I Like Robots

Figured I'd continue with the cartoon images I've been coming up with and retool my robots. You can't have enough geeky designs as far as I'm concerned. And now that I received my cufflink blanks (finally! Yeah!) I needed new designs to work with. The circuit board pictures just begged for an illustrated robot to accompany them. He's almost smiling! He's trying his best. Look for them in my Etsy shop soon.

Etsy Earth Day

It is such a beautiful day in Austin to be celebrating Earth Day. Here are some of my favorite recycled/upcycled, Earth Day themed items from the Etsy Austin Street Team. For more Etsy Austin goodness, type in teametsyaustin in the Etsy search bar.

Pigsey Art

Christine Terrell of adaptive reUse


Glint Gear

I've Been Blogged!

http://craftymishmash.blogspot.com/

Beth from Crafty Mishmash and The Snuggle Herd posted an interview with me on her blog. Check it out!

Easter Weekend Recap

I just want to say that Austin Handmade is doing a wonderful job with their market. Even with the sketchy weather we had plenty of foot traffic. I'm sure we would have had even more if the sun had decided to make an appearance. Here are a few shots of my booth.

Lug standing guard under the table where it is safe

I also spent the weekend with some of my new plants. I'm going to try my hand at a small vegetable garden. We'll see how that goes since I can still only plant in pots and planters because the backyard is still in a state of limbo.

I have several tomato plants, some different varieties of peppers, some herbs and squash. I wanted watermelon but there is no way I can grow that with the eminent digging up of the backyard. We live on a hill with the house midway down so when it rains all the dirt runs down toward the house and makes it hard to grow anything in the backyard. We are going to add terraces and put the dirt near the house back at the top of the hill with plenty of drainage and retaining walls. Still trying to figure out how to do this and still leave Penelope plenty of room and a path for playing frisbee. I'm already designing the layout of my planter boxes and where I want the hammock.

Austin Handmade Market

The market is going on this Saturday, April 11th from 12 pm-6 pm at 507 West Mary Street (next to the Soup Peddler.) The weather should hold during the day and give everyone a great head start on shopping for Mother's Day and Father's Day. I didn't attend the last one but I heard it was a great event and everyone had lots of fun. Come out and see my new designs!

Some Fun Easter Facts & Family Tradition

I figured I'd celebrate Good Friday and the upcoming Easter Sunday with a few fun facts I've collected along with a little peek into my own family traditions.

A Pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax. (from wikipedia). This image is of the world's largest pysanka. It was erected in Vegreville, Alberta in 1974, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Norway has to have my favorite Easter tradition. In Norway, in addition to staying in mountain cabins, cross-country skiing, and painting eggs, a contemporary tradition is to read or watch murder mysteries at Easter. All the major television channels run crime and detective stories, magazine stories where the readers can try to figure out "whodunnit", and new detective novels are scheduled for publishing before Easter. Even the milk cartons are altered for a couple of weeks. Each Easter a new short mystery story is printed on their sides. I couldn't find the origin on this tradition. One can only speculate.

Easter candy facts:

• Easter is the second top-selling confectionery holiday behind only Halloween.
• 88 percent of adults carry on the Easter tradition of creating Easter baskets for their kids.
• 76 percent of people eat the ears on chocolate bunnies first.
• Red jelly beans are kids’ favorite.
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records the largest Easter chocolate egg ever made was just over 25 feet high and made of chocolate and marshmallow. The egg weighed 8,968 lbs. and was supported by an internal steel frame.

My own family tradition was pretty normal. We went out the day before Easter and picked wildflowers, usually on my family's farm, to make Easter nests. We would all pick a spot near the house and build our nests out of the flowers. Then that evening the older grandchildren would decorate eggs after the younger ones had gone to bed. We would wake up extra early to go to the annual Easter breakfast at my grandmother's church. I still crave that wonderful food every spring. We would get hurried along to the cars so we wouldn't peek into the Easter nests before we we got back from church. The older kids would skip Sunday School and head back to the farm to hide the eggs. Before we had the house out at the farm, we would do all of this at my grandparent's house in town.
Anyway, the aunts would head to the kitchen and finish up the Easter meal. Sometimes we barbecued, sometimes we had a ham. We always had "sweet rice" and my grandfather's green beans. Everyone would go outside for the egg hunt and the kids would finally get to look in our nests. It was always filled with lots of candy, at least one giant chocolate bunny and all the rest of the Easter prerequisites. The eggs we hunted were always the real thing—hard boiled and decorated with dyes. We were so excited to go look for them, though none of us ate hard boiled eggs. After we compared baskets and figured out who found the most we turned the eggs over to our mothers so they could work their magic on them. We might not eat plain hard boiled eggs but we all stuffed ourselves on the deviled eggs. I loved it when the dye worked it's way through the shell and died the egg itself.
My aunts would always go through all the eggs before peeling them and select the two prettiest eggs to take to my grandmother's aunt later that day. She was elderly and rarely left her house at that point so after the meal, we would pack up some leftovers and the winning eggs and go visit. Aunt Babe had a knick knack shelf in her dining area where she kept all the eggs we brought over the years. Some were old enough you could shake them and hear the powdered residue of it's contents still inside. Luckily, I don't think any were ever accidentally broken. The smell would have been much worse in her small house than it was out at the farm when we would finally come across those few eggs that had been forgotten outside in the hot Texas spring weather.

I always wished that the youngest of our cousins had been able to experience that time in our family history. After our grandfather passed away so many of our traditions died out and the younger ones were too small to remember any of them. We all celebrate separately now, with a watered down version of how it used to be. It is bittersweet. I am thankful every year when I am reminded of my childhood and a little sad that those days are gone.

Shop Austin

Just got an unexpected phone call from the lovely Anne Marie Beard of The Lone Star Ladies. I'll be a last minute edition to The Lone Star Ladies Present: Shop Austin. It is going on Saturday, April 18th from 11 until 5 p.m. So check out the website and Hope to see you there! I'll be there with some of my new designs.

Doctor Who Redeux

Last week I posted about some of my favorite Doctor Who Etsy finds and said I would be working on my own designs for my belt buckles. Well, I did a set of three. The buckles aren't ready yet but I figured I'd post a sneak peek of the designs. A girl has to do something while waiting for new episodes.

I was determined that the Dalek design wouldn't be my favorite because everyone loves them, but it couldn't be helped. It's my favorite. I can't decide which Doctor is best so I just went with the TARDIS. Hope everyone enjoys the designs. Keep checking my Etsy site for the buckles. Should be soon.

***4-10-09: All the Doctor Who themed belt buckles are now in my Etsy shop!

HaHa

I wasn't going to blog today until I found this. So I'll make it short and sweet. This is for all of the design and typography nerds out there. It isn't the first clever kern accessory but I like it. It made me smile. You can find it at plastique's etsy shop.

More Flowers with TtV

I recently built another contraption with a new twin lens reflex camera in order to do TtV photography. My first attempt was with a Kodak Duaflex II camera but I went back to ebay to find a plain old Duaflex. It seems to work better. I also attached a lens hood to the front of the contraption to help with the lens flare problem. I'm still getting a small blue vignette on the right side of the image but I think I will be able to adjust the new contraption to solve that. It is interesting sometimes but I'd rather add that later in Photoshop if I want it rather than be a slave to it.

The flowers were all recently aquired during my gardening bug. I have been barrerd from going to any more gardeing stores until after we rebuild the fence in our backyard. I had been using redoing the backyard as an excuse to buy more plants... to have them ready to go when we can finally plant things back there. For now, my front porch is colorful.

SXSW Recap

Where to start? Food is always my favorite part of any event and I had several new experiences while tending my booth in the Guero's parking lot this weekend. First, a unique flavor combination from a pollo asados trailer on S. 1st and Oltorf—baked potato with carne asada. (The link is just to one of many pollo asado places in town but I think the Oltorf location might be one of the only ones doing the potato thing. They all rock and the green sauce is to die for!). Looks sketchy in my photo but so good!Next new favorite... The Mighty Cone. I tried it a week ago and spent the rest of the week craving it. I've had it twice and could probably eat it everyday for quite a while without tiring of it. I get the chicken and avocado cone. I'm glad to hear that the S. Congress location is a permanent one. This video is thanks to Addie Broyles.

I also finally tried Home Slice. Pretty good. Not sure it was authentic New York pizza but it was good after a long day in the sun. I still prefer Southside Flying Pizza. The dough is incredible and the waitstaff are amazingly nice. It reminds me of Grimaldi's in Brooklyn (in taste not ambiance).

So while I was munching on all this great food, I was also selling my belt buckles and art. I introduced my photo boxes and received a lot of positive responses to them. I should be dropping off a set to Austin Handmade this week or next and maybe offering them in my Etsy shop. I was surprised that I sold so many photographs. I rarely bring those to shows because they are hard to set up and, quite frankly, they make me nervous. I know I'm not the best photographer out there. I might have a degree in photography but I always feel like an amateur. But I sold several and that was what seemed to be pulling people into my booth. I might have to re-evaluate my views of my work :)

Looking For That Little Blue Box?

My friends know I tend toward geeky behavior. Most of the time I just associate with geeks, pick up what is going on in comics, movies, video games and tv shows by osmosis, occasionally dabbling myself. I tend to be a little pickier than my friends about what I will spend time on because I spend most of my day in my studio and that leaves little time for other things. My last geeky obsession was Firefly. I'm pretty sure I cried when Fox canceled that one. Joss Whedon is one of my favorite creators out there and while I watch his newest series, Dollhouse, it hasn't struck me as his normal brilliant fare. Dr. Horrible is his last project that displayed what he is capable of when he is engaged and believes in his own work. IMHO, of course :)

Doctor Who has become my latest favorite show. Now, I feel like a poser in admitting this but when I was a kid and the old Doctor Who series would come on late at night, sometimes I watched and sometimes I didn't. It was hokey and low budget and I hadn't developed a taste for British television yet. But when we cancelled our cable a few months back and subscribed to Netflix instead, one of the first things we did was stream the new Doctor Who series. I was familiar with the show and knew there was a strong following but didn't know what to expect with the new series. I was hooked! So, in honor of the forthcoming 11th Doctor, here are some fan created items on Etsy (I bought the poster at the end!) I have a TARDIS themed belt buckle idea noodling around in my head. One of these days... But until then, enjoy these finds!

For the geek girl that has everything. Ursula and Olive's shop has plenty of other Doctor Who related merchandise. Check out the Dalek themed greeting cards...

TARDIS pendant byDevil And Mouse

Leather TARDIS journal crafted by Bind Me

Dave Perillo's great poster. Here is his blog and Etsy shop

Spring Chicken

Here is Austin we have just gotten through another cold front with days of rain and no sunshine. Today has been the warmest in awhile and it has put me in great mood. I want to share some of my recent Etsy finds that have also put me in a good mood.

Cute felted chick from Siiri's Shop


Paper Mache Chicken from DodadChick


Ceramic Bowl by Prince Design UK

Winner!

Ms. Rachel of So She is Gold is the winner. I like the idea of an international Miss Pickle :) I see you are in Austin and, cross-my-heart, I didn't look until after I picked the winner, but that does make it a bit easier to deliver the goods. Thanks to everyone who participated. Keep checking back to see what else I might be giving away. Also going to have promotion in my shop sometime soon to help raise money for Texas Cattle Dog Rescue. I'll keep you posted...

Help a Girl Out!

What is Miss Pickle saying? My cleverness is all tapped out and I would love some help with this. Leave a comment and tell me what she is telling you. Contest is open until Sunday, the 15th. I will pick my favorite and you will win this before anyone can buy it:

Crow Belt Buckle

Make me laugh, be clever. If you make me fall out of my chair and my drink comes out my nose, you win! Try to keep it PG, but other than that no rules, you can even submit multiple entries if you just can't contain yourself :) What would Miss Pickle say?

(I will announce the winner on Monday! I will try to contact the winner through their blog comment, but if I can't get a hold of you, please contact me so I can mail out the prize!)

SXSW Fun!

Everyone in Austin and well beyond knows that SXSW turns this city into one big festival and party for the better part of March. All the music, movies and events happening can keep even the most energetic person going until they drop. Some of my favorite events usually aren't a part of the official line up but that what makes SXSW great... so many creative people joining in the celebration and turning it into something even better. I have a few things on my to-do list this year.

One, is the Flatstock Poster Show. I don't even have room on my walls for all the great posters I walk away with every year, but the images are so wonderful that I buy them anyway. When I clean out my studio, it is always like Christmas when I find my poster collection and go through it again. I end up going to the store and framing new ones to redecorate the house.

Two, is the Handmade Austin Market's booth at Guero's, March 19th-22nd. I'll be there with some of my belt buckles and prints along with tons of other local artists.



Three, is the Etsy Austin booth at Hill Country Weavers on South Congress, March 14^th, 15^th, 20^th, and 21^st noon to 7 p.m. This event features Etsy artists from Austin (obviously!) and is a good way to see what the Etsy community has to offer. Some of the artists will be hosting demos, some of the artists will be walking around downtown handing out some of the promo bags many in the group have spent days working on. They are really cute and were made using old t-shirts. Kim of Broken Ear Productions was great enough to post a how-to video for the bags.


Come out and join the festivities. You are guaranteed to have fun at SXSW this year!

Owls, Crows & Weenie Dogs

Sound like those go together to me! My new illustrations should be appearing on belt buckles, in jewelry and as prints pretty soon. I'd forgotten how much fun Illustrator can be. I had turned some images (the crow and the weenie dog) into vector art when Vector Magic was still free and just got around to using it. BTW, if you can afford it, get Vector Magic. So much easier than Live Trace in Illustrator and better results. It'll export as an .eps or .ai. Great stuff. Otherwise, I tend to hand draw what I want then trace it and import it into Illustrator to trace over with the pen and shape tools.