Mr. Lincoln

I drew this last week and today they gave me Abraham Lincoln stamps at the post office. Kismet I'm telling you.

Over the Wires

Yellow walls and yellow cards. I'm willing Spring to come darn it.

This apple crisp recipe is pretty tasty. It comes from the Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook which is my favorite cookbook. Ever. There are leftovers in the refrigerator which I am thinking about right now.

Illustration Friday - Celebrate

Pen and watercolor with some photoshop tweaking.

Hats

I draw ACEO in between projects, at coffee shops, or when sanity requires a few minutes doing something different. Since the size is pretty small (2.5 x 3.5), it's a bit of a challenge, but gives me a chance to try out some new ideas or techniques (with minimal risk). And today, it meant drawing mushrooms. I was just thinking though, aren't the red/white speckled variety hallucinogenic or poisonous or something else of a dastardly nature?

I think this beret will work. The pattern is the Caddy tam from the Spring '09 Knitscene. The only glitch was I knit it at some ridiculously off gauge, so ended up sending it through the dryer about three times to shrink the darn thing. It makes me feel all Nancy Drew'ish.

February

Let's see. The past seven days? Here's the Cliff Notes version:

* Fries + frappes for Valentine's Day
* Discovered the stack of 70's crafting books at the library (think macramé, seed art and all things avocado colored)
* Am hyperventilating because of new Miss Marple/Poirot mysteries
* Enjoying more daylight, less snow and the concept of driving on pavement vs. ice

I like this Martha Stewart cupcake recipe, but I do not like the vagaries of food coloring. They're brighter than intended, but blandness be darned. And speaking of cupcakes, Lulú Cupcakes's Flickr stream is my food crush at the moment.

Cookies + Crayons

My nieces came for a visit this weekend. There was painting, baking and dancing to be had. While the crayons were being used, I decided to try out the kiddie watercolors. There's something really liberating about working with art materials that are a total 180 from what you typically use.

And there were cookies. Monkey face cookies to be specific. I can't find a recipe online (they're out of this local cookbook), but take my word they are very, very tasty. Nieces decided to go for robot faces instead of monkey faces though. My sister blamed this on me and I said nothing doing. Turns out a recent viewing of "WALL-E" explains the robot interest.

February 14

Robots and accordions: that's my schtick, so figured I'd stick with it for a round of print your own Valentine's in my Etsy shop. They're flat, small, just like the ones from grade school. Speaking of which, did anyone else pass out Strawberry Shortcake back in the day?

*****

Hey all you musical types - you up for the RPM Challenge this year? Me, I am giving it a whirl. It will not be pretty, but it will be fun. And no, I am not posting the results here. But maybe the cover art. Maybe.

Certain Expressions

My favorite faces: definitely wistful, slightly sad and vaguely hopeful.

The Ocean Blue

I checked out a book on oceanic life from the library last week and have been sketching some of the sea creatures depicted. The language is pretty over-the-top, which I particularly enjoy. My favorite part? The section on the octopus. There's lots of accounts about the "fatal eight-armed embrace" and how "the very sight or mention of this retiring animal causes most people to shudder." Cephalopods! Run!



Attempts to knit the perfect beret have been largely unsuccessful. Hat #1 was too small, but not too small for my niece. She is currently working said beret and looking pretty spiffy based on the photo my sister sent me.