Am I a Pink Person?

Before the power went out last night, I had a chance to catch up on some blogs, one of which (The Indigo Bunting) is manned by an artist who does design work for such titles as Esquire and Martha Stewart Living. Drool! Dream job! (Plus she designs seriously cute invites/favors for all her niece's and nephew's birthday parties. Adopt me, please?)

So I pulled this illustration she included for my inspiration file. Love the colors and the simplicity; I wish I could hang it in my bathroom because I think it'd make getting ready for work a happier occasion. It's from an NYT illustration feature that you should definitely check out. Hours & hours of fun, or at least 30 minutes.

Then when I trotted over to The Sartorialist, I found a skirt with similar vibrancy. Look familiar? So fun, right??

And then over at Crewcuts (why is some of the cutest J.Crew stuff only kids-sized?), I found these:

I love this color combo almost as much as slate/yellow. I'm a bit late in the season to be adopting this color obsession, although those boots are definitely for fall, so I'm not sure what to do. My other obsession has also developed from the Sartorialist. I've never thought I could be a long skirt person, but here are some more ideas I'd love to try... once the flood waters subside. :)

I'd Share My Wellies With You...

As Hurricane Irene heads our way, rain boots have been on my mind (especially these from J.Crew that I don't really need, but REALLY want... in yellow, of course! Or these, because ballet flats don't take rain for an answer.)

You'd think that since I'm from Louisiana, I'd be well-versed in "batting down the hatches," but as no one up here seems to understand, Shreveport is practically on a different planet from NOLA.

All this to say, I have another poster design up my sleeve, inspired by those lemon-flavored zapatos up there. The background will be a dusty cerulean with white, hand-written, scripty lettering, "I'd share my wellies with you," barely tucked behind a flat illustration of white-outlined yellow rain boots in the lower right-hand corner. I can visualize it exactly in my head; whether or not it will ever appear in Illustrator is another thing entirely. Maybe this weekend's mandatory camp out (or should it be camp in?) will provide the opportunity to try my hand at it.

I Want to be a Kid Again!

So my father and I have somewhat collectively been working on independent children's book ideas, his about Peanut the Dachshund (i.e. working title: Peanut Saves the Day), mine - of course - about Edison the Calico; no preliminary title as of yet, although after re-watching Narnia Pt. 1 this week, something along the lines of "Edison the Valiant" has a nice ring to it. In case YOU forgot, Edison is a girl, though SHE is quite aware of this fact. Since her story has nothing to do with lords or ladies, that name may never see print, but I might take to addressing her as such around the house. #catladytendencies

We both - Dad and I - had come to a bit of a slump. His work projects (video game story background writing/"world" development) had taken precedence over personal projects. My problem, on the other hand, has just been lack of discipline.

But today, after sneaking a peek at the blog of artist Matte Stephens between tasks - LOVE his stuff! - I was inspired. His book, The Foolish Fox, comes out in September. (I'd post a pre-order link to it here, but can't seem to find it online yet.) Take a look at a few of his illustrations here, followed by pics of his awesome workspace, inside and out. Who wouldn't want to be creative sitting there? or outside, looking in!? Can't wait for his book, and in the meantime, can't wait to log some more hours on my own. For now, going to finish baking some Chinese egg tartlets. Yum!

Phantom Family Memoirs

Family is very important to me; to be more exacting, the concept of family is very important to me.

Somedays it hits me more than others how much I will miss certain aspects of lives long lived. I wish they could be recorded, documented; for posterity, yes, but more so just for MY fading memory - I lie - for my clouded, biased memory. It seems I could make use of a third-party's editorial eye to sort through, categorize and sift someone's entire person into one of those upside-down-pyramid diagrams they always taught us to use for "hard news" stories in journalism classes - the term for which I can't remember now.

"Please put the most admirable attributes in the dek," I'd say. "Leave the messy and vague for the last graf, the one that always gets cut for space anyway..." leaving the hierarchical details of events weighted squarely in his favor.

I wish someone had kept his correspondence as did Valerie for her own T.S. Elliot. I wish there were a "street view" of Chicago intersections in 1931 so I could see not only the photos painstakingly snapped of everyone's favorite little professional performer - the child prodigy, but glean instead some simple, unadulterated context.

But this is sounding less and less like a memoir and more like a subpoena for circumstantial evidence.

All previous hurt aside, it pains me that if a book IS ever written, it would be by the hands another too self-promoting for the product to be of any value to me. I don't want to hear the empty praise and accolades. I just want images, bits and bytes strung together with timetables established before my birth and held up entirely by an underpinning of grace.

Maybe I'll just attempt to play historian for the other branch of my family tree while there's still time.

Bikes for books.

I'm working on a newsletter design for a ministry at Princeton Alliance Church, and while sifting through dingbats for little section header graphics, I stumbled across this little gem:

which I then turned into this:

I know I'd seen the icon before; I think I've even used it in previous projects. But somehow it sparked something different this time, and I had to follow a quick tangent to type this out, maybe a bookmark, maybe a poster:

It's super simple, and I'm not completely happy with the typography yet (Illustrator was giving me "pathfinder" issues when I tried to do anything less vanilla. Ugh!). But kind of fun. I might have already sent it to a certain boy who likes books... and hopefully, bikes.

Book L-O-V-E!

Pottering around Palmer Square with Mom today, of course forced us into local children's toy store, jaZams, to "relive our childhood" as we explained to the shopkeeper (their site shows nothing, but think "magical" like The Shop Around the Corner from "You've Got Mail," but with more than just books, even from Europe and Asia). I fell in love with the two cutest books that I wish I'd had the ideas to write. Next best idea: adopt kids soon so I can read them to them.

No. 1: Mud Pies and Other Recipes cooks up dishes for your favorite dolls' tea parties: "Pencil Sharpener Pudding," "Wood Chip Dip," and "Roast Rocks" are some whimsical centerpiece necessities. Would have been great for my own mud pie days. So cute!!

No. 2: Turkish Delight and Treasure Hunts gives instructions on how to make the treats from your favorite children's stories. Think the personified animals' home-made dishes from Narnia. Why, yes, I've really always wanted to walk through the wardrobe myself.

Wish I could... it's been snowy enough here to feel like the White Witch's woods anyway; all I need is a lamp post.

I've got the gear! (and in plaid)

Yay!! Neither Sears... nor our neighborhood UPS man... let me down. Today arrived the correct size snow boots for my trip tomorrow. I unfortunately had to go a size up since my feet are practically the size of skis anyway, which meant a pensive wait by the front door for the new box to appear.

Khombu boots via Sears

Too bad I can't just barefoot, cross-country ski everywhere I need to go, instead of having to shell out the $$ for these comfy cuties. But what do you think? Too mountain-man? Or, as the company's tagline suggests, "fashion for the elements" and well worth it?

Tying up loose ends

I am moving across the country this Friday. I really should be packing... but.... isn't this more fun?




I guess because I'm trying to tie up all these loose ends before I leave, I'm having a bit of a bow fetish today. No. 1: wren t-shirt, via oh joy studios; No. 2: in God we trust bow necklace; No. 3: in God we trust bow tie (could I make it into a headband?)

In the meantime, wish me luck; I'll wrap a ribbon around my finger, hoping to remember that last little task.