art fart

happy holidays

2009-12-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

happy holidays, everyone
its been a great year

hey friends

2009-11-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

heck out the daily drop cap by Jessica Hische! so beautiful! she's got a bunch of them and includes the html code to place it in your blog! what a great idea. In other news, I'm procrastinating working on my school projects, and i really should get to work. right now. after i go downstairs and get some chocolate covered almonds. what is it with those things?!

hello blog, i've missed you.

2009-11-03T21:25:00.001-08:00

WIWT november 3, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

this is quick post to just let you all know what i wore today & show you my muppet hands. i use them to do big work.
speaking of big work. there's a show coming up. portland state friends of graphic design is putting it on, and i'm gonna have a few little things in it.
//////// lovewhatyoudopsu.com /////////////

hope to see you there!!

xo

september 17

2009-09-18T21:54:00.001-07:00

september 17, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

what i wore today. well yesterday, actually. but whatevs.

september 16

2009-09-17T07:58:00.001-07:00

september 16, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

i look a little like sloth from Goonies in this one.

september 15

2009-09-15T21:05:00.001-07:00

september 15, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

what i wore today. quick & dirty. literally. its a boring outfit, but i'm committed, so there it is. maybe tomorrow i'll be looking a little better. maybe i should just draw amelia's outfits, she's cute all the time.

september 14

2009-09-14T23:44:00.001-07:00

september 14, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

okay, so i'm doubling up today so i can be caught up. today i went to school to turn in some paperwork. it was the first time i'd been around campus in a while & just being there made me excited about school starting up again soon! at the same time, i'm a little sad, we've had such a fun summer i don't know if i'm really ready to say goodbye and get back to work just yet. i've got a few more weeks, i guess. tomorrow, the people writing stories for the Portland Spectator (the student run magazine i work for) are supposed to have their rough drafts in. i want to get working... it goes to press the 28th. same day school starts... this will be my first issue doing the art direction. i'm looking forward to it.

september 13

2009-09-14T20:47:00.001-07:00

september 13, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

sunday was a really fun day. Alma midwifery had their annual picnic at Creston park which is right down the street from where jake & i used to live. my sister & her babies met us there. its fun to see the midwifes and talk about babies and see all the new babies... babies, babies, babies! and lots of yummy food. after that, all of us biked to NE and hung out, went to a coffee shop, went to an expensive hipster thrift store where there were lots and lots of cute things. i bought a scarf. & some awesome shoes, but i'm getting ahead of myself... i need to start working on today's drawing...

also, sometimes when i blog from flickr it chops my picture like it did on this one, you can click for the full size or click where it says 'by bunnyjrobot' and you'll go to my flickr page...

september 11

2009-09-11T13:13:00.001-07:00

september 11, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

so i solved the problem with drawing hands, (not mittens) just put them behind my back. the skirt i'm wearing is made of two of my favorite t-shirts, one is from some school or maybe a camp in vermont, and the other is a neil diamond concert t-shirt. i wore this skirt a bunch when i was preggo because it was so stretchy and comfy, its also really cool. cool, cool. well, its both kinds of cool. whatever. today its supposed to be super hot. in the 90s or something! i'm so glad because i was worried we weren't going to get to use the baby pool again this summer. i still need to get better at drawing hands, but i'll save that for another day. i'm off to go eat some leftover pad thai!

september 10

2009-09-10T21:58:00.001-07:00

september 10, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

so, its not every day, but i'm trying. it actually takes a lot longer than i thought to draw, scan & color a picture. maybe i'll start trying out different methods. also, i have a hard time drawing hands and feet. i think this happens to a lot of people. i'd like to just draw a circle at the end of the arm, but that's not going to work.

september 8

2009-09-09T12:44:00.001-07:00

september 8, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

this is a day late, i realize. i plan on doing this daily or as close to daily as possible. i need to draw more. this will give me something to draw & make me better at figure drawing.

my zine

2009-07-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

my zine, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

i just finished. its a really good feeling to have finished something. it feels like i haven't done much of that this summer.
now hopefully tomorrow goes well, i'm working @ the psu graphic design program's table at the zine symp. i'm bringing amelia. i sure hope she's down for it.

++UPDATE++
i forgot to mention that if you want a copy of my zine, its only TWO DOLLARS! let me know and i can mail one.

also, amelia had a great time @ PZS

i'm a little late posting this...

2009-07-20T22:56:00.001-07:00

i'm more of a skeptic myself.

i think more because i love a good conspiracy than anything else.

*click for larger view.

look up....

2009-07-14T22:16:00.000-07:00

hello again.
if you look at my blog through your google reader you should go look at the actual blog because i changed my headline picture thingy banner whatever you call it. anyway, its really cute. i made it using a scanned drawing and photoshop. i used to be afraid of photoshop, but after messing around with it tonight i'm a lot less afraid. ok, that's all, just a quick little update.

zine-a-rama

2009-07-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

hello friends.

i really can't believe that july is halfway done! this summer its been a bit hard to get any of my big art projects done, or started, for that matter... but one thing that i WILL be doing is putting together a zine and selling it at the portland zine symposium! woot! (if any of you are in Portland, come check it out!) my zine is going to be a collection of self portraits that i drew while i was pregnant with amelia.

one of the best pregnancy books that jake and i read (and we read a bunch of them) was this zine called Placenta Zine. i don't know who made it or if there are any others, but it was a really sweet zine with birth stories, and basically how to be a radical parent.

i think my zine is going to be my tribute to Placenta Zine, in a way, although i'm not sure if i'll have much text, i think its mostly going to be to story of my pregnancy told through drawings. i'm also thinking that if i can pull it off, i'll put together another little zine of some illustrated conversations that i have in some of my sketch books. here's a little preview of some of the drawings that will be in my zine...

also, the link to pdx zines

hello kitty

2009-07-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

hello kitty
tuns thirty-five this year! i have loved hello kitty and all of her little friends for a very long time. i remember spending hours in the Sanrio stores looking at all the little treasures. the anniversary website is amazing, they have cataloged all kinds of hello kitty merchandise from all of the years. its wonderful. i could seriously be on there for hours looking for things that i used to have. obsessed. literally, i'm obsessed with it. if only i still had my hello kitty stamp set...

me & the babies

2009-06-26T22:52:00.001-07:00

me & the babies, originally uploaded by jake_mrtnz.

today was my last day of watching liam. it was a lot of fun to get to hang out with him. he and amelia had lots of fun playing together (basically squishing each other, drooling, and in amelia's case stealing toys from liam) it was a great week. and now, to get back to working on the business end of my life...

summer times.

2009-06-23T18:56:00.001-07:00

YAY for summer!

amelia & i have been very busy now that i'm done with school & jake is back on the study train. we spent all of last week playing with my mom, and the two cousins, ben & liam. this week, liam is playing over at our house all week (grandma left & ben's outta town). its good times. we call it cousin club. well, i call it cousin club. i like to make clubs, so does my sister. it goes way back to the old days. other than going to the park and playing babies, i've been trying to finish up a project that's been going on since my typography class started. they're initial pendants made from a typeface i created. here's a picture. they're not quite done, but its a start. there'll be more about how i made them & possibly painting on the letters as i get them finished.

this is the letter f. for fun, francis, or fiona.

final finally finalized.

2009-06-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

weesh.I didn't know if i was going to make it out of this term with all of my hair, as of this post (and maybe a few more organizational things) i'm done. hopefully. there might be some loose ends here and there...BUT-- My poster series is done, and that's all that's important right now.
I made a series of three posters based on the artist/graphic designer/illustrator/sculptor/accordian player Leo Lionni. he's a great fellow, and i really enjoyed learning about him. I based the structure of each of my posters on a design he did for the MOMA exhibition book The Family of Man (1955). I used it as a framework to show some of his other design work, illustration, photography, sculpture, children's books, and paintings. He really did a lot of stuff, kind of a jack of all trades, that Leo. The text that i used was from his autobiography (between two worlds) and from AIGA's article on him. I set all my text in Century School book because read somewhere that he really liked it.
here's me series:

so, i made these book covers a while back and i totally forgot to blog about the

2009-06-10T22:23:00.001-07:00

frankenstein book cover, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

The assignment was to pick three penguin classics books and design a set of book covers. I chose the scary set, dr. Jekyll & mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, and Dracula. I chose them mostly because I had read the stories before ( well, in the case of frankenstein, i'd seen the bride of frankenstein... close enough) anyway, i felt like i had enough of an idea about the stories to be able to create some cool book covers.
i got my images for Dracula & Frankenstein from books in the library that were essays on each of the books. the frankenstein picture is my favorite of the bunch, its someone's weird interpretation of franken-people that came out around the time Mary Shelly's book did.
The technique i used for getting my images to look the way they do is a printmaking technique called Van Dyke. you get a negative transparency of the image, and expose it to paper that has the Van Dyke solution painted on it using a very high watt light table. i learned to do it this term in my intermediate bookbinding class.
I used bodoni as the typeface for my book covers in bold, regular and italic. I chose it because its got that classical feel, but still keeps things neat and simple.
I struggled with how to place the title on my book covers - you can see the different attempts i made by looking through my photostream. eventually i settled on this 'tag' set at the edge of each book slightly askew. i'm still not really sure if i love it, but eh, it works. i think this is one of those projects that i'd really like to come back to when i've learned a little bit more and see what i'm able to do with it. again, to see my progress in this project or to view the other two book covers in the series, please check out my flickr photostream.

making progress...

2009-06-09T09:38:00.001-07:00

some type cards, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

I finished my intermediate bookbinding class yesterday with a final critique that went pretty well. In the end I had 3 new books to show. I'm really happy with how my do-si-do book turned out. I'll be uploading pictures of it to my flickr later on.

In the meantime, I've been spending every spare moment working on my type cards, my leo lionni poster series and my final group project on rhetoric.

the next post will be about how everything is done, and i'm ready to start my summer break!

authentic tube sticker.

2009-06-04T21:57:00.001-07:00

authentic tube sticker., originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

I'm so so so glad to have the portfolio review behind me, only now, there's the mountain of work that I have been neglecting and need to finish to make it out of the term in good shape.
I've got my poster series that I'm working on, four books that I need to finish making for the critique on Monday, I need to buy more 4x6 cards for the little term-long type project that I totally didn't forget about until the last minute, and I have a group project that needs some love too. I'll be updating to my flickr more regularly as the work starts workin' ... one more week left, & I can't wait for my summer break to begin.

some people take care of their computers, some people eat muffins while working.

2009-05-12T11:30:00.001-07:00

I've kind of neglectedmy little blog here for a while. but, I'm back now, for the moment. Here are some of the things that I'm currently working on:
"Children's Benefit Gala" event campaign where I'm appropriating the style of Ed Emberley, a children's how-to drawing book author.
Making Book covers for Three Scary Books : Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dracula.
Making a Portfolio, a Theater Box, and standard book box mock-ups in my book arts class.
AND, As Always, My Portfolio Review - I've got a total of 7 projects that I'm currently reviewing and revising, and basically freaking out about:
here are some screen captures:

2009-04-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

This is a really beautiful typeface. just sayin.

type project... promotional stuff.

2009-04-29T21:45:00.001-07:00

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

i finished making the posters to promote my typeface. i'm still not sure how i feel about them, but that's usually how it is after staring at something for several hours.
one thing for sure, i wish i would have printed them on the khaki paper that i was using. as it turned out, i didn't have any left that was big enough for a poster, so i used some printmaking paper. i think it was Reeves BFK. there's a little bit of a disconnect from the stuff i made earlier and these posters because of the change in paper. hmmm....
i made two different posters, and as i was printing them, there was one that i totally liked better than the other one, but by the end, something happened and i ended up liking the one that i thought i was going to have to scrap and hating the one i thought was coming out nicely. i might use the one that sucks and re-do my envelope, but i'm still not sure i want to go hacking into anything just yet.
since my necklaces that i ordered aren't ready, i thought i might make some buttons or print on some fabric and make some patches, or print on fabric and make some cloth buttons. cloth buttons are rad. i might. it really depends on if i have time tomorrow before i go to school to print up a few things.
aight, i'm out.
later bloggity friends.

Art 225 Project 1

2009-04-20T23:22:00.001-07:00

Picture 1, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

the recipe booklets are due tomorrow. i don't think i'm too satisfied with mine. i had a lot of technical problems with the colors. you would think working with only three colors would be easier. i think i should have gotten help from our professor, but i never got around to doing that, and that's my fault. at this point, though i'm just like whatevs its done. i can think of a few things that i'll be changing about the booklet for the portfolio review - such as color, more time spent on the typography, better arrow drawings, so, yeah. but its monday night, so i guess i'll be done for now.

(a few more screen shots @ my flickr page)

idaho stop law

2009-04-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

i listened to this whole thing on mute and still understood it.it was like a recipe without words.

Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

chubs.

2009-04-13T14:37:00.001-07:00

chubs., originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

welp, i finished my typeface... well, sort of, i still want to do numbers and maybe some dingbats, but i've got to work on another neglected project. so i think this is it for now.

brought to you by the letter P

2009-04-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

so....i've been doing some things... working on my experimental typeface. i've gotten to letter 'P'. wooh, 16 letters, i'm almost there. its getting easier to construct the shapes as i go along. after this, i'm going to start putting them into words and see if they read. then do some adjustments... CHECK THEM OUT!

thinking about my typeface....

2009-04-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

i still don't know what i'm going to do...
at first i thought i wanted to make
a typeface out of objects,
i was thinking maybe
baby flab rolls, art supplies,
food, utensils, clothing,
keys, or freckles.
but now i'm thinking that i just want
something a little less weird
that i can use for something
other than just this assignment...

oh, and this is awesome.

my first book.

2009-04-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

Todayi finished my first project for my bookbinding class. the assignment was to take a random quote from this old book of quotes and design a book around that quote without actually using it in the book. my quote was by some guy named george granville. basically, he was just some English creepster who was born into wealth and then ripped off some of Shakespeare's plays, had some crappy poetry, and at some point was quoted as saying "whimsy, not reason, is the female guide"
so that was the quote that i used to design my book. as you may have noticed, i'm not a huge fan of george granville and as i began planning how i would make my book, i kept getting annoyed at the quote. i mean, who is this granville guy to say that women are guided by whimsy and not reason. what does he even know? ugh, jerk. but part of the assignment was that we couldn't switch quotes, so i was stuck with it.
i decided to break down the quote and come up with key words for each part. it went something like this:
whimsy: whim, whim-wham, ridiculous notion, wander, whisk, trifle, giddy, fancy, fantastical, rash, sudden, impulsive, why not?, caprice, bold.
reason: reasonable, sensible, ordered, logical, centered, clear, precise, neat, smart, sense, feeling in control, understandable.
female: shoes, fashion, shopping, magazines, lipstick, barbies, glamour, trinkets, little boxes to put stuff in, jewels, tacky, crafty, yard, ornaments, flowers, perfume, doilies, pink, pastel, ribbons, nail polish.
please note that for my female key words, i was thinking more along the lines of the stereotypical extreme frilly girly type that i'm assuming george granville was talking about.
so, real briefly, here's what i did to make my book:
i began gathering pictures that represented women and whimsey as the female 'guide'.
basically i chopped up a few NYLON and Star magazines and then pieced them together on some paper i had leftover from some other project. it was looking a little um... high school collage, so i added some cool net-ish paper over the top to kind of tone it down and give it that 'ordered' look. next, i bound it together (using a saddle stich), made the cover, sewed some details with my sewing machine, other than some technical things i'm pretty happy with how it came out. and um... yeah, here are some pictures!

i had a lot of fun making this book, so much fun, that by the end i wasn't even mad at george granville for saying that women are guided by whimsy! in fact, i may even agree with him.

art 254

2009-04-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

welp,i'm going to start using this as a school blog. i figure its easier than starting up a new blog (i did that once, but it was very boring). plus, what else do i really have to blog about? other than um, like, eating something yummy, or daffodils blooming, or amelia doing something cute and that's all just blah blah blah....
so, now its official.
i am blogging about school, specifically my art 254 and my art 225 classes, but there might also be some of my bookmaking class thrown in here too. that's it though. for the rest of this term, i'm only blogging about school. no crafts, no babies, no bikes, no knitting, or sewing. like i have time for that stuff anyway. no rambling either.
ok, here are some typefaces that i found that were interesting to me for some reason or another:

click the images for a larger view!
ok, bye my little bloggie friends.

2009-03-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

soi had my first day back at school today. i'm taking an intermediate book arts class monday and wednesday mornings. its going to be a lot of work, but i'm determined to stick it out even though i'm more at a beginning bookmaking level than an intermediate one.

last time i posted, i said i was going to post about the pots that i made in arizona, so here they are:
.
i made a really big coffee cup, a flower pot, and a little plate. its hard to get the clay to do what i want it to do when i'm a little rusty, but i'm happy i was able to make these few things. jake and i also did some hand-building. he made a little plate and i made an 'avocado'. (it doesn't really look like an avocado but that's what i was calling it while i was making it, and i don't know what else to call it) i forgot to take pictures of those though. sad. pictures really would help make me not sound like a crazy person who made a clay avocado. hey, wait. i'm not going to explain my art to you. never mind.

i'm really really tired today for some reason. i think its because i biked more today than i have in a few weeks, maybe i'm out of shape. i was going to do this thing where i did push ups every other day until i could do a hundred or something, but i only did them once. anyway, i'm rambling now, so i'm going to stop and go to sleep. here are some screen shots i took while looking at other blogs and the internet and stuff: (no references, sorry)

hi.

2009-03-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Ihad a great time in arizona. we all did. i saw some peeps, but sadly not all my peeps. i will blog about the pots later when the photos are uploaded. for now, just this:.

we're going to Arizona

2009-03-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning.
leaving for a week.
we plan on swimming,
buying pearl snap shirts,
maybe throwing a pot,
and watching sunsets.
here are some interesting
pictures i've been collecting
from The Internets for the
past few days. some with
references, some without.
ttfn.

cat face the angel cat

2009-03-02T20:02:00.001-08:00

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by jake_mrtnz.

last friday we had to put catface down. its still really sad to think about it. he was the most loving, gentle, intelligent, beautiful, special, magical cat i have ever met.
our house is a little bit empty without him.

good idea? tacky idea?

2009-02-24T20:01:00.000-08:00

ok, so i just saw this article about making photo holders out of recycled glass jars

cute, right? or not? i can't decide. but i have a ton of glass jars. baby food ones, that we can't throw away for some reason. would baby food jars be cute? well, there's only one way to find out. i'll keep you guys posted...

images

2009-02-23T11:16:00.000-08:00

some inspiring images for the day

from fffound! and niether fish nor foul

update... here are some more...

Layout. blah blah blah...

2009-02-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

I just finished making this assignment for one of my classes. the objective was to design a two page spread for a magazine. the title (no, i didn't think it up myself) had to be "Layout: principles of design 101 with the subheading layout means... blah blah. the text had to relate to layout in some way. the rest was up to us to decide what pictures, typefaces, and then the actual layout of the spread. Its not perfect, and there are some things about it that i will have to change before my portfolio review in the spring, but its 4:30 on a sunday and i think i want to go home now!
(click the pictures for a larger view.)

an art project

2009-02-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

I
made
this
in my art class. i want to put the real pdf up here so that people can click the links that i made, but i don't know how. so, this is just a screen shot of the presentation i did. the assignment was to take a picture and 'draw' it 4 ways, black and white, flat color, full color with shading, and then full color put back into the original photo. i'm going to ask my professor to help me with posting the pdf...

i'm still here... somewhere...

2009-02-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

just saying hello with a cute little video..

saturday

2009-01-31T13:26:00.000-08:00

foggy morning,
amelia had a good long nap,
and i started making valentines.

that really bad dream where you forget your clothes or something

2009-01-26T21:29:00.001-08:00

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

today i went to my 2:00 class, (after missing last wednesday's class for legit reasons) and i got there a little early, thinking i'd spend a little time working on this project...
i walked by the classroom and people were pinning up their work for a critique. An EFFING CRITIQUE. my project was maybe 40% finished. i about crapped myself. how did i forget that the project was due today!?!?! this has never happened to me before. i was FREAKING out. so i left, & went to the computer lab and worked on my project, the whole time i'm thinking about how this is the first day of the new year and how you spend the first day of the new year sets the tone for the rest of the year, ugh, god, and i didn't want to have my new year be like this!
so, after a few hours, i'm about 90% done with this project and i was just going to leave and go home to freak out and have jake help me email the professor some excuse of why i hadn't come to class in two days and missed the final critique, & i walk out of the computer lab & my professor is down the hall stepping into his office! my first instinct was to duck my head and walk away as fast as i could, & that's exactly what i did. but then i had this overwhelming urge to grow some balls and go talk to him. tell him i'd screwed up. i was so scared, this professor is not the most friendly understanding type of guy-- but its the new year, i'm setting the tone, so i went back to his office, & i knocked on the door, and went in there and talked to him, & you know what? It was fine. there was nothing to be afraid of. he didn't yell at me or get mad, he's even going to let me turn in the work on wednesday, and he was glad that i came in to talk to him.
happy new year, happy year of the ox.

Raar, Meow, Woof Woof, Thppbt

2009-01-26T21:07:00.001-08:00

Raar, Meow, Woof Woof, Thppbt, originally uploaded by jake_mrtnz.

this is neither art nor fart, but needs to be shared....

more.

2008-11-26T22:20:00.000-08:00

Last night amelia 'said' more. as in give me more rice. she said it in sign language. her first sign language word. it was really cute and amazing.

LOOK AT THAT FACE!

2008-11-10T12:39:00.001-08:00

LOOK AT THAT FACE!, originally uploaded by jake_mrtnz.

she's adorable. btw.

art 118 project 2

2008-11-10T12:17:00.001-08:00

art 118 project 2, originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

just letting you all know what i've been up to these past few days.

this is project 2 for art 118 -- designing with type.

todos con obama

2008-11-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

WOO-HOO.

I got this picture when Obama came to Portland the first time in March. I had never been to a political rally like this before. I was sold. I've never felt this way about a politician before, I expect total awesomeness from him. I don't know what to say, other than I'm so glad that he was elected and I'm looking forward to the 'change' we've been waiting for.

panda baby

2008-11-02T15:11:00.001-08:00

IMG_1841
Originally uploaded by eyeliam

amelia was an adorable panda bear for halloween! we went trick-or-treating with my sister jason and kid wolverine. check out all the pictures @ eyeliam's flickr page...

bang-chop

2008-10-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

Igot bangs! I just decided tonight that I wanted them, so chop chop...
its been a long time since I've had bangs, the last known occurrence was in 2004. Those were some good bangs, I wore them to Vegas for Stacey's 21st birthday. I modeled these bangs after those ones.

my little art project.

2008-10-18T17:44:00.001-07:00

my little art 118 project., originally uploaded by bunnyjrobot.

i made this for my art 118 class. the assignment was to use a minimum of 30 geometric shapes and the required text to create a 'dynamic' and 'interesting' image. hopefully my professor doesn't think its a load of crap. we have a class critique on monday.
what do you think?
cheesy?
yeah- i know.
whatev.

hi. its me. i'm still here...

2008-10-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

feels like years since I've posted a blog. Just to let all of my darling readers know, I haven't fallen off of the face of the planet. I've just been busy.
In the month of September, we moved in to a new house, I turned 26, Amelia started crawling, and I started going to school. Its a lot of fun.
I really love our new house- it is beautiful and old and roomy and I get really excited when I think about filling it up with furniture and decorating it as the months/years go by. it happens to be my latest obsession. I really like to look at decor blogs, and design blogs, and drool over things, or wish for things to put in our house. Sadly, not much has happened in the way of actually decorating... it seems like I don't really have a minute of free time.
School is keeping me pretty busy. I'm studying graphic design. Its really exciting, and fun and I love it. But its a little bit hard. the computer part. But i'm learning. and I still love it. Here is a picture of a pattern that I mad in one of my classes:
This comes from a flickr site that I've created for the class, so if anyone is interested in seeing some of the things that I'm making- check it out or something.
Here's the link...

I miss Amelia and Jake when I'm at school all day, but they're always just as cute as can be when I get back to them. Amelia has taken to being with her dad full time and I think they make a great pair.

In all the things that have been happening, I haven't really found the time to get my craft on like was before. That part has been a little hard on me because I feel like I've had to let go of something that I was working on and put it aside for a while. Its been happening gradually. I'm in the process of changing the way my business works, which might take a month or so, but I'm pretty sure the end result will be online sales,(in the form of an Etsy to begin with) and a break from the Portland Saturday Market (hopefully picking back up in the spring). I just need to modify the way I'm doing things so that I can balance life, family, school, and still be making and selling like I was before. Bear with me, I'll get there.
So, that's it for now. I hope to blog again some time this month, but you never can tell.
xo

loves it.

2008-09-04T23:31:00.001-07:00

IMG_0039
Originally uploaded by eyeliam

The Jones sisters. Yum.

the babes.

2008-09-03T14:35:00.001-07:00

Mimi is really freaking cute these days. She has 3, almost 4 teeth. She can almost crawl, almost wave, loves the cat and the dog, so hard. She says ba ba, da da, ppppthhhhbbb, as well as many other sweet little baby words. She eats lots of different fruits and vegetables, she tried her first tortilla chip today, and did I mention she's really cute? Yeah. And she likes to swing.

plastic bag bags...

2008-09-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

Ever since I found out that I could iron plastic bags together and sew them up, I've been collecting them, and hording them, and waiting for the perfect time to try it out.
I didn't want to iron bags together while I was pregnant, because of possible toxic creepiness. (I don't have a problem exposing myself to toxins, however)

I finally got around to trying it out over the long weekend. Its pretty clear that I'm going to have to work on my ironing technique, sometimes when the iron was too hot it melted little holes in the bags. I still like the bags that I made, but it would be better if there weren't little melty holes.
For those of you who don't know, here's how its done:

*you get your plastic bags
*you get your iron
*you get some wax paper (so the plastic doesn't stick to your iron)

cut apart the bags so that they can be laid flat,
iron the pieces together one at a time.
a layer of about 4 or 5 makes a good thickness to sew with.
then just make them into whatever you want!

I made makeup, or pencil, or brush, or whatever bags:
I'm going to be making Jake a new wallet next~

the things i made today...

2008-08-29T15:54:00.002-07:00

And there's still
one huge
zucchini left!

giants.

2008-08-29T15:54:00.001-07:00

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by lauratheartistjones

short days

2008-08-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night, I was incredibly tired. I was in bed at 9, ready to fall asleep, when I noticed that the sun had already set. It made me a little bit sad. I mean, its no surprise. I've noticed it setting earlier and earlier this past month, but still, I always get a little bit sad when summer ends. I'm going to miss it.

In honor of summer ending, I made a mix tape. Its been a million years since I've made a mix tape. Remember mix tapes? Making them for your friends or for your crush? Remember before CDs, making them using other tapes? or the radio to record off of? Wow. Kids these days will never know. Such a labor of love. (I'm pretty sure I've never used that cliche, and hopefully I don't ever do it again)
This one was way easier to make. Its my first online mix tape ever, the website is pretty cool.

new and exciting thngs.

2008-08-22T23:04:00.000-07:00

at last!
at last!

just in time
for the market
tomorrow!

it prevents cold hands too!

2008-08-22T09:53:00.001-07:00

Mysister sent me this picture this morning of the coffee cuff i made for her!

Cute, huh?

owah.

2008-08-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

oh holy crap dang, i had way too much coffee this morning. Or maybe it was the waffles with syrup. I'm not really sure, but I am definitely overly hyper this morning. I'm taking care of a bunch of business errands today. Just as soon as Amelia wakes up from her nap, we're off!
Normally, I would be including pictures. Personally, I hate looking at blogs without them, (ug. boring) but somehow in my caffinated fury I've misplaced the camera. hmmmm. yeah, I really have no idea where it hopped off to. Oh well, baby's up. (dang caffinated breast milk) am I a bad parent? nah. Ok got to run!! later, my bloggy friends.

me & mimi

2008-08-15T13:23:00.001-07:00

me & mimi
Originally uploaded by jake_mrtnz

i know its been a little while since i've blogged. it seems like the days when i have a little extra time to myself, i don't really want to spend it blogging my blog. whatevs. i took this picture of me and the meems yesterday, you can hardly even tell that its me who took it, right? we were just chillin in the back yard before swim lessons. jake and i are looking for a new house right now. its fun. and hopefully we find a really good one and don't have to do this again for a few years. ok, that's all. just a little update.
xox

busy-ness

2008-07-31T13:12:00.000-07:00

Starting today and every thursday for six weeks i'm going to be taking business classes. i'm really looking forward to learning how to be a better businessperson. hopefully i learn a lot. yay.

happy birthday?

2008-07-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

i'vebeen really busy these past couple of weeks doing god only knows what. blogging about all of the awesome things that i've been doing has been moved to the back burner.

i think baby amelia is beginning to get her top teeth. this makes her sad sometimes. she's going to look really cute when they grow in, though. 4 teeth! yay!

starting tomorrow, my darling is going to be in Las Vegas and then NYC without me. for several days. i have big plans to do some crazy cleaning in our little home and do some crafty crafting that i've been neglecting. keeping myself busy and stuff... today i made a list of projects that i've started but haven't completed. its long. well, longer than i'd like for it to be. i'd really like to have every project done the same day i start it. yeah, right.

oh, yeah, so happy birthday to my blog. i forgot. that's what i really wanted to write about. its been a year and a month and i feel good about that.
ok, i've got to check on my artichoke. seriously. literally. i don't want to over cook it.

coffee cuff-a-rama

2008-07-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

So, i've kind of gone to town making re-usable coffee cuffs (or condoms, depending on who you ask). whenever i have a free moment, i whip up three or four. when i get back from missouri, i'm going to take the whole lot of them over to the gladstone coffee in southeast p-town. one of my housemates was in there studying and she ended up convincing the owner that it would be awesome if he carried them. (thanks lucy!)

they've evolved a little since the first one that i made for angela.
pretty sweet, huh?

so, mimi and i are leaving tomorrow to spend 4th of july with my family. we're going to miss jake :<
i'll post again when i get back.
hope you all have a happy holiday!

why do people spell things with a 'k' just to be kute? ugh, gawd.

2008-06-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

I made this for ang
i made it for two reasons:
one- she commented on my blog.
two- i'm pretty sure she likes coffee.

:)

(it will be in the mail tomorrow)

june? really?

2008-06-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

It was sunny for about ten seconds this afternoon, so mimi and porter and i went out and picked some flowers.
despite still feeling like summer is never coming, i love living somewhere where things just grow all by themselves.

here they are in a vase. i realy think forget-me-nots might be my favorite flower. well, one of my favorites...

pictures of things...

2008-06-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

that i've been doing. in my free moments.

business cards.

new shirts.

and, some ties i've been working on...

2008-05-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

I'mparticipating in something called the sketch book project. check it out. pictures of my progress to follow...

started and finished projects

2008-05-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

Welp, i made my prototype. see, its a tie that you can wear as a scarf. a little rough, but it works. i've got some more work to do with the zipper and with deciding weather to line it with some other fabric to make it more scarf-y. the basic idea seems to work out nicely and i'm happy about that. unfortunately, my neck is too big to have a pictiure of me wearing it. next time i'm going to measure.

In other news... i finally finished the leg warmers that i made for amelia!

they're really cute, i had exactly the right ammount of yarn which is crazy. they were started at a time when her legs were much skinnier. soon they'll be arm warmers. and then i guess they'll have to be passed on to her soon to be baby cousin!

so that's all for now. gotta go walk the porter. it's already 80 degrees outside!YES!

punctuation.

2008-05-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

And by the way, i apologize for the lack of punctuation in that last post. its hard to type while holding a baby, much less feeding one.

SV AZ

2008-05-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

Amelia and i went to my parent's house in arizona. we got back on tuesday. it was sunny and warm and fun and relaxing and mimi and i had a really good time being with family and friends. while i was there i started a new project using my dad's old ties... its still in the planning stage. and since i'm still unpacking i'm thinking i probably won't start working on it till next week... i'll post some pictures once i have a better idea of how i'm going to make my idea a reality.

merle.

Amelia Rocks

2008-04-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

its hard to believe that just three months ago she was this little and skinny. and confused looking. and had such small cheecks. and still rocked.

new shirts

2008-04-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

Isold a bunch of shirts on saturday, so i decided to stay home from the market on sunday and make more. Next saturday i'll have 4 new types of shirts available! AND hopefully my new button making supplies will come this week so i'll have more buttons too!

Oh, and by the way, i took all of the pay pal buttons off of my older posts. i did it a while ago, actually. it was too much to think about keeping track of what i had for the online 'store' and the booth at saturday market. but, i should mention that i'm still more than happy to sell shirts to people who live in places other than portland, though. just let me know if you see something you like and i'll try to get it to you!

eleven week birthday/going back to saturday market

2008-04-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

Every friday amelia has a mini birthday. today was the eleventh! it was a beautiful sunny day. we celebrated by having lunch at veganopolis with jake, buying a new kind of bottle that will hopefully meet her standards, and playing with mr. rattle fish.
tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day too, and i'm excited. I'm going to be down at saturday market for the first time since i've had amelia. it feels funny to think about spending a whole day without her, but its time. the last time i sold at saturday market i was VERY pregnant. i had to pee every 6 minutes and i was an awkward chubby ball of babyness. plus it was SUPER cold out there. tomorrow will be the opposite of that. YES!
so, have a fantastic weekend, and if you're in portland, come say hi to me!

airport birds.

2008-04-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

they kinda blend in with the floor.

We went to texas last week for spring break. It was awesome. Warm weather, Shaved Ice, lots of family, lots of presents. On the way back to Oregon, Jake and I decided to get bumped to a later flight so we could each get vouchers for our next trip somewhere. we hung out in the phoenix airport for a really long time. maybe 10 hours. i might be exaggerating. a really long time though. we'd find a spot that wasn't too crowded, hang out there for a while, go get something to eat, find a different spot... it really wasn't too bad. we had plenty of chairs, bathrooms, food, and internet. Amelia was a good sport about it. I had a good time watching people and listening in to their conversations. the craziest thing was the birds. have i just never noticed the birds in airports before? there were a few in the lubbock airport & several in the phoenix airport (i didn't see any in the san jose airport, but maybe it was too late and they were all sleeping). it makes sense, i guess... there's plenty of food, high celings, no real predators. But isn't that weird? don't they miss the outdoors? can they get in and out? do they just stay in the airport for their entire lives? do they lay eggs and have babies that know nothing of the outdoors? who picks up the bodies when they crash into that big window? is it weird that i'm so obsessed with them? i think jake thought it was.

knitting club. crocheters welcome.

2008-03-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

Caryn and i have started knitting club. its pretty rad. it officially started last wednesday. i started making some legwarmers for amelia, but i think maybe i'm going to turn them into tights. tights will be way cuter. i'm just not sure how to make the butt part. maybe someone at yarn garden can show me how, that's where knitting club meets. there's a comfy couch and a guy to make you some coffee, plus TONS AND TONS of awesome yarns.

here's a picture of one leg:

that was taken a few days ago, they're a bit bigger now. i'll keep posting the progress...
i'm also making a hat, but its a little rough looking, so i'm not putting a picture. i think i might actually break down and look at a pattern because i want a specific type of hat and i don't seem to be able to make one up that works.

she's starting to wake up... so that's it for today!

drawing my drawings

2008-02-29T18:48:00.000-08:00

My first sketch book took me about a year to fill up. I had never kept a sketch book before and sometimes i would find it difficult to think
of something to draw. when i filled that first book, it was a huge sense of accomplishment for me. i was so excited about actually filling up a whole sketch book! in the days leading up to the completion i bought a new sketch book, it sat in my room, patiently waiting for me to draw on the last page of that first book. i like to go back and look at that first sketch book every now and then. its like looking back at myself, the way i used to draw, the things that i used to have on my mind reflected in what's on the paper. when i compare the first book to the next, and the one after that, the change in my style and ability is dramatic. after finishing the second sketch book i just couldn't stop sketching, filling up 2 or 3 sketch books a year (always the same kind, except for this one time when i was on vacation and i got the smaller version). my sketch books are a great way for me to be inspired in other mediums. if i'm looking for something to paint or print, i can find some drawing that i liked out of one of my sketch books and elaborate on it.

the sketch book that i'm currently using is one that i've had since september 07. that's kind of a long time for me. i guess i just haven't had as much time to sit and sketch these past few months. maybe i'm doing something else with that time. anyway, i've got about 2/3 of the book drawn in, and i'm determined to fill up the rest soon. i don't know how soon... but soon!
here are some drawings.

things in the backyard

2008-02-22T11:43:00.001-08:00

that was yesterday. it was so sunny outside. and warm. i can't WAIT for summer!!

Today is baby amelia's one month birthday. she celebrated by drinking until she vomited all over herself, getting cleaned up, and then having a little more. breast milk, that is. what a girl. its so amazing to watch her grow and change. i feel like i'm so obsessed. i can't wait to see the next cool thing she's going to do, to see her get bigger, start running around and saying silly things... but at some point i'm going to miss these days when she was just a little blob girl who made silly faces and didn't know that her hands were connected to her body.

2007-12-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

New shirts!

check it out... here's the full shirt: brown, short sleeves, reverse seams like all the kids are wearing.

they come in two colors. light blue and pink!

cute, eh? i only made 16 of them, so go tell all your friends!

check.

2007-11-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

Hmmm.

it seems like i've had 'write a blog' on my to do list for the past few weeks, so i suppose i'm going to do that. and then i'm gonna cross that shit off my list.

First, i've got some shirts for sale at the new herbivore store in portland. so that's exciting. the new store is pretty sweet, and actually, the whole vegan mini-mall thing is pretty awesome, so if you live in portland, you should really go down there and check it out.

Second, i've been crocheting a shit ton of hats. one a night, which is freaking quick, right? i learned to crochet on the streets, so each one is special and unique, no two are the same. i'm not really sure what i'm going to do with all these hats. give them as christmas gifts, maybe? or maybe i'm on a mission to make the perfect crocheted hat. each hat is bringing me closer to hat-making excellence. maybe not, i just know that for some reason i'm compelled to keep on making them. so that's what i'm gonna do.
this is the first one since the crocheting began. it has ear flaps.

Finally- and this really isn't art related but whatever-
cat face is being incredibly cute right now. maybe a little invasive. i think he really just wants me to get off of this chair so he can have it all to himself. he kinda has one claw out that's digging into my arm for some reason. but its still cute. and i took a picture to document his cuteness:

Not guaranteed forever part 2

2007-10-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

New stuff for you to see and buy.

these two bird shirts below are sold out, sorry! if you want a re-print, email me, and i'll see what i can do.

And...

some buttons (click image for larger view):

Top Row - Red Button
Second Row - Red Rain boots, Red Mouse
Third Row - Red Shelled Snail, Green Circle
Fourth Row - Orange and Green Flutterby, Rain Clouds, Safety Sam
Fifth Row - Red Raven, Green Button, BFF
(Please specify which button.)

Top Row - Faces
Second Row - Red face, Shy Crow
Third Row - Dandelion, Robot, Black Bike
Fourth Row - Red Cat, Face

what orange am i?

2007-10-01T19:47:00.001-07:00

Iam a pumpkin! its the best time of year to be a pumpkin.

You Are Pumpkin

Realistic and practical, you see the world for how it is.
You know what it takes to succeed in life...
And you're happy to help others reach their goals.

What Color Orange Are You?

i don't recall ever thinking about what orange i am. but i suppose pumpkin fits. today jake and i were walking to get our bikes and saw some squashes and pumpkins growing in someone's yard. the orange in pumpkins is dense and solid. i like colors that aren't ashamed to throw their weight around. that statement probably only makes sense if you've been hanging around with pumpkins. i have.
and you know what else? i've been making shirts. here are some of the new shirts. the bike one in yellow is unfortunately only available in womens large. its stretchy though, and could fit a variety of bodies. the color is bright neon yellow which is good for the biking biker. i also have the robot kite one available in mens shirts.
so yeah. i've been doing the portland saturday market thing for three weekends now. and that's been going well. i'm the new kid. but i like it. i like being fresh and new and learning as i go. i've got a lot of work ahead of me as far as the booth goes. the plan is to be selling cute little printed postcards and stationary by novemberish.

pf. jones, that is.

2007-09-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

Check out some of my new t-shirts. Now go to the Portland Saturday Market and buy some. Or you could buy them online...Designed and printed by yours truly.

Love,
pf jones

P.S.
there's more shirts, i'll put them up later...

the goods

2007-09-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

Look! jason took lots of wonderful pictures of my art on saturday. i was going to put them in a slideshow or something special, but since i don't have any clue how that's done, i'm just going to slap them up here. enjoy.

oh yeah.

2007-09-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

So anyone who lives in portland should go eat at paradox cafe on SE Bellmont and 35th ave. my paintings are hanging there. for two months. maybe you'll buy one.

yep.

what to do...

2007-09-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

the thing is i'm just not that much of an 'internet' person. i feel like i'd like to become one, but i'm also just not that willing to spend much time in front of a computer. this blog was intended to be an art blog, it doesn't feel that way to me. it feels like a crapped together half-blog. it does not feel like it represents the things that i am currently creating. i'd like that to change. i'm composing this post because i've got to start somewhere. if i do nothing, it will be nothing. its a start, right?
so here. a picture taken from the window of first place i ever lived in portland. i'd only lived here a short while, maybe 2 months. i really like the colors in the picture. i think i messed with it on photoshop. a few weeks after i took this picture, i started a painting of some birds on a wire. when i finally finished it, it wasn't really representative of the way i felt at the time of this picture. i like the finished painting, but its definitely not as lonely feeling as the photo. its because by the time i'd finished the painting it was spring, and i'd been here a while, and i knew people, and i was feeling different things and i'd learned things about myself and painting. all of that went into the painting. its funny that i'm writing this now because i was actually looking at that painting just a few hours ago. it hangs in my sister's boyfriend's living room. he bought it. (yay for selling artwork. yay for people buying it) yay for starting things and watching them grow and then finishing them.

first friday art.

2007-07-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

no. 1 the escape
acrylic on canvas
6"x12"
$75

no. 2 post historic
acrylic on canvas
8"x8"
$75

no. 3 meltdown
acrylic on canvas
6"x12"
$75

no. 4 follow
acrylic on canvas
6"x12"
$75

no. 5 kind gesture
acrylic on canvas
8"x8"
$75

no. 6 what i really mean to say
acrylic on canvas
8"x8"
$75

these paintings and several others will be hanging at seven corners studio for the month of july.
2132 SE division
Portland, oregon
open sundays 11-4

2007-06-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

some sketch book drawings.

root canal.

2007-06-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

vegan migas.

2007-06-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

i live to make things and do things. all things. current obsessions include painting, silk screening, AND the new band

Everyone Dies!

which includes my sister, caryn rocking out on the drums, marlin playing the keys and fixing things, jason laughter lander on the bass, & me up there singing our sounds of
kittens. bunnies. rage. and fury.

you better believe it.

some day soon, like as soon as we write more than two songs, we will be playing at ground control. downtown. portland.

not guaranteed forever.

2007-06-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas.