Today’s TGIF: Thank God for Illustration Friday pick is in honor of my brother’s Leap Year birthday today and what better way to commemorate Leap Year than with a frog and leapling tea party on a lily pad.

My brother is 7 years old today and I will not tire of teasing him about that fact all day long. Happy Birthday, Adam!

Limited Edition Print (Snack Time) from Apakshop.

Today’s Reader Fixx Pixx list was curated by Valerie of Witty Workshop. Plus, make sure to visit Valerie’s blog, Le pot aux roses, it’s a good read.

Valerie’s pixx highlight her favorite sites for inspiration.

An amazing artist, Sarah Blank

The too-cool Creativeadoration blog

Micro-amazingness by justynhegreberg

Dancing in the light by TokyoPixie

When I’m feeling down, the print & pattern blog always cheer me up!

My dream-job: cupcake tester. Until that day, I go to the cupcake blog to help my craving.

I am an art print junkie and I know a lot of you are too, so I wanted to share the new prints from artist Jessica Gonacha that I just added to the Indie Fixx Shop. The new nature inspired prints from are just sublime and I am sure you will agree.

Today’s Indie Artist Fixx interview is with Jessica of Slaughterhead. Slaughterhead is the husband and wife team of Joey Slaughter and Jessica Head. Jessica designs and sews vinyl bags and wallets and Joey designs and screenprints tee shirts. I love, love, love their unique designs and especially love the Jumbo wallets–I think they might be big enough for all the crap I carry around in my wallet.

Read more about Jessica and Slaughterhead below in my interview with Jessica.

1. What’s the name of your business and what do create and sell?

My business is www.slaughterhead.com. I create and sell vinyl handbags and a variety of wallets. My husband, the other part of the Slaughterhead duo, designs and prints tshirts, as well as vinyl for me to use in the wallets.

2. When did you get started with your business and why did you decide to open your own indie biz?

We got started about 4 years ago. I had graduated with my BFA and was teaching elementary art. I enjoyed it, but wanted something else; I missed the creative time I had in school. One afternoon Joey brought a sewing machine home for me, and slaughterhead.com began soon after. I loved sewing and have been doing it since.

3. What’s the creative process like for you?

The creative process for me involves piles of color. I don’t really throw away scraps so I have many colors of vinyl that I keep sorted. I play with color and shape until I find something I like, often reminiscent of a mood/feeling. I usually have a couple of themes; currently it’s rock layers.

4. What’s been your biggest accomplishment so far?

Our biggest accomplishment so far is that I am able to stay home with our son and work on Slaughterhead full time. It’s hard to get a lot done with a baby toddling around, but I’m very proud that I’ve created more this year than ever before. Joey teaches at the university level, so I’m really excited for summer break when we’ll both be home to crank it out together.

5. Tell us one funny/goofy/silly thing about yourself.

I hum all the time–really truly all the time. I have somehow become a sponge for any song I hear. Joey often picks on me about it and will intentionally say one line from a horrible song just so that I will get it stuck in my head. I can’t control it.

(Continued)

Just a quick little note to let you know about the sale going on over at Paper Cloud. They, along with a bunch of the rest of us, are anxiously awaiting spring and have decided to have a sale to bring a little spring to the end of winter. So, bring a little spring into your world and visit Paper Cloud.

[ All flower designs are 20% off until the end of March. ]

I love embroidery. It’s been my new favorite craft for about a year now. I find that it’s really easy to carry around and pick up while I’m waiting at the dentist’s office or while I’m babysitting sleeping nieces and nephews. I thought I would share some embroidery tips with you from a real pro for this week’s Tutorial Tuesday.

One of the things I like about embroidery is learning a new stitch…I think I have all of 3 or 4 in my bag of embroidery tricks now. That’s all gonna change now that I have re-discovered the Stitch School tutorials by Janet of Primrose Designs. Covering the basics of embroidery to more obscure stitches, Janet shares her clear & concise directions and fabulous pictures, which make even the more complicated stuff seem easy-peasy.

Janet also sells a wonderful collection of both vintage items and new items crafted from vintage materials at Primrose Designs. You’ll find everything from pillows, aprons, tea towels, baby gifts, tissue cozies, sachets and even vintage linens and trims for your own projects.

I chose to feature the Lazy Daisy stitch from Janet’s Stitch School. It’s a stitch I’ve been wanting to learn.

1. Start by bringing your threaded needle to the front. Then take the needle to the back as close as possible to where the thread emerges. Bring the needle to the front at the tip of the stitch.

2. Loop the thread in a counter-clockwise direction under the tip of the needle.

3. Read more here…

Remember, don’t forget to join the Tutorial Tuesday flickr group and add your Tutorial Tuesday project images to the pool for a chance to win a copy of Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts: Lacy Crochet published by Chronicle Books. One winner will be chosen from the pool at the contest end on March 12th. Read about how to add an image to the flickr group here.