Something Sketchy

Hi Readers. It is rainy here and I have a sick kiddo in the house. The perfect day to sit around and watch loads of Sesame Street, Clifford and the like. My couch is like a desk-island. We've been pretty well all summer, I've almost forgotten what a sick day feels like. 

Anyhow, I needed to put something I drew up today because I promised, and the blog is just feeling so lacking in the way of sketches these days. I literally just grabbed my sketchbook and picked a page that felt like today. This was from back in the spring, when I was laid up with another cold, watching the series The Duchess of Duke Street on Netflix streaming. Something about those BBC miniseries appeals to me, especially when I have a cold.

Tune in tomorrow for a peek into my process for creating a poster for a musical! Whee! Until then...

Once in a lifetime

No energy today for a favorite things post, but I will give you the video for this Talking Heads song. I remember being mesmerized by it on MTv, and listened to it over and over during art school. I kinda have a thing for David Byrne, and his music always inspires me. I met him once at a book signing and was star-struck. So yeah, definitely a favorite thing. 

The dance moves he does in this song feel like what this week has been like for me. As promised, arty goodness coming your way next week! Thanks for hanging in there with me.

A Year of Handmade: I'm Crackers

 

So yeah, this blog has been a little heavy on the domestic arts of late: I hear you. I swear to you that sometime soon, it will be full of illustrated goodness. Please hang in there, I'm trying to be patient too.

This week has been nutt-o. My brain is experiencing a lovely fog that I hope will lift soon. Because of said fog, I messed up my only childcare day this week - so all my supplies are locked up in my distant studio crying like Rapunzel for yours truly.

Anyhow, we've been home a lot this week. Yesterday, in a moment of rare clarity and  inspiration I decided the kiddo and I would make crackers. Because that is what you do when you really should be doing about 100 other things (none of which are making crackers).

These are really yummy. Akin to those Nairns oat cakes . I used a recipe similar to this one. 


Really people, what is happening to me?

 

Etsy Wall Wednesday #10: Space

you are here now  $35  11.20"x16"

{ giclee print by farouche }

Comet Tin Toy Rocket Box  $40  7.78"x18"

{ art print by John W. Golden }

Space Portrait No.4  $65  3.5" x 4.5"

{ original gouache painting by Andrice Arp / hihorse }

Owl in Rocketship  $15  6"x 6"

{ art print by Lee Arthaus }

Like Peter Pan $20 8.5" x 11" 

{ art print by Naoko Stoop }

It has been a while since the last Wall Wednesday - so let's get to it!

I was talking to a friend of mine today who mentioned that she was going be doing a 'space themed' room for her little boy. As I sat down to do Wall Wednesday today I thought I'd take a peek on Etsy to see what they have in the way of space themed art.

Here are a few of my favorites, with links to their respective shops. I'm pretty sure all of these are kid friendly - Space Portrait No.4 might scare some kids but I think it is adorable and hilarious. Just be happy I didn't include the painting of Jabba the Hut ralphing into a toilet. See, I wasn't kidding. You can really find about anything on Etsy these days. Yikes. 

Happy Wall Wednesday!

What Up With That?

 

Today has me asking "What Up With That?" a lot. I just spent an hour writing a "Wall Wednesday" post for today, because I thought it was Wednesday, and I have mixed up two important dates this week causing me to miss both. Ugh. And it is only Tuesday, people.

What Up With That?

This skit from SNL always gets me. What Up With That stars Kenan Thompson (who I love) as DeAndre Cole. There is so much about this skit that I love - Kenan's body language, the rhyming, the dancing (especially the guy in the red track suit) the Kenny G look alike, and the chairs in skit that are identical to the ones I had growing up. But this one takes the cake - it features a bearded Zach Galifianakis as the world's only ambidextrous disco flute player. As a flutist, this was especially hilarious to me. If only I could be that cool - or look that awesome in a polyester jump suit.

 

Thrifty Treasures Party #2:

Happy Monday all. I thought I'd share a little thrifty goodness with you today. A new table and chairs has been on our wish-list for years now. We'd been getting by with some chairs that came from my step- dad's bachelor days, and a table my hubby found at Goodwill in our college years for $15. A totally serviceable set - but we'd outgrown it.

We just couldn't justify spending oodles of money on a table that also needed to withstand the daily spills and food smearings of a preschooler and her friends. Finding something that looked better than what we had,  was in line with our love of all things mid-century modern, fit within our budget, and could stand up to a slew of tiny diners was a tough bill to fill. I thought it would never happen.

Lucky for me I wandered into The Living Room in Kenmore, and found this awesome table with 6 chairs for $425. A wonderful bargain in my book - after years of searching. It does need a little facelift and we plan on reupholstering the seats, and redoing the table top. I'll post before and afters someday soon.

If you are ever in Kenmore, Washington and are in need of furniture I urge you to check out The Living Room. They also have a blog.  The stuff they carry changes out rapidly, so you never know what you will find there. Kinda fun.

I'm also linking this post to Southern Hospitality's Thrifty Treasures Party, where every Monday thrifty shoppers post their recent finds online. Like visiting thrift stores from all over the globe without buying a thing. 

Be back tomorrow with some more design related news! Until then...

A Year of Handmade: handmade tortillas

As the year of handmade plods along, I am finding the idea of making stuff I'd usually buy creeping into unexpected places - like my dinner table.

My kiddo is a picky, picky eater. One thing she will eat with gusto are quesadillas (which she calls tacatillos - one of my new favorite words). As I reached for yet another package of store bought tortillas I saw how many strange ingredients and preservatives were listed on the package. I remembered hearing how easy tortillas were to make so I put the package back, and vowed to give it a try. 

Guess what? They were easy, delicious, and so satisfying to make - only 5 ingredients, all of which I had on hand.  Mine (above) were not perfectly round, but they tasted delicious. I used this recipe - I used vegetable shortening instead of lard, and they were still tasty. 

Yay for handmade food!

tick tock

Modern Baby Clock by Decoylab on Etsy - $58

As I mentioned yesterday, this summer has been mostly about doing work for clients. Yesterday as I sat in my studio (still undecorated, still a plain white box - thanks for asking) I had that post project moment where I was all "Duhhh, what am I supposed to be doing?"

I have some bigger goals for my work. The work that I want to make (so many ideas), how I want to sell it, where I want to sell it, etc. etc. And, doing all of that can feel really overwhelming - not knowing where to start,  feeling like you need to start it all right now.  Pair that with already 'challenged' time management skillz, and you've got one hot mess.

As a subscriber to the blog Handmadeology I recently read this post that was full of tips on time management with the creative brain in mind. Please read it here. It's a good one.

After reading some of the tips I decided to make a story board for my goal of having a show of my new work in a local cafe. I broke down the steps into doable chunks, and placed each goal on a sticky note, then re-stacked the notes into their neat little cube. Instead of seeing a list as long as the one Santa Claus totes around (what I usually do) all I can see is the goal on the top. And when that one is done, I peel it off, recycle it and focus on the next one. This is such a visual reminder of doing one thing / one step at a time.

I'll let you know how it goes! What are your favorite time management tools / tips?

another day, another happy dance

The Pass - "Treatment of the Sun" PMA Premiere from Pretty Much Amazing on Vimeo.

My friend Buchino posted this video the other week and it made me smile. I just wrapped up the majority of my summer projects and am in the homeward stretch with the final one. I've loved working on them, but I am also happy to refocus on my work for the next few months. Today was a day of making lists and goals for the next big idea. More on that soon, but for today I'm doing something that looks a little bit like this.

Favorite Things Friday!

Yay! The weekend is finally here, and it is gorgeous outside which makes for one very happy me. I have to work tomorrow, but still - just having the sun out there makes it feel not so bad. This week has been intense, working late into the night and not really getting much done.  Here are a few of my favorite things this week:

1. Magnetic Flame Decals. Oh yeah. Maybe it's because I grew up driving an El Camino with a DIY hot pink flame job (that's a story all its own), but I do love cars with flames. A new car is in our future and although we haven't decided on a model yet so many signs are pointing toward The Minivan. If we get one - mine will likely be black, and totally rock some flames.

2. Rick's Picks. Pretty much everything I've tried by this company makes me swoon. And, I love the simple packaging and the product names. The Phat Beets are to die for. 

3. The beach, and playing with my kiddo in the sand. What started out as a morning filled with whining and tantrums was completely solved by going to the beach. It was such a break to just zone out and stare at the water, and build 'sand Elmos'. One of the reasons I love where I live ? Going to the beach in less than 15 minutes.

4. Krentenbol. Afternoons at the beach always remind me of the long afternoons I've spent at the North Sea with my Dutch family - we'd usually take a picnic including sandwiches made on these delicious currant rolls. I miss them (both my family AND the rolls).  Here's a recipe for the rolls if you feel so inclined

5. These shortie cowboy boots. I know, I know. First I want a flamed minivan and now these? I'm even surprised. Oh, and they come in pink.

Happy Weekending, and thanks for reading along this week.

Illustration Friday: Caged

Here's my submission to this week's Illustration Friday Challenge : Caged. You know, when you have 10,000 things you should be doing, it is important to completely ignore them and draw.

Anyhoodles. Here you have Sandy - an pessimistic teen whose teeth just got caged in some lovely headgear. You better bet she'll be writing angry poetry about it later.

Space Girl, that's me.

Nothing arty to report or show today - I'm just in a super busy mode of trying to work at every little chance I get. Things are busy x eleventybillion, and my time management skillz are being put to the test this week. Wrapping up one poster, starting another, taking on a newsletter extreme makeover project, and trying to find time for my stuff too - all on about 12 hours of dedicated work time. There will be late nights this week - I need laughs, people. These videos popped up on faebook today and totally did the trick.

Color My World

Happy Monday all. The weather here is dumb (I'll spare you the gloomy details) and I am going in 1 million different directions. All this is adding up to me not having much to say. So instead I will show you these pretty, happy, photos of some melty crayons my kiddo and I made about a month ago. If you have a bunch of broken crayon bits around your house I encourage you to try this project. It was super fun, and the results are even more fun to play with.

Hopefully my mood will be a little more colorful tomorrow. Until then...

Favorite Things Friday!

1. Benny
This guy (my guy) deserves a post dedicated all to him. He's my best friend and partner in crime and we just celebrated 20 or 9 years together depending on how you count it. He puts up with all of my moods and whims and is my rock. He's scary smart (so smart I don't even understand much of the content on his blog), has the best laugh I know, and is pretty much perfect. I love him to pieces. Get a room, right? Ok, I think we will.

2. August to August Organizer
Well, I have no excuse now. I broke down and bought a calendar that will fit in my purse. It is the same one I have bought in years past, and while it is not perfect it is going to work, because it has to.

3. Maple Bars
Yeah, I ate one today that was as long as my forearm. It came from Top Pot, which I think makes pretty much the best Maple Bars around - but I've never really met a maple bar I didn't like.

4. A New Car
The search for a new-to-us car continues. There is a 1959 Cadillac Ambulance like this one for sale in our home town. I'm tempted, people.

5. Cornhole!
No, it is not a dirty insult you shout at someone, although the word is really fun to say. It is a game that is a cross between a bean bag toss and horseshoes. It was super fun to play and I kinda want a set up for my back yard.

6. Homemade Play Doh
This stuff is seriously saving my summer sanity. Here are 10 recipes to try yourself.

7. Green Flower Sandals
Those awesome green sandals that my cousin-in-law wore at her wedding are haunting me! They were so cute. A little online research lead me to them, but sadly they don't come in my size (11). The good news is, if you are a 6,7 or 8 they are on sale here.

the PDX afterglow

We just got back from a trip to Portland, Oregon where my husband's cousin Tia got married to Ed under a big tree in beautiful Mt. Tabor Park. We met Ed for the first time at our wedding (9 years ago today!) and I couldn't be happier for these two. They are the sweetest, most genuine people you could ever meet. 

Tia wore the coolest shoes, and the tree was hung with paper lanterns and these wonderful fabric garlands. Oh yeah, and the wedding was perfect too. The reception featured belly dancers, handmade chocolates, food from Portland's amazing food cart culture, mangoes on a stick and Cornhole. Yep - pretty amazing.

The whole weekend had such a magical feeling about it. I don't know - Portland always does that to me. Is there something in the water? Because everything, and everyone I know there is just so amazing. It just doesn't quit.

This is the tree house in my aunt's back yard. My aunt who is hilarious, intelligent and wonderful and my cousins who do things like play the bass, and electric ukulele, and make art, and my uncle who designs wineries and rides his bike everyehre. Again, amazing! In addition to all of the fun family time, I got to meet up with the folks from Portland Center Stage who are also too cool for words, and quirky, and hilarious, and wonderful. And I finally got to meet my Art Director pal Buchino, (who also happens to be one of Portland's Best Bloggers) for the first time since we started working together two years ago. It was kind of like meeting a pen pal for the first time! Just another neat person to add to my growing list of friends in PDX.

I dunno, Portland. You wooed us pretty hard again this weekend. Time will tell if we can resist the crazy spell you put on us each and every time we visit.