Thursday, December 18, 2008

Le Tarte Swim

When Lisa, of Letarte Swimwear contacted me a few months ago about possibly creating some custom dolls for their new flagship store I was really excited! Letarte sells the cutest swimsuits, so of course the dolls would be wearing nothing less (or maybe nothing more would be a better way to put it). After a lot of fiddling around and experimenting, I came up with these two gals! They are now making their way to a new home on Maui. :o)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

How Time Flies!

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving and I haven't even been able to get half of the things done that I'd like to have finished by now. I've been keeping myself busy and that's why it's been a bit quiet around here lately. I did ask Hoborooster if he could keep an eye on things and maybe post an update or two for me...but it seems he couldn't quite figure out this whole blogging thing. (Notice his look of intense concentration!) Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be posting updates to the shop all week long so don't forget to stop by and have a look around!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Just Wanted to Wish You A...

I'm not sure how many people actually noticed but I've been away from this blog for a while. Not to worry though, it was for a good reason! Things have really picked up for my little etsy shop and it's been keeping me so busy these past few weeks! Etsy is not my full time job (not yet anway!) and I'm still learning how to juggle all of my responsibilites without dropping the ball in any one area. I'm finding out what a challenge it is... and of course, I'd like to apologize to anyone who received a late email or convo from me recently. I really admire those mommys out there with children and a career, who somehow manage to get everything done and maintain their sanity. I don't have any little ones myself (unless a hobocat and hoborooster count) so I can never figure out how they do it!!

So...while hiding out in my little 'craft cave' this month I finished putting together stamps for a bunch of new wholesale orders, I created some new doll patterns for a little project i'm working on with a local business....and I finished a whole batch of brand new stamp designs! They will be done in just a week or two and I'm so excited to finally have some fresh faces to go in the shop! :o) Check back later for a little preview...

Have a safe and happy halloween!!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Mini Mushrooms!

I'm always trying to come up with a cute little something to send with orders. A few months ago I whipped up a batch of mini ornaments with stamped images to give away, but I'm not the most skilled at sewing so it took me forever to finish just a few. And now they've all gone!! So I've been working hard at coming up with a new little present to say thank you to my customers and here is the result. These mushroom stamps are sooo teeny-tiny they fit onto a piece of wood only 1/2" inch in diameter! It was with a bit of luck that I stumbled upon some little wood plugs at our local hardware store and I knew instantly that they were a perfect fit for my mini mushrooms!!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Hoboville Files


It's the first of October and that makes me really excited. It means that Halloween is not very far away...and Halloween is one of my all time favorite holidays!! :o) Of course I love the candy and the dressing up part, but I think I just like the sort of 'spooky' atmosphere that goes with it all. :o)

I've mentioned before that I love anything strange and unusual and I'm always up for a good ghost story. I really like when I learn little historical details and folklore in the process and I enjoy the way that many of these stories actually connect the past with the present...in an entertaining way! Umm...and I also just like getting creeped out!!

I'm most interested in these paranormal sorts of things because I can honestly say that about 80% of the people I've come across in my life have told me first hand that they have experienced or seen something 'strange'. And most of these people (to the best of my knowledge ;o) are completely normal and sane. I've heard stories from teachers, supervisors, co-workers, family & friends. It's hard to understand when I've never had an experience like that myself.

So, I keep my own little 'X-Files' sort of journal. Whenever I hear a first hand account from someone, I like to write down their name and experience so I don't get it all muddled in my head later. So...if you know me and you've ever told me a story...you can bet your name is in there!! hehe.

P.S.
I don't just make rubber stamps. My favorite medium is actually charcoal and pencil. :o)

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

nikoart at Cute Stuff

A few of my stamp designs can now be found at Cute Stuff on Oahu! They carry everything a rubber stamper could ever want. :o) Here's the address:

(808) 944-2097
2600 S King St, #204
Honolulu, HI 96826

So if you ever happen to be in the University area, please stop by and check them out!!

♥nicole

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

A friend forwarded this video to me and I thought it was something everyone should see. It is Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch's last lecture. A very moving and inspirational video. Please watch!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Mini Shop Update


The forest friends sets, hedgehogs, squirrels and owls are all back in stock! Plus, I now have larger 2x2 inch versions of several of my most popular stamps for sale in the shop.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

How I Met Hobocat

Did I mention that I also have a cat named Hobocat? My boyfriend and I were down at the local strip mall (yes, we have those even here in Hawaii) near Wal-Mart (yes, we have those too) when we heard a teeny-tiny, barely audible, little kitty meow...coming from above our heads!! I looked up just in time to see a very scared and very scruffy looking kitten drop down from...who knows where!! The poor thing must have been so frightened that she had managed to scale a near vertical wall and just clung on to the side until she couldn't hold on any longer.

Well, of course I had to stop to check on this sad looking kitten who looked even sadder because she now had a bloody gash on her chin from the big fall and she was making the most pitiful sounding cries I'd ever heard! We asked a nearby business for a cardboard box and as soon as I picked her up and put her in the box, she stopped crying and started purring...loudly. It was as if she knew she was finally safe. We had actually planned on dropping her off at the local animal shelter but since it was a Sunday they were closed and we ended up having to take her home with us. It was supposed to be just a temporary situation, but somehow it turned out to be for forever!

This little kitten was covered in dirt, fleas, ticks, and (we didn't know it at the time) a really bad case of ringworm that made all her fur fall out...but she was the sweetest little thing I had ever seen. Her tail was hairless except for this small pouf left at the very tip. My boyfriend commented that it looked like one of those sticks with a bag at the end that hoboes in cartoons carry...and we started referring to her as the hobocat! Anway, from the time that Hobocat arrived at our home she continued purring non-stop for literally three days straight! Actually, she hasn't stopped since. Don't you just love happy endings? :o)

(Oh, except for the fact that about a week later my entire family and I started noticing these extremely itchy, little red dots all over our bodies. It turns out that ringworm is very contagious and we all contracted it from cute little Hobocat. That was over two years ago and I am still battling that fungus till this day. Gross!!)

Well other than that it's a happy ending!!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Six Six Six


I'm always interested in hearing strange and unusual stories...so here's a small contribution of my own. I had a freaky little incident concerning my etsy shop last week. I woke up one morning to check my page and found that I had 666 favorites, 66 items left in the shop, and three $6.00 sales in a row (666) making my paypal account add up to exactly...$666.99! I'm not very superstitious but I thought that was just a really strange coincidence!! My boyfriend was like "Hey, 666 is the devil's number! Maybe he visited your shop!" Well, maybe even the devil likes to shop handmade! ;o)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Chicken Diapers


Hoborooster loves to spend time with us in the house. Unfortunately, I think it has been proven impossible to toilet train chickens. Luckily, I have come across a solution. Chicken diapers to the rescue! Yes, it's true! Diapers made for chickens really do exist! I've been thinking about purchasing a few for Hoborooster from the good people at ChickenDiapers.com. Maybe one with a fetching floral print... :o)

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Funny + Cute

Just wanted to share these two clips from a Japanese t.v. show. I have no idea what is being said, but I love anything funny and cute, and these videos are both!

Check out this adorable cat. I looove his tummy.


...and of course a cute owl! This guy transforms himself when he is startled. Quite amazing.


♥nicole

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Lemon Tree Studio

Today my owl stamp is being featured on fellow crafter Shelly's Freebie Friday!! Shelly runs a wonderful etsy store called Lemon Tree Studio full of lots of sweet little paper and scrapbooking goodies. The theme of this week's Freebie Friday is . . .owls!!! You can enter to win an array of owl themed items from her etsy shop + one nikoart owl stamp!!! For more info on how to enter please stop by at her blog : http://mylilyeden.blogspot.com/.
You have all weekend to enter and the winner will be chosen on Tuesday (Sept. 2) by her adorable little daughter, Lilyana. Sooo cute!!!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

nikoart at Island Scrapbooking

A few of my new stamp designs can now be found at Island Scrapbooking in downtown Hilo!! They sell rubber stamps and inks and and are known especially for their large selection of Hawaiian themed scrapbooking products. If you're ever in town, check them out at:

Island Scrapbooking
223-A Kilauea Ave
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
808-933-9390

They also have a website ------> http://islandscrapbook.com/

♥nicole

Friday, August 22, 2008

We found this little guy...


hanging out at the bottom of a wheelbarrow in the backyard. I think he was trying his best to look inconspicuous and avoid the unwanted attention of Hoborooster (who just happens to think that little frogs make great snacks) so I picked him up and let him go in the bushes. Not many people here in Hawaii would do that. . . because it was not just any frog. . . it was a coqui! The coqui are actually very much loved in their homeland of Puerto Rico but a lot of people here despise them because they say the coqui's chirping keeps them awake at night. There was a massive erradication effort going on but I think the county has since given up because the coqui population is so firmly established in the environment that they've become practically impossible to get rid of. I know that coqui are not native to Hawaii but I just feel really bad for them because the methods of extermination that people are using to kill these little frogs are not exactly humane. . .
to learn more about coqui in hawaii ------> http://www.hawaiiancoqui.org/

♥nicole

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

How I Met Hoborooster


It was around the same time last summer when my family first noticed something rustling around in the bushes behind our house. I thought maybe it was a wild boar because I'd seen a whole family of them living there a few months before (I think someone has since trapped and "humanely euthanized" them). So anyway, I had some stale popcorn leftover from one of my movie nights and decided to sprinkle it on the lawn for the wild birds to eat. I was going back into the house and for some reason I turned around. . . just in time to catch a glimpse of a stray rooster scuttling back into the bushes after stealing a piece of popcorn!! I couldn't believe there was a rooster in my backyard!! But on second thought, there are actually a lot of feral animals where I live. . . cats, mongoose, boars and chickens.

Unfortunately, cockfighting is also a very popular pastime here and a lot of the feral chickens around these parts are descendants or escapees of roosters raised for fighting. Someone told me that a guy nearby raises roosters for this exact purpose, so I suspect that Hoborooster was actually a fugitive on the run from that man's farm! Hoborooster is so tame now that I can hardly imagine him ever challenging another rooster.

He wasn't always that way. He was really shy and skittish at first but soon got used to seeing us in the backyard and would come running whenever I stirred up some bugs while digging in the garden. Now he wakes us up every morning at 5:30 a.m. demanding to be let into the house so he can chill out in the living room and watch t.v. with us. He even hops onto the couch to sit next to me and I couldn't be happier to know that his story has a happy ending. He's been rescued from a life of violence and is now a safe and happy little guy.

My First Batch of New Stamps!



Yay! The new stamps are finally here! There are a bunch of new designs and I've been working furiously these past few days to trim and mount them all. They will be slowly finding their way into my etsy shop during the upcoming week so don't forget to take a peek every now and then to see what's new.

nicole

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Friday, August 15, 2008

A Serving of Hobo Soup...

may contain: shop updates. new products. illustrations. doodles. folklore. ghost stories. illustrations & doodles of folklore and ghost stories. all around random, randomness.

Oh, and for those of you who may have accidentally stumbled across this page in search of some real hobo soup, here's a recipe I found online at cooks.com.

Hobo Soup

1 med. chopped onion
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes
2 cans beef consomme
2 soup cans water
4 carrots, chopped or sticks
4 celery tops, chopped or sticks
1/2 c. barley
10 pepper corns
1 1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. salt
Parsley to taste

Saute onions in butter. Brown hamburger, drain grease. Add all together in kettle and cook for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Bon appétit!

♥ nicole
Related Posts with Thumbnails