greenbeanbaby art

in my mother's living room...

feast your eyes on more retro goodness... of course, by the time you are done looking, your eyes will have had a 10 course meal... i do lie nor exaggerate when i say that my mother has a lot of stuff for a person her age... (and she is a young grandma, a younger mother)... behind the chairs, you see a big yellow polka dotted cabinet that she painted... it contains linen, i think... (she moves her stuff around in order to make room for new stuff)... and can you see more vacuum cleaners?! i believe she has over 35 of these retro lovelies... i kid you not! from turquoise to chrome to red to olive green... royal queen, kenmore, and i can't even remember the slew of others she has... but she has enough to fit every nook and cranny...

she's also an avid phone collector... retro and just plain cool looking... see the picture hanging up?! remember that is the one i made her in february! she has two of these lovely mirrors (and i have one) where she puts tons of retro nic nacs... i keep saying retro when her whole house defines what retro is... anyhow, she is also a clock collector... they all are set one minute apart so every hour you can hear several clocks go off in intervals... some months are quieter since batteries need to be replaced... she even has an i love lucy clock that i bought for her one year... all she is missing is a grandfather clock and a cuckoo clock...

my mother has a piano too but you can't really tell anymore... on top of it, is loaded with retro books and more appliances and products... see that green book?! i illustrated that one... yes, she is one of my biggest fans ;)... anyhow, diego used to play with the piano but now he has no access to it... fortunately, she has a mini piano phone he loves to jam on...

did i mention she has a dollhouse too?! i found it at a rummage sale for $20 and had my dad help me pick it up for her... (of course, i wanted it but i knew my mom would love it more!)... my mom painted all the lil walls and i made framed illustrations... she has retro toys in there too... this is one big dollhouse and she has it covered sometimes so there is less to dust...

my mother is not only a collector but she is a clean freak... i mean, she is one of the cleanest women i know! she used to do maid work and not only was she fast, but she didn't mess around... growing up, we learned how to  clean a bathroom  the right way... fold the pillowcases right way (yes there is a wrong way where it wont fit in the allotted space) and put linen away so the folds are showing out  (or would it be in?!) anyhow, i think its a wonderful attribute although i've only acquired 75% of this quality...

point being, she needs cabinets with glass to make housework easier... less dust (because dust turns to dirt)... she also has some vintage mice banks... and more vintage products... she really collects a lot... told ya!

in my mother's kitchen...

see, you thought i had a lot?! you never met my mom, one of the biggest collectors short of being an ultimate collector... this is her kitchen... its full of cookie jars that make all sorts of noises... a retro table to go with one retro chair (the other three are not that old... she used to have a rocking chair for one  of the four but i think i sold that in my rummage)... she has two retro dishwashers... i believe she uses both of them too...


and here are some of her retro appliances... i honestly don't know how many mixers she has but i DO know a couple of them are super heavy... she has more than one waffle maker and an ice crusher machine... there is a slew of other things but i have a hard time remembering all the name brands and what they do... just know this, there is plenty more than what you see in these pictures...

she collects modern stuff too... she likes containers and lamps and retro telephones (although any telephone that is unique, she'll like!)... she has a ton of handheld mixers hanging on the knobs... and inside the cupboards?! oh my, there are a ton of retro formica cups, saucers, plates, and bowls...

this is one, yes one, of her washing machines... this one is a double barrel something or another... sorry mom, i'm choppin' it up, huh?! anyhow, this is a machine made after the wringer washers... you wash the clothes in one side... and the next side, it spins... its pretty unique and can conveniently store things... next to this, is one of her MANY vacuum cleaners... (keep on lookin')...

you know you're overly tired

and worn down to the bare minimum when...

1. you drink water out of a bowl from the drying rack instead of getting a cup in the cupboard...

2. worse yet, you drink tap water (especially when you have a full jug of ice cold mountain water)

3. you can't   fall asleep because every time you shut your eyes, you remember something else you forgot...

4. the baby monitor is on the lowest of lows but the kiddo's whines seem louder than a tornado siren...

5. the hubby is home and it sounds like he's slamming doors (although he swears he isn't)

6. you're dreaming of things you made (art-wise)... and you dream you are doing it over and over...

7. the  dvd you fell asleep on has ended... the menu keeps playing the same song over and over and you've no strength to press the "off" button on the remote under your pillow...

8. you don't want anyone to cuddle you, including the cats...

9. you make your kid watch tv just so you can get quick 15 minute snooze...

10. you fall asleep to find an 18mos pair of jeans next to you, as your kiddo happily renames all the folders on your desktop...

11. you cry over every single thing... including the fact that you are crying because you are tired, makes you cry...

12. lastly,the following minute you are hysterically laughing because of all the crying you just did...

yes, being a full time mom to an incredibly fast and energetic kid... being a mom who works on art part-time... and blogs between walks and naps and food preps... is not only fulfilling, it can be tiresome... not to say i don't love it because i do  (i just don't like dealing with the dirty diapers)... thank goodness for coffee...

and of course, i thank all my devoted readers...

paper/ribbon swap week!!!

the week has come!!! all the lovely people who are participating in the sweetpea swap, get your papers ready! we can finally ship out and share our goodies around the world, literally! thank you all for joining and we all look forward to getting new papers in our mailboxes! unfortunately, i cannot get into gmail to send out a reminder but anyone with questions or concerns, please email me... eventually gmail will let me in- haha!

and good news! we have a flickr group, freshly set up, just for the swap! here we will be able to share photos and discuss what-have-you's... we can also meet everyone who participated and of course, check out all us paper lovers' sites! so, here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/groups/sweetpeaswap

i'll be making a welcoming note to you all in the next couple days so please bare with me! my dinner is ready to burn so i must tend to it... but later, i will be catching up on everybody's blogs, including my own!

happy shipping this week!

short note: sorry these posts are short... *the paper/ribbon swap is now closed... so sorry:(

lovely paper from camilla...

camilla sent me this beautiful package of paper on friday... all the way from sweden... there are rub-ons, prints, alphabets, delicate, and illustrated papers... my favorite is the king/queen paper in the middle... but everything is just perfect, really... i was so sick that day but between this package and the soup my dad brought to me, i felt loved...

i'm so excited to get camilla's package, along with several other packages for fellow paper lovers, together... this week is full of shipping so i am happy to have all my papers organized... i can pick through everything easily... yes, this week will be fun! no more time for sleepy medicine, sudden rashes on a kid, or sick stomachs...

a baby shower gift...

though the week was hectic, i managed to finish this illustration for my sister's friend's baby shower ... the shower was sunday afternoon, and thankfully, the friend loved it! i had the sketch completed earlier in the week but with diego being sick, time ran short... then to top it off, i became sick on thursday... i bought some medicine so i could stay up all night and finish this illustration (and my niece's which is utterly late) but unfortunately, i took NIGHTTIME medicine... so instead of staying up, i became horribly drowsy and dizzy...  talk about wanting to cry for making a dumb (but maybe much needed) mistake... friday, i was sick the entire day but mustered up enough energy to pick out the papers for this piece after 11pm...  (yes, that is a whole night's worth of work)... that left me saturday night to pretty much finish an illustration from first cut to last... the pressure to not only complete a decent illustration along with a severe headache and emotional uncertainty, it turned out fairly well...

my last works have been quite similar so i am trying hard to improve my style... i need to create more space with my flat work and that is so far, the hardest goal to accomplish... at one point, i created 3d illustrations so there was no need to worry about the flatness of a piece... but now?! it's not so simple... and i also need more background to my illustrations along with more characters... try accomplishing all three of these goals in one night! with a headache! i can't say its perfect, but hey, a good start!

a lil note: yes, that paper belonged to my bathroom illustration... but well, i have enough paper so i can't worry about that! this piece is 13x11...

more lovely finds...

my mom and i went shopping again on sunday (after thrifting on saturday)... we went to a couple craft stores, radio shack, and an office max... and my mom treated me to more paper... this was before i realized the plethora of paper i have ... but hey, she let me pick any kind of paper, and even a pack!  of course, i was (and still am) as giddy as a sugar highed toddler... over 20 pieces, not including the pad of pretty soft papers... (i am seriously addicted, i know)...

there is are two smaller  joann fabrics stores closing around here... thus everything is on sale, including the furniture! so we found these for only $1 each!!!! i got 4 racks all together- the fourth is holding some of my scraps in the previous post)

we had a fun time... no kids... no dogs... just mother and daughter having a wonderful time enjoying the craft stores... and hmmmm, i think i got her addicted to michael's!! with that 40% off coupon, stocking up is affordable... it's so fun to have a mom who likes the stuff i like... or maybe it's vice versa ;)

a note: this post is short because i am so tired and am in dire need of sleep (and taking these teeny tiny pigtails out)

full inventory... in need to join...

yep, i have joined and have nothing to lose... simple sparrow's idea is wonderful! for the month of april, you can only use what you have in stock... no buying new materials! and considering i have a lot of paper, i think this is a grand idea! but of course, there is a slight addiction to buying paper so this will probably be a tad harder than it sounds...

i have two bins of papers, plus a pile of specialty papers... (which is no small pile)

several more piles of paper (i know, my photography skills are poor) i say i have over 200 sheets in the clear envelope on bottom, over 100 in the bag, and about 40-50 thailand papers...

and shelves of more paper... which as you can see, i have a ton... and to think , they go two rows back!

and still: i have my 8.5 x 11 sheets (in that metal thrift find organizer), my bags of scraps, mulberry paper and vellum in my crop station, and 4 huge files of papers that are 24 x 36 or bigger...  this is paper we are talking about.... i haven't even begun to explain the many other craft supplies i have taking over the shelves and closets and drawers...

so this is why i must join the "use what you have month" club

cleaning out the scraps...

today i had a whoppin' brilliant idea... why not sift through all my scraps and organize by color and pattern?! that way, i'll know what i have and thus, know what i can happily share (and use, for that matter).... now, i've done this whole cleanin' ordeal several times...  i've been collecting since 2000 so it's a necessity or else beautiful tidbits are drowned under more beautiful tidbits... i buy new papers and cut through big pieces to use one tiny inch... only i should have looked in my scraps because i had several tiny inches of the very same paper... does that make sense?! i like to save my big 8.5 x 11 (and bigger) pieces of paper for background... with all this paper, i can no doubt, make a paper quilt... some pretty outfits for my paper people... or i dunno, make something outta all of this... i nearly have a forest...

so see, i began at 4pm  with one bin, one box, and one basket (counting ONLY scraps, mind you).... i went through every sheet and cut out damaged ends... threw out pieces so small that i knew i could never use... (which still was  hard to toss).... i organized same color paper with same color paper.. same patterns... mulberry paper vs. card stock... handmade vs. machine... i was meticulous and getting worn as i drew closer to my biggest pile (which, ironically, isn't green... it was my black, whites, and grays)...

i ended up with 42 bags... (sorry for the jittery picture... that's what the smell of burnt cookies mixed with fatigue will do to ya.... it was 1:30am when all the bags were finally completed...  eight full hours... this of course included shooing cats and my kiddo away from stealing my papers... putting diego to bed... making cookies (that i forgot to take out the oven), remaking cookies... and finally taking a couple pictures...

what being organized will make ya do....

gall bladder in color (process)

the past few days i've been MIA from the blog world... with a to-do list growing by the day, much needed rest, and far too much sneezing, i've rarely a chance to sit and write...but i've been using my time wisely, no doubt... and am in the process of working on an illustration about a girl who's gall bladder has been removed (an ode to my sister)... i've had the sketch completed a while back with dimensions being my usual 8x10... however, i've decided to work 11x13 ... i need more room to add background... i need a bit of dimension to my flat lil illustrations... and thus, i've been working hard to hash out these tasks...

because i am afraid to slap down a background (which thus means to cut and paste).... i've created my own lil tool; a frame to work in... out of beat up foamcore... with this, i am able to fiddle with the backgrounds including pattern and color... yes, the upside to working in cut paper is that it's movable... you can visualize your outcome a lot easier than painting swatches... but as much as this can be a wonderful advantage, there are a few problems... such as choosing which pattern is best... or having papers everywhere of possible choices... and feeling frazzled in the end because you have too many choices and cannot decide on a final...

as you can see, i'm torn between three choices, none final... of course, here we have it, yet again! greeeeeeeeeen.... i know, i know, i complain that i use it too much and thus, the temptation to use it becomes a necessity... it's like telling a person to have a peanut butter sandwich without jelly... or worse, a grilled cheese sandwich without the cheese! it's just seems to be a given that i use green; maybe i should accept this and hope i outgrow it...  like a toddler... believe me, i've tried blue (which you can see)... and pink... purples and some oranges... (wait a minute, i tried yellow, not orange! hmmm, could orange be a comeback for me?! you see, in college i was obsessed with canson's orange and turquoise... maybe i need to revisit an old flame)... anyhow, there's still plenty of work left for this illustration... nothing is glued down for one... plus there is shower curtains, a jar with a gall bladder (that i lost somewhere on the floor) and some more background elements...

i may have a new winner.... only time will tell...