Deadpool Style Clothing For Nissa and Dogpool (Zelda)

My daughter is a huge Deadpool fan but there is very little merchandise for it so I made her a few things for Christmas.









The black hoodie was purchased at Target and I hand appliqued the Deadpool logo on the front.































The crocheted Deadpool scarf has a complete logo when the ends are held together.



















The scarf was my first design but I had a second variation that didn't work out which left me with several of the Deadpool circles. I used the circles to make a crocheted dog jacket and called it Dogpool.



















As you can see, Nissa has had a fondness for comic book characters since she was little; she's the one dressed as Storm from the X-Men.

Second Ice Age

The Sinclair dinosaur is finally ready for the ice age with his stylish scarf.

Photographer's Business Card

I was recently asked to create a one sided business card for a new photographer. He wanted lots of color, particularly a masculine pink, plus CMYK and RGB colors. He also requested lots of crisp lines and did not want to include any examples of his photographs.

I chose the font ITC Avant Garde Gothic for it's beautiful, round counters which mimic a camera lens. The b is filled with a camera aperture and was divided to accommodate 8 sections for the requested colors. The e resembles an eye so I used the dot for the initial to make a pupil and the counter becomes an eyelid.

 Here is a grayscale version for black and white applications.

This is a less whimsical version of the font design but he preferred the first example.

I Opened An Etsy Shop

I named my new shop Stray Squirrels and plan to change the banner for seasons, holidays, Tuesdays, whatever.

I Must Be Hungry

The last 5 sketches in my book have a food theme.

















The nudes were done at a Dr Sketchy life drawing event. The reclining model had cupcake pasties and those are blueberries on her apron. I drew them with a ballpoint pen, I think I should have planned my materials better.

























Radishes drawn with a micron pen and Prismacolor markers.

























Tomatoes drawn with a Micron pen and watercolors

























My daughter came in while I was doing this page and remarked it was creepy. I have no idea why I was drawing things that could be dangerous.

























I took photos around Minneapolis including the Farmers Market, baked pies and made corned beef with cabbage. The pear blueberry pie was inspired by a bowl of pears no one was eating and the remainder of the blueberries. The ironic part is that the pear/blueberry combination was delicious and was more popular than the blueberry pie.

Today is 9/02/10

I heard on the radio that today is 90210. I'm such a non-hipster it took a beat to figure it out; it would have been easier if I watched the show. The sketch is based on a poster for the remake.

Downtown Minneapolis Drawings

My family members are good sports about letting me sketch things and while they say don't rush I'm not comfortable making them wait for me. Speed is a good way to capture the essence since I can always explore the subject further at another time. I think I become more creative and accomplish more when I have a deadline, even if it is self-imposed.

























I was at Utrecht getting some supplies and spotted this interesting view of the Basilica of Saint Mary behind some other buildings in the alley. I liked the contrast of a very ornate, beautiful building tucked behind plain, serviceable space.

















 We then went to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden where I did a sketch of the Spoonbridge and Cherry Fountain.
























We finished with a trip to the Uptown Diner where I had an excellent club sandwich with a ridiculous amount of hash browns. I managed to eat about half of the hash browns and brought most of the sandwich home. The potatoes never saw a take out container since I had my husband along and well, they are hash browns.

The man in the diner had such interesting hair and a long graceful neck that he required a sketch while we were waiting for the food. I've noticed that even when you try to be subtle, people know when you look at them and looking at them more than once can certainly speed up their dining experience.

YouTube Video By Weekday Sketchers Using My Accordion Book Tutorial

I was pleased to receive an email letting me know that the group Weekday Sketchers had used one of my tutorials How To Make An Accordion Book With Pockets From An Antique Book to make their own books. It's always fun to see what other people make and their sharing the process through a video is even better.

How To Make A Recycled Bound Notebook With Attached Pencil

Winter is eventually coming and I need car notepads that use pencils since ink freezes. Something in my car snacks on pencils since they disappear without a trace.

I've been saving box cardboard for another project but I had several pieces that were on the small side.

The box cardboard I used for these books includes a Twinkie box (we watched Zombieland and Twinkies were needed), Trader Joe's Maple cookies, yellow cake mix and a Kleenex box.

I was inspired for the basic idea by a post on the SC Johnson web site. I cut the cardboard 3.75" x 5.5" and used a bone folder to make a score mark for the spine fold. You don't need a bone folder but it's a handy tool. When creased the cardboard cover measures 3.75" x 2.75".

I cut 2 sheets of paper into 3.5" high strips, you will have 6 strips of paper when done. Fold the all the strips in half to make a nested booklet and give that fold a sharp crease. Measure 2.5" from the fold and cut all the pieces so that you have a folded booklet that measures 2.5" x 3.5". Cut these pieces together or you will have an uneven edge, a paper cutter works very well.

Lay the open pages inside the book cover, you'll notice the cover is slightly larger than the pages since I think that looks better than having the cover flush with the inside paper. Line up the fold lines for the cover and paper pages and carefully turn over the booklet. Put 2 staples on the fold line about a half inch from each end. The staples will crimp inside your book on the center page. Sharpen the crease again with a bone folder or the handle of a scissor.

I went to the Dollar Store and bought a multicolored pack of 100 hair binders. I have a surplus of short, colored pencils; they look pretty but any smaller pencil will do. I made a self tightening loop with the elastic band and looped it over the pencil, the large remaining loop goes around the outside of the book.

Vacation Journal Drawings of Lake Superior Circle Tour Bound In A Recycled Vintage Book

My daughters and I recently drove around Lake Superior, it's called the Lake Superior Circle Tour. We started in Minneapolis, traveled through Ontario via Duluth and then drove along the south shore through Michigan and Wisconsin to complete the circle in Duluth.

I wanted something a little different for a trip journal so I made an accordion book and bound it in the vintage book The Call of the North. I used a map of Lake Superior for the end papers.















This is what the book looks like inside.














The first page is a pictorial map of our journey. Normally I use more color but we were busy and I don't like going back to rework pages.

We like to stop at the Portland Malt Shop in Duluth. It's in a charming building near the shore, off of downtown. My kids love the malts but they order them without the whipped cream. They were rather surprised the first time they came with whipped cream and didn't make that mistake twice.

My oldest, Alethea, is a major rock hound so agate beach is a required destination when we go to Duluth.

The Canadian border guard thought it was truly odd that we wanted to drive around the lake and suggested doing something else.

Alethea wanted to look for gem stones at an Amethyst mine outside of Thunder Bay. We have yet to travel anywhere without coming home with rocks and sand.

























Betty's Pies are an institution here and we were never able to find the shop but we did this time. The interior is cheery, the coffee and pie were good. I was expecting life changing pie and it was simply pie; but it's tough to live up to that much acclaim. We didn't even finish our pieces which is an oddity for us; we say "it's not pie" when something smells bad or is unpleasant so you can tell we are serious about pie.

























The Silver Creek Cliff tunnel was fun to go through and we honked at the Menehunes (mischievous imps) like we learned to do in Hawaii.

























The gas pumps were a lot of more complicated that we are used to. You need to push a button to indicate if you want $5, $10, $15, $20 or to fill the tank. The directions were worn off so it took awhile to figure out what the buttons were for. I'm used to 24/7, pay at the pump, so it was odd to find gas stations that closed.

























Most of the drive was through mountains and it seemed fun to show that view in a rear view mirror.

























Wawa Ontario has a signature giant goose that sits near the visitor center. Shortly after Wawa is the Magpie High Falls which has the potential to be fierce but it was still very impressive. To reach the falls you go through fields of brush and clay covered roads. The best beaches came after Wawa and the first nice one was Old Woman Beach, the sand was very fine stone instead of what you normally think of as sand.

























We love, love, loved Katherine Cove. The water was pristine and warm with a luscious sand bottom. I read afterward that there had been a wolf attack previously on the beach but I would gleefully go back. The road we traveled had stacked rock formations all along it and we actually saw two women making the piled rock sculptures on boulders in the lake. In Hawaii there are numerous posted signs not to stack rocks (we've only seen it to a large degree in those two areas), Canada seems to embrace it and I think its fun.



















After Wawa we started to see more small lakes with mist covered islands.

























Every few miles there were warnings about night danger with moose and there were a few of these billboards just in case you didn't get the message. We did see moose by the roadside but they were snacking and had no interest in us. We did take the warnings seriously and didn't drive after dark.

























Things were very expensive in Canada, the most we paid for gas was $7.50 a gallon. I expected a lot of restaurants serving game and fresh fish but we saw gas stations that served KFC and fresh deli. I'm sure Canada has fine dining but we never happened across it. My favorite sign was for a restaurant that served both Canadian cuisine and Chinese food but didn't find an open location.

Our first Canadian motel had bears in the parking lot and 5 items in the vending machine; maybe it was attacked by bears with quarters.

























Yay! We found an open restaurant, Perkins never looked so good.

























The record snowfall on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula was 390.4" and the lowest snowfall was 161.1"; I will no longer complain about Minnesota in February.

























I have an irrational fear of high bridges and we ran across 2 very memorable ones. The lift bridges were fine but the Sault Ste Marie International bridge was miserable. It's 2.8 miles long and the entry point into the USA was very slow. It took an hour and 45 minutes to cross it in over 90 degree weather. We would move up 2 car lengths then shut the engine off for 5 to 10 minutes. I was afraid the car would overheat so we opened the windows and sky roof and hoped for the best.

I have other pages—sand from the beaches we visited glued in a wave pattern—french candy wrappers—and I sent for a certificate of completion for the trip that will go on the last page.

15 Minute Ink Sketch Showing The Inside Of My Home

I was going to do a drawing of the corner of my living room that layers with the dining room in back. I had 15 minutes until I had to leave for an appointment so I wanted to see how much I could get done. The sketch is rough, so I'll explain it, but it's liberating having a deadline.

I have a philodendron in the vase on the fireplace. Next to that plant is a champagne bottle that is actually an antique silver plated cigar humidor. To the left of that is a photo of a waterfall in Maui.

The pictures above the fireplace are 4 of 12 photos of vacation locales. There are sea turtles, a beach scene, lover's beach in Cabo, and a humorous sign at a beach bar welcoming topless photos. I enjoy the impact of the 12 tightly spaced photos over the fireplace. I like using vacation photos for decoration and they are throughout the house.

Two of the plants are spider plants. There's also a mystery plant that grows despite me and a grass like plant that is very odd but interesting.

The center lamp is a stained glass shade that my husband made. The lamp behind it is for feng shui purposes and since my Westiepoo, Marilyn is afraid of the dark we leave it on all the time.

The framed thing by the lamps is a handmade metal floor display from the Curtis Hotel. It was used to display lounge events and things of note going on in the hotel. The hotel was torn down many years ago and they sold off some of the items inside. I have a watercolor of a red glow through pine trees inside it. I never could decide if I was painting a fire, sunset, or autumn leaves but I like the reds and oranges.

How To Make An Accordion Book With Pockets From An Antique Book

I bought a bunch of old books with pretty covers and I'm re-purposing them by making new books out of old ones. Polly was the name of my childhood dog and the 1890's camping scene is very attractive.



















Remove the pages with a razor blade and scissors, leaving the cover intact. I didn't like the look of the cardboard inside the spine so I covered the inside of the book with new end papers. Lay the book cover on a piece of scrapbook paper and trace around the cover with pencil. Cut the paper slightly smaller than the book cover then glue the new end paper inside the cover and over the spine.














Use a brayer to smooth the paper and remove any air bubbles.













I used a large sheet of heavyweight black paper for the inside of the book. If you want to see the end paper make the insert smaller than the original book. These pages are 4.5" x 10" and the page on the end is 5" wide. It's wider so you can make a flap to ensure the pocket will be secure by not allowing items to slide out the side. Cut off the excess edge portion. Make pencil guidelines for creasing and if the paper is thick, use a bone folder to score the lines.















The pages are 7" high so I also made a horizontal guideline for creasing a 3" deep pocket.

To recap, fold the paper accordion or paper fan style to fit inside the book cover. Fold a long horizontal crease to make a pocket like you'd find in back to school folders. Use the bone folder to make sharp creases.





















Flip the paper over and glue down the flap. The flap needs to be on the opposite side for the back of the book.












My book was fairly thick and since the paper wasn't long enough to use only one segment I used two. I left a flap to glue under another page so that the pages hinge together.





















The book is now a long accordion fold with the pocket on one side and the end flap is on the backside.





















Spread glue on end flap and glue it to the inside cover.





















Press the paper firmly and glue the back cover to the inside page. Close the book to verify placement. You don't want the pages too close to the spine or too far away.




































Now the book is ready to fill with memorabilia and you can decorate the pocket for more of an art journal feel.





































This version is filled with 90lb, cream colored drawing paper.