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Break the Rules with Coloring

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This past spring, I published a coloring book of floral mandalas called Flowers All Around. (It’s available NOW on Amazon!) I had so much fun drawing these designs. I can honestly say it was one of my favorite personal projects I’ve ever done.




Mandala designs are popular in adult coloring for their repetitive and intricate nature. I like to draw them using floral elements because I’m obsessed with drawing flowers and patterns. I’ve created floral mandalas with a variety of media—paint, pencil, ink, digital, etc. I often draw them when I don’t know what to draw. So I had a lot of practice before I got the idea to even make this book.

Adult coloring books are a great way to relieve stress and create works of art in the process. These aren’t the brand of coloring books you used as a kid. These designs are often very detailed and can be beautiful and sophisticated—though there are some fun quirky ones as well. There are adult coloring books for just about any subject matter you can think…
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A Gallery of Geeky Cakes

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Today is my sisters' and my birthday (we are triplets), which means...CAKE!!! For the past couple of years, I've had tons of fun making some cute and geeky cakes for the occasion. While I'm by no means a cake-decorating expert or perfectionist, I have lots of fun with it. Here are the ones I made this year and last year.

Hunger Games mockingjay



Doctor Who TARDIS




Hobbit hole



Wreck-It Ralph Sugar Rush


 


And these are the cakes my sisters made for me—


Valentine hearts




Les Miserable 'red and black' cake, complete with graham cracker barricade (which was added after the first picture was taken, by the way)



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New Etsy Shop and Free Pattern

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I opened up a shop on etsy.com today. I've posted some sweaters for 11.5-inch dolls (I hope to post other types of items in the future). You can visit the shop here. These miniature sweaters were very fun to create. They are all designed and handknit by myself.

Most of the sweaters are knit using size 10 crochet thread and sock knitting needles. I like using the crochet thread because it is relatively inexpensive, comes in a wide array of colors, and is readily available from any store that sells craft supplies.

Here is a free pattern for a basic sweater, for those who would like to try making one yourself!





**UPDATE - 2015** The miniature sweater knitting pattern has been revised.  View/Download the new pattern here:
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A gift tag template for creating a Christmas ornament from this sweater can be found on my Templates and Patterns page. Additional sweater patterns are available for sale in my Etsy shop.


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