The summer craft season begins?

I'm promising myself that this summer will contain plenty of time for crafting. And although we're still only in spring, I'm getting started.

I finished a windchime that I've had the supplies for, for years. It's chimes are made from bent forks, which have a surprisingly delightful sound. It is now hanging in front of my house.

You know that summer is on its way, because the dollar store has gotten their popsicle molds back in. I got four, so that I can start making popsicle soap again. That's enough to make 32! And they're in fabulous colors! I'm so excited.

And finally, my mom has decided that this coming week she will open her new sewing machine. At last! We haven't had a sewing machine going around here for a while. And although she got the new machine some time ago, she hasn't used it, and I didn't want to be the one to break it in. It is hers after all. So I have big sewing plans!

Let the summer craft season begin!

Baring your threads?

Threadbared is simply one of those things that I wish I had thought of. The site is like vintage Fashion Police, with a bit of What Not to Wear thrown in. Two friends take old sewing patterns and create cheeky captions and commentary on what the models (often illustrations) are wearing or doing. This means great fun and too many laughs to count! Check it out! (via Drawn!)

Overheard at my house - Part 4: Food prep?

It's been a while since I've shared some of the humorous things that I get to hear around my house, so it's about time. The following two quotes came from my mom while she was making dinner.

"I just got scratched by the cheese!"

"My carrots are rolling!"

And while we're on the subject of food, I just made toast. Exciting, huh? The thing is, when it popped up, it popped right out of the toaster and landed on the counter. I thought that only happened in cartoons!

Shall supply all my needs?

I'm in the process of finishing a few work projects, and this morning my mom commented to me about how I must feel some relief to be done with them. That's true. It's nice to complete things. But at the same time, I expressed my concern about when more work would come along. When you freelance, you never know.

But my God shall supply all my needs! Within a few hours, I received a phone call and an email about 2 small jobs. Nothing big, but enough to know that I'm still being taken care of.

Why is nothing easy?

Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted again, but life has been crazy. I won't go into it now, but let me say...aaaaahhhhhh!!!!! I've had computers and printers all over the place, stacks and stacks of paper all over the place, and I'm not sure how much I've accomplished. Actually, that's not true. I can see a glimmer of hope. Let's hope things get under control soon. Very soon.

A robot illustration?

This was my first shot at doing a robot illustration. It started as a sketch, which I referred to, but didn't scan. I started in Illustrator and played around with vector highlights and shadows. Usually I would stop there. But it wasn't quite what I wanted, so I decided to try out some things in Photoshop. These highlights and shadows worked for me. The overall look is still simple, which I like, but it's more finished.

Say what?

For the last week or so, I've been trying to clean out my life. I have WAY too many pieces of paper in large stacks. Much of it is stuff I want, and am trying to at least have organized in some way, some are things that I should at least look at, and the rest are pieces of paper that I simpy don't need any more. But it's a task looking at each piece and sorting it all out.

I was pleased however, when I found something that I really enjoyed. It was called "Trouser Semaphore." Hilarious. This was a website that had a trouser related pose for each letter of the alphabet, and then it had animations of a guy spelling out messages. I loved it. I tried to convince a few friends to learn it with me, but it never caught on. Kidding. Anyway, I tried to find this great site again, but alas, it is gone. All I have left is my little inkjet print of the Trouser Semaphore. So sad.

Am I ever glad I looked through all of those stacks of paper...

Coming up blank, part 2?

Last month I posted about a new site I found, called B-L-A-N-K. It's a great source of inspiration and encouragement for Christian designers. Well, they asked me to contribute, so as of today, you can read occasional thoughts from me over at B-L-A-N-K!

What's the Shelflife?

I enjoy listening to the indie pop station on Launchcast. In fact, it has made me quite a fan of that genre. When songs stand out, I always go looking for the artist online, and most of the time I find them or their label. Such was the case with California Snow Story.

Their label is Shelflife, and on their site they have a few sample tracks to download. I love when people give things away. Generosity is a good thing. But even better than a few mp3s, they have a sale on some of their artist's CDs! We're talking full CDs for as low as $1.00!!! So I bought a few, and they arrived today. Good stuff. Check it out! Order lots!

Portfolio work begins?

It's official! I've begun working on my online portfolio! I've only been thinking about this for like, a year. But now I'm moving forward. As web design is not my specialty, it will remain basic. I figure it will look classier that way (it may even appear that I kinda know what I'm doing!). Besides, simplicity is more my style.

So if I were to be really optimistic, I would say that my goal is to finish this by May 1. But, with the craziness that is my life, I'm going for a goal of June 1. I'm going to keep "the blog" updated! Watch for the site soon!

Kirsten Ulve - everywhere?

When I was younger, Talking Electronic Mall Madness came out and I was quite jealous of my friend when she got it. My parents told me that I needed to wait until it went on sale. They told me this about everything, but they were always right. Everything goes on sale at some point. They were right about this too, and when it was a good price, I got my game. So now I'm 25, and they re-released Mall Madness. But this time it was illustrated by the amazing Kirsten Ulve. There was no waiting for a deal, I had to have it. Her art is so wonderful, and to have it on a favorite childhood game was perfect.

Then yesterday I was at Target and my sister pointed out the display over the girls clothing. Giant Kirsten Ulve illustrations. I was floored. There were these beautiful girls, each about 3 feet high. I got hopeful as I headed in their direction. Perhaps there would be girls t-shirts, or accessories to go with the display. Sadly, there was nothing. Why would they lead me on like that? But I started thinking. My neighbor works at Target, and I've gotten display pieces before. Hmm. I could have my own Kirsten Ulve jumbo illustrations. Now I just have to figure out what I could do with them. Any suggestions?

And if you haven't seen her work before, you simply must check her out: kirstenulve.com

An interest in robots?

I was never all that into robots, but even since I started visiting RobotJohnny.com, I've become a fan. I'm amazed by all of the shapes, sizes, and styles that people come up with in their illustrations. And I really enjoyed the display of tin toys and robots that I saw at Disney World last year.

As it was spring break around here last week, I took a couple young friends to see the movie Robots. I figured it would be amusing and at the very least, interesting to see all of the little bots. Well, I'm glad that I only paid matinee prices. It was full of cheap laughs, and lacked the heart and writing talents that Pixar movies contain. But I was right in that it was visually interesting. So much attention to detail. Bottom line, it was average.

One good part was that I came home and decided to take a shot at drawing some robots of my own, which I've never done before. So I now have some pencil drawings and one Illustrator rough. I like how it looks so far, so when it's done, I'll probably post it here. And now, I'm off to work on that...Signing off!