It has been kind of a tough, sleepless week around my house. The baby's former nights of 8 blissful hours of uninterrupted sleep have regressed back to sleeping 1- 2 hours at a time leaving my hubby and I bleary eyed and a tad grumpy in the morning. I'm convinced that whoever coined the phrase "sleeping like a baby" never actually hung around too many babies. This lack of vitamin Zzzzzzzz has resulted in a less inspired week for me creatively and The Weeklies are a wee bit ovedue.
Handmade Object
When I'm feeling tired and depleted I find myself turning to all things that bring me comfort. Comfort food, comfort clothes, comfort music. This is my favorite mug. I bought it from one of my ceramics teachers in art school, Marc Digeros. I love everything about it: the color and the form and how it feels in my hand. Marc made wheel throwing look so easy, turning lifeless lumps of porcelain clay into amazing vessels in no time flat. Here is his website with his current work.
Image
From my sketchbook, here is a drawing of an old Brownie camera I did awhile back.
Best food I ate
Home made chicken and biscuits, gingerbread (see below) a coconut cupcake, and blueberry pancakes..hello comfort food!
Thing I made
One thing I did do this week was make my mother-in-law's recipe for gingerbread. Talk about comfort food. This recipe is one of my favorites. It produces a rich moist cake that is pretty much to die for. Top it with whipped cream for an added treat, eat it for breakfast, grab a slice on your way to yoga, have some with tea in the afternoon, sneak some while you take a bubble bath and read a steamy novel.... Here's another clip-n-save recipe card! Just an FYI, the card will look much larger when you open it within your browser. It should print at 4 x 6 inches.
Best thing I saw on the web
My cousin just got his BFA in painting and printmaking! He is insanely talented, and has a wild imagination. When he was little he used to write me these crazy illustrated letters that came in elaborately decorated envelopes. It is a good thing I saved them for someday when he is famous. Here is my favorite painting from his show. it s titled "Without Teeth". I just love the colors, and especially the cassette tape cloud. You can see more of his work here. Congratulations cuz!
Can't live without
Sleep.... oh precious, precious sleep...
Music
So the thing about this embedded player is that I either have to erase all the songs from previous weeks or just keep adding to them until I have a playlist that is 70 songs long, at that point the site will allow me to make a new playlist. I've decided to keep adding to it so you can have something longer to listen to. The newest songs will be at the top.
Since I didn't have much time to find new music this week part of the playlist includes some of my comfort music, stuff I can listen to over and over. The Kings of Convienince are one such band. I can't tell you how much I love them. "Bad Dream" by Keane is also pretty and singable too. The Airborne Toxic Event song is fun, it kind of reminds me of They Might Be Giants but a little groovier. "Engine Driver" is another comfort song..the chicken and biscuits of my iPod. "Slipping Through the Sensors" and "Pain Killer" are two "new to me" songs I discovered this week.
(I've moved the player to the next weeklies entry)
Feeling happy about
Getting out my hand knit winter scarves, fall colors, and having time to read books again.
Making me laugh
The baby's crazy giggle. It is a little unpredictable but when it happens it is pretty much the cutest and funniest thing I have ever heard.
copyright The Flying Pencil 2007
This week's Illustration Frday topic is "extremes". Here I was thinking about all of the emotions a single person can feel on any given day. In the image above, Mr. Happy and Mr. Sad are actually the same image, all that is shifted is the perspective.
The topic for this week's IF challenge was 'open'. I was thinking here about maintaining an open mind and the many layers we sometimes have to peel away to achieve openness. That's about as deep as I get these days! Happy Friday!
Handmade Object
These adorable socks were sent to me for our baby by my dear friend Molly over at Baby Finds a Kazoo. Thank you so much Miss Molly! We love them.
Image
I just filled another sketchbook. I tend to fill up one big one per year, and a few random smaller ones.Here is my final page.
Best food I ate
Banana cardamom cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (see below), delicious Apple Crisp with Jenny, and although this might sound lame...a big helping of sauteed spinach garnished with butter, lemon and pepper.
Thing I made
I rescued some more sad, neglected, over-ripe bananas moments before they were about to be thrown into our compost pile. I wanted to do something MORE with them than the usual bread. I also had a brick of cream cheese that needed to be used in the next week, and a large bag of organic powdered sugar that mysteriously showed up in my pantry after the baby was born. After a lot of searching for the perfect recipe I cracked open my new edition of The Joy of Cooking (thanks Grandma!) and found a recipe for Banana Cake Cockaigne. I'm really not sure what the heck cockaigne even means, but I think it is a fun word and I want to add it to everything. They turned out A-mazing, and I would highly recommend this recipe. Click below for a fun, clip-n-save recipe card designed by me! Banana Cardamom Cupcakes Cockaigne....cock a doodle doo!
Best thing I saw on the web
My recent job in a local theatre's communications and marketing group gave me a whole new appreciation for clever stick-to-your-ribs advertising and how hard it is to achieve something fresh. This campaign for Pemco insurance cracks me up. Their Northwest Profiles are spot on and funny without being mean or gross. And if you've ever been to the Pacific Northwest I'm sure you have spotted #56 "Sandals and Socks Guy".
Can't live without
My freakin lint roller. Postpartum hair loss bites!
Music
Oh my goodness people, am I excited. I am finally coming up to speed on the embeddable music players so popular on MySpace and the like. Now I can make these playlists and share them with you, and you can LISTEN to them. I get to be my own Casey Kasem. Some of the music below might not be new to you, but it is to me and these are the songs that have been stuck in my head all week.
Here's the low-down on this week's list. Jill Scott: how much do I love her? Why can't I sing like that? If I could, I'd give up talking, I'd just sing everything. Of course it would also help if I could come up with stuff like "What if I gave you diamonds / Out of my own womb / Would you feel the love in that / Or ask “why not the moon”?", I've been singing 'Boxcar' to my little one as a lullaby, ditto for 'Boy With a Coin'. 'The Wand' makes me want to do a crazy robot like dance.. 'Say Hello' makes me want to dig out my old goth wardrobe (before it was called goth) and moodily sip coffee in the rain, while looking forlorn. And I just discovered Arthur and Yu. I love the little toy piano in this song. Enjoy!
(10/16 I've temporarily removed the player while I update it for this week's entry...stay tuned!)
Feeling happy about
Returning to the gym, mom and baby yoga, daily tea breaks with hubby.
Making me laugh
The new season of The Office.
For me, nothing cures a good case of the blues like a little shoe shopping. But nothing gives me the blues like not being able to find shoes for my rather large set of feet. Unfortunate for me, and fortunate for my pocketbook because I seriously love shoes. As Fatts Waller sang "From your ankles up, I'd say you sure look sweet. From there down, there's just too much feet".
All Images Copyright The Flying Pencil 2007
The absolute highlight of my week was finding out that my Dutch sis had her baby girl. It is hard to even take my little weekly "Best of's" seriously with this great news to report. I've been anticipating this moment for months and it finally came and she is a beauty! Earlier this summer, when my girl was born, we chose my Dutch sister's name as her middle name. I wanted to honor a friendship so special to me that it really changed the course of my life for the better. You see it was my Dutch sister's idea to host an exchange student in the first place. And that decision set the rest of my life into motion. From the moment I saw my Dutch sis getting out of the family's van to pick me up I just had this feeling that we'd be close, and our relationship has grown deeper than I ever imagined possible.
My Dutch sis called me first thing when she got home from the hospital (which for her was only a few hours after the baby was born!) It was the middle of the night in Holland and she was tucked up in her bed with the baby by her side. She called to tell me that her little girl had MY NAME as her middle name. I was speechless. I felt so honored, and flattered and humbled at the same time. I also felt a real sense of responsibility to live up to my own name. Here is this little innocent creature half a world away with my name as part as hers. I really want to do her proud! It makes me want to be a better person.
So our two girls are bound by more than this common history their mom's share. And it is my hope that someday their bond will be as special as the one we have. Welcome to the world little sweetie. I love you and can't wait to meet you.
And though none of these next things are nearly as exciting, here are my weekly top picks:
Handmade Object
I am in love, love, love with Etsy. I could spend hours browsing there. I am planning on doing most of my shopping for Christmas gifts online and Etsy will be a big part of my plan! It is a great way to support artists worldwide without leaving the comfort of your armchair. Here is an awesome necklace ($25!) from paraphernalia.
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A little something I drew in the car while waiting for hubby to pick up a chocolate shake (see "Best food I ate") while baby napped in her carseat. Hooray for multitasking!
Best food I ate
A maple glazed old fashioned donut, and a chocolate shake from my favorite local burger joint.
Thing I made
Pumpkin raisin bread from the good ole Betty Crocker cookbook, the recipe made 2 loaves and we polished them off in less than 2 days, and our slices were about 10 times as thick as the anemic ones in the recipe's picture.
Best thing I saw on the web:
This house. It is like something out of my imagination! From the Ticky Tacky Westlake photoset on Flickr.
Can't live without
Tetley tea (the British stuff...bought in Canada). It is nice and strong, the American version contains less tea per bag. What's up with that?
Music
Blue Scholars, Northwest hippy-hop (as my hubby calls it) at its finest.
Feeling happy about
New babies!!!! Trees turning gold and red, and the sound of rain at night.
Making me laugh
Again, another SNL skit with dancing! Crazy dancing pretty much cracks me up 24/7. This time it is Lebron James doing Solid Gold. How much did I used to want to be a Solid Gold Dancer?
