I've been wanting to post pictures of these for a while now but I figured I should wait until I had at least some of them in the mail...we're still trying to gather addresses for everyone else. I designed them myself and fellow bear, Charlie, screen printed them for us. I'm really pleased with the result and I'm hoping they don't get too trashed in their journey through the US postal service. (Or the UK postal service for that matter...as one of them is going over to London to my favorite diva, Johanna, who's there working on her MA in design. LUCKY!)
I can't wait until Andrew and I are no longer states away from each other!
I've had a lot of work to get done this weekend but the weather is just far too nice to not go outside and enjoy for a little while. I had breakfast, a bagel and mocha, on the porch at Arabica this morning. I spent some time there sketching out ideas for the shirt designs I'm working on. Since both of the shirts have organic and plant subject matter I decided to stick around that area until the Botanical Gardens opened up so I could walk around and gather in some inspiration. And besides, it's one of my favorite places to be. Here are some pictures from this morning's trip.
Last week I picked up some of the pieces I made in my ceramics class that had been glazed and fired. The glazing process is always sort of a surprise. Especially when there are no sample tiles to show you what some of the colors are, but I went out on a limb and tried what I thought would be nice based on the names. Ha. I really like how the iron in the clay oxidized and created all of the speckles on my pieces. The only thing I wasn't completely happy with was the birds. I made them on my first day of class when the wheel I was supposed to be using was broken. I had hoped to have them come out a nice yellow color, but it mostly looks clear with some splotches of blue. Oh well. I want to make little wire legs so they can stand.
I love: - perfectly warm, sunny weather - cherry coke (I haven't had any soda in quite awhile so it tastes extra amazing) - dandelions - driving on the highway with my windows down - other old Volvo owners waving the peace sign at me (or maybe it's just a "V" for Volvo?) - seeing my cards looking snazzy in the Mother's Day display in Target
I dislike: - cute shoes that show toe clevage (I don't buy shoes when this occurs) - having to stay inside and work when it's so gorgeous out
I would like to take this moment to say that I'm incredibly thankful that my cube is sort of "off the beaten path" of the regular traffic flow in the office. Mostly because whenever I start listening to Phoenix I start doing this little squirmy, head bobbing, arm waving thing at my desk that could possibly resemble some sort of dance if I had any decent rhythm at all.
I don't know where my weekend went to. It was two wonderful days full of quality family time, but goodness, it came and went and I feel like I had no weekend at all.
The cat is waking me up numerous times during the night due to the fact that I am a light sleeper and I have a small apartment and no door on my room. I hope that this exploring/knocking things over in the middle of the night thing is just a phase.
I didn't get to sleep in at all this weekend. Saturday morning started off with meeting with a possible wedding caterer. This only left me feeling ten times more stressed about wedding planning and finances. I feel like weddings are incredibly unnecessarily expensive. I hate that I have to compromise things that would really make the wedding feel the way I've been imagining in my head just because we can't afford it. I hate that all of this seems to be revolving around money. I think there's a growing part of me that wishes we weren't even having this wedding and instead just eloping and having a day to ourselves.
It was my grandpa's 80th birthday this weekend. We celebrated Saturday night by going to a new jazz club in Ohio City called Jazz 28. It was such a good feeling to be in the company of my family. It's comforting to really see the love and genuine enjoyment that everyone shares with each other. Not to mention the trio that played that night was really amazing. We spent the following morning doing our traditional day of yard work for my grandpa as he is not able to do all of it himself anymore. I'm full of aches today because of it, but the time spent with everyone was well worth it.
I'm in the middle of so many projects/jobs/rolls of film at the moment and I just haven't made the time to update this blog with anything creative for what seems like quite a while so I am posting this video that I came across this morning. I hadn't been over to look at the Take Away Shows for probably several months now and I found that Margot and the Nuclear So and So's have been featured in a few. I can't say I'm a huge fan of their most recent releases (Animal and Not Animal) but I really enjoyed the video for this song. Especially the part with Casey and his handclapping in the beginning. If I had a crazy, musical, outgoing alter ego I would want it to be like Casey.
After a day and a half of hiding under the couch, Bowie has decided it is safe to explore the house.
4.16.2009
I have a cat named Bowie hiding under my sofa.
This picture sort of sums up how I've been feeling lately. I feel like most everything going on in my life should be getting me down but I remain happy. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bolsadeosos/)
I finished up this shirt design for Californian band PK a few weeks ago. It's going to be printed on a heather grey shirt so I think that will add some really nice texture when it's all done.
No gas. No emissions. Lovely colors. It smiles at you. (http://www.peapodmobility.com/) Edit: I found out that the Peapod's top speed is 25mph and it will only get 30 miles out of a charge. I could basically use my bike equally as well for any transportation that this car could offer me. Essentially it's a glamorized iPhone/iPod dock on wheels. Still cute though. Call me when you can do 65mph and we'll have a date.
I've been hearing clips of this song in the new Volvo commercials for the past few weeks and I finally broke down and scoured the internet in search of it today. Such lovely lyrics and the color combinations that pop up in this video are wonderful. The artist's name is Salem Al Fakir and I believe this album is currently available on iTunes.
After some disassembly and adjustments it's about placemat sized. My living room will probably continue to be a sea of fabric strips until I have finished this project.
I'm finding it hard to get back into the swing of things after returning from the sunshine state late last night. Especially since Cleveland hasn't gotten the memo about spring yet and is currently in the 30s with snow. I'm already missing the sunny weather, the nest full of seven tiny swans outside Andrew's window, and our amazing new tandem bicycle (I can't wait to ride it again, it was the best surprise!). While I'll have to wait to post pictures of my visit, since most are on a roll of un-developed film, I have a couple of other things to share today.
I just came across an amazing artist on Ashes & Milk named Bryan Nash Gill. He creates life-sized prints from the cross sections of trees through the process of relief printing. I think the detail and complexity of the rings are absolutely gorgeous. This particular print is called Hemlock 82 and is available for purchase here.
I'm completely delighted to share these as well. Andrew and I comissioned the Etsy seller SterlingIdeas to make our wedding bands for us and this weekend we were able to see photos of the finished product. We felt that she had a style similar to my engagement ring and loved that she would work with us in creating matching bands out of recycled white gold. This is the result and we're very excited for the day when we'll finally be able to wear them.
I've been wanting to post pictures of these for a while now but I figured I should wait until I had at least some of them in the mail...we're still trying to gather addresses for everyone else. I designed them myself and fellow bear, Charlie, screen printed them for us. I'm really pleased with the result and I'm hoping they don't get too trashed in their journey through the US postal service. (Or the UK postal service for that matter...as one of them is going over to London to my favorite diva, Johanna, who's there working on her MA in design. LUCKY!) 
