Guest Post on Uncustomary Art!

When Mary asked me to do a guest post for her blog, of course I had to say YES!
Check out my guest post at Uncustomary Art!

Happy Monday!

My Very First Oblique Pen!

1. My shiny new supplies! // 2.  Ready to go!  // 3. Oh my glob - I'm totally writing all fancy and stuff! // 4. This "Hello Lauren" was one of the first few things I wrote once I got all settled in with my ink and stuff // 5. This "Hello Mom" was in the second set of writing I did // 6. I've been saving quotes around various social media so I can write them out with my new toys.  I saw this one on Instagram yesterday morning and decided to make a little pick-me-up card for my old man

I just had to share!  My supplies came in from Paper and Ink Arts and I think I'm officially even more in love with calligraphy!  I loved the feel of dipping the pen tip into the ink and how just a little bit of pressure changed everything.  Granted, I definitely need more practice before I get really serious but I'm  enjoying the process so far.  These posts have become my new best friend.

Starting with TPK's Faux Calligraphy really helped me understand script, downstrokes and slants.  It even helped me realize my "personality" through the way my hand moved while creating letters.  I mean, check these out!  These are two of my most favorite envelopes I've ever done with faux calligraphy and watercolors.



These are both going out very soon and I can't wait for the recipients to get them!!  I'm hoping the response will be good! :)  BTW - I used a mechanical pencil to sketch out the words first and then I went over them with my most favorite pen: the Sharpie Fine Point Pen.

Since my hard drives at work are almost at capacity, I can't really work on anything too strenuous today so I'm watching a lot of progress bars and wishing I could be letting the ink flow!  I printed out more Flourish Formal Worksheets for more practicing over the weekend.  I can't wait!

Happy Friday!

SPSH2014 - The Reveal!

Hey everyone!  I'm so glad that the post right after Snowmageddon 2014 is this one!  I've been feeling a little down lately (I'll snap out of it soon) so I'm glad to be sharing something that makes me happy!

Follow the jump for a photo breakdown of the contents of my received mail from the Secret Pen Pal Scavenger Hunt 2014!

That's a wrap: Team 1 Enthusiasm!

Today is the day! Remember when I posted about Spreading Enthusiasm Through Positivity?

We've been deep into it for the last 14 days and today is the day of the drawing! The posts have been tallied and the names have been prepped and ready for this afternoon.  I can't wait!
Check out the scoreboard I've been keeping!



I've learned so much about my team mates and co-workers during this whole process and I'm happy to say that, while I thought it was going to be super-weird and anxiety-ridden (on my part), it wasn't too bad.  Let me re-cap the exercise. People were asked to find the following six items:

• Favorite scene from a movie showing enthusiasm
• Favorite quote on enthusiasm
• Favorite sound that reflects enthusiasm
• Your enthusiastic alter ego
• Share enthusiasm with others via compliment cards
• Share something that you're enthusiastic about in your personal life

I linked to my posts on the Tumblr for my examples but be sure to check out everyone else's!  I even decided that my Alter Ego would be my Halloween costume this year!  And I think it's safe to say I'm a little obsessed with it right now...

 


Oh, and I'm waiting for THIS and THIS to come in the mail!! SO CUTE!!

Anyways - I'm hoping the drawing happens soon so that I can go home.  I'm not feeling the greatest but I'll try and remain enthusiastic for this afternoon!  ^__^

Good bye 2012, Hello 2013!

Sadly, my 366 project is over!  Can you believe it?!  2012 - GONE!  Well, almost...
I know I had all these grand ideas for my 366 project and even though I didn't do a "Theme Week" or whatever else I had set out to do, my photos have proven that the Photo-A-Day thing can be fun!  It's also my equivalent to a Gratitude Jar.
What's that, you ask?  I've been seeing some posts on Tumblr and Pinterest about making a Gratitude Jar on January 1st.  Basically, you write one nice thing that happened to you everyday (or for that month) and then on December 31st, you read them all and express your gratitude for such a wonderful year.  Not bad.  I thought about how nice that would be and then I realized that my 366 project was already doing that for me!
So to honour that, I'll post my 5 favorite photo(s) from each month from my 366 photos.  This might be a tough one...

Photos after the jump!

October In the North East - Part 1

GAH!!  We're back from Jersey / Philly and let me just say that I learned some things on this trip.
First of all, let me get to the good stuff - the wedding was AMAZEBALLS.  Cassie and Mark are the cutest couple ever and their wedding was endless cute!
From where we stayed, it was an hour from Philadelphia so we planned a lot of our activities in the City of Brotherly Love.  Funny that that is the nickname but from what we experienced, NO ONE in Philly has a sense of humour.  Well, except the guy who rented us our car at the airport and the wonderful lady at Geno's.  I'll get to the cheese steaks in a moment.
We tried joking around with the people at our most favourite Whole Foods in the world - Whole Foods South Street.  BEST vegan selection I've ever seen and LOTS of wonderful desserts.  The staff wasn't the most humorous but they were nice enough, I guess.  The small amount of people we interacted with at the various places we went to weren't that friendly either.  Here's an example: we went to the wonderfully AMAZING Philadelphia Museum of Art 50 minutes before closing time and it just so happened to be the first Sunday of the month so it was "Pay what you wish" Sunday.  Normally admission for 2 adults is $40 but we paid $20 for the both of us since we only had LESS THAN AN HOUR to check things out so when my old man handed over the $20, the guy at the counter was like, "Uh, that's all?"  Um...we could've paid LESS but we didn't.  I think $20 was generous since we only had 50 MINUTES OF VIEWING TIME LEFT.  Geez.  I will say, I was nearly brought to tears in this museum though.  Everything was GORGEOUS.  I mean, we got to see Picasso's Sunflowers in person!  The High can't compete with that.  Sorry, ATL.
My other terrible encounter was at Pat's King Of Steaks.  I get it - they have a no-nonsense attitude when it comes to ordering.  I even had my order ready: One provolone with.  That's all I needed to say.  So what was the problem?  Well, there are two windows: one for sandwiches and one for fries and drinks.  I got it.  I went to the sandwich window.  The 4 guys behind the counter ALL SAW ME and they turned back to their phones.  I stood there, waiting to spit out my order but I got the side eye and then nothing so I went to the fry window and was like, "Can I just order with you since they're not paying attention" and the kid was like, "If you want a sandwich, you need to go to that window".  Really?  Frustrated, I went back to the sandwich window and waited.  They saw me and two other people behind me and turned back to their phones.  Finally, I was like, "Hi, can I get a sandwich?"  I expected a bad attitude from what I've seen on all the TV specials and stuff but I wasn't expecting a SHITTY attitude.  I'm clearly not aggro enough for the North East.  And guess what?  The sandwich was "meh" anyways.  I wasn't that impressed.  Geno's, on the other hand, had GREAT customer service and the same sandwich - provolone cheese steak with onions - was AMAZING.  The lady behind the Geno's counter was a doll.  She greeted me and let me get my sandwich order out the way I wanted, not in a 3-word command.  I don't get the two window thing, though - Geno's had a separate sandwich and fries/drink window as well.  So in the Great Cheese Steak Debate, my pick is defnitely Geno's.
As for the rest of the trip, it was fantastic!  We hit up the Mütter but I don't have any photos from that since they don't let you take photos.  *Sad Face*.  We also hit up Love Park, Independence Hall - which I dubbed National Treasure for the obvious reason, the Liberty Bell, Philadelphia City Hall - sounds boring but the building is GORGEOUS and we couldn't be staying in Jersey without hitting up my favourite comic book store: Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash!  We also found a killer vegan pizza place in Philly (with amazing hand-cut fries) and enjoyed ourselves at the real reason we were there: Cassie and Mark's wedding!  Several photo posts to follow!

Friday the 13th

I did it!  I finally did it!  What's that?  What did I do?  I got a Friday the 13th tattoo!  Wow - I'm quite the poet...Um, yes, I got a Friday the 13th tattoo like I've been saying I would do for a long time now.  I don't know what it is but this past week something in me has been like: "You WILL do what you say you're going to do".  So after some light protesting from my old man, I left on my tattoo adventure - including finally making it out to Only You Tattoo.
I had been saying I'd make it to the shop after Deb (our graphic designer) told me that her husband, Matt, was opening it - but that was FOREVER ago.  Okay, maybe more like over 2 years ago...
Matt is the kind gentleman who tattooed my Godparent stars on me 4+ years ago and just so you know, I WILL be back next year to get matching stars on the other side when my Goddaughter turns 10.



ANYWAYS - in the grand tradition of Friday the 13th, some tattoo shops offer up a Friday the 13th special: you pick from the specific flash sheet (it changes every Friday the 13th) and you pay $13 for the tattoo + $7 lucky tip.  I had always wanted to do it but I don't know what had been holding me back.  So on my crazy out-of-character momentum of last week, I just went and did it.
At first, I was a little nervous because it had been pouring down rain so much that I was a little nervous to leave my area but it cleared up after the old man and I went to dinner.  Then, I was a little nervous about the parking situation.  I know the general area where the shop is and parking is quite limited but I pulled into the precarious lot and luckily for me, a girl was just leaving.  Her spot?  Right outside the shop door!  Is that an awesome sign or what?!  After some inner celebration and much gratitude to the Universe, I went inside and signed in.  I thought about specifying Matt for my tattoo but as I glanced over the list, I saw that quite a few folks had already done that, so I decided I wouldn't be picky about who I got because if they're at Matt's shop, they've got to be awesome.

 

After about an hour of waiting and debating where my new tattoo would go, it was my turn.  I was being called back by Charles Chatov.  I follow quite a few tattoo artists on Instagram and he's one of them so I was very excited.
After I got all stenciled up, it was time to get drilled.  Matt was setting up his station so we chatted about work and Deb and stuff.  The whole time I was hoping he didn't get mad at me for not asking for him but everyone else was asking for him so...you know.  I also think they stopped doing tattooer preferences after a certain time just for the sake of getting everyone done by midnight - which was the cut off.  Either way, I told Matt I would try to bring a special guest by the shop on Tuesday and I'm hoping that last week's momentum will carry through to this week.  Maybe I'll schedule my consult with Matt for Tuesday so I can get started talking about my chest piece.  That's another story.
I kindly asked Charles if I could take some action shots - to which he said, "You better hurry up - I'm almost done!"  I think these came out okay.  Taking these also helped distract me from the nagging pain of the needle.  And despite his very serious look, he was quite smiley!

 

So what did I pick?  The boat, of course!



Small and simple but I like it!  And even though I didn't sit for hours and hours, my experience was very enjoyable.  I think I should make it a point to get work done by each member of the Only You Tattoo crew since they are all amazingly talented artists.  Check out their work here!

I have finally seen Screeching Weasel live. It might be time to grow up for real now

Remember that one time I was mad at Ben Weasel for hitting those two girls at SXSW last year?  Well...I kinda let that go in March when I bought my ticket for last night's Screeching Weasel show.
Don't get me wrong - I struggled with my desicion but I ultimately decided to go for three pretty good reasons:
1 - My friend Rory's band, Karbomb, was opening the damn show (kind of a big deal, wouldn't you say?)
2 - The Queers were playing. Obvs deal-maker
3 - When SW played their "farewell" back-to-back shows in Chicago in '99 or 2000, I couldn't go with my friends because of school and I was afraid that I'd never EVER get the chance to see them ever again...
Pretty valid reasons, I think.  And I knew that I'd be running into some old friends that I haven't seen in forever.  After I mulled it over, I decided I'd just go.  I mean, when would I get the chance to see SW again?  AND my friend's band was freaking OPENING for them. 


After running into my awesome friends - including the handsome fella in the background of this photo:


I was ready for the night to really begin. Enter The Queers. I've never been to a bad Queers show. EVER. I think the last time I saw them was at the Echo Lounge when Philip Hill was playing with them. Seems like forever ago...


Then something posessed me to rush up to the front of the stage for Screeching Weasel. Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe it was me trying not to feel so old, maybe I thought it might be the last time I'd be able to see them. Either way, I was front and center like a crazy person and the bruises on my knees and ribs can prove it. The giant bruise on my left hand can also prove it...



So - back to the bruise on my hand. A very outgoing crowd surfer decided to step down on my left hand with full force on the barricade when he was being reeled in by security and I thought my thumb was fractured but after wrapping it with an ace bandage and diverting my attention at The Avengers in IMAX 3D, the swelling has definitely gone down and the pain isn't as terrible as before.


Check out the rest of my photos here. I wish I had more but I was having too much fun singing along and dodging random body parts pushing at me. I also wish I had taken more photos of my friends but hopefully we will se more of each other soon! It was great seeing everyone and I'm feeling really nostalgic now since I'm in a small bidding war (apparently) over some long lost tracks by The Number Ones...

Happy weekend!

A little Wavves for your afternoon enjoyment

Since I'm in a Summer mood, I'd like to share that with you all by posting this video of Wavves performing King of the Beach at the Drunken Unicorn on September 30, 2010.  You'll have to fast-forward to around 3:06 or feel free to watch the first song as well!


September 2010, huh? That's an awful long absence from Mr. Williams in the ATL. I wish I had the chance to see him on the Weezer Cruise but I had to miss it because of work. I also won't get a chance to see him at the Primavera Festival (for geographical and monetary reasons) but I'm hoping that Nathan decides to come back soon and rock our faces off. I'm dying to hear Poor Lenore live!!  And maybe by then I'll have Poor Lenore all finished up to *possibly* bring with me in a feeble attempt to try and show or give it to him, maybe.  We'll see.  I don't want to look like a total fangirl / tool...

Photo Mash-up #2

Remember how I told you I was doing photo mash-ups with one of my Flickr friends? Well, after many days of lamenting at my own lack of creativity and trying to brush off my monthly (it might be turning into weekly) existential crisis, I was able to decide on which photos would be my #2 for No More Sideburn Bob.

NMSbB sent me his #2 (and #3) forever ago and I felt bad for not sending him one back. I sent him this pathetic sounding email saying "I'm trying to think of better shots for this project since I feel like most of my surrounding are a little boring..." Typical me. But that's part of my existential crisis - I'm thinking I want new surrounding. You know, like a new skyline perhaps??? We'll see.

ANYWAYS - NMSbB was nice enough to message me back with very kind words reminding me that he's not used to my surroundings and what I may think is boring, he will think is interesting.

Back to reality.  I thought about it and decided I'd send him shots from my photo walk last weekend.

Here was his #2 shot 


And here's mine


Here's my finished product


Here's NMSbB's finished product


I realized after I had processed this one, that this would've been so much better for the postcard effect than the last one. Don't get me wrong, the effect was pretty on the last one but I would have preferred to use it for this one. But you know, that's the beauty of this project: we can't get ideas for the photo until both photos have come in and we start processing them.

I used Image Blender, Cross Process and PicFx.  The effects turned out nice!  When I sent the photo, I had forgotten he had also done a facade so when I went to blend them, the bikes magically placed themselves on the grass.  How serendipitous!  And how weird are those phantom facades?  There's a road by my house that's been under construction FOREVER and I'm guessing these were demos for some development companies or something.  I'm not sure but they're weird and kind of pretty in their own way.

Here's a link to my set - which features the original and processed photos
Here's a link to NMSbB's set

Enjoy!

Photo Post: Downtown Adventures

Can you tell I'm really enjoying the Blanko Freedom 13 film?

Another photo challenge? Don't mind if I do!

We have officially hit the "busy season" at work and I'm already exhausted BUT I've decided to start the February Photo-A-Day Challenge on Instagram!  I've never done the month-specific photo-a-day challenge with the rules and stuff so I think this will be a fun thing to do on top of the 366 photo-a-day challenge I'm already doing.

The rules are as follows:

Day 1: You view

Day 2: Words

Day 3: Hands

Day 4: A stranger
Day 5: 10am
Day 6: Dinner
Day 7: Button
Day 8: Sun
Day 9: Front door
Day 10: Self portrait
Day 12: Inside your closet
Day 13: Blue
Day 14: Heart
Day 15: Phone
Day 16: Something new
Day 17: Time
Day 18: Drink
Day 19: Something you hate to do
Day 20: Handwriting
Day 21: A fave photo of you
Day 22: Where you work
Day 23: Your shoes
Day 24: Inside your bathroom cabinet
Day 25: Green
Day 26: Night
Day 27: Something you ate
Day 28: Money
Day 29: Something you're listening to

Here's my first photo (my view)

Like I said - we're in the "busy season" at work so my view is behind the camera for filming until the 8th, so I'm sure this won't be the only work-related photo in the challenge!  I'm looking forward to it since I saw some really awesome ones -particularly from Lauren and Bobby - in my Instagram stream for the January photo challenge!  I can't wait to see more from them!

If you're on Instagram, feel free to follow me!  @katzi  I love seeing everyone's photos!

Are you doing any fun challenges - photos or not?

Some photos from over the weekend...

Friday
 

Saturday
   
 
My shirt from Threadless came in! I'm in love with this design! Buy it on sale here

Sunday