Hee hee! The magnets came and they are adorable! I cannot wait to put the packaging together for them. I will also be putting them up in my Etsy shop. I am super busy at work right during the back-to-school time, and now must go watch Top Chef! More, later!

I took a few photos walking around near Symphony Hall in downtown Boston, bordering on the South End.

I got some of the things I’ve been waiting for in the mail… business cards via flickr and moo. Slices of my illustrations on the back, a random assortment, and the basic info on the front. I was going to go with the standard printed business cards, but the printing costs were crazy. But I’m extremely happy with how these turned out, really professional and super cute, all the way from London. Also, I got some sticker books with my illustrations, which are so fun. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, I have to admit, I’m a huge fan of the Sanrio stuff, and this just makes my day to have my very own stickers!!

I’m waiting for some seriously adorable magnets from Button Arcade and also some custom printed mousepads with my illustrations, from My Favorite Mirror. I love using independent businesses! The customer service is fantastic and of course, it feels great for one small business to help other small businesses. Tomorrow it’s off to the local screenprinters to have T-shirts and Bags silkscreened!

Also, I noticed that the “vendor” links are up on the Renegade Craft Fair site. Click here and then click on “vendor” to see them, can you find mine? My logo links to my etsy site. Also I did a quick ad for the brochure they hand out.

Ok. Back to work… I’ve got a sign/tablecloth to stitch for my booth, an adult coloring book to layout, and some cool image transfers to work on.

We went to the Peabody Essex Museum to see the Joseph Cornell exhibit. It’s located in Salem, Massachusettes (oooh the witches of Salem…) and it’s about 40 miles North of Boston. The musuem was lovely and the exhibit was really inspiring! Cornell did the kind of work that is considered very personal, much of it was collage-based, and contained wooden boxes he made. I loved seeing work that spanned close to 30 years, and because he took from collage the bits and pieces he incorporated into his work, paper ephemera especially, relates to what was going on at the time in the world. It was also impressive to me to see this retrospective, because his work is not object-based, per se. He did not make precious sculptures of fine materials, or paintings of a grand scale. He used so many everyday objects but his work was still very emotional and personal, and self-reflective. I am inspired greatly by this. And also inspired to make work as much as possible, because it’s the only way to truly get better. And how great to look back and have your body of work parallel your life and what you experienced along the way.

Oh. And no outing would be complete without a meal, how about Chinese and Thai food at Kowloon? Hee hee look at the building! It’s been around for 60 years and seats 1200 people. I guess it’s a popular place for comedy night but I have all the comedy I need at home thank you very much!

It was really fun to design these magnets! They are like buttons (pins) but with a magnet on the back. Part promotional item, part product for sale! Can’t wait to see how they turn out.

Could this dog be any freakin’ cuter? He naps hard after running wild at the beach! Photo credit: Salvatore Oliva

Yay! I am so excited my talented friend and former classmate from PSU is going to help me make funcupcake a website! I will still continue to update my blog, hopefully weekly, or more often if I have more to share. But when the new site is up, when you visit funcupcake.com it will be a portfolio site for my art work, with a link to this blog. Visit Ian’s site he has some great portfolio work, he even designs typefaces! Rad. Thank you so much Ian!!!

Anyway, I have lots of work to do right now. I’m organizing all of the website images, working on production for renegade, and still learning my new job! So back to it!

I’ve been working on numerous little projects to prepare for the craft show in Chicago. I designed these business cards, as well as postcards, magnets, mousepads and stickers. I’m also sourcing printing for archival prints of my drawings, screenprinters for t’s and totes that will feature my illustrations, as well as making a tablecloth/banner for my booth. I’ve also been printing more greeting cards on heavyweight textured paper, and planning out a little coloring book. Amidst all this activity I started my new job as an assistant manager here. And of course trying to duck out of the 90 degree humid summer East Coast heat!

*Oh! And my cutie boyfriend posted a series of great photos on the process of making paella, which he made for us and some friends a few weeks back! Some snazzy shots of our dining room too. Check out the photos here. He has also been busy working on this and this.