I'm a busy bee.

So about 2 weeks ago I moved back to Santa Barbara and in with my in-laws for the summer. (Yes, I know. It's definitely not my first choice for a living situation but they are really sweet wonderful people and you can't beat the rent.) So anyways, on Saturday - a week after I got here - I accepted a position teaching summer school ceramics. Between ceramics and the usual web design, I have been too pooped to really make anything blog worthy lately. But to celebrate my summer job, here are some pics of elementary ceramics projects from a few years back. Enjoy!

Workin' 'n Movin'

Things in my arts and crafts world have been put on a bit of a hold for the last couple of week. Matt and I have been slowly preparing to move back to Santa Barbara and I've trying to get as much work as possible done on a client's site before we go. Matt got an internship with a great company in SB and we'll be staying with Matt's parents and sister. It'll be a bit of an adjustment, but it should be fun nonetheless.

So anyways, for the next couple weeks I'll be posting some older stuff, like this print made by my friend, Jenny Day (who, btw, is getting hitched this August. Congratulations, Jenny!!).

Cabled Fingerless Gloves

Here are some pics of my latest fingerless gloves.
Photography by Tanza

A Week in Santa Barbara

Last week, Matt went to the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in Berekely, so I took the train down to Santa Barbara to visit with family for a few days. On Wednesday, Matt drove down and met me there for the rest of the week. We also took the opportunity to exchange birthday and Mother's Day gifts. We gave James this Threadless tee that he could not stop staring at.



The mom's both got clapotises made by yours truly. Here's my Mom modeling hers.



While I was there, I made a couple of swap items. Tanya got a pair of cabled fingerless gloves that I forgot to take pics of before I sent them off. (Oops! I hope she can send me pics when they get to her!) And I sent this Common Raven off to Elizabeth. It's my first celtic style border. What do you think? (Sorry for the image quality. I didn't have my scanner and I couldn't get the lighting right.)


Image size = approx. 8" x 10"


On Friday, I went to the zoo with my brother, sister, nephew and my husband. We got there just before closing and almost didn't stay. But it turned out great because most of the animals were out and moving around, waiting to be fed and put away for the night.



The Santa Barbara Zoo recently got a bunch of penguins. They're adorable! I just love penguins.



We also spent a little time on the playground before leaving.

Dog Resources

My husband and I have been wanting to get a dog, only just forever. We rented our current place specifically because they allow dogs of any size. We've been doing a lot of research on the subject of choosing, raising and training a puppy. A couple months ago we decided that we really want a golden retriever; for a lot of reasons, not the least being that we want a friendly dog who will be good with our kids - when we have them :o). Since then, we've been talking to some serious breeders and I think we're finally going to get a puppy sometime in the fall.

Anyways, the point of all of this is that I've decided to make take the info that we've gathered and organize it into an html page for anyone else who is thinking of adding a dog to their family.

If I've left out any great resources, or if you think something I've listed is total trash, leave me a comment.

And the link: Dog Resources and Information

I'm back!

Wow! Sorry for the lapse. I didn't realize that it had been so long since my last post. I've been busy lately making birthday and mother's day gifts (I'll have pics up in a couple weeks) and revamping a site for a family rights advocacy company. Oh yeah, and doing a couple swaps through Craftster.

Here's some of the things I received:

Some sweet handspun yarn (wool/silk blend - yummy!) that I plan to knit into a pair of lovely autumn arm warmers for yours truly:



And a crap load of buttons, that will be playing an integral role in said arm warmers:

Matt's Mitts

Here's my latest FO:

Details:
Pattern: Matt's Mitts - my own design! (With a bit of inspiration from Elizabeth Zimmerman and Kitty's Broadstreet Mittens)
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss (70% Merino Wool, 30% Silk), Black and Dusk
Needles: US size 3 DPNs and US size 2 DPNs

For Christmas I promised Matt a pair of gloves and I just finished these today - just in time for summer. Well, at least his hands will be toasty next winter.




He asked for a pair of convertible mitts, so I looked around for patterns that would suit his tastes. But most of the "glittens" that I found either lacked half fingers on the inside, or look like the pop top was an after thought. To try to make the mitten top appear more streamlined and integrated, I made the whole outer-part in one piece (with a giant button hole for the opening) and added the black finger portion afterwards.



There's still a little bit of a bump - from the difference in thickness there - but I think it's not too noticeable.

Daily Drawing ::: Onion Sketch

Daily Drawings ::: Royal Terns ATC

Hey everyone! I've added a "listening" section to my sidebar over there
<------------- I'll be posting links to my favorite albums and cool new finds here. Today I've got David Gray and Hayward Williams. They both incredibly talented musicians and both are pretty mellow. Great rainy day music.

Daily Drawing ::: Brewer's Blackbird ATC

Daily Drawing ::: Semipalmated Plover

Another little bird ATC:

Daily Drawings ::: ATC

Today's drawing is inspired by Dashboard Confessional's Vindicated. I think I'm going to do a whole series based on these lyrics. (Is that too corny?)

Daily Drawing ::: 15 minute shell

Daily Drawing ::: Mussel

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?