New Blog!!!

I have a new blog address now!

 

I will be keeping this blog up but no longer posting, so please come follow me at:

 

 

 

House of Ash

 

 

 

My hope is to be posting more frequently :)

 

Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

Classic Houndstooth

 

{Skirt: H&M}

{Blouse/Shoes: Old classics lol}

 

One of my fav classic skirts this winter. It is a bit limiting in styling since I usually only stick with white and black tops, and sometimes tights, but black and white are pretty classic so I am completely happy with that :D

 

 

 



Etsy Shop

So, since deciding on pursuing art as a major part of my life, one of my goals has been to open up an Etsy shop to sell original drawings and prints. Of course I still have many other things to do to prepare for the opening, but one thing which has been plaguing me is finally complete!

 

I finally settled on a concept for my etsy shop banner!

 

Well, at least for now lol.

 

I still want to play around with it of course, but I am happy with using this as a base to jump off from. I also now have something to base my business cards, thank you notes, and packaging designs off of.

 

The idea really originated from my love of topiaries! I wanted to use them in the same way many home and shop owners display them on each side of their entrances. I love the charm and welcome they always seem to convey. And its so English! Unfortunately with the dimension limitations set by Etsy, I wasn't able to design something incorporating them that I loved.

 

Solution? Lamp posts!  Don't ask why lol.

 

{Lantern #1}                     {Lantern #2}

 

I ended up drafting a couple different lanterns, then went into Paint and touched them up and incorporated them into a banner. I had to cut it up a lot in order to keep the size right, so afterward drew up a new lamp that fit the proportions much better.

 

Final result!

 

 

Its very simple, but I like it. And I can make it festive for holidays according to my whimsy. 

 

 

One little task officially complete!

 

 

"Riding" Boots

 

 

Finally found some reasonably priced "riding" boots! Yay! Very comfortable, and perfect for gross ick weather lol. 

 

 

They are a bit less snug in the calf than perfect, but I don't really mind since I will only be wearing them with jeans and sometimes thick knee high socks.

 

And yes, I need to get my hair cut lol...

H Town

 

So I popped down to Houston a couple weekends ago to visit a friend and her newborn baby! Craziness! It is still hard to believe one of the troupe from high school actually has a child now, the next generation. She is the only one so far, but she also is the only one to bypass 4+ of college so I think the timeline is still consistent. I suspect in another couple of years a few more will make the same step as well.

I found a rountrip ticket on the Greyhound for only $30! I would have paid at least $80 just for gas if I had driven, so that was so convenient. And they have new buses now with (drumroll please) an electrical outlet for each seat! As well as Wifi! Ack! Best bus trip ever lol! It made my mistake of leaving behind my crochet hook slightly more bearable... just. As soon as Maria picked me up though we picked up one at the store lol. Which leads me to....

Travel Must-Haves!: (learned through heart ache and suffering)

1. Coffee. Must have access to coffee in the mornings. Or else lol.
2. Crochet/Knitting project. Otherwise I make myself ansy.
3. Hair straightener. Enough said.
4. Gloves. The cold weather hits here so randomly!
5. Book
6. Tote large enough for projects.

Of course there is more, but these are definite things I pretty much do not want to travel without. I think they just enable me to handle any negative alterations to the trip plan very well, despite my slight OCD lol.

I got into Houston Saturday morning and we dropped in at The Hobbit Cafe for lunch. It is a super cute little eaterie downtown with good sandwhiches and yummy bellinis. And very cute food menu names lol. It's individuality reminded me a lot of restaurants in Austin.

 

 

{super cute Hobbit Cafe downtown}

 

The rest of the trip involved shopping at the galleria, watching the Texans lose their position in the playoffs, bubbly sparkling wine, the Golden Globes, BBC Masterpiece Classics, purusing antique malls, the wonderful cocktail of De Sarona/Grenadine/Gingerale, Just Dance 3, and crocheting a new cowl. And lots of pets. And a baby.

 

Then Tuesday got back on the bus and headed home.

 

{I secretly heart this photo. Lil' bear and his Papa.}

 

{the little guy staring at himself, mesmorized lol}

{My Sasha's mama}

 

 

{My new travel pajamas! Love!}

 

 

{Our entertainment for the football game}

 

{Set to go for the Golden Globes!}

 

 



 

{my new brandy glass! jk lol...crazy old people}

 

 

 

{me with the little guy. I watched him for a whole 15 minutes all by myself! Which recquired amusing him, and thats it lol}

Although I had seen pictures (yay here are more lol), actually seeing her son in person, moving and making faces and interacting with his environment, was pretty amazing and emotional. I literally got teary-eyed. I still can't believe she has a little person running around now. I am so glad I was able to see him at this age as well. He is 4 months old, so while still a baby he reacts to people and animals and is very expressive, but also sleeps at night lol.

Lovely little weekend holiday! I am hoping Maria gets the urge to come up and visit me sometime (even if only for a day) once lil' bear gets older, but we will see. I am so grateful I got to at least spend some time with her new little family... Love.

NYE 2012

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012 has been a pretty good year, all truths told. I have had some changes in my life, and many new experiences. I have learned a lot about myself and what is important to me for the future. Looking forward, I want to apply everything I have experienced so that 2013 will be phenomenally better.

Resolutions for 2013:

1. Practice the piano regularly and reach a respectable skill level (no more Fur Elise haha)
2. Run a marathon (when its not so freezing)
3. Travel somewhere new
4. Set up an Etsy Shop
5. Develop drawing and painting skills (painting, ack!)
6. Set aside a respectable savings

I already have a few of these set in motion, so I think I will have some accomplishments at the end of 2013 to be proud of.

I did have some plans to go out to Victory Park with all the rest of Dallas, do the countdown, and watch the fireworks show. But alas, it is the greyist and most wet day out, so instead I am heading over to a coworkers to spend the evening drinking wine and staying warm and dry lol. Not as energetic and exciting, but a whole heck of a lot more comfortable!

 

Wishing good wishes and happiness to everyone else for the coming new year!

Holiday Home Tour 2012

 

 

This year's decorating was very modest, with just a few touches to get in the spirit of things.

 

Welcome Welcome!

 

Simple wreath I decorated with left over ornaments, nothing fancy...

 





 

 

My tree!
I definitely want a fat white tree for next year.
I think those are so beautiful.
This one is also pretty skinny lol.

 

 

 

Festive minibar! Definitely a necessity for the holidays.

 

 

Advent calender for 2012.
These are always a bit more fun with more people involved though.
Somehow there just isn't as much suspense or magic
when I placed the chocolates there myself...

 

 

My snowflakes I cut out and glittered all by myself! I am very proud of them lol, although I would have liked to hang them up in a different way. There is always next year though. That was a fun project, and so inexpensive! Paper crafting is always a good option lol.

 

 

The beginnings of my new paper village! I haven't really glitterfied them yet, and I will add several more little houses as well and white trees. Eventually it will be a cute little paper village! But for now... its just a Texas village lol.

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! It actually snowed on Christmas Day here in Dallas!!! I haven't had a white christmas in sooo many years; it was magical. Although I didn't spend it with family, I was invited to my boss' home and we spent the day cooking gumbo, making sugar cookies, and wrapped up the night with a film. All while enjoying some pretty fabulous wine, listening to christmas music, watching the snow fall, and laughing together. Driving home I felt so grateful and appreciative to have been invited to enjoy the holiday with them and invited into their home. That is definitely what Christmas is about.

 

Ballerina #1

 

 

Ballerina sketch #1, soon to be out of two.

 

 

 

{8x10 pencil drawing}

 

 Ok, there are a lot of things I do not specifically love about this one, but then there are some specific elements I do lol. C'est la vie!

I started on the second ballerina which will be comparable in size and lighting so as to be displayed either as a pair, or along each side of the 11x14 pointe shoes. I then want to do a larger ballerina to be displayed alone.

I am reminding myself repeatedly that the purpose of this little ballet project of mine is really to learn, so imperfections and mistakes are to be expected and learned from rather than cast in shame.

One of the primary reasons I have held off on pursuing art has been because of my perfectionism, so trying to leave that at the door.

Being able to draw out many different ballerinas should allow me to learn from each sketch and apply my new knowledge to the next. Hopefully after I complete all six drawings I will be more comfortable with this subject at least.

 

 

 Just for fun, I also took a few pictures throughout the sketching process just to document how everything developed and changed :)


#1.

#2.

This step really was just adding more shading and dimension to the figure, and changing some of the proportions.

#3.

I completed the tutu, the ballerina's face, and applied some background shading to emphasize the highlights, and added a shadow.

#4.

The last change I made was how I grounded her. I first thought it would be easy to do a simple shadow, but if I followed the light it really should have been very far to the right which would have unbalanced everything. So instead I tried just creating part of the stage floor which allowed me to keep the overall light balanced. I definitely favor this way of grounding the figures.

 

 C'est Fini!

 



Fasion Trends: Plaid Crazy

I. Love. Plaid. 

 

But only certain color combinations lol... it all depends on the pattern. 

And it is such a classic look! I think it reminds me of the holiday season.

 

Specific patterns seem to pop up each year, but investing in a couple of pieces for your wardrobe is definitely a smart fashion forward move.



Plaid shirts are the most available and easy to purchase right now if you just want to incorporate it into your wardrobe simply.

 



 

Last year there was an emphasis on red and black, but this season the trend has migrated more toward greens and blues, like these skinny trousers.

 

I am definitely in love with the green!

 



 

A scarf is another easy and affordable purchase, if you just want to get your feet wet. 

 

 

Work appropriate ensemble! I need a navy skirt, STAT hehe.

 

 



Ballet Slippers

I am so excited about this drawing!

 

{11 x 14" pencil drawing of Pointe Shoes}

 

 

This is just a photograph that I had to edit to brighten of the drawing so the contrast level got kicked up and the pencil strokes are more obvious than the original, but I am going to scan it with a professional scanner soon.  

 

This is sort of the first drawing I have done recently which is really all me, and it feels so good! I think I am going to also create a few more ballet inspired pieces to build a collection that I can display together.

 

I started this concept design this past Wednesday, and actually had it completed by Saturday night! I was expecting the entire process to take me a lot longer, but instead of distracting myself and putting my supplies away even temporarily, I kept everything out and within my line of sight which really helped me stay on task.

 

There was so much work involved in this, so just having completed it to my satisfaction is so rewarding. But after I scan the image so I can keep it for always, I am planning on matting and framing it, and hanging it at a local Cafe Brazil for sale. I was at one this past weekend, and most of the items for sale are not as good, and yet are being sold anywhere from $50-$250. After asking the advice of a few objective people, I think I am leaning somewhere between $50-100 without the frame. We will see though...

 

Depending on how that venture goes, I may try selling most of my originals at a cafe, and use Etsy mainly to sell Prints. I would love to be able to build up a good little print business.

 

Classic Winnie the Pooh

Per my own odd wimsy, my friend Maria from Heritage Knitting, and my sister Brittony, I started working on a little collection of sketches inspired by the classic winnie the pooh artwork.

I guess its just fun to have some original sketches for art to display around the house. I want to sketch a few more of the famous images (pooh eating honey out of a jar?) just for fun.

This sketch looks great in a 4x6 frame, although can be in up to an 8x10.

 

Maria still has to get back to me on which specific images she wants for her nursery, so in the meantime I am just picking things randomly just for some fun.

 

When I have a baby, I want to buy all the Winnie the Pooh episodes and play them for him/her, since most of the television today just has no heart. There are just so many sweet and precious moments about the stories that I love! I think the producers now just throw together anything loud and colorful, and annoying lol.

 

 

 

Homemade Snowflake Ornaments

Since I changed color schemes, I wanted to add a few white and red ornaments to my tree this year. Last year I used simple green ball ornaments from Hobby Lobby and painted snowflakes on them, and I wanted to follow through with that again but with red.

 

 



I still had the glitter and white paint I used, so all I had to buy were a couple boxes of ball ornaments for a total of $5.00

 

One christmas movie later, viola!



 

 

 

 

These additions were definitely needed to bring some pop to my tree! And there is something just fun and festive about making your own ornaments :)



Happy Christmas!!!

Christmas Tree Decorating

 

So this year, my new apartment has a completely different color scheme than my old one. Go figure lol. The last two years I have done a white and green christmas (2011 and 2010). Prior to that, I had done the traditional red and gold. This year, my walls are grey and I have turquoise and aqua accents, so the green wouldn't really have worked.

 

So what to do for Christmas?! The easiest thing would have been to go for an all white and silver color scheme. I started decorating my tree with this in mind first.

 

I am so grateful my tree is prelit lol. They are sooo much easier to put up!

 

Most of my ornaments are just ones purchased from the craft store, but I do have one little box of glass ornaments that mean something special to me. My grandma had these little glass heart ornaments on her christmas tree, and our family inherited them when she died. Every year growing up when we would hang all our ornaments on our tree, coming across these always pulled at my heart a little with memories of her. A few years ago the last one left finally broke (hazards of pet ownership). Apparently my distress was visible, because last Christmas my mom hunted down new ones and gave a whole box to me for my very own!

 

 

I will always cherish hanging these on my tree.

 

So after decorating my tree all white, I was still missing some pops of color, so decided to throw in some Red! It's not as classic, but the little pops of brightness bring me cheer :) I even have little cardinals nesting in the branches!

 



 

Thank goodness my tree skirt works! The above picture doesn't really do the red justice, the picture below is a bit more true.

I don't think I will hang stockings this year, since my new apartment does not have a fireplace, and it would just be me and one for Sasha. She has been uber cuddly lately... anytime I am on the couch working on my laptop, sketching, or watching a movie she just plops right next to me hehe.

 

 

 

Mad Men Minibar

I stumbled upon this dresser sitting by the dumpster one morning while taking out the trash.

Immediate thought: this could be my mini-bar! I rushed back into my apartment, grabbed my yard stick, measured the wall space in my apartment simply screaming for a minibar, and then went outside and measured the width of the dresser. And I had 2 inches to spare! Obviously I proceeded to drag the thing into my apartment, to await my DIY planning hehe.

Painting required of course... and new hardware. After I painted it over white, I decided to try something new and paint the top two drawer spaces a seafoam green. I think it turned out pretty well, and I really love using the stackable wine rack in the space.

At first I wanted to buy a shelf to install above and then get some stemware holders to nail underneath it so I can hang my wine glasses underneath. But the latter really only come in dimensions of 12" depth, while finding a floating shelf that deep is practically impossible. So I compromised by finding a 6" deep floating shelf and just storing some of my glasses on top.

I am using the drawers for linen storage since I do not have a linen closet.

 

 

When I painted over the top, I had to do several coats because the writing kept creeping through lol.

 

One young teenage girl's trash - my own new household treasure.

Fall Homage Sketch

I started this sketch about a week ago. It is so much harder to draw dying leaves than healthy ones! There is just so much more varied texture really. Decay is not easy to draw; just sayin... lol.

I eyed this sketch in a 4x6 wooden frame, and I liked the look of it framed that way... especially in a walnut/natural frame. Very autumny hehe.

I was thinking of seasonal sketches I could do, and liked this idea for Thanksgiving. Many other ideas are bubbling to the surface though as well, which I want to have ready for next year's season.

Currently working on some ideas for winter, both simple sketches like this and more complex scenes!

Art, and Its Place In My Life

I finally made a decision about where I want to go with my drawing. I have had so many different things pulling me in different directions over the past few years... and although I am not out of the running with medical school, I think I have accepted that I am officially just burnt out on that track. Its been emotionally exhausting really, and seeing patients every day hasn't been very inspiring either. The job of a physician in this current time, is pretty crappy. Which was okay, but the thought of having to continue to apply just doesn't make me happy anymore.

While waiting for the spring to come to hear back from the schools I interviewed at, I really wanted to start working on something, ANYthing, career-wise. I realized the happiest moments during my day are when I am able to make creative decisions, and so thought about how I could incorporate that into an alternative career. There are certainly designing and coordinating jobs out there, but my lack of education in that field doesn't obviously put me at the top for applicants. Hence the following plan for my future while currently in limbo:

1. Create a collection of sketches that would be marketable to a large group
2. Come up with a business name, logo or quote, design, business cards, policies, and get a Tax ID #.
3. Perfect my ability to make professional prints from my sketches
4. Begin posting and selling prints and originals on Etsy.
5. Take community college courses in the evenings to develop my drawing skills, and get my feet wet with painting.
6. Develop my personal style as an artist.

Even if this "business venture" isn't able to support me, it could very likely at least offer some slight bump in income (especially since production costs would be so minimal), and at the same time allow me to develop a hobby I have always wanted to explore anyway.

Ultimately, the fact that I would be able to put all that on a resume, might seriously afford me the opportunity to climb up a more artistic career path.

I finally feel almost content, satisfied. Confident. Excited.

I made this decision Wednesday of this week. When I went home, after speaking with a friend about it, she immediately requested some Classic Winnie the Pooh prints with quotes. This idea (although not artistically original, still pretty marketable) sent me on the hunt for inspiration from other classic children's books.

I started that night on one from The Velveteen Rabbit. I still have to add in some grass and leaves to ground him, and then load it to the computer so I can add the quote and make it into a print. I am going to use this quote:

 "When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

All the sketches I do of this are going to be part of my Storybook Collection.




I also want to do original pieces for older children from classic books such as

1. The Secret Garden
2. A Little Princess



I know its a crazy optimistic plan, but in the end happiness is what matters, and I finally feel like I am going in the right direction for that. I feel peaceful, which I haven't felt for a long long time.

Harry Moss Park

This past weekend, I had to make a trip to the park to... wait for it... literally pick up sticks lol.

Yes, that's right. There are two projects for thanksgiving I wanted to create this year, both of which necessitate branches. Hence, my trip Saturday to my nearby park.

And I love this park! Its so natural and pretty! Dallas' Aboretum is very sculpted and has pretty much no trees and I have never liked it, so wandering along in this park was truly wonderful. And the leaves have finally changed colors to reflect the season!

I am making a Thanksgiving Tree this year, by arranging branches in one of my white porcelain pitchers and hanging paper leaves with ribbon on them. Each day this month, I am writing down something specific I am thankful for, and adding it to the tree. So on Thanksgiving day, I can read all the little things in my life that bring me joy! :D 



So in love with Autumn!