Day 15 & 16

Day 16 of March Meet the Maker is Time to Relax.

So we have Inky and Jinky down here showing Arty Heart and Mr. Orange what I like to do when it's time to relax.

There is nothing better than a glass of wine and crochet after a long day, and if there is cheese and/or cake too-even better! I also love listening to audiobooks while I crochet (so I guess the book is more symbolic).  I certainly enjoy the sound of a great audiobook reader's voice. Two of my favorites are Emma Galvin and Justine Eyre.

I've really enjoyed the Arcana Chronicles (read by Emma) and The Winner's Curse series (read by Justine). These two ladies made those books so enjoyable for me!

Day 15 of March Meet the Maker is Business Clothes.

On Wednesdays I teach a class at The Academy of Art, so I'm a little extra fancy when I go there, but typically I love wearing dresses and skirts!

I adore the vintage inspired clothing from Modcloth too, so if I could wear a Modcloth dress everyday, I would be so happy! I usually wear a dress even if I'm just alone in my studio all day because it helps me feel more put together and ready for the day.

I think it is true that you dress for the job you want to have, and I want to be professional too, so a dress it is!

Day 13 & 14

Meet The Maker March:

Day 13

Photography!

Say Cheese Everyone! Here we go! The critters have all gathered for a triple shoot, they have their camera, my camera and my phone's camera to capture the whole behind the scene event!

Day 14

Creative Friends

Instagram is an amazing place to follow so many creative people, so I'm surrounded by inspiration everyday! I wanted to take this subject to introduce a creative friend that is a photographer. While I like to take pictures of tiny crochet cuties in my photo tent, inside my studio, she is out in the world, hiking and traveling to capture the most scenic places!

Naturally, Arty Heart took Mr. Orange to the photography gallery where Michelle Jacquement's photo's are up for display!

If you're on instagram, check out her gallery for all of her photos! Her handle is @michellejacquement

Day 8-12

Day 8 of March Meet the Maker is:

Where

Though my heart will always be in PDX, Ria Art World is based out of San Francisco, California by the beach!

I must admit, it is not the prettiest beach, but Inky and Jinky don't seem to mind.

Day 9:

Work in Progress

I bought this super soft, multi-colored pastel yarn and then drew this sketch with the intention of making jelly fish so very long ago.

This poor little guy always seems to end up being a perpetual wip because other deadlines always seem to sneak up and take priority.

Seeing this little guy is making me want to make some actual time to not only finish this jelly fish, but make some jelly fish buddies that he can play with.

Day 10:

Recommend a Maker

I like to keep the work of some of my favorite crochet artists near my work space (I do the same thing for illustrators too). 

These two little guys are being introduced by Foxel and Bunny Rose and they are just two of the many amazing creators I follow online.

The Penguin can be found in The Wandering Deer's Shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheWanderingDeer?ref=l2-shop-header-avatar

The Dino can be found in Mohu Store:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/mohustore?ref=shop_name_search_sugg

Day 11: Post/Mail

I made a cute stop motion video that demonstrates my packaging process for my Etsy orders.

I have found that on certain servers, my videos cannot be viewed on my blog, or they take forever to load! So I will include a link to it on instagram here, but I also posted it to Twitter and Facebook, which you can navigate to by clicking on the links to the right.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRgyI8yAwWn/?taken-by=riaartworld

Day 12: Brand Image

My brand image primarily revolves around my two mascots, Arty Heart and Mr. Orange (who always seems to turn into a pumpkin around Halloween time!).

Arty Heart is very enthusiastic and loves to be the center of attention, and it is always up to Mr. Orange to be the level-headed one and keep everyone in check-including myself!

So it is no wonder that these little guys would make an appearance not only on my business cards, but on all of my sites!

That's it for now! I'm gearing up for the next week of March Meet the Maker and I'm super excited to share!

Day 7

It's Day 7 of March Meet the Maker, and today's prompt is 'Where'🌎

Even though I'm from Portland, Oregon, and my heart will always be there, Ria Art World is currently working out of San Francisco, California by the beach!

I must admit, the beach here is not the prettiest, but my little critters, Inky and Jinky don't seem to mind! 😊🐙🐙🌊

March Meet the Maker

At the start of this month, I decided it would be a great way to share more about my business by participating in the #marchmeetthemaker challenge on Instagram.

So far...

Day 1. You

This is me! Alexandria, the creator behind Ria Art World and of course, the drawing me too.

Day 2. Favorite to Make

While drawing will always be my first love, my favorite thing to make just has to be these teeny tiny crochet octopi I make! They are a favorite of my customers and I just love finding new and exciting colors to make them in so the pattern never gets old to me. 💙

Day 3. Studio

Here is a video tour of my home studio or mad scientist lair as I like to call it!

Day 4. Tools

My two worlds meet in the middle over me : Crochet + Illustration

At the top: Several sizes of crochet hooks, my favorite embroidery thread colors, stuffing, magnets, a stuffing stick, small gold safety pin for stitch marking and a keychain ring.

At the Bottom: My favorite rainbow colors of ball point pens, a cute Daiso multi-color pen that has a finer tip for writing, my cintiq pen (super important for coloring my illustrations!), red lead for sketch ideas, gray lead for finalizing sketches, and a small paint brush which I use for creating soft textures with the graphite in my illustrations.

There is also a sturdy white eraser that I pretty much just use while sketching and a gum eraser that I use for sketching and in my final illustration process.

Day 5. Boomerang

Just a little sneaky shy raccoon popping up to say hi!

Day 6. Raw Materials

We have my sketchbook, without it, none of my illustrations or crochet patterns would ever take shape since it is where all of my ideas begin and get worked out.

 I also have a rainbow of colors for embroidery thread and yarn. I use the embroidery thread to make my tiny critters and the yarn to crochet my slightly larger plushies.

Day 7. How it's Made

This is the latest one, and I'm using it to promote my newest YouTube video which is a tutorial on how to crochet a teeny tiny Hello Kitty face and then turn it into an earring! The pattern is available here too, just click on the 'Crochet Patterns' tab above.

I also have speed lapse videos of some of my illustrations so you can check out the process if you want too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNqqSaSispk&t=323s

That's it for now! I'll be sure to continue sharing as the month continues on, hopefully every day!