Primary Colors

I haven’t done an outfit post in a long time. For the past couple years, with pregnancy and new motherhood, I’ve been feeling really BLAH about myself. Now that I’m a stay-at-home-mom, it’s soooo easy for me to stay in my pajamas all day, or just wear the same yoga pants and band t-shirt for a couple days in a row. Anyway! I’m trying to change that, so I’ll be trying to force myself to put together outfits and post them on here.

OUTFIT DETAILS: 

coat, shirt, shoes: thrifted

shorts: target

tights: old navy

brooch: handmade, stoic + pariah

This brooch was sort of a prototype I made for myself to test out. It turned out alright, so I think I might make a few for the etsy shop!

I love these shoes - my mom says they look like old man shoes, and that’s probably why I like them so much. I was kinda thinking about taking them to a shoe repair shop to get new soles and get the color fixed? I don’t know, but I love the idea of taking my shoes to a cobbler, teehee. 

Well, the baby's stirring so I gotta go!

- Elizabeth

  

My work space

Here's a little tour of my work space!  I scored this industrial midcentury desk when we moved into this artist community - the art gallery next door was getting rid of it, and I was in the right place at the right time... so I decided to be one of those fancy people with TWO desks - best decision ever. I like that I can leave a project out for a few days and still have another workspace available for other tasks, heehee. 

It's taken me a long time to find the right layout and storage for my needs, but this is by far the best set-up I've had so far - I feel like I've been way more productive. The biggest game changer: the dark grey drawer unit in the picture above (it's the ALEX unit from IKEA - I've always wanted one, and I finally got one with our tax return this year haha) the drawers are big enough to hold 11x17 prints in them! and they're shallow enough that I can store all my loose sketches without everything getting lost in a giant pile :)

Whenever I find small vintage suitcases or train cases like the ones above, I like to use them to store extra art supplies and sewing stuff. It kinda doubles as decor, kinda? I mean, some people might see it as clutter, but I like it. Anyway, at the moment I'm working on some new brooches for my etsy shop - hopefully I can have them up in the shop soon. Right now, the shop is empty and sad. I'm also working on something I'm calling "TinyArt Originals" for the next art show in my building. I'll give you a hint: it's going to be tiny :) hahaha.

- Elizabeth

Feelin' Fall.

Oh, fall. Every fall, without fail, I feel this weird and conflicting combination of profound melancholy and boundless optimism. Weirdly nostalgic, too - but in kind of an unpleasant heartbreak sort of way. Maybe the leaves reaching peak beauty just before meeting their doom and withering into wet mulch is what does it. It's like, too close a metaphor for our short time here, and it makes me all existential and weird.

Anyway!

Milo is taking longer naps now, so I can actually start making blog posts and brooches again! YAY! I started up a fresh batch of brooches last week. Let's see how long it will take me to finish them! heehee. But really though, I need to get workin' because it's hard to make ends meet with just Franklin's income. I gotta like, step up my game... which is hard because I'm also incapacitated by anxiety - yay!

back, after all these years!

HELLO, OLD FRIENDS!

Are you still there?

It's been 4 years since my last post. A lot has changed, but I'm the same boring old me.



Here's what transpired in the last 4 years: First, we bought a house on an island. Then, we had a baby. Then, we sold the house on the island and moved into an artist community in Everett because the homeowner life wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Finally, I quit my job to stay at home with the baby  and work on my art/illustration.

I've been working on art that I make just for me, and it's really helped me "find myself" again, haha. There's a gallery in our apartment building, and resident artists can contribute their work to it every month. It's pretty cool to be a part of something like that, and being surrounded by creative types has motivated me to be more productive, too.

I want to use this blog again, to document our art and music projects, outfits, and any adventures we might have. It's easy to lose sight of what is important to us, but I hope we can get back on track by making an effort to document our projects and adventures :)

Retro Putz Houses

Franklin & I got crafty this weekend and built a couple putz houses. Oh my goodness, it was so much fun! I can't stop looking at them. They're so perfectly cute & kitschy. We found the free patterns on retro renovation - they've got so many cute styles! I wanna make 'em all. (Here's the link to all their putz house tutorials). I went with the retro ranch house and Franklin went with the A-frame.

All you need is:
• an xacto knife
• hot glue gun
• chipboard (we recycled a cereal box)
• corrugated cardboard
• paint (duh)
• tissue paper (for the windows)
• white felt
• white glitter
• whatever little knick-knacks you can find (we used bristle brush trees, plastic deer, and a little fence)
• flameless battery operated tea light to light it up! (we still need a couple of those!)

Anyway, I really wanted to share this with ya, so you can get craftin' for the holidays.
I WANT TO MAKE THEM ALL!!!!

-Elizabeth

life lately

 

I've been terrible about blogging lately! I've decided to make more of an effort to keep up with posting and checking in on everyone's blogs. I miss everyone!!! anyway... here's a few snippets of life lately, via instagram. let's get caught up, shall we?

1. kitty shoes from an upcoming outfit post
2. band practice
3. E is for Elizabeth + F is for Franklin
4. abstract instagramming
5. leftover bits from flower arranging
6. sketches for a poster promoting our friend's site Video Game Break
7. janitor kitty drawings (for a point-and-click adventure game we're working on)
8. goodbye cards for my last day at the preschool (can you spot the mistake? haha)

Oh yeah, in other news, I just got a new job! I start tomorrow, and I'm super nervous. I'm gonna be making advertisements in the local newspapers. and get this -- my official title? creative artist. haha! what a trip. It was sad to say goodbye to my old job at the preschool. I'm going to miss those little cuties! but I'm SO looking forward to having my own cubicle to decorate, teehee. I'm just incredibly nervous about meeting everyone in the office --- I'm SO socially awkward. but they hired me! so I guess they didn't mind my weird awkward mannerisms too much, right? haha.

Ginsberg & Plath

They had an after-hours fundraising gala at the library next door, complete with costume contest. The requirements were to dress as a character or an author, so Franklin & I went as Allen Ginsberg & Sylvia Plath -  even though we kind of already dress like Ginsberg & Plath on a regular basis, hahaha.

By the way, that painting you see on the table there? I bought it from a ten-year-old girl at a craft fair I where I was selling brooches.  Anyway, it's actually a really awesome painting.

A Birthday Happy-Song

Franklin and I made a birthday-song for his sister today, and then we made a video complete with stop-motion animation, subliminal cat footage, and socially awkward lions.

Here it is:



instruments: flutophone, ukulele, bongos & tambourine

Franklin's sister Lindsey has her birthday a day before mine, and, a few years ago we kinda started this unofficial tradition where we'd leave each other homemade birthday songs via voicemail, since our birthdays are so close. Franklin & I thought it'd be fun to make something more substantial this year. We hope she likes it!


and we hope you dig it, too!

-Elizabeth

Rectangles + Squares

City-dwellers are we! We're going to try to take more pictures of our current surroundings, because there's an awful lot of wonderfully aged buildings around here and stuff. I can't believe we haven't been doing that already. Also, we're trying to be a little more involved in the artsy community. We've gone to a few open mics (without participating - 'cause we got too nervous!) and we want to start going to more events and stop being such reclusive shut-ins, haha.

We're finally getting involved with some creative projects again! Our friend Carlos, in Seattle, is putting together a sweet old-time inspired talk show, and he asked Franklin to make music for it! They're working on the pilot episode right now, which is going to be live + televised at the Columbia City Theater in Seattle. I've helped Franklin cover a Twin Peaks song for a bit they're doing, and it was super fun putting it together (click here to listen to our casiotone + melodica cover of Angelo Badalamenti's Dance of the Dream Man). Franklin's been working on new songs left + right, and it's super awesome to see him working on creative stuff again!

Similarly, I was just contacted by an old friend to put something together for a booth at an art show they're putting together in my hometown. I decided to showcase my brooches on vintage-fabric stretched over embroidery hoops, so the brooches can live as art on a wall, or removed and worn on your sweater, if ya want. I've got to get working on more brooches, though, because my selection has almost sold out! haha. My etsy shop only has one brooch left!

It's seriously crazy, and super exciting :)

-Elizabeth

So many brooches, ahh!

This is why I haven't been posting much lately:



I got my first wholesale order! It was 40 brooches, and it took me a few months to finish them. I don't know how some people manage to blog regularly, run a handmade business, AND go on fun adventures. When I focus on something, I can do so with laser beam intensity, but everything else around me becomes super neglected - like this blog! haha.

I've learned alot through this process though, and I feel like I got in some good practice honing my illustration style. I'm a lot more consistent, and a lot less scared to lay down that paint. Fear of failure holds me back a lot, and I caught myself procrastinating a lot during the brooch-making process because of it, but I've learned that jumping in headfirst helps a lot. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

The brooches are going to be sold at a cute little shop that'll be opening up next year in Vancouver BC called London Fields Shoppe. The husband-and-wife owners manage a lot of indie craft events, and from what I've seen of their stuff, they are seriously amazing. Here's a little snippet from their about page on facebook to give you a feel of their soon-to-be shop:

"Evoking memories of British cake stalls and handmade markets, our permanent space will be one part café, one part retail, and one part workshop space where people can drop-in for a cup of coffee, a slice of cake, shop, and learn a new do-it-yourself skill."

Doesn't that sound perfect? I wish there were something like that here in Everett. Franklin & I will have to get our passports in order and drive up to visit after they open, methinks.

Oh, Christmas Tree.

We bought a silver tinsel tree, and it's super kitschy sweet! I'm obsessed with 1960s christmas kitsch - it's the best. I've been scouring ebay, bidding on vintage mercury glass ornaments, but I keep getting outbid. I think I'll just collect them throughout the year, and by next year I should have a full set, haha. Also! See the reindeer ornament in the photo below? I got that a target. Isn't it beautiful? I would have bought a million more, but it was the last one.

Also, I signed this pledge to give books this christmas. You should, too. We've already got almost all our holiday shopping done. It's been super fun to pick out the perfect book for every friend and family member, and we also get to feel awesome about supporting our local bookstores.  So, maybe you should make the pledge to give books this year!

Also, lemme know if you guys have any book recommendations! I need to take a little break from the Song of Ice and Fire series, and I have no idea what to read right now.

-Elizabeth

We got a scooter.

We figured we ought to take advantage of living in a downtown area and get this sweet scooter we've had our eye on for a while. It's a 1984 Suzuki FA-50, and it's so cute! I'm still too scared to drive faster than 10 mph, so people hate me on the road, haha. I love it, though, so I'll keep riding until I'm comfortable. Franklin, on the other hand, is a natural. He's gonna start using it to get to work! I wish I were that cool, haha. But I'm not. I did take lots of pictures with it, though! haha. Also, we decided to name it Milo. Perhaps, if we ever get another one (which, we want to!) we'll name that one Otis, heehee. I hope you get the reference. I watched that movie on VHS so much that the tape broke.

It reminds me of the Mobylette that Nino Quincampoix rides in Amelie, sigh! Which makes me all the more smitten with it. Unfortunately, our little guy has weight restrictions, so we can't ride two up on it, like they do in my favorite scene in Amelie, ahh! Maybe we can break the rules for just a few seconds? Just to satisfy that daydream, maybe. Yes.

Well, it's a really nice day, so we're going to take turns riding around, and maybe hit up the nearby arcade. BY THE WAY, I am like, super obsessed with pinball now. So I've been wearing a fanny-pack filled with quarters all week! Okay, well, have a great weekend, guys!

-Elizabeth

Winter is coming.

Natural lighting is hard to come by these days.
I've been working on brooches, but the lighting's never quite right for taking good pictures for my etsy listings. I think I'm going to have to construct a light box or something. I've kinda been ignoring the bad weather, and pretending it's nice enough to wear cropped cardigans and short skirts. It's not. But I'll keep pretending. I'm super obsessed with pony-tails & knee highs right now.

OUTFIT DETAILS:
sweater, shirt, skirt, belt: thrifted
knee highs: old navy
red moccs: minnetonka
game of thrones brooch: stoic + pariah handmade

In other news, Franklin started school again, so I decided to start working on kid's songs while Franklin's in class. I figured if I can do a song a week, then we could have enough material for a kid's album or something by the end of the quarter. Anyway, I made a song last week about kids waking up early from nap. I work in the toddler room at my preschool, and when those little ones start waking up from nap, they usually try to make lots of noise to wake up everyone else, haha. This song is for those kids:



Anyway, I hope I can stay on track with my goal of making one song a week!
We'll see!

-Elizabeth

it's been a long time.

guess what, guys?
we moved.

Moving stresses me out big-time, so I had to take a couple months off from blogging. Going from a huge farmhouse out in the country to a tiny little studio apartment in a downtown city area is intense, man. We had to get rid of so much stuff. It was liberating, but it mostly sucked. I've never been a city-dweller, so it feels a little weird. I'll update again soon with pictures of our new place.

I just wanted to say HELLO AGAIN, after two long months.
I hope you're all still there! I've missed you!

-Elizabeth

Summertime Clothes

Outfit Details:
Everything: thrifted
Shoes: Minnetonka

I'm really bad at dressing for warm weather. Like, getting dressed kinda stresses me out in the summertime - what am I supposed to do without sweaters?! I've found that if I stick to this formula, though, I'll be okay: an airy skirt + a tank top + an overshirt. The overshirt kinda satisfies my need for layers without making me feel all hot and miserable.

In other news: I just got back from a crazy last minute road trip to-and-from Southern California. My grandma passed away last week, and Franklin, my sister & I drove down to attend her funeral. The drive is about 20 hours each way, and we didn't stop to rest. It was crazy. I don't think I've known what true exhaustion was before this weekend, haha. I'm glad we went, though. Funerals are important for your soul, I think.

Anyway, I hope ya'll are having a great summer!
I'm going to go drink a few whiskey-gingers & call it a night.

-Elizabeth

Portland Ghost Adventures.

A couple weekends ago, Franklin and I took a spontaneous mini road trip to Portland to meet up with two of our really good friends. We stayed at a haunted hotel, and drank lots of whiskey, in hopes that it would aid in fending off ghosts. We explored the "Hawthorne" neighborhood with our dear friend Joe, where he showed us an amazing bookstore (where I bought those sweet Oregon edition field note books), and some tasty-fine breakfast. I really really REALLY like Portland. Like, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since we left. We're going to try to make it a regular (perhaps monthly?) trip. Maybe we'll have game nights with Joe, and play nerdy board games, and maybe I will participate in a famicom-playing night that Franklin & Joe dreamed up long ago - in which they would pick out an obscure Famicom game once a week and play through it together. (speaking of which, have you seen these videos? SO GREAT! I want to watch them all, heehee). We also said farewell to our friend Shelby, who is going to live in Brazil for 2 months to live and work on an organic farm! How exciting and romantic, teehee.

And, you can't go to Portland without getting a maple-bacon bar, right? :)

-Elizabeth
PS: Congratulations to Remi on winning the brooch giveaway!! :)