A+ Gold Star

For one of our final assignments :( the senior illustration class at MIAD has been working on an illustrated deck of playing cards.  We each picked two random cards, with the extras given to some of the illustration staff and our honorary illo-major, Kaycie.

Here's my first one- I'm still finishing up details on numero dos so you'll see that in a day or two.  I give you, the ace of diamonds (and a tiny testament to the "yay we're done with school!" feeling:

Sell Sell Sell

Guess what?  All ten of my thesis prints are up for sale on my etsy shop, Abithegail!  There are two available sizes, small (8x10 and 8x8) and large (16x20 and 16x16).  It's so exciting to see them all up in my shop. :)  Don't forget, I still have cup cozies for sale in my class's etsy shop, The Rodent Burrow!

True Love

Here's a little promotional postcard for next February!  I tried doing a piece with plenty of details and no linework; I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, give me a couple weeks.  However, the subject matter is purrfect.  I tossed in some process shots just because it's been a while since I've shown some.

The Rodent Burrow

Not nearly as cool as The Burrow (Potter-Dorks unite!) but still pretty freakin' cool, my class's pop-up Etsy shop has arrived!  There has been a lot of slaving over the needle and thread recently in my household, all to bring to you these little guys.  Their shining faces turned out cuter than I could have ever hoped for!

The shop also features some kick-butt stuff from my fellow classmates- stamps, wallets, wall decor, jewelry, and more.  Act quick, the shop will only be up for a month!

Photo Booth

Today my school had something of a school-wide series of talks among students they called MIAD Define, where seniors could volunteer to talk to any interested underclassman about their thesis work and the entire "end of school" experience.  We had a sort of fancy photo booth set up near the elevator, taking a slice of art school life one by one.  The camera was controlled via smart phone and while still standing in front of the lens, we could glance down at the phone in our hand and see the photo we'd just taken.  The set up was great- I'd love to have an entire school sort of yearbook taken that way.  Here are some of my favorites from the day, but you can see all of them here.

(Pictured: Me, Jasmine Barmore, Jake Otto, Mariah Holterman, Calvin Whitehurst, Leah Sablich, Courtney Allison, and the MIAD River Rat.)

A Little Somethin' Somethin'

Just a kitty I drew last semester that I found while cleaning up some files.  Hope your week is starting out on a good note!  Mine hasn't been too bad- a couple episodes of Carnivále, sewing so much that I might have nerve damage in my fingertips, and doodling up a Valentine's Day postcard filled to the brim with kitties!  Meow.

It's Official

With the help of some of irreplaceable friends (the saint-like Liz Nugent and the splendid Marisa Seguin) my website is now up and running!  There are still some more pieces I need to add, but right now I'm sewing up a storm and making some super adorable cup cozies--more on that later!

In other news, Gallery Night at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design was last night and it was a blast.  I met some great people and got excellent reactions to my work.  There was a mini-crisis when the drywall my shelves were mounted to began to fall apart, but a young usher man saved the day by running into the 3-D lab and grabbing a screwdriver so I could quick make some new holes and reattach my shelf.  I wish the night would have lasted longer, I love when people start reading my work and grin at a joke or hold their kids up so they can appreciate it closer.

Food for Dorks

It isn't often you'll see me posting recipes on here; there are plenty of food blogs out there who know what they're doing, so I'll leave that to them.  I'm just here to gush about this recipe I found for Butterbeer cupcakes.  Since senior thesis will be up and ready in a few days and I just had my final internship interview today, I'm hoping I'll soon have time to whip these babies out!

A cream soda-esque cake filled with butterscotch ganache topped with butterscotch buttercream and drizzled with even more ganache?  It sounds like overkill in the best sort of way.  Go big or go home, my fellow Potter dorks.

Happy Halloween!

I'm only six months early, right?  Here are some little guys I made to base a collection of home goods off of.  There will be some coordinating patterns, of course... I just have yet to make them.  Do you have a favorite?  I think mine might be either the vampire or mister ghostie.

Lucy Knisley and the Awesome HP Summaries

My bud Alexis linked me Lucy Knisley's works the other day and I am (im)patiently waiting until she finishes up posters for the last three Harry Potter books so I can buy them all together and save monies.  They're hilarious, adorable, and accurate.  You can see one through four here, and purchase them here.

 (Note: That kitty next to Hermione when she first shows up is not Crookshanks.  Would I really link you something Harry-related if it weren't accurate?  Come on.)

Sylvia the Silky-Faced Wonder

This weekend I gave away shifts at Starbucks so I could do more homework.  Yes, I am that cool.  In lieu of paycheck, I have received the comfort of knowing not all hope is lost when it comes to thesis.  After working my tush off, there are only three out of the ten pieces left to finish, and all of those are about half done.  The end is nigh!

Meet Sylvia (and click to enlarge, for heaven's sake).  There were all sorts of goodies I managed to hide in this one, stuff for a lot of my friends, names, my birth date, and then just some silly snake-tattoo-humor like the dead mongoose.  The idea of putting "Jesus Sssssaves" somewhere was tossed around but ultimately discarded (sorry Thad!).