I made you a picture!

(Adobe Illustrator skillz) ;-D

So, my semester is essentially over - hence, the "hooray"! I handed in my last big project yesterday, and now I have 1 class today (we're just reviewing for the final exam) and chem tomorrow morning (he's still lecturing. bleh). Next week I have 3 final exams, but I never worry about those.... I made it through the semester, so I know I'll do fine on the exams....except maybe chemistry. Not my best subject, but, no matter...pretty sure it'll be OK.

I don't think it has quite hit me yet..... I'm so used to the feeling that I have tons of work to do, its hard to let that go! This always happens to me..... during summer break, I'm a manic mess for the first 2 or 3 weeks....that's how long it takes for me to get out of school-mode and into relax-mode! But since I'm graduating, I don't think I'll have that problem this semester. :)

Enough about school, already - I have other things to show you!

First, some beauties from UO that I'm lusting after:

This adorable owl brooch

and this Love Goggles Ring - so cute!!

Aren't those adorable?! They will haunt my dreams.... :)

I also have something exciting to share - I used the Etsy Alchemy function for the first time recently, but I can't tell you about it until after Christmas - its a gift for someone who I know peeks in on this blog from time to time! But after it has been gifted, I will definitely be sharing!

Some sketches

I'm feeling a little sketchy today...ha-ha.

All of my restlessness is being channeled into a few sketches. Not exactly new, but a sort of reincarnation of one of my favorites. I'm actually thinking of a half-sleeve tattoo with this guy.... but I have no idea what else. The [chrysanthemum?] thing at the top is....well, I don't know. I seem to like repetitive shapes/patterns/etc. and I just doodled that. I don't really know what else should go in that huge space, but I really like the whale at the bottom. I thought of a ship, but it would look like the ship is hovering above the whale. Weird.

High Seas

This is my idea for my next tattoo, which I think will go on my chest. Does anyone have one on their chest? I'm wondering how bad that's going to hurt....my collarbone is kinda bony! Eek!

Anyway, I think I'm going to make the waves on the right side of the ship a little shorter so I can move the narwhal on the right in a little.... its not even. That bothers me. I think I'll try shading the narwhals a little, and maybe adding some texture to the sails; but really I'm very pleased. Now I just need to come up with some money so I can afford to get inked! Maybe for Christmas... hmm.....

Feather Headdress

Ok, I was actually not going to share this drawing on here, but I'm so excited about it I just can't keep it to myself. The idea for this drawing came to me at work this other day, just kind of out of the blue. I drew it up in record time, and I just love how it came out - not to toot my own horn! Hehe.

Anyway, this drawing is in the August issue of Just Because You Can't See It. I'm also thinking about maybe featuring this design on other things..... but we'll see.

***

I finally got this awesome organizer wristlet from The Laughing House yesterday. It came all the way from Singapore, so it was registered mail (meaning I had to sign for it). The first delivery attempt came while I was on vacation last week. So I went online and scheduled a re-delivery for yesterday since I was off work. Around 11 a.m. I ran to the post office that's down the street from my house to drop off a few packages. When I came home, my grandma told me that the mail truck had just been at our house, with my package. Ugh. She told me to go 'chase him' down the road and get my package. ?!? So....I hopped back in my car and set off to find Mr. Postman. Luckily, I found him a little way down the road. He asked for my pink delivery slip. Crap. Ran back home, got said slip, drove back down the road in chase of the postman, and FINALLY got my package. HA! Anyway, it was totally worth the chase. Look at home awesome this baby is! My grandma didn't believe me that it was handmade. It is of SUPERB quality, for sure. And very inexpensive, too! I am totally carrying this to work today. Thanks Winniel!

And this is my souvenier from the OBX. Its a little picture clip. I absolutely adore it.
This is the picture I have in it:


This is me and Lani on our trip to OBX last March. Notice I'm wearing a TANK TOP. Ah.

Twins!

Wow, check this out - I was doing some blog-reading, and I came across this post from Sarah Blank. I thought for a second that was my picture, from this post a while back!

How scary/awesome is that?!

**Edited to add that I've just bought the coolest necklace ever from Sarah Blank

Oh, and miss Blaze Danielle is also my twin! Notice her lamp and vase of peonies in this picture. Look familiar?

Here's MY lamp, and MY vase of peonies! Weird!

***

I found this personality test via this lovely blog. Here are my results (which are dead-on, I think!)

Your personality type:
Logical, original, creative thinkers. Can become very excited about theories and ideas. Exceptionally capable and driven to turn theories into clear understandings. Highly value knowledge, competence and logic. Quiet and reserved, hard to get to know well. Individualistic, having no interest in leading or following others. Highly analytical, they can discover connections between two seemingly unrelated things and work best when allowed to use their imagination and critical thinking.

Careers that could fit you includes:
Physicists, chemists, biologists, photographers, strategic planners, mathematicians, university professors, computer programmers, computer animators, technical writers, engineers, lawyers, forensic researchers, writers, artists, psychologists, social scientists, systems analysts, researchers, surveyors.

Just Because You Can't See It.....

...Doesn't Mean It's Not There
My first zine!

I've been wanting to create some sort of collection of my drawings, often done at work on scraps of reciept tape; and the random thoughts or phrases I end up writing down in my sketchbook throughout the day. This first issue of my zine, titled (as you can see from the photo above) "Just Because You Can't See It Doesn't Mean It's Not There" is a conglomeration of thoughts, doodles, recipes, book recommendations, lists of things I've bought recently (and links to the respective shops), and even a little mini comic. 13 pages, and.....FREE SHIPPING!

If you like whales, sea monsters, record players, coffee, and cat-eye glasses, this is the zine for you! (Also, if you like those things, we should definitely be friends!) Stop by my shop and pick one up! Right now there are only 5 of these babies in existence, but there may be some more (of this issue) at a later date.... we'll see.

I definitely plan on doing more of these.... it was time consuming, but I think I've got the format figured out; so next time should be much easier!

The Past Week (or so)...

Heather's wedding

Taming the beast

And work, which inevitably equates to doodling on receipt tape.

Chris + Coffee = Love

Today I had something to return at Marshalls, so I treated myself to a iced-tall-soy-no-whip-mocha at Starbucks and finished reading Invincible Summer. Amazing. I came home and ordered Invincible Summer II. I might just have to re-read part 1 until I get II in the mail. It was that good. Or, hopefully, this will come tomorrow.

PS - Chris got a job today! Hooray!

PS - some new stuff

In both journal and card form...

The Whale and the Sea

I doodled this the other night and I couldn't stop thinking about how lovely it would look on some crisp, white notecards. My big box of gocco supplies came in the mail today from this wonderful shop; so I set out to make a set of cards. Except.... the cardstock I had was a little too narrow and it kept messing up the master. Oh, and my gocco pen is running out of ink so the first master I made wasn't dark enough and looked horrible. Bleh. Oh well, I'm still new at this and I'm learning.

Anyway, I love this little whale so much, I searched frantically for something to print him all over. At last, I came up with an extra copy of The Old Man and the Sea (yes, I have multiple copies. It happens to be my favorite book). So I experimented with a few different color combinations, and this is what I came up with. I especially like the black with red coral.

I'd still really like to do a few prints on some notecards, but for now, these have kept me occupied for most of the afternoon. Both color combos are available in the shop.

Things that are keeping me awake...

I don't know what it is, but I have been keeping myself awake at night thinking of new projects. I am like a one-stop Inspiration Station this week! Its ridiculous! I can go for a month without being creatively inspired, and then one morning I wake up and I run over to my desk to grab a piece of paper and start scribbling the ideas I (literally) dreamt up. That has happened just about every day this week.

I have all sorts of projects tucked up my sleeve right now. I'm just gathering my supplies (and wits) about me, and I plan on cranking out some super-exciting new stuff in the next week or two. I just put in an order from this shop, recommended to me by sweet Miss Marjorie, for a bunch of Gocco supplies, including some fabric inks. Huzzah!

It seems like I had bunches of other stuff to tell you here, but suddenly I'm very sleepy...and I can't remember what it was. Hmm.

In the event when I have no idea what it was I wanted to say, I shall simply leave you with a little snippet of my Economics notes from last semester... how about a few edge-dwelling whale?

Goodnight!

New things...

New crafty projects...

New family members...

New blooms....

I hope you're all having a lovely beginning to your week!

Gocco-Loco!

Oh man! Its been a while since I last posted....sorry about that! I've been busy, busy, busy. My trip to Annapolis was a blast, as always. More on that later. For now, I have some actual art to show! As you can see from the title, I'm officially loco for Gocco.

Oh yeah. I'm addicted.

I am tickled to death with how this turned out. Really. I made TONS of these this morning. I would have made billions more but I actually ran out of nice paper to print on.....and gocco supplies! Haha! Part of the reason I went to Annapolis (besides to hang out with Lani) was to check out an art supply store whose website claimed to stock gocco supplies. Well, they do! Art Things, Inc. is an amazing art store! And the people there were so nice and helpful. I definitely recommend it to anyone who lives in the Annapolis area. So I guess I'll be making another trip to Annapolis soon; or maybe I'll see if Lani could go in and get my stuff for me and ship it to me. Hmm....

Anyway, the squirrel cards are officially in the shop. I've listed two sets so far, but I have plenty more if they sell! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

And now, I must get to other business..... like lunch! I need to eat something quickly so I can get to Chris' house. We're going to the drive-in tonight to see a triple-feature! Its Iron Man, Indiana Jones, and Horton Hears a Who! I'm so excited, although I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stay awake through all three movies...I have to be at work at 6:30 tomorrow morning! Yuck.

Zzzzzz......Zzzzzzzzzz.......

Like that title? That's me snoring because I'm trying to study for my Economics final at 3:30.

Its not really working out too well.

I mean, I tried. Sort of. This book is just soooooo boring. The subject matter does absolutely nothing for me. I have to read and re-read the same sentences over and over again to force my brain to accept the information. Its that boring. So I think I'm just giving up. It doesn't REALLY matter, anyway - I just need to get a C for the class to count....and I'm sure I've already got a mid- to high- B. I'm really just kind of anxious to get this over with so I can get on with SUMMER!!

Oh yeah, speaking of summer - I did a bit of shopping after work yesterday and came home with some new plants for the garden. Yay! I got a few more pepper plants (red and yellow bell), a long-necked yellow squash plant, and a purple Columbine for the flower garden. I haven't gotten around to planting them yet, though....maybe this evening, if it doesn't rain.

And now, I'll share some more pictures from my Economics notes (they're way more interesting than the notes themselves, anyway!)-

A teensy-tiny, debonaire gentleman fox eyeing up plump Mrs. Goose

And a sparkle-spewing bear. Hehe.

Oh yeah, and "low wages reflect low productivity". That's important. *cough*

Economics Doodles, part 2

Woo hoo, my History final is over and done with! Now I just have Atmosphere and Economics on Thursday, and I'm freeeeee for the summer! Yay!

I sat outside and studied at a picnic table on campus for about an hour today, and just look at my shoulders!

(Please excuse the robe... I just got out of the shower because I was covered in dirt

from head to toe from working in the garden!)

That's right, I worked in the garden when I got home today. I actually got my little Japanese Maple and my White Spruce trees planted (finally), 9 little broccoli plants, and a green pepper. I also transplanted my chocolate mint from the big garden to the new garden, because it was literally taking over like half of the garden. I've decided that the garden I planted last year is to be the Flower Garden, as its mostly flowers anyway; and the new garden that I officially planted today is to be the Food Garden, aka Veggie & Herb garden. I still want to get some more veggies in there, but first I need to get a little garden fence or something to keep the rabbits out. I'm already a nervous wreck, worried that my broccoli will be eaten by tomorrow!

I didn't get any pictures of the new garden today because it was already getting dark by the time I finished, but I will definitely get some tomorrow.

And now, a few more pics from my Economics notebook.

This page was all 'sparkles' and skulls:

A Whale of a Tale

Ok, I don't actually have a tale to tell you tonight. Well, except for the fact that I did the math and I figured out that I only need to get a 70% on my Geography final tomorrow to still have an A for the class. And I'll definitely get much better than that. And I'm pretty sure my History situation is pretty similar. So I'm not too worried. And, I'm not tired because I worked until 11:00 tonight, so I still need to 'wind down'.

So I took the pictures of my Econ. notebook like I said I would earlier, and I'm quite pleased with myself. :D Its funny to flip through my notes from the beginning of the semester through the end and see the progression from bored to catatonic. Haha!

So I think what I'll do is share one or two each day for a while, because I really like them. They're all super-tiny and surrounded by boring scribbles about Macro-Economics. Not my favorite subject!

Just so you get an idea of what a 'normal' page of notes from that class looks like:

You can see why I needed to distract myself, right?

So I just drew.

And, here are today's first pictures. I guess I'll do this in chronological order (page order) from my notes, so you can see the progression, haha! Today there are three pictures because they're all on the same page in my notes - they're all teensy-tiny, about the size of a quarter each.

I love the creepy little octopus. He's one of my favorites. :D

One Down...

...four more to go!

Ethics final - check.

2 finals tomorrow, 2 on Thursday.

Freedom.

After my Ethics final, I came home and did some of this because my brain was tired.

I drew these little guys on a piece of receipt tape at work last night. I've found that I have quite a knack for cetaceans. They're just about the only thing I can get right without having any sort of visual reference.

Which reminds me, now that class are officially over, I need to share my Economics notes, aka the "Sketchbook". I stopped taking notes in that class a few weeks into the semester, and just drew instead because I just couldn't even listen in that class. So the pages are filled with all sorts of whales, pirate ships, and...things. So I'm going to share some pictures on here as soon as I get around to photographing them.

In the meantime, I have to go to work for a whopping four-hour shift tonight. Yippee. And I have a migraine. Yuck.

Have a wonderful night, and I will be back soon!

Progress!

Well, look at this - I've made 'progress'!

I awoke yesterday to a message on Etsy from a potential buyer in Great Britain. She had a question about the April Showers earrings (which I have re-named "Rainy Day" earrings since it will soon no longer be April). She purchased them yesterday, which makes me quite happy, indeed. And then, just like that, I was bit by the inspiration bug!

I sketched out a wee teacup, and then these were born!

Spot of Tea earrings, available now in the shop!

And then, I spent a few hours cleaning my little room, which looked like 3 hurricanes went through it. It was really very embarassing! While I was cleaning, I found a whole pile of vintage necklaces my sister gave me that I just wasn't doing anything with. So I made a little listing in the shop, and to my surprise and glee, they were already sold by this morning!

So, that flurry of business in the shop left me feeling quite hopeful about the shop and the coming summer-time, when I will have time to create, create, create! I had forgotten how much I like making shrinkie jewelry, so I think you can expect to see some more of that in the shop soon! They seemed to be my most popular item in the shop when I first started it.....

***

Well, I have some reading and note-taking to do before school this afternoon; and I want to get out to the garden for a few minutes. First I have to pull myself away from Say Anything on tv - I love John Cusack!