanted everybody to send some Good Wishes & Prayers to a friend of mine who had a really bad accident at work yesterday. It was kinda scary, with a nasty fall & I'm not sure of his status, but he's a super guy & really strong so I'm sure he'll be fine.

So here's what movie I'm working on... Don't know anything else about it except what I found on the Sony Picture's website. So when you hear about it coming out, go see it cause I worked on the sets!!!

Based on the comic book by Min-Woo Hyung, Priest centers on a warrior priest (Bettany) who disobeys church law by teaming with a young sheriff (Gigandet) who is part vampire and a priestess to track down a band of renegade vampires who have kidnapped the priest's niece.

I'm Tired...

A full day at the fair can wear you out!! We had a great time, ate too much junk, & spent too much money!! I got a couple new plants, a sushi making kit, & Lance got some new car wax. Yes, we got sucked into buying the stuff in the "As seen on T.V." area. But it was our day & we had fun!! Didn't go on any rides, just walked around. It was pretty hot, which is how we ended up in the air-conditioned seller's area. We did make it to the Farm area (my personal favorite) and they had soooo many baby animals!! I think the baby goats were my absolute favorite for the day!! There were like 10 or so week old baby goats. They were running around & playing & getting into trouble. There were also a ton of baby piglets, so adorable!! I could sit and watch the babies all day!! Here are a couple of picts from the day....










































And here are the finished pictures of the little piggy I made this week for a friend. It's made for an 11 year old girl's Birthday, I think he's cute & I hope she likes it!!!