New Prints in the Shop

I really wanted to say hizzous instead of shop, but I restrained myself.

Here's what I have new in the shop!

Peace Amidst Chaos

Be Joyful

 

Love Conquers All

Don't you just wanna go take a looksey?  It'll be fun, I promise.  It's never too early for holiday shopping, that's what I always say...




Pin It Now!

a few pictures from my first day

A few things:

1.  The weather on my first day was perfect and beautiful.
2.  You just can never escape construction around here.
3.  Those comfy chairs line the hallways surrounding the art department.  Amazing.
4.  I have 3 of my 5 classes in the lab, where the computers are big and beautiful.
5.  I sold my left kidney on the black market in order to afford all my art supplies.
6.  We scored the old t.v. armoire for a mere $13 and are going to fix it up nice and purty for office/ craft storage in the basement!
7.  College feels way different the second time around.  It just seems to make sense now.
8.  When I got home after a long day, my first thought when I got out of the car was I get to do this again tomorrow.  And that, my friends, was the happiest thought of all.



Pin It Now!

Guess Where I Am?

You guys!  I'm at college today!!!

Today I have my first 3 classes:

Foundations of Design
Drawing
Type and Digital Layout

EEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyayayaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwooooo!!!!!

I have been ranging from only very slightly nervous to really extremely nervous for the last week in anticipation of this day... so... WISH ME LUCK!!

What if I get lost?  Who do I sit by?  What if traffic is bad and I walk in late?  What if I'm the oldest person and everyone thinks I'm weird?  What if my drawings are stupid?

Oh gosh you guys...




Pin It Now!

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!


Pin It Now!

a photo tour of some of my favorite stores

Hi guys!  So ever since painting the basement, I've been heading out to local discount stores every day to see what's out there that we could use to complete the space.  We also took a day trip to Ikea and found a few things. 

One of the first finds at Ikea were these curtain wires that were displayed as photo hangers.  We thought this would work as kind of a modern bulletin board to be hung above our desk.  Two wires with clips came home with us!  Aren't they cool?  I'm sure you could DIY something like this pretty darn easily, too. 

I loved this purple painted cabinet- my photo isn't great- it's much much prettier in person. 

We've been wanting a new office chair and I'm pushing for white.  This one is from Staples.  I think it would help to brighten the basement and be a nice contrast to our dark wood desk and bookcases.

Next up, Gordmans!  I am so in love with Gordmans!  They have amazing discounted items, and tons of home decor.  I love browsing around their vases and artwork especially.

Here's some art I covet.  We're looking for two long canvases to flank the curtain wire from Ikea that we bought.  Most of the long skinny canvases were 3 ft. by 1 ft. and cost $20- $30. 

I love this heart sculpture so much.  I think it's only $15.00.  So.... I should get it, right?

There are also always lots of chairs available, each around $100.  Some day, I would love to own a cool chair like these, or like this one from Pier 1.  

Next up are the lamps.  I love the shape of this big floor lamp.  I think it would look awesome over a desk or in a reading nook.  And the orange one would be an awesome color pop on our desk.

Here we have the vases and owls!  Oh, the vases.  How beautiful is this colorful selection?  I would take any of them in a heartbeat.  Then there were two whole shelves of owl sculptures!  I know owls are in right now, and I'm glad because how cool are they?  I think the tootsie pop owl really started it all... it just took a few decades to catch on.  

 

Last up is my trip to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.   I love browsing around there.  We really want a big armoire or old media cabinet to convert to office storage in the basement.  I would love to paint this guy white or even a color like light blue, add shelves, and use it to store our office and craft supplies.  It would be perfect.

And look at the beauty of that old frame!  It it only had a mirror in it, I would have snatched it up, but I'm just not sure what I would do with it.  Any ideas?

Our office desk is in the basement, so it's a big open space, next to a living room/ t.v. area.  There's also a ledge that goes halfway up the wall on 3 sides.  It's an awesome space to have, but a bit awkward, and pretty long and narrow.  

What do you do for office/ craft storage?  Do you house it all in a big cabinet?  Open storage?  Bins and baskets?  Shelves?  Any ideas for me? 



Pin It Now!

New fabric design: camping

Hi everyone!  Time to share a new design!

This week, the Spoonflower fabric contest theme is camping.  I love me some camping!  We used to go pretty often growing up.  Many of our best family vacations were spent at campgrounds around the U.S.  And we were tent people.  No RVs here.  

My dad also invented the best breakfast ever once while we were camping.  It was put together with a hodge podge of ingredients, because I think it may have been our last morning there, so he was using up all the food we had left.  I think it may have had potatoes, eggs, cheese... and the secret ingredient of pasta sauce maybe?  Who knows.  But it has yet to be recreated!  Every once in a while, we're like oooo dad, try to make the best breakfast ever.  Haha. 

So here's my initial simple sketches, with the colored images I made in Illustrator. 

Then I focused on my sun, which  needed some work.  I wasn't sure if I wanted night time, with a moon and stars, or a sunset.  But I'm glad I decided to switch it to an early morning sun, because that let me use pretty soft colors that remind me of peaceful mornings while camping.  I still can perfectly remember what it feels like to climb out of the tent and sit at the picnic table with my parents and sister.  We would usually read or play card games.  The best.

I also fixed up my trees a bit, and decided on their arrangement.  Then I added in my new sun, and finally added the wind wisps in the sky.  

And here's my final design!  I think I love it.  You can see the whole fabric design, titled peaceful mornings, at my Spoonflower shop. 

 

Pin It Now!

today I am not a teacher. part two

Today I am not a teacher.

This morning I didn't know if I was happy or sad.

But today, I was happy.  Only happy.

So today, I know I made the right choice.

I drove by school and saw the parking lot full of cars, and I was thankful it wasn't me.

Today I didn't feel the pressure of being responsible for little lives.

I didn't feel worried or overwhelmed.

Today I felt free, knowing that my responsibilities for the next year will not include students, parents, administrators, the school district, or state.  

Today I was filled with anticipation and excitement for a new year.  But this year it will be for me.

Today I went to campus and bought my design books.

And even though I was surrounded by people a decade younger than me, I didn't care.

I ate lunch while reading about designing with type, and I was so excited I thought my heart might leap from my chest.

Today I drove all around town searching through thrift stores for my next project.

Today I went to the library to rent season two of Arrested Development, and when we watched it tonight, I laughed so hard.

Today I read magazines at the bookstore and treated myself to Starbucks.

Today I created a new fabric design.

I loved today.

Today I  know that being a teacher isn't the only way to be a good person.

I know I will find other ways to be helpful and caring and to make a difference.

I can still be who I was as a teacher.  I didn't give up myself when I left that career.  I am still me.

Today I am happy.

Because today, I am not a teacher.



Pin It Now!