katharine hearts more links

things i’ve been saving for when i get free time (ha!)

custom card boxes (tempting me to create WHiRR playing cards or strip Uno)

vintage paperback covers (inspiration for the next book cover assignment i get)

shrinky dink rings (looks fun, but could be frustrating to get that perfect circle)

katharine hearts links

school and personal issues have slowed my blogging to a weakened, dehydrated crawl. here are some links of interest i’ve bookmarked over the past two months.

the artist’s survival kit by keri smith

bent objects

design police

the dashed line in use

weather report animations

mark live in IKEA

nick bianco – lunch box designer (also designed the Monkees logo)

pictobrowser

vectormagic

interactive art director ‘08

katharine hearts moustaches

in case you’ve been stuck in an elevator, you should know that moustaches are back. men need no longer limit their facial hair patterns to van dykes, goatees, five o’clock shadows, and hobo scruff.

if you’ve got the time and patience, you can grow a beard or moustache to rival those in the World Beard and Moustache Championship. if, like me, you are unable to grow a decent moustache, you might like some of the following items.

Tatty Devine boutique has an Artist’s Moustache necklace (temporarily out of stock) for when you want to invite a sexy co-ed back to your back to see your “etchings.”

my own creation, Herr Lip (you know, in German, Herr Lip means Mister Lip) works in a pinch if you’re attending a fancy party or want to make a big pizza pie. just dig out some black construction paper, popsicle sticks, and some glue.

if you’d rather keep your appreciation for fine facial hair away from your own face, Shawnimals has a couple of plush ’staches. or pick up a few pins from Moustache Factory. one might be quick to think that these robot pins would be my favourite, but it’s really the bunny.

speaking of robots with facial hair. i stumbled on this guy a few years ago and have been casually following him through livejournal. he used to draw and post robot illustrations each day, but has moved beyond robots (as we all do at some point, right?) to other fun illustration subjects.

katharine hearts recycling

it seems like everybody with a creative or DIY bone is coming up with new ways to reuse trash. for a few months, i’ve been stockpiling empty toilet paper rolls because i was sure there was something. i was uninspired until the last issue of ReadyMade with a piece about reusing cardboard tubes. with the intent of making a wreath, i cut up three rolls. after realizing that it was going to take more loops than i cared to cut (i can be quite lazy or impatient), i decided to trade that idea for a different, easier one—napkin rings. i had 12 loops and turned them into three sets of napkin rings. using acrylic craft paint, i painted them all gray on the outside and added a pop of colour to the inner ring. i opted for a minimal modern design for them. to protect the paint (and add a bit of sophistication), i coated the rings with a thin layer of resin.

i may add these to my etsy shop. if you want to make your own, one regular TP roll equals four napkin rings plus a little extra, depending on your cuts.

katharine recaps 2007

that was certainly the most eventful year in quite a while. it began with my return to school after almost 10 years (i’ve taken a bunch of courses online, but have avoided campuses since 1998). i survived two semesters and emerged as an honour student. i’ve also survived a full year living in another country. some people might say, “yeah, but it’s Canada. how different can it be?” well, my wallet got heavier from all the coinage for one thing.

during the spring and summer, i took WHiRR out to five craft shows in town and introduced Canadians to Boris. my inventory dwindled down to everything in my new Blissfully Bitter shop and a lot of boxed cards. people respond favorably to WHiRR but i don’t have a grand time manning tables and trying to deal with customers in noisy churches. so i’ve taken a hiatus from that for a while.

professionally, i wrote another profile for Orlando Arts magazine and completed projects for two clients—a brochure for a local community organization and t-shirts and postcards for a local pizzeria.

during my breaks from school, i took several trips stateside. in february, i visited my mom in Atlanta (she lives in my hometown in Alabama, but i’ve become unwilling to tolerate the growing delays via the ATL airport just to visit red mud and rebel flags). i dragged her to the design museum there to see the Cartoon Network display. i was enthralled, she was bored. we met up again in Atlanta in August for more food and shopping. she’s partly responsible for my ever-expanding argyle collection.

earlier in the year, boyfriend and i took a day trip over to the Toronto Islands, where i manned a vehicle without crashing or nearly crashing for the first time (my childhood is littered with instances involving wheeled modes of transportation and minor injuries. wheels are not my friends). we also went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, under the impression that we’d hear a voice-over he’d done for the company (we did not). we did play their mini-golf and my game showed marked improvement from years and courses past.

the boyfriend and i took a whirlwind trip ’round New England in October for leaf-peeping and visiting his family. most of my photos from the trip were just blurs of colours. i can certainly see the appeal of Vermont and the Adirondacks for visiting, but darling give me reliable internet access.

a few weeks ago, i took a trip down to Orlando to visit familiar faces and be silly. while i’m no longer in love with Orlando and tropical weather, i did need my partners in silliness and random shouting and giggle fits. i have yet to find Canadian dopplegangers of my giggle partners.

i also started learning sign language and stopped trying to hide my hearing loss. this is probably what some might think of as “emotional growth.”

that’s the basic overview of my life in 2007. what does 2008 hold? steady employment? selling out? licensing deals for WHiRR? clinical depression?

katharine hearts boris

no, i haven’t given up crafting or blogging. as my lengthy holiday draws to a close, i’ve been trying to complete as many projects as possible. one project involved the reuse of some of the tileboards i rescued from the basement. my intention is to redo all of boards and coat them with resin to protect the artwork. this project made use of old WHiRR artwork, two tileboards, and a big canvas I had sitting around.

blurry

flashy

i still have some work to do on it and will take better photos as lighting permits. but you get the idea. the canvas is 16×20 and the two 5×7 tileboards are hanging off of the canvas with sturdy nails. time will tell if it’ll hold up.

katharine hearts making things pt. 2

because my family is afraid of the internet, i think it’s fairly safe for me to post images of things i’ve made for them. and if they have stumbled upon this, then they’ve got plenty of time to practice their surprised faces before Xmas, even though i won’t be around to see them.

i decided to go a more personalized (cheap) route for Christmas this year. i decorated some empty mint tins i’ve had sitting around for a while and made up some glass magnets for my three family members.

my niece is into dolphins now, so i made her some magnets using artwork of a tiled mosaic dolphin and decoupaged the top with a dolphin image i borrowed from the internet (thank you, internet).

my sister has a koala collection that could someday land her on Offbeat America, and now i’ve added to that collection once again. the tin is decoupaged with some sparkly textured paper i found at my neighbourhood craft shop and i added a little 2″x 2″ metal frame to the top. the tin is lined on the outside with black electrical tape (so classy!).

my mother is in love with Brad Paisley and has quite a few purple and/or paisley-patterned items in her possession. naturally, i combined them.

my mother, my sister and i were all born in years of the sheep under the Chinese zodiac, so i made these stuffed sheep and framed them. i haven’t made mine yet because i’m not sure whether to go argyle or black (black argyle maybe?).

katharine is so good

in appreciation of my hosts for letting me borrow their couches during my adventure in warmth, i embroidered a couple of sets of napkins from IKEA. because i know they love breadtangles of pizza and fashions, i stitched up some Teen Girl Squad.

katharine still hearts boris

the relaunch of Blissfully Bitter reveals WHiRR as a line under the BB brand instead of the whole enchilada. this doesn’t mean Boris is being retired again. we’re just making room for other creative endeavours. new robot merchandise is on deck and Boris will live to see new adventures.

a few months ago, i put these little things together. i don’t know what to call them. the plasticine robots were made by a friend of mine and these were from the test run and defects.

materials: plasticine robots, hex nuts, zip disk cases, decorative paper

katharine hearts crafting

my left knee is angry with me. it has squashed my dreams of becoming a double dutch champion and world-class hoofer. it also frowns on my taking strolls around the neighbourhood, walking around the house, or standing for extended periods of time. thus, i am spending lots of time on teh internets and crafting. over the last week or so, i’ve put together several presents for family and friends (which i cannot reveal for another month), turned my Eric Von Zipper card dream into a card reality, and made a few things for myself.

Eric Von Zipper:

Scarf-Hoodie (inspired by this Scoodie tutorial):

Moustache on a stick:

i cannot explain the moustache on a stick except that it came to me while i was falling asleep and it makes me giggle. and it is not inspired by Jeff Dunham and his jalepeno on a stick.

if that’s not crafty enough for you, here’s a memo board i made last year.

before it became my desk side home for silly pictures and important items, it was a 10″x14″ frame, a swatch of blue vinyl, and a spool and brown and blue argyle ribbon. the ribbon is glued down in a few spots to hold things in place.