Illustration Friday- Wheels

Pinwheels!

As soon as I saw last week's topic of wheels, this image almost immediately came to mind after deciding to go with pinwheels.  Isn't he cute?  I sort of think he's my husband as a kid. 

The stomach flu chewed us up and spit us out earlier this week, but I had to get this entry in just at the buzzer!

Happy weekend, everyone!

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Illustration Friday- Wings

I've been seeing some bloggers and artists mentioning the website Illustration Friday and I thought I'd go see what it was all about. 

It's a fun weekly art challenge that anyone can participate in.  Each week there is a theme, and you can draw, paint, create, doodle, etc. your interpretation of the theme, and then link up your image for all to see! 

I think this is a good chance for me to try new techniques and topics that I may not do for myself or for school work, and it will be a good way for me to learn more and experiment without any pressure to make it 'perfect.'

This week's topic was WINGS.

I drew this in ink in my little 7x7 sketchbook, and I didn't even plan it out right and it ran off the page, hence the obvious break in the page right at the swan's head. 

Then I scanned it, painted it loosely in Photoshop and then ran the sponge filter on the paint layer. 

It's actually based off of a bird called the whooper swan I found in an article in National Geographic magazine.  The pictures were so beautiful; the swans are really plain bright white with black feet, and the setting was a snow covered wonderland. 

Are there any other art/ drawing challenges I should know about? 

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Sweet Christmas

Andy and I have been having fun, relaxing, and spending lots of quality time with our families this Christmas vacation.

I gave my father-in-law a gift for the family band that I had designed and it was a big hit!  Here's my victory cheer.

 

The dogs were not quite as impressed...

 

We got tons of snow on the 26th and we were all snowed in!



So I spent the afternoon and evening drawing this flower smorgasbord!  It started as a quick sketch to try out my new watercolor pencils, but then I liked it so much I spent a lot of time going back over the outlines, varying the stroke widths, adding a few contour lines and some shading.

How do you think it turned out?  I'm thinking about scanning it and coloring it digitally... I've been wanting to make note cards for my Etsy store- do you think this design would make a good note card or thank you card once I add color?

How was your Christmas?


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i am now an old lady for real

Last Sunday, I turned 29.  !!! 

(We forgot to buy the "9" candle, so actually, I was only 28 again.)

And I have to say, Andy spoiled me rotten.  Rotten, I say!  It was so amazing to have my birthday on the weekend, so I got to choose what I wanted to do for the whole day.  Really, I was like a little kid, it was great!

On the agenda was:

church
out to eat
presents & cake
wrap Christmas gifts
Starbucks
drive around to look at the lights

Here's what I know about being 29.

 Your husband buys you your favorite red velvet cake even though he doesn't like it!

You throw your head back and belly laugh with glee.  See?  I told you I was like a little kid.

 You get way too many gifts; your mom makes sure you don't open hers before your actual birthday; and then your husband says, "Take a picture of me on your birthday!"  Ha.

You take pictures with your cats.  You should be embarrassed, but you're not.

You get reeeeaaaallllyyyy excited about your new laptop!  So much more designing and blogging can get done when you're not sharing the computer with your husband who is taking an online class in the evenings!

Your cat weighs herself, and then falls asleep on the pile of laundry waiting to be folded.  



Thank you, Andy, for the best birthday!  I love being 28 again.







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Happy Halloween!

And now for the scariest Halloween greeting of all:

 Sorry about that.  It seemed like a good idea at the time...

But now for our cuties.

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Anthony, My Love

You guys, I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  LOVE!  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

I still remember the day we first met.  It was Christmas break of my junior year of high school, and I happened to see a music video.  We were at my grandma and grandpa's house, and they had cable, which we did not.  And I was enthralled.  I fell in love right there and never looked back. 

Since that time, I've fallen hard and we are now inseparable for life.  Well, me and Anthony are.  He's my real one true love.  No worries that he turns 50 next week.  Happy birthday, my love.

But back to what's going on: WE'RE GOING TO SEE THEM IN CONCERT TONIGHT!!  I may die of love.  If I never come back, you'll know why.

So I went around the house yesterday documenting all the RHCP stuff we have.  I knew we had a lot, but even I didn't remember I had collected this much over the last decade or so.  Whoa, I just said decade.  Yes, it's been over a decade since I was in high school.  Scary.  

1. Concert shirts

 2. A love collage I made from their article in Rolling Stone

3.  Our RHCP cd collection- yep there are some duplicates from before we were married

4.  Book collection

5.  Magazines they've been featured in

 6.  Anthony's book Scar Tissue on cd- read by Rider Strong from Boy Meets World of all people

7.  DVDs

8.  A record I bought in Paris that we framed

9.  A wall hanging Andy bought me as a gift when we were in college

10.  Finally, here's where my design career began. Yes, my wonderful Anthony inspired me to design this shirt that I wore to their concert in 2007.  

Anthony, I can't wait to see you tonight.  Remember that one time you proclaimed you felt great kinetic energy coming from the left side of the stage?  Yes, that was me at Lollapalooza in 2006, and it was my love energy that you felt.  Yep. Me and you forever.  It's okay, my husband understands.


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everyone deserves a treat now and then... or every night

See how I bought the special 1/2 the fat ice cream just so that I could absolutely douse it with hot fudge and marshmallow topping?  Yep, I'm tricky like that. 


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Name that TV show!

I'm going to say something that I've been needing to say to you all...  I LOVE T.V.!  Whew, okay feels good to say that out loud.  Or type that out loud?

Some of my favorite shows are no longer with us, and have moved on to that big T.V. place in the sky; some I have watched faithfully for several seasons; and some are new.  And I love them all.  Such a big waste of time, I know, but until I have kids, my nights are free to stare at a screen and pretend the characters are not only real people, but real people who would be my friends in real life... that's normal, right?  Ah well... 

So, fellow T.V. lovers of the world, are you ready to play?  Name that show!

1.  Nick and Jess are totally meant for each other... and I can't get enough of Zooey Deschanel.

2.  When I was in high school, my family visited Wilmington, North Carolina, and I'm proud to say I bought a shirt that says "Pacey's Girlfriend."  And I may or may not still have it... and wear it...

3.  Even though I've seen one too many horrible explosions, crashes, tragedies, deaths, and breakups, I'm still a faithful fan of those Seattle doctors.  At least Meredith is somewhat getting it together.

4.  Just when I'm ready to say Jay is my least favorite adult on the show, he does something so heartwarming that I fall in love with the old man all over again.  But I just can't live without Phil or Cam... they are hi-larious.  And yes, when something is really funny, it is pronounced high-larious.

5.  If I were rich, I would totally have Jeff remodel my home.  But only if I could meet Gage and Jenni.

6.  Theresa is killing me on the reunion show... I mean what is going on?!?!  She used to be one of my favorites but now watching that show is almost so stressful I can only take it in small doses.

7.  Haley and Nate... one of my favorite couples.  And I loved him, but gosh darn it Lucas, open your eyes all the way!  Not every scene requires all that squinty serious emotion. 

8.  Sheldon:  "This is silly.  It's just a blue jay, not a dangerous bird like a swan or a goose!"

9.  Ted, I love you, but I'm ready for you to find your wife!  I mean honestly...

10.  A long long time ago, a man named Ben loved a girl who made a really bad hair decision... but that's actually when he realized he loved her.  And then they kept screwing things up for themselves and each other... did they even end up together??  There was also a coffee shop and a loft... and a swim team.

I would LOVE for you to name these shows!  And let me know if you love them too!  Are there any good ones I'm missing that I should definitely be watching?


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Thrifty art purchases including my favorite print of all time

 First purchase:  the set of Andy Warhol inspired Campbell's soup cans from Target!  I mean honestly, they only cost 75 cents each!  My plan is to cut off the labels and frame them as prints, and I'm so excited to see them up on the wall!  Beautiful and so so fun.

Second purchase!  When my friend Erin was visiting, we decided to peruse some local vintage stores in search of wedding decor for her reception... but look what I found for myself! 

 Holy oh my gosh!  I picked it up and did not put it down until it was resting safely in the bag after I bought it.  I don't often make impulse purchases, but I just HAD TO HAVE this!  Look at that sweet child's face all glowing... with that lighting... and that bright book cover... I can't look away!  It was like it had the strongest Earth magnet inside and attached itself to me.  An amazing print to encourage children to read?!?!  Um, could I love anything more?!?! 

Here's what was written on the back.  To add to my love for this print, it was from the year my grandma was born.  I can't even take it, I love it so much.  Jon Brubaker, you are a genius.

So before I decided to stop teaching, I had just started my master's program in Reading.  I loved loved loved teaching reading.  It was my favorite part of the day, and I was hoping to one day be a reading specialist and really help students and a school in a broader way.  But then... well, you know how that story ended...  But just because I left my teaching career doesn't mean I stopped loving kids or caring about literacy.  I love reading, look forward to reading with my own children one day, and hope to be involved with children and literacy in some way in the future.  Like maybe designing reading program layouts/ graphics?  Illustrating children's books?  Working for a company that is child focused?  Designing educational websites?  Fingers are crossed starting now until my dreams come true :)

You can read more about Children's Book Week here.  Please help promote literacy!


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some things that make me say YAY!

1.  Colorful jeans that were on sale!

2.  Boot wearing weather! 

 3.  Showing my displayed charcoal drawing to Andy and 

my best friend Erin who came to visit!

 4.  Um, marbled mocha breakfast bread at Target?!?  

It's like my favorite Starbucks drink in bread form.  Hello, YAY!

5.  My pop art reinterpretation of Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting. 

 I'm so proud of how it turned out!  

Completely unnecessary disclaimer:  Van Gogh's original is on the left.  No, I am not claiming that work as my own.  It was used as a template for this educational project.

What makes you say YAY?

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yummy fall

Could a Saturday get any better?

A salted caramel mocha and pumpkin cheesecake muffin.  I mean, honestly...

Add that to an unexpectedly fun art project, crisp fall weather, sleeping in, and a movie date to see The Campaign, and it was a pretty awesome Saturday.

What was the best part of your weekend?


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i've been working on it, i promise

I swear, you guys, it's coming.  And it's going to be wonderful.


This week I loved:

Watching a squirrel cross a busy four lane street safely.

Seeing the "Welcome Back Art Students" sign at the local art store.

Overhearing a mother checking out math books from the library so she could work with her child at home.  Seriously my eyes may have welled up a little.  Go mom!

Catching up on the Housewives of New York episodes I've missed.  It's crazy town over there.

Eating those candy orange slices.  Could anything be more gross,  yet so good?  Okay fine, maybe they're just gross.

Opening the windows and letting in some fresh, almost fall, air.  Heaven!


Happy Friday, everyone!




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More from our D.C. Trip

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my husband loves this stuff

Over the long holiday weekend, we headed out to Washington D.C. to visit family.  Our first stop was Andy's choice: to see the space shuttle, Discovery.  It's at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. 

It was so so BIG!  And pretty amazing to be standing a few arms lengths away from it.  I mean, this has been in space!  Crazy...  

I'm not into space exploration very much... it's one of those things that my little mind just can't fathom, so I just choose not to think about it.  I see pictures, I learned about the planets in school, I listen to Andy tell me what he's read, but then my brain just explodes inside when I really think about it all.  That's probably weird to say, but it's true.  Do you know how big some of the planets really are, compared to Earth?  It's nothing like those nice pictures from our 4th grade science textbooks.  Or how far away the sun really is??  Or how small our solar system really is compared to the universe???  And don't even get me started on how people ever figured out that we could launch a rocket into space.  And then they built it.  And then sent people in it.  And then those people stood on the moon.   Whoa.  Brain exploding.  But anyways, Andy LOVES IT.  So to the museum we went, and I have to say, I'm so glad we did.

If you love space like Andy, here's a good documentary I bought him for Christmas last year that you might be interested in.

Have any of you gone to see the shuttle?  Any other brains exploding out there?  I'd hate to think I'm the only one...

Happy Friday everyone!

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elephants, asparagus, & jason bateman = a good weekend

It all started with a sketch of this fun little setup in drawing class Friday morning....

and continued at home with some colorful thumbnails for my first type and digital layout project... 

and then I dragged myself into the kitchen to make a simple meal of veggies...

and we ended the night with some hilarious episodes of Arrested Development.

Then on Saturday and Sunday, we began work on this guy!  Off came the doors, out came the shelves, and on went two coats of primer.  I'm so excited to finish it up and show you all how it turns out!

What did you do this weekend?




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a weird thing happened, and then i bought this

I had a weird dream last night.  Actually, it wasn't the dream that was too weird, it was what happened this morning.

Typically I have these really crazy dreams that go on and on and on... and then I usually tell my mom about them in full detail, and she's like whoa you have the weirdest dreams, how do you remember all that?  It's just a gift, I guess. 

So last night, I had a dream that something plastic (I don't know what it was) flew across the room and hit me accidentally in the mouth.  Then when I went to take out my invisalign trays (yes, I have super cool adult braces... read more about that here) they were all broken.  That was just a short piece of the entire dream, so I definitely won't bore you with anything else about it.

But here's the weird thing.

This morning in the shower, I was taking the cap off a bottle, and it flew off full force, out of my hands, into the shower wall, ricocheted off the wall, and hit me in the mouth!!!!!

Whoa. 

Then that part of the dream came flooding back to me... and I swear the feeling of it hitting me in my dream and the feeling of the cap hitting me this morning was the exact same.  Now, if I were always accidentally hitting myself in the mouth with a piece of light plastic, I wouldn't find this too weird.  But I can't say that's ever happened before....

Weird, right? 

At least it didn't break my invisalign...

Okay, you're probably yawning by now and thinking the only reason this is weird is that you think it's weird...  Yeah, I know. 

Well, once I got over the fact that my dream came true, I bought this!

Yes, I went out and bought this beauty that I originally saw a few days ago at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  I couldn't stop thinking about it!

I'm not sure exactly what I'll do with it yet, but with a small price tag ($22) and it's huge size ( 25" x 46"), I didn't want to pass it up.

So that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Happy Friday!


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that one time we got lost in a maze

Today I thought I’d share a memory with you guys.  The theme for today’s photo challenge at Mercantile Muse was retro groove, and lookie what gem I found in my photo archive?

And thus I find that today is the perfect time to share the story of the Dole Plantation Maze. 

The setting:  Oahu, Hawaii, 2010

The characters:  Me, Andy, lots of smart kids, lots of snails

Andy and I took a big trip to Hawaii two years ago (best vacation ever).  One morning we decided to be touristy and go to the Dole Plantation.  Well, we got there and decided to be even more touristy and bought tickets to do the maze.  I mean, it was the world's largest maze!  How could we resist?  Sounded like an okay idea.   

But approximately two hours later, we found ourselves covered in bugs and dripping with sweat and frustration and lost in that stupid maze!  A maze that tiny children were happily running around in and escaping from left and right.  But oh no, there we were.  I’m talking honest to goodness lost, and feeling trapped!  We realized this wasn’t some ha-ha-fun-times -oh-golly-gee-a-maze maze.  (Maybe we should have taken a look at these photos before we decided to try it.) 

This was serious.  We could see the exit but couldn’t get there.  Time continued to tick by and we started to mildly panic (okay maybe that was just me).  Not like {ahh we’re gonna die!} but more like {we’re on this beautiful vacation and yet here we are wasting hours in a maze?!? A MAZE?!?! WHY???}

Did I mention we were surrounded not only by happy kids finding their way out in 30 seconds flat, but by no fewer than 200 snails mating in the bushes at every turn?  You heard me.  Snails.  Mating.  This was how we chose to spend our once in a lifetime vacation in paradise? 

Oh yeah and see that fun little card I'm holding?  You were supposed to find these little hidden booths and get the stamp or something at each one.  See how mine is blank?  Yeah, we weren't very good at finding those.  We totally failed at this maze.  I mean, honestly.

Well anyways, long story short, we made it out alive, saw some gorgeous flowers, snapped a few photos, took a train ride (Andy loves trains… LOVES TRAINS), ate some pineapple whip ice cream, bought a bag of chocolate covered macadamia nuts, and called it a day.  

In summary-   Hawaii: good.  Mazes in Hawaii: bad.

But I can't really complain, because it was beautiful there.  Hawaii is exactly how you expect it to be.  Everything is just as beautiful as the pictures, it's just unbelievable.  Best place ever.  If you get the chance, you should go.  Just don't try the maze.  

You can check out more of my Hawaii photos here!  

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