WINNER ANNOUNCED!!

WOW! I am OVERWHELMED by the love I got for this giveaway. This robot received a total of 90 comments and he is tickled pink about it. I also really enjoyed hearing about everyone's Christmas traditions and their favorite part of the holidays.
Okay. It's the moment you've been waiting for. The winner of this Baby Robot is...
ANGELA PEA!!
Congratulations Angela! I'll be contacting you soon to get your info to ship this little guy out to you!
Everyone else, thank you SO much for participating! I enjoyed checking out your blogs as well. Please bookmark my blog as I do plan to put some Baby Robots in my Etsy store eventually. I am going to be much too busy over Christmas but hopefully some time after. So keep posted!
Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Today is the DAY!

It is time for the Sew, Mama, Sew GIVEAWAY!! YAY!! And you won't be disappointed. Today, I am giving away one of my Baby Robots!! These are very new...so new in fact that I have not listed them to my Etsy shop yet. But all in good time, my pretties. They are entirely hand painted and handmade and are incredibly cute. If you hadn't noticed. They are only about two inches tall and come with a red string to hang as an ornament if desired. These will be available in my shop on Etsy eventually. Please pay it a visit to see what other items I have available or just to say hello! Click the blue links above.The holidays have kind of thrown me for a loop. So here's how this will work. Answer the following question. I will choose a random post on December 6th and that post will be the winner (posting more than once still only counts as one entry). QUESTION: What is one of your family's Christmas Traditions? Of course, I don't get to play but I'll share one (or two) with you anyway...since Christmas is around the corner. :)
Every year my family makes our Christmas Eve meal of Swiss Cheese Fondue, Hawaiian Meatballs, Fruit Salad, and French Bread. We open gifts and on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (it varies sometimes) my dad reads A Child's Christmas in Whales to everyone. It's a wonderful, wonderful book full of Christmas memories by a boy who grew up in Whales, England. Check it out. It's very random but I adore it and you will too.
Okay. POST AWAY! Remember to check back to see if you won and provide me with a way to contact you! And REMEMBER to check out all the other giveaways available at Sew, Mama, Sew! Click the icon! Once on this page you can view the vendors in a few of the categories. Be sure to check out the other lists of vendors giving away items under the 'Don't miss the additional Giveaway Day Master Lists' heading next to the green icon. Clicking each vendor name will send you to their blog to check out their giveaway item.

GIVEAWAY ALERT

So I have some friggin awesome good news. Some of you may remember me participating in Sew, Mama, Sew's giveaway several months ago? Well it's HERE again. And yes, I will be participating. I know. AWESOME!! I'm SO excited. For everyone who missed it, Sew, Mama Sew hosted a mass giveaway among crafters/artists. It's exciting for both participants and readers alike because participants get lots of exposure and people visiting their blog and readers get a chance to win some awesome stuff! For more information, click HERE. Giveaway day is DECEMBER 2nd. How it works is I will post a blog with my giveaway item. Then YOU (yes, you) will comment on that post. The running will stay open until December 6th. Then I will choose a winner. And voila, you have your super awesome giveaway item! So mark your calendars, phones, arms, whatever, with December 2nd. It's going to be good.
P.S. DON'T FORGET!! Other vendors will be doing giveaways too! So don't just try to win MY giveaway. Go to Sew, Mama, Sew's blog by clicking the image above. There will be a master list of the participating vendors on Giveaway Day so that you can check out other vendor's blogs and enter to win MORE giveaways. Enter lots! There's so many cool things to win. I'll remind you on Giveaway Day, December 2nd, to check out that list again. ;)

Tragic

Well...it's simply tragic how long these robots have been taking me. It really bugs me actually. Ironic how fast the first two went and then any after that seem to take FOREVER. I am rethinking having them ready for Christmas. Instead, I think I might put one or two put in my Etsy shop and then give a few away as gifts. I also promised my friend an order of several. So...that'll have me covered. I'm sure they will get faster as I get used to doing this. The parts are just so painfully TINY!
In the meantime, I turned a year older and got a new tattoo. You can read about what it means here.

H-H-H-Halloween.

Well...here it is. Halloween is passed and I was probably the coolest/most original costume out there. Haha...okay maybe not really but...I had a lot of fun. I was Lady Gaga! Complete with hair-bow that I made myself. Everyone keeps saying I should start making them and selling them. definitely something to think about.

Besides Halloween and Gaga, I made some progress on baby robots. I've begun painting many many many many more. A whole army of baby robots. What could be cooler? I'm not sure. But this is a pretty cool idea if I don't say so myself. However...I realized to my dismay the other day that I forgot robot limbs the last time I went to Michael's for supplies. Their limbs! How are they supposed to do anything without limbs? So I had to make a quick run on Halloween afternoon to get some more. I hope to start assembling them this week. I am very, very excited. They're turning out pretty awesome. So stay tuned.

Beep Beep

Okay so it's not yet Halloween and sadly my Halloween costume has not quite come together. But it WILL! I am just awaiting one final thing in the mail. If only it would get here faster. Sigh.
In the meantime, I've been toying with...well...a lot of ideas. And I finally got inspired enough the other day to rampage Michael's. The materials I walked out with all (mostly) contributed to my latest creation:Baby Robots!! YAYY!! These wooden robots are about an inch and a half to two inches tall. They are hand painted, hand glued, and friggin awesome. I have not yet perfected them so they are not in my store or anywhere else. But...maybe soon. :) Either that or I'll just be greedy and keep them to myself for my own enjoyment. Nah. But yes. I am very happy with how they turned out. Still need some work but...yes. Happy. :) Yay!

Costume, Costume, Costume

I've been debating over what I should be for Halloween for several weeks now. I had a few ideas but nothing was coming together. It finally hit me thanks to my friend Monique and my costume was decided. Yesterday, I purchased a few things to finalize a few details. I still have a little to finish but so far I am rather impressed with my costume making skills. It's going to be very awesome...and very unexpected.
I like Halloween. I get into Halloween. I never really got to go trick-or-treating as a kid (living overseas and all) so I make up for it now by dressing up and having fun with it. And this year is going to be a whole new level of interesting.
Stay tuned for the grand finale.

Painting Profiles

I finally did some painting the other night. I've been eyeing my paint for over a week now and finally kicked myself into my studio. I'm covering some old canvases with unwanted work on them. Several weeks ago I just blocked a few out with a dark blue/almost black. Then the other night I used my white paint and just started playing. It's definitely rough. I'm just glad I did something. Oh. And I have a thing for faces and profiles. Can you tell? The first canvas I blocked out was more of a two toned blue/black and it actually turned out kind of cool. So I haven't touched it yet. I need to hold it in the light and see if I like it as-is or if I need to change it a bit. Either way it looks like you're looking at the night sky through some trees and brush. I dig it.
One thing I did with this painting that I've never really done before is played with the actual TEXTURE of paint. If you look above the really obvious profile, in the white portion is another profile facing the other way. But it's made entirely from the texture of the paint. It was nice to try something different. I kind of had no choice but to play with texture as the previous paintings on these canvases were very rough and raised and I couldn't seem to peel them away to start over. So it's been an interesting experience.

Ignoring Creativity

This is a piece I worked on when my mom was here. It is using the same transfer process used on my previous posts' piece. It's a little rough and I'm not finished but I like the overall idea and color. I think of it as more of a draft than a real PIECE but...thought I'd share anyway.
I was sick the past week or so. And I entirely ignored creativity all together. It was sad really. I could have done SOMETHING creative while I was sick...but I just didn't really want to use my brain. So I didn't. Heh. But I'm getting back into it. I sat down to paint last week and found...I'm missing half the paint I used to have. I have no idea where it is as the last time I saw it was in Washington several months ago. But I found myself suddenly with very limited options. I didn't even have WHITE. So...I just started by blocking out some old canvases and painting over old work that I didn't want anymore. I bought some white over the weekend (I had a spurt of "I'm feeling better!" on Saturday and then by the end of the day I felt crummy again...smart) and have yet to bust it out but I hope to soon. Who knows. Maybe tonight!

Mascara Whirlwind

Okay it's almost been a whole month. Shame on me. I won't even bother trying to explain all my excuses of being busy (even though they are true)...you know the drill. ;)
Probably the most momentous thing that has happened since my last post (and actually does have an artistic point!) was my mom came to visit for a whole week from Washington. I cannot even explain how much fun that was to have her HERE and have a whole week to just hangout and catch up. If you didn't already know (or care), my mom is my best friend. While she was here, we dedicated almost two whole days to being creative and she taught me some really awesome techniques using Modge Podge. Oh Modge Podge. How I adore thee. I finally have done something worth showing (gotta have some trial and error, right?) so there it is above and below. The title is 'Mascara Whirlwind.' I'm not sure if it's finished yet and I'm not sure if it'll make its way to the shop or not. But...maybe. I just need to play with it a bit more. ALMOST satisfied. Just not quite.
In other news, I did finish some collage bottles. Mostly. The lids are still in need of a tad bit of work. Which I'm putting off. As usual. But I have (on the bright side) found more time to be creative lately which I'm very excited about. I think I need to do this. For my own sanity's sake.
Until next time.

More than Sands

Some beautiful artistic ability to inspire you this weekend.

Welcome to the Studio!

I've been hard at work getting my studio/bonus room back in order so I actually feel inclined to use it. Not that it was ever really IN order to begin with since we haven't lived in our house for very long. I WISH WISH WISH I had taken a "before" photo because the "after" photo just does not do it any justice.
Welcome to my studio! I'm in the process of splitting the room in two so that half the room can be my studio and the other half can be a sitting area/movie room since we don't want our TV in the living room downstairs. The giant khaki tarp is just that...a tarp! For painting. On the right is my little collage table where I make all the collage bottles. And then the rest is just storage, storage, and more storage. But it's alllll ART storage. So you see before you endless creative possibilities. I know, it gives me chills too. :P
I'm getting one more wire shelf like the one on the right and am going to put it on the left to create the illusion of a split in the room. I will put another picture up once the whole project is done. But it's going to be pretty sweet. :) The idea of paint is settling itself in my mind as well. My husband is in "rent" mode meaning he doesn't want to paint. But he is so used to moving every year or so. So the idea of being somewhere longer is unthinkable. So...paint is on the horizon! It's going to be super kick-ass once it's done. I promise.
ALMOST done with the other collage bottles. Did another coat last night. One more to go!

Collage Bottle No. 82!

Finally! I finished a collage bottle. I was actually good and accomplished stuff this weekend. I have three more on the way that are still in the process of being sealed but this one is all ready and in my Etsy Store! It features browns and blue hues and to-die-for animal prints for all! I really dig it and I hope you do too.

How I Love Letters

I received my first letter from my deployed husband today. We've talked on the phone and emailed...but it was my first REAL PAPER HAND WRITTEN letter from him. And it felt awesome to see his handwriting again.
My ingenious mother (because she really is ingenious) came up with the most awesome idea/project for the Deployment Chain. After making it, I thought "I love this! I don't want to just throw it away when it's over!" So I was trying to think of something to do with the pieces of paper. My mom suggested saving the pieces of paper and putting the date on each one! Then I could make a collage box to keep all our letters in and cover it with all the days I waited for him to come home. I really dig that idea. So...that's what I'm gunna do. Deal.

Just When I Thought I Blogged Enough

So...to clear up any confusion that may occur when trying to pronounce my blog name "Pretty Much LiQi Designs," here's the story behind it. I grew up overseas in China. Yeah, different! It was honestly an amazing experience and I treasure all my memories from being over there. It still feels like I just moved a few weeks ago and I consider where I lived in China to be my hometown to this day. I always will.
In China, you don't "translate" your English name into Chinese because it can't literally translate. Most foreigners (meaning anyone that's not Chinese) either have a name chosen for them by a teacher or friend or they have a name made up that SOUNDS like their English name...but may not actually have any meaning at all. For example, Mark would be Ma Ke. When spoken, it does sound like Mark but I'm not sure if it means anything at all.
Being one to go for sentiment and meaning, I wanted a REAL name. Something that MEANT something. For the first few years we lived there, Chinese people struggled to pronounce my English name and finally, at the age of 8, I was given my Chinese name. Ironically it was given to me by a man I barely knew...and to this day I feel its meaning relates to me better than my English name ever has. I always have found it interesting that someone who knew me so little gave me a name that fit me so well. LiQi is my Chinese given name and it is pronounced "Lee Chee." So don't feel silly if you've been saying "Lee Quee" Designs all this time because that's a common mistake. Being a culture that marvels at beauty, my name literally means "Unique Beauty." Although I like to say it means "Pretty Weird" because technically it can be translated that way. "Pretty Weird" made me think of "Pretty Much," a term I use often. So the "Pretty" works double fold. And there you have my blog/etsy shop name.
I have always been one to do things different or my own way. And the word "Qi's" meaning really encompasses that idea for me in who I am. So I can't think of how a better name could have been chosen for me.

A Very Pink Blog

IT IS FINISHED! I must say...this Deployment Chain was definitely more time consuming than expected. However, I gotta be realistic. We're talking about 7 months worth of tiny strips of paper stuck together with tiny strips of hand-cut tape. Yeah...and here I was thinking it would be a one night project. More like 4 or 5. But never the less, it is finished. I WANTED to get a picture of it all in a big pile but it tended to get tangled and I was afraid if I let it down from its haven up high (my kittens are dying to join in the fun), it would never go up again...because of tiny claws and teeth. So without further ado, here is my lovely Deployment Chain:
August! September! October! November! December! January! February!I didn't realize until afterward that I kept my favorite paper designs for November (my birthday month) and February ( the month John will most likely return to me). :)
In other news...I bought some amazingly awesome robot postcards from the most amazing Etsy seller: Crumpettimecomics. Check out his shop here. I received them in the mail yesterday and was struck silly with how awesome they are. My guest room is robot themed (you know you're jealous) and I wanted to frame them and hang them up. I framed them last night and they're friggin great. Now just to hang them. I can't wait to see what else Crumpettimecomics comes out with because I love his work! Talking to him lead him to tell me that he liked MY work as well...which was so encouraging to hear as I have neglected my Etsy shop SO much, it's embarrassing. It made me feel better that someone had actually looked and I feel a new PUSH of confidence to start playing around in the art room upstairs. Now if only it wasn't a battle field. Gotta remedy that pronto.

So Long, My Darling

I apologize for the silence. But I do have an excuse! A good one. My husband just deployed this past week (I can't believe it's already been a week) and so with that comes lots of challenges and just...newness. It's not all bad and crying. In fact, after he left I didn't cry until Monday. And it was over something rather silly. I have to say I've held it together really well and I actually feel very good. I miss him to pieces...but I figure being depressed isn't going to help anything, is it? I've gotten to talk to him on the phone randomly and have gotten a few emails. In the meantime, I've kept myself very busy with friends. So much so that my poor house has been neglected. I tried to catch up on that this weekend and today...felt crummy last night and this morning so I called in sick. Later in the afternoon I didn't feel as bad so I got to work cleaning. Might as well be productive in some way or another, right?
Anyway...long story short...I've been very busy. But I want to create something! Even if it isn't anything to put in my poor Etsy store. My "studio" as it were is a complete war zone upstairs so I think that will be my next area of cleaning so I feel inclined to actually USE it. What a thought.
For now...I'm off to create a Deployment Chain! You know...like those paper chains you make to countdown for Christmas or a Birthday? This one is for a Deployment! I want to use different colored paper for each month so that when you finish a month, you're very aware of it! I'll post how it turns out. ;)

Plastic Stars and Cat Cards

Apologies for the silence! It's been a crazy past few weeks. John and I headed to Virginia to visit family for a week and then this week my kitten George stopped eating, threw up excessively and spiked a fever. After 4 visits to the vet, they decided he needed surgery because they believed something was lodged in his stomach. Sure enough...they found a PLASTIC star. Not sure what it is or where it came from or why George decided to eat it...but he did. Thankfully it's out now. They were surprised it didn't do more harm on his stomach. So he's on the mend. I get to take him home today. :)

I may be doing a joint venture with my lovely mother. Years ago she made some cat prints with pen and ink. They've always been a hit to everyone she's shown them to but the problem is...she hasn't shown them to enough people! So...that's where I come in. I'm hoping to have them reprinted on some nicer paper and possibly add some colors. We'll see. Thanks for your patience!

The Wonderful World of Etsy

Yesterday I decided to create my first Treasury on Etsy. After lots of confusion and a bit of frustration...I figured it out and published my very first Treasury. It is titled 'Mustard Ahoy!' and features all things mustardy. So nice. :) I've had some great comments and I'm just enjoying getting to know Etsy a little more daily. Makes me happy. Check it out for the next two days here.

6 + 50

Collage Bottles No. 6 and No. 50 are now in the Etsy Shop! Check them out HERE. I have one more on its way too. I went kinda crazy last night and busted out three AND worked on a painting! YEAH! I'm pretty stoked right now as I haven't felt so creative in the past few weeks. As I've promised time and time again, I WILL be working on some collage BOXES. But the bottles have just been so much fun, I couldn't resist doing a few more. So soon. Very soon! And a variety of sizes! Oh my!

Paula's Compass

Ok. It's finished! I finished the first draft of my friend's tattoo. She said "I love summer, the water, and maybe a compass rose..." so this is what I came up with. I did two version. With and without the sun rays. It's a little rough...but I like how it turned out. I also had to be ghetto and take a picture of it rather than scan it because our house is still so disorganized from moving to set up the printer/scanner. Eek. Oh well. More to come! I might do some collaging today.

Absense Pass

I apologize for the silent week. It's been a crazy fast one and I can't believe it's already Tuesday of this next week. So nuts.
This past weekend I took my husband to a No Doubt concert for his birthday...his favorite band ever. It was AMAZING...as you can probably imagine by the picture.
Creatively, I've had trouble fitting time in this past week. But I buckled down a worked on a tattoo design for a friend last night that I've been putting off (sorry Paula). It's not finished yet but it's coming along. I wasn't completely useless this weekend and went out and bought a BUNCH-o-crap of cool artsy stuff and supplies. Treated myself to a huge set of Prismacolor colored pencils...drool. And some more boxes to make some more collage boxes...hopefully soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

Etsy, Here I Come!

Okay everybody. The time has come...I've posted my FIRST item for sale in my Etsy store! I hope to add two more by the end of today so check back soon.

I'm selling my first Collage Bottle. My Collage Bottles are entirely recycled from magazines and Starbucks frappuccino bottles (guilty smile). Each one is one-of-a-kind, colorful, with a matte finish, and great for storing all your trinkets, supplies, beads, jewelry, marbles, thoughts etc. etc. They're super cute too. :) They are all numbered as well which means they will each have a number somewhere within the collage. This first one is No. 19. Oh yeah. PLEASE check them out and leave me a comment. I'm so very excited about these!

P.S.

And to anyone that was wondering what magazine I used after all, it was Vogue. :)

And the winner is...

Okay everybody. The time has come. I used a random number generator to choose the very lucky winner of this lovely collage box...the first (of many) of its kind! And the winner is...

SUELOVESCHERRIES!!! Congratulations Sue! Thank you for checking out my blog everyone and please check back in a few days for a post of my etsy store's first few items!

And Counting!

I'm pretty stoked with the turnout of my giveaway for Sew, Mama, Sew!'s May Giveaway! Thanks to everyone (again) for visiting and participating. I'm probably just as excited as you (if not more) about one of you winning this collage box. I hope to launch my Esty shop very soon so...please bookmark this blog and check back often! I've been working on similar goodies which I hope to share soon.
Okay. Time is running out so if you have NOT commented to win the lovely giveaway a few posts below, DO SO NOW! I will be choosing the winner (via random number generator) later on this evening. I will stop taking comments around 10pm Eastern Time. So comment away!

Sticky Business

LOOK BELOW FOR MY MAY GIVEAWAY ITEM!! COMMENT TO WIN!!
Remember: TWO more days to comment to win the collage box below. I did a little more work on the inside so that will be a surprise for the winner to see. :)
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who has commented on my giveaway. It's so nice to see traffic in this new bloggity blog of mine and it tickles me pink that people are responding positively to my item.
In other news...I'm thinking of doing more collage-ish projects and offering them in my etsy shop when I get it launched...hopefully soon. So if you don't win the lovely piece below, have no fear, there will be MORE coming soon!
I'm still working out some kinks in the whole collage concept. But I think I made some progress yesterday and will continue to experiment. I want to expand to a variety of sized boxes out of different materials. In high school, I primarily worked with tin boxes which was awesome. But I never used a sealer so I'm in a different realm now.
Keep posted! More to come!

May Day!: Giveaway

The day has finally come:

May Day Giveaway by
Sew, Mama, Sew!
is HERE!
I'm Rachel, also known as Pretty Much LiQi, and I am stoked to be participating in my very first giveaway. Here is how it works:
All you lovely fine people have the chance of winning the wonderful giveaway item below. To do this, simply leave a comment on this post before the deadline: May 31st. I will then choose the Lucky Winner!
Without further delay, ladies and gentlemen, let me present what I'm giving away:

This custom collage box with a matte finish was made entirely out of one magazine. It measures 7.25" x 7.25" x 3" and is, obviously, different on all sides. Quarter above not included. ;) Here's the winning question: What magazine do you think I used and what would YOU keep in this box if it were yours? The winner will be chosen randomly after May 31st. Also, remember to check back at Sew, Mama, Sew! for all the participants and more chances at getting a free giveaway. Yay!! Remember to include your email when commenting so I can contact you when you WIN!