Monthly Archive for June, 2009

Stax and Pott

Published on June 30, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I feel like my life has erupted with gifts, some tangible and some not, in the last 48 hours.

I discovered this great artist, Julia Pott, via Book By Its Cover, and now I have a total brain/girl-crush. I am, by nature, a little over-critical of how illustrators use text/humor/emotion with their work and I admit that I may prematurely dismiss something as a bit too “twee” for my tastes, but GOSH. I love her funny animals and squinched up faces and quick passing thoughts in messy block letters. They almost seem even more honest that they’re against these drawing collages. She’s even got an Etsy shop where you can purchase some of her prints. Do check out her pages and animation, I think her work is just so charming:

ooh and if that weren’t enough, I come with more! I have been working with Mark on new goodies for this here blog, and we now have a widget for making playlists! I doubt I’ll have time to make a regular mix every week, but I’m always picking up/gifting/receiving new tunes and I like to share. This week is just a two-song shorty, as I keep playing around with the features. Enjoy a little soul in your step. (oh by the way! if you’re reading this via Reader or a feed, you may need to out-click the link to view the widget player thing. sorry for the inconvenience!)

…and probably no more blogging till next week, as I head out on an adventure to the Hudson River Valley. Nature and my favorite people! yes!

Sunday soul

Published on June 28, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

the perfect end to the perfect weekend

life! you are full of unexpected turns and surprises and smiles

Galerie Lelong

Published on June 26, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: .

I normally dump my visual musings over at my Tumblr, but I’m so crazy about Galerie Lelong that I’m going to share it here, too. Coincidentally, I found out about them via Dieu Donne, another favorite. Just a few artists from Galerie Lelong:


Untitled #1274 (Death in Venice) by Peta Coyne


berwici pici pa by Ursula von Rydingsvard


And of course, Krzysztof Wodiczko, If you see something…

ah, so good, all of them!

Friday Shout-Out: Weekend Rituals

Published on June 26, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

(in getting all existential-like about my blog/website, I’ve decided that I don’t need my Shout-outs to all be inspiration-related, since my posts are mostly project/art/craft themed anyway. so this newish feature I’m trying to be consistent with is just going to be a shout-out to whatever is floatin my boat each week, ‘kay?)


We all have our rituals, and for us weekday-champs, we’ve got our weekend rituals. Coffee, paper, studio, hardware store, refreshing the plants, whathaveyou. My favorite ritual that I’ve picked up since moving here last year is a Sunday trip to the Baltimore Farmer’s Market, and from observing the crowds, it looks to be a favorite for plentyplentplenty more people.

These days, Sunday is like this (when I am not out of town, which seems to be more often than I’d like lately): coffee and paper on the stoop, wakeup-texts between neighbors/friends to see which of us are alive or not hungover, meet up near the monument, and take a nice stroll to the market. I love: eating in season, eating fresh, and eating new. I like to give myself the goal of trying something new each week, but sometimes I love something so dearly that I want it again and again and again. Curry vegetable pockets or mint iced tea or seasonal falafel, yes please! And for the weeks where the ‘fridge is adequately stocked, I’m down just for breakfast and flowers for home. (latest observation for the ladies–girl:fresh flowers in arms::boy:dog in the park)

My most recent haul from the Farmer’s Market brought in: dill, chives, little cucumbers, asparagus, garlic scapes. After some researching and cooking, I pickled the rest! I’m so pumped! Pickling right now, I’ve got:
-cucumbers with mustard seed, dill, and garlic
-asparagus and garlic scapes with lots of pepper, garlic, and chives
-grapes with mustard seed, peppercorns, and cinnamon
-carrots with shallots, cardamom, and garlic.

I’m going to be in pickle heaven soon. So that’s my shout out, small though mighty. Maybe we’ll bump into each other under 83 sometime. Bon Week-end, buddies.

Assorted photos these days

Published on June 23, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Swamped this week and trying to be outside as much as possible, before the heat and thick humidity come… here are some assorted pictures (sorry to lack text-substance today, and apparently complete sentences… just busy busy busy)

Continue reading ‘Assorted photos these days’

One day to go…

Published on June 19, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

…until this year’s Pile of Craft!

Here’s a little sneak preview of one half of my bench at home:

‘pocpreview

I spy: some hand-dyed tyvek, vintage book covers, new pocket-books, and paper, paper, paper. That shiny pointy thing above my pen and pencil is my new ornamented steel awl that I purchased at the book fair a couple weeks ago. Pretty enticing, eh? Come see more tomorrow at Pile of Craft!! xoxo

Friday Shout-out: Mercy Mercy Me

Published on June 19, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

My shout-out this week is not art, craft, or book-related, but very Baltimore and close to me. I never had health insurance growing up, and even the student insurance I was able to purchase in college was always a little shoddy. (This is one of those hot-button topics for me, how stupid our healthcare system is, and that’s another post, another day.) So when I was offered this job back in 2008, my first thought after the whoa-new-job-excitement was whoa–health insurance! Good, fancypants, gold-plated health insurance! I remember my mom getting a little teary-eyed when I showed her not my cool new magnetic ID badge, but my Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO insurance card. Talk about a telling glance.

Anyway, I never had health insurance, and the idea of finding a doctor and keeping them, and having just one person to call up when I was actually sick instead of waiting an illness out, holy-crapola it was awesome. Even a little overwhelming because it was all pretty foreign to me. My shout-out today goes to Mercy Hospital and their amazing women-focused healthcare. Given some of my current circumstances, I am seeing 2 doctors and my primary physician there, and I couldn’t be happier with the care I’ve received. Last month I was curled up in bed with terrible pains and body-ouchies and was able to get in to see my doc within a couple hours. Is this real life??? This week I needed to make another appointment and they were able to accommodate my commute–a 5:30 pm appointment! Where am I? Health care heaven? On top of that, their administrative staff is friendly, helpful, and super responsive. It also helps that I can walk there too.

So lady-readers (well I guess they do treat men of course) in Baltimore, if you’re looking for a new doctor or specialist or something and don’t know where to go, I’m happy to give you my doc’s number.

Don’t forget! Pile of Craft this Saturday!

Published on June 16, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

PoCpostcard

I’ve got some new goodies to share, including hand-dyed tyvek and journals in vintage book covers!

New Drawings

Published on June 15, 2009 in Uncategorized. 3 Comments Tags: , .

Since my gallery is forever on hiatus, here are some pics of new drawings I mailed out this weekend. These are material sketches of a drawing-grid installation for a show I’ve got coming up in the fall. I’ve been playing around with perforation and weaving/sewing as mark and varied densities of paper. I also do a wax transfer to the paper in different stages of drawing, making the paper appear a little oily and translucent; depending on the depth of the perforation, the transferred wax can expand into a little halo around the holes. Still finding the perfect paper for these, but will probably go with a thick Okiwara or Hosho blend.

Continue reading ‘New Drawings’

Friday Shout-out: Craft Mafia on the Signal

Published on June 12, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

The Charm City Craft Mafia will be featured this week on WYPR’s The Signal! The program airs today at noon and 7 PM.

(for some reason Signalradio.org isn’t working right now… keep checking back though! or you can just stream through WYPR.org)

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