teleroblog;

1. Show us the inside of something cute:

a little blurry, but this is an art journal page from a while back. i will be scanning some and putting them up @ telerobotic.net!

2. What’s the last home cooking you had?
today my mom made steak, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, and green beans. i am lucky that i still live at home!

3. What do you miss?
posing with vacuum cleaners and icees at the movies.

4. What makes you laugh often?

Woman: Did you say you’re a full-on rapist?
Charlie: No did I say that? No no no no no. I help people, you know what I mean? I’m a, uh, ph— a philan— a ph — a philan — Uhh
Woman: A philanthropist?
Charlie: Yeah! That’s exactly what it is. It gets blocked up in my mouth, I don’t say it no goods.
thanks, @jessiebarber!

5. What’s your favorite word?
cellophane

6. What are you trying to quit?
bad nervous habits, you know the kind.

7. What’s your favorite commercial right now?

genius. serious genius. as a kid, i looked for faces in everything, so this reminds me of childhood imagination!

8. Whose style do you dig?
rachel bilson, debbie harry, zooey deschanel, rihanna… those are just a few of my style icons!

9. Link to a great blog you’ve discovered lately…
quoteskine. i especially love this:

rings true to life.

10. What’s the last craft you made?
i am still working on challenge #4 for project 52! i am loving the way it’s turning out. i know i say that a lot, but i feel so creative and it’s thanks to the bad girls, the design team, and the blog! i can’t wait to share my creation with you.

11. A photo of the last happy mail you got :]
the english meadow kit (in the center) came from colorbok:

12. Something you’ve got lately?
my fiskateers scissors! i’m #6275. they are orange and green and schweeeeeeeeet.

13. What are you looking forward to?
thanksgiving, christmas, but most of all, the new year. 2009 has been hard for a lot of people. 2010 is keeping me optimistic. :)

14. Post a recent snapshot of yourself.

that’s the most recent and it’s from september! i have been busy taking pictures of other people/things, i guess…

15. Recent Favorite Movie?
ummm… i am so bad at seeing movies while they are recent or new, so i can’t really think of an answer right off the top of my head. also, i’ve been watching a lot of tv. the last movie i saw that really made an impact on me was…

16. Something you’re working on right now?
top secret!

17. If a movie were made about you, who would play you?
HAHA OH MAN… katie holmes (people say i resemble her?), rachel bilson…? i’m not sure! finding someone spunky wouldn’t he hard, but as dorky as me is another ordeal.

18. What gives you goosebumps?
really amazing film scores/film trailers. is that geeky? when i heard rogue wave’s “lake michigan” in the trailer for up in the air, i got goosebumps. it’s just such a breathtaking song and i love how hopeful movie trailers seem, like the possibility of anything happening is very real.

19. Share a new obsession.
public domain images from out-of-copyright books and wall installations… there is some awesome stuff out there:

20. What’s the meaning of your life?
creating. loving. being alive.

i made another wall hanging, an experiment in using a found leaf and a cute picture of my kitty shadow with a huge pumpkin:

s, wall hanging

more detail:

what did you do for halloween?

how is everyone today? hopefully wonderful! i am very excited to bring you my first reveal as part of the p52 design team:

gateways, mini book

The prompt was this:
Old Text Book Cover (re-purposed, strong, older is better)
* Theme – School (education of any kind/lessons learned, etc…)
* Required material – Office Supply/s (any office supply store items are game)

my response was to alter an old textbook (called gateways) which i had stored in my garage probably since elementary school. my school had been giving away books which would’ve otherwise ended up in the dumpster, and even back then i saw the opportunity to create something. exactly what, i didn’t know yet, but i’m obviously glad i kept those old textbooks from the 1980s!

i cut the front and back covers off the textbook, covered the edges in kraft paper, and drilled three holes along the sides to create the covers of what would become my schooltime memories mini book. i’ve had so many photos of schooltime events laying around that i’ve wanted to scrap, and this was the perfect opportunity! in the end, i bound my book with jute cord.

here’s a look at the inside pages:

it feels so good to have these memories scrapped! so… i challenge you to create something about lessons learned, whether they’re school-related or not!

using the prompt i posted above, it is your challenge to alter an old text book cover, use the theme school/education, and you must incorporate office supplie(s). the deadline is november 7, 2009 midnight pacific.

helpful links:
discuss in the project 52 forum + upload to the bad girls project 52 gallery

WINNER WILL BE OUR NOVEMBER GUEST DESIGNER!!! announced tuesday, november 10th, 2009.

instructions:

1. upload our p52 blinkie (found here) to your photo server (like photobucket or tinypic), then add it to your blog. make sure to link it back to the p52 blog!
2. after your blinkie is up, leave us a comment with a link so we can see!
3. create your response to challenge #2 and upload it to the p52 gallery before november 7th @ midnight pst.
4. come to the p52 forum and link us to your project in the gallery. we want to take a look at the beautiful art you’ve created. :)

come say hi to the dt at the p52 forum and view some awesome bonus tutorials by the talented ladies on the team! we can’t wait to see you there.

are you excited for a brand new challenge? i am! ahhh! i may have to put on my dance playlist. in the meantime, here’s the 411:

the project 52 design team members have opened up their studio blogs featuring tips for beginning mixed media and where to gather inspiration. you can have a chance at the bad girls scrumptious prize shown on the p52 blog by visiting each design team member’s blog and ending up at our p52 gallery and p52 forums!

1. project 52
2. Julie Ann’s Blog
3. Francesca’s Blog
4. Aimee’s Blog
5. Tania’s Blog
6. Jaz’s Blog
7. Tania’s Blog
8. Katie’s Blog (you are totally here right now)
9. Wendela’s Blog
10. Kathryn’s Blog
11. Anna’s Blog
12. Wendy’s Blog
13. Visit the Project 52 Forum
14. Upload Your Project 52 Challenge #1!

remember: have fun! embrace your inner bad girl artist!!! and while you’re at it, learn more about bad girls and have a look at the treasures wendy has up in the store!

ok, ok, i’m cutting to the chase now. so you’re interested in mixed media and know you’ll gain lots of inspiration from the girls at project 52 (shameless plug, what can i say?), but you just can’t get enough eye candy. you NEED more. i know how that is! which is why i’m bringing you…

1. robert rauschenberg - when i think of an artist who embodies mixed media, it’s robert rauschenberg. why was this guy so cool? he didn’t play by the rules. taught by josef albers (who was responsible for color theory as you and i know it), he learned under strict guidelines and then reinvented those guidelines for himself, becoming his own artist and evolving in the process. his combines were made up of found objects, and as someone who is a collector of things myself, i can understand the fascination. rauschenberg “wanted something other than what [he] could make [him]self and [he] wanted to use the surprise and the collectiveness and the generosity of finding surprises. and if it wasn’t a surprise at first, by the time [he] got through with it, it was. so the object itself was changed by its context and therefore it became a new thing (thanks, wikipedia).” looking at rauschenberg’s work is a lot like finding hidden surprises, because it seems that there’s always something new to interpret. there’s whimsy and also an overall tone of melancholy, but the kind of melancholy you might get from a memory you love. i love his use of wings, photo transfers, and pop culture.

a few of my favorite rauschenberg pieces:

2. reginald case - in school, i always loved history. i went through a period in which all i read were historical fiction novels. all those bygone eras… there’s something so magnetic about them. it’s probably no wonder then why i like reginald case’s holocaust collages. they’re so delicate and just extraordinarily beautiful in how much they convey with only a few images in lieu of words. it’s the type of art that makes you think and be glad that you’re alive now, when the world still leaves a lot to be desired, but equality is a step closer each day. case’s work speaks for itself. it doesn’t need a lot of trim and bling, it just is. that’s what i love most about it.

3. erik mark sandberg - you know what i really love? irony. irony in artwork is so much fun and a reminder not to take things at face value. sandberg’s art is very unique in that it resembles snippets from a very deranged children’s book — he’s very good at illustration and his work makes that clear. however, he works with a variety of themes to form the meaning behind his work. religious imagery and bits of pop culture are thrown in here and there to make a very bold statement. he utilizes lots of bright colors and alternates from very detailed to minimalistic — his canvas is truly a juxtaposition of variety.

4. dolan geiman - i geek out over geiman’s work because it’s this mix of organic meets graphic and i can’t get enough of it. i really think the scrapbooking industry is taking a lot of inspiration from his work. i guess i’ll never know for sure, but that’s my speculation! geiman’s work is composed on wood with a variety of media and is always cool to look at. somehow, he manages to combine folk art with a contemporary vision and it WORKS. it works perfectly. the colors are warm and cozy and remind me of home. he likes to incorporate vintage elements into his work (particularly paper), which is one of the things i love best about him!

5. dana robson - speaking of nature and birds and other cute animals, dana robson’s stitched mixed media work is guaranteed to make anyone smile. even her titles are witty! embroidery is something i’m really interested in picking up and learning, and i’m always impressed with people who make it seem effortless. i love that she incorporates old book pages, water color, and other media into her work right alongside her beautiful stitching. the pictures she embroiders stand out, but somehow the whole work is cohesive and just makes sense. she creates some gorgeous scenes. there’s a softness and femininity in her work that’s anything but kitschy and so uniquely her.

i hope some of these works of art tickled your creative bone! now hop along. ;)

i have a few things to show you today, mostly involving the projects which i submitted for the bad girls project 52 design team call. they’ve been kept under wraps… till now.

first, though, in case you didn’t get to see my “timmy” layout, here it is in all its glory (aka a much better photographic version… what is my scanner thinking lately?):

timmy, 12x12 

as for the other projects, it has been a while since i translated mixed media to a surface other than a scrapbook page, and since bad girls has always been all about gettin’ artsy with it, i was way excited to branch out again, pull out some ideas and materials which had been sitting around for a while, and just create. the result of my efforts? a mixed media painting on illustration board and a mixed media shadow box.

real friends, acrylic & mixed media on illustration board

“real friends” features some of my favorite lyrics by kanye west and a quote from a friend i had my senior year of high school. that’s also my senior picture in the form of a packing tape transfer.

dad, we need a pterosaur too, mixed media shadow box

inspired by my love for the very kitschy, very “happy go lucky” attitude of 50s ads, “dad, we need a pterosaur too” is set in a kind of alternate universe… one in which people had pterosaurs for house pets! on leashes, too. it’s no secret that i love dinosaurs, especially obscure ones, and mark witton’s gorgeous artwork heavily inspired me. those are his pterosaurs. cool, huh?

till next time!

hello blogverse, i’ve returned with a couple updates for you. unfortunately, i’ve been stuck using my mobile device for a bit, so i can’t post nifty pictures just yet, but i will once i am happily using the regular internet again.

just as i posted my last sketch for sbch’s forum earlier this month, i also posted my last sketch for their blog the other day. the sketch is relatively simple, but there are a lot of layering possibilities… which is what i ran with! i love how my “timmy” layout turned out. check it out at the link. if the sketch and/or layout are cut off on your screen, just right click on each image and select ‘view image’!

as for the exciting news? I MADE THE BAD GIRLS PROJECT 52 DESIGN TEAM! i am beyond excited for this opportunity and love that it’ll give me a chance to return to my painting and design roots, too. it’s about being artsy, no excuses, and you know i’m all about that.

stay tuned for more info! project 52 will be kicking off its new start in october, and i have plenty of things to show you before then.