Auction Results

The auction was a success!

Now every artist when auctioning off an item I'm sure secretly hopes it will go for billions of dollars. So I won't go into my disappointments that my painting didn't go for as much as I had hoped but it still went for over $100 and ended up going to one of my friends. The thing that I felt sort of discouraged buyers was it was paired with a basket of little girl items and I thought that wasn't the best fit. But choosing how it was displayed was not really my choice. I was donated. All in all, the auction was a blast (only been to one other and this one was much more entertaining) and we had a really good time. Didn't win anything but for a night of free food, free wine and entertainment, you really can't complain. And proceeds going to a good cause is always...well...a good cause! I didn't hear what the total amount raised was but from some of the things I saw bid off, I imagine it was a good amount. This sum went toward the individual squadron's funds as well as the Wounded Warrior Fund.
One of the most surprising moments of the evening was seeing Pretty Much LiQi Designs in print for the very first time. I wasn't aware that all the contributors would be listed in the program and was stoked to see myself there. A toast to many more, eh? ;)
My next project is near and dear to my heart which in turn has made me terrified of it. I'm doing a painting as a gift...and I'm copying a picture. Something I haven't done in awhile...in fact...I don't know if I've ever done it in paint. So...it's been a struggle. I painted one night and then have avoided that corner of the bonus room all week. I'm going to see if I can coax myself back in there tonight. I am not strictly sticking to the picture and am allowing myself room to be creative and add my own spin to the piece. So it really shouldn't scare me. But gifts consisting of my own work always scare me. Pictures to follow!

And MORE!

Yes. More Baby Robots. I'd almost worry you'd get sick of em only I know you won't. Because they're so freaking cute.
Today, the purple and turquoise robot troupe went up in the Etsy Shop! Go give them a gander!

Robots and Communism

Voila! What goes together better than Communism and Robots? That's right. Peanut butter and jelly. But OTHER than peanut butter and jelly, nothing goes together better than Communism and Robots! It just makes sense. Big Brother would be all over it! Especially ones this cute. Check these commie bots out in the Etsy Shop!

There might be...Robots!

More robots! Yes, you heard right. Now in a primarily white love design. You can find em in my Etsy shop! They are ♥ EVER ♥ so cute. Go look here.

Blog Love

You know the feeling when you eavesdrop and hear someone singing your praises? Even if it's just something little like "Her hair looks so cute today!" Doesn't that just make your day? Well...it's similar in the blog world. You occasionally run across someone talking about you or your product. And that's always truly truly exciting. Especially when you're new to the world of selling your stuff online.
I was notified this morning that my Baby Robots were featured in Jenny N. Design's blog!! SO exciting. Read it HERE. Visit my Etsy shop HERE to see the robots themselves.

Baby Robot for Valentine's Day!

After a much needed absence (Christmas, New Year's Eve, What Else Was There), I have returned! And with GOOD NEWS! The BABY ROBOTS have FINALLY arrived!!!! Yes, I'm excited. Beyond excited. I finally got my studio together and started cranking these babies out. Hehe...babies. Anyways...
Visit my Etsy shop HERE to see them and adopt one of your own. Just in time for Valentine's Day! Or just for someone who really likes red, white, and pink! MORE are on their way so keep checking back, folks. Did I just say folks?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. ;)

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!

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!

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!

Some Oldies

I wanted to post some designs and art I've done to share...and get this thing going. And also to give you all a feel for what I'll be doing. SOME of what I'll be doing. ;)
Above is a tattoo design I did for a friend while we were brainstorming some ideas. This design was never used but I always liked how the waves turned out. It's a little grainy because I was stuck with a crappy photo editing program at the time.
Below is another tattoo I did for another friend. We never got around to finishing the whole concept she was going for but I enjoyed doing something a little different. More to come...
In other news, my business cards came in the mail today. I'm SO stoked. I look forward to spreading the word...

To Begin

You have stumbled upon Pretty Much LiQi Designs!

I have just launched this blog as my space for creativity and to post my newest creations. I am in the process of setting up an Etsy store. So keep posted for that. :)

In the meantime, I'm participating in the 'Sew, Mama, Sew' giveaway for May. For anyone unfamiliar with this, click the image for more information.

The rundown: creative bloggers get exposure and readers get the chance to win super awesome items from those bloggers. Sounds like a pretty darn good deal, right? Check.

So, dearies, keep coming back for updates on that as well as new creations from my ever original mind.