Thursday, August 30, 2012

Thirty Days of Lists

This September I've decided to try my hand at participating in Thirty Days of Lists, a very cool creative project run by two inspiring bloggy ladies, Amy of Lemon and Raspberry and Kam of Campfire Chic. The basic idea of the 30 Lists project is to complete a list every day during the month of September in whatever format you want -- scrapbook, digitally, in as much or as little time as you'd like!  

I'm a huge lister (fan of lists? list-maker?), and the idea of this project was so enthralling that I just had to sign up. It's so awesome to see all of these interesting, creative people joining together around the simple art of listing and I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with this September. 

I was thinking about doing the project digitally, and still might use Photoshop to play around with my physical lists. Instead, though, I've decided to challenge myself and start with blank index cards.  I have a bunch of paper crafting supplies, and hope to combine these and illustration to make each list and card fun and unique. I'm going to house them in this cute little box that I bought at Staples so that the project seems complete and has a place to live after the month is over :)


I started simple, making a cute insert for the card box out of things from my It's Paper, Dear! August box, which was filled to the brim with super cute paper bits -- I hope to post a full review soon!






If you're interested in listing along, make sure to go check out the project's website, 30 Days of Lists!
 
How do you use lists in your daily life? Are you joining in on 30 Days of Lists?

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Hello Monday -- Late 2012 Goals

Hello everyone, and a late hello Monday! It's a bit late in the year to be thinking about goals, but really, is it ever a bad time to think about and re-evaluate?  Lately my life has been feeling a bit muddled and I thought it would be a good idea to take a step back and rethink what I really want to do with my time so that I have a framework for planning accordingly. 



- Write several posts each week on this blog. I really do like writing things for this blog and feel better when I am able to keep up with it. Create more, be honest.

- Take more pictures, write more, share more life. Looking back at the past few years, I really regret that I have not done enough of any of these things. Let's minimize such regret in the future! My picture-taking has gone up since getting my first DSLR, but I want to get better and capture more. As for writing, this is a "several-fold" goal -- I want to continue working on my middle grade and picture book ideas, and hope to self-publish one of them some day!

- Read more books. Always ends up being on my lists, for excellent reasons.

- Make more tutorials! Start making and sharing printables. I hope to work and improve my illustration and PS skills to make some printable materials or blog stuff some day, and one day illustrate and craft my own picture book.

- Don't base my self worth solely on my day job. This is a tough one, and is something I don't really talk about here. I have been job hunting since finishing graduate school, and as time passes it's tough to keep my spirits up. Work to realize that success might not look like what I expected. And along those lines....

- Follow and continue to develop my passions. Open myself to new experiences, and work to make my own opportunities. Work, work, work :) I'm so grateful for some of the wonderful chances I've had over the past two years, and hope to make the rest of the year as productive as possible!

- Explore more. Take more chances. Get out of the house and travel more. Being down makes me want to stay inside and mope and watch Netflix for hours on end, but for the rest of the year I hope to do just the opposite! Go to new restaurants, new places, and search out new experiences.

I hope to set small goals each week and keep things manageable, accomplish a little bit at a time. No being discouraged, just keep swimming :)

Are there any goals you're currently working toward? How often do you re-evaluate your goals?

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Weekend Wrap-Up: Carnival!


Fireworks night at the carnival was this weekend! We managed to make it out, at least, for some photos and some carnival food fun times. I'm a little wary of rides because I am prone to motion sickness just standing around, but love the buzzy atmosphere, food, and lights.  It's fun to just go and walk around people watching -- it was crowded, sticky, and very much summertime. 





And funnel cake... well, funnel cake is one of my favorite summertime nostalgic foods!  Every time I have some I wonder if you can make it at home, and a simple google search revealed that yes, it turns out, you really can! I hope to try out at least one of those recipes sometime in the future, and will report back with (hopefully) delicious results!


Humidity does amazing things to my hair.

We didn't manage to stay on-site for the fireworks (I got tired after working at the library yesterday and we're trying to save up money and carnival fun is too spendy for me!), but are lucky enough to live close enough to have a terrific view from one of the fields near the house.  It's great to be able to go home, wait for the earth-shattering kaboom, and run outside like excited kids to see the wonderful show just over the trees. 

What's your favorite thing about summer?  Have you made funnel cake at home?
Do you have a favorite, nostalgic summertime food? 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Share a Book -- Elsa Beskow's Children of the Forest

Happy Thursday! Today I managed to get some writing done, which felt really awesome. I thought I would celebrate by drinking a cup of coffee, taking some photos, and sharing a book here on the blog.

Children of the Forest
, by Elsa Beskow, seems like it should already be on my bookshelves. My coworker over at Darling Petunia found this at the library the other day and was kind enough to share it!



The story is a peek inside the life of a family of forest people, specifically the adventures of four mushroom-hatted children, Tom, Harriet, Sam, and Daisy. We learn about their animal friends, meet their forest-dwelling neighbors, and follow them throughout the year to see what fun they have during the winter, spring, summer, and autumn. It has mushrooms, hedgehogs, and wonderful, detailed nature illustrations -- just about everything I love.

The illustrations in the book are delightful, and I wanted to include a few here!




"Wild strawberries and mushrooms grew by their door and they had all the pots, pans, chairs, beds, tables, knives, forks and spoons they could possibly need. Sheltered under the pine tree branches, they hardly felt the autumn gales and if it rained, the children crept underneath a giant toadstool to keep dry."





"Soon they were in the middle of harvest time and everyone had to do their share. The little brown cupboards in the roots of the pine had to be filled with bottles of berry jam, dried seeds, 
nuts and fruit to last through the winter."






Hedgehog parade!

According to her biography, she is often called the Beatrix Potter of Sweden -- I can certainly see why! Her life story seems very interesting and inspiring, particularly her involvement with the Swedish women's movement and education. I would love to read a biography, and hope to have a chance to pick up and enjoy more of her picture books sometime.



Are you a fan of Elsa Beskow? Do you have a favorite classic picture book?
Be sure to share with me below!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Adventure Time SDCC Fan Experience Wrap-up!

If you follow my Twitter, you might know that a month or so ago I was lucky enough to be asked to send some of my needle felted Adventure Time fan art to be a part of the Adventure Time Experience fan gallery at the New Children’s Museum during San Diego Comic Con. It was such an exciting experience for me to have my felties in any kind of gallery setting -- I was flattered to be included alongside so many talented folks, celebrating such a mathematical show. 

Also exciting was finding the above picture of my stuff in the exhibit in the write up on one of my favorite comics blogs, Comics Alliance! Probably this represents my fifteen milliseconds of fame.

A couple days ago my art made it home safely, and I was happy to find that they had sent the gallery labels for each set of work back to me with my artwork!  I love the illustration on these, it's so cute and whimsical. Hot Dog Princess also approves.  

AND THEN!  A few days later, I found a mysterious package in the mail with a big Adventure Time label on the front. What in the what! Inside was this totally awesome Finn tote bag, a Jake necklace, a keychain, and the bossest thank you note ever!  

A hero of art! Why yes thank you. And all in rhyme!  What a super surprise -- it was a pleasure just to be included in the exhibit. I've already worn the necklace to work a few times.  Because I'm totally an adult and professional. Yes.

The Cartoon Network really went above and beyond here, I want to thank them for really providing such a terrific fan experience for me!  I can't wait for the next fan art whim to inspire me... maybe finally make that Lady Rainicorn... 

Aaaaadventure Time!