i hope someone in this house gets burned

 

This aloe plant has gotten all super hero on me.  I am not the most elegant of people so when I bump my arm in the oven this lil plant is to here the rescue!  With all of this aloe though the upcoming summer's sky do not scare me!  

 

I am unable to have a cat with my roommates and I can not yet afford a dog (yet) so over the last several months I have gotten some plants and to my surprise they are loving the second story indirect sun light my apartment gets.  One of my roommates has even named his lemon tree plant Phil...he will someday "phil" us with lemons! 

 

....not to say there hasn't been some casualties.  These diva Chamaedorea Elegans HATE the lack of sun at my desk. :S 

I have started to find myself on Craig's List searching for unwanted plants, it is almost like the humane society for lil greens. 

 

jerky jerk

 

Every night as I take a shower I see this shadow 

and it got me thinking designing...

   

 

Download it as your desktop

Print it out tack it up 

 Or give throw it to some jerk at work...whatever you feel like

happy 2011 everyone 

2010. A Year of Boredom, Excitement, and Unemployment

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
Lived with boys.  Start my own business. Stop caring where I think I should be in my life and just live it.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?


I never became a self taught Italian chef so...2011 the year of homemade pasta

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

My cousin Shawn had a boy Everett and I found out my sister Linds will be having a baby in April

  
4. Did anyone close to you die?

    No   

5. What countries did you visit?
None BUT I went up to Duluth / Grand Marais (very top of MN) all in one day!

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
A job where I get paid to design

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
August 1st - Day I moved out of my mom's place after sleeping on an air mattress in a living room for a year

July 3rd - One day road trip to up to northern MN with her best friend 

October 1st - Day I was let go from my temp job and realized how supportive my roommates were are

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Staying positive when things fell apart around me, and taking my happiness into my own hands. 

9. What was your biggest failure? 

Thinking that I failed when really it is just....life. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Twisted  my ankle in a bar (sober) what else is new

11. What was the best thing you bought?
First pair of TOMS shoes (love them)

12. Where did most of your money go?
Tea (I like to keep my kitchen looking like a Starbucks) and

going to cafes at least 3 times a week to design got pricey

13. What did you get really excited about?
Living on my own again 

14. What song will always remind you of 2010? 

I Was Thinking... by Gauntlet Hair.  Good Minneapolis / Duluth road trips with this band

GAUNTLET HAIR // I was thinking... from caitlin mcnichols on Vimeo.


15. Compared to this time last year, are you: 

happier or sadder? happier
thinner or fatter? thinner

richer or poorer? poorer 

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Worked out, entered in more design competitions, painted,take a screen printing class,  

   
17. What do you wish you’d done less of? 

Drink heavy beers (but then again I don't really regret this) 

18. How did you spend Christmas?
Laughing with my aunts

19. What was your favorite TV program?
Twin Peaks, Parks and Recs, East Bound and Down, Sons of Anarchy, Modern Family

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
My friend recommended Three Cups of Tea to me and I fell in love with it. 

21. What was your favorite music from this year? 

Gauntlet Hair, Avett Brothers, Beach House, Broken Bells   

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
Inception, Love and Other Drugs

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Ha, question 23 and I turned 23.  I can't remember


24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 Having a steady job 

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Every Monday I watched Gossip Girl and I would try to copy their hair style that week. 

26. What kept you sane?
My roommates kept me sane.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

That I didn't fail.  I am just living life.   

I am Jack's Raging Fist

Last night out, my roommate and I got to talking and I told him how I have never been in a fist fight and that I have always wanted to.  So he let me take a few swings and I ended up with a self inflicted bruise on my fist!

It felt awesome...

 

 (fight club photoshop)

 

boxing lessons at the gym are in order next year
 

woodworking woman

 For years I have had these old wine corks and I finally figured out how to put them to use while discovering a new craft!  I started to research Pyrography and have become infatuated with the idea of doing this.  

I started super basic as you can see and just took a blow torch to some plywood creating a vignette effect(Home Depot is my new favorite store)  Next up on the list is to get a wood burning pen and to actually design into the wood.

...to be continued.

I Don't Have A Subscribtion to Paste Magizine but....

I do appreciate a good music video.  For some reason that is what inspires me the most to create.  It can make me want to pick up a pen and draw or make me open up Illustrator and Photoshop and bust out a design like nobody's business.

These are videos that have influenced me creatively...

GRIZZLY BEAR HAS BECOME AN ESSENTIAL WHEN I AM DESIGNING THEY AREE THE BEST(PERIOD)

Before Amazon did those commercials this was totally mind blowing to me

well..this one is just great in general...

b.1961

My friend Margaret Lane from Hilder Victoria has started her own line of vintage fur wraps!  Made up of all recycled materials there several ways to dawn this new beautiful wardrobe staple:

To get your own b.1961 Design 

email Maggie at

b.1961design@gmail.com

Each one is unique and beautiful.  

White Winter Hymnal

 

(Quick photoshop assembly to reference when painting) 

Self portrait series based off of this song:

White Winter Hymnal  

With scarves of red tied 'round their throats

To keep their little heads

From fallin' in the snow

odd day. good design.

This week has been kind of shitty odd.

Two days ago in the span on one hour I received three rejection letters from

internships I applied to last week.  After reading the third one I laid on my bed and thought to myself either:

1)I could sob while watching TV for the rest of the day eating a box of Cheese Its 

or

2)Design while eating a box of Cheese Its

I decided to do option 2

My friends Koo Koo Kangaroo had a t shirt contest and this is one of the entries I submitted.  Rarely do I show my designs to others.  There is only one print of mine hanging up in my own house, but I am proud of this not only because 

it is just down right awesome but 

I know that I decided to do something about my unhappiness that day.

 

 

College Never Taught Me How To...

After graduation my only complaint with Stout was there was not a single design class that taught me how to actually sell myself, along with my work, to potential clients.  I am far from what you call an eloquent speaker, I stumble and stutter over words, if I have the attention of more than seven people I get red in the

face.  

All of this I hope to change with the help of Mary Kay.  Not only do I hope to improve my sales skills but this will also help me learn how to run an effective business and come up with creative marketing strategies which I can eventually carry over to my career as a Freelance Graphic Designer.  

Last night at the weekly MK meeting I was presented with flowers (by my cousin Megan who introduced me to this), a fancy MK pin, and will eventually get a sparkly ring (they know what gals like). 

Plus after 13 years I can figure out wear eye liner... 

Typography SoupS

On this chilly day I sat down to a delightful lunch of squash and alphabet soup only to find a lack in letters...weak!  Then I got to thinking what if there was diffrent types of fonts in soups?!  Here is what I came up with 

Times New Roman Tomato Soup

Courier Clam Chowder 

Comic Sans Chicken Noodle

Georgia Goulash

Lucida Lentil

Myriad Minestrone  

Palatino Pumpkin

Symbols Split Pea

From Feet to Hands

TOMS is an amazing company that stands for an amazing cause.  For eight months I have had many adventures in these shoes but now that winter is here it is time to retire them from my feet.  However this does not mean I have to thrown them out entirely - reused and made into a bracelet the message of ONE FOR ONE can still continue all year round.   

A Painter Awakens

The winter swooped in just as fast as my urge to paint.  Washed off the brushes and gathered up my crusty paints, with a few more supplies I will be set to go!

Winter Painting Possibilities

Scarfs (fabric is the hardest thing for me to render)

Human Organs (new meaning to still life?) 

Light Bulbs 

(then blind from looking at light bulbs for hours on end)

Moody Minneapolis Night

It was a rainy evening last night.  It almost felt moody with the dark rain clouds rolling in that interrupted the perfect sun filled days here in Minneapolis.  While I was sitting at the coffee house the room grew darker which made me want to instantly go up and get another swirly coffee drink to perk up.  However every now and again it is nice to find what comes out of my head once all my alertness and senses go adrift.  Later that night at 2 in the morning I came up with this picture leaving just one part of me behind. .  .

A Good Light Bulb, A Better Designer

Funny how a change in surroundings can make one think completely different.  

Home makes me think in task form: laundry, sleep, dinner (sketti tonight), vacuum, etc.  

Coffee shops make me think more creatively/professionally: must meet this dead line, must apply that job, must remember this tea at Rainbow, hey hipster nice hat, this is some good lighting (one of my keys elements to being happy/think clearly in a room).