flickr perfection

the most perfect record photo
i can taste the salt in the air
buildinglove
reflection

graphic designer badasses

these first two are by Alvin Lustig made with only pieces from the typecase!!!





see this website about him. it is really good. he is for sure a favorite graphic designer/artist of mine.

and below is a logo by Lester Beall



These images are from the book Nine Pioneers in American Graphic Design
(all men of course. boo.)

leaves and organic bras

made this big leaf for a scale project for my design class a while back. thought i was getting it back today, but no. so i took some photos of it. it was fun to make something with wire inside. hadn't tried that before.

have i mentioned i'm not buying any new fabric this year? (i have to keep telling myself this. and now telling you.) i figure there's enough great fabric already in the world. man it's tough though when there are fabrics like that flowery one in the leaf (bought last year at bolt in portland).

this year i am not buying clothes at big stores (or much at all) either. i think i've only bought one shirt this year. (but where does one buy organic bras i ask you?) a lot of my clothes are falling apart though. yeah, i'm on a year of no chain stores for fabric or clothing. i wish there was a place that made organic clothing that was tailored really well. i would pay a lot if i knew something would last a long time and fit well and was produced sustainably and fairly. it seems reasonable to me to spend some extra cash on sturdy staple clothes. and then when feeling like it, spruce them up with handmade and thrifted items. it's easier to not buy anything when you have no money to buy anything with too. ;-) (although i guess a lot of credit-loving americans don't feel this way.) well i'm rambling here.

it is late and it's already been an exhausting week.

made a wee book today

from scraps of paper hanging around and whatnot.



inside:





inspired by lovelydesign and five and a half. see five and a half's tutorial here

sharing dinners

my housemate erica and i are finally sort of executing our plan to make each other dinner regularly.



our first meals were, by erica, a ratatouille (which you almost want to make just so you can say ratatouille) and by me, an asparagus tart (eaten about 15 minutes ago and now making me very tired).



this weekend is the last homework weekend of the semester! after this weekend i plan to cook more, start riding my bicycle, blog more (including blogging on sew green!), dance more, go to more movies, make cards again, make a skirt (this has been on my to do list for far too long), screenprint again and start swimming again.

now i think i'll take a nap. ;-)

some time ago

i put some shoes that didn't fit me right up on my blog. gwen was happy to take them off my hands, and look at the bounty i've scored in return!



this morning as i was stepping out of the shower, alone at home, the doorbell rang. now our doorbell is normally one that makes everyone around, including the cat, jump straight up in the air and then want to run for cover. seriously loud. but it's even more unnerving first thing in the morning when you're alone, and naked, and soaked. needless to say, i did not rush to see who was there. but later when i left the house, there was this gleaming package of goodies on the stoop! it washed away all the doorbell jitters. ;-)

gwen's purses are, as many of you know, little works of design heaven. look at that super tubey handle, the body of the purse's shape! and her packaging. so thoughtful and good. a big thank you gwen!

find some of gwen's goodies here. and i'm wondering if they'll soon be here as well....

inspiration station

my painter friend sarah haba now has a website! and will be part of the oakland open studios in june.

lately i've also been appreciating elizabeth catlett's work.
the below images are from the book something all our own.

cartas (apparently inspired by the color purple)


woman's torso


dancing


fluted head

a lot of her work focuses on representing women, and particularly women of color. i find so many of her pieces very beautiful and moving.

and finally, some flickr inspiration:
skull kid's viewfinder pics
lula
goldie
#24

for mothers day

which it really is all year round

cd + cover art exchange

anyone feel like it's about time for some new music - a cd exchange?

for my quark class i'm designing a 2 cd mix cover + insert. thought it would be fun to put it to use and exchange it!

guidelines:

*2 cds with a theme (or 2 themes) of your choosing + your cover art to match
*i am hoping 10-12 people will participate, so you'd be sending 2 cds to up to 12 people and receiving up to 24 cds in return
*cds to be sent out by june 5

if you're interested, please leave me a hello in the comments and send an email to kshooshy@yahoo.com with your mailing address.

some random examples of the type of music you might find on my mix:

the decemberists, interpol, michael jackson, be good tanyas, dolly parton, duke ellington, sigur ros, bob dylan, otis redding....

hopefully even though i barely post these days, some of you will still stumble across this and want to participate!