6 Years

6 years ago today, we stood under a perfect Brooklyn blue sky, and made a promise.
Time flies by so fast...Thank you for every moment. I do. Always.

Let's get Cookin'

I've had this cookbook on my Amazon Wish List for about a year now, and I could resist no longer. It is amazing. Flipping through it quickly, I noticed that it has an entire chapter on garbanzo beans (a staple in my diet), and it has multiple recipes for cannelloni, which will probably be a hard recipe to tackle, but I'm willing to try. This cookbook is really beautiful, with a fabric cover, and it is illustrated by my favorite Spanish illustrator Javier Mariscal. Now if only I could turn my kitchen into a Spanish restaurant on Las Rambles with the soft Barcelona breeze blowing in. Everything I've ever eaten in Barcelona has been amazing, and I think the magic is truly in the air.

First Snowfall

I'm definitely not ready for snowflakes, but they are blowing into your local Lowe's stores. The snowflakes are glittered, with appliqué details on the tiny red mittens. This little flag would look sweet hanging over a snow covered lawn. Ah, if only I had a lawn.

Homework

Our first assignment for class was to collage the theme "On the Road." I decided to illustrate our weekend day trips from Brooklyn to the beach. Working on this piece made me realize I have to read 'The War of Art' again. For an artist there's nothing like trying something brand new and uncomfortable to bring on the resistance and the gremlins. I wasn't happy with how the piece was going, my hands felt too clumsy, I had a better idea, I should be doing something more serious, and on and on. Don't those gremlins ever get tired? But as I learned from 'The War of Art' the only way to battle the gremlins is to press on. You'll make a mess, you wont like it, you might hate it, and you wont be smiling, but you have to press on.

First Day of Fall

The air is crisp, and the leaves are turning. Soon it will be leaf peeping time. Luckily the people at The Foliage Network are watching the leaves, and tracking the changes.

Continuing Education

When summer's warm breeze turns cool, and the leaves start turning brown, you know it's back to school season. All of the neighborhood kids are marching back to class with new notebooks and pens in hand, and I have decided to join them. I'm taking another continuing education class at the School of Visual Arts. This time it's a collage class, and I am both exhilarated and terrified about trying something brand new, but I love being a student, so here's to another great semester.

The Joy of Licensing

Licensing is the gift that keeps on giving. Instead of selling a design once, you can license it multiple times, for multiple products. The Halloween image that I showed you below was licensed as a flag, and it has also been licensed as a paper plate set. It's available for some other categories, hmm, maybe a fun popcorn tin or a ceramic candy dish?

Boo

Staying on the Halloween theme. This garden flag is blowing into Lowe's stores across the country. A friendly ghost, spider, pumpkin, and bat will greet all your neighborhood trick-or-treaters with a friendly Boo!

Halloween Happy Hour

With summer unofficially over, it's time for fall holidays. I was in a local Hallmark store the other day, and they already have their Christmas ornaments out. I think September 2 is a record even for them. Time flies by too quickly without the help of eager sale staff. We know fall and winter are on their way, but easing into the transition (for those of us who think 70 degrees is cold) would be really helpful. Of course I understand being excited about fun new product. Halloween will fall on a weekend this year, so you might be planning a Halloween Happy Hour. Our new collection features a 'Pina Ghoulada' and a 'Witchy Sour' (complete with tiny broom). They'd be perfect for a ghoulishly good time.