restored bookshelf

my first furniture project is finished! i bought a little bookshelf at a thrift store to try my hand at fixing up some furniture. i learned a lot and know what to try next time. the colors came out great (i love blue!) and i tried out mod podging some paper on the top. i can't wait to find another piece to start on!

remembering grandpa

so yesterday was the 1st anniversary of my grandpa's death. and this past weekend had intermittent bouts of sadness as i re-experienced the emotions and accounts of last year at this time. i miss him terribly. i did visit with him and my grandma for quite a few hours the night of his death. we had a pleasant dinner. some of the things he said made me wonder if he was saying goodbye.

i also thought about where i was in other parts of my life, and compared to last year, i am MUCH happier. in pretty much every aspect of my life. i know grandpa would be happy knowing that.

memorial day hike

my bff and i went on our first hike of the year! we also took our puppy for his first big outing too - it was a relatively easy hike and a good way to introduce him to the wilderness. we went to "the dome"...actually close to it. i could have sworn the last hour on the way up was a 90 degree incline. i realized that i'm not as in shape as i thought! there is a landing that we stopped and had lunch at. ribs and apples and bananas YUM! the weather was extremely cooperative and i tried to get a slight tan. here are some pictures of our outing:

me & puppy

bff & puppy at the creek

puppy making a face at the landing

mmmmmm ribs!

what a view!

our little adventure!

i hope everyone had a great long weekend. it went by entirely too fast. i worked on a little shelf cabinet that i've been revamping and it should be finished up in the next couple of days. i will post pictures of it when it is done!

WEEKEND!!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE it's the weekend!!!

and yesterday was vito the puppy's half birthday! i can't believe he's already 6 months old....3.5 in people years. and he's been acting like a little brat too :) but that's okay. he's been really cuddly and it super cute. who can resist that??

have a wonderful long weekend - i know i will!

blogs galore

i don't know what it is about blogs but lately i've been really into reading them (hence the resurrection of my blog). i like getting a sneak peek into someone else's world. i've mostly read the blogs of artists & designers - especially those who print letterpress items. and WOW. i have come across some beautiful work. check these sites out: jessica hische, studio on fire, and boxcar press.

i love letterpress. adore it - all of it. the process, the hand setting type, the choosing of colors, the impression left by printing onto super luxurious paper...and then end results are always spectacular.

finally purchased a roller gauge. it's this cool little tool that helps me adjust the rollers on my press to the correct height - instead of me futilely trying to eyeball it. here's an old pic of me with my press:



i've also noticed something else....there is a site called Design*Sponge that has a ton of great ideas for a number of projects and beautiful pictures. its a great place to visit if you are looking for inspiration. on a number of the blogs i've been perusing, Design*Sponge is mentioned! they are ALL over the place! must be a sign that i need to go check out their page again...

on another note, i was working at my friend's firearms shop yesterday and a photographer dropped by with a photo for me. the photographer had been taking pictures at a few classes and i happened to be taking one of the classes. he gave me this awesome black and white pic of me, all decked out in my gear, looking like a bad ass. it was such a nice surprise!

have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

custom order!

so i just got a phone call from a lovely girl that wants to discuss a custom order photo album! she saw my blank books at Bella Boutique here in anchorage. Bella is owned and run by two fabulous jewelry artists, Annie & Lena. If you get a chance, I highly recommend dropping by their shop - take a look at my books (yay self promotion!), jewelry, bags, clothing, and other accessories.

i love doing custom orders! gives me a chance to try something new, plus i enjoy working directly with someone to create exactly what they want. i'll post some pictures once the final product is finished.

time to start brain-storming ideas for this new project! (and i still have a ton to do for the upcoming shows in november.) ooooooo and i really need to clean up the studio.

letterpress

so i was browsing some letterpress websites today and saw a few that were inspiring:

Thoughtful Day
Elum
Pie Bird Press

how amazing would it be to print and work on art as my day job?! i'm sure it seems much more glamorous than it actually is....but maybe not. my current job as a buyer has taught me the business side of things, which i've applied to my teeny tiny business. i've dabbled in accounting, learned to manage an inventory, maintain good vendor relationships, merchandise products effectively, etc. i'd like to think i don't have my head in the clouds as i move towards my goal of becoming a working artist full time (in the far distant future). and from what my artist friends have told me, it certainly isn't a piece of cake. although, from what i've seen, they are much happier and more content - which makes any hardship well worth the effort.

tooth pain & novocaine

just got back from the dentist a little bit ago. and wolfed down some lunch before the novocaine wore off. and it's wearing off FAST.

two questions that are bothering me:
1) why does novocaine wear off so quickly?
2) why isn't my aleve kicking in (dammit)?

swirls!

hello! the weekend was extremely busy for me and the weather managed to be cooperative and sunny. i think i even got a little teeny bit of color in my cheeks. i was outside for the majority of the day, helping out at a firearms course. it was a lot of fun and i learned a ton.

so check out my new little blog title picture...made in illustrator. awesome. thanks to how about orange's blog for the illustrator swirl tutorial! all i want to do now is make swirls on everything.

i saw my bff for probably a total of 5 minutes the entire weekend, which sucked. we are on opposite schedules for this week, which is good for our puppy but not for us. here is a picture of our pup from a couple weeks ago:


he's obviously very broken up about us not being home at the same time.

3 column newness

i decided it was time to start blogging again. in order to revamp my blog, i attempted to create three columns (which seemed to work) and i also deleted past entries since they were ancient history.

i've been reading some super cool blogs - lately about design and interior decorating. my bff and i recently started the process of redecorating (it's his place and i wanted it to look like i actually lived there too). picked out some paint and began painting the first coat last night. and it looks great!

one blog in particular caught my eye - jessica jones blog: how about orange...
lots of great ideas and fun stuff to explore. she posted a link to a quiz about finding your decorating style here

enjoy!