the sketchbook project 2012

hey all! i totally forgot to tell you guys about this awesome thing i did last year. the sketchbook project is this giant thing that anyone can partake in and it takes about a year to complete. you can read all about it @ art house co-op. take a look its pretty rad. anyhoozle....i wanted to share some things from my sketch book last year. so here ya go!

you can check out the rest of my sketch book here on my page! if you're interested in my work you can buy prints of a few things (not in the sketchbook) here!!!! hope you guys like what you see, i had so much fun making this sketchbook and will probably participate again this year. you guys should too!!

jukebox sunday

this week, i'm sharing a song that is very close to my heart. i hope you guys like it. this band is pretty amazing and i just love their sound. let me know what you think. the band is lydia. the song is 'i'll bite you'. enjoy. <3

jukebox sunday

today's jukebox sunday is a real treat. i heard about this guy a few years back while listening to my favorite radio show, citizen radio and i just fell in love. i do believe the first time i actually watched this video i cried. its that beautiful, or at least i think it is. i hope you guys feel the same. let me know what you think!! and if you guys have been listening to anything awesome lately, please share, i'd love to know what you're into and maybe it'll end up here on jukebox sunday!

It's a Jessi!

Hello there guys and dolls!

It has been quite some time since I posted! Don’t be alarmed, I never forgot about you lot. Though, some of you may not realize who I am. Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Jessi. You’ll see my profile above along with the wonderful Holly you know so well and the also elusive Amanda. (See that's me> you remember, the one known for crocheting?)

Do forgive my prolonged absence. Life gets in the way sometimes. Graduate school consumed my life. Then in March I had to have surgery on my gallbladder.  Over the past few months I’ve returned to crafting and after a conversation with Holly felt encouraged to return and I hope you will be happy to have me.

Now that we are reacquainted, let’s move on to the fun part of this post. 

What exactly have I been up to craft-wise? Well, I've taken on a project of epic proportions!

I will say this project has grown massively out of control and taken on a life of its own. It's less a project and more a conquest. A beast I must vanquish, comparable to the 12 labors of Hercules! 

Ok. Perhaps I exaggerate. I'm certainly not dealing with a Hydra, however, this project did start out as something quite simple. 

It all began when my Learning and Behavior professor informed us we would be completing a project for the end of the semester. It required that we learn something and relate to the class what learning theory best connected to our learning process. All the technical mumbo jumbo aside, I jumped on the opportunity to bring a bit of crafting back to my daily life. I had always wanted to learn to crochet a star! Now was my chance. And learn I did! Now the question was, what do I do with a crochet star? Now I'm sure many of you could have thought of a simpler solution. One that would not require intensive time to complete. Attaching it to a hat or creating a hat out of it would have been simple and are still crafts I intend to complete. My mind, whether it be that I enjoy a challenge, or inflicting suffering on myself decided it would be great if I could turn the stars into squares. 

I've mentioned my grandmother before. She's the one who taught me how to crochet and with her help we made simple work of devising a pattern to turn the star into a square. 

Once I'd achieved making a square I had to decide what to make with the squares. That is when the brilliant idea struck me to make a blanket. That is when I created the design below. 

The blanket is going to be enormous. I'm not even certain of its final measurements. I've estimated that once it is done it will be at least 8x6 feet if not slightly larger. I'm insane I know. There are 80 squares total. I've completed a total of 65. I have 50 of them that still need bordered with white. Then I'll need to attach them together and crochet a border of white around the blanket. Once I've finished the blanket I've several ideas for some hats with star motifs. I can't wait to see how they turn out. As always I love to hear from you guys so if you have any ideas, things you'd like to see, requests, or commissions please feel free to contact me. Just drop a line in the comments below. I'm glad to be back and I can't wait to share more of what I've been working on with you guys. 

packing for a chocolate dipped vacation

hey errrrrbody! so i figured i'd  share some photos from me preparing for vacation and what i've packed. this is just going to be a bit of a photo dump....enjoy ya'll! <3

if you guys have any question on what the products show above are or where i got them, just ask! i'll be gone for most of the week and won't be posting for a few days. but i'll be back by next week so be sure to check back for vaca photos and such!! have a great week you guys! <3<3<3<3<3

jukebox sunday

this week's jukebox sunday is rather special, as it includes a very wonderfully talented band who's bloodline is music royalty. ghost of a saber tooth tiger is the brain child of sean lennon and charlotte kemp. and they're just delightful, i think you guys might really dig them. enjoy! <3

hershey park, hershey park...somethings goin' down at hershey park!

 

//source// 

hey guys, things might be a bit quiet around here for a few days, but i'm hoping to pop out one more post before i head out for a mini VACATION!!!! my bestest joey and i are heading to hershey park next week for 3 days and i can't be more excited. i'm going to try to write something up to show you guys what i'm taking and all that jazz. work has been kinda nuts, it seems like i work everyday, all day any more so i apologize for the quietness of the blog. i'm working on some things for you guys thou, promise!! 

oh! what did you guys think of jukebox sunday? did you like it? or not? what would you like to see come out of it? any suggestions??? let me know! 

jukebox sunday

so i've been thinking about doing a few new things around here. and i've always had a deep love for music, and i figure i should share a bit of my love with you guys. jukebox sunday is going to be quite simple. each sunday i'll share 1 artist i'm currently in love with and a song from them. if you guys are currently obsessed with someone's music you think i should hear, let me know! i'm always looking for new music!!!

for the first jukebox sunday, i'd like to introduce you to a lovely lady i stumbled upon during a late night youtube raid. her name is holly walker and she's quite amazing. enjoy.

life and times of an amusement park face painter

this a going to be a rather simple post, just a photo dump of a few of my face paints (on my self) from the past few weeks at work. we've got to paint our face everyday for work and on some days i've gotten a little creative somed days, not so much. i'm not posting any faces of other people because i don't have their permission to post their faces online and i don't want to over step anyone's personal boundaries. there's a few photos of things i've painted on my arm. those are from days where its been slow and i get kinda bored! enjoy!!

new things, changes and goals

 so i figure i should give you guys a bit of an update on what's been going on with me and the girls here at O&C....well, amanda and i have a new job. we're both working at kennywood, the local amusement park, as face painters. its kind of awesome working with my gal! i've been there for a few months and i pushed and pushed for her to work with me because i knew she'd do amazing at it! and she has been! she's got such a talent for makeup and face painting...and her FXwork is bad ass!!! hopefully this fall we'll be working together again for kennywood at their halloween events, fright nights, doing makeup and FX.

so you remember me with 
suuuper long hair, right?!

well......

 

i've chopped off all my hair! i decided a few months ago that i was going to cut my hair short for work this summer so that i could stay cool out in the heat. well, i'm one of those crazy people who's motto always seems to be 'go big or go home'....well i guess this time it was go short or...ya know!  its a big change for me, i've never had my hair this short before. its grown out a good bit since i've cut it, so its not as bad as it was. not that it didn't look nice, it was just a little uncomfortable for me. i'm getting used to it now. BUT! i did do something good with my hair, instead of just throwing it out, i decided to donate it to locks of love. i felt that it was something that just made sense. if i'm going to get it cut then i shouldn't just get rid of it and waste it. it should go to some one that could do good with it. i feel very strongly about this cause, and i hope that you guys take a minute and check it out. i donated 19 inches to the cause but their minimum is 10", so if you got the length and you're wanting to do something good, this is very simple and does so much good!

 if you've read my last post, i had mentioned that i've been taking a break from the business....well the girls have too. we haven't done a show since last last november or december i think. a few weeks ago we did! we partook in the WYEP Summer Music Festival and had a blast! we didn't make much but i think it was a nice slow ride back into the swing of things! we had a bunch of new products and colleen decided to come along for the ride and sell her lovely things and i'm so very glad she did!!! hopefully, within the next few months we'll be doing a few more shows and i'll of coarse be taking photos at those too to share.

so...

new things= job. 

changes=hair cuts and business thingers

and now for...

goals!

 goals, goals, goals.....i'm going to be moving out of my father's house and going back to school this fall! yea, i'm actually going to be doing this! my life is about to get hella crazy really quick!!! colleen and i will be living together and we'll be looking for our new place in late august, hoping to be moved and settled by mid september just in time for me to start school early october. i'm so very excited and so extremely terrified. its such a big leap and i'm sure i'll be fine but its a giant change into actual adulthood. so naturally i'm a bit nervous. but i'll be documenting everything along the way and sharing our journey in tid bits here and there. 

wish me luck everyone, i'm definitely going to need it! :)