yiddlenet

self-portrait 2010

I had a prof who told us you should do a self-portrait once a year. quick one. don’t spend a lot of time on it. this took about an hour. getting better at skin tones and highlights, need to work on hair techniques. (ugh, both painting AND my real hair. i’m so clueless about some girl things)

Sketched in Painter X, checked proportions against photo reference in Photoshop, returned to Painter X for painting. Was pleasantly surprised that my proportions were almost right on the first time.

This is the super-secret project you may have heard me tweeting about a while back. I wanted to do something nice for my friend @ToddGallina. Todd’s a creative genius, and one of his current projects is illustrating a children’s book called Samantha Saves a Star (watch for it on Amazon…coming soon – I’ll keep you posted!). I fell in love with one of the thumbnails he had done of Samantha sitting on her swing looking up at the night sky and I wanted to turn that into a fun little altoids tin diorama. (continue reading…)

floor pillows for gamers

We’ve been sorely in need of some floor pillows for a while now, and we finally got around to getting some made this weekend.  Gaming wasn’t so bad when we were always sitting on the sofa, but we picked up a PS3 this weekend and charging the controllers means sitting closer to the tv.

We did an IKEA run to pick up two 20″ and two 26″ pillows.  Then we made easy to remove covers out of fleece – gamers spill sometimes and we thought we might just need to wash ‘em.  We picked bright colors to match the area rug and the fun accessories we’ve got in the bookcase.  Sackboy approves.

This method is super easy and requires only straight seams, no hand sewing, and no zippers or buttons or velcro.  Hopefully later I’ll have time to throw up a tutorial.

Yes, I know. That looks like a random pile of leftovers. And that’s what it is really, except these are REALLY GOOD leftovers from a nice dinner out with my parents at a good Greek restaurant. We’ve got a little bit of Kotopita there (that’s what I had) and a bunch of lamb shank (that’s what Mom had) and a couple tiny bites of sea bass (that’s what Dad had). Also some pasta and roasted veggies that were on the side. (continue reading…)

Toby preps for Project Runway

For your next challenge, you shall design a sportswear look from the scraps leftover from a cutoff pair of pajama pants.  You have 2 minutes, a pair of scissors, and a budget of two kitty treats.  Time starts…NOW.

bento 45

Experiments are good. So is pork and wild rice sausage. This is my pork and wild rice sausage experiment. It was yummy so I’m taking some for lunch tomorrow.  Acini de Pepe pasta is usually used for salads or soups, it’s that round little pearl shape.  This wasn’t a salad or soup, but it worked well.  I imagine orzo or rice would also work well.  Read on for the recipe. (continue reading…)