My love and I took a bike ride to Mississippi Avenue for the weekend. It’s one of my favorites. There are so many shops and street art.

We were so excited to see that Cup & Saucer opened a location on Mississippi. We couldn’t resist eating there for lunch. If you haven’t ate there I totally recommend it!

Check out the delicious grub we ordered…

Garden Omelet with scone & potatoes
Broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, mushroom, spinach and cheddar

Lucky Scramble
Bacon, mushroom, green onion, cheddar cheese scrambled with three eggs on top of potatoes

Lastly, here’s a recent drawing I did when I was visiting Nebraska. I finally snapped a photo for you to see. Enjoy!

It’s Friday! Woo-hoo!

Well it’s just about over with, isn’t it? I’m staying home this evening due to feeling a bit under the weather. Hopefully things turnaround with the help from hot tea. I mean come on, who wants to be sick over the weekend? Surely not I.

I don’t know if you noticed but 2 new sets of earrings made their way into my Etsy shop yesterday. I’m having so much fun using these little twig beads that I acquired awhile ago.

Float on Clouds – Earrings – View in Etsy Shop

One More Song – Earrings – View in Etsy Shop

Lastly, a new plant is added to my Herb Series!
I’ve been pretty anxious to post this one.

Mint – 8″ x 10″ Print – View in Etsy Shop

Well that’s all for now. I’m gonna kick back with a steamy cup of Chamomile tea, snuggle with my cat, and watch a movie borrowed from a friend. Hope all you lovelies have good weekend and enjoy that crisp Autumn air.

Another date to mark on your calendar…

Skating with Scissors is the first ever craft show put on by the Rose City Rollers!

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

11:00 am – 7:00 pm

Oaks Park Hangar in Sellwood (Portland) Oregon

I’ll be joining other creatives and selling my art and handmade goods! Hope to see you there.

Blueberries. Raspberries. Marion berries. Boysenberries!

Last month my husband & I went to Sauvie Island to do a lil’ berry pickin’. It was a nice weekend excursion to say the least. I took a handful of my favorite snaps from that day and dropped them into Poladroid. It definitely captures the summery mood.

This weekend was full of making all sorts of wonderful things, including fresh baked cookies! I seriously love cookies. To be honest… no doubt about it… I’m a cookieaholic. A few minutes after that first batch has been out of the oven… I’m biting down on that warm, mouthwatering, gooey goodness. Can we say Heaven?

I thought I would share my recipe with you. Enjoy!

Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies
(About 3 dozen)

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or stick margarine (softened)
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup butterscotch chips

1. Heat oven to 375°.
2. Beat all ingredients except oats, flour, and butterscotch chips in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in oats, flour, and butterscotch chips.
3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Check back throughout this week to see more wonderful weekend creations of mine.

Hope your week has started out swell!

After three attempts, my 14th work of the Standard Movement series, titled 00014 is finished! I am more than happy to share this bundle of joy with you on this sunny afternoon.

Bike riding down the Eastbank Esplanade, I discovered a magnificent Weeping Willow. A willow with catkins, might I add. These cylindrical flower clusters are why it took me three tries to make this artwork, I was being a lil’ picky of how they were drawn on a page torn from a bookkeeping & accounting study guide, which was once in the hands of a lady named Ava. The drawn raindrops and globe-like orbs faintly blend onto the page.

It’s of an elementary class, adhered pretty darn well to a piece of worn matte board, with no date present. I purchased this photograph along with some report cards from a flea market. I love the idea of using bits of something that was once together, that has created something historical visually, that once had an impact on more than one individual. I like to compare these bits to pixels, which I also love drawing with brown ink sporadically in my artwork.

I also worked in a piece from a hard cover book about astrology that’s full of tables. One thing that I think is thrilling about using used books is that at one time in it’s life it was owned by someone else and it had a particular purpose. Years later it’s now having a new purpose, a purpose that it was not intended to be used. I love flipping open the cover of old books and finding the previous owners name and address written by their hand. I question if they are still alive; do they still live at this address; did they read this book all the way through; did they read this book more than once? I don’t believe too many people write their name in their books in this day and age. In today’s culture it seems that we go through so much information, that it’s easier for us to do away with books after a short period of time. Websites like half.com and Amazon have encouraged this. I find this interesting.

I’ll stop there with that thought, I could go on and on but I need to continue working on some graphic design projects! I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. Also I hope you have a swell weekend and get around to doing something creative! I’m really giddy about tomorrow & Sunday, I’m going to be spending many hours working on a new batch of miniature artworks for new pendant necklaces! Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Whew… I’m finally getting around to writing up my Monday post. What a busy bee I have been today! Sadly this will be a short one.

Easter 2009 ~ Posing with one of my Nurture Thy Mind necklace drawings

I hope everyone had a swell Easter weekend. Mine was pretty low-key this year, since my family is hundreds of miles away. Plus the fact that I am kinda holiday-ed out. But I did get around to some egg dying with a friend – evidence below. Ha! I mean how could I pass up the original PAAS Easter egg dye kit. Sometimes you just have to let out your inner child, am I right?

I’m such a lucky one to have a mother that sends a surprise package of sweet treats… chocolate, Peeps, gummy bunnies, frosted sugar cookies, etc. Oh my!

Hello there!
I have my 13th work of the Standard Movement series to share with you today!

This 4 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ lil’ masterpiece includes my signature coffee rings and globe-like orbs on vintage ledger paper. The blossoming bud happened to grab my attention on one of my many walks this week. It has such a sweet smell! Curiosity had me Googling to find the proper name for this thriving small tree. After a good ol’ half hour… Ta da! It’s a Kobushi Magnolia, and it’s native to Japan.

On the left, do you spot some handwriting? Yes, you do see correctly. Randomly yet meaningfully, I included a snippet of a fellow’s charming message that was written in a young lady’s 1976 yearbook. You ask, do I know these people? No. I am a collector of many vintage paper finds, including old yearbooks that people just happen to pass up. Looking beyond the musty smells of pages, I find myself in wonderment of it’s background. I question, was it passed up because of the significant water damage and she felt it was no good? Or maybe this young lady’s life ended and her belongings, including this yearbook were given away. Or maybe she flew halfway across the world in search of new adventures and was forced to leave all her belongings behind.

Along with surrounding myself with the delightful sweet smell of blossoming trees, I’ve been around not-so-pleasant smelling substances. In particular– epoxy resin, polyamine, and lacquer. I’ve been playing around with them to find the right fit to seal those darn fastidious picture frames. The ones that just don’t allow space for glass, like pictured above.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I will see you on Monday.

Morning, morning, morning! I took a few snaps of my latest Standard Movement pieces. Did you notice how I caught some of the morning’s warm rays? He he. Yes, the photos below are a bit yellow but I’m not complaining, it will be nice to be reminded later of this sunny and cozy Friday morning!

Here are the beauties I worked on this week for your viewing pleasure…

“00009″

“00010″

“00011″

If you would like my Standard Movement Series to be displayed at your gallery or coffee shop this Spring… let’s talk! Feel free to drop me a line.

I’m pretty excited about this weekend! I’m going to hit up the local art store and do some experimenting with some new media. My heart is just fluttering thinking about it. Hope you all have a relaxing weekend!

PS: Just a reminder if you haven’t visited Sweetie Pie Pumpkin Noodle’s blog, do so! For your last chance to enter the drawing to win some art of mine, go here. “Goodbye! Chances are not forever.” –Apostle of Hustle