Crocheted Godzilla Costume

Wow. You think you've seen it all. Here's the designer's flickr album. How adorable!! This is what I start 10 times a month to do, and the false starts are littering my baskets and living room. Not Godzilla costumes for dolls, but funny physical jokes in the form of crochet. I've got a cool one bobbling around in my head, hope it can make it to some form of yarn. Can't tell ya what it is. I will say that the eyes have been the problem.

If you want to see my crochet, fanciful and otherwise, check out www.susanlinnstudio.etsy.com and my more arty fare at www,susankennedy.etsy.com Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

The Only Place to get my CD and besides who EVER heard of a crochet CD?

Yeah, I love ebay, unless it happens to be kicking my butt at the moment. It has most definitely kicked my arty butt, and discouragement over no views/$25 art sales have driven me elsewhere.

BUT it's pretty cool to sell your artistic instructional ebooks on lulu and ebay, (check out my Ebay Crochet CD ) not to mention on etsy. Etsy lets you sell and email pdf files alone; ebay only lets you advertise pdf ebook sales as classified ads. So, I put a classified ad up on ebay for the crochet ebook portion of my website: crickets. To paraphrase my youngest.

You pay $10 for a month-long ad and you get 6 views for an item that gets lots of views and bids when it's a live auction. End of Ebay classified ad experiment.

So I figure that I'll sell the pdf ebooks on ebay by selling an actual data CD with the files on it....not too hard, and it is something that ebay allows. You can see one of my CDs in the links. Seems to get pretty good attention, the views do come and go: like any other web-based selling format, you need to babysit, list often, chat in the forums, and blog. Why can't the world just come stampeding to my door, impatient crochet hooks in hand? (Actually that sounds really really scary). But, the world being what it is, putting those ebooks on ebay in CD form might not be too bad. I'll have to see.

There's also lulu, and the website, and etsy, and if all else fails, serving up fries at McDonalds. Hah! The only other thing in this town I think I'm suited for!

Blessings to all, and go write your ebook about how you create deconstructionist art from dead bugs and dryer lint, then apply for grants! Do it!

Helpfully yours, Susan
Ebay Crochet CD

Treasury of Christmas Themes

Oooh, I'm in a treasury, All about Christmas what cool company I'm keeping! I was hoping to design a few more nature-based snowflakes before the holidays were upon up, but this little group of seven might have to be it. I'm not understanding the etsy treasury thing, do you have to be a particular kind of seller to be a curator?

Love Etsy. After beating my head against a wall in ebay for 10 years, I've finally given up and switched to etsy. It's still nothing but crickets in the etsy art store, but I'm going to keep trying to give it a shot. Much younger and artier a clientele , from what I can tell.

I'll have to show everyone the latest oil painting commission I'm working on, it is the most wonderful ever. It's my client's view of animals in heaven, and is a dream to paint. She prepped the canvas with lots and lots of gesso, lots of sanding, and I can't believe how nice it is to work on! Way way too absorbent, but so wonderfully smooth for blending. I've gotten the gesso back out to have more fun with it, instead of my usual readymade canvas routine.

Here's my crochet pattern collection: Susan's Crochet and it also has a watercolor e-book. You can also check me out at susanlinnstudio.etsy.com and at susankennedy.etsy.com

Awesome Tree Cozy

I don't know if this crochet tree sweater is still there; this picture is quite old but SO AWESOME!!

Here's a link to the explanation, I believe from 2006: Tree Cozy What a delightful project! I wonder if I could be so dedicated, knowing that my sweater would mold and fall apart. How in the world to install this thing?

I love the topic of crochet art, because my hobby of crochet becomes more and more absorbing. I've been toying with ways to "paint" with crochet, and have been admiring the crochet art that is out there. Fascinating!

In the meantime, I guess today is a painting day. I have a wonderful project involving a squirrel, heaven, a virgin, and a hawk. Mysterious, yes? I hope I can do it justice. Etsy buyers who commission art are the best, what a privilege to live in a country where you can do art, the thing which brings the most delight, and make (even a paltry) wage. I know heaven will be like this, without the death and disease and all that. Hah!

I don't know if God dresses the trees in sweaters in heaven, but I do know that he loves it when Carol Hummel does.

If you'd like to see my crochet site, go to susanlinnstudio.etsy.com  and susankennedy.com/Instruction . If you'd like to see my more traditional art in oils, watercolor and linocut prints, see susankennedy.com or susankennedy.etsy.com

thanks for looking!!

Good Old Paypal

Kinda cool how Paypal makes it easy to work on a website and its sale items, thought I'd show you. I need to really figure this stuff out better....susankennedy.com/Instruction
ebooks may or may not be passe, but they sure are an easy way to publish patterns. Those of you creative writers out there who are publishing on lulu and other ebook sites: submit to ehow.com, it's a neat venue for writers, too.

Lulu's been ok, but not exactly thrilling. So I thought I'd put my own files on my website, and forget about lulu and other sites. Hopefully getting out from under the trillion pages of internet rubble won't be too big a challenge, hah!!

Christmas, Love it? Hate it?

Wow, here I am contributing to Christmas craziness.
But, I do hope to make it a simpler, cheaper, more handmade Christmas. I tend to dread this time of year, both for the sadness of missing family members  and for the insane expectations. I wonder if the kids would mind doing something totally different this year. I think they wouldn't mind, actually.

This morning the stars were so bright I could still see a few in the Western sky, even though it was almost 7 am. Beautiful.

I hope this crisp early winter day is a lovely one for you, and I hope that Christmas brings togetherness and warmth and the love of our Lord to you and your loved ones.

check out my patterns at susanlinnstudio.etsy.com and also my art at susankennedy.etsy.com

What ever shall I do? Crochet, Art, Art, Crochet

I've got to figure out a way to merge crochet and fine art. I'm thinking crochet sculpture? I saw a crocheted heart, I mean anatomically correct heart, arteries and all, on etsy. Hah! The Venus de Milo in wool? I know, deconstructionist  crocheted wool art in which a jar of moths is released onto the sculpture inside the display case. Wow, time to go to bed.

All that to say, I crocheted and painted today. I like the way the painting turned out, with the early sun and the hawk, it was a scene I saw this morning. Not so much the crochet, I got skunked. Crocheted an entire hat and decided it looked like something between a shark egg case and a roundish baby dinosaur. Wow. I usually can get what's in my head out from the end of a hook, but hoo boy not today. I'd show it to you, but I unravelled it all in a fit of pique. However, I did come up with a butterfly for my bubble gum pink newsie hat, am a bit fond of it. It's perched behind the painting. You can see the newsie pattern at my etsy store listing

I'd like to invite you to look at my patterns and odds and ends on etsy and also at the Instruction Page of my website.  As far as the fine art goes, you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at susankennedy.com. Thanks for looking!

Oh, the flower! Black and White and Bubble Gum Pink

Hot Pink Baby Hat with Flower Oh yeah, the flower makes it. Did I not listen to my mother about how you shouldn't toot your own horn?

Susan's etsy patterns

Hot Pink Cutie

Ahhh...now I feel so much better...now in 3-6 month and 6-9 month sizes...(the pattern, that is) now I'm madly working on a frog, a flower, and a butterfly to attach to these little newsboy/newsgirls...

If you want to see it you can click on etsy pink newsgirl hat and you can see all of my patterns at susanlinnstudio.etsy.com  and when I was typing a minute ago, I almost said you can "click here to see my snotty art website" HAH what I meant was my snooty art website, not that I can't be snotty at times.

My 3-6 month Newsboy....whew! Coming soon in Hot Pink and Gold!!

This little darling was a labor of love, for a friends' baby...and I must say, I was happy with how it turned out. It's more like a Greek Fisherman's Cap than a Newsboy, but both have that poochy shape and the bill. I put a decorative chain stitch across the band in lieu of a detachable band, and am SO VERY PROUD of my baby-safe faux "button" on the top. If baby chews it, it just ravels and shreds at worst, because it's crocheted right onto the cap, not formed and then sewn on.

Only a 3-6 month size right now, am working on two other sizes and hope to expand the pattern's utility by that....that's why it's only $2.50 right now. Hah!
You can see the pattern here:
Newsboy Hat on Etsy

And if you'd like, you can check out all of my small project patterns at susanlinnstudio.etsy.com

New Easy Penguin toddles into my Collection, Yay!

These little guys are simple and humble, but they make me smile. Think I have the hat problem just about finished, maybe tomorrow for a cool baby newsboy?
Here' the collection that includes my penguins, and I'm going to add a Santa hat for them and the kitty...
etsy animal patterns
Take care and take a look at all my patterns if you like: susanlinnstudio.etsy.com

Ridiculous

I've simply got to dig through these piles and make a workspace which is attractive, instead of one which makes me want to run away. Funny how I'm always my own worst enemy! Have been doing the math on those little hats and trying to make several different sizes, sheesh! Out my window the misty trees on the other side of the pasture are lavender and the trees are lit up with gold, will have to paint!!

If you'd like to look at my fanciful little crochet patterns, they are at susanlinnstudio.etsy.com and my snooty art stuff as always at susankennedy.etsy.com