(very belated) Week in Photos: April 21, 2015

Hey everybody,

It's been a long, long time since I've been here, I know - I'm so sorry!  I've really gotten behind with Safe Harbor prep (recap post coming soon), tax season (ugh), and other life stuff, but I'm working on getting it up and going again.

Last Friday I attended one of the monthly breakfast-lectures put on by the Cleveland chapter of Creative Mornings. Every month, a different venue in the city hosts a Friday-morning breakfast (delicious goods donated by local establishments) and short talk by someone in a creative field.  Creative Mornings has chapters all over the United States and the world - check out their website and see if there is a chapter near you!

This month's lecture was at the Cleveland Public Library - here's a view of one of the amazing painted ceilings.

The morning of the lecture was super foggy downtown, lending quite the eerie feel to the whole city. Terminal Tower rose through the mist like a gothic castle. Apologies for the low quality photo, this was taken at a distance with my iPhone.

Amazingly delicious granola and unique quickbreads were provided for the event by The Agrarian Collective.

Pipsqueak poses next to one of my favorite treats (and perennial acquisition from the local Asian foods market), taro filled mochi.

I don't want to speak too early, but...I think winter is finally over! The trees are still bare and the air is chilly, but flowers are starting to bloom, birds are beginning to sing, and everybody is starting to feel hopeful for the coming warm days.

Week in Photos: March 16, 2014

Apologies for the lack of blog updates this week...I've been rushing around doing a bunch of domestic life things that have little to do with art, so my updating has been a little thin. There will be more soon :)

Sat and assembled a bunch of Dumblebee charms, that will be
available in my shop soon.

Speaking of shop, I revamped the online store! It's all spruced up
and ready for sales...there's nothing in it yet, but if you'd like to look around,
you can find it HERE.

Got to play with ALL the glitter colors!
These are going in resin Pipsqueaks...

Sculpted and primed a handful of faces...

Week in Photos: March 9, 2014

This week, things got serious. Took on a couple new projects (I'll "make time", right?!) and, after seeing just how long my to-do list is, got busy working to clear it. September may seem far away now, but I know how these things go, and need to make sure I clear the decks as soon as I can, so I can focus on the big show coming up.

This week's sketching is yielding some great new characters!

Made some "mysterious dice" as props for the upcoming
Secret Society Sale.

Though this looks like a snowy field, it's actually a frozen Lake Erie.

The tiniest pancake (before I snarfed it down), even has
a cute little heart on it!

Attended a bridal shower and became the hesitant guardian
of an orchid. Hope I can keep you alive, buddy.

Week in Photos: March 1, 2014

Secret project (so far) drawings.

A bit of a lean week, this week, in terms of work. I periodically go through these laggy intervals, where I think I start thinking too much, get overwhelmed by anxiety over upcoming responsibilities, and just get a little emotionally crippled and I can't force myself to do much. I've done this ever since I was a kid, and you'd think that after 33 years of living, I would have figured out how to handle it, but the remedy still eludes me. One of these days I will be able to slay this particular demon, but as of right now, I just sort of have to deal with it until I make it out the other side.

One big project that I'm working on right now (pic above) is SO cool, but I can't really say much about it yet, as it's a large project and just now beginning the germination stages. I will say a few things about it though: 1) It involves another amazing artist, 2) it's going to be a large-scale production of some small-scale things, and 3) it will be widely available, and affordable for all of my collectors. Excited!

I am absolutely the type of person to paint my nails up fancy to make myself feel better on gloomy days. Into the annals of internet manicure-photography, I submit these: Rainbow Glitter Galaxy Space Nails.

Found a great old toy xylophone. At this point it's more "objet d'art" than "xylophone", as the tines don't really ring out as much as make a slightly tonal metallic clunk when struck, but so what, look at that patina!

I ordered a sample of a perfume called "Smoke", by a woman who has the utterly genius business-model of starting an entire business to sell a few incarnations of the exact same product. I'm picky about perfume (don't get me started) so I'm always keen on trying something new and different. My initial review is that it is absolutely lovely, if a little one-dimensional. The strange things is, when I opened the envelope it came in, the scent that greeted me was exquisite - some earthy and oddly familiar blend of vetiver, patchouli, a hint of warm citrus and some gentle note of red spice, like clove or carnation. But upon applying the perfume, all that fell away immediately and I was left with just the scent of vetiver essential oil. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE vetiver, it is amazingly complex and can be worn as a perfume alone, but the difference between the initial whiff and what was left on my skin was pretty striking. I am wondering if I am getting prematurely anosmic to one or more of the other notes in the perfume, or if either my skin or my nose is not picking the scent up as the blender intended. I plan on trying a few different ways of using and wearing it. All in all, even if it is a little flat to my nose, it's still a really lovely scent and an easy "introduction" to wearing vetiver! The sample came beautifully packaged. If you're curious, and you love natural, earthy scents, by all means give Smoke a try, it's a very nice scent.

Week in Photos: February 22, 2014

Baked some amazing and tiny purple potatoes.

Woke up to a huge beam of sun in my face - a welcome
wake-up after so many days without it!

Bought this pink whale-shark eraser to add to my
pink/grey/white shelf.

Found some vintage Bingo cards - I have no idea
why I needed them, but I just KNEW I needed them.

Week in Photos: February 14, 2014

Well, another week is coming to an end. Much of it was spent tying up loose ends and making travel plans, because later today I hop in a car and battle the snowflakes all the way to Chicago. Circus Posterus is having a group show at Rotofugi gallery - if you're in the Chicago area, you will want to stop by the opening reception on Saturday evening, many of the included artists will be there, including Chris Ryniak, Brandt Peters, Kathie Olivas, and more.

Here's more info on the gallery's website.

These three dapper Pumpernickels will be in Chicago this weekend.

Also this week, I managed to perfect (at least in my own mind) my matcha latte recipe. I don't use real measuring spoons, so these might not be completely accurate (I just use small eating spoons to measure).

• 5oz milk (any % will work, but I like 2%, you could also try soy, rice, etc)
• 2 rounded tsp matcha powder
• sugar to taste (I use about 1 1/2 tsp)

Mix ingredients together in frothing pitcher, then use steam wand to scald milk, frothing when it's hot. If you don't have an espresso machine, you can scald the milk on the stovetop, and either serve as-is, or use a battery-powered frothing wand to whip up the milk for foam. It's so good!

Delicious.

Discovered a cute new felt idea as well. I didn't realize that, while my antique sewing machine would just tangle into a huge snarl of thread when sewing without fabric, my electric machine makes a twisted cord from the two strands of thread. I fed circles of felt one by one through the machine, leaving about an inch of this twisty thread between them. It's super cute! You could make whole strands for party or holiday decorations, or wrapping gifts.

Felt circle garland, after antiquing.

I also made this ridiculous video!

Week in Photos, February 7, 2014

I can't believe another week is almost at an end. This one flew by in a blur of sewing and painting, not very much time for reflection or blogging this time. We got buried under snow again; it's amazing how much time that can take out of you. I'm well past the "it's not too bad" stage of winter. I'm definitely ready for it to be over.

Enjoying some new Japanese incense - this is from Shoyeido and is
called "Moss Garden". Pipsqueak approves.

Added some virgin coconut oil and a bit of coconut-flavored syrup to my
egg custard recipe...I was happy with the result!

Got in a delivery of some floral-flavored syrups from Monin  (I'm desperate for spring), and decided to do a taste-test in plain sparkling water. Here's the verdict:

• Rose: Full floral rose aroma and taste. Will be great in ginger drinks and black tea.
• Elderflower: I love it in the sparkling water - citrusy and fresh, and a slight floral note.
• Hibiscus: Tart and deep, almost barely floral. Will be killer in margaritas in the summer.
• Violet: Very soapy/powdery floral, must use sparingly. Thinking it would match well with a very fragrant gin, perhaps as a floral accent to a French 75 cocktail?

I shot some video of them bubbling away, interesting that they all effervesce at different rates.

Finishing up my pieces for the Rotofugi show, here I'm
staining some ruffles for some faux-aging techniques.

Week in Photos, January 31, 2014

Boxed up the Bumbles and they're en route to their new homes now!

Cut out patterns and began sewing bodies for the Circus Posterus show at
Rotofugi next month.

Chris Ryniak had a surprise no-work-because-it's-insanely-cold day, so
we had a work day and he started a new character head in Monster Clay.

I used Ion Color Brilliance "Titanium" dye (diluted) and got this
interesting desaturated periwinkle color.

Two shampoos later, it's a proper silver/grey color -
totally strange,  but I kind of love it!!

Added a new set of dingy old teeth to my collection...

...the type on the case is amazing, I mean, just look at that rad dodecahedron!!!

Week in Photos, January 26, 2014

I'm incorporating a new "week in photos" section too, which I hope to update as much as possible - I'm hoping it will help me to keep track of things visually, which so often I forget to. Documenting is important; it's basically a photo diary that I can look back on at any time to remember what I've done and where I've been.

This week has been a little boring, mostly because I've been finishing the Bumbles and getting them ready to send out (tomorrow!). So I've been seeing yellow and black in front of my eyes for so long...I am so proud of them, and so happy about the sale, but I can't say I'm not happy to be finished!

Peek-a-boo!

This is a HUGE swarm of bees...

In non-Bumble news, I met an awesome new friend! The lovely and talented Jordan Elise of Horrible Adorables, to be specific. She came over for an art day and we spent hours upon hours making stuff, drinking wine, eating fattening foods from a local bakery, and and swapping stories. I'm thankful to have people like this so close by - Northeast Ohio can feel a bit barren sometimes when it comes to artsy folks who are cool with being "the strange one" in most situations, so I'm always super happy when I meet someone new. Definitely check out her Etsy Shop, she makes quirky, friendly creatures out of a million-billion hand-placed pieces of wool felt. So great!

Lattice-like voids in punched wool felt

Jordan glues each felt scale on one at a time!

Felt pieces. Or the worst tasting breakfast cereal ever.

Scented sawdust for stuffing dolls. Also an unappetizing breakfast offering.

Painted faces awaiting their antennae.

I have a newfound obsession with the combination of grey and near-gold, too. I say near-gold, because it's not that really yellow gold, it's more of a white bronze color, like the combination of gold and silver. I used satin adhesive tape to give myself a duo-tone manicure in these colors. I used NYC's "Sidewalkers" as the grey, and Sephora/OPI's "Looks like Rain, Dear" as the gold, which, when layered over grey takes on a more silvery tone, as the polish itself is clear with gold and holographic glitter.