lately

Hello there! Things are picking up steam here which means blogging has been pushed to the back burner unfortunately. On the bright side though, once I get through the next 19 (!!!) days of custom work, a full week of summer art lessons (9-12 then 1-4 for 5 days, oofah...) about 48 hours of flying from Los Angeles to New York to Dublin to Rome, I'll be posting lovely photos from my favorite walls and some sketches in Quarto! I can't wait to be on these walls again...

Speaking of Quarto, I started cutting and folding paper for that beast last night. The next Terzo is almost here! Can't wait to fill every page! I may be getting a bit ambitious with pages...so far I have about 80 pages in it, half of them watercolor paper. We shall see how I do this time around. 

I wish I could share all the commissions I've been working on but alas, surprises must be saved. I mailed off a big beautiful and unique custom "children's book" beast to Canada last week. I can't wait to share that project, it may rival the travel wedding album I made in December. Remember that beauty? This new one may have brought a tear or two to my eye back when the commission first came in. Yeah, it's that sweet...here's a little peek! 

Some news for the shops too! Once I get back to Italy, I'm going to simplify both my Etsy shop and the Sketchy Notions. I can't exactly print and mail out prints and such outside of my little bubble sadly. I am contemplating a couple listings for original watercolor postcards mailed from Lucca. Thoughts? I will still keep the listings for custom commissions up but with stipulations (no rush orders unless you really want to pay 70€ for shipping!) I will probably also do a quick shop sale to empty them out before I leave so be on the lookout for that! 

Other than that, there's not much to share in these parts! Here's a peek at the two of the three commissions I have on my table at the moment, a very special custom children's book and a travel photo album (my favorite!). Found some more little succulent clippings over the weekend too...Hi, my name is Chelsea. And I'm a crazy succulent lady. 

chalk art at Avant

This week I'm technically on spring break! Technically because all the schools I teach at are on break so I don't have any scheduled art lessons. This is great because it gives me full days to work on my own projects and even take a little time for myself. 

Yesterday I spent a couple hours at Avant Tapas & Wine in Buellton drawing on their chalk wall. A good friend gave them my number and they asked if I'd like to come by and have at it! I've done giant chalk murals before on the side of the C Gallery but I wanted to try something a little different this time. I had so much fun drawing this beast out, definitely a nice break from all the intricate and small watercolors I've been making lately. So this may be the only break like thing I do this week, but at least it was an artistic break!  

sketchbook throwback

I haven't done a "throwback Thursday" type post before but I felt like sharing something fun and a bit random today. I recently came across this article about Jake Lockett, an artist who documented his art from age 2 to 24. It was really interesting to see how his skills and drawing style evolved over time. It immediately made me go digging for this little book that I made way back in Kindergarten...

Of all the books and sketchbooks I've made and filled over the years, this one is by far my favorite (sorry Terzo). It's filled with pages of writing prompt responses, little anecdotes from my family and pages of sketches I made from about 4 to 6 years old. I love looking back through it, I even have memories of drawing some of them. 

Whenever we went out to dinner, I'd sketch on the back of the paper place-mat on the table. The sketch of the tractor and bell is my favorite...I remember drawing it back in Pre-School. We had a red school house with a sort of tower on top of it and I really wanted there to be a bell in it, so I drew it! 

So I may have loved Kindergarten back then but I certainly hadn't learned to spell yet! I love this little book, the first book I ever made! It's fun to look back at old sketches and see how far your skills have come. I'm so glad my mom held on to them and dated them. It's really interesting to see the span of time between drawings and when certain skills or habits were acquired...when you started drawing real hands, adding facial features, backgrounds, expressions and more. I had my 1st graders make self portraits this week and I hope they are able to hold on to them and look back at their mini selves one day. 

Do you hold on to old sketches and sketchbooks? Have you shared your old sketches from when you were little? I'd love to see!

Friday Finds & a new adventure

Hola! If everything has gone according to plan with planes and connections, I should currently be on my last flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico!!!!! Hooray for a little R&R (and being able to schedule blog posts ahead of time!)

I'll be down in Puerto Rico with the boy until June 11, then I head back to Cali to mentally prepare for the summer to start. I'm bringing my computer with me to keep up with work and also to blog on all the sketches and watercolors I'm planning to make! Ugh...I'm so excited for this trip! The wanderlust blues were getting pretty antsy for some adventure...

Here's some little bits and pieces I saw on the web this week that caught my eye. 

• Isn't that ring up above gorgeous?! Jaci Riley, the creator behind the fantastic Etsy shop Crave Jewelry Design, makes rings from her Instagram photos! (plus, you have a chance to win one on Julie Ann Art's blog!)
• La Vita è Bella has a really interesting take on the tourists that descend upon her beloved Florence every summer...
• Design Sponge posted a fantastic tutorial on making your own watercolors! And likely, you already have everything to make them in your kitchen already. 
• Are you a font junkie too? A Subtle Revelry compiled a great list of gorgeous free fonts! 
• DODOcase makes the coolest product: a notebook with a spot for Iphone to strap into on the cover! Perfect for sketching on the go and listening to music at the same time.
• A couple days ago I posted a photo of my new succulent clippings. I figured out how to propagate my collection from a tutorial on Apartment Therapy
• Matt Rebholz, my first ever printmaking professor at UT, has a Kickstarter to help him launch his third chapter in his graphic novel "The Astronomer." He's a pretty awesome dude and could use some love! 
• Please tell me I'm not the only insane fan of Arrested Development out there. I'm not? Good! Then you will laugh so much over this collection of Arrested Development goodies on Etsy!

Have a lovely weekend! I can't wait to share some new sketches and watercolors with you all!

my favorite quote

It's not exactly news that I'm not the most consistent blogger. I think last spring I had a streak of 6 days in a row, and I did manage to keep the Friday Features regularly for over 2 months at one point! I'm always torn between just keeping this little space in the blogosphere as a designated art/Etsy/findings space or making it a more typical blog. Not that it has to be either. I've liked it being the way it is and serving its purpose, but I also don't want to feel awkward when I want to blog just for the sake of blogging. 

So in an effort to try and just blog, I'm going to try tackling some of the topics from the Blog Every Day in May Challenge from Jenni's blog, Story Of My Life. First off, I'm already a few days late into the challenge. And I know right now I'm obviously not going to end up accomplishing all of them. But it wouldn't hurt to try accomplish some of them right?

Day 4 of the challenge is your favorite quote and why you love it...

I love this quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise. I first heard this quote when I was leaving Italy for the first time back in 2009. My RC friend that I made at the Study Abroad center wrote it in my sketchbook with the hope that it would make leaving Italy less painful. It did. It has since become sort of a tradition for me to write this quote in every sketchbook I have now. I even tried translating it into Italian this last trip in Terzo. 

We will see how this blogging challenge goes. Anybody else want to join in the challenge? Or do you have a favorite quote? 

an artful day

It's always a nice feeling when you have a fantastic day after a rather crappy one...or two in a row. Yesterday was completely exhausting, and the day before was just as crummy and wretched. Between misbehaving students and near misses on the road, this happy day was very much needed! There are three reasons why today was so lovely, and all of them are art related!

The first one being that I received a package for the market next Saturday. Guys...I have buttons!!!! I was originally thinking about getting stickers made until I saw the button option and I was sold. I had this batch made through Zazzle and I love them! They also got them done crazy fast...I put my order in Monday evening and got them this afternoon. Cute buttons in a 5 day turn around, Zazzle, you have me intrigued...

The second reason why today was a lovely artful day was because I got the flyer for another event I'm participating in later this month. They decided to use my Santa Chiara Revisit piece for the flyer! So excited! 

And the third reason that today was wonderful and artsy; I finished another commission and delivered the final piece today! My friend asked me to make an ocean themed photo album for her little son. I'm going to do a full post on this book probably over the weekend but here's a little peek of the cover (my favorite part of the book!)

bits & pieces & some link love

Been making some things lately...

1 // 2 // 3

And finding some a lot of new blog addictions...

• Alisa Burke: a lovely artist who has some fantastic crafts and repurposing projects...
• Yellow Owl Workshop: a great crafty blog, and the coolest Instagram project! 
• The Red Thread: all sorts of inspiration and some great tutorials...
• Fine and Feathered: gorgeous photos and posts and pretty much everything...

And getting surprised by a friend in Italy and some pictures from this last trip...

Overall, it has been a nice, calm and productive weekend... hope you're having a lovely weekend too! 

changes...

The blog has come a long way since I first started it back in 2009, back before I knew anything about editing a blog or how change an html code. The html codes skills still aren't that good but they're better than they were 4 years ago! I wish I was better at taking screen shots and documenting the changes along the way...but alas, I am not. I don't have a screen shot of the old format but I do still have the banners!  I think it's a pretty good progression to the current banner/format...

There have been a lot of changes in all realms of the Sketchy Notions lately, not just on the blog. My Etsy shops have come a long way since I opened the first up in January 2011. It took awhile for me to settle on a look for the Notional Notions shop but I'm really happy with its current banner! I think it ties in better with my business cards (which are also in the process of being updated!) I need to update my Heckyl & Jyve shop too...

And today I finished giving my website a giant face lift! I think the blog and website are much brighter and cleaner now. I really like looking at the progression of all these banners...I think my computer/graphic skills have come a long way! 

Before...

Today! 

oof!

This past week I've felt like I was back in college. Late nights and early mornings, running out of supplies then being rescued by glue saviors, cutting and folding and sewing and painting, then mailing and delivering and now...OOF! The sweet satisfaction of being done! 

In about an hour my family and I head to the airport, where we will catch a red eye to Florida! We'll be spending the holidays visiting Disney World! And Harry Potter World on Christmas Day! The inner nerd rejoices! I definitely need a break after this madness... I'll elaborate more on all the week's craziness when I return but here are some peeks of all the makings this week...

With the help of some munchkins, I painted the backdrop for my sister's school's Winter performance

One of my little books this week, Brave Brody

I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from the lovely and amazing Amy Komar! I loved receiving some love from Alaska! As usual, Zena loved them too and photo-bombed...

I was commissioned to make three blank sketchbooks too! Each with a sketch of mine in the beginning...

The 2nd book I just finished this morning, Every Star! 

Happy Holidays everyone! I'll be back right after Christmas, then more busyness commences...

 

bits & pieces & procrastination

T-minus 11 days! Almost 10 now, since this day is almost over. October came so quick, and I know the next 7 weeks are going to go by even faster. *gulp*

I feel like I'm back in college again, and it's the last week before final critiques. Books are due, illustrations need to be finished, trade portfolios need to be printed, last minute instances of brilliance need to have occurred 15 minutes ago. I always liked the frenzy and chaos of the end of the semester, which is probably why I'm procrastinating damn near everything for these final days stateside.

To business! I made a decision on Lumen. I'm going to give her a chance with publishers first before I release her for sale on Blurb. Waiting a little bit longer may hurt her feelings but it will be better for her in the long run to give her a chance. 

And so, today I printed off some little proof booklets to send to publishers to give them an idea of the illustrations and the text together. I have my expensive prints I had made completed too. All that's left to do is buying the envelopes, getting return envelopes/postage ready and printing the manuscripts, cover letters and glorious amounts of sycophantic dribble. Aaand making the long walk to the post office. *double gulp* 

See the Turquoise Texan Chair??

I spent this past Saturday up at the C Gallery in Los Alamos for Olde Days trying to sell some goodies. It didn't go as well as I had hoped but it wasn't an entire loss. I sold a mini book! Hooray! And I just put one of the larger books I bound for the occasion up for sale in the Etsy shop. The shop will only be open until October 10, to give me time to get any last minute orders made, wrapped up and in the post before I leave! 

I'm getting antsy to use my big Terzo sketchbook! I've started sketching more with my fountain pens to try and get warmed up again. I'll scan those up and post them probably later this week...likely in an effort to procrastinate everything else on the big to-do list...

Gridlines Artist Book

That's about it for the night here. Time to get back to the studio art bubble. Here's some more little bits and pieces from the past week via instagramy...

Goodies read for Olde Days

Ricotta Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies! Via Wholly Kao

Maraca the next morning? Must have been a good night!

The Tin Foil ball & duct tape runway at the C Gallery

Party crashing at the neighbors

The Peace Farm and peaceful goats

cleaning the bubble

The art bubble is FINALLY clean! 8 week of projects stacking up and being unable to clean (and unwilling...) sure made one hell of a mess! 4 different art workshops then trying to fulfill orders and keep up with my own projects = a gigantic mess!

Some how instagram makes the mess look pretty... it may have gotten pretty bad but I swear if you asked me to find a specific item I could have! I know my messes very well...

I still have to tackle my backseat, which may be in a sorrier state than my art bubble. But I have a functioning work space and time to work in it again so that makes for a much happier Chelsea! 

After!