Scissor Quirk

Oh my Word.

This week is the most bonkerest of all weeks!! lol.

Trying to juggle school/homework/adjusting to a new schedule/packing the entire housing/painting the entire new apartment/not planning enough beforehand = crazy! I'm managing, though. I found lately that if i don't set up some posts here on Sunday for the week, it's all downhill from there. lol. I'm really loving English reading and gathering natural objects and drawing in class (homework has been really fun but kind of all-consuming!). While I struggle to get on schedule here, I'm mentally taking a note to document more of my everyday goings on, now. Also, wondering why we as humans have such a hard time with change, naturally - I mean, I love change - I'm realizing again that my body and brain do not always like it, especially when it means getting up at 6am!

PS - I can't believe how many of you entered the AC hop/giveaway! Thanks!!

PPS - It makes my heart so happy to hear that somebody's started crocheting or scrapbooking because of this lil blog. Thanks so much for your sweet words. :)

Anyhoo - in my logo design reference searching this week, I stumbled across this most fabulous of type blogs I wanted to share with you: Friends of Type!

all images from Friends of Type.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how all aspects of art and design compliment each other - heck, craft, too! We can draw so much as artists - and I think anyone who 'makes' is an artist in their own way - from other visual things. You may be like, ''Type? I don't like type - I like scrapbooking! This doesn't apply to me'' but if you look a little closer at the colors and lines of things, you can relate them all back to an upcoming scrapbook page - the color combination, the pattern. It's everywhere, inspiration!

More soon, friends.

Pulled: A Catalog of Screen Printing

Oh my word - I have a new favorite book! :)
You guys seemed to like the last glimpse at my books, so here's the newest!

I have to start out by saying that for at least a year and a half I've been mad jonesing to learn to screenprint. I took a Printing 101 class at the university last summer and fell in love - I'm already figuring out how I squish illustration and printmaking in next Spring semester...lol.

Enter, Pulled: A Catalog of Screen Printing
c/o Princeton Architectural Press.

I'm so excited that one of my faves - Mike Perry (you may have heard me mention his awesome 'Hand Job' and 'Over & Over' books, before) - has just published this inspiring mecca of collected printers' work. Eeek! He always does such a rad job finding an assortment unique pieces - and, seriously, the book design itself is yummy - I don't think I've put this book down. :)

It has a brief how-to (print your own shirt and wear it the same night, if you're hardcore!), and covers everything from super-delicate printed line work to bold graphic pieces. I love this old-school, slightly messy form of printing - so inspiring to see the greatness you can do with it!

Some of my fave featured artists who appear in the book: Jim Datz, Rachel Domm, Steven Harrington, Garrett Morin - they're awesome!

It rocks. It's magical. I can't say enough good things. :)
You know, if you're looking for a new book to fall in love with...

On a sidenote: I was peeking at what else Princeton had coming out when I suddenly fell in love with ''Typography Sketchbooks'' - eeek! :)

There are so many yummy books out there!!
What's your favorite book, lately?

Shnooks loves hats!

I made this lil octopus (you know, my logo guy Shnooks) plushie for the Spring craft show I had a booth at last week, and it was *so exciting* to get him done, because he'd been one my favorite sketchbook ideas for a long time! Bascially, he's a cute lil hand-sewn felt octopus guy who has a lil green dinosaur hat, on! And the option to have multiple inter-changeable hats!

I quickly snapped some pictures of him the morning before I left for the show on my messy desk, and he's since found a new home, but here he are some peeks:

He also had a bunny hat, for Easter, but I didn't get a shot of it!

We decided he needs a few more hats (yay!) for the next craft show I have coming up the first weekend in May - do you have any ideas? I'm thinking a bear hat with cute lil round ears, a white bunny, and a pink dinosaur! he he. Lemme know what you'd like to see on him!

He got rave reviews at the fair, too - which was super-fun to see in person! I'll be making more, for sure, and stocking them in the shop in late May, as well. :)

Blonde Betty Embroidery.

One of my prized new craft show display pieces is this sweet embroidery of my favorite lady, Pirate Betty! :) If you're new to my blog, you might not know that I draw her all the time. It all started a few years ago (I was going through old work notes the other day from 2007, and lo and behold - old pirate betty!) but she actually became something when I carved those linocut prints of her out at sea.

Anyhoo - I drew up this lil pattern and went to stitching! It'd been meaning to stitch her for a looong time. And I've never made her blonde, before - she's usually brown-haired when I doodle her (she's like a little self-portrait, in some ways...lol). I had lotsa fun picking out the colors for this one, though - and stitching on the slightly dimensional felt sails & the lil water splashes! So fun!

Funny: we realized at the last craft show that I have no boy pirates on hand. lol. Only girls. I had forgotten about boy pirates completely! :)

I really just want to make, like 20 more of her in all different colors...lol. :)

It's always fun to take a lil embroidery break, isn't it? I like to stitch quietly on the couch after I've just finished making a paper something.

Anyhoo - I hope you like her! She's pretty cute, but I'm biased. :)

I'm off today to pirate my way through some shops (and the impending rain!) to grab some clothes I need for Hawaii - shorts, a few summer dresses, some sunglasses, a hat...all that stuff. I *love* shopping though, and I'm a good bargain digger - fun to be had! lol. :)

Happy (pirate) Tuesday!

Smitten: Work in Progress

I have a few work-in-progress 'Sweetly Smitten' peeks, for you! :)

There have been a lot of new readers here, lately - so if you're like, 'Sweetly what??' - 'Sweetly Smitten' is the vintage-inspired scrapbook paper collection
I designed in conjunction with Sassafras Lass that was released in January.

I love the process of designing paper - mostly because of the beautiful chaos that my desk becomes (lol - I know, I talk about a messy desk often!).

I pull out a bunch of supplies (like, every supply possible) in my design style & colorway and spread them out all over my workspace - it's really inspiring to see it all and pick through it for the little bits and details I'd like to use. I always try to take a couple 'behind-the-scenes' photos of the pretty, and I didn't get that many this time around, because I was working at odd hours, but I managed to snap a few! :) That yellow doily is my favorite!

See? Not many - but still a little peek of the design beginnings, for you. :)

A few people have asked me where/when it's available for sale, and I've seen it online at a few of my favorite places, now - yay! You can nab your own, right here: A Million Memories, Two Peas In a Bucket, and A Million Little Things.

Sassafras also has a bigger list of retailers & more online retailers, here - so you can find it where you live! Or ask your local scrapbook store.

Please feel free to send me pages you've made with it, too - I love to see them!
I can't wait to get it in my hot little hands to play, myself! Eeek!

And, PS - Welcome, lovely new additions to the Sassafras Design Team!
They're fabulous - I'm psyched to work with all of them! :)