Daring Hue

Project Life: Week 2 (2013)

I’m still having fun with Project Life in week two! I didn’t take a lot of photos this week, but you can’t really go wrong with a giant photo of pancakes, and an upside down kitty. Overall, I’m liking this little bits of aqua color repeated in a few of the pockets.

Left side is a photo of my second favorite pancakes in Portland, from the Kingston Sports Bar & Grill. It has great service, cheap pancakes ($5.50 for two big pancakes + egg) and never a wait for a seat (this is very important in Portland). Bottom left pocket is a piece of the syllabus from my first printmaking class, and a picture of the press. The classroom has nice big windows. It will be a good place to work. Bottom right is one of my daily patterns from this week. It’s a new stamp pad, and I love that color.

Top left is a photo from Instagram and journaling with my grandma’s typewriter. In the top right, I’m still playing around with my date card/weekly journaling. This will likely be repeated every week. The little strip of paper is from one of my hand-carved stamp patterns. Bottom left is our kitty, Bucky. He is a monster and was in the middle of fighting me and the camera when I took this. Bottom left is a snapshot of the parking lot in front of our apartment before work on the first snowy morning.

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My favorite part of this week’s spread is the pull tab. I printed out an exchange between me and my best friend on Twitter about the kitty and tucked it behind his photo. With a small album, I have a feeling I’ll be repeating this trick. This would also be good for things I want to include in the album that are not so aesthetically pleasing.

If you’re interested in more Project Life, you might want to check out my Week 1 or thoughts on how I’m going to stay current in 2013.

Are you doing Project Life too? How’s it going so far in 2013? I’d love for you to leave your blog link in the comments!

List it Tuesday: Food on Repeat

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Today’s List it Tuesday topic at Artsyville is Culinary Traditions. Though I tried, my cultural heritage is a mixed vague jumble, and I come from a line of women who cooked from boxes and cans. I had little to contribute in the way of sketching for that topic, but I do have two little stories.

I have no idea why, but the day after Thanksgiving, my grandma always had Fritos to eat with our leftover turkey sandwiches. I still buy a little bag every year. Turkey sandwiches wouldn’t be the same without them.

My dad’s birthday is on Christmas, and every year we try to wheedle him into making his apple fritters on Christmas morning. Thinking about it, this is absolutely ridiculous because they are a ton of work to make, and really we should be making something for him on his birthday. I cannot defend my actions, except to say that the fritters are delicious and they are absolutely a tradition.

On to the sketch list! I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, but one of my two resolutions this year was to stop eating at chain restaurants. My motives are to support local businesses and stop eating garbage food. So far, I have stuck to the resolution, and we’ve started eating in a lot more. I’m in a bit of a rut, but these are my go to foods this month.

Breakfast: FAGE peach yogurt with a banana or satsumas
Lunch: Turkey sandwich with mayo, mustard, onions, turkey, cheddar cheese and spinach OR Trader Joe’s Paneer Tikka Masala (I found four boxes of this when I emptied my recycle bin at work today!)
Dinner Egg sandwich on english muffin with cheddar cheese, sea salt and orange marmalade OR salad with romaine, cucumbers, feta, chicken, red onion, Fuji apple, broccoli, with a mug of soup
Snacks Hummus with rice crackers OR popcorn OR more satsumas!

I was so touched by Em’s lovely post about how her mother and grandmother had fed her mind, heart and soul. I wish I had been clever enough to think of writing a different interpretation like that!

Thanks to Aimee for hosting again! You should check out her lovely PSA on handwritten letters at Instagram.

Color Story: Columbus, OH Murals

Today I’m sharing some images from my trip to Columbus, OH in December. One of the things I love about the city is that vibrant murals seem to be everywhere. The murals really brightened up the city during the cold week I spent there. Most of these images are from the Short North. I wish I would have taken some more photographs of graffiti murals, and some of the ones I saw in neighborhoods outside of city center. I can always plan a mural scavenger hunt for my next visit!

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Train Mural in a parking lot in the Short North. This one was one of my favorites. I love the vibrant blue and yellow against the dark grays.

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Mona Lisa. Oh, how I love this. I love how huge it is, and I love, love, love that it’s painted sideways.

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American Gothic. The brilliant blue background makes the figures in the foreground pop.

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Fields of Columbus by Heather Nibert. This one is part of a 10 work installation in the Short North that will be up until July 2013. This mural is made out of a vinyl that clings to the bricks. I love the image, but much prefer the murals that are painted. More information about this work here.

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I honestly have no idea where I was when I took this photograph. I made Bill pull over so I could take a picture. I love the contrast between the beautiful colors, and the cracks in the wall and sidewalk.

If you’re ever in Columbus, also check out Wholly Craft. It’s a great little handmade shop in Clintonville that has lots of lovely things.

Sunday Seven: Favorite Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen Colors

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There is not much new going on around here, so I decided to do a quick list of my favorite colors of Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens tonight. I finally made the color chart above a couple of months ago, and it’s a lot easier to find what I’m looking for now! I love these pens because the colors are beautiful, the brush tip is very versatile (and can be flipped around if you overuse one side!), and the color does not bleed through the page of my Moleskine sketchbook notebooks.

Favorite colors, below left to right

01. #127, Pink Carmine.
02. #186, Terracotta
03. #146, Sky Blue
04. #129, Pink Madder Lake
05. #154, Light Cobalt Turquoise
06. #232, Cold Gray III
07. #160, Manganese Violet

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Daily Pattern Challenge: January Update

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I’m about two weeks into the January daily pattern challenge. When I started carving stamps this month, I thought I would like doing it, but didn’t realize how fast I would fall for the process. Pulling back the stamp from the first imprint is always like magic. For someone who tends toward being a control freak about creating, this process is perfect. I can’t totally control what the outcome will be, and the image always looks a little different than I thought it might. Maybe in time I’ll learn more precise control over the carving tools, but for now I’m enjoying just playing around and seeing what comes out.

I bought some block printing ink last weekend, but I haven’t used it yet. I’ve been using cheap stamp pads, which has produced some inconsistent inking. It’s very convenient and easy for nights after I’ve worked and I’m tired. I’m going to give the block printing ink a try tomorrow when I have more time to clean up, and will use some of the stamps I’ve created to see if they look better with a more consistent coat.

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I really liked making these little stamps out of square erasers. I liked that they were already in a convenient stamp size, and that I could carve both sides of the eraser. I found a pack of 24 for $6.10 at Blick, so at 25 cents each, I could do a lot of experimenting.

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In other printmaking news, I started my first printmaking class today at a community college about ten minutes from my apartment. I’m excited to go buy the rest of the supplies I need tomorrow. My teacher seems very enthusiastic about the process, and showed us some of his recent work at the end of class. It’s a very diverse group of people in the class, so I’m looking forward to seeing what my classmates make. I also need to research some imagery and make sketches tomorrow to try to figure out what I’m going to make for my first print. I’ll post an update after I make my first print at school.

Signing off for now to watch some Downton Abbey and work on a surprise project for my boyfriend. Hope you all are enjoying a creative weekend!

Project Life: Week 1 (2013)

One week down, fifty-one to go! I’m happy to have finished week one of my Project Life mini album. If you’re new here, you can read some more details of my plans to stay on track for the year. For my mini album (about 6×8″), I’m using Russell + Hazel mini binders and Photo Pocket Pages cut down to size (Design A and Design F). I didn’t take as many photos as I wanted to the first week, but I’m happy to have found enough to fill the spread. I’m trying to remember to keep it simple. Not every story needs to be recorded. A few good stories every week is better than none.

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The date card and journaling will be a weekly repeated card. The strip of kraft paper with stripes is from one of my patterns. I’m planning on adding a different colored paper or pattern there every week. The wood grain photo is from a walk downtown on Saturday. I think the happy card may also turn into a weekly card. I want to capture one thing that makes me happy every week.

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The 4×6 photo is from a walk we took with the dogs on January 1. It was unusually sunny that day, which makes for happy dogs and people. The pattern card is from one of my daily patterns for the week (see more on Instagram). The photo on the bottom right is of Bill during his Saturday night show (improvised musical) at Curious Comedy.

I’m already looking forward to week two, and have a couple of photos printed out. I’m hoping it will get faster as I get through a couple of weeks and make some journaling cards that I can re-use. On to week two…

List it Tuesday: What’s New?

List it Tuesday: What's New?

I’m excited for the return of List it Tuesday at Artsyville this week! The topic this week is: What’s New? Here’s a quick list of things that are new in my world these days.

01. No more soda. One of only two true resolutions this year. Last year I gave up diet soda, and this year I’m giving up the real deal. So far it has not been terrible, just a matter of replacing the occasional soda with other things. I haven’t been stressed enough yet this year for a true test of willpower.

02. Date stamp. I got to break out my brand new date stamp for this sketchbook page. My old date stamp only had years up to 2012, so I had to buy a new one. Nothing fancy, just an ordinary office supply store cheap stamp. This one will get me through 2017.

03. Voxer app. I love this little app. It is like a walkie talkie on your phone. You can send little voice messages, pictures and text messages within the app. I love that it helps me keep in touch with my far away friends in a ordinary daily way. Thank you internet.

04. Block printing. I am totally jumping into this and loving it. One of my favorite parts of the day is carving my little stamp and then seeing the magic unfold at the first press to paper.

05. Digital SLR. I have wanted one of these for years, and I’m finally going to be ordering one this week thanks to some Christmas gifts and Amazon gift cards from my credit card points. I cannot wait to start taking more photos.

06. Copic Multiliner SP. This pen has the finest point I have ever seen. It can write super micro teeny tiny. I think this is going to be the perfect pen for joining the Tiny Notebook Club on Fridays.

07. Downton Abbey. I may be one of the last to jump on this train, but I am ALL IN! I’m watching season two now, and trying to avoid season three spoilers!

08. Penguin plates. I found the most adorable penguin plates on clearance at West Elm before Christmas for about $1.50. They are adorably polka-dotted and make dinner way more fun.

09. Washi tape. This pattern is awesome.

Sunday Seven: Keeping up with Project Life 2013

What is Project Life? It’s a memory keeping system designed by Becky Higgins. My favorite thing about this system is the page protectors with lots of little pockets for slipping in photos, journaling cards, and other papers. She has lots of lovely products available. I love the simplicity of dropping things into pockets as opposed to making traditional scrapbooking layouts.

Why do I want to do this project? There are so many reasons. I remember my days and favorite moments later when I have documented them. I want a place to put all of the papers, photos and doodles that I collect. I want to fall in love with printed photographs again. This process helps me remember all of the good things in my life. It makes me happy.

Basics: I’ll be making a mini album (about 6×8″) using Russell + Hazel mini binders and Photo Pocket Pages cut down to size (Design A and Design F). I’ll be doing one layout a week, Monday – Sunday, and likely a monthly wrap-up/favorite photos page.

Here is a sample of one of my pages from November 2012. And below it, I’ve made a list of seven things I’m going to do to help stay on track in 2013. Drop a link to your blog in the comments if you’ll be working on Project Life in 2013!

01. Keep it Contained. Last year I had scraps of paper and ephemera floating around my art desk, bedroom, living room, purse, etc. When I actually wanted to work on Project Life I had to track down all of these bits of paper first. This was a major deterrent to getting started. This year I have one plastic magazine holder that I’m going to drop everything into throughout the week. I have an envelope in my purse that I can empty out at the end of the week. I also have a small plastic bin that has all of my Project Life supplies so that I can easily start working when I have the time.

02. Keep a Planner/Journal. I have a small Moleskine notebook that I plan to jot down notes in during the week. It’s easy to forget what happened throughout the week if I don’t write it down. I’ll also use this notebook to plan layouts and photo placement.

03. Project Life E-mail Address. I created a Gmail account for Project Life. I’ve forwarded this new e-mail address to my regular e-mail account, and have it filtered to a folder for Project Life. I’m planning on using this to e-mail photos, texts, and cc e-mails that have stories I want to save.

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04. Print Photos at Home My awesome boyfriend bought me an Epson PictureMate Charm printer as a Christmas gift. I think this will probably be the biggest factor in me being able to stay current with Project Life. I hated the process of uploading photos to Walgreens and picking them up last year, so I only did it about once a month. I’m so excited to be able to print photos at home whenever I want to. I’m impressed by the quality of the prints, and how tiny the printer is. The printer comes with glossy paper, but I’ll be picking up some of the matte paper with my next order.

05. Blog Layouts Weekly. I’m going to be sharing my layouts on Thursdays to help me stay on track with finishing weekly.

06. Keep it Simple. Last year I made it too complicated with adding text to photos in Photoshop, choosing lots of different fonts, and making complex journal cards. This year I want to make it easy. I want my journal cards to be made out of cardstock (black, white, kraft), index cards, and Project Life grid journaling cards. I’ve chosen a few fonts that I’ll rotate. I also want to write on top of photos more (easy!). I want this to be about simply saving photos and stories.

07. Make it Mine. There are lots of great products out there. Awesome patterns, embellishments and stamps are everywhere. Sometimes the choices are overwhelming. But what I really want is for this project to be full of the things I make. I want it to have my own patterns, artwork, handwriting. I want it to look uniquely mine.

Daily Pattern Challenge: January

I can’t believe it’s already five days into the new year! This also means that we’re five days into the January daily pattern challenge! For this month I’ve decided to carve stamps out of rubber or linoleum blocks to use for my patterns. So far I’ve been using this rubber block by Speedball, and have found it really easy to work with.

The image above is from today, using a stamp inked with a white ink pad onto kraft paper. The black doodles were drawn individually by hand with a Faber-Castell pen. The stamp was carved on day 3. It’s amazing how much of a change there is in the feel of the image with a different ink color, and on different paper. I’ll be doing a mix of carving new stamps, and re-using them based upon how much time and energy I have at the end of my days. I’m looking forward to mixing some hand drawn elements into my prints. I’m excited to know that I’ll come out of the month (hopefully) with some better carving skills, and also a nice set of stamps that I can re-use later.

You can find my patterns for this month posted daily at Instagram or Flickr. The tag #patternadayjan on Instagram has lots of inspirational patterns posted daily by artists working in a variety of media. Some of my favorites this month have been from Kristin (watercolor), Carlene (paper collage), and TJ (mixed). Anika is also making some awesome block prints this month, so be sure to check out her blog or Instagram. You can find more details on Anika’s blog if you’d like to join in the challenge.

Tomorrow I’m be writing about keeping up with a Project Life scrapbook in 2013, as I start to work on my first week of the album.

Daily Pattern Challenge: December Wrap Up

I was excited to finish my last daily December pattern a little after midnight last night! I’m happy to report that I only missed one day (Christmas), but that I made it up the following day and kept going. I’ve posted a few of my patterns from this month below. If you’d like to see the full set, they are all posted on Flickr/patternadaydec, and there are a couple more blog posts as well.

The lesson learned from this month is to just keep going! Paper is cheap, and there’s no way to get better without practicing. About mid-month I was really disappointed with some of my patterns. None of the patterns I was creating really looked like “me”. I started wondering if I was cut out for this, and if I would ever find “my style”. I kept making a pattern daily, and toward the end of the month starting making some patterns that I liked again. I’m still not sure that I’m close to a cohesive style, but I did discover that I prefer patterns with a little bit of black line or brush pen in them.

The great part about the commitment to using one set of supplies (this month was watercolor backgrounds and Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens) for an entire month is getting to explore, and then move on to something new the next month. I haven’t decided yet what to use for January, but I’m off to work that out now. I’ll post my first pattern on Instagram when I’m done tonight.

I hope you’ve all had a creative first day of 2013!