Cleopatra, A Mummy, and Some of My All-Time Favorite Etsy Artists

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My daughter wants to be an archaeologist some day… some day soon. I’ve talked about how our backyard is the site of her first dig… and how she has a deep connection to Ancient Egypt. One thing that I wanted to give her for Christmas was some Egyptian Art for her walls. I couldn’t find anything that was just perfect for my little Cleopatra… so I decided to make her something.

I lucked upon this amazing Etsy shop, The Octopode Factory. It is full of awesome characters and artwork, that you can purchase and print out for use in your (not for re-sale) private projects. I was instantly smitten with the characters… and was so thrilled to find that Lily offered both a Cleopatra and a Mummy drawing. I purchased them both and set about creating this Egyptian scene for Clara.

The caption says, “Clara and Miles around 3,000 B.C….

…friends for five thousand years and counting…”

and truly, they really are best friends!

Miles the Mummy and Cleopatra Clara

Clara and I figure there is a very good chance she was Cleopatra a few dozen lifetimes ago!

After printing out these adorable images and coloring them in, I sealed them on top of a background I created from paper… paper sand, paper sky, three mini paper pyraminds… then I stamped the letters on the artwork and distressed the edges of the canvas.

She loved it and hung it up on her walls that very morning… right above her poster of Egyptian Mummification techniques. So very Clara.

I contacted Lily of The Octopode Factory to let her know I was so thrilled with her artwork, and she agreed to do a guest post! You simply have to check out her shop… it is overwhelming and insipiring and will certainly have you scheming for all the amazing things you could create with her fabulous downloads.

I asked Lily how she got started being such a fabbo artist, and what inspired her to create such fantastical characters. She said:

I’ve always been creative but a few years ago i started to draw Manga and Chibi… just copying out of books and the internet. I then started to draw my friends, who slowly evolved into my own characters- with the big eyes, thin legs and creepy gaunt-like features.

Most people compare me to Tim Burton, but strangely i wasn’t really a Tim Burton fan until i was about 13/14 when i saw the similarities between my designs and his for myself… to be honest i was always quite scared of the Nightmare Before Christmas!

But now I LOVE his work and Jack Skeleton is the reason for my Lilyland characters long long legs (The Octopode Factory designs are a little shorter so they can be cut out).


I cant say for sure what inspires me, it’s all really a jumbled up mush of everything I’ve done and am interested in.

When I’m designing my characters, i normally start out with the theme- like Alice in Wonderland or Steampunk- and then go from there.

I usually know what the character looks like in my head but i don’t think about it as i’m drawing them, when i do thats when it goes wrong…the images just appear on the page…

I’ve been drawing them for so long now it’s like i subconsciously draw in that style even when i’m supposed to be drawing naturalistic it seems to turn out quite ‘Lilyish’.

T

Lily x

http://frillyunderwear.blogspot.com/

She is currently running a special in her shop, 10% off with this coupon code:

I also realized that I never showed you a follow up on My Favorite Thing… My Daughter’s Room… remember how we were re-painting her room at the end of the summer? This is how it turned out.

I love it. It is so exactly Clara. Earthy, organic, calm, funky, and with a goth edge. Check out her cute Skull and Crossbones pillow (from Baby Blonde Design on Etsy ) and her adorable mummy pillow (from Made By Bees on Etsy). Check out their shops too, and support handmade!

Awesome! xoxo