blog anniversary

February marks my blog anniversary, four years I can't believe it! I've made a lot of progress on some of my projects others not so much but I'm excited for where this year will take me and what I can get accomplished :)

I started this blog to share my progress on my creative endeavors and my thoughts on fashion and baking so here's what I'm excited about now

I'm trying to move out of my comfort zone I really like girly dresses in theory but in reality don't like my legs too much, my solution tunic with leggings perfect for winter or whatever were having this season ;) I really like this printed one I got on sale  at old navy. I love happy bold prints :)

Im trying to take the time to celebrate the seasons I got into Valentine's day by designing cute little valentines with corny messages

And I drew my dogs in cartoon version and made a strawberry cake with sprinkle designs - hello cookie cutter as a stencil hack :)

Oscar season is upon us and while I'm behind on my must see movie list I was so happy I got the chance to see Brooklyn the costumes are a dream and Saoirse Ronan gorgeous in the clothes of the era and gives an amazing performance! It inspires me to do a retro drawing project :)

Girl Scout Cookie season has snuck up on me. I'm trying not to bust into my thin mints just yet, I love them from the freezer nothing like frozen minty chocolate-y goodness and this week in particular I think thin mints really do make everything better :) Here's the link 

That's what's new with me. I hope to write better content this year, more DIY posts and fashion round ups and fun recaps of new projects!

What's new with you?

Out & About

This weekend I actually got out of the house for the first time in forever, it was so nice to be around people and doing things I used to do. Like going to a quilt/craft show! It was a little over the top, but it was nice to look around and think about different ideas I've had for a while.

My friend found this awesome DIY project, who doesn't love easy clothing accents?!
Hopefully I will be able to try this soon!

from polkadotchair.com

I also finally got to go to the movies! One that I was really excited about! Begin Again, it was everything I could have hoped for, something to completely get engrossed in. I've listened to "Lost Stars" and "Coming Up Roses" all day long, it made my Monday quite fabulous.
If you like Adam Levine's voice at all, you need to listen to this.........

And finally good old fashion on fire inspiration. I discovered this artist on a fluke, and I am quite enamored with and blown away by his work. Peter Aurisch's line work and use of color stopped me in my tracks. I always get inspired when I go to my favorite museums, I haven't had the chance to do that in months. I haven't been this blown away by someone's work in a very long time.

His drawings are really amazing to and his geometric shapes remind me of Picasso.

Anyway, it's nice to go out and about and be inspired and kind of get back to normal. What's been the best thing you've done or seen in awhile?

Don't Give Up

The past few weeks have been very busy and stressful, I didn't adjust well at all to "springing forward" and work has been crazy and then I got really sick. I finally got to watch the one movie I I really wanted to see during Oscar season, Inside Llewyn Davis.  I love movies about music and I just thought this one would be great, since T Bone Burnett did the music and I just knew Llewyn would find his way in the music business, and things would possibly turn out alright. But then I should of asked myself, how many Coen Brothers movies end happily? Spoiler Alert: It doesn't go well. I was disappointed in this movie, but the musical performances were really good.

The Llewyn Davis movie, got me thinking about giving up on your dreams all together or trying to make them work in some shape or form. Then I started to think about how fortunate we are to live in such an amazing time, where there is so much opportunity for e-commerce, for anyone to have a blog to share their thoughts and for anyone to have an online store to sell their own creations. It really is amazing, and I feel so very lucky to be able to share my thoughts on my blog and share my creations and drawings in my shop.  I can do a little bit everyday, it's not all or nothing, it's whatever I have time for and that's pretty wonderful.  And to find like minded people who are interested in the same things you are is pretty amazing too. 
  

All that to say, don't give up on your dreams do what you love because it makes you happy :) 



And on a side note new sloth items in my shop, and free shipping and $5 off ends tonight.

Top 5 favorites

1. Last week was so crazy busy at work, I haven't had a chance to finish any posts. Here is my top 5 things I'm excited about right now :)
The Lego Movie & Soundtrack
I was pretty excited about the Lego movie before I saw it, but it was even better than I thought it would be! I have been a fan of Chris Pratt since Everwood and he is hilarious and heartwarming as Emmett, and Elizabeth Banks is awesome as the kick butt girly adventurer Wyldstyle, and Will Arnett makes an amazing turn as an over the top and cocky Batman.

 
 The upbeat techno soundtrack is wonderfully done by my favorite Mark Mothersbaugh :)
Everything is Awesome!!! kind of sums up the whole movie I think.

2. The weather has been warmer the past week or so and we were able to plant some bulbs and with the warmer weather everything has started budding out including our daffodils and tulip tree. Saturday it was over 80 degrees and Sunday it was icy and 24 degrees! I hope my veggie plants make it through this second terrible cold spell, I really would like some fresh veggies this Spring.

mini daffys

daffy says hello!

tulip tree

tulip close up

large daffodils

3. H&M girls apparel
I was working on some trend projects for work and I was looking at H&M's offerings and I couldn't get over the adorable blend of adult trends transformed with age appropriate cutesy details.  Here are some of my favorites:

stripes and florals

bow print dress and sneakers

jean skirt with braided belt polka dot top and sneakers

heart prints abound!

4. Hi tree
I have been a fan of Tina Rodas of Hi Tree since I ready her Etsy interview in 2008, I loved her felt trees then and I was looking at Stuffed magazine the other day and I saw some cute tree stumps with faces and I thought they looked vaguely familiar and then I realized they too were from Hitree I was so excited!

Mr Oak Tree

Mr Stump is simply adorable

 5. Art and Appetite an Amon Carter exhibit
Well this one is kind of a no brainer, I love art and I love food bring the two together and I'm pretty excited. This exhibit examines  American painting, culture and cuisine. There is quite an eclectic group of artists from Norman Rockwell to Andy Warhol. I really love the Amon's diversity in exhibits and on the plus side it's free :)

photo from here

This is what I'm excited about lately, what about you?

Top 5

Here's  the Top 5 things I'm excited about now :)

1. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
I love the awesome soundtrack, Kirsten Wiig's amazing and endearing performance. The graphics and cinematography and the beautiful Icelandic landscape makes an awesome backdrop for Walter's adventure. Oh, yeah and Ben Stiller wasn't half bad! Anyway I loved it saw it twice already and will buy it on DVD later this year.

2. I saw this article in the paper about a local woman who makes applique art quilts, her technique is pretty amazing and her work is so fun to look at! If you look closely you can see the stitch detail! I would like to experiment more with fabric and embroidery in the future.

this one is called Chihuly's Gondola and looks just like installation at the Arboretum

 3. I'm not much into Legos anymore but a recent development has made me so super giddy I think that will change soon.. the Simpsons House Lego Set!!!! You have to watch this awesome video where the designers explain the fun little details of the process and everything. I think I have missed my calling as a Lego Designer lol

4. Disney does some pretty great marketing from time to time, my favorite is celebrities dressed up like Disney characters from our favorite tales. Lovely photos by Annie Leibovitz.

loving Jessica Chastain as Merida

5. Pharrell is amazing songwriter and he's done an wonderful job on the Despicable Me soundtracks, I love the happy fun songs they put me in such a great mood! Pharrell was just nominated for an Oscar for best original song for "Happy". Check out the awesome, hilarious, dancey commercial for Beats By Dr. Dre Pill Speaker featuring "Happy"!

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Ice Storm Thoughts

Not sure if you heard or were affected by the winter storm late last week, but down here in Texas we got a few inches of ice and were stuck inside for a few days. After a couple days I was able to get out of the house and fresh veggies were scarce in the grocery store. I decided I really wanted to make some homemade soup, I love celery and carrots that and chicken stock is really all you need for a soup foundation. You could just let your imagination and taste buds run free!

the possibilities are endless

Anyway like I said veggies were scarce and they only had shredded carrots left, which I normally never buy, but there thin shape got me thinking about all the delicious possibilities.

I was also watching a lot of TV and the actors are doing the talk show rounds for their upcoming movies. I'm really excited about "Inside Llewyn Davis". Coen Brothers Film check. Great actors check. Amazing soundtrack performed by said actors with music by T Bone Burnett check. Rambling side note T Bone Burnett also did the music for Walk the Line another music movie I love! Remember how great Joaquin and Reese's performance were? Yeah, that's another reason I'm really excited. I love a movie plot line surrounded by great music. And the fact that Oscar Isaac the guy that plays Llewyn Davis, kinda looks like Nick from New Girl ;)

llewyn on the left nick on the right

   Anyway... I'm also excited about the Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig, kinda getting a fanciful Eternal Sunshine vibe... yay :)   What upcoming movies are you excited about? Happy Friday to you!

Mad about Baz

I'm very excited to see Great Gatsby because Baz Luhrmann is one of my favorite directors. He's very theatrical and eccentric and I think you either love him or don't care for him too much.
To say that I am a fan of his is a small understatement, one of the best surprise birthday gifts I ever received was his Red Curtain Trilogy DVD set which includes Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. I'm not much of a girly girl but I do love a great love story and Baz knows how to tell some awesome ones.

I remember when Romeo and Juliet came out in 1996, I watched it a couple years later and was forever changed, the more I watched it the more I grew to love Shakespeare and the more I loved Baz's sense of style, interpretation and presentation. He's seamlessly blends humor, tragedy, and love, I think that's what admire most about his movies. Well that and his amazing attention to detail..... and they way he can direct actors to give amazing, type cast smashing performances. Most girls will say the love Leo because of Titanic but I love Leo because of his performance of Romeo.

I love that he kept the original text, but everything else is modern, I love the costume design, the soundtrack, the cinematography the whole package, he thinks of every little detail and how it will add to the story. Below is one of my favorite scenes when they first meet.

Moulin Rouge is boisterous musical with modern pop songs and original songs too. Who would have thought Nicole Kidman and Ewan Mcgregor could sing? I think they are absolutely adorable together and Baz does a wonderful job putting his stamp on the musical genre. My favorite song performed in the movie is "Come What May" in the finale scene. But I love the instrumental song played in the credits "Bolero" and Rufus Wainwright's song "Complainte De La Butte".

And last but not least his first of the Red Curtain series, Strictly Ballroom, a more traditional tale out of the three movies, but no less endearing and entertaining.  Strictly Ballroom explores the competitive and flashy world of ballroom dancing and two unlikely partners who want to put their own spin on things. What can I say it's his first movie as a director and it's really sweet and I think it shows a lot of his personality and his background.

So are you a Baz Luhrmann fan? Are you excited to see Great Gatsby?

Top 5

It's almost officially Spring and it's been really nice this week, all the spring flowers and trees are starting to bloom.


1. I always love geraniums in the spring and phlox are so pretty too. I also found this Dr. Seuss looking plant that has cute little happy blooms.

2. Jennifer Lawrence on SNL and Hunger Games fashion.
Yes, I'll admit I got sucked into the Hunger Games series, and when I saw this article online that featured pictures from the new movie, I was so excited! I love the over the top fashion, it only seems right that Alexander McQueen would make an appearance!

from style barron

Back in January, Jennifer hosted SNL, I missed it the 1st time around but got to catch a rerun this weekend and that did a pretty funny Hunger Games spoof, see it here. I can't wait for the new movie to come out.


3. Walk the Light Festival. It was the 1st time I went to this local art festival over the weekend, I always love looking at all the booths and seeing what everyone is creating and selling. My friend and fellow crafter was a seller, and I was so happy to finally snag one of her adorable finger puppets.
She gives them such a personality with their adorable little expressions. She's also a really wonderful seamstress with an eye for detail and she does amazing chair makeovers.

cutest bunny ever :)

one of her awesome chair redos

4. It's been a while since I've seen a cute kids movie, March is known as being a month for not so great movies, you are done with Oscar nominated films and waiting for the summer action movies to come out. The Croods, is about a family of cave people, who are trying to make their way to safety, because the world might be ending. The creatures and colors are awesome, and Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds voice some of the characters  and oh yeah there's the cutest cartoon sloth you've ever seen in your life.

5. Drawing more. It was one of my coworker's birthdays, and he's always wearing a newsboy cap, so I had to make a cute little owl cake topper for his cake :)

And bunnies seem to be my go to lately. Magical Day Dream has a really fun random list of things to draw when you can't think of anything. I've printed the list to take with me to work so I can draw on my lunch break YAY!

What are you excited about lately, hope you are having nice weather too :)

Top 5

Here's my top 5 things I'm excited about right now.

1. I got to take a painting class with my friends this past weekend, it was really great to hang out and do something different together, and it's always fun to see how everyone's painting will turn out. Everyone has their own style :)

2. I get pretty obsessed when I discover new music or a new song I really like. I am really into the band Ruth right now. They are upbeat, and experiment with genres, and their lyrics are endearing :)
AND I really love their covers EP. I love when people put their own spin on pop songs, with the exception of Christmas songs lol. No one should redo Wham's "Last Christmas" because the original is perfect but I digress ;)

3. Springtime and new plants. I have been looking at these succulents for a while and I finally got some at Home Depot the other day :) And I got some new seeds too! I love spreading seeds it's always a wonderful surprise to see what will come up.

Neon green = happiness

4.  Yes, I love children's movies, and this is the best trailer I have seen in a long time. Is it summer yet?

5. I also love my British comedies and I've become pretty avid fan of Doc Martin. He was a successful surgeon in London who becomes a GP in a sleepy little seaside town, where everybody and I mean, everybody knows each others' business. It didn't come on PBS this weekend and I was going through withdrawal, but Hulu saves the day! They have a ton of episodes and I got to catch up on the 1st season which I totally missed. I will admit at first I wasn't that impressed but it kinda sneaks up on you and once you get to know the characters it's completely hilarious :)

Hope you have a wonderful week, I'm going to try to be more disciplined this week and make more time for projects that have been swirling around in my head.

Top 5

I had great plans for weekend, I even took Friday off to get a head start on awesome stuff, and then Thursday I got really sick, I didn't get anything done this weekend, and I still feel awful. While I'm the road to recovery here are some things I'm excited about now :)

1. The Black Apple's latest painting in her wild and ordinary series.
It's such a whimsical and delicate concept. I'm pretty sure if I were ever to get a tattoo it would look something like this with morning glories and pretty birdies perched on the vine.

love the colors

2. Adele and Mumford and Sons. I watched Grammys last night and it was so great to see them together on stage for a little bit. I was thinking how popular they both are and that they are so amazing live, that would a be the best concert line up ever! I recently bought Adele's concert dvd & cd combo and Mumford and Sons recently released a concert dvd too. If you can't see them in concert soon I would do the next best thing and buy the dvds :)

picture from here

3. Skyfall out on DVD tomorrow. This has been the best Bond with Daniel Craig in my opinion because he finally has a villain that is up for the challenge, plus new characters are always fun.
AND Adele does a really awesome theme song, and coincidentally she will be performing this song at the Oscars because they are doing a tribute for 50 years of Bond pretty exciting! If you haven't seen Skyfall yet and you are Bond fan be sure to rent it soon :)

4. Prabal Gurung's new collection at Target. This time around, I did my homework, reviewed the look book and figured out what pieces I was actually interested in adding to my wardrobe and ordered it all online. I get tired of going to different stores seeing if they have what I think I want. I always get captivated by the dress that never seem to work out for me. I really like the black and white print cardigan, and the bright geo spliced dresses. I love his use of color, we will see how wearable it is.
What pieces are you excited about?

5. Ken Price at the Nasher Sculpture Center, I just found a new sculpture exhibit to get excited about. Not many of the museums are getting fun new exhibits but this looks awesome like a Pixar brainstorm :)

What are you excited about lately? Happy Tuesday to you :)

Lately

I have been doing pretty good, on my New Year's goals. I baked my Grandmother's cookies, I have been trying to make them correctly for a couple of years now, unsuccessfully I might add. And now I finally know why! I was leaving out a cup of flour, I copied the recipe down wrong from the original but this time they turned out fluffy and happy. They are a chocolate cookie, subtly sweet with nuts, vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles: rainbow sprinkles are a must. Getting these cookies right finally......makes me really happy, and seeing them look like they should reminds me of all those Christmases with my Grandma and her amazing cookies.

you can't eat just one :)

I even starting a sewing project, I need to buy some gray thread though, why is it whenever you start a project you never have that particular color of thread. I'm so glad I got Joann's gift card for Christmas now I can get whatever color thread I want, baking stuff, paint stuff and FABRIC!!
I am very happy girl.

I hope it turns out like I want :)

I've also been painting, I started with the background, and then got nervous about messing up the face so I scanned it to have a back up and then I thought about experimenting with an actual paint and then computer drawing on top of that; kind of a digital mixed media. I used paint brush tools to draw the details of her outline too.
I am pretty happy with how it turned out, for a new experiment anyway. I want to do more stuff like this see what I can come up with.

I made her skin pale so the brushstrokes would show through

I want a little happy bird on my shoulder :)

 This year, I really want to make a point to challenge myself illustration wise.
 Her blue hair is inspired by Kate Winslet's charater Clementine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

one of my favorite movies ever!

What's new with you. Are you busy with new projects?