greenbeanbaby art

a week's worth of events...

a quick re-cap of the things i did since february 19th to february 25th, 2006... somehow i felt more busier than i look.... last sunday, ramel's old roommate came into town with his wife... thus, our surprise company... i had to do a rush cleaning job because i hate seeing people leave my house with cat hairs on their shirt... and i organized my studio in a way where they would feel comfortable and not overwhelmed with paper and ribbon...

on tuesday i probably played gamecube's luigi's mansion... shame on me! with all the art that has yet to be completed, i try to vacuum up boo ghosts and acquire money in a haunted mansion....

wednesday was diego's first official day at the daycare my hubby works at... apparently, he had a dandy time although he didn't want to nap.... or eat, for that matter! he was busy being a ham and playing on everyone else's mats except his own... while he was there, i was busily sitting nervously on a dentist chair awaiting to hear bad news... wisdom teeth in need of being yanked... after the verdict, i headed over to a coffee shop for some good ol' caffeine.... and next to that place was a nifty dollar store! it had some beautiful stuff there including- whadda know- PAPER!  (its the one on the far left hand side below)...

come thursday, i went shopping for supplies needed for friday... and again, its like an addiction... but i bought more paper! i really should stop, but it can't be helped! beautiful paper in need of a good home! and sometimes the paper is too pretty to use... so it sits there in organized piles awaiting to be cut for the perfect illustration... every scrap saved in the end.... going to michaels means coming out with a couple more pcs to add to the collection... *sigh* i fiend to buy more even as i write...

by friday, we had our semi-annual 3rd shift mother/daughter/grandkid party... which was a special enough occasion to use a pretty paper recently purchased (that pink flowery one)...  i would have liked to have done something more elaborate but my brain went into creativity mode at the last minute.... but for each party, i plan to make some sort of souvenir for us all to remember the good night we shared (and i must remember to put the date on them too!)

saturday meant more shopping for both ramel's birthday gift and well, some ribbon found at the thrift store nearby... for $2.52 i got all this above and some styrofoam balls... and i have become obsessed with ric rac ribbon, don't ask me why... but every time i go shopping, i am on the hunt for some ric rac... i want to find some patterned kind or perhaps, a polka dotted kind...eventually, i may hit the jackpot but in the meantime, i am content... anyhow ramel's birthday is march 5th, and i found him shoes for his big ol' size 13 feet! steve maddens and reebok on clearance and within my budget (leaving me  room to buy ribbon! oh wait, i bought the ribbon BEFORE i went shopping for him... naughty ellia!) with the money i was given from the candy guy, i am still able to get ramel a haircut and some other surprises! (unless i walk in a paper store again)...

that is one week in the world of ellia! it left me little time to blog and actually cut paper, however, that is what this week is for!

a final note: this week, good ol' logan gets fixed and de-clawed so he can stop hissing at every person who comes over the house to visit! (he is no longer as small as he is in the above image...i must post how big my couch destroyer has become later!)...

our family party...

yep, its true! our very first semi-annual 3rd shift mother, daughter, grandkid party... we had it on february 24th, 2006 and it began at 8pm... it's not exactly a girly party because diego was a part of it but his bedtime was at 10pm...

prior to this party, i cooked a darn good meal consisting of extremely buttery chicken fillets.... mashed cauliflower... parmesan bread sticks (out of a pillsbury can).... and white rice... while i was cooking, another diego disaster occurred... he was standing on the kitchen chair and managed to tip and fall right on his lips.... *sigh* his poor big lip and oh the tears and screams!  a quick fix for his lip and some computer time for  his eager lil fingers, i managed to cook everything without burning a crumb!

between the cooking and the catastrophe, i had a bright idea to quickly make a party souvenir... the above image is a picture of a magnet i made for us all... the back part is made of rust metal that i bought over 3yrs ago but never found a use for until the other day... and then i packaged up the gifts in creme tissue paper and topped with a felt flower... it was then placed on pretty glass plates (when you have kids, i don't think china is the best idea... although having collector's vintage plates isn't the smartest either)... i found them at michael's in the dollar section! this is a picture of my set... everyone received the same set of note cards but the memo pads had different designs (but they matched the note cards)

my sister and her daughter, nana brought soda and dessert... and a mighty good one at that! they were chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chip cookies right smack dab in the middle! it was the best cupcake i've ever had! she really needs to market her stuff and i'd be happy to  help advertise (and taste-test)... nana and diego played, moreso ran around! we all tried to watch corpse bride and pick out movies for the blockbuster online movie deal for my mom....considering she has satellite with starz, this was not the easiest task, but it gave room to much laughter and critiques...

my mom brought an array of goodies as well that my dad picked out... candy bars, platano chips, yuca chips, kettle chips, more soda, maltas, and popcorn... we were unable to eat everything but we all had a wonderful time... we watched most of corpse bride, most of yours, mine, and ours (the new version), and charlie and the chocolate factory (burton's)... we never really watch an entire movie! there is usually a lot of talking, grandkids interrupting, bathroom breaks, candy breaks, laundry, and clean up in between... so basically we just get the gist of each movie- hee hee!

these sort of parties are fun... this is the first time having a sleepover after diego and nana came along... there's occasions where i will spend the night at my moms, or my sister will... but i really can't remember when we all have done it together! no husbands, a lot of family talk about our families, and much of munching... its beautiful that both my sister and i are close to our mom and she doesn't treat us like kids... i mean, she knows we are adults and treats us with plenty of respect! i love my mum, for sure!

candy cards galore...

a couple blocks down from where i live, there is a quaint lil candy store... its loaded with 25¢ candy, lollipops, and the more rare kind goodies that were made before my time... on warmer days, diego and i like to take walks up there for both exercise and to fulfill the craving for sugar... i've even ventured to persuade my sister to take a hike up there with me... during the past few visits, i talked to him about my artwork and services as a designer... and with that, he's now a current client of mine...

the v.i.p. cards are sort of like coffee cards... if you buy $2 worth of candy each time, you get a stamp... after 13 stamps, you get  free candy (okay, this is said on the card- lol!)...  this is the second batch of cards i printed out at my home for him... each batch is about 200 cards and i must say, the price is quite a bargain...

and these cards are his "flyers"... a block away, there is the west milwaukee middle school, which i am sure gives him plenty of business... so he wanted flyers to hand out to the kids and parents around sporting events and elsewhere... the size is  a tad bigger than a business card and there is actually 2 different designs i made for him... (the second one compliments the v.i.p. cards...) anyhow, i am not a designer by degree (i'm an illustrator) but i do like dabbling with typography and layouts... my work tends to be fairly simple but in time, i hope to get a bit more sophisticated in the graphic designer department...

the bag is done (but the babe is still awake)

well, here ya have it! my over sized  blue flowered bag for the knitted olympics... it's okay, considering its only my 3rd finished project ever knitted! it's still rather large- 12x13 to be exact.... but i was able to shorten the incredibly long strap into something a tad more normal (and manageable)... everything about this bag was pretty much made up... i mean, i looked at patterns for ideas but i still have a hard time working the round needles and understanding  half the stitches... the flower was guesstimated (and any real knitter can no doubt tell!) and i thought the blue edges would make the entire pc cutesy... i don't know if it actually helped or worsened the cause... anyhow, i tried... i finished... and maybe with a different form of yarn i might try to master this bag into an ellia-pattern...

in between adding the final stitches, there was a poopy diaper that stunk up my living room... maybe it was the smell that made diego puke (although it was he who created the stink)... so with cleaning up, putting him to sleep, wiping his snotty nose because he didn't want to go to sleep, i managed to finish the bag early enough to work on more art... february is near done and so much has to be finished still... illustrations, greeting cards, business cards, birthday presents, and whatever else was on my february goals list... i don't think i completed all that i want to, however, much more was added on the list so at least i wasn't a pure bum right?!

well, i will get a gold medal for this bag... if it's based on effort, then surely i deserve it... but skill?! well, one can't deny that i am still one wonderful rookie of a knitter... and yes, diego is fighting his sleep...

point proven in a frame

both my husband and i are illustrators... we both graduated from dear ol' miad... and thus, we had  similar courses, similar teachers, and mutual friends... we both have a cutesier touch to our work, although mine is far more "awwwwww, how adorable" than his... anyhow, whenever artwork is created here, there are critiques... ways to improve a piece...  and since i've been the only person working on art, my artwork is often the subject... ramel will even rate my illustrations... from his favorite to his least favorite... of course, i get defensive because i wonder what's wrong with the "least" favorite... usually, the reply is, "nothing, but i just like these other ones more".... i value his opinion,  his ratings, and his comments.... even if i get a tad upset...

so why do i bring this up? because i was told many of my recent illustrations look the same... as if they were all from one big huge illustration and cut up and framed... and i usually have no subject matter in the background.... mind you , this was brought up because we were looking at my recent sketches, which were already underway... oh, he liked these illustrations, except the bladder one, which looked like all my other recent work... (that one ended up being his least favorite)... he's right... all my girls look alike... big head, big eyes, skimpy bodies and the same smile...  i've forgotten about boys, cats, dogs, and furniture...  i use green in every illustration and  i work in the same size.... 8x10; standard frame size...(i've done far too many illustrations before where i didn't have standard measures... custom frames were needed and considerably costly)...

now, i collect prints from thrifts and rummage sales... i love the retro illustrations from the 60's and 70's.... and you know what?! these artists did illustrations that looked similar to the next... every female eden painted looked fairly the same, and with a plain background... maio, as well! and lee, and the person that made all those sad-eyed animals... see, look at all these photos of artwork hanging around my house...  and i have many, many, many more...

perhaps, i'm not so abnormal... perhaps, every artist has one style they repeat over and over... miad taught us to avoid this... but admit it, it's not that easy... better to play safe... at least people know what to expect right?! i truly don't know... i don't want to produce predictable artwork, but i also want everything to look uniform... where can the line be drawn? of course, every artist mustn't be afraid to stretch their skills into something more sophisticated, or less in some cases... to be looser at times, or to better their craftsmanship... in my case, i need more subject matter, including the other gender, another species, and some background... yes, ramel is right even though many other artists get away with it... however, i must admit there is room to improve....

note: if you like my retro prints, i'll be posting more pictures gradually...

more projects on the list

                
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well,  some freelance work is finally seeping in and i can't complain... here is a list of  all my projects:

1. greeting card for an extended family member (yep, that is the above image)
2. business cards for a transportation service
3. v.i.p. cards for the local candy store (they are like coffee cards... but with candy... if you spend $2 or more, you get a stamp... after the 13th stamp, it can be redeemed for free candy)
4. greeting card samples for my rep (yes, still)
5. another surprise project that can't be revealed til march
6. the flowers for my knitted bag
7. my niece's birthday gift and knitted babe...

so keep checkin' back--- every couple days, a project is done! yes, productivity is a must in order to feed the esteem and pay a couple bills

a week's worth of work...

these past few days have been, shall we say, "eventful"... diego has been the normal toddler, with emotions that take turns hourly... he might be sick again, or teething, or just plain bored of being cooped up in the house all day... as diego's emotions rearrange, mine take a slight shift as well... i've found myself slightly drained of the capability in executing the creativity into actual forms of art... the ideas in my head, swimming in coffee, and a few tears...  perhaps i myself am tired of being shut in a house... watching bills come in, money disappear, and food burn... watching every pixar movie we own over and over until the story is no longer amusing... playing "jump over the running toddler" until someone finally gets hurt (i'm 5ft, and diego loves when i jump over him... but there has been a few times i've missed and created a catastrophe of injured persons)... however, i've managed to sketch some future projects for the month of march... and they are looking not too shabby, so maybe the break from art has done us all good...

aside from diego being able to say, "hey baby!" the week had several moments where the monotony was broken... my sister came over for some quality sister-sister time and it was refreshing... she just had her gall bladder removed (thus, this sketch is an ode to marina) so if she laughs too hard, a slight pain may still cause her to shed a tear or so... of course, she is the type of person that laughs until she cries, anyhow... a genuine laugh that makes anyone else wanna join in...  we were looking at pictures, old greeting cards she gave me, letters she wrote, and a few artistic books... so much laughter filled the wood paneled walls... and during all of this, my cat logan managed to tear my wimpy shower curtains, ice snow filled the roads, and diego slept without a peep... pasta roni was even cooked just for her, and oatmeal for my nani... oh, and some sippin' on pediasure... i've heard that the banana cream flavor is quite the treat! it was a ya-ya night...

much laundry has been accumulating, regardless of how many times i trek it to the basement... the other day, i was holding a good cup of coffee and it just slipped outta my hand... and i just stared, shocked at the mess suddenly created... i kid you not, i watched it the cinnamon swirl folder's flow everywhere... on my sweater, my tank, my pants... it even managed to get in my lower cupboards and onto a pile of clean retro dishes... a whole stack of maybe, twelve plates! so again, another load of clothes... more all™ detergent used; the bottle dutifully recycled... i've never washed so many clothes in all my days, and thanks to my husband, i'll be doing more... thus, this is a portrait of a dedicated person who refuses to allow piles of clothes to clutter the corner of her room...

and lastly, here we have  my final sketch... a girl's first day at school... her 'fro being all the rave for this year's classroom oddball... there is always one kid who has that kinda hair- the one that has a mind of its own... yes, i was a curly haired skinny shorty among many straight blondies... and if i didn't have a dress and a bow, i was thought to be a boy... the name "ellia" suddenly misinterpreted for "elliot," the kid from e.t.... and although i had a mickey  mouse lunchbox, i had  the original my lil ponies sitting on a shelf at home (and now, they sit in a airtight bucket in the basement)... schoolwork was easy, but making friends was quite the challenge... all this has resurfaced as i found my 1st grade picture, one front tooth missing! and i also found cards and notes my 1st and 2nd grade teacher gave me... i'm so sentimental, eh?! and yet, i remain that curly haired skinny shorty who now has a boy with a fro that puts mine on choke!

so, look for the finals of each illustration soon! there will be some cropping changes but hopefully, each will turn out fairly well

well, it aint lookin' the best yet...

i have my knitted bag put together and boy, you can tell i am a rookie... if this was truly the olympics and i was, let's say, an speed skater... i woulda tripped over my own shoelaces at the starting line... or if i was a speed ski person, i woulda crashed into a tree... *sigh* i'm disappointed at the outcome... i was hoping that piecing it together would magically make it look like it came outta a department store... BUT all hope isn't lost... it's currently in the washing machine, taking a beating and hopefully shrinking... if anything, maybe it will fix out the shape (it was looking like a drawing done by a person who is right handed but used their left hand instead)... i HAVE to chuckle at this... if not, i think i will cry... i've yet to knit the flowers...

well, this is only my third thing knitted so far so i shouldn't be frettin' right?! i just need to find out WHAT i am good at knitting... scarves? dolls? purses? camera thingies? am i using the wrong yarn or the wrong needles? is it rod serling making my knitted items warped? will practice really make perfect?! or am i in the wrong league?!

anyhow, so far, i seem to be keeping up with the olympics but my results are looking bleak... alotta yarn used... oh well, i have enough time to try again... (but will i have enough yarn?! 2.5 skeins gone!)... and what is to become of the purse? shall i keep it in hopes that one day, i will look back and say,  "oh my! that is one lousy purse! thank goodness i kept at it..." perhaps, i will make a box titled, "things a rookie makes" and have all my "first" projects in there (although i think i may have tossed my first cut paper pc away)...

maybe the fairy washing machine lady will fix it up... if not, well........................ at least it can't look worse! (or can it?)

what's in your notebook?!

i'd thought to give you a glimpse of ellia's notebook... it's loaded with many lists, ideas, and misc. tidbits of a life full of things to do... in list-form (since i've a preoccupation with this form of writing):

1. to-do list (includes taking a shower, emailing, recording "lost")
2. bills to pay...
3.bills paid
4. dates of when bills were paid
5. rows of numbers equaling the sum of bills... numbers subtracted, crossed off later...
6. more to-do lists because the last one still had things on it that i forgot to do
7.topics for me to blog about...
8. what to buy
9. things to remember (yes, different from the to-do list...) remember events, holidays, etc.
10. window measurements for tenant
11. a list of things to fix around the house (and the gutter still in need of fixin')
12. list of vets and prices... logan is in dire need of getting fixed- my furniture is being mauled
13. dinner ideas... most crossed off for lack of ingredients
14. greeting card ideas
15. sketches of cool designs that i'd like to try
16. coupons--- michael's coupons to be exact
17. children book ideas
18. another to-do list because the first two still aren't completed
19. grocery list of food needed (another column of things craved for)
20. illustration ideas

and if i write too sloppy, i throw out the paper, and begin writing again... my journals lose weight after time....

a knit-along with rod serling...

here is the beginning of my knitted purse for the olympics... so far, it's not too bad, but it doesn't look like a purse yet, either! the handle took me one whole disc of twilight zones plus another half... (so that is about three hours?)... with rod serling's voice and two purring cats, i knitted away... i was very tired to begin with, but i kept thinking, "just two more rows" and then, "after this episode"... the lights were low, my eyelids heavy, and the needles clicked away... actually, they make more of a "swoosh swoosh" sound... the handle is slightly thick but i figure, if its washed, everything will shrink a tad... and if not, well, it will curl up just like in the picture...

the design is partially from a book and partially guessing... i'm afraid that the flowers will be slightly hard to make... that's why its best that i get the 3pcs of the purse out of the way, so i have time to fiddle with the embellishment (and get more yarn in case i run out)... the handle was made according to my length... it's an over-the-shoulder style of bag... a very artsy, east side look (milwaukee's east side, that is)... it should turn out fairly well, and hopefully it will be suitable to actually use! if it does work out, i may have designed a winner...  but who'd wear it, i wonder?! does the world need another knitted bag?! perhaps not, but who knows, someone may want an "ellia"  bag... (could it be bigger than coach?! coach gone yarny!)

anyhow, the third pc will be done by this weekend... and i hope by saturday night  i will attempting the flowers... hmmm, i still have time, but procrastination and emergencies tend to kick in when least expected so i'd rather be early than late... either way, it's been a delight knitting with the fattest needles!

a side not: you know, some people knit with themes, even books! (like knit the classics for instance... it sounds so awesome! but i've yet to finish one entire book this year!) ellia, however, knits the twilight zones...