Okay. Because everybody has been asking... Wait, what? What do you mean only one person asked? I'll have you know that Unmitigated qualifies as "everybody", as far as I'm concerned.
A-a-a n y w a y... since someone asked, here's my process on the tile picture.
Colors are not great because I had to take pictures with my cell phone (as if it wasn't odd enough to take my phone into the bathroom, it would have been really weird if they had seen me take a camera in there!) (Of course, they all think I'm weird, anyway, so...)
So - I saw this tile and my crazy artist's brain interpreted the random pattern as a figure.
I know, you're sitting there looking at the tile, going "Wha...?"
Do you ever look at ceiling tiles or floor tiles, or anything else that has a texture, and see a picture in the pattern? Like a face, or an animal or Michael Jackson, the Virgin Mary or something? If you have, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you think I'm nuts, and I'm fine with that, too.
I see pictures in and on stuff all the time. Usually faces. And last week I saw a picture in the bathroom tile at work. I couldn't get the image out of my mind, so I drew a picture of my own, based on the tile pattern - more or less.
So I have a few banners posted on Etsy now, at Alice's Secrets. If you've been around here before you will probably recognize some of the elements I'm using. I thought, why not use some of my alphabet stuff and other designs I've done over the years?
Here's some examples:
and my favorite (so far) -
which I think would be great for kid's clothing and/or handmade stuffed animals.
The banner I'm using for my shop was among the ones I was going to sell, but I decided I liked it too much, so that was kind of the impetus for starting yet another Etsy shop.
So I am slowly adding stuff as I get the chance, which is slim since I have, you know, a real job and all... but I'm getting there.
Om nom nom...oh, hi, wait....it's hard to speak with my mouth full...just a sec...
Speaking of noms, I have been craving egg salad on sourdough though, not corn, for about three days now. I tried to go a local sandwich shop called the High Nooner. Are they just a local chain or do any of you have one in your area? They have a sandwich named after the business that is egg salad, lettuce, tomato, BACON, and (wait for it....) CREAM CHEESE. OMG, it is like the best sandwish ever.
Yah, I said "sandwish" instead of "sandwich" but you know, that's what it turned out to be...a wish. Every time I go by there they are closed. Apparently they are only open until 3pm. Which is a bummer for me, since I don't get off work until 5, and there's no way I'd make it to one and back on my lunch break.
So today, on the way home from work, I stopped by the store and bought eggs and sourdough bread. I was so excited about the dang eggs I forgot to buy tomatoes and lettuce! (I thought I would forgo the bacon and cream cheese...I just didn't want to mess with it.)
My "official" egg salad recipe is: one dozen eggs, hard boiled 3-4 lg glops of mayonnaise (none of that "miracle" whip crap) a lg dollop of mustard 2 large globs of sweet pickle relish salt pepper
Slap between two pieces of bread and wah-la!
So anyway, now I feel better and am up to posting.
My wrist is slowly getting better; I am drawing more. I have several banners posted at my new Etsy shop, no takers yet, but it's new, so we'll see how it goes.
Speaking of Etsy, look what I got for my birthday!
They are from joy elizabeth ceramics. She mostly does birds, but I asked her if she would be willing to do some chickens for me, since I collect them. (I know, I know, chickens are birds...but you know what I mean.) She obliged and then Secret Agent Man bought them for me for my birthday. They are teeny tiny and so-o-o cute!
I got another "present" recently, too, although it was quite unexpected! I found a new blog to read, by artist Rebekah Leigh. She also has an Etsy shop. A while back she had a contest and was giving away some of her artwork. I left a comment on her blog, not really intending to enter the contest, but turns out I was a winner! Yea! And the other thing I didn't know, until it showed up at my door, was that the picture she sent me just happened to be my favorite one from her shop! (Or maybe she's a mind reader!)
So now I'm just hanging out, watching some bad "Syfy" tv and blogging. Secret Agent Man is off on a top secret mission (or something like that) and I'm just laying around being lazy until he gets back.
I am a fan of most things vampire. I say "most" because I prefer this kind of vampire:
or this kind of vampire:
Or even this kind of vampire:
This kind of vampire makes me throw up a little. (Sorry, but vampires shouldn't "sparkle".)
Sure, I think vampires can be sexy and scary at the same time, like this show (it was awesome but canceled too early):
but mostly I think scary and creepy is best.
For years I have have joked around and said that I'm half vampire. I burn badly in sunlight, I'm a total "night owl", I'm allergic to garlic (Seriously. It sucks. Pun intended.) I don't like to cross water... well, okay, that's only kind of true.
Anyway, for my birthday, my dad got me a DNA test. Being adopted, we weren't really sure what kind of mutt I am. I got it back yesterday. And now we know:
Although I'm about as scary and creepy as this guy:
Remember a couple weeks ago I posted about Moo cards, and had a giveaway for a card design? And Leslie of the Crooked Stamper won? Well, we ended up doing not only a business card design, but she's using it for her blog header, too! I'm really happy with the way the design turned out, and I think she is, too. It's very cute, if I may say so myself, and I think it fits her shop/blog. Go check out her Etsy shop, too, her cards are super cute!
main image
I altered it slightly to make it fit a business card and blog header, also in case she wants to use it as an Etsy banner.
This was so much fun! Leslie was super easy to work with. I'm thinking I might have to offer listings for custom banners in my Etsy shop!
Long time no see (write, post, whatever). I can't believe it's July already! And speaking of July, I hope you all had a happy 4th! I hope you had a nice break and got to enjoy some down time, or rousing fun, whichever you prefer!
Speaking of down time, last week we went to visit my folks. Had coffee, went to Fort Clatsop, had some nice dinners, just relaxed and hung out. It was nice not having to field a bazillion 911 calls about fireworks. They are illegal here (for about 18 years now), except in a couple incorporated areas in the county and the Indian reservations. But people light them off anyway, and all their neighbors seem to have to call them in. [Personally, unless someone has caught something on fire or blown off an appendage, leave 'em alone! It's the 4th for goodness sake!] So it was nice not having to take the calls. I guess a plane landed on the freeway near here, though, so that was probably exciting, but I just really needed a break. And a nice long drive has always been a good break for me!
Speaking of nice drives, on the way there we drove over White Pass, which is always lovely. Plus it takes us by the best burger joint ever: Mrs. Beasley's. It's in Toledo and I think it was put up in the 50's. It's been added on to and remodeled a couple times, but it's still just a little funky diner with awesome burgers and handmade fresh fruit milkshakes. We had such a good burger, we even drove back by on the way home and had another!
Speaking of on the way home - we decided to take Chinook pass instead, which apparently I have been over but not since I was a kid. It was lovely. Secret Agent Man was literally giggling about there being so much snow. (We have previously established that he is certifiable when it comes to snow!) SAM took a couple neat pictures:
Once we got home we just relaxed for a day before going back to yuk. I mean, work. We ordered pizza. Had a beer. Took the kitties outside for a bit. Speaking of kitties, they like the new garden. Buster thinks he's a tiger in the jungle or something.
Missy likes it, too. Although, to be more accurate, I think Missy just likes to eat the new garden. She likes the tall grass we planted. We still have some work to do, but my wrist is still bunged up so it's on hold for a bit. I'm sure it will get better just in time for the 100 degree weather we get in summer!
Speaking of my stupid wrist (sprain and torn ligaments) it's has hampered my drawing a lot. (I knew I should have learned to draw left-handed!) But I have been slowly working on some new stuff. I am working on the new logo/business card project for Crooked Stamper. Here's a sneak peak:
And I have some new little guys I'm slowly working on as well, based on various "fears". My intention is to have a series of them and then hopefully make some little stuffed versions to go along with them. We'll see...my ambitions usually outweigh my realities! But here's a couple of them:
fear of spiders
fear of broken hearts
Now that I'm back in the groove, I will be making the rounds again to visit you all in Blogland. Hope this find you well and that you are enjoying your summer!
See him?
