My final full week before starting work is drawing to and end. I have next week off as well but am leaving for Moab on Wednesday afternoon through the weekend. I have not been as productive as I had hoped. Those darn Gilmore Girls, so distracting. Plus I have been running errands for the bf's birthday present. I did start the mother's day present and prep 2 canvases and do some shopping...

I thought I would post what I'm hoping are some better pictures, although I don't have much faith in that. Some of these projects where just photo sketches last post and now are complete.

11x14, love this size, my biggest piece so far

I had almost forgotten about my monthly journal calendar when I started thinking about my new art journal. I quickly pulled open drawers and easily found the calendar. 

I would also like to add a final note about how annoying blogger is and that is why this post looks so jacked up. It kept adding it's own preferences that I could not change.

I am an Illustrator

I have been away for awhile. This was a combination of a trip to NY and not having the internet for most of the month. 

 

The most important thing for me to post is that I GOT A JOB. It is a temporary design position to feel a maternity leave with the potential of becoming a full time job. I begin in 2 weeks. I am really excited to be starting a creative job and feel great about the praise I was given at the job interview. Finally my talent is being noticed. 

Originally, I was told the job would start around Memorial Day. I thought that if I were to get the job, I would still have the whole month of May off. I am having to adjust that to just 2 weeks now, right when I have gotten used to being unemployed and back into a schedule after moving, NY and being sick. 

This means that I have to finish pulling dead twigs and clearing our little garden space so that I can plant my flower seeds. I picked up a pair of gardening gloves and started the project early last week. I need to pick up some sort of gardening tool to help finish the job and maybe some good new dirt as well.

 

In August, I will be having my first show and had planned on starting art for it this whole time I've been unemployed. It wasn't until this week (with the job offer) that I have finally sat down to do some work. I was so very proud of myself for finishing 3 pieces in 3 days. I had realized my problem in starting was that I have too many ideas. My head swims with them and I am unable to focus on just one idea and go with it. The ideas are always morphing into something else. 

Below are some terrible photos of the work I've completed. I have been working with wax and absolutely love it. For one, it is a great alternative to the gel medium I had been using to seal my artwork. And I love the milky, cloudy look (because I accidently bought white and not clear beeswax, which has worked out quite okay.) I have been pulling my black notebook doodles into my art and using my illustration. And that is a word I still am shocked to use. I have an easier time admitting to being an artist than an illustrator.

My new creative space, featuring my new-to-me desk (the wood one)

This was my first "big piece" an 11x14, which in my canvas collection is about a medium size. Next challenge is the 16x24's

This is pretty much the finished piece

This was a photo stetch for another piece, probably the 16x24 I will start next.

With the strawberries on sale and the desire to make a pie, I made strawberry pie last weekend. I spend my Saturday night in the kitchen with my rolling pin and oven. A taste before being baked left me a little worried. However, I was pleasely surprised with my delicious pie. It was not my baking skills that I doubted, I believe I am a great baker and after all, how many 25 year olds do you know that bake pies from scratch? But I am not a recipe follower, I am a recipe modifier. I reduced the sugar and substituted half wheat flour for the white flour. And the boyfriend still thought it was too sweet. 

The Beast of the Internet

Not having the internet can be a pain on more than one level. 

First, by the time I get over to my empty old apartment to use the internet, I have forgotten most of what I wanted to look up. I check the required e-mail and stare blankly at the screen afterwards. I did make a list one day which helped, but realized I didn't have some of the necessary information to complete my tasks. 

Secondly, I am completely behind on my blog posting. I was doing so well and now I am doing worse than when I started when I was at least posting once a week. 

Thirdly, there are so many blog posts that I have been unable to read. When our internet gets turned on Wednesday, I will be glued to the computer updating myself on 16+ blogs. 

For those of you who follow my blog religiously, you will be wondering what happend to that first purse that I started to sew. I posted the fabric and that was all. This is because it was a gift for my BFF. I had decided to make it for her so that I 1) had a deadline (my trip to NYC) and 2) had a purpose. I was fabulously proud of the finished product! And the BFF loved it, of course.

Things Are Looking Up

I am almost 100% moved into the new place. There are still a few strangler items left at the old place. One of those items is the internet. We have not hooked up the internet in our new apartment, so everyday I make the 1.5 mile trek to the old place with the laptop and plug in. This means that I am greatly behind in my blog watching, as well as my own blog posting. I am off to NY tomorrow so I thought I should make one post before my week long trip. 

In between moving and packing and unpacking, I managed to sew a new bag for myself. I really wanted to have the perfect tourist bag for my NY trip. Not too big, but big enough to hold my camera, notebook, water with a little extra room for whatever. I found a pattern  for a taxi tote in the book Seams to Me, and modified it a bit. I used the fabric I ordered from Etsy, which coincidentally was designed by the author of the book.

The pattern was a good place to start, but overall I felt the directions were a little hard to follow and the drawings weren't much help. It was a good thing that I don't like to follow directions anyway and was modifying the purse to begin with.

The hardest part about this project was deciding on the fabric. With 8 different patterns to choose from I spent several hours pushing fabric around until I found what I liked. Also, I was working from a selection of fat quarters which meant I was going to have to piece some fabric together. The pattern called for 3/4 of a yard for the outside and the lining. I just finished the purse this morning,  but I didn't work on it at all yesterday and technically it was done on Monday. I was happy with the stitching on the bias tape, so I took it all out and re-sewed it this morning. So it really isn't that long of a project. 

I had a busy Friday last week: An informational interview in the morning with a design firm, a real job interview with a company for a temporary maternity leave design position, and I was selling my cards at First Friday. Both interviews went well and it was especially nice to have the informational interview before the real deal. I was encouraged and reassured that I am a talented designer and not falling behind as a result of not doing creative design work for the past year and a half. I am waiting to hear back about the real interview. I would be called in for a second time if they liked me. 

First Friday went well, nothing spectacular, but it was exposure. I sold $23 worth of cards in a few hours and lots of people took my business cards. I am hoping this might lead to an etsy sale.

 

I also have an interview again today for a part time position. Things are starting to look up. I love love love my new apartment. It really feels like home. I am heading off for a vacation to NY to see my best friend. And my "business" is starting to grow a tiny bit again. I am off to Rejuvanest to drop off more cards and a piece of artwork. I must start concentrating on my show in August at the shop as well. My very own show!!

How I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways

I was roaming though Borders Bookstore recently and stumbled upon Paperchase. I had forgotten that Borders carried this London based company's line of merchandize. Out of all the places I visited in London, this was by far one of my favorites. The day I stumbled upon this store I wanted to drop my entire bank account on cards and notebooks and papers. Of course the value of the dollar at the time would have left me with barely one shopping bag worth of purchases. Also, the fact that I was currently jobless prevented me from making most of the desired purchases. I did  splurge for a new umbrella when I realized I had forgotten my umbrella in my mom's car on the way to the airport. And I made promises of future purchases once I was gainfully employed. 

I bought my portfolio book at London's Paperchase for 7 pounds and was shocked to see a year and a half later it was selling for $24 here in the US. I also bought a large 11x17 kraft paper book for my "big book of prolific" for a reasonable price while abroad. If only I was still abroad and I could shop at their UK only amazon store, or visit their masthead store on Tottenham Court Road.

I am all caught up on my blogs again, which is now a list of 16. Today I added to my list (sewing books and art blogs) of addicting things. Cooking blogs. What makes this one so great is the pictures. I just want to head right into the kitchen and start cooking up a storm. On the list are these, these and these. Viewing this blog is a bit of a tease with my calorie counting, which I am starting to get tire. I kinda went of the wagon this weekend, wanting to enjoy a concert with friends, a 2 am breakfast, a 10 am breakfast, my homemade mac and cheese and more pasta at the ski condo. It is very difficult to count calories AND enjoy your life. My upcoming trip to New York will require a hiatus on my counting as well. Then only a few short days to April 20 and I will be done and supposedly at my goal.