Illustration Friday: Jungle

The theme this week on Illustration Friday is Jungle which is quite a strange happening as I just this week finished a piece called "It's A Jungle Out There". This isn't your typical jungle I know, but I am not your typical girl. This sweet and innocent black and white illustartion of a girl on rollerskates is emerging from a black and white world into one of virbrant color. Think Pleasantville, only 2D. Her number is up, and she is on her way!

Can you feel the love??

Today is big day! Lots of love is being passed around the blog world and I am ever so grateful for it!!


Katey over at That's Hot featured a few of my favorite pieces! Have you seen this blog yet? It is so cute! Katey is the crafty gal behind One Good Bumble Bee, a great resource for fun bookplates, keychains, buttons, etc. I think we share a paper obsession! Her collages are not to be missed!



And by way of Holly over at decor8 news of my sale got to the kind folks over at Apartment Therapy: LA. They had featured me earlier in the year and I am so elated that they would give me such a great shout out! Both decor8 and AT:LA have the most amazing finds! You gotta check 'em out!

You may be wondering what all the fuss is about! Well, I am having a 20% off sale EVERYTHING in my Etsy shop all month long. I will be adding items periodically so check back often!

No more dilly dallying! Get over there!

Just thought I'd share

In April my friend Jamey and I hosted an Etsy gathering at my house for few of us ladies to get together and brainstorm about the site and how to get the word out in our area. One of the ladies in attendance was Kim of In Craft We Trust. Besides being super sweet and having the cutest daughter who had us all entranced, Kims wares are really cool! She had this adorable passport cover with her that I had to have. I loved the large orange flower embroidered on the vinage fabric which Kim shared had been given to her by her grandmother! Although I did intend for the item to house my passports it has kind of morphed into serving a different kind of purpose.

My car is a little older and only has a tape deck, so I take my iPod with me most of the time. Which means that the poor Nano spends a lot of time bouncing around inside my giant purse. Now it is not only protected by the rubber skin it lives in, but by this great little pouch too! Plus, as an added bonus, my earphones can live in there too. Now, the earbud foams dont magically disappear or get so grungy no sane person would put them in their ear!

Kim will be selling her magical goods at this weekend the Felt Club Mini-Craft Fair in Hollywood, CA. This is the second Felt club and I plan on going and taking lots of pics to post on Creative Swoon. If you are in the LA area and are looking for a great outing on Saturday afternoon, get over there!!!



For more info of the Felt Club event, check out their website!

Self Portrait Tuesday

This image, which has become my avatar all over the web, was originally intended to be used on an actual self portrait, but I have yet to find the nerve to create a piece of art with my own face on it. I would rather hang my family and work from other artists in my home than my own portrait of myself. I love the large piece of my grandmother in our dining room and the portrait of my dad, posted yesterday, that hangs in his home. I am just not ready to walk past myself in the living room!

(The color isn't uploading correctly! I am really not sure why! Blogger, why you treat me so bad??)

Rant Warning!! This might be Loooonnng!

It seems to me that fate would always have things go wrong shortly after a warranty expires. I have had my Powerbook for a little over 3 years. Overall it is not in bad shape. A bit gluey on the frame but I can design my works, and surf the web. I can blog (when blogger will let me . . .) and overall my needs are being met. That is until the computers main components begin to break down before my very eyes!

In March, when my Mac turned 3 and my AppleCare expired I learn just how arrogant Apple is! Did you know that you can not renew your AppleCare, that from the time of expiration, 3 years after purchase, every time you call them they will charge you around $50 dollars to help you? I love this machine and how wonderful it is to work on, but the quality of minor pieces like the power source(!!!) is shabby and disappointing! Why do they assume that everyone who buys their products will be willing to, or be able to, replace their machine every 3 years??? In my world purchasing a computer is up there with buying a car or a major kitchen appliance. I don't anticipate replacing my brand new fridge in 3 years. Who does?

All this and I haven't even broached to topic yet! (I did say this might be long!)

Let me just say that I don't really take my computer anywhere. I unplug it and sit outside in my garden, or when I travel it comes with. But a majority of its life is spent on my desk. The wear and tear is pretty minimal. So when I saw that my powercord was ripping at the connection, for the second time since I have had this machine, I was a little miffed. $85.00+ after tax is a lot to pay (TWICE!) for a major component that doesn't really see that much action. I don't pull it out by the cord. I don't yank it or crush it. Worst part was that it was still lighting up, and staying green, so all of a sudden the machine just shut down. 0% battery. I think I stopped breathing for a few seconds before I realized what had happened.

I went to Apple.com (on my husbands iMac) and searched the online store for the part I needed to replace. For some reason the comments box caught my eye. If I tell you that out of 750+ comments 90% where angry consumers talking about how many times they have had to replace this piece, how the item has thrown SPARKS(!!!!!) and one even documented that their new powercord scorched their laptop, would you believe me? I would sure want to see it for myself. Click here to do just that!

Left with no way to turn on my machine I had to go to the Apple store and replace the power adapter. I asked them if there were any plans to change the design to a more sturdy and functional one. The nonchalance of these guys baffled me. They have obviously had a ton of angry people come in and don't want to have the conversation, again. They showed me the new models, with the new magnetic power adapter connection and shrug. Nothing they can do for me. And really, this kind of incompetence goes a bit higher than these two. They aren't decision makers. They are like car show models pointing at the shiny objects. So what of the people who have invested their money in the faulty machines??? Where is the recall? Where is the fix?? Who is going to rectify this problem that so many people are experiencing?? Where is Apple's responsibility??? Or do we just get to eat it? Buy a new one. Hope we dont explode with this one?

I have to stop here because I am just riling myself up, but I am curious. Has anyone else had this problem?? I might be sorry I asked. This may be like opening Pandoras Box. But I am curious . . .

How Did You Get Here?

**Update** I was one of the 3 grand prize winners! Yeah baby!!!



I stumbled upon a Call For Entries yesterday on one of the art forums I visit. The students at the Art Institute of California-San Diego came upon a grant from Toyota Motor Corporation to come up with a marketing campaign for the new sub-compact Toyota Yaris and decided to use a portion of the funds to launch a creative competition! As a result they have designed a website for creative people to come together, get inspired and showcase their artwork. The theme is "It's HOW You Get There" and each submission was to include how the art they where submitting led them down their path. The last day for entry was June 4th (lucky I saw it yesterday!) and all forms of expression from music and photography to illustration and video were welcome.

I entered the very first portrait that I did in the style that you see today. It is a piece very special to me, an image of my father done almost exactly 2 years ago, as a Fathers Day gift. It set me down the path I am on now and really helped me to gain the confidence to persue life as an artist.

I received an email late last night informing me that I was one ot the daily winners and am now entered in the final competition I believe ends today! Woo Hoo! I love instant gratification! Helps to balance out the anticipation that goes along with submitting work to shows and competitions that are months away!

Click here to see the full list of daily winners.