Smize!

Oh man, am I a lucky girl or what? My brother and my Nana (awesome, awesome lady) decided that for my birthday, a week ago, they would get me a Wacom Tablet!!!!!. I have to be honest. I thought I would pick it up and voila, I'd be a regular Monet in no time, but it's quite a bit more difficult to adjust to than I had thought, which made things very intimidating, and ended up with me letting it sit on my desk this week, for fear of failure!

I like to be able to pick things up quickly, this was not going to happen overnight!

So today I figured I'd try that graffiti application on facebook with it, and voila:

I've got a ways to go, but I'm starting to get more of a feel for it. This could quickly become an obsession.

In other news, I am also now the proud owner of a Schwinn Veracruz:

TheGuy decided to spoil me. I'm tricking it out, so imagine it with a wicker basket and some pink streamers - more to go, but that'll come! So I've been ripping around town, and I can't even tell you how much FUN I've been having with it! What a summer it's been so far - keeping me away from my own design challenge, but I'm getting fresh air and sunlight, and lots of laughs, so I think it's okay!

Stay tuned - hopefully I will have more wacom delights to share with you soon!

Braceface

I always thought it would be cool to come up with a line of cards that are for the not-so-everyday occasions. I figured it would be ten thousand years before it was possible, but with this zazzle business, I can get to work on it right now!

Braceface by pattiatti
Browse all other greeting cards available at zazzle

So, there's the first - a congratulatory card for new bracefaces - whether it's from a family member or from a dentist, I think it'd be pretty handy. More stuff is floating around this head of mine, so we'll see what the outcome of that is.


In other news, it is hotter than blazes here today - I've just been laying low, sipping lots of water, trying not to generate any body heat. Ah, summer. All I need is a pool, and life would be perfect!

Back to it!

Well, I've been a pretty crummy blogger for the last few months. Moving has just inspired me in different ways and, let's face it - this weather just begs a person to stay outside and soak in the sunshine.

That being said, I've been newly inspired by this whole Zazzle business. The idea of having my work printed on tees, notecards, etc. is just too exciting for words. So, I've gotten my mojo back. More ideas that I can create at the moment, which is super, super awesome! So I've got two goodies to share with you today, as a way to be all like "yo, I'm back - please keep checking this pathetic excuse for a blog". I hope that you enjoy them.

The first is all abut a little song that all-to-often gets stuck in my head. Maybe you'll like it (it'd make a conversation piece of a tee, wouldn't it? (sorry about the linking to the goods.. I'd just like to sell some stuff, but feel free to ignore!)

The second is a big 'holla' to all those lovely moms out there who have, are going to, or are, popping little human beings out while being gorgeous femme fatales at the same time.  

Yummy Mummy

Stay tuned, there's more up here in this wackadoodle brain of mine!

J-E-L-L-O

Bill Cosby would be proud.

Strange where inspiration can come from. That was a whole lot of weird and oddness - thought I was going crazy. Our web programmer just calmly said "oh, it's an earthquake" and hasn't said anything since.

Ack. 2012 is getting closer....

Fertigo 'aint no Alfred Hitchcock.

So, I just thought I would share with you another new favourite font of mine, Fertigo. It's delicate and lovely, and it's available free here. Can't believe I'm giving that one away.

Anyway. My life is crazy busy - as usually happens this time of year - and I've been in a flurry of activity! Excitement! I do have some challenges in mind for the upcoming weeks; it'll just be finding time to do them!

Happy Friday!

Not a latte

Today someone was nice enough to pick me up a latte from the evil coffee place that starts with an 's'. I fancy myself a bit of a caffeine junkie - I run off the stuff. Butt I drink teas, people. TEAS!

I will never drink a latte again. I am so jittery right now, I could literally register on the Richter scale. Serious!

So, to take my  mind off it, I whipped up this jittery little latte.

Type sourced from Dafont, it's called "Lakestreet".

Oh baby - this is going to be some crash!

Rain on my parade, why don'tcha

Just a little quickie with my new favourite font, Museo (with a few little tweaks, of course), which, incidentally, became my favourite just in time for Dell to swoop in and make it theirs ... hiss.

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring or something. I know that rain is all spring like, and hey, I'm not against the whole April-Showers-bring-May-Flowers thing, but it is making me yawn and yawn and yawn, and I need a little pep in my step!

Home at last

I'm baaaaack.

Although it may have seemed like I was slacking off big-time, I've actually been knee deep in moving: drywall dust, boxes, paint - working from dusk till dawn (actually, way past that, but there aren't any cliches that I can think of which will sum up exactly how hard theGuy and I have been working). There's still some unpacking to do, pictures to be hung, but the house is really starting to come together and feel like ours.

Our friends lived in this house previously, so I've been here many times. After we first moved in, it felt oddly like we were just hanging out at their house, instead of feeling like ours. So, we painted. 

And painted and painted and painted. Oh yeah, and there was this whole incident with plaster and drywall dust that still leaves my skin feeling like it has a film of dust on it. And so, the cleaning...

That occupied a lot of our time but we are now at the point where I can steal away to start the crafts that I have planned. MUAHAHA - so, my apologies for my digression as I get all house, house, house on you, but I thought I would share today's little project!

This is my bathroom door (aren't those windows at the top cool!?):

I don't quite know whose idea it was to install a door with a window on the bathroom, but I made the most of it. I found an awesome idea on the Design Sponge website, and decided to give it a go - making it look like the windows were etched (when in reality, it's simply frosted mactac, a paint marker and a little creativity!). Here's a close up (and I apologize for the bad photos - I haven't unpacked the cord to my camera yet, so these were taken on my phone):

That's all for now - stay tuned!

Closed-circuit

I adore typography. Adore. So, as a combined effort of today and yesterday, I decided to design a font. It's called circuitboard because it reminds me of the inside of a computer. Pretty as it is. The intended purpose of this font would be for each letter to be used as a drop cap. You could write about computers!

Getting ready for the move. Two weeks from yesterday! Purging, purging, garbage, garbage. Spent the entire day running around yesterday for some crafty items, to come back with only a couple shower curtains. Seems like the crafts may not happen till we're all moved in. Something tells me we have our work cut out for us!

Case of the Sickies

Obviously, my last design challenge didn't exactly turn out as I had planned.. my last week kind of went by in a haze. Between the cold medication and the congestion in my head, it was like a crazy mental block! So, I went to a cartoon doctor, and the official diagnosis is in - I had booger brain!

So, sorry for the lack of posts; life has been a crazy whirlwind, and this booger brain really took me out of the game. I am going to put in loads of effort to get back on track, because I miss my design challenges!

Next week, we're watching theGuy's parents house, so I may not be at the computer much, but I'll see what I can do!

Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun

I think that the weather was trying to prove me wrong today. After my snow blower design, today was the most beautiful day we've had in a while! The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I had the most lovely walk home I've had in a while. It's so nice to see the sun shining later into the evening. I am imagining myself spending summer evenings sitting on our new patio, sipping a summer tea, soaking in the sun. Ooh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun, Please shine down on me!

Snow Day.

On the weekend, theGuy had to borrow his step dad's snow blower so that we could clear our driveway, because it was almost impossible to get in or out. While watching him carrying out the hard labour (I like watching), I thought of how similar the snow blower is to a lawn motor. And then I realized that in any Canadian winter, I would likely use a snowblower more than the lawn mower.

Okay, snow. I've had enough - is it time for spring yet?

Kings of the Castle!

I'm not a sports person, but I'm all about teamwork! So, although I griped and groaned to watch the hockey game last week, that last hockey game was definitely one that got the blood rushing!

And Canada... all those gold medals..

Not only do we have heart, we have 14 gold medals, too!  It was a rocky start, Canada, but it was a great show, and congrats to team Canada for pulling it off!

spbbbbbbt!

Have you ever wondered how to spell the sound that you make when you stick out your tongue and sputter at someone? There has been an entire study on it - I saw it online somewhere - if I find it, I'll post it. Anyway - the title of this post is my approximate spelling of that action - I sounded it out.

Mondays - what is it about you that makes me want to just spbbbbbbt at you? Poor Monday - the most loathed day of the week - I wonder if it has a complex? 

Edit: This is not the article I read - but apparently I spelled it wrong!

Wiki Answer

Ah-HA! Found it! The Sneeze is a hilarious blog - Here's his article on that topic!

Can you say no to a dare?

Working on making this blog pretty! I wanted to come up with something to brand my blog, and this is one of the millions of sketches I came up with. I think it'll do for now. What do you think?

Home Sweet Home

Very exciting news has hit theGuy and I this week - we're moving! I am so very excited and keep thinking of all these crafts that I can do in the house! There is an amazing website that has so many diy projects that I can't wait to take on, it's called Design Sponge and you should really check it out.

So, moving day will be April 1st - there might be a lull in activity around then (not unlike lately!), but hopefully I will be able to do a ton of creative projects and post them on here to share! Whee! I am so excited for my new studio - hopefully it will be inspiration headquarters!

So - step one - I am on the hunt for old school ornamental frames. They can be hideously ugly, plastic, glass-less, housing a painting of a seagull, whatever - but I would like as many as possible - so keep your eyes peeled, people. If you see a stash somewhere, please let me know! I can't wait for my first project!

Sketchy

A quote by Milton Glaser, the creator of the I Love NY logo. I'm not sure the last time a quote rang this true with me, but wowza. TheGuy and I were sitting in Chapters, perusing our favourite sections, and while skimming through a book on Typography - there it was - the quote of all quotes!

I'm not sure if it's because my first year of college was done completely by hand, or whether it's because these daily design challenges have brought me back to my sketchbook like never before, but it's true! Little imperfections that are created on paper make things more perfect, more human, and more real. And it's something that can't happen by accident on the computer. :)

All elements rendered by me.

Pi

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Hope you enjoy today's little design!
Now! Off I go for some lovely time with theGuy! Hope your V-Day is awesome!

Shake it like a Polaroid picture..

Thursday was my lovely friend, Jakey's Birthday. He turned 27! TheGuy and I celebrated his birthday with him yesterday, and I was struck again by a) how long we've been friends, b) how comfortable and nice it is to be friends with him and c) how much it would suck to be ALLERGIC TO ALCOHOL - seriously - the birthday boy had 2 1/2 drinks and was sick as a dog. Not a happy moment for him! Poor Jakey!

Anyway - Jake is a designer who has such a different way of looking at things! He is able to see beauty in old things, he has an eclectic sense of humour and loves things that are a little rough around the edges. His work is always a little kooky - in a good way. I wanted to do something a little modern, but a little imperfect to honour his special day! A polaroid popped into my head - how beautifully ugly are polaroid photos? The hues, odd exposures and perfect frame make the polaroid an iconic visual that I thought would speak to Jakey!

Happy birthday, Jakey!

All elements were created by me!

Having a ball!

TheGuy: What're you doing?
Me: Thinking of what to do for my design challenge.
TheGuy: Here, draw this.
Me: Ok!

And that is the story of today's daily design (although there is a much longer, more involved story to the rubber band ball itself.. another time).

All elements were hand-drawn by me