Daily Drawings ::: 15 minute basil

feel like i'm coming down with a cold. shmeh.

Swap Goodies ::: Part II

Here's what I made for Raquel's boyfriend for the significant other swap. By her description, he sounds to me like a Urban Outfitters, rock 'n roll kinda guy. So I went with that theme and I ended up really liking the stuff I made for him. (I really hope he likes it half as much as I do!)

And I took a crap load of pics. Matt posed for the actions shots for me.

First up is the guitar strap:



Here's Matt testing it to make sure that it'll hold up.





Next, is this knit cuff I made using a pattern from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. I slightly modified the scull motif to give it a bit of a psychobilly look.





And lastly, here's the hat I made for him. I was going for a sort of WWII look. I'd love to know what you think about this one.

Swap Goodies ::: Part I

I recently did a significant other swap with a girl from Texas (where we crafted for each other's guys, not swapping men, you silly heads). Here's what the post man brought for my sweet hubby:

First off, she painted these wonderful coasters featuring the Monty Python foot.


And she also sent this nifty lunch bag.


But wait... what is that grey tail?

Oh my goodness!! She made The Sneak!




Thanks so much Raquel! You're awesome!

Daily Drawings ::: A few more ATCs

Daily Drawings ::: Minis!

So I'm still on this bird kick, but the last few drawings I've done have been ATCs. ATCs are artist's trading cards and the format is 2.5 in x 3.5 in. It's been kinda fun going mini. I have 4 so far. I've been playing with different media with these, also.

What do you think?

Spring Break

For the past few years, Matt's family has been going on a ski/snowboard trip for a couple days over spring break. My family usually comes along so that my little brother can get a couple days on the slopes. We had a much smaller group this year so everyone headed up here and we went to Squaw Valley in Tahoe.

Here's me snowboarding:



My Dad's birthday was on Sunday, so we all went out to dinner to celebrate.



On the way home, we joined my family at the railroad museum in Sacramento. Jeremiah fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up until he was in the museum.

Bulletin Board Re-Vamp

I've had this bulletin board for years and years, I think starting back in junior high.



Sometime during high school I covered the cork in fabric, painted the frame yellow and turned it into a french bulletin board using ribbons and tacks. But the fabric was getting dingy and the ribbon had picked up stains, somewhere along the line. It was time for a re-vamp.

This time I decided not to go with ribbons. Instead, using some fabric scraps, I added pockets, inspired by Sally of Shim and Sons. Check it out.

Persephone

My little brother called me up last week to ask me what he should name his guitar. He's been playing for about a year and for Christmas he got a Fender Stratocaster.

Everybody, meet Persephone.



No drawings this week. I've got a little too much on my plate right now, but I should be back at it in a week or two.

My very first sweater!

I finished my very first knit sweater last night. I actually started it in September. I kept putting it down and picking it back up, not to mention all the mistakes, unraveling and re-knitting.




I used the cropped cardigan pattern from the Summer '06 issue of knit 1. As you can see, I altered it a bit from the original. I had to make it longer and not quite as wide. I also got rid of the tummy cutout and lengthened the sleeves.

Daily Drawings ::: Birds, Round 2

My Dad is an avid birdwatcher. These are drawn from some of his photographs. I like these ones because I feel like they have more personality than the Audubon studies. Audubon made his images so full of drama; it's like watching a Shakespeare tragedy. These seem a lot goofier and quirkier to me. The last three remind me of funny little people.

My sister's new blog!

My sister, a stay-at-home-mom, and her 3 year old son just started their very own Lego blog. Check it out!

Daily Drawings ::: John James Audubon; Part II

Daily Drawings ::: John James Audubon

I usually like to wait until I have a full week's worth of drawing before I post them. But this week I did something a little different and I've been sketching birds from Audubon paintings. I'm really excited about the way they're turning out, so instead of waiting till Monday, I'm posting 4 today and I'll add the next 3 at the beginning of the week.

A Couple Books I Made in School

Here's a couple books I made while I was taking Artist Books at UCSB.

This first one I made in the 2003-2004 school year. I had been slacking off in this class and the night before the critiques I was wracking my brain, trying to come up with something that I could make by the next day. A couple weeks before, I had been drawing bugs out of a entomology book of my sister's and so this idea came into my head. I ended up skipping class the next day and worked on the book for pretty much a week straight, but I am really happy with the results. It's the first piece of art that I have had someone offer to buy - and the offer came from an art teacher at the university no less!

The text is from John 3:3-5.


*more pics here*

Dreaming About Providence ::: Jeremiah 29:11-14

I made this book during my last quarter at UCSB. For me, this book is all about family and the way that people in America move away. I was thinking a lot about the idea of being scattered and pulled back together, and just feeling distant from my family and relatives. The red line is the path one would drive to get from my home in California to my Grandma's house in Providence, Rhode Island.


*more pics here*