Markers

I think I mentioned before that I was using my prismacolor markers to make my spirograph notebooks, and that it was ruining the tips on the markers. I was bummed because prismacolor markers are a bit expensive, and so I was looking for some other way to achieve the same results. My first thought was just to get a few sets of Crayola markers and call it a day, but then I was thinking about the importance of the ink being waterproof. The covers of the notebooks are made of bristol board, which certainly is not waterproof (though it does stand up to water rather valiantly), but still I would want the design to remain unchanged it someone were to, say, get a drop of water on their notebook. So waterproof markers are a must. But which waterproof markers? The first answer is Sharpie.

We have here Sharpie retractable fine tip markers, which have the sort of tip I'm looking for, but a rather limited range of colors, and they still run about 2 bucks each.

Here's a classic, sharpie fine point. This may be the one, but I am a little concerned that tip is a bit to big for the spirograph. But these are only 99 cents if you buy them individually, and they come in about 30 colors. And you can get a set of 29 for $27.99. Sounds pretty tempting right now.

I've never heard of Artline, but their Twin Nib Markers come in a set of the above 8 colors for $7.99 The colors are a little blah though.

Ah, Pentel, the marker of my youth. When I was in elementary school you were so cool if you had a set of these in their yellow carrying case. I wanted them so bad! I've bought them a couple time as an adult, and they did not disappoint. Their nibs are about the perfect size for this project, they come in tons of colors and a 36 marker set is only $18.99. The drawback? Not waterproof, y'all.

And so we come back to prismacolor. Well, after my exhaustive research (ha ha) I think I'm going to try out some sharpies (since I've got some at home already), and test how the pentechs hold up to being dripped on. But I very well may stick to prismacolors...they're on sale right now anyway!
mel

I'm Chuck Bass

Okay, I know this is totally unrelated to, well, anything really, but tell me: is it wrong that I am like 1000% in love with this outfit?If it's wrong, I don't want to be right.
mel

Update

Just a little heads up that I updated my blogs and sites list over there on the right with tons more links. In case you need some new stuff to look at. Because I love you!
mel

Work Positive

20080530 :: bento diary :: tier 2, originally uploaded by vingt_deux.

Mostly I wanted to share the above photo because, hello, it is awesome. Star Wars bento box? I want it! But I also wanted to note this momentus occasion. At my work we are always participation in fundraising walks, and around the time of the walk employees are given the opportunity to buy a ribbon for 20 bucks that allows them to wear jeans for a whole week (i know, awesome life i lead, isn't it?). So July is the AIDS walk and next week is our jeans opportunity week. I'd been debating whether or not to buy a ribbon, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when my boss walked out of his office and started handing out ribbons for everyone on my team! I just wanted to share because, hey, it's not everyday I have two positive things to say about work!
mel

3 pm

All right, so I updated my flickr account to pro today, pretty exciting...I guess. We'll see, I'll have to take some time to play around later today. I got ten free moo cards with my upgrade, which I will use to...I don't know what, I still have an almost full box of moo cards from when they had that deal with etsy. They are nice little cards, I used them as price tags for my books at the Christmas Craft fair last year but that didn't go so well. I guess I can use them as business cards when I run out of my regular business cards.
I did a little extra time at work on monday and got to work pretty early today, and the result is that I get to leave at three today! I'm so excited, I cannot wait for 3'o'clock to come. I have so much I want to do, like go to paper source to get more PVA, go to the art store to get some different ink for linoprints, go to the post office and take pictures of new notebooks...and of course make more notebooks! I'm really excited by the possibilities.
I wanted to share this with you too, stolen from the Turtle Travel blog, it's super neat, animals found in the map of the London Underground! The animals are so cute. I'm going to have to check out the SF Muni maps now (especially with their impending revamp) and see what's lurking and hiding in there! Ha ha, probably not much, our underground lines are a little less complicated. I suppose if you took into account all the bus lines, maybe you could have something there.
mel

Kozue's Bag

I was just idly clicking that next blog button at the top of blogger there and I came across this blog, Kozue's Bag and I stopped and I was like: wowzers. It has some of the cutest purses I have ever seen, they are so avant garde and fun, full of free style stitches and pretty fabrics and abstract shapes. Some of look soft and squishy, like a totally huggable pillow. I just want to squeeze them so bad! I love them, and if anyone speaks Japanese and could help me navigate around her site, I'd totally appreciate it. If you don't speak Japanese, just go to the blog and drool over the pretty pictures.

Ok, I can't help it, I have to share one with you!

So pretty!

mel

Total Awesomeness

Check it out! Via the always wonderful My Love For You Is A Stampede of Horses, news that Yellena James has a show at Giant Robot right here in San Francisco opening on this saturday! That is so exciting! See, I knew cool stuff happened here! Yellena is an amazing artist, I'm familiar with her work through her etsy shop; her paintings are some of the only ones that Steve and I both like. So, if you are in San Francisco you should totally go to see her stuff, I will definitely be there. You can click the pic above for more info.
mel

meh

Mel, originally uploaded by Difusa.

This is the first day in a while now that I haven't been super eager as soon as I got up to blog about something exciting. I think I am just unexcitable today. The only slightly interesting thing going on with me is that I've hit the 200 uploads mark on my flickr account, so I suppose I'm going to have to upgrade to a paid account. Anyone with a paid account want to weigh in with how awesome it is (or not)?
Anyway, my day hasn't been going super well from the moment I woke up this morning, but I'm hoping that a delicious burrito dinner will cheer me up. In the meantime, let me try to get in the spirit of things a bit and share the above adorable kitten with you. Hello, it's name is Mel! Just like me!

mel

Coastal Envy

I love the West Coast, but I've lived in California my whole life and I often get jealous of those living on the East Coast. Sometimes it seems like nothing is happening here, while in New York or New England everybody is going to awesome events and having a great time. Yeah, the grass is always greener, right? I'll make it to the East Coast someday, but for now I'm trying to enjoy San Francisco and never take for granted what an awesome place it is.

Anyway! The other day I posted some pictures of a sheet of bristol that I had linoprinted that was destined to become book covers. Well, the books have been made and they are in the shop!

I am calling these notebooks and the pattern Petal, because it kind of reminds me of marigold petals. Previously I had called this pattern Jellybeans, but decided I wasn't super in love with that name. I'm not married to Petals yet either. I'd love to know your opinion! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Titles are probably the trickiest part for me with my art. I also need to come up with new titles for my series of Mosaic drawings, I think. Oh, also, I made some new Spirograph books last night, so look for those coming soon!

mel

I want these so bad it hurts a little bit

Spongetta is one of my newest Etsy obsessions. I found her though the forums where someone was exalting her skillz as a treasury curator. Well, she certainly is that thing, but more importantly, look at these purses! They are so so so cute....I wish I could buy half her shop, but especially these two, Nubby Teal Purse and Stacatto Purse. Unfortunately, I am still not buying anything for myself...sigh. But you know, someone's birthday is just around the corner...

UPDATE - Boo hoo! The Nubby Teal Purse has been sold!
mel

h@bl

Frühstück 16.06.08, originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/haebl/.

Today I went looking for a group on flickr where I could share the photos I sometimes take of my lunch (when it is especially delicious looking) and I came upon the group yummy in my tummy, which is where I found haebl (blogger won't let me spell it right). I can't tell if he is German or French (or Austrian?) because I don't speak either of those languages, but I do speak clean, retro-modern, and so does he. His photos are equal parts gourmet deliciousness, 50s automat, and perfect lighting. The above photo is my favorite, but he has many equally as lovely. Please discover him for yourself!

mel

printer's progress

carving a linoleum block, originally uploaded by wickedfreshie.

I haven't done any printing in almost a year, but I was inspired by the Lotta Jansdotter book launch party that I attended with the amazing Erin last weekend, and last night I pulled out some linoleum blocks and my cutting tool and got down to business. Above is my work in progress, and here is the result:

I'm pretty happy with it. I need to clean it up a bit and work on my printing technique (I'm thinking a different kind of ink, this one is a little chalkier than I'd like), but then I think this would make a great notebook cover. In my mind, I see it in pastel pink, yellow and maybe green. The design is actually taken from a drawing I did the first time I attempted to take a drawing class at the local city college. We were doing a negative space exercise with eucalyptus leaves; it was probably my most positive experience in that class, the rest of which was taken up with drawing portraits of other students.

More printing from last night:

This is a linoleum stamp that I carved a long time ago, I used it to make a tote bag for my sister, and also the buttons that I use as free gifts in my shop. This time I printed a sheet of bristol board, colored it in with marker, and next I will be cutting it up and turning it into notebook covers. I'll be sure to keep you updated with all the printing happenings.
mel

ps - also, be sure to check the current etsy featured seller interview with rubyslounge. her shop is so neat.

Creature Comforts

Oh my gosh you guys, this is so cool. Unless you've been living under a rock or something you have probably heard about the birthday celebration over at the fabulous Creature Comforts blog. If you haven't, there is an amazing birthday giveaway going on. Check out this list of giveaway contributors:
-Beau Ideal-Caitlin Shearer-Clementine-Cursive Design-Freshly Blended Press -Holly Becker-Ink + Wit-Lab Partners-Lush Bella-Matte Stephens-My Folk Lover-Nest Pretty Things-Oh My Cavalier-Palindrome-Remake-Rifferaff-Shim + Sons-Skinny laMinx
Wow, right? That means you could have a little present from each of those! All you have to do is go over to Creature Comforts and leave a comment. I know I'm going to. And I would take a look around while you're there, because it's a really nice site.
mel

I am Yart

So, the amazing craftspeople of etsy, in their infinite wisdom, have put their heads together and come up with one great concept: the summer Yart sale. Yart = Yard + Art. It's like a yard sale for art...on the internet...anyway, I had been planning a sale for later this summer to "celebrate my birthday" (July 15th, ugh....) so I've decided to combine the two. I am, starting today, offering free shipping on all my renewed album cover notebooks until July 15th!! Also, there will be other special deals on other special items. So, if you've had you eye on any of these beauties, now is the time my friends.

Wings - At the Speed of Sound

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Miami Vice Soundtrack

Flashdance Soundtrack

And...if you'd like to see who else is participating in the Yart sale, you can go to Etsy and search for yart or you can click here and see some examples and click on some links. Happy shopping!

mel

P.S. - btw, there are waaaay more books on sale in my shop right here.

Treasuries

Well, I'm pretty excited today because not only did I manage to snag a treasury of my very own this morning, I am also featured in a treasury! Yay! It feels like a long time since I've been in one. And, since I finally figured out how to do screenshots (kinda) I'm able to share them with you (I hope). Let's see how this goes.

First, the one I'm featured in:

And now the one I made:

Well...it looks like I need to work a bit on the whole screen shot thing. But hey, you can click on those little pictures and that will take you right over to the treasuries. Isn't that fun!

mel

For Erin, pt 2

Hey Erin, have you heard about this? Check it out!

{CLICK HERE!!!!}

I Only Like It If It's Brand New

Well, all right then. New items in the shop:

Spirograph Notebook No 1

Spirograph Notebook No. 2

Spirograph Notebook No. 3

And here's that preview from the other day, now it can be yours!

Be My Light - Original Drawing on Vintage Sheet Music

Thanks!

Mel

under arrest

under arrest, originally uploaded by wickedfreshie.

For some reason, this photo is massively popular on my flickr page. Well, not massively popular like compared to someone who actually has a popular flickr page, but massively popular for my flickr page. Right. Anyway, I'm not sure why, but there you go. It's a picture of my pal Steph and her bf Louie, in line for the Matterhorn at Disneyland. I need to take a moment to reflect on how much I love the Matterhorn. It's such a great ride. Matterhorn, don't ever change.

Lotta

This was the scene yesterday evening at Craft Gym. My lovely and amazing pal Erin and I dropped in for the launch party for Lotta Jansdotter's new book, and I meant to take a bunch more pictures but I got overwhelmed by all the folks who were also there. It was super crowded! But it was fun; it was kind of a crafting party, they had a long table set up with inks and brushes and stamps and stencils. I enjoyed watching the other people there making lovely designs on their muslin swatches while I waited for a seat to open up. We got to talk to Lotta for just a second, she came over for a bit to give us some pointers on printing. She was really lovely and I was smitten with her accent (she's Scandanavian) and her outfit (she had the cutest sandals). Overall it was a very neat experience and I'm glad I was able to go. Here are some pictures of my printing that I took when I got home.
This was my first try, it's a little muddled.
And this is my second, it's more minimalistic, which was more keeping in the spirit of Lotta's work, I think. I like both of them though. I know Erin took more pictures than I did, so maybe she'll share some with me so you can have some better examples of what was coming out of the party. Erin's swatch in particular turned out quite lovely.

Actually, Erin and I had quite the full day yesterday; we hit up three of my favorite SF spots: SCRAP, Mission Pie Shop and Philz Coffee, and we eventually ended up at Target, where I was able to purchase a Spirograph! So exciting! I've been thinking about getting one for a little while now. Here are some of my first tries with it:

Aren't they purty? I did these with my PrismaColor markers and I love how the colors came out, but the process really ruins the tips of the markers, which is such a bummer. I tried some with colored pencil, and those turned out nice too, I just don't have very nice colors of colored pencil right now. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the spirograph, but it's fun just playing around with it for now.
All right, I'm going to leave you today with a sneak peak of something that will be popping up in the ol' store soon. Enjoy!
mel

BTW

I just got a treasury, and guess what it's about?

{sweater weather}

yeah, i guess I have sweaters on the brain. anyway, i tried to use only listings that had photos with live models, i think seeing clothes on a person is so much better than seeing them on a dummy. the photos turn out more interesting and dynamic.
mel

Sweater Weather

Luckily for me, San Francisco is pretty much sweater weather all year long. I say luckily because I love cardigans. They are probably my favorite article of clothing. At least right up there with T-Shirts. And nothing goes better with a cardigan than a cute T-Shirt! Since I am always on the lookout for cute little sweaters, I was searching Etsy yesterday and I found some really nice pieces that I thought I would share with y'all. This first one is from the shop of BossaNovaBaby, which is chock full of adorably screenprinted clothes like this baby pink cardigan. I love the color and I love the embroidery. I also love that the Virgin of Guadalupe sits between your shoulder blades; I like decorations of the upper backs of shirts.

I like the sportiness of this Cosby Cardigan from chinedesigns. And, of course, you gotta love the crest. I am unabashedly one of those girls who shops in the men's discount section and steals clothes from her boyfriend, but if you're not one of those girls, they also offer a similar sweater made for the ladies here.

Regular readers may recognize the work of Fur Parade, one of my favorite favorite Etsy sellers. Here we have their totally awesome Ram's Head Vintage Sweater. Orange is one of those colors that I don't wear too often and that I think a lot of people are a little scared of, but really looks great on most.Here is a gorgeous little sweater from a Jubilant Collective, who says that this was handmade by her grandmother (and who, btw and speaking of orange, is wearing a Boy Scout Tiger shirt much like one I used to rock). I imagine it is pretty light, which makes it perfect as a little summer coverup.
Last, we have this fun little number from postlapsaria. I am totally digging the grey leopard print, and the juxtaposition of the retro ladylike color and cut with the kind of SoCal punk rockabilly pattern. Not usually my style, but there's just something about the combo that I like.

Here's hoping I can score some awesome finds like these at my local thrift store...but I doubt it.

mel

Lessons Learned

Circles are a gazillion times easier to draw than squares.

secret dreams

secret dreams, originally uploaded by topa mi.

My secret dream is that one day I will be "pouncing" on etsy and my shop will come up.

Etsy Find of the Day

Check it out! I found an awesome new shop on Etsy today that I am super excited about (even though I am on a break from buying things right now). It is called psarokokalo (which apparently means fishbone in Greek) and they have a bunch of cute stuff, like adorable little fingerpuppets, but what I'm all worked up about are these amazing necklaces.

Wowsers, right, they are awesome! I am so taken with them. According to psarokokalo's description, the plastic pieces were collected from the sea at Rhodes Island in the summer of 2006, and I feel like that totally comes through in the necklaces. They seem to ooze the essence of summer and the sea. Oh, and the best part? They are totally on sale right now! And (in my opinion) shipping is ridiculously cheap, considering psarokokalo is located in Athens, Greece. So, yeah, I'd suggest jumping on this opportunity while I am still under my self-imposed shopping embargo.

-mel

Today Is Lamer

Now Pandora is blocked on the server at my work. I'm crying on the inside.
But, to look on the bright side, it is really gorgeous out today.
And, check out this awesome new San Francisco street fashion blog I found! Well, I didn't really find it, they linked to it on fashioni.st. You should still check it out though. Fit To Be Tied.

Today is So Lame

Pandora is seriously pissing me off by playing the crappiest songs today.

Sorry for this non-post after so long not posting. Things will be shaking on here soon.

Occurrences of Note

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I have put a few new items up in my shop, including my very first original drawing! Well, the first one to be sold in my shop I mean. Not the first original drawing I've ever done. Anyhow. Yay!
Also, I am really really excited that this weekend I am getting my very own little desk! I can't wait to set up my new workspace. I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as possible (if it isn't a total disaster). I'm so excited! Also.....I love dinosaurs. Ok, thanks for tuning in for these updates.
mel

Fuzzy Notebooks

Friday night I ended up home all alone, which is the perfect set up for one of two things to happen; either I order takeout, burrow into the couch and watch degrassi and eat donuts all night, or I am super-productive superwoman. Luckily, this time the latter situation was the winner, and I tucked into a feast of bookmaking. I'd bought a bunch of felt rectangles a couple years ago with grand ideas to make a stuffed book about dinosaurs, but that never came to fruition, so I've been trying to come up with ways I can use all of it, and I came up with the idea of using them for notebook covers. I am pretty happy with my first attempts, so happy in fact, that they ended up in my etsy shop! Here are some pictures

Aren't they cute? I used some buttons that I had leftover from another project (knit ipod covers for my sisters a couple Christmases ago) because I know how to sew buttons. You should be able to see in the pictures that the stitches are far from even; I did all the sewing by hand and I don't sew, that's why it looks like that. I like it though, I think it works with the materials to give it a kind of "I made this in my kindergarten craft corner" look. Which is kind of what I was going for. I wish I could have used some of that gigantic yarn they always have in kindergarten classes. Remember that stuff? You probably have to buy it from teacher supply stores. I should get some, it would be fun to make necklaces with. Anyway, I'm rambling again. Right, the books are in the shop, check 'em out when you get a chance. A bunch more books will be popping up in there in the next few days, along with the drawings that I shared in the last post (plus more drawings that haven't been seen yet). Very exciting! I'm also hoping to have some more etsy artist interviews soon, there are a couple shops that I've been crushing on hard, I just need to get around to contacting the folks behind them, so look for those within the next couple weeks.

Oh, and I just realized that I haven't talked about my mom's shop on here yet! My mom is a real hand at the knitting needles and the crochet hook. She's been selling her gorgeous scarves at the elementary school she works at for a while now and I finally convinced her to get on etsy, and now she is! Check out some of the pictures (taken by me, featuring my mom and my sisters)

Totes cute, right?!? If you need a scarf, this is the place for you to go, I promise. The shop name is JillRoska and she has 11 scarves up in the shop now, including the ones pictured here, but she is a crazy prolific knitter, and I know she has baskets and baskets full of yarn just waiting to be made into something perfect for you. She does custom orders too! Seriously, you need to peep it right now!

mel

For Erin

THIS is so so awesome. Everyone is strongly encouraged to click over. It is like my 20 year old sister's habit of shopping at the Limited Too, but to the power of a thousand. I wish I were so genius-y.

Well, I have some other things to share with you:

(oops, my toes are in there) Look for these soon in my shop.

mel

Not Too Late

It's now been officially over a month since I've posted here. Oops. I guess I've been sidetracked by street fashion blogs lately. Since I started working in an office and going out less, my wardrobe has become totally sleep inducing and lazy, so I like to look at blogs like fashioni.st (because it is San Francisco based) and The Sartorialist (because it is basically The Godfather of street fashion blogs) and imagine that I'm going to start dressing awesome again. But that never happens. Because I'm lazy. But I like to dream.

I've also been sidetracked by Baby-Sitters' Club blogs, which is a teensy bit embarrassing, but not that embarrassing because, judging by the way What Claudia Wore blew up in my blogosphere this week, I am not the only gal who just ate up the BSC series. Which is kind of obvious because, if I were, it's doubtful that Ann M. Martin and ghostwriters would have written hundreds of entries to the series. Or that Ann M. Martin would have ghostwriters at all. Anyway, blogs, yes, What Claudia Wore is a good one, and there is also BSC Headquarters, the first BSC blog I started reading. That one is a little snarkier. Really though, it's crazy how nearly every blog that I check on a daily basis mentioned What Claudia Wore within the last four days. It's a display of connectivity, I think. Or not. I don't really know what connectivity means. Dictionary, a little help please?

The quality or condition of being connected or connective.
The ability to make and maintain a connection between two or more points in a telecommunications system: a phone company that offers excellent Internet connectivity.

Well, I guess that's kind of what I meant. It'll do. Please leave me a comment if you have a suggestion for a word that would work better.

So, on the creative front...nothing much is happening. I'm trying to get together some drawings that I'm happy with to post on Etsy, and I've also been contemplating doing some linoleum cut prints...maybe on fabric. I'm feeling very indecisive at the moment. I'll try to post some pictures of things I've been working on soon.

mel