Double Dots at Dusk

The sun was shining.
I wasn't wearing socks.
I finally had time to hunker down and get some needed emails out.
...and then I forgot until dusk that I was going to snap some photos of my outfit for my sis.

That's what happens when you have a productive day. It's what I'm telling myself, at least.

Today called for dots.  Lots of dots.

But then again, I have a slight inclination that everyday is a good day for dots.

Want to know what's fun about sisters? Even when you live in two different countries, you can still share clothes.  I have officially inherited this neat leather jacket from my older sister.  Scored it when visiting her in BC and having so much fun wearing a piece of her when we cannot be together!

As I have mentioned, these aren't super stellar snaps, but alas, what's a dotty gal to do?!

Let's all agree that the graininess of the images adds to the mystery of the composition in the photos.  (Can you tell I've been through one too many art critiques??)

Hope to spot you in dots, scurrying about town!
Cheers,

Alissa

 

behind the look I'm sporting:

sweater, blouse, flats, bracelet- J.Crew (all quite old)

denim, belt- Gap

Necklace- vintage from Mom

Familiar Face

There's just something to be said to waking up next to a familiar face...

Mine happens to be a collage of magazine shreds.

Besides this fingers-for-nose, sideburns-flaunting, feathers-in-hair gal, here's a quick peak at my side table.

Well-equipped with:
1. my favorite tall green candle from Ampersand (cannot wait until it is all finished up so I can use it for a vase...more on that later!)
2. thankfulness journal-a while ago, I took on the task of slipping into my sheets as I jot down three things I was grateful for that day.  And nothing can be repeated.  Try that out for a challenge, folks!
3. a small dalahorse figurine (made from paper clay)...and yes, I agree, it looks like a unicorn from this angle.

And if we are taking this opportunity for honesty, I usually have a cup of tea, chapstick, a book (or three), pens, sharpies, more pens, sweater comb, random program from my high school graduation...ok, well, maybe that's a little much...but you know how your best efforts of a clean bedside usually turn out.
 

 

I like this little lady because I made it back in the day for my very first art class, freshman year of college.  We had to make a collage and I was not one of those girls that cut out lipstick and bikinis and such from magazines to make a summer inspiration board (clearly, before the days of pinterest).

Simply put, I was a novice.  So, off I went. Tearing and shredding and pasting, trying to make sense of values and texture.  After a few good hours, a face began to emerge!

Waking up to this simple collage reminds me daily that inspiration and success can come when we least expect it. Sometimes we have no idea what the results will be when we start pasting pieces of our lives together.  Occasionally, something beautiful will emerge.  However, more often than not, our attempts end up being crumpled and toss in the waste basket--but we mustn't forget that there is beauty in the process of failure too.

That's a lesson I have had to learn and re-learn every. single. day. Failure still brings us closer to our goals...even when it feels like three steps in the wrong direction.  So, keep truckin' along! Sooner or later, our failed attempts start working out, and something beautiful is created.

Cheers to beauty in our mistakes!
Alissa

The City's Finest

I haven't  been at this blog thing long...but I feel like I'm officially part of the club now that I have been stopped by the police curious as to what I was up to.

"Ummm, well, officer, just snapping some photos for my blog..."

You'd think it was illegal to be outside without a coat in Minnesota.  Now that I think of it, maybe it is! Uffda.

With todays 'to-do' calling for a few errands and scampering off to my small group and evening church, today was made for comfy-casual and some sneaks.  Clearly, I am still on this pink kick--being it is still February.  Please join me as I dress like a life-sized valentine for the remainder of the month.

 

So if you call the land of 10,000 lakes home, remember your coat.  You wouldn't want to be stopped by the city's finest!

Cheers,
Alissa

 

behind the look I'm sporting:

Jacket, denim (on sale!), belt, bag, bracelet- J. Crew

Monogram blouse- gift from sister's wedding...personalized by Initially Yours

Sneaks- Nike Flyknit

Scarf- Gifted

Sunnies- Ray Ban

Black Heart

What is it about February that makes one yearn to wear hot pink every. single. day?  I don't consider myself a "pink person" until the 14th rolls around and I find I have more than one option to wear to show my love for this love-hate holiday.

Today, I kept the spirit of love and chocolate alive with touches of hot pink and this sketchbook-style of tossed hearts.  I love outfits that can easily take one from afternoon errands to evening desserts--with just one quick swap of boots to heels!

I had the pleasure of snapping photos at Traditions in St. Paul off Grand Avenue.  They have a lovely set up of all the prettiest home furnishings in a quaint shop--and you would never believe how much they can fit into their small location--it's worth the trip if you're in the area!

They have these wonderfully adorned canes that make us all wish we had a limp...

Come home with me, antler-pillow!
I'm head over heels for this perfect pillow.

 

 A kiss for the bunny and a Valentines kiss to you!

Cheers,

Alissa

behind the look I'm sporting:
Blouse, bag, belt, necklace/pave heart bracelet, patent heels- J. Crew
Denim- Urban Outfitters, grey is an old color
Boots- Frye
Watch- Skagen
Lips- Pink Peony by FACE Stockholm
Sunnies- Ray Ban

Brussels Brunch

Get ready for your new breakfast best friend.  May I introduce you to Brussels Sprouts Hash...

I love Brussels Sprouts. If I could figure out a way to have them for every meal, I would.  Plus, it's generally a good way to sneak bacon into a meal...and nobody is complaining about that.

I had the task today to bring a dish for a  morning potluck with my small group--so off went the alarm bright and early to whip this up before dashing off to lots of tasty treats!  With little prep and cooking time, this was a great recipe to pull together at the last minute and left me with plenty of time to still get some beauty sleep.

First, I cut some thick sliced bacon from our pork guys, Tollefson Family Pork.  We like to know our farmers and believe me, when you have this bacon, you will know why.

Cutting it into half-inch strips, I threw it into a pan on medium heat to begin cooking the bacon.

Then, sliced up a small onion.

I then cut up a red yam. First peeling then slicing into round disks and then chunks, I quickly learned that yams (and I'm speculating all of those in the potato family) do not like to be cut when raw.  But raw it was.  And therefore, bravely I whacked at it with a (probably too dull) knife.

I am not entirely sure if this was, in fact, a yam or something weird.  As it was white in color when I cut it, and tasted more like a starchy potato---I was left perplexed.  However, it worked perfectly with the other flavors! Feel free to make this with a sweet potato for adding more color and flavor!

Once the bacon has browned and fat rendered, I scooped out the bacon and set on a paper towel to absorb the extra fat.  Then in the remaining fat in the pan, I added the cut yam and onion to cook.  About 7-8 minutes, or until the sides begin to brown and texture begins to cook more tender than starchy.

Taking about 20 good-sized Brussels sprouts and cutting off the bottom and slicing in half, I washed and tossed the green ombre rounds in the pan with their new friends.

Adding the bacon back into the mix, it is always the best part to watch the Brussels sprouts turn to a more vibrant green! The smells were delectable and I could not wait to start digging in...

Throwing this into a hotdish and wrapping it up in a dish towel, I was proud to officially feel like a true church-basement lady ready for potluck.  It paired wonderfully with a table boasting of eggbake, baked french toast, yogurt and granola, fruit, and wonderful fellowship.

So the next time you are planning a breakfast potluck, don't be afraid to be the gal showing up with the veggies!!

I'm now off to hop on a plane, jetting across the country to visit my sister in BC, Canada.  Yahoo! See you in a bit, America.

Cheers,

Alissa

Decorating Discoveries

I finally came to a time in my life when I felt I needed to redecorate.  Gone were the days of having bright pink floral flannel sheets. Yes, we had those as children.

This is my cure-all trick: when you are not feeling quite of age in a world of grown-ups (cue the theme music to a quarter life crisis), change your sheets.  It's really as simple as that. Who knew new $19.99 sheets from IKEA would provide a new lease on life?

Well, that brought about a deep cleaning of my room and surrounding areas...therefore, I began discovering some treasures. I thought I would share one with you.  In an almost empty journal, I flipped open to a page with some multicolored pen scribbles and was reminded of a lovely evening from when I was working at J.Crew:

"There is so much to be gained from children.  Today my lesson came in the form of a young girl, no older than 5 years of age.  She was running errands with her mother in large snow-boots, an ill-fitting red velour jumpsuit, and a bright white Easter hat; but most importantly, her outfit was completed with the most unwavering air of confidence.  As her mom was finishing up at the register, she turned to go and called out to the young girl, 'Come on, beautiful girl,' and without hesitation, she offered one last glance my way and clobbered out, twirling her Easter hat in hand.
Reflecting on this somewhat insignificant event, I was reminded that in His own way, our Heavenly Father calls to us, 'Come on, beautiful girl.' "

So, on this lovely snow-covered day, let us be reminded how He has covered our sins white as snow!
Cheers,
Alissa

Stone Lithography

After doing my post on "A Day in the Life," I thought it would be fun to show the behind the scenes of a project I did for my sisters--printmaking through stone lithography.

I claim to be no expert and this was my first (read, trial and error and error and error) go at it.  It is a very demanding process but fun and proved to be a good workout.

First, we select a stone and bring it into the graining room...

 

This is a process by which you physically remove any and all grease deposits in the stone that resulted from previous drawing.  The stone must be coarsely grained and then slowly polished with finer and finer grits until it has a smooth but toothed surface.  You must take care to clean hands, stone, levigator, and surrounding surfaces when changing grits to prevent from unwanted scratches on your stone.

This is my stone...wet with grit sprinkled on it ready to swirl (the very heavy) levigator in order to slowly remove grease and level the stone.

After graining FOR HOURS, you begin to take joy in the little beauties...such as this pretty swirl.  As I said, this is a workout.

Now if only I had remembered to bring a protein smoothie....I might as well be getting swole when doing this, right?

Next, drawing a rough sketch of your design. I selected to do a design combining my sisters' love for string instruments and a phrase from one of my favorite songs...

So, I grabbed my sister's viola and started sketching....


Then, I drew my design (quite dark because I needed to see it through the back of the paper) on a large sheet of paper to be transferred onto the stone.  The transfer will appear backwards on the stone as we want it to PRINT readable.

Now begins the drawing with grease crayons. I purchased my crayons from the U of M bookstore and clearly they had been collecting dust for a while...with continuous small breaks and clumping, I was not very pleased with the quality of the crayons.  If I had had more time, I would have loved to replace them and begin again but that would have meant more graining...and we all know how most would feel about that.

The boarder around the design was created with straight Gum Arabic in order to have a place to rest my arm when drawing.  As the stone produces any image created from grease, that means if I were to smudge my hand across the surface, I could accidentally create a smudge of hand grease that would end up printing on my image.  This is a pretty finicky process and but can produce beautiful results when handled with care.

Then we covered the image with rosin, a cinnamon-looking powder. I believe this was to soak up any extra grease not attached to the stone.


Then cover with talc.  One thing for sure, this process is not speedy. There seemed to be a million steps and I certainly cannot explain why each was necessary...I just figured why not, eh?

Next comes the fun part...or daunting part! Mixing nitric acid with the gum arabic to create an etch of the drawing in the stone. Each part of the drawing (that you wanted to be darker, lighter, medium) needed to have a specific etch (mixture of nitric acid and gum) created...we were given a rough table of how many drops of acid to add to achieve which strength of etch.

Then cover the whole stone with the lighted etch and buff that into the stone with a cheese cloth and let stone sit for 90 minutes, at the least.  Have I mentioned this was a lengthy process? And we haven't even gotten to the printing? Uffda.

Once the stone has had its alone time, we are finally ready to roll up! This step of the process if for removing the drawing materials and preparing it for printing. First, wash out drawing with lithotine. Then, rub stone with asphaultum printing base (a thin tar-based liquid which will help your stone take the ink).

By this step, I am fairly convinced all printmakers are actually chemists.  Our goal after covering the stone with these scary-sounding liquids is to reveal a ghost image...that is to say, an image of your design without any color--only open areas of the stone for the ink to settle into.
 
Then we can roll the stone with our normal sponge/ink process...that, my friend, is a process in itself and therefore I'm just going to convince myself as though you know alllllll about it already.

Once the stone is full, dry the stone with a leather fan (aka a wooden rod with a piece of leather attached at the top...) Now start swirling--round and round.  Just in case you were losing those arm muscles.

And THEN, etch your stone AGAIN. Yes, I said again. As in, begin from step one with the rosin, talc, gum....and waiting 90 minutes...

Can you believe I made it out of this class alive?! Well, the process was well worth it! After letting the stone sit for 90 minutes, then I rolled the stone up and began printing.  I printed two a bit lighter because I wanted to personalize them for my sisters as a gift.

Below is the heavier printed edition...I'm thinking of still adding color to these but it will probably turn out a bit more faint of color than the lighter printed variable edition.


I had completed these editions in late spring and was secretly waiting until Christmas to present them to my sisters.  If you know about me and gift-giving, you know I don't like having to wait.  I want to shower you with gifts as soon as I make the gift or purchase it.  Needless to say, keeping this a secret may have been my greatest accomplishment with this project.

I have never really watercolored but decided to give it a whirl for this project. I thought the delicate addition of color would be prefect to not take away from the original print.


Finally, the print was completed!! On the left is the watercolor/print edition finished and on the right is the lighter print before the water color. I am kicking myself for not getting a better photo of the print a bit closer...but at least not both prints are being sent to Canada.  I guess I'll have to visit sissy in St.Paul for a quick snap.
Hope you enjoyed this lengthy post! It was a fun process to learn but ever so thankful that alternatives to lithography were formed...I think I'll be sticking to photo-litho from now on.

Wishing you all the best in the (fast-passing) NEW YEAR!

Cheers,
Alissa