Daisy Janie

friday funnies

Total 11-year-old humor that made me laugh just when I needed it! The real Scoutie Girl (see my pretty masked marauder down below) is going through a rough time at the mo, and I need all the add'l laughter I can get to keep me from my sadness.

Peanutman made this cartoon at makebeliefscomix.com, where you can design comic strips from pre-drawn characters in a variety of expressions - created by author Bill Zimmerman and based on his book Make Beliefs. On that same note, in school today, Peanutman has to recite a memorized poem. He chose "Boa Constrictor" by Shel Silverstein. Shel's website is very fun and interactive, with downloadables, printables and games & puzzles. Put your kiddo on your lap and go see!

photo reveal for textures

Anna and Samantha guessed right when they said "ice skating on snow-covered ice" and "ice" - thanks for playing!! Have you seen Samantha's Love book? Wow!! I cannot explain it or show it better than she already has - you must go see for yourself.

 

A girl about the age of 10 was whirling and twirling all about on the ice, with a definitive style that was captivating  - it was snowing at the time, too. As soon as she left the area, I dashed down to snap these photos. I wonder how old I'll be when I'm not obsessed with swirls and loops and swishes and swoops?!

This is where the pics were taken. The pond is only a foot deep - little hotrods that we were, we used to ride our bikes through it when we were teenagers. (Season 2, 4th of July episode of Jon & Kate plus 8 was filmed here, too. Very Norman Rockwell.) 

 

photo texture repeats - any guesses?

 

Did you hear the crowd cheer? You didn't think I would be done with the photo-texture repeats forever did you? We were just on a break - and, truly, I found these irresistable! As I saw them "being made" (before I took the picture), I knew they were going to be phenomenal. Any ideas? I'd LOVE to hear it. I'll post the answer tomorrow night. And I've named them covertly, so mousing over them won't get you anywhere!

  

  

2 new ladies

Both derivative designs of something else I started last summer. She likes it, hey Mikey!

it's all in how you look at it

Peanutman was spouting funny things this week, and this was one of them. No idea where it came from b/c it was related to absolutely nothing we were doing at the moment. He quickly followed it with, "That should be on a t-shirt!" Yes, dear boy, maybe it should. In this fancy calligraphy, I kinda like it.

Unrelated: One of my official resolutions: learn how to spin a pizza. We make our own dough once/week, and I'm ever so tired of that rolling pin. Any good tips?

i'd like some curtains out of these, please

I'm supposed to be updating my website with a design portfolio, scanning contact cards for Lisa, sewing the loose buttons on the coat I borrowed last week and picking fabrics to send to the printer - all of which I'm happy to do! But everytime I try, my mouse ends up clicking 'old but workable' designs to finish instead. After seeing so many glorious and beautiful designs last week in NYC - the layers, the colors, the styles - I am desperate to reconnect with a less-hurried design approach. But, as is typical with me, I cannot start something new unless the old stuff is either done or officially trash. Otherwise, they'll be forever swimming in my brain yelling and chiding from their evil cartoon bubbles, "You'll never be able to forget us - we'll always be here taking up space and further diminishing your ability to remember a GD thing - mwa ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa!" (Is this a Capricorn thing - or just me?)

I seem to have a lot of vertical patterns these days - will have to remedy that when the less-hurried approach arrives. I would love curtain panels out of either one of these - with the designs in a mega-sized scale on a soft, velvety canvas! Oh, I would be happy girl!

 

my other obsession

How funny is that?! Last Sunday, there was a special "Healthy Living" insert in our newspaper. Matt was interviewed about kettlebells (he is a trained instructor on the side). And the photog came to our gym to shoot some pics of people using them. And, mama mia, that pic of me was on the front cover as BIG as day! Sort of freaked me out, but Matt was thrilled - I was just glad my form looked correct. This is called a windmill. It's not a power-move, but more of a slow, stretching move. But let me tell ya, you do enough of them, and you will be sore (in a good way).

Working out is the only way I know to maintain my sanity and normal levels of endorphins. Resets the balance every time, like magic! In addition to all the obvious health benefits, I'm also setting a very good example for Peanutman. Jack does mini versions of our workouts, and he loves it.

If taking on a regular exercise program has been hard to maintain, find a group of like-minded people or friends and find something you can do together. Somehow, somewhere, some way - let them be your support group and vice-versa. I found mine (see below) when Jack had a crush on a girl in his 1st grade class! Her mom told me about Corps Fitness, and she eventually became a dear friend & a great running partner. Along with all the other crazies in this pic. So much fun!!

 

Lastly, if you're wondering what the heck a kettlebell is, here's a video Matt put together of us demonstrating a lot of the moves as well as a lot of the bodyweight exercises we do (no equipment needed on those!). I had nothing to do with the music selection, but it fits.

hope for the future

Such a moving speech by President Obama today. For my son's future and that of his children and grandchildren, I will do my part as the president has asked of all Americans. Electing him was just the first step, but I am overflowing with hope and ready for action.

"We did not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We are borrowing it from our children."

Make your own Obamicon right here.

printsource in pics

I've thought about this post nine zillion times, and it's time to just get something down here before I forget it all! Can't believe last week at this time I was running around like a complete maniac - unable to eat or sleep with so many unknowns dominating my thoughts: what will it be like, did I get enough done, can I print one or two more designs, what the hell should I wear, how do I price my work, will I be out of my league...and on it went. Won't harp on the anxiety too much more, but I did have a telling dream the night before the show that our booth was filled with sno-cone machines and the "head honcho" named Turnpike wouldn't have them removed - then it was me with my designs under arm, trying to navigate hotel elevators and NYC taxis that were taking me further and further from the venue as the dream progressed. Yeah - that was nuts.

Our booth: #19 (hooray for a prime number!). Lisa Kelley from Milkshake Crafts was my boothmate - and our work showed nicely together. We coordinated everything via 1000 emails the previous week!

I like the way this looks - clean and sort of framed out. But I would DEF change the display next time - I really didn't give myself enough time to plan anything else. The white borders around my artwork really started to blare at me like a neon light. Full bleed is a must! The colors and designs showed very nicely in the exhibit lighting - phew.

 
Lisa and I on the last day. We had only met one time before for about 5 mins, so I was pretty nervous about sharing a booth, room and every minute with a "stranger!" All for naught, too, b/c Lisa and I shared a lot of interesting similarities, senses of humor, experiences, etc. It was ALL GOOD! Conversations and respect flowed easily! Thank you, Lisa!!

 
We were also lucky enough to be surrounded by amazingly talented women, whose work I know well from the blogging world. Samantha Hahn was directly across from us - her booth stood out from the crowd b/c of her very feminine & unique style, aesthetic and palette - all very easy on the eyes and so much fun!

 
Jessica Gonacha was directly to our right - and her booth was also as distinctive as her work. I really didn't see that many designers/designs like hers either. She uses her hand-drawn illustrations in such a pure form - they showed very well on her big banners!!

 
Another angle. We traded cameras and took pics every morning. 

  
Clockwise, from left to right: Lisa Kelley - Milkshake, me!, Jess Gonacha, Michelle Engel Bencsko - Cicada Studio, Sara Schmidt - Salvage (we met her at the show - she is one talented lady in her own right!) and Samantha Hahn.

One of the best parts of the week: going to dinner with 5 creative powerhouses, including one of my fave five designers, Michelle, who made a special trip in from NJ to meet us! (I was almost as nervous about meeting a peer like Michelle than the show - turns out she's human like rest of us! Imagine!) More great conversations and lots of laughs! Talking business, ideas and blogs with ladies who KNOW what you're talking about was priceless. They speak my language!! At one point, Sara asked, "So how do you all know each other?" And 5 people responded in complete synchronicity, "Blogging." Too funny!

I/we made great contacts, had sincere conversations with buyers about what they're looking for, where our work would fit, how to submit future artwork - I have a stack of biz cards about an inch think that are legit, interested contacts! The big question from buyers: do you have your work on your website? That was the one thing I didn't get to - guess what I'll be working on today?! I will def be participating in the August Printsource show. A husband/wife design team we spoke with said you really shouldn't do the show unless you can afford to sign-up for 3 of them - b/c it takes that many for buyers to get to know your work and trust your designs.

All in all, it was an amazing week - I have no regrets and feel the experience will more than pay itself off in the months to come! Have a great week!

go cat go

 
Copyright 2009 Daisy Janie/Jan DiCintio. All Rights Reserved.

It's been a loooooong week of prep for Printsource, and I'm just about ready to get the show on the road! With a few days stretching until well after 2am, I've aged at least 10 years due to the long eye-intensive days. My body is completely rejecting me right now (you can get creative on that one). What's done is done, and what's not is not. My designs are in boxes, my clothes are in a suitcase, my stomach is in knots, and my brain is in a state of frazzled delight. The experience is sure to be full of surprises and learning opportunities - which I'll be happy to share when I return. Hope it's not like the dream I had two nights ago where I was in my car going superfast in reverse on an icy street and couldn't find the brake - and I knew I was going to hit something and I just capitulated and waited for it. (Woke up before it happened!) Any interpretations on that? Don't tell me!!

Thank you to Michelle for giving me the much-needed advice I needed when my rainbow of colors looked nothing like Roy G. Biv! Yeah, that last post where it was all good was about 12 hours premature! It turned disastrous after that. Michelle gave me a workaround that worked like a charm, but I plan to have a custom ICC profile done for my computer/printer when I get back to avoid rigging the colors in the future. I'll let you know about that, too!

You can see other design previews here and here. See you on the flipside baby!

p.s. Here's a fun twist on normal conversation: when you're the listener, instead of 'yepping' and 'uh-huhing' and nodding along to a story someone's telling you - start saying, "I doubt it." Oh man, I was doing this to Matt and Jack all weekend and my level of insanity has reached new heights. Anything to bring some levity to my stress. How about you? What do you do to cope?