little blog

Eight Ways To Handle It

O is for Octopus

[Part of a working series]

Collage, ink, and watercolors on vintage poetry text.

I have an admission. I really really adore octopuses. (It should really be octopi)
They are creepy, magnificent monsters of amazing transformation and ability.



My second admission. I really really do not like ostriches.
They scare me into a panic. They are creepy in a gross, terrifying way.
Their necks, their beaks, fuzzy heads and huge legs, ahh.
Which is why I immediately chose octopus for the letter O. :)

♥ MJ

Yin & Yang + Some?

 

Whatever will these cats of ours do when our new big friend moves in. I know my Little isn't used to dogs, so it should prove to be an interesting experience. My boyfriend and I are really excited about Hiro. He comes the day before our anniversary :) Now isn't that just a bundle of fate? Also, Easter Sunday is the day after we bring him home. This means he's coming on a road trip with us to Connecticut to visit the family. Adventure already awaits this pup. He's only four months old, but already as big as a beast. I cannot wait to have him galloping through our little home. Mischief (our black cat) might handle the new roommate quite well as she's had experience with dogs. See those claws though? That's also a ninja cat that you do not want to piss off. She's a peach though, really. 

Fact, I cannot wait to be a mama to a big goofy dog. It will be such a beautiful love of drool and messes. :) Even though I do love my yin & yang babies very much. But it's time for a critter who can teach me how to play like a kid again. Quarter-life crisis present to myself :)

♥ MJ

Childhood Classic

    Sometimes it's the simple things in life that make our days seem a little more magical.

       + The warm spring breeze running across our cheeks
       + Receiving a sweet little package in the mail
       + Waking up with the kitty curled on your back, purring away
       + Finding that one last item to add to your collection of this or that
       + Chugging a cold glass of coffee milk, which seems to be an Ocean State staple.

    Coffee milk makes me completely nostalgic. It was a tradition to get the biggest glass you could at breakfast with the family (out to breakfast, mind you) and then to take your straw and proceed to make many, many milk bubbles. Watching it grow and rise with air and then deflate and pop as it settled, all the while, getting yelled at. It never phased us as kids either, the more annoyed our parents got, the more successful our bubbles got. I've already promised myself I wouldn't hold my kid back from blowing his coffee milk bubbles, I encourage the messy thrill!

    Somedays I miss being a little one. The perspective we had on the world then was so much more beautiful. Now I feel like I know too much. The truth I know about money and bills and the government and what the man does to the people, it makes the world a little less beautiful. It was so much easier when those weren't things to bother our pretty little heads with. Now we take them on so our future children can have their chance. I think they refer to that as the circle of life. At least there are things like cold glasses of coffee milk to brighten our days.   

    If it is the simple things that make such a difference in our days, how come we hardly notice them the older we get? I would like to become one with my awareness again. It is too easy to get caught up in the hustle bustle rush of life and forget to experience everything as new for the first time, rather than some repetitive task we do out of tedious routine.

    Coffee milk, mmm. It's an odd fact for a Rhode Islander, but many people outside of New England have no idea what coffee milk is. I tell you, you are all missing out. I prefer it over chocolate milk, and I love chocolate milk.

♥ MJ

Newbies

G is for Goat

Created by collage with vintage book paper, illustration, thread, inks,
and colored pencil. Part of a working series.


The White Hussars

Created by collage with a doily, graph paper, illustration, an actual
coffee ring stain, acrylics, and pencil on vintage book paper.



A Small Red House

Created by collage with vintage textbook paper, gouache, acrylics, and ink.

    All three new prints have been added to the shop.
    I finally ordered more shipping and printing supplies, so I'm pretty stocked up.
    I plan on offering certain pieces of work in canvas print paper as well as watercolor print paper again. Do keep a look out for that. :)
   
Happy Monday,       

            ♥MJ

Baby Love

17 Days & Counting!

    We are spewing with little-kid-like excitement waiting for this puppy. It's torture! We want to play with him in the park now, take him camping now, take him to the beach now! But it'd also help if it wasn't such a cold Spring at the moment. I have a feeling this guy is going to be incredibly spoiled, and that he will ultimately become Man's Best Friend in the process. My boyfriend is so ready to have a puppy to train, to teach silly little tricks, and awesome ones such as fetching appropriate sized wrenches when called for. I am so ready to cuddle up with the both of them on our couch, and fall asleep with both of them and a blanket on the grass outside. So many adventures await.
   

        ♥MJ

Pull a Page From Your Own Book

Little ball of trouble.

    Blogging. I adore it, though I am not all that slick with it. I'm getting there though, with that whole, you know, consistent updating thing. Today was a long, slow day at work. My usual caramel latte did not live up to it's job. I got to spend lunch with one of my favorite faces, which always makes the day a little better. I'm desperately craving the sun these days, today was just too gloomy for my tastes. Yet, April showers are still upon us. Spring is here though, it will shine through. That reminds me, please Miss Mother Nature, do not send another April Fool's snow storm our way.

    Creatively speaking, I have three new pieces to share. Some doodles and collages to tickle your fancy,- my childlike mind keeps peeking through in my work lately. I just have to finalize some digital aspects and I'll be adding them to shop soon, hopefully by this weekend. There will be a blog update following the additions to the shop as well.

My brain is tired.
So glad tomorrow is Friday.
G'night.

♥ MJ

Found

Posted 3.13.09 @ The Etsy Blog.

This is awesome. I love their aesthetic and perspective sooo much.

On The Mind: Woes & Wonders

+ Goats. Always goats.
+ Suddenly, puppies that grow into big jalopy dogs.
+ Finding my impulsive streak and deciding to adopt a rescue pup!
+ 122 Days until the Billy Joel and Elton John Concert. [YES!]
+ 24 Days until we take home our new lab mix puppy, Hiro!
+ Camping season is slowly approaching.
+ New RED sturdy Moleskine journal.

- Tax lady messed up fierce on my taxes. Must re-do.
- Dentist filed with old insurance, now have a bill to argue.
- Splash guard from under my car ripped off while driving on a bridge.
- My point and shoot digital camera desperately needs to be sent out for repair.
- His relatively new Acoustic Ibanez is also in need of some repair.
- New software/osi training at work in April, two solid seven hour days, woe.

 

 xxo ♥!

Primary Essentials

Primary Essentials
Color & Mugs
Mugs & Cups

Wikipedia:
    Primary Colors
        RYB (red, yellow, and blue) is a historical set of subtractive primary colors.
       

Primary colors are sets of colors that can be combined to make a useful range of colors. For human applications, three are often used; for additive combination of colors, as in overlapping projected lights or in CRT displays, the primary colors normally used are red, green, and blue. For subtractive combination of colors, as in mixing of pigmentsdyes, such as in printing, the primaries normally used are magenta, cyan, and yellow.^[1]

Dictionary:
    Essential: adj. [uh-sen-shuhl]
        1. absolutely necessary; indispensable:
        2. pertaining to or constituting the essence of a thing.

Derek Watson

These two photos by Derek Watson thrill me.
I can't help but giggle every time I look at them-
those little cotton puffs of kitteh falling in the air!
I have Jena Coray of blog Bone & Branch to thank
for my new addiction to Derek's photography.
Definitely some awesome creative work there.

New Art in Shop

(Go Beyond) Today

Ink and gouache on vintage book paper.

Just a Thought

Collage, ink, gouache, and glue on vintage book paper.

As well as these two from yesterday:

  

[ Prints of Originals available in the shop ]