Here’s my new blog: Bright, cheery and girlie! After I deactivated my Facebook page for a third time (and hopefully it’s a charm, as in, I keep it that way) I found I really did have a lot more time to focus on getting stuff done. Less talking, more doing. I’m finishing my site too, in between assignments, and that should be up soon, and will coordinate! : ) Next, new cards. Promo and business. Before that though, a promise is a promise, and I did say I would do a giveaway when I finished my blog, and got to 500 followers on Twitter. The two happened nearly simultaneously, so I’m going to draw 2 names at random on May 16th from comments left here. The caveats: Gotta be in the States, following me on Twitter, and not a spammer. The books are Fashion Origami and Fingerprint Fabulous (see right). I was the primary illustrator for both, and they’re my faves, so far! I have three new ones coming out in the Fall (I think), so I’ll let you know when they’re available! Thanks to all my friends, local and Twitterish, for alway being so full of support and suggestions! : ) Hope you all have a great day, and good luck! : )
Curiosities
I Just Needed A Light…
CuriositiesOne swipe, from one magazine that I happened to get ages ago, has created several projects for me.
All I needed was some more light in my studio for evening work, and for the boys as they have a place at one end and it’s so dark. I have a small light on my desk, but I need something to fill the room. I have our light table, but I don’t want to waste the bulbs in it (although the light is really pretty). My husband suggested string lights. I love them! They are like little “ideas” above everyone. From little outdoor cafés to Christmas tree lots, every time I see them, I just think “joy!”
I should have just bought a lamp.
After visualizing how they would hang (I have to have black, not green or white), I realized some of the boys’ stuff was cramping my style (it’s out of the shot). We have always talked about having an area in the basement for them. It’s partially finished, I just need to paint a bit down there, and make it “fun.” This is Extra Project #1. We’ll have a Lego table, and the video games will be down there…It’s going to be great!
“We need to room off the furnace and the water heater” said the hubs. He’s right, our 6yo, even if he wasn’t on the spectrum, will be investigating everything. Hello Project #2.
I’d taken a few things to the basement that the boys don’t use all the time, and I was already seeing that the lighting would work better. Kev had sent me a link to order the lights, but before I could really delve into a plan of installing them, I just wanted to kind of tidy up my space, I had a stack of ‘zines to go through, and papers to file. Stuff to put away…
Enter Project #3. I’d gone through most of my ‘zines, then I hit the page. You know, you see this page and the color is just “right” and you don’t know why you love it, you just do! Here is my page:
You might think “what’s the big deal?” It’s because my studio has needed painting for a long time, that I’m always on the lookout. I like neutrals, because I have so much “stuff” so I don’t want walls competing with it all. So I saw this and thought, updated warmer neutrals…But we have a somewhat open floorplan…
Yes, that’s only two days of dust on my table. We live near a gravel pit. All our walls kind of flow into other rooms. This is looking throught the kitchen to the family room, the color will have to go with the brick and the tile backsplash. So the paint I pick will be for the entire downstairs, including the foyer and powder room. Projects #4, 5, 6 and 7.
This is the tip of the iceberg. I have valances to make now for all the rooms, and we’d already planned to paint the boys’ rooms this summer! They’ll be 7 and 9, and really, really need updating! So, I should get my lighting sometime in the fall, and hopefully I’ll have been able to work on my portfolio as well! Plus any paying work, plus a promotional piece…I am almost done figuring out my new blog banner…And everyone wonders why I’m going simple with it now? ; )
The Fantastic World of Jim Henson
Curiosities, Illustration
The best thing about living in Chicago is all the museums we have. Yes, I said “we,” because even though I’m a transplant from Detroit, I call Chicago my home.
My favorite museum is The Museum of Science and Industry. It’s amazing, and we’re members, so we try to get a look in as often as possible! Today I was so excited to go see The Fantastic World of Jim Henson with my family! It was primarily my 8yo and me, we watched his bio, looked at his little notes, his doodles, storyboards, commercials, and of course his muppets (which are phenomenal)!! I loved looking at how they were constructed: foam, fleece, fur, and ping pong balls…seriously. Even the Mahna Mahna puppet was on display, and his eyes were constructed just how I thought when I was a kid!! What an amazing writer, storyteller and artist. I wish I had a tenth of his right brain…Did you know Kermit was originally made from one of his mom’s old coats? : )
They didn’t allow photography, which, like with the Harry Potter exhibit, I didn’t complain. Sometimes I think it helps us experience it more fully when we know we won’t have a digital memory of it. I take photos of exhibits sometimes and then don’t really know what I’m looking at later, because I don’t really remember it. But today we spent over an hour pouring over everything (not including the video), and we loved every minute! My son is a huge fan of The Dark Crystal, and when he saw the handwritten diagrams and the props up close, he had a whole new appreciation : )
I was able to get a few photos that were outside of the exhibit: some of Henson’s Christmas images. He enjoyed sending them to his friends all over the world, I just needed a couple little keepsakes. I also went to YouTube and added a few of the commercials that were shown in the exhibit. He started as a puppeteer on television, doing commercials. He had two default endings as well, when his team couldn’t come up with alternative: one character would eat the other, or, one character would blow up the other. In one of his interviews, he explained that he knew that children were very attracted to commercials. He wanted to use this technique for education, and utilized it on Sesame Street. In between the main characters’ stories, there were “commercials” for the letter D or the number 8 (we saw the storyboard and character sketches for The King of Eight, it made so much more of a connection)!
I remember that goofy LaChoy dragon! ; )
Halloween…
CuriositiesIt’s been ages since I’ve written a post! I’ve been busy with assignments and getting the home all maintained before the snow flies and winter sets in! I mentioned on Twitter that I was also decorating for my very favorite holiday, and I was asked if I could post some photographs. I’m happy to! You’ll see a lot of vintage reproduction, I just think the old way of making things, or at least looking that way, adds to the spookiness and charm of this time of year! I also was able to throw some of the decor in my studio this year, and I have some lil pumpkins! Makes my workday a bit more fun and festive : ) I hope you enjoy them, we had quite a great time putting everything up! Â ~a : )
Front yard…
Front Porch…
Front Walkway…Little tealights go in these!
Studio…
Studio…
Studio…and this is the little tablecloth I’d made a couple years ago! Too good for the table!
Foyer…
Whatnot…
Kitchen…
Family Room…Made this sign, and the others you’ve seen!
Family Room…
Kitchen…Vintage repro postcards : )
So, I Took Some Photos…
Creative Self, CuriositiesI was taking photos of textures in my yard. There are lots of really nice ones as we’ve got the wood fences and the deck. Not as much rusted out metal as I’d like, but there’s plenty around town that I’ll get to eventually. I am so lucky that I could borrow textures from others over the years, I’m going to return the favor! Here are ten little lovelies, hope you like them : ) These are just the lo res, the hi res are here!
a : )
