Kirby

An illustration I did of my childhood dog shortly after she passed away.  The different shades of blue make her look kind of sad.. but she was one of the happiest dogs ever.  I wonder what she’s up to in doggy heaven.. probably eating chocolate, running around leash-free and getting a massive belly rub.  RIP Kirby Pooh

Snowy Evergreens

One of my favorite parts of riding.. is the majestic looking snow covered evergreens that trace the edge of the trails

Valentine’s Day

This feels incomplete to me… but I’ve only seen it printed out on copy paper.  Perhaps on the right paper it would look simple and elegant.  I took the words “i love you” and translated them into a bunch of different languages.

Card for a someone expecting

Having trouble deciding what’s the right thing to say to someone who is expecting.. is it inappropriate to use the phrase “knocked up”?  Maybe it’s all about who you’re sending it too.  I guess if you have a friend that’s married and has been trying to have a child for a while.. then it could be funny and light-hearted.  At the same time.. it could seem cold and inconsiderate if one of your friends happened to become pregnant after a one night stand.  Should include a disclaimer with this one.. “think before sending”.  Anyhow.. I’m interested to see what the greater public thinks.. so please take a second to complete my poll.  Thank you.. come again!

My Teddy Bear!!

Three weeks ago we took a trek to Syracuse, NY to pick up our wonderful new Wheaten Terrier puppy we named Teddy.  He’s sooo frickin cute.. but in case you need the proof I’m attaching pictures.  I have to admit, I never understood crazy dog owners.. the kind that seem overly obsessed with their pet.. talking about them as if they were human.. plastering the walls of their office with pictures of their pup, well I am going to resist the whole crazy part.. but I have somewhat hopped over to the other side.  Teddy has earned a position as the background of my computer..  I think about him a gazillion times a day.. I tend to talk in a baby voice to him (a personal pet peeve of mine).. and now I find myself writing a blog post about him. Darn dog.. too cute.  So far, I think the Wheaten breed has been a perfect choice.  He doesn’t shed, has a loving personality, and is smart…. when he wants to be I look forward to having him around for a long time to come… but I must resist becoming a crazy dog owner!!

Just in time for the Holidays!!

So I haven’t written in this blog for a long long time… I had one very unfortunate month without internet at my apartment.. and it took me a while to get back in the groove.  Finally finished up my hard cider label yesterday, with 3 days to spare before Christmas.  We decided to call it “Hardcore Cider” since we’re so hardcore.  Just realized I should probably have a taste testing before I give them away.. don’t want to poison anyone What do you think of the label? Pretty hardcore huh?

Just a few things left to do before the holiday.. like gift wrapping.. I was thinking about carving a lino pattern and making my own wrapping paper.. I may end up hanging on to that idea for next year.  I’m anticipating a busy few days at work.. and then an immediate switch to total relaxation mode.  Gotta love the Holidays!

Recovering

It’s been a long 5 days bouncing between my couch and my bed trying to kick this demon they call swine flu.  When I first heard that I’d have to be out of work for a week I have to admit.. a teensy part of me was jumping for joy.. could this be an opportunity to get some real design time in.. not just fiddling around here and there between work and life.  Nope.. not at all.. the swine doesn’t just attack you physically.. it takes your brain as well.  Little decisions like which can of soup to heat up required more mental capacity than I could spare.   I don’t wish this virus upon anyone.. not even my worst enemies (if i had any.)

Well today is the first day I’m feeling better.. and have been somewhat productive.. For starters I’m off the couch.. and I took some time to make my boyfriend a card for our four year anniversary next weekend.  It’s very fall-inspired.. and features my favorite tree.. the birch tree.

Fall Weekend

Went on a really great hike on Saturday.  I discovered a short trail in Charlotte, VT, right up Mt. Philo.  It’s perfect because it only takes a couple of hours and you can see gorgeous views of Lake Champlain and Vermont farms from the top.  It’s officially fall.. all the leaves are yellow and falling.. in fact I learned from Sean that if you catch a falling leaf than you’ll have good luck.  Let me tell you.. that’s a lot harder than you might think… but I had a blast running around the woods trying to catch them.

Today I began brewing some hard apple cider.  It was super easy.. but I’ll wait to see how it comes out before I share the recipe. If all goes well, I’ll have 5 gallons of sweet delicious alcoholic cider in 6 weeks.. just in time to bottle up and give away as Christmas gifts! So that brings me to my next design project, a customized label for my cider.  I’ve got a bunch of ideas floating around in my head.. just have to nail one down and make it happen.  When I first started thinking about design, I always dreamt of how cool it would be to design wine bottle labels.  I think the key to a good label is representing the taste as well as where it comes from.. in the most aesthetic way possible of course.. for people like me who judge bottles by the label.  Well, hope you all had a good weekend.. I’ll keep you posted on the cider progress.. both label and product!

Snowflake

I designed this using illustrator, and by referencing a photograph of an actual snowflake.  Wilson A Bentley was a Vermont photographer who captured the first micro image of a snowflake on film.  He went on to photograph over 5000 snowflakes.. and came to the conclusion that no two are the same… kind of like people.

Good Night all.. I’ll be dreaming of snowboarding on fresh powder tonight.. finally ready for some flakes to fall!!

Lighthouse

I realize it’s about time to embrace winter, but I’m dreaming of sunnier days and the thought of a beautiful New England lighthouse on a summer day beats the hell out of what it looks like outside my window (gray.. cold.. and windy).  Tonight I experimented with texture for the first time – the checkered pattern allows for me to add another shade of red which helps create some depth in the design.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the right colors of oil ink, so I decided to attempt printing with acrylic.  I learned that it dries way too fast.. hence all the white spots on my print.

Well thanks for stopping in.. Goodbye and Goodnight!