A Little Luck To You

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Talking Stain

Enjoy this commercial. It always catches my attention, even when I'm in another room.

Inspire Me Thursday: Kitchen

Remember that 70s commercial for a certain perfume, was it called "Enjolie"? Anyway, I remember singing it around the house when I was little: "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never, ever let you forget you're a man! Cause I'm a woman!" This is my tribute. :-)

More Obama Swag...

Thank you to the Brighter Fusion blog for linking here to share the Obama logos in vector. Also go there to find links to these neat Obama posters, available free for download.

Snowfall in March, finally.

We finally get our snow...in March. I love it. It was the great "crunch" when you walk snow that makes GREAT snowballs. We had a great time. Is anyone else out there weird about messing up the perfect snow? A part of me hates to walk around in it and "mess it up". Hopefully the way it was falling it filled in the mess we made with clean snow.

Cool Caps

1. my bottlecap collection, 2. 001 / Red Rice Beer*, 3. 002 / Blue Moon, 4. 003 / Killian's Red, 5. 004 / Mike's Hard Lemonade, 6. 005 / mystery cap, 7. 006 / Craftbrewed Quality, 8. 007 / the Switch*, 9. 008 / Fitz's, 10. 009 / RED POP*, 11. 010 / Lemon Soda*, 12. 011 / Grilli Lemon Soda*, 13. 012 / Bavaria, 14. 013 / Samuel Adams Brewmasters, 15. 014 / Woodpecker Hard Cider*, 16. 015 / Miller Chill
Wonderfully graphic bottle cap collection found on Flickr.com via Drawn!. These would look great framed together. I love all the different designs.

Reduce, Reuse, RECYCLE

So I have A LOT of cardboard that can't be recycled in our community (cereal boxes, pop-tart boxes, basically any kind of box that isn't corrugated), I can't bear to throw it away so it sits in my supply closet. So recently I was inspired by K. Barteski at I Love Life and her paintings on used materials like coffee holders and I decided I would reuse my cardboard to paint on each day. My first day, what to paint? Why the girls on The View, of course. :-) Which box to use? I think a piece from a donut box fits the theme quite nicely.

Take a Leap...

My collage for "Leap". I used vintage catalogs and illustrations with bits and pieces of old papers. Then I sketched some modern day computer influences on top. It's amazing the "leap" in technology that we have gone through in society in a relatively short amount of time.

PhotoSharks: Games

The Race. Ready, set, GO!

Photo Friday: Fuzzy

Feathers are kind of "fuzzy", right?

Pollock Inspired

Over at Inspire Me Thursday the challenge is "action painting". Kind of like a Jackson Pollock inspired creation. Here's my Pollock inspired study that I did for fun. It's done with melted crayon. Very fun to do. I remembered doing this when I was young in art class and thought it would be perfect for this challenge. All you need is a lighted candle and some crayons. It's takes a little time to determine how long to hold the crayon over the flame for the amount of drips or crayon softness you desire.

Graphic Design Bar Returns!

After a long holiday break, Graphic Design Bar returns! It's a great read for graphic design professionals and anyone interested in design. Graphic Design Bar covers everything from funky fonts to cool Flickr sets to anything in between. If you've never read their blog, go check it out.

Illustration Friday: Theory

Watercolor Sketch
My entry for Illustration Friday, the Theory of Fireworks.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Found this great site via The Biggie Blog. Go make some valentine's hearts and give a homemade valentine this year!

Photo Friday: What Is It?

Hiking through a sea of brown, we came upon this bright, green moss contrasted against the dead leaves. So pretty, yet unexpected.

Yes, We Can!

When you go out to vote on Super Tuesday, just remember...Yes, We Can! "The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders. It's not about rich vs. poor, young vs. old. And it is not about black vs. white. This election is about the past vs. the future. It's about whether we settle for the same divisions and distractions and drama that passes for politics today or whether we reach for a politics of common sense and innovation, a politics of shared sacrifice and shared prosperity." Yes, We Can.

Illustration Friday: Blanket

Obama in Vector

I've noticed my site is getting hits from google on people trying to find a "Barack Obama Logo" in vector. I've found out a place where you can download it. There are legal stipulations in how it can be used so download with caution. You can find it here and another style layout here. I'm sure you could also find Hillary's logo in vector as well, but why would you want it? :-)

Photo Friday: The Machine

An early calculator machine.

Where I Wish I Was Right Now...

— MBC, Watercolor and Oil pastel sketch
On a beach watching a sunset in 90 degree weather. It's finally getting really cold and it's chilling me to my bones. Kind of reminds me of a Key West sunset.

Thursday Challenge: Small

Looking down from the ferris wheel during our annual fall trip to the fair. Favorite ride? Mine's the "Scrambler", what's yours?

Photographing Snowflakes

Photo by Kenneth Libbrecht
Found via Something to Say. Kenneth Libbrecht photos of snowflakes are inspirational. Go by and take a look.

Photo Friday: Mountain

What looks like tree roots to a human is a colossal mountain to an ant. It's all in your perspective.

Put Your Heart In It

Through a blogger search I found the Black Eiffel blog. She's having a Valentine contest. Email her your most favorite creative Valentine before February 8 and they will be judged by her readers. Sounds like fun. I always enjoy a good homemade valentine.

My New Flip

I've been hearing great things about the Flip video and I'm seeing firsthand how wonderful it is. It will not replace a regular camcorder for special occasions, but it is so nice to carry around to archive and share short, everyday memories to keep for posterity. So easy to use, just pop out the USB arm and upload to your computer to save or share with friends.

Thursday Challenge: Anything

Every year when we drive down to Florida I say I'm going to take a picture of the "gigantic, metal rooster". I finally did it this past summer. I wish I knew the artist's name. This rooster sits outside his studio. It's bigger than a car. I love it.

Catchy Commercials

Love the commercials by freecreditreport.com. Just saw this one today and I stopped what I was doing to listen to the whole thing. They've also got one called, "The Singing Pirates". I'm not sure if this is the actual band that's singing the commercials or just actors. If you know more info. let me know. Enjoy the commercial if you haven't seen it.

Obama Logo for Everyone

As you can see in the right sidebar, I'm an Obama supporter. I'm also a big fan of his logo. See how the designer(s) adapted the logo for these different groups relative to his campaign. Very clever. Visit speakup and see them all. If you need a vector version you can find it here and another style layout here.

Photo Friday: Passage of Time

This painted ad itself is old enough, but you can still see a ghosted image of the Coca Cola logo that might have been there earlier.

Hitting The Backroads

A good telephoto lens would help out this photo a lot, but I had to use what I had. Out driving on some back country dirt roads we came across this enormous flock of snow geese hanging out on a flooded farm field. They were so loud. We saw so many ducks and geese, probably resting from a busy hunting day.

Bloody Design

Artwork by Colle-McVoy
Can you find the 25 hidden design terms in the artwork? If so, you will when a free poster! Great game and it took me many trys to get them all but I finally did it. Found via designerd.blogspot.com.

Test Your Art Knowledge

Found this over at howaboutorange.blogspot.com. I too, just missed one and was amazed I did that good. Even after all the Art History, it was such a loooong time ago. Try your art knowledge here.

Happy New Year!

If you miss out on your New Year's fireworks, here's a video to show you what you missed. Happy New Year! See you in 2008!

Thursday Challenge: Broken

Broken or vandalized tombstone in century-old cemetary.

Merry Christmas!

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday!

Photo Friday: Best of 2007

This has to be my best of 2007. Standing at the "Top of the Rock" in Rockefeller Plaza looking at the Empire State building and down at New York City on the second day of January, 2007 on my 10th wedding anniversary trip.

LensDay: Futuristic

A very futuristic and at the same time retro robot visited us on Halloween!

Snow Miser vs. Heat Miser

Every year in December I look forward to all those stop motion animated Christmas specials. My favorite is "The Year Without a Santa Claus" (It first aired in 1974). I love the Snow Miser and Heat Miser duel. Those songs are great. Here's a link to find out more about them. You know I've got all these movies on DVD, but there's something about watching them on tv that makes it better—even with the commercial breaks.

Thursday Challenge: Happy

Photo Friday: Two

Two thankful hands.

The Last Rose

In our yard, fall is definitely here so I was surprised to find two roses still alive. I like the combination of the pink rose against the backdrop of fallen leaves.

PhotoSharks: Body

Photo Friday: Dangerous

Tuesday Challenge: Blue

Kimono Inspiration!

Seasonal Glories of the Old Capital, originally uploaded by mboogiedown.

After viewing kimonos at Yamatoku Vintage Kimonos via Something to Say, I searched and found more wonderful kimonos. Kimono Etcetera is a Flickr group with great shots of kimonos of all colors and this photo from mboogiedown on Flickr is an awesome example of her Japan related photography—definitely a must see.

Home Sweet Home

"Home Sweet Home", a wonderful animation short by Gillian O'Connor. Found via "Drawn!".

Lensday: Roadside

Things are often much more interesting off the beaten path. My fear is that in the near future everything will look the same as small towns and roadside joints all become chain stores, will be updated or mowed down. I love the character in these older roadside businesses.

Tuesday Challenge: Garden

Thursday Challenge: Autumn

Neat Nightlight

Sunlight in a vintage mason jar. What a neat idea. I'd also like to see "fireflies" in a jar done this same way. Found via Something to Say. Purchase this gem from Bouf Super Boutique.