Friday, February 29, 2008

House tour : Kitchen

I made this delicious smoothie! I get into food ruts, where I get obsessed with a type of food and want to eat only that for a few weeks, and then I move on to something else. Lately I have been making and eating a lot of smoothies. This smoothie contains: fat free vanilla yogurt, sunny d, frozen peaches, frozen pineapple, one kiwi, frozen raspberries and ground flax seeds.

Other foods that I have been obsessed with:
Burritos and Pizza- fun to make because whatever we have in the fridge goes on them. Like a pizza with black beans and chicken nuggets, yum.
Edamame and Tofu- I was obsessed with making stir-frys for a week or so.

House Tour- part 3

Living room:



I made this orange and turquoise ceramic piece in college, it is one of the 20 or so pieces that I made that are called, "tweeks".  I think I only sold 5 of them, so I still have a bunch around my house and my mom's house! The artwork behind it is from El Salvador, I think someone gave it to my mom and then she gave it to me.
Mike made the shelf- it houses a lot of weird artwork!

Happy Leap Year!!


Here is another painting in the octagonal golden peanut chair series! 
Leap Year is a weird thing. Today I am watching Martha Stewart, I never watch her show, but today she is doing a special feature on Etsy, so I am curious. Her audience is also filled with Leap Year babies! 

Thursday, February 28, 2008

1st octagonal painting for sale.

I just listed this painting on etsy. According to etsy sellers in the forums, it's important to list everyday. So, I'm going to give it a try.

House tour- part 2

Bedroom:
I made this ceramic piece in college. It's part of a psuedo-tea set. I made a bunch of little weird creamers and bowls that are wearing ties or pearls or bracelets or have puffed sleeves. I have used them to serve salad dressing, but mainly I keep things in them. Like makeup brushes and pencils. I usually keep tweezers in the pocket.

A prize!


This is going into a prize gift basket! It is the first promotion that I am participating in, as part of the IN Crowd (Indiana Etsy group). 

Treasury!

Thank you etsy user, LSKcrochet for including me in your birthday treasury! Exciting.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

House tour: pt. 1

bathroom:

My mom gave Mike and I electric toothbrushes for Christmas!

Mini Peanut Chair painting set!


I added these cute, little paintings on etsy today. They are a set, and are little! Only 4.5 inches, so very cute. And gold! I am very into metallic paint nowadays.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Rugged Warehouse

Holy crap. Who knew I have so many clothes from Rugged Warehouse? These pants and these shoes. But Rugged Warehouse does have amazing deals. That is another difference from VA and IN, no Ruggeds in IN.  Bummer. Last year I went a lot to the one in Winston-Salem and found some great deals- including sweet white, semi sparkely diesel shoes! (not pictured) I think in all of my wardrobe_remix posts, there has been something from Rugged Warehouse.




job history

Job History: 
1. Soccer referee: I was a ref in high school for rec league soccer. I think I only reffed 2-3 games, it was too high stress!! Soccer parents are for real! Yikes.
2. Waitress: I did this job for a year in high school. Looking back the job was pretty fun and I worked with crazy people, including an elderly woman waitress who called herself Nutty and the Greek Mafia. I was 16 when I worked there, and I took the job because I wanted a car. I bought a raspberry Plymouth Sundance. It was a terrible car, but it was pink.
3. Nanny: the summer after my freshman year of college I was a nanny for 3 kids. It was really boring, the kids never wanted to play outside or really do anything other than watch movies.
4. Playground supervisor:  For 2 summers between college, I worked for the Parks and Rec department, it was basically a day camp for elementary schoolers. It was a fun job, especially for someone that really enjoys kickball.
5. Phonathon representative: For 1-2 months during my junior year of college. I called UMW alumni for donations, it wasn't fun. We did get a free dinner out of it every shift, but it was usually pizza from the dining hall anyway. I was terrible at this job because I would definitely take no for an answer. I was not interested in talking people into giving money when they clearly didn't want to. One good thing happened, I called one guy who was an alum and he told me that he studied abroad during college and fell in love with a woman there, then they lost touch, and recently they reunited! It was cute. That was the only nice story, most people said they already gave their money in the form of tuition and a lot of people were still paying back loans.
6. Babysitter: I babysat for a few different families during college, my favorite was babysitting for a 1 year old, Lola. She was cute and her parents had a sweet farm house. That started my love of old houses.
7. Therapeutic Recreation Aide: I think this was my best job ever. I had an hour commute, so I was a little worried about it, but it was so much fun, and only 4 days a week. Although they were 10 hour days. It was basically a day camp for middle school kids, and I was assigned to a special needs girl that I helped accommodate games, arts, etc. for. She really didn't need that much help, and she loved to dance, she was a blast to hang out with.
8. Substitute teacher: Hit or miss. I enjoyed subbing at the elementary school I student taught at, so I knew all the kids and that was pretty fun. For 3 months I was a long term sub for art at the high school I did student teaching. That was totally awful, I do not enjoy high schoolers- especially ones that just take art because they think they will get an A, and then complain about failing when they do no work. 
9. Art teacher: 2nd best job. There were a lot of downers to the job, ie principal using the art budget for copiers for the school. But mainly it was fun, I liked most of the other teachers, and the kids were really fun. Except the 5th graders, they were monsters! It was very cool to teach the kindergarteners because the majority of them couldn't speak English at the beginning of the year, and by the end of the year they could do so much!
10. Preschool/daycare teacher: The job I quit in January. Worst job ever. I accepted the job because at the interview I was told it was an art-based school, so I thought that was cool. However, several months later and there was still no art, when I brought it up to the bosses, they said I could clean out a spider filled garage and start up the "Art Barn" on the weekends or stay after work for no pay. Um, no. I worked with 2 year olds, and that age is pretty funny. I didn't really have much experience with that age group before and thought they wouldn't be able to do anything and it would be really boring, but they are pretty smart at that age.
11. Professional artist: Current job. Unfortunately, this job seems to need some sort of marketing background that I clearly do not have. I have met with a woman at a restaurant/gallery and she will be showing my art sometime in the spring! That is exciting. I really like painting and working on art projects, but there is not much human interaction. So, I am starting to look for a real, paying job! Next post will be about that. 

Time to go volunteer!

It is snowing again!

booooooooooooo!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Weekend Recap

-picked up Jennifer at the Indy Airport
-ate in Nashville, Indiana, not Nashville Tennessee. Nashville, IN is a weird little place. Lots of artsy little shops and just weird stuff, like one of those old-timey portraits shops. We ate at the Hob Nob Corner Cafe. It was cute.
-Gave tour of Bloomington- pretty short tour, we drove around IU and that was about it.
-Went to FARM! It wasn't a long wait at all, the hostess said it would take 30 min so we waited at the bar, and only waited probably 5 minutes. The only problem was that I couldn't order my planned meal! They switched the menu on me! So, we shared the minty green pea guacamole, it was very good. Then I ordered the chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans, also good. And I didn't order a dessert but I ate some of Mike's apple pie and Jennifer's "chocolate pot", which I thought was called "chocolate pod" and I thought it was going to be weird balls of chocolate. Overall, I did really like FARM, interesting menu, very cool interior design, definitely very trendy/hip sorta place, but it is too expensive to go very often.
-Sunday- went to church downtown for part of Mike's research. It's a church that meets in a theater. Walked around downtown, ate burritos at the Laughing Planet. Looked around at the vintage store, Cactus Moon. I love that store, but am usually too impatient to look that hard to find something awesome. We went to one of the gourmet/local grocery store and picked up some food to make quesadillas for dinner. 
-Had an oscar party. Ok, so it was just the three of us, but we did have oscar bingo and filled out the ballots. Mike won, but he didn't pick from his heart, he picked the predicted winners. I had only seen Juno anyway.
-Then this morning we went to the Runcible Spoon for brunch, had french toast. I had wanted to go there for a while because before I moved to Indiana, Ginny gave me an Indiana guidebook and it recommended that restaurant because they have fish in the bathtub in the bathroom. To me, that is reason enough to check out a restaurant. And they did have a fish! It was cute.
-Then we had to take Jennifer back to the airport, and now I am back to start working on art and taking Mike to his night class.

A very nice weekend, and lots of fun food! We also taught Jennifer how to play cribbage, so we played twice. We are like 75 years old.

Friday, February 22, 2008

New Banner

A delicious drink...

Diet 7-up and POM

FYI: I did not end up going to class last night. It wasn't cancelled, but there was a ton of ice everywhere, and I am not accustomed to driving in inclement weather- so I stayed home and watched the season 4 finale of The Wire. Now we can start season 5!


Goals for today:
finish painting
make new banner for etsy shop
clean kitchen floor
bake a dessert
dust
figure out stupid tax stuff


Thursday, February 21, 2008

Acid Wash

Woo hoo acid wash. I do love this jacket.
I am waiting to go to my class, however I think it might be cancelled- it is totally gross out with a wintry mix supposed to be happening all night. But, so far, it's not cancelled.
I also love these snow boots. Last year before Christmas I spotted them online and added them to my Christmas list, but they were pretty pricey. But... I went to the TJ Maxx and Potomac Mills and found this one pair in my size for super cheap. It was a Christmas miracle.

Favorite painting?




Today I started 2 paintings, and finished 1. Right now I am in the process of uploading it to etsy! I think this is my favorite peanut chair painting so far. This is what it would look like if you hung it too high on the wall.

Coke Zero

Announcement: Coke Zero is 85% as good as regular Coke. Pretty good.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Happy Wednesday!



I am in the process of listing 2 more items on etsy. Loading the pictures is taking forever! So now I have 8 things for sale.
I listed my peanut in flight sculpture and the peanut shaped living room painting.
So, about the weather! It snowed again last night. Do you know what is annoying? Pushing a grocery cart through an icy, slushy parking lot. Yuckers. That happened last week when I was shopping too. I am bored of winter. I hope the weather doesn't mess up Mike's sister's travel plans. Even though where we live in Indiana isn't very much north of where I am from in Virginia, I do think that it snows more here, and is definitely more windy. Also, there are tornados!! I am scared of tornados.

Other differences from VA and IN.
Liquor:
IN- sells liquor in grocery stores and even CVS!
VA- only sells liquor in liquor stores.

Motorcycles:
IN- don't need to wear a helmet.
VA- need to wear a helmet.

Terrain:
IN: very flat.
VA: very mountainous.

Cars:
IN: best DMV I have ever been to, and cars don't need to be inspected.
VA: terrible DMVs, although NC had the worst ever, and cars need to be inspected every year.

Those are all of the differences I can think of right now.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Food

One of my favorite things to do is look at menus online and pick out what I would order, is that pathetic? Anyway, Mike's sister is coming on Saturday so we will be going out to eat a couple times this weekend. That is the great thing about Bloomington, super great restaurants! FarmBloomington is a new restaurant that opened maybe a month ago and I have been dying to go! I have already picked out what I would order- so there will be no dilly-dallying in the restaurant. Straight to the food please.
Appetizer:  Green Pea and Avocado Guacamole with Spiced Flatbread
Dinner: Jerked Chicken Skewers with Sweet and Sour Tamarind Sauce
Dessert: Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Cashew Caramel Corn

So, I am ready for Saturday night. (or Sunday night)

I don't know what else we will do this weekend. We'll pick her up from the Indy airport and maybe stop at an outlet mall so Mike can spend his bday money.

New Painting set done!



I like making up little stories for my house paintings. This is a couple that loves their cat- they have cat paintings, and a cat photo on their fridge. Strangely, I am not really a cat person. However, this couple does have a few similiarities to me... they have a series of eaten apple pictures, a magazine basket thing, and the same horse lamp that I have! They also have the same simplehuman silver trash can as me.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Re-using Cardboard: environmentally friendly or cheap?


I uploaded that little beauty to etsy just now. I really like being able to recycle/upcycle cardboard to make my paintings. I can make much more interesting canvas shapes, in college we had to build our own canvases from wood and canvas, and not being the best builders, that pretty much just meant rectangles. I am wondering though if using cardboard is making me look cheap and childish more than it is making me look creative and environmentally friendly. Who knows.

So today I am working hard to finish two paintings that I am going to hopefully be showing a lady tomorrow at a meeting. I am almost done, but there are still a lot of tiny details to finish.

I have posted 7 pictures of myself to wardrobe_remix so far, and I have probably blocked 7 pervs too! How weird. None of my outfits were sexy or revealing or anything, but there seems to be a lot of pervs that are into tights- nutty. I think posting my outfits is making me a tiny bit more outgoing, at least it is helping me remember to wear different shoes. Most of the time I would just be wearing my gray New Balance tennis shoes, or pink Merrell boots, which is kind of boring.

Should I go to interior design school?

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Peanut-shaped bathroom



I didn't just give Mike crappy cologne. I also ordered him a penny-farthing t-shirt from etsy seller, partybots.


And I finished this peanut-shaped bathroom painting. It sneakily has a peanut chair painting in it.




Happy Valentines Day!



Yes, I bought BRUT! Mike said he wanted it for Valentine's Day. I didn't even know if was still being made, I thought it was more of an 80's thing. Anyway, CVS sells it and Target does not.



Mike gave me this awesome print for Valentine's Day! We will probably frame it this weekend, and then decide where to hang it. It is a Matte Stephens print, I love his artwork, it is so fun.

Since Mike's birthday is also Valentine's Day, V-day is over! When he comes home from work we will celebrate his birthday and I'll give him his bday presents.

Art news: I didn't get into the art/craft fair thing, but that is ok. I am meeting with a woman next week about showing my art! I am a little nervous about it.

Things I love:
The Wire- we are on season 3, I am totally addicted.
Guacamole- I will be eating it for lunch.
Getting mail
Good hair days
Amish Friendship bread


FYI: I did not end up volunteering this week. I dressed up, went to the car, saw it completely covered in a half-inch of ice, and went immediately back into the house and changed into sweatpants.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Feb 12

Here is a peanut shaped bedroom painting I have been working on today...



It's not quite done, I still have a little work to do with the bee bedspread. I have also done a little art related PR work, muahaha. I like the idea of painting and selling paintings for money, but the idea of marketing myself and contacting people to buy things makes me feel nervous, blah. Anyway, now I am getting ready to go downtown to volunteer at the arts center. It is totally gross outside, icy and a tiny bit snowy. This is what I am wearing...



I love these boots but don't have that many opportunities to wear them, so today is the day.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Painting on etsy...

This evening I listed my first painting on etsy. Kind of exciting. Here is the painting...



I think I am done with the rainbow peanut chairs for a while. I like them because I like the colors and to do one painting doesn't take very long, but I think I am going to go back to some paintings of interiors for a while. Today I started working on one that will be a girl's room, it has a fancy daybed. I have always thought daybeds were pretty dumb and impractical, but they are fun to paint.

I am excited about Valentine's Day this year! V-Day is also Mike's birthday, so it is a double whammy for me. I will not post what I bought for him, in case he reads my blog, but on Friday, I will post with pictures.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Productivity!




I finished these two paintings this afternoon. I have a stack of paintings piling up and I am impressed with how much I have gotten done. Especially considering how much tv I watch, and how many blogs I have been perusing, and how addicted to pacXon I am. It is ridiculous. So, if I really spent all my time working, I'd have like 349540309x more done.

In other news, I entered a contest for the Ellen show- maybe I'll win and car and a chance to drive across the country! (I doubt it, I didn't have a sappy or really interesting story)

Wednesday is Art Day

Well, really every day is art day now. But Wednesday especially! So this morning, I finished this blue circus peanut chair and took some pictures. I love gold paint! The pictures don't really show how shiny and awesome it is. I have 3 "canvases" left to finish, the pink one is almost done but it looks a little boring to me.
I have totally been enjoying the work at home thing. I am all caught up on morning tv- since I watch Ellen everyday and sometimes Regis and Kelly. Also, I have even been cooking things! I baked two loaves of bread on Saturday! And made artichoke dip! And have been following real recipes! And today I handwashed 3 sweaters and a pair of tights. Seriously, my domesticity is getting out of control. Now if only I could start making money from these activities it would be perfect.




Tuesday, February 5, 2008

On my way to the arts center.. in the rain

I think I'm going to bring my computer so I can work on my InDesign homework. Last week I didn't even bring a book and the 2 hours dragged on foooooreeeevvvvveerrrrrrr.

This is what I am wearing today..


I bought this sweet acid wash jacket when I was visiting my fam in VA. My friends said I wouldnt wear acidwash, but yes I am! It reminds me of 1st grade, so that is nice. I took this picture of myself using the remote. The remote is pretty fun to use but I had a hard time fitting in my body, although I started off using the wide angle lens but then that fit in too much and the living room is getting pretty cluttered with all my art junk.

This morning I worked on 2 paintings, but neither one is quite done. I will finish them tonight!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Spiky peanut chair

Another octagonal painting




I finished this painting this morning. I like hardwood floors and checkerboard prints. That is my last octagonal painting- I made 4. I consider them a series- all gold chairs. I like making up stories about my paintings, so this story is that someone made 4 golden peanut chairs and sold them to 4 different people, and I painted where they ended up. All in crazy houses. I'm still working on some rainbow peanut chairs, I like how the "circus" peanut chairs came out, so now I am designing some that could be for nurseries. I am making a rainbow peanut rocking chair painting. Hopefully I will finish that today!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Peanut shaped living room painting

I am confused with adding pictures to blogger, sometimes it works really well and then sometimes it doesnt work at all or takes forever. Anywho, I already put this picture on my flickr site anyway. This is my latest finished painting! I do really like it. I think the peanut shape is really cute. I have 5 more paintings that I am starting today. None of them are peanut shaped but one is like a weird eyeball shape, I am excited about it. I took a picture of them and it's on my flickr site.

Superbowl Sunday..



Originally uploaded by erincolliganlee
Today I finished up my new years resolutions by posting to wardrobe remix. I bought that skirt and sweater yesterday! I also bought another skirt and a pair of trouser jeans that have diamonds! I am a sucker for all things sparkly.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

New Year Resolutions- update!/happy groundhogs day

I have been doing pretty good with my resolutions! Here is my 1 month, 1 day update..

New Year Resolutions:
Draw more- I have sort of been drawing more, making sketches for paintings and prints.
Start new cardboard canvas painting series (have started sketching ideas!)- 9 done!! And 5 new canvases gessoed tonight.
Start working on small scale sculptures- ok, 2 peanut sculptures done, 5 more lbs of peanuts in the laundry room to go.
Continue with embroidery- I started one more shirt and bought another one, but not much embroidery going on.
Actually open an etsy store and stop being a baby about it- done!! I have listed 4 items so far.

Other potential resolutions:
Contribute to Wardrobe Remix?- tomorrow?
Take better care of hands- use more lotion, stop picking and biting nails- Oddly, I have stopped biting my pointer, middle and ring fingers, but thumb and pinky are short. Last night I slept in moisture gloves with a ton of lotion, so that is helping.
Do more with blog?- I joined the 20something bloggers group, and have been updating a ton! Almost more this month than ever. Although I have had a lot more time on my hands the past few weeks,

Friday, February 1, 2008

Happy Friday!

Today I have just been working on my graphic design class homework- I am beginning to think that InDesign is not that much fun, but we'll see.
I added another print to etsy.. here it is...




I do really like this print, I think it is funny.
Yesterday I applied for my first arts/crafts show. I don't know when I'll find out about it, but I am kind of excited about that possibility.
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