One of those weeks

You guys, last week was one of those weeks.  You know, the kind where nothing is really wrong, nothing horrible happens, but it just feels like something is off.  You know?  Like you wonder if you have a weird aura surrounding you, or like you need to go to a yoga class or a chiropractor or something?  Just little weird things happening one after another, added to just a busy school week.  Here's a few things that I remembered to write down...

1.  I spent time packing a lunch for myself, then put it in the freezer for a shot of cold before I left.  Then I forgot to bring it, of course.

2.  When I went to the campus Subway, they weren't taking credit or debit cards, and I didn't have cash.

3.  I had to buy black foam board to mount my final brochure design, and it ain't cheap ($5 a pop), but I measured and cut it for just one page, instead of both pages together, so I had to buy another board, measure and cut it again.  I was left with a bunch of small pieces that may or may not be able to be used.  Lame.

4.  On Tuesday, it was 4:00 pm before I realized I had my underwear on inside out.  Weird.

5.  On Wednesday, this was how much of my 2D Design project I had completed.  We had to mix paint to color match the correlating square from the actual picture we chose, to create an enlarged, pixelated version of the picture.  There were 768 squares and at this point I was averaging 30 squares an hour.  Oh and it was due Friday.  Total nightmare.

6.  I walked to and from my car in the rain at least 4 times this week.

7.  On Wednesday morning, I decided to treat myself to Starbucks and get rid of this bad aura surrounding me.  It wasn't until I had pulled forward and looked in my mirror to see the person behind me rolling down her window that I realized I didn't order!  Then I was stuck in the line with no way out and had to embarrassingly drive right by the window and get back in line.

8.  I had to spend 13 hours painting on Wednesday and Thursday to finish my project on time.  It was down to the line, for sure.

I'm sure more weird things happened, but I forgot to write everything down.  It was just one of those weeks. 

BUT, everything turned out fine.  I finished my projects, had a great weekend with Andy, and said to myself after each little thing happened "If this is the worst thing to happen to me, then I am a very, very lucky lady." 


Anyone else have a weird week?  


 


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Silly Halloween Fabric

Hi everyone and happy Friday!

I'm so excited to share my newest fabric design with you!  I created it for this week's Spoonflower contest with the theme creepy crawlies.

I started with the spiders as the creepy crawlies and added some other fun and goofy looking Halloween creatures.  I don't like the scary Halloween stuff!  Goofy and silly with googly eyes for me, please.

I love the way it turned out!  The design worked so well with a half drop repeat also.  Here's a screen shot from my Spoonflower shop.

There are so many fun designs in the contest this week; you can go here to check them out and vote for your favorites!

I'm off to spend time with my family!  They are driving 6 hours to visit me, and I have to say that I am one lucky lady!  

What are you up to this weekend?  Hope it's a good one!





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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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My principles of design collage book

Hi everyone & happy Monday!

A few weeks ago, I completed a project for my 2D design class that took hours and hours and hours... and our relationship was definitely touch and go for a while there...

But when I finally finished, I could not have been more proud of the finished product!

The assignment was to:

1.  Make a book out of paper, chip board, thread, and fancy paper.
2.  Create a spread for each of the 8 principles of design, using both collaged images and hand applied media, to show complete understanding of each principle.
3.  Use cut out images from books or magazines in each spread.
4.  Add your own black and white "stuff" to each spread.

Here's my book!

Completely unnecessary disclaimer:  The obviously professional cut out images are not my own, and I do not claim them to be.  They were used in this project for educational purposes.

I really wanted each spread to have images that represented the principle, plus I wanted the collage as a whole to represent the principle, and I wanted the written title to represent the principle.

I spent forever finding images, planning what I could draw on each page, how I could connect everything, and how I could make sure it all came together to represent the principle of design.  I also spent a lot of time sketching the titles, writing them on graph paper, tracing them, and writing them in with ink.

Some problems I had included the book not opening and closing correctly (I had to cut it apart and make it again), the ink bleeding through (luckily this happened before I had everything glued in, so I was able to change some layouts to cover it up), and time management in general (I bet this took 20+ hours, which was frustrating to find time for in one week, knowing it was just worth 20 points!)

When I showed it to Andy, he said "Looks pretty cool... but I don't really get it."

Hahaha... oh Andy...

So... how do you think it turned out?  Do you 'get it'?  



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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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Four Years

Happy fourth anniversary to my main squeeze!

Let's take a walk down memory lane, with some photos of how we've spent all the October fourths since 2008...

We were lucky enough to take amazing vacations our first two anniversaries to Mount Rushmore and Hawaii while I was on fall break from teaching.

See that picture of me in front of the train?  I look slightly crazy because even though it was barely October, it started snowing!  We didn't even have coats... you can see I'm wearing all possible layers and still freezing.  Oh yes, and we rode back in the nice 'open air' train car.  Too bad it wasn't the middle of July.

Andy is there going through the small space which you had to get through before signing up to go into this cave.  Well, he made it, but we missed the last cave tour.  Whoops.

Hawaii... oh Hawaii...  Oh if we could only be so lucky as to go there twice in a lifetime, it would make me the happiest person alive.  Ever.

Happy Anniversary, Andy :)

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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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