gift from my penpal!

my dear friend brandi (of not your average ordinary) sent me the coolest gift ever - and it was such a surprise! check out the packaging (YAY japanese masking tape):


this perfectly described my life in the last couple of years...i'm happier than i've ever been in my life. i have a wonderful life filled with lots of joy and love, from my bfff, my puppies, family & friends.

i'm in love with my best friend...and we are getting married in the near future, starting our happily ever after :)

and i'm home - since i left my parents home for college, i never really had that settled feeling of being home...until i moved in with bfff.

thank you brandi for such a sweet thoughtful gift. i can't wait to put it up in my studio :)

pay it forward gift!

i got this in mail a while ago...it's my pay it forward (the posts about pay it forward are here & here) gift from brand-eye!!!! and it is LOVELY. it was such a nice surprise and so gorgeous :)

go check out brand-eye's blog and see her lovely work! thanks so much! you made my day!

sketchbook project!

look what i got in the mail!!!!!!! my sketchbook for the sketchbook project!


i'm so excited :) i can't wait to get started on it...i have to finish it by january 15th of 2011.

hand stitched cards!

i started making some new cards and wanted to show you all. i wanted to do something with all of the small scraps of gorgeous paper i have left over from book covers. i've also really had the urge to incorporate some hand stitching in my work...here are the results:

enlargement of stitching

each card is unique - different papers & multiple colors of thread! i think i'll start making these for future shows.

invitations!

here's the long awaited invitation post! i actually tried making a photo box to take better pictures in...but that didn't go too well. so i'll try again later. i took pics of the invites on our counter instead (so the pic quality isn't the best), since it's taken so long to get these pics done.

i hand drew the designs and then scanned the drawings and cleaning them up in photoshop. i sent the files to boxcar press and they made photopolymer plates. i letterpress printed the invites in our wedding colors, red & aqua. it was my first time printing with photopolymer plates and am SO happy with the results. printing went so well, inking was even, and colors were vivid. i'm really looking forward to doing more printing this way.

outer enclosure

insert card

reply card

invitation set

hope you enjoyed seeing our wedding invitations!

G Street Artist Fair

*sorry for the lapse of posts...between the wedding planning and show preparations over the weekend, i've been having difficulty finding time to sleep, much less do anything else. i have posts lined up for the rest of this week, then i will take some time off until the beginning of august. thanks for your understanding and patience!*

over the weekend, i had my first outdoor show - G Street Artist Fair! it was held in downtown anchorage. the downtown partnership blocked off a chunk of G street and over 40 artists & vendors were selling their wares. the fair lasted for just one day and was something i wanted to try, it was a totally different venue than the other shows i've done & with different customers (tourists). unfortunately, the weather wasn't terribly cooperative - it was pretty chilly and sprinkled quite a bit. but at least there wasn't a total downpour & it wasn't raining sideways.

the downtown partnership (the group that organized the show) put up a tent for me. here's a couple pictures of my little booth:



i made quite a few new books (which i'll do a post on later) as well as a gun print that i made a small edition of as gifts. i wanted to see if there would be any interest in a print like this - it did get many looks. :)

it was good to get exposure...i made some new friends and my work will be in a new gallery (in august): Dos Manos!! the owners, stephanie & kara, had a booth behind me at the artist fair and we hit it off! go here to check out their website.