Pulled proofs of both the wood and lead type today. Still need to get started on my linocut.

Tears of regret.

(For group project/game thing.)

Obligatory be jealous of what I cook for dinner post.

Any excuse is a good excuse to put glitter on things.

BTW, if you didn’t already notice, I’m reblogging things from my other accounts.

bfxgf:

Not so much of a collaboration, but more of a large group project.

Imagine a four-person photography relay using a disposable camera through the mail. I named our group Team Sparkle Pony and as a result felt compelled to glue some glitter on our camera.

I know we are not in first place as one group has already successfully completed their circuit and developed their photos. I’ll be posting ours here when our group finishes.

More character sketches. Trying something more simplified.

yaynimation:

Little Girl with noodles and nubs.

Progress to completion of my typesetting. 

Edit: Yes, I know there are spelling errors. This the reason why I take photos and flip them to see what’s happening before I even get to proof the type.

Today I printed this guy and started working on gathering letters for my first broadside, which if you couldn’t already tell is about magpies. 

RE: sparklesandscars’s question about the durability of my DIY fabric straps for pedals:

The new ones are holding up splendidly after two weeks of riding and in the rain as well. 

After making the first pair of fabric pedal straps for my polo bike, William asked if I would make him a pair for his bike. 

If anything in the directions doesn’t seem clear to you, feel free to ask questions. I am new at this tutorial thing. 

Materials

• Some sort of thick stiff heavy-duty fabric like denim or canvas.
• Industrial Strength Velcro. Either 2 small packs in a box or 16” from a box by the yard.
• Thread
• Iron
• Pen or super fine marker
• Ruler
• Scissors you aren’t afraid to make sticky
• Pins (optional)
• Sewing machine you are comfortable taking apart and cleaning. (See warning at end of post.)
• Large platform/BMX pedals with large holes in the side of the body.
• Pliers (optional)
• Screwdrivers or whatever you need to open up the shuttle race part of your machine.
• Cotton swabs
• Rubbing alcohol

Directions

• If the fabric isn’t smooth already, iron it.  
• Measure out four 20.25” x 2.25” pieces on one whole piece of fabric one on top of the other.
• Cut in half so you have two 20.25” x 4.5” pieces of fabric.
• Fold both pieces in half and iron so there is a good crease. I found pins to be helpful to keep everything in place while ironing.
• If you want your straps to have a curved side, find a nice round can or container to trace. Cut out along line.
• Sew a straight stitch along the entire raw edge.
• Then sew another line 1/4” to 1/2” in from raw edge. This side will face your toes.
• Sew three lines of straight stitches along the side of the strap that will face your ankle. This will help make it stronger plus give it some nice color contrast.
• Run a zig-zag stitch three or four times along the outer raw edge.
• Draw a 9” line halfway (1 1/16”) between the width of the strap and cut along the length of the line.
• Sew a straight line stitch along the new raw edges.
• Cut along the line and do a solid line stitch to hold in place.
• Pass a zig-zag stitch 3 or 4 times along over this edge, taking care not to accidentally sew the the split sections back together. 
• Add 2 straight line stitches across the width at the end of the split to reinforce the strap at that stress point.
• Check and see that you actually made a left and a right strap. Alas, I did not and made two left, given how I used two different colors of thread. But no big deal, just flip one inside out!
• Prepare two lengths of 8” x 2” strips of Velcro. 
• Cut the hook-side of the Velcro to have a curve that follows the strap, peel off backing, and adhere to inside of top portion of strap.
• Cut the fuzzy side of the Velcro in half long ways to fit the two split straps. Peel backing and adhere the opposite side of the strap.
• Sew three lines of a line stitch down the hook side of the Velcro and two along the fuzzy side of the Velcro. This is where your sewing machine might start to hate you and seize or jam up from a build up of adhesive on the insides. 
• Stop and open up your machine and figure out what needs to be cleaned. I wound up taking out only one part at a time and cleaning it, before reassembling and trying to sew again. I had to repeat this process until I had succeeded in cleaning all parts that were gunked up.
• When your straps are finished, feed the split straps through the body, and pull through. If you have trouble because the holes are too small, a pair of pliers are quite helpful. 

WARNING! Industrial Strength Velcro has about a millimeter thick layer of adhesive for each part and it isn’t kind to the inside of your sewing machine. It basically covers everything with a thick layer of adhesive that starts to grab both the top and bottom threads and just turn into a horrible mess you have to cut with a knife. I had to disassemble my machine and completely clean the needle, shuttle race, feed dogs, and other parts with alcohol several times when sewing the Velcro to the straps. 

I felt like baking yesterday and wound up making a batch of big soft orange cranberry oatmeal cookies. I then rode my bike around downtown to deliver half with tea to William and Matt and the rest to other friends.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup softened margerine
• 6 tbsp grapeseed oil or any other plant oil
• 1 tspn vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup brown whole wheat or brown rice flour
• 1 cup white all purpose flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• 1/2 tspn salt
• orange zest
• juice from 1/4 medium navel orange
• 1 cup or more of cranberries
• 3 cups uncooked oats

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Blend the sugar, softened margarine, and oil together until smooth.
• Mix in vanilla, eggs, orange zest, and juice from orange wedge.
• Add in flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Dump the oats and cranberries in and mix it all up.
• I wanted these to be big, so I scooped heaping tablespoons of dough out to make 12 cookies total. 
• Bake for 8 - 15 minutes depending desired amount of softness or crispiness.  

I am maybe slightly better at drawing goats.

I am not good at drawing horses or people riding horses.

Yet.

Nature nap or something.

Last week was a little complicated. Once things are settled again, I will resume posts of artwork, tutorials, and stuff.

I don’t know.