A Bit and a Little

Today feels like Saturday! Guess who isn't going to job-job today?!

GUESS WHO HAS A FIVE DAY WEEKEND?! The offices of job-job are moving. To highlight the FREEDOM of their employees and to get their move-on, my employers are spending these days being highly benevolent. On July 5th I report back to work, never again to look upon the hasty space I've occupied for the last five years animating a rather precocious robot in. Instead I look forward to new dawns and new horizons. It's good I have five days to clean my visual palette to be best prepared for the fancy mcShmancy space they've been designing since July 2010. I woke up without an alarm and now I have plans for fun and fabulousnes from here until Monday at 9am.

So for starters. I drew a page of surface design:

OK. I drew many surface design pages. This is the one I am showing you.

It's been thirty days of blogging without a hic-up an accidental goal I made on the 5th of June when I realized that I'd posted every single day. It has been a treat and pleasure. I feel like if I miss a day now, I'm failing in some way. So in short: Watch. This. Space.
More to come, much much more.

Out Damn Spot

It's that time of year, when a young girl's heart turns to Shakespeare.

Upon closer glance, this is going more Okunis than Bard.
I like it. I guess it's going to be one of those, "To thine own self be true" prints.

Gerber Daisy Babies

I miss Spring. It is now Summer. That's pretty much the dish.

Lady Bugging

Before we moved to Hawaii we lived in Astoria for a blink of an eye. Since I was four when we were NYC based and five in Hawaii, my memories of NYC prior to my epic return in the Fall of 2000 are hazy and magical in the way a very big big city is for a very small small girl.

One of the clear as day, pin point sharp memories I have of those New York days is of a ladybug explosion. My mom was pushing my baby brother in his stroller and I was walking along side her, sporting my go to sun hat. (Even in my youth I was fabulously stylish.) We turned a corner and walked smack into a fest of hundreds and hundreds of ladybugs. They covered the sidewalk, they covered the walk signs and the street lights. Ladybugs as far as the eye could see. In seconds they were in our hair and on my hat and dancing along my arms. In retrospect it was possibly rather macabre, but for me it was a moment of pure magic.

My desires to ride unicorns barebacked or sprout a mermaid tail and never walk on dry land again were just inklings at this point, but it's sure that this moment as ladybug tamer was a lead in to those life long fantasies. This print, Ladybug Love, is inspired by that blisteringly hot day when I was very small and covered head to toe in polka dot magic.

Quick and Dirty - With an Olive

Happy Hour

On Fridays at 5pm I am particularly benevolent.

TGIF!

Texture-al Relationship

Today I thought about texture.
.
.
.
This is what happened while I thought.

(some macro-photography of a decomposing leaf I took yesterday.
I cross sectioned, vectorized and turned it into some surface design)


(A mirco view of the weave in my skirt. I'm going to vector ink and then watercolor it and see what I get.)


(Straw and blush and a slow shutter speed, sliced and turned into surface matter.)

So yeah, today I thought about texture.

Double

This one time - I went to a make-out party.

It was what it sounds like. It was just. like. this:

Free love, Bunnies. Free love.

The title of this latest piece of surface design is 'Bunny, Bunny, Kiss, Kiss' <--See? Double. It's a repeat inside a repeat inside a repeat (three doubles). I just bent your mind. Sorry, I've been talking in 'Old Spice' this week and while I'm coming out of it, I'm also going through withdrawal.
Also, it has ALWAYS bothered me that 'double' is spelled with ONE 'b'. What the eff? So we spell 'bubble' which RHYMES with double b's? This was one big, fat opportunity that we have missed as Americans. I'm going to take it that far. We make exceptions for silent e's and wh's that sound different. What the what? So sad. If I was starting this post instead of finishing it, I'd entitle it 'travesty'.

P.S. Here's a close up of the second version of this design <-- DOUBLE DUBBLE AGAIN!

Dolphin Paisley

is there any other kind?

Dear Rain, You Suck

Ick to the Y-U-C-K

(this is the beginning of a song I've been inspired to write over the last week)

We're record breakers. http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/26842/rain-still-threatening-floodin.asp

At least in all of this I get to know that somehow, even in its most sick and twisted way, we won! Seriously, New England, way to bring it home. Granted, My living room is covered in pots and pans and dripping water. Poor little roof just couldn't take NYC's competitive nature this week. I am so SICK of rain.

The only thing good about this kind of weather is Boots.
All I'm sayin' is this better bring April Flowers. With this much rain I don't want to have to wait for May ;)

When I'm dealing with weather like this all I want to do is listen to Bob Dylan - preferably from his 'All along the Watchtower' days and eat popcorn.

What is your idea of making the most of a rainy day?
By now you should have lots of practice.

Happy Rain Day

Going to the Birds

I've been peeking at Spoonflower.com off and on for a while now. They have weekly fabric design contests that seem like a hoot to participate in. I'm usually just swamped for time. I like the idea of whipping something up for a challenge in a few hours, helllow Project Runway Obsession... I decided to approach this week's Fabric-of-the-Week challenge in a similar way. I set a timer and gave myself three hours. Here is what happened:

The Color Palette:

The Challenge: Use It.
Oh. Use it to draw some birds. In a repeat.

The Sketches:

The End Result:
listening to right this second: "all will be well" -- the gabe dixon band

Entangled

A quick concept swatch.

Make It Creepy

Make it crawly!Ten days and counting!
I had plans to expand this line, but after white on black, black on white and candy corn Halloween were explored I twiddled my thumbs. Maybe it was going to be something I came back to at Christmas. The life of a licensing artist is never easy. Then, while visiting my favorite baking cutie at Bakerella.com

I stumbled upon her mega inspiring Trixed out Treats.
photo by Bakerella

Is there anything that girl can't do?
She made me realize spiders are meant to be neon.

Download the 8.5x11" design paper fo' free for all those spookly last minute craft projects.
It's available until the witching hour on the 31st!
Find it at: Amber Ink. Make it Creepy - Bright Green
Coupon Code - "creeps"

P.totheS. - Wouldn't this make the cutest cupcake papers?! That just hit me now. I was thinking paper plates. As always designs features at She Sure is Sketchy are available for awesomesauce licensing at http://www.amberalvarez.com/
listening to right this second: "You Can't Hurry Love " -- Phil Collins

Fun Hundred!

It's my hundredth post this year!

I'm allowed to be as cheesy as I want to be.I love my blog.
I love my readers.
This means you.

listening to right this second: "Womanizer" -- Britney Spears

Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot

Yesterday I decided there was no way I was going to tough out Illustration Friday this week.

Germs are so not my thing. I closed my laptop, hoping next week's theme would be "chubby birds and flowers" or
"Skinny GIrls in Fancy Dresses".

This morning walking through an old mining shaft (have I mentioned I freaking love Montana?) I was hit with a 'soup for brains moment.' --Duh.I did these designs two weeks ago to compliment a cirque series I recently added to my licensing portfolio.
They're totally germy!I'm happy this worked out so well because I love using any potentially appropriate moment to share this oldie but goodie. This was originally introduced to me by the Duchess of Justice.
As usual she hit her target audience square on the head.

It's the first thing my mind shoots to when I think of germs.
Happy weekend. Don't forget to get vaccinated, for yourself and for the world.

listening to right this second: "Dirty Laundry" -- Bitter:Sweet

A Miracle in My Kitchen

There weren't loaves, but there were fish. Or more specifically, a fish. At times I've wondered what I would do if I were ever faced by a wild, unexplainable once in a lifetime event. Now I know. I would, in this order:

1. run and grab my Nikon
2. do some shutterbugging
   
3. create new surface design to document the tremendous occasion
4. Hit my most visable public forum to chat it up - Hence our current post here at She Sure is Sketchy.
   

Friday in my frantic struggle to get out of New York, I spilled a spot of orange juice on the counter. It wasn't a lot of orange juice and I had to pack. I made an executive decision, leaving it on the counter, I decided I'd clean it up after I yanked my carry-on's zipper into submission.

When I came back to sponge up the spot, it had taken a hint from it's nearest neighbor, my favorite fishy glass. The little juice spot had taken the form of a bright juice guppy! I kid you not, this is a serious phenomenon and it happened in my little bitty kitchen in the heart of Brooklyn on a sunny September afternoon in the year 2009.

Sadly, the cookies accompanying the fish in this photo did not feed the starving masses. Those lucky few who did partake of them claimed they were a marvel in their own right. I am rock steady in my faith of the miraculous, never-changing perfect nature of homemade anything made with my dearest love, my new Cuisinart food processor. So, the cookie goodness was expected and unsurprising, albeit appreciated. If you're looking for your own small wonder here's the haps:

Shortbread Jelly Jam cookies
(as baked on the day of the Miracle of the Goldfish)

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• Interior scrapings of 1/2 split vanilla bean, preferably Tahitian
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• fruit preserves, any flavor - i am partial to apricot and raspberry
• sometimes I take this opportunity to add a touch of cardamom to the mix - but I do that with everything

1. Using the dough blade, In the bowl of a food processor, combine butter, sugar and salt and cream on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Blend in the vanilla bean scrapings and the extract. If you need to scrape down the bowl you should do it.

2. Turn the mixer off and add the flour. Turn the processor on until the flour is completely blended in. Remove the dough from the bowl. Working on parchment or wax paper, form dough into 4 logs 10 inches long and 1 1/4 inches in diameter; wrap and chill.

3. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

4. Cut a log into twenty 1/2-inch rounds. arrange them 2 inches apart on all sides on a parchment-lined or nonstick cookie sheet or sheets.With the back side of a spoon make a little jelly-jam sized well in the surface of each of the cookies. Fill the wells with jelly-jam, about a teaspoon per cookie if you are feeling stingy, more if you are benevolent and willing to help a miracle along.

5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack, you know the drill.

6. Bask in the glow of adoring fans.

My kitchen - A miracle mecca.

Simply Sweet

Here's a lovely surprise...considering my post yesterday,

today's Illustration Friday prompt couldn't be more appropriate! Score.

I know the goals I outlined yesterday were to keep things simple but I still want these to be spectacular. This is just a first pass that I knocked out as soon as I opened my email and saw this week's email from Penelope.

Check back later this week to see how these evolve.

I'm spending the next week and a half in Montana where I'll be working on some pretty exciting new art, hopefully I won't have to keep all of it under wraps.

I keep thinking of that line in 'An Officer and A Gentleman' where Tom Cruise says,
" He was leaving for the rest of his life, and he hadn't called a soul and he hadn't packed a thing. Can you explain that?"

If it were me, Jack could have easily said "because she was stupid!!! She went to bed when she was tired and she thought she'd pack when she woke up.... but of course she wasn't thinking straight because she had to be at work at nine. What a retard! She was stupid!!!!"

Anyway, my plane leaves at 7:30. Let's hope I'll be on it.

Happy Friday!

Stars and Stripes Forever

The Infinite Abyss

One of my most horrid jobs in my entire life was a way too long stint working for a major fashion label. I'm a firm believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason. I was sure the reason I was working on 7th Ave was so that I would know what it would feel like if I ever did anything bad enough to land me in Hell.

One afternoon my boss turned to me and said,

"You need to hand in a line of girl's pajamas by the end of the week."

Deep panic set in. Instead I said

"yeah, I'll do that when I get in tomorrow."

I sprinted down 34th Street and called Sandra. She was used to working for angels of darkness. She taught me a one evening crash course on making repeat patterns. I went in the next day and designed some really questionable pjs.

So that's why I had to work there. It introduced me to the infinite possibilities that come from infinite patterns.
Here's some art that stretches on forever................

Oh and incidently, that first pair of pjs? My first surface design working on 7th? Yeah, that's right.

All designs (except the devils of course -- those belong to Lucifer) are available for licenscing through www.AmberAlvarez.com

listening to right this second: "I Don't Believe You." -- P!nk