twenty books have been cut and are waiting for me.. I had to match all the bindings to the larger wood by number. I wanted the new books to be manageable unobtrusive sizes.. meaning that they can be lugged around without much pain and fit easily into your bag.

Two of these gems are already nabbed! One being a good challenge for me.. the person wants it as a sort of appointment book. I have never done anything like that before but figure one should never shy away from a challenge.

Have you noticed I don't like using the flash on my camera? I always think it's to blinding.. it's like an actress without any makeup..eeeeps.

The picture below is for people that want the flash.. no makeup!

much to bright.. there is a time and place I suppose. I will stick to my orange 70's hue.. thank you very much.

this morning I was in the mood for Miles Davis - Kind of Blue.

I was shocked to discover that it is missing in my itunes.. ftw? 

I have to track it down before someone gets hurt.

don't be jealous...

lookie at what a coworker brought for me from Japan:

The cute little tin is filled with waffle wafer cookies (say that ten times fast). I walked into work today and saw an adorable package waiting for me on my desk. I know you might be saying to yourself.. so what.. it's a bunny tin.. NO! that's not all it is. If you care at all about the Chinese zodiac you would understand that 2011 is the year of the rabbit... and we so need it. 2010 was the year of the Tiger.. YOW!!! Year of the Tiger is HARD! Many hardships in our world happen during a Tiger year. gahh!

Ask anyone you know how 2010 was.. I can tell you that most people will say it was complicated, hard, etc.

We are on the precipice of going into a much needed and easier year... year of the bunny.. hop hop.

So now you understand why these delicate little cookies are so good. 

Bring on the bunny!!

avoiding the holiday clean up

All that work for the holidays and now it's just over. It seriously took a lot of energy to even get into the spirit.. and now it's all done and deflated. I think it's silly I had to convince myself to put up decorations.. and now I know why.. the truth is it's a pain to take it all down. Maybe I should have started earlier, like Thanksgiving to get the full satisfaction of all the work. aaahh.. well..

There was a reason I wanted it up so it's not all that bad. I have a goal to take it down tonight... I wanted to last weekend but then decided that I should try and enjoy the New Year.

In an obvious attempt to avoid taking down the Christmas stuff... I visited the library instead. I've been thinking about going for a couple of weeks and finally dragged my butt there.

After circling for parking etc.. I finally made it inside and had that certain youthful appreciation for it. I especially like the Arts and Music section.. huh.. I wonder why? You may be wondering why I was there in the first place..I was looking for visual reference books to practice drawing. I also nabbed a couple books to help me practice my technique.

There were a ton of  fantastic books.. I found this book above on birds.. the paintings are really detailed and great. I wish I had enough gusto to get the two first additions to the Audubon society books.. but they are huge and awkward. I also picked up a very detailed books on mammals and trees. Obviously, you can tell I want to practice drawing nature and wildlife.. gotta mix it up people. 

Isn't it funny that no matter what public library you go to in any state.. they always have a certain smell and feel. The books always have a smell and there is a faint urine stink in the air. I'm not saying this is comforting or anything.. just an observation.....weird...

anyway..

rapp tapp tapping this a.m.:

I heart you Karry Walker!

all fixed up

Remember the book that had a run in with a dog... well it's all stitched up and back in the owners hands!

Can you see the damage on the corner in this picture? I guess people should be aware that dogs have an interest in these books as well. While re-stitching the book back together I found many pages with drool/teeth marks. There was even a page that had what looked like twigs from a tree?? Well.. nonetheless.. it's all done and back with the owner.

Mark Petersen's kitty shirt project

Taken from Flickr:

emily in her studio

emily coker, a deeply twisted and yet highly sensitive and witty gal, creator of painting sculpture shadowboxes and books, also organizer of "oakland under 100" a vigorous shifting group of beginning and mid career artists and craftspeople, an ongoing part of the oakland art murmur

Follow the kitty project here.

john casey sticker

I ran into John Casey on NYE and was handed his new sticker.. I love it! It now lives on my sketch book...

Jealous?

Thanks John!