P r e t t y S k e t c h y

Gum, Walks, & Tenting

I've been pretty quiet lately due to road trips, weddings, wedding prep, post-wedding fatigue and loads of time spent with the kiddies. I've been trying to take a lot of photos of them because we spend so much time together so here's a few from the past week or so.

At the gum wall by the Pike Place Market. Kids really enjoy the grossness of this.

Little B hanging out under an arch at the park.

Playing tag.

Walking around Green lake. I have them in two of my favorite little outfits.

Anya making stars for our surprise project for the playroom...

and Brogan colouring them.

The team, playng with the hole punch with the stars strung up behind them on the frame of...

the tent we made for the playroom! I used a tutorial that I read about a while back on Cakies (found here) and it was so easy to do! The only change I made was to use thumbtacks to affix the bed-sheet to the frame instead of sewing elastic (I avoid sewing at all costs). We ended up taking a few of the flowers off after we took this picture cause it was a bit too girly but both the kids love it. They spent the afternoon we made it playing games in there and this week Anya dragged her sleeping bag, favorite stuffed animals and a few pillows in there to make it more cozy. She even takes a nap in there now and then. As an unfortunate aside, this picture shows the sad state of my point and shoot, man do I ever need a new camera.

More later.

A Detailed retrospective

So I wanted to wait until Jill saw this before I posted it on here. I made her a little going away gift to find when she got home after I left (she was away when I moved).

 

That's right, it's a blackboard retrospective of our year. It was pretty easy to do considering we've saved almost all the notes we left each other all year. Yay sentimental pack-rats! A few items of note...

 

the start of our vintage mirror collection and the note that birthed it. Toothpick heads of Meg & Joel from the engagement party and a screen shot from SATC.

 

A business card from The Dutchess of course, a list of our favorite shows with a picture of Alec Baldwin & a label from a jug of organic milk.

 

The container of expired pain medication I used for the first four days after getting my wisdom teeth removed (oops), my medical bracelet, the Epcor energy usage graph we got the month I made it my goal to lower our gas bill ( a resounding success). Also a Royal Bison Flyer, label from one of my 'You're A Tool Necklaces', a label from my Elevenplusone button scarf and a Nokiomis receipt from the sets of identical cards we both bought that weekend.

 

My Mornings With Jill playlist from itunes, a quote from 500 Days of Summer an Anthro reciept & clothing tag, the tag from a wonderful pair of shoes/sandals Jill's boyf Jon gave me and a few coffee cups and starbucks logos.

 

A close up itunes shot of Today Was A Fairy-tale by Taylor Swift. Yeah, that's right. Also the box from my new amazing eyeshadow from Holt Renfrew, a going away present from Jill.

 

More notes, a fabric flower (so hot right now), an itunes card and more and more post-its.

Things to be derived from this post:

1. I am an awesome roommate.

2. Jill is an awesome roommate.

3. You would be lucky to live with either of us.

4. We love using and saving sticky notes.

Back from the Bison

So I've re-emerged from my month or so of blogging slacking. I spent all weekend at the Royal Bison sitting behind a very lovely table selling my wares. I had a few peeps drop by to say hi and check things out and all in all it was a good weekend. This is my only full table shot, it's a bit blurry, sorry. That's Jill there, looking adorable and helping out. She was so cute, anytime someone said how great my stuff was or how much they liked it Jill would be all "I know, it's so amazing!". It was hilarious.

 

How cute was this table? The birch branches with the 'Pretty Sketchy' flags strung in between were a definite stroke of genius on my part.

 

I sold all but one of the typewriter prints (which by the way turned out to be super lovely). They were printed out on a thick watercolor paper and looked very similar to the original & very awesome.

 

It was such a good weekend, the tool necklaces went like hotcakes. I wore a hacksaw necklace most of the weekend.

 

 I have a few necklaces left if there are any interested parties... they're $25 and come with a craft paper grommeted 'you're a tool' tag attached. Also, I do believe they are gender neutral, here's my friend Joel wearing the pipe wrench model in true hipster fashion.

 

 

 

I did a new postcard pack for this bison as well...

 
 I usually do postcards of paintings but this time I did a package of scans from a few of my sketchbooks. I also added a place for an address and a tiny little drawn frame for a stamp on the back (usually the back is blank). They are definitely my favorite pack so far.

Okay, I'm gone for now but I'll be back soon. I have more to share with you.

Trampled by the Bison.

So the Christmas Royal Bison was a pretty fabulous time. Here's some proof...

 My adorable little temporary roommate Sarah The Jam Girl.

Kristen and Rachel stealing my camera and taking pictures of themselves. I am punishing them both by putting this up.

 A slightly panoramic view.

Also guys I had the cutest booth ever. EVER! It was adorable. I made a string of flags that said Pretty Sketchy (and by 'I made' I obviously mean that I cut and assembled them and then had my Mom sew them. I can't sew straight). Then I had my Dad help me secure two birch branches onto wooden plaques so I could hang the flags between them. It was seriously off the hook. Check it out...

 Beth behind the table and our lovely neighbor Kelsey in the background. We definitely OD'd on Starbucks this weekend but that didn't stop me from getting one on Monday, ha. Please note that all of the display elements on my table are thrift store purchases (with the addition of spray paint).

 Typewriters, flags, stationery, cards and postcards.

Also guys, I OFFICIALLY HAVE PRINTS FOR SALE!

 More on that later though... ha. Thanks to all the peeps that came out to say hi, bring me treats and buy my wares.

And FYI if anyone is interested in Christmas cards, stationery sets (below),

 
 mini-books or postcards, I have a few left that would make pretty sweet Christmas gifts. Pop me an e-mail if you're interested. Okay I'm done with the shameless self-promotion (for now).

Dead & Dying: a week-long post.

Yes peeps, you are right. This is a picture of little Joey being towed away. Apparently my clutch decided to stop working this week along with a few other things vital for driving... luckily Jill had AMA. I talked to the mechanic today and apparently I am in need of repairs to the tune of $1500. Not cool. Agh, that means there are some tough decisions ahead for me. Oh why did I not become an engineer or a dentist? 

*Please take note of the homeless men in the background that stopped while we were waiting outside to ask Jill which one of them were better looking. The one that asked had a mustache that was about three inches long, he looked like a walrus. It was pretty amazing.

My week ended with me biking to work this morning and possibly developing an ear infection as a result. It is waaaay too cold to bike. Now lets go back a bit...

My lovely roommate Jill was sick Monday & Tuesday of this week so I did my roommately duty of fetching us Sugarbowl cinnamon buns and butter chicken and spending two days on the couch watching movies with her. It was glorious. I also had 'rescued' this window a while back so I spent Monday night backing it with pretty paper, it will eventually be hung in my room I think...

I also spent a good deal of Tuesday cleaning up the post-show mess in my studio to get it ready for Sketchy Jesus (a small group Nay-Nay and I started at City Centre Church). If any of you Edmonton-arty-Jesus-loving peeps are interested in a weekly sketch-booking/sharing group hit me up. A few pics of some studio improvements/additions...

 

 

 These photos were taken in my not-so-well-lit basement at night, sorry about the quality. You get the idea though.

Wednesday was spent with my little peep Kristen, Nay-Nay, Meg & Jill. We breakfasted at The Sugarbowl, watched Glee, ate a lot of halloween candy and sketch-booked. I also began work on some Christmas cards for the Royal Bison. An unfinished sneak peek for you...

Another dark studio photo.

And here's another Royal Bison sneak peek. Jill and I have been loving these since I made them early this week. She's already claimed a plier necklace for her own & I've been wearing a pipe wrench necklace all week. I made them just for the Royal Bison hipster crowd.

Thursday I taught at the school for the deaf which was pretty okay. My roommate works there so I rode with her and we ate leftover butter chicken for lunch together. I can't sign at all so the TA pretty much saves the day anytime I end up working there. The kids are pretty great though and I spent a lot of the day drawing pictures for a few of the girls who discovered the last time I was there that I can draw.

Then Beth, Jill and I watched The Family Stone together last night and ate the most amazing dinner ever that Jill just decided to whip up because she's a frigging dream, seriously peeps. Roast beef, yorkshire pudding, salad and mashed potatoes with gravy (all after she spent the day working). She also made these amazing oatmeal date cookies that I have eaten about 37 of tonight. I love that Jill is the sort of girl who will make a roast beef dinner and then be okay with eating it in my studio on the couch while watching a movie. I am not much of a kitchen table eater, I prefer coffee tables or drawing tables or a bed, ha. Here's Jill putting the filling in the cookies in my studio...

She's almost too perfect, almost. Also, still single... (call me, I screen all applicants before they are allowed to contact her).

And today, as mentioned already, began with a very chilly bike ride and ended with a Friday night spent computering and watching movies in bed. There was some monster drawing and grade three disciplining in the middle of all that as well.

I've been feeling a bit down lately, it's my 26th birthday next week and that combined with car troubles, boys that are assholes, and the early onset of my seasonal affective depression thing is making me into a somewhat unpleasant girl to be around. Seriously peeps I need to buck up, I'm tired of myself. Okay, I'm done now, happy weekend. I'm going to watch Mean Girls in bed now.

Solitary Romance

Tonight on the way home from work I rented An American in Paris, Gidget, Gigi, and Paris When it Sizzles. I have seen Gidget before but the rest are new to me. One of my favorite single girl things to do is rent a bunch of lovely old movies and watch them alone. It seems so indulgent and romantic in a strange way; it's nights like this that make me content to be spending time with myself. I chose An American in Paris for tonight and watched it while beginning to ink a painting I started sketching out last night. It was pretty great but there were a few too many extended dance scenes for me to truly love it. Gene Kelly is a fox though so that cushioned the blow. I decided to get four movies because you get four for the price of three and I need to spend a lot of time painting this week. This is my last commission before I'm off to Seattle, so exciting!

My Mom was up visiting this weekend. We went for walks, packaged stationery, watched Leave it To Beaver (which I love) ate cinnamon buns and went on a picnic with my sister. Instead of starting my new piece like a good girl Saturday night it seemed necessary to make this...

that's right folks. A mini string of flags for my jewelry tree.

Cute right? Ridiculously frivolous but definitely cute.

In other news I wore my new red polka dot blouse today and enjoyed it a lot. I also found out that Seattle's unemployment is over 100,000, accounting for nearly half of the entire state's unemployment numbers. Thanks to my cousin Patrick for the unsettling news, ha. Who knows, I might be heading back to Edmonton in September if I can't find a job by fall. A summer by the ocean is a wonderful thing no matter how you look at it though.

Happy week all.

EDIT- The font I write my blog in isn't black, it's called "shale" #434343. Hm, I found that out when I tried to copy and paste something that was black into the text and it looked off.