hop to it!

wednesday

january 25

sneak peek of almost finished studio!matt's mom has been taking the girls in the mornings all week 

so i could work on finishing my studio.

it is near impossible with little ones underfoot to get much done, as i'm sure many of you know.

behold the power of alone time!

remember my list from the beginning of the week?

let's revisit it, why don't we?

• unpack all my art stuff
• organize studio
• workout every morning with my bff jillian
• drink coffee (see? already done. look at me, taking names)
• blog every day (ditto)
• get girls up, dressed, fed & out the door with snacks & lunches (i'm so awesome. done, done & done.)
• finish sketches for 3 upcoming papyrus commissions: anniversary, aunt birthday & mom to daughter birthday
• finish inside card artwork & envelope liner artwork for grandpa birthday card
• come up with some brilliant & wonderful mother's day card ideas and sketches (due monday)
• make 9 pieces of art for my mail art group & mail it out
• do the dishes (ok, to be honest, i know i only rocked this line item like one time, but i did do a lot of laundry & to be fair, matt is really the king of dishes in our house)
• clean out art storage unit & get artwork photographed

i'd say the week has been successful, no?

no one is going to read or comment on this since i'm about to do three blog posts in a row and it's the weekend, but despite that, i'm pretty freaking proud of myself.

hardly able to contain my excitement. yup, that's me.

tuesday 

january 23

i am finally (for the love)

unpacking and moving into my studio!

i will post pics, i promise, when i am all done.

here is a sneak peek as i began to unpack my books & magazines:(do you know that i first fell for matt because he had great books on his bookcase? 

oh yes i did. 

i didn't hurt that i also thought he was this cute, smart, alterno soccer player. 

he also inadvertently wooed me with his top secret chocolate cookie recipe, which was amazing deliciousness. 

{ahem, soooo secret that he didn't tell me what it was until we were on our honeymoon!

 i'm not kidding.} 

i was instantly smitten.

meanwhile, 

he thought i was some random girl who told really long stories with no point. 

ah, some things never change!)

last night i was up late working on a new papyrus project

and then on some art for my mail art club

(in progress below)

as i was working, i happened to start chatting online 

with one of my very dearest friends from high school. 

so good to talk for a long time.

(matt corrected me when i said we talked for an hour; 

"it is not talking, it is chatting on the computer." 

same difference- tomay-to, tomah-to.)

it made me think about history,

about having a past,

a rootedness in the thing or the people

that have come before this moment right now.

so i made four little paintings of twisted and unfurling roots.

sometimes one of the most lifegiving things for me 

is re-connecting with friends

from long gone seasons of my life. 

there is something about still being able to talk with people who knew you years ago;

even if your lives look radically different now,

there is a gift in having shared life in the past.

off to finish the studio!

(i can hardly believe it!)

getting ready to rumble in my studio

matt's mom is here for the week to help me so i get some studio time, 

so,

 during the mornings this week

 take these two lovely kiddos out of the picture,

 and it's just me.

just (maybe) i often have unrealistic expectations for my time (insert my husband's laughter here and a sarcastic comment like "ya think?!"), and think i'm going to accomplish as much in 20 hours as someone like gwenyth paltrow does before breakfast. silly, silly me.

but hey, it's good to aspire, right?

on my list to get done between 7:30 am and 1 pm today through friday? 

ok to be completely honest i'm not going to share my whole, entire completely unrealistic list, because you would just laugh, and i get enough of that from matt. (although seriously? he's the pot calling the kettle black, since he usually carries 49 books around with him at any given time, because he expects he'll have time to read them) i also like to add a few easy things to the list to feel accomplished right off the bat, you know what i'm saying?

• unpack all my art stuff
• organize studio
• workout every morning with my bff jillian
• drink coffee (see? already done. look at me, taking names)
• blog every day (ditto)
• get girls up, dressed, fed & out the door with snacks & lunches (i'm so awesome. done, done & done.)
• finish sketches for 3 upcoming papyrus commissions: anniversary, aunt birthday & mom to daughter birthday
• finish inside card artwork & envelope liner artwork for grandpa birthday card
• come up with some brilliant & wonderful mother's day card ideas and sketches (due monday)
• make 9 pieces of art for my mail art group & mail it out
• do the dishes
• clean out art storage unit & get artwork photographed

(my real list would also include things like finish christmas & birthday thank you notes, deep clean the house, hang artwork & mirrors, hang curtains in guest room, wash windows, organize closet, clean hall closet, etc etc)

we all know i'll get like two things done from my first list and nothing done from my unabridged list, but we all have to start somewhere, right?

off to take on the world!

one more sneak peek

i sent in a ton of text concepts & sketches the other day,

here are a couple more.

hopefully i'll get to make some of them into final cards 

& 

they'll be in your local store next mother;s day and graduation!

 {and just a little bunting, because bunting is cute}

sneak peek

working on some potential mother's day and graduation cards for papyrus for 2012.

here's a couple of the rough sketch versions.

we'll see if any of them end up going into production!

haven't figured out text for this one yet, 

but i like the patterning concept.

off to crank out some more while ruby takes a morning nap & m is still in class.

happy monday!

{happy wednesday}

around these parts:

 freelance deadlines

+

mommying 

+

still sickhouse (of varying degrees- so over being sick)

(got one of my favorite sorts of deliveries yesterday- a box brimming over with brand new paint! 

i was running low on lots of colors, so stocked up)

any brilliant ideas you'd like made into a mother's day or graduation card?

(oh, and on this march 9th, a very happy birthday to my brother jonathan)

getting schooled

at the beginning of the year, i decided that 2011 was the year of gaining some skills.

i feel like every january i have a list of goals that include learning new things or improving upon existing skills (usually the same list: photography, computer classes in illustrator & photoshop, silkscreening, sewing...) and then- the year goes racing by and i haven't done anything to work towards those goals.

so, same goals, new year! this time i decided- less talk, more rock.

for my birthday, matt's parents got me the gift of an online class i'd asked for (on amazon's universal wish list- have you tried this? it is awesome. you can add anything to your wishlist there & it will link to it) in the design program illustrator! it was through the one of nicole's classes; i found it through her blog a little sussy, which i've read for a few years now.

i wasn't sure if i would end up liking the program (and it is super pricey) enough to use it long-term, so i downloaded the free 30 day trial to use for the duration of the month-long class.

i have to say, the class was awesome. even juggling a lot this past month, including sick kids for half the month, i loved it.

not to be an infomercial or anything, but alma, the teacher, was warm and funny. the videos were great, easy to follow along with, and concise; the textbook was fabulous and a great resource for future projects. besides, every time i watched a five minute video i felt accomplished, and like i'd just knocked out some of my to-do list.

i didn't have quite the amount of time that i would've liked to tinker and play with the program, but that was more due to sick kids and a busy schedule. i feel like learned the basics and will be able to integrate it into some of my freelance or personal projects in the future.

the mini-projects i did were very simple, since i had limited time, 

but one was my new (very rough) blog header (above)

here's a sneak peek at a couple of my homework assignments:

this poster for m's room

and this sweet elephant

very beginning projects, but it was so fun to discover the possibilities! 

plus, this class whet my appetite for learning more skills in other areas.
next up?
maybe photoshop or photography.

what would you like to take a class in or learn how to do?

get your craft on

so, a few months ago i threatened to throw a craftapalooza of sorts, inspired by lena corwin's book printing by hand. (here is her similarly inspiring blog)

mid-december i did just that.

i've wanted to do something like this for ages, but we never had the space OR a diningroom table to work at. as soon as matt's amazing diningroom table was done (which was in the works for a long time - a post on it will follow soon, because it is surely worth at least one post,) we finally had a large enough space!

i loaded up on moleskin journals, paper, envelopes, ink, and other supplies. matt whipped up a fierce (delicious & yet incredibly strong) punch concoction & homemade bread, and i made soups and yummy desserts. (you have to have some edible sustenance when you are making things, you know?)

and then, the making/eating/talking extravaganza began:

i'd made samples of what you could print using stamps that i'd made, and pre-made rubber stamps.

i made these stamps by tracing and then cutting out images (some i got from lena corwin's book and some i just made up) from sheets of self-adhesive foam (i got a pack of it at michaels.) then i peeled off the backing and stuck the shapes onto clear acrylic stamp backers that i also got at michaels. we used brayers and acrylic paint instead of ink pads to work with these stamps.

teaching the technique & trying out the stamps on scratch paper.

craft central.

renetta & rebecca working away on projects.

shauna working on a journal, using a stamp i got on etsy.

i'd seen a diy on design mom for making personalized mugs using porcelaine pens (also at michaels). after striking out at the local thrift stores (apparently plain old white mugs do not exist there,) i found a bunch of inexpensive white mugs at ikea! perfect. (sidenote: this is a great and easy project, although the pens run out of ink very quickly and are better for older kids or adults. the paint was easy or a toddler to use- with my hands on supervision. later, using porcelaine paint, m made a bunch of beautiful abstractly painted mugs for family members and friends for christmas.)

i also baked christmas cookies that people could decorate and take home to share or give away!

some of the handiwork:

 a travel journel that jennifer made

some original stationary

projects drying

some people preferred to chat in the kitchen

(smart-they were close to the food)

meanwhile jennifer rocked multi-tasking by holding flora and making projects

art school gossip corner

danelle & kendra frosting cookies

it was such a great afternoon of talking, working, eating, meeting new friends...

and snuggling!

(shocking that ruby is snuggling)

so satisfying to make something with your own two hands, and then share it with someone else.

such a great time together. you should come next time! 

cool, cooler, coolest

from a conversation with matt tonight:
"i know that being an artist is cooler than being a 'mother.' but what about 'artist-mother'? isn't that even cooler than just artist or mother?"

he laughed.

here's hoping that i get to do both. at the end of the day i think that art-making also fuels me to be a better mother. (and raising children informs and shapes how i make art.) but some days those worlds seem so far apart and hard to connect.

my new favorite book

no, it isn't freedom by jonathan franzen, which is our current book club book (although we really usually just eat and talk)...that book was too depressing, so i took a break.

matt got me this book for our anniversary and i love it. i haven't done any of the projects yet, but it is chock full of amazingness.

how fun does this look?

i'm thinking of throwing a holiday open house where friends can come over to our house and eat, drink warm drinks & work on holiday craftiness (i'd provide something like one of these projects to make as gifts or you could bring your own stuff to do) or just hang out and chat. what do you think? would you come?

goodness.

live music is good.

went to two amazing shows this week, both of which were inspiring, beautiful & completely different from each other. i love watching makers who delight in making, and who you can tell love what they are doing. my favorite is that at both concerts they would shuffle instruments, lead vocals.

i loved it.

suffice it to say it made me want to be in a band. no, i'm not kidding. well, maybe in an alternate universe i can be a singer in a band.

i love mumford & sons. and why not? as we know i love bands that specialize in rousing anthems - uh, u2 anyone? oh, they were so good. i will not lie-i could've stayed all night. i practically did, since they played til just shy of midnight!

even more awesome? my mom came. cause she's a lover, too & she loves her some passionate music. (it's where i get it, you know.)


and the jonsi show was well...crazy, creative, visually stunning, bizarre, and wonderful. his music is haunting and moving and beautiful all at once.


now, i am going to paint. because music makes me want to paint.

new york...(part 1)

oh new york. i really like you.

(cue alicia keys singing...)

i flew back last thursday to meet up with matt in new york city. he was back working for the week and then we spent the weekend together. i took baby ruby along with me, and matt's mom came up for the long weekend to stay with little m.

as we waited to board the plane, my normally mellow ruby started screaming. i was trying to balance my coffee in one hand & my yogurt in the other without dropping either on ruby-who i was wearing, my carry on and laptop. i totally looked like crazy bag lady mom i'm sure. miraculously (or maybe because whoever was supposed to sit next to me fled in fear after they heard ruby's lung capacity), on a jam packed flight with no empty seats? the seat next to me was the only empty one on our plane. ruby promptly calmed down & long story short (with some amazing mom move's thrown in over the next 6 hours) we survived the flight.

we got off the plane to absolutely beautiful fall-ish weather. it was a perfect & warm evening, and my husband was waiting for me. we were staying in the lower east side, so we headed to the apartment we rented through airbnb and once we decided the street wasn't as sketchy as we originally thought we grabbed a couple of slices (yum) and crashed early.

first thing friday morning, after sleeping super soundly, we began exploring...

we passed magnolia bakery & decided to stop.

who says you can't have a cupcake at 10 a.m.?

matt had a s'mores cupcake & i had a caramel cupcake.

i think my friend renetta makes way better cupcakes 

(perhaps more humble in appearance but more delicious in taste), 

although the frosting was amazing & glorious, and really- isn't a cupcake just a vehicle for frosting?

ruby was crashed out while i savored every bite.

cupcakes-breakfast of champions, my friends.

i am a total sucker for cakestands & cute bakery displays.

we headed to moma (museum of modern art) to soak up some art...

ruby decided to wake up
(she's very culturally aware, my 5 month old)

there was some pretty amazing work there by yoko ono

(here matt watches a piece by her from the 70's)

i love looking at art. it made me want to rush home and paint all day and night. so many ideas and thinkers and makers in one place-it is pretty incredible to get to see it all in the space of a few hours.

do you recognize this popsicle mold? 

if this was facebook i'd tag my mom in this photo. 

there was an exhibit of the evolution of the modern kitchen 

and this was one of the pieces included in a display. 

hello, 1982. this tupperware mold instantly brought back lots of memories. (remember sticking your tongue through the holes of the stick? well, maybe you don't, but both matt & i did...)

a view from one of the rooms in moma.

ruby was all about it. (see her intently taking in this painting?)

she especially (and rightly so) loved the abstract expressionist show that is up right now. 

it was a fantastic show, and so great to see so much work from mid-century artists all together. 

loved it. did my soul good.

yoko ono's wish tree where you can write a wish/hope/prayer and hang it from the tree. 

(what would you write?)

post moma we were starving so we went to the hotel le parker meridien, where a burger joint is hidden inside the lobby. oh my deliciousness.

exhibit a

exhibit b

does this look like it's inside a swanky hotel? 

oh, but it is. just follow the teensy neon sign of a burger back in the corner of the lobby.

just like her sister, ruby does not pose.

what should you do after eating cupcakes, burgers and fries?
why, eat treats of course.

i promise we were walking for hours and hours in between all of these eating adventures
(but it wouldn't be a trip with matt without eating adventures, right?)

we went to momofuku's milk bar.
now, don't get confused. i, myself, am not a fan of milk.
nope. never have, never will like it.
(sidebar: don't try to convince me how awesome cold milk is with a cookie-it is about as futile as trying to convince me that smoothies with a bit of banana hidden inside don't taste like banana.)
milk bar should actually be called treat heaven.

this is the cake my daughter would eat if she was choosing: it has rainbow sprinkles all over it.

apple pie cake? yes please... but actually, that isn't what i picked. so many treats, so little time.

treats packed up we headed on another lengthy walk to find a spot in central park to lounge around, soak up the amazing weather, and eat our sweets.

ruby was feeling quite cosmopolitan as she hit the streets of new york. (doesn't she look streetwise?)

you'll have to wait for my next post for pics of the aforementioned treat...let's just say it was called candy bar pie. (how can you go wrong with a name like that?)

for now, i'm off to snuggle into bed before it's time for ruby to wake up for a midnight snack.