mellowbeing - crafty, geeky and a new yorker.

Atheists now have a logo to represent themselves - sweet!
UPDATE: Logo is the official version that was voted on recently.
Read more here.
Labels: artwork, holiday, random
"This is a story all about how I started drinking."Another reason why I say I *must* meet Randall Munroe at some point. He just reads my mind.
Labels: appreciation, artwork, random

This is the closest to a photo of myself with my new haircut.
Make your own.
Labels: artwork, random
I found this while looking for Dali paintings last night. I only saw the b&w version and figured it might be fun to play around with it and add some color..
Original:

Blue Version:

Brown/Red version

It's always amazing to me how just changing colors can change the entire mood of a piece.
Labels: artwork

I created this desktop image yesterday. I have a love for blue and green color combinations and daffodils. I figured, why not make something that makes my desktop space happy? Here it is in all its glory for your viewing and
downloading pleasure (resolution: 1680x1050). I hope you guys like it - let me know if you're using it (I just wanna know if anyone likes it as much as I do :)
Labels: artwork, thing-a-day
As known in the crafty world, Yarnstorm is a very popular blogger who writes about wine, chocolate, baking, crafts, etc. Based on her 'template' look of how she sets up a blog entry, I've based the following on this
entry of hers.
A little while ago, I received this beautifully illustrated package from
Michelle from Eggman Studios while at the office. It made a nice little break from the work day in a the windowless room.

(to cover up my address, I've used a work in progress of mine.. call it a sneak preview ;)
The tree stump print is a great piece of artwork - it was going on my wall as soon as I could figure out how to show it off properly. Now, what kind of craft geek would I be if I didn't turn this gift into a project? Welp, I was on a mission to recreate the white frame Michelle uses in her listings.

I was a bit too eager to begin the project so I didn't get a shot of the print itself but I shall provide the one "borrowed" off her blog:

And so, the crafty afternoon began by trying to figure out which materials to use. I started off by choosing:
- some rich yellow felt
- cardboard from an embroidery kit I apparently have
- the necessary pencil and a sheet of 8"x11" graph paper.

I was hoping to draw freehand the shape of the frame but in the end, I was getting very anal about the project and started to obsessively erase curves because they were too wide or tall on some sides. Best solution? Pick one corner you like best and just use that four ways. As shown here:

The graph paper ended up being smaller than the cardboard paper so I had to draw it and redraw a larger version onto the felt that was about 3/4" wider. I kind of liked the edge once I looked at it longer but a hand drawn black edge looked a bit messy. Now, my knitting was sitting next to me.. so.. I had to incorporate it :)

With my newly acquired embroidery skills so patiently taught to me by
Haasome at Etsy's Cupcake Crafts Day, I was on my way to embroidering the green yarn onto the felt. Btw, is it just me or is this post really color coordinated? The pink from the knitting matches the postage stamp, the pencil matches the felt and the green brings out the grass in the painting. Hmm..
I was contemplating whether to mix it up and place the print next to my smaller postcards or to give it its own special area. In the end, I figured this will have to go in its own little nook above my crafty stash. Without my further ado, voila!

Labels: appreciation, artwork, crafty, knitting
I've been meaning to write for some time now and of course I have a few ideas of what to write next but taking pictures of the things I'd like to show you has been hindering this process. So instead, I shall show you a photo someone else took!
I barely look at Blogger's list of featured blogs but today for some reason, I decided to give one blog on the list a try. Maybe with a name like "Bent Objects" my curiosity was piqued and I had an inkling that it'd be art inspired. And it is! I highly, highly recommend you visiting this blog ASAP. It's one persons adventures with wire and every day objects and put together to create sometimes hilarious, sometimes thought provoking pieces. This particular piece is just so funny and appropriate for a crafty blog :) There are some great posts there and I've already bookmarked it in my del.icio.us account.
(Geeky update: In one week, I have joined both digg.com and del.icio.us. Now all I need are Twitter and Flicker accounts and I will be fully integrated in the web 2.0 era. For now, I don't have much use for either site.. unless you have suggestions, dear readers?)
Labels: appreciation, artwork, crafty, photography
I've decided to take a week off from work because I honestly just needed a break. I haven't taken a real vacation in quite a while. Weekend day trips (which turn out to be 8 hour rides to Atlantic City..) are awesome for the soul but sometimes, you just need a longer relaxation break.
In order to celebrate this week of bumming around, I have put up a Sale on my Etsy shop, have promised myself to update this blog once a day as well as work on my website (
mellowbeing.com) in addition to actually finishing "work" work as well as schoolwork. I promise it won't be an unproductive week. I'm also looking forward to the
Museum Mile Festival this Tuesday (tomorrow)! 3 hours of free access to any museum along the 23 car-free blocks 5th Avenue between 82nd & 105th.

So I know the real reason you're reading this blog. To see the finished pirate wristwarmer! (yes, singular.. just started working on the 2nd one last night..) It's made of black and white 100% cotton yarns with my own pattern (who doesn't love drawing on graph paper with a pencil and eraser in hand?). Voila!

And last but not least, a good friend of mine found this awesome illustration of me on Deviant Art. I should find out the artist's name and give the person the proper credit. (Update,
pacman23's link Thanks, Will.) If you've ever wondered what I'd look like on a day when I feel sporty, this is pretty much it (according to my friend, it is uncanny how similar this girl is to me, including the uberly long "trademark" legs):

Labels: artwork, crafty, knitting, nyc
This scarf definitely reminds me of water, skies and trees. The pattern I used, although very simple, is very beautiful and gives this scarf a texture of almost like it having ripples. For anyone who wants to achieve this effect, it's k2, p2 for 2 rows and then reverse it to p2, k2 and reverse after another 2 rows, etc. (thanks to
Haasome who taught me this). It's a handy pattern for times when you want to maximize your yarn use. I had recently acquired one skein of this beautiful silky, bamboo yarn but I didn't know where to get another (it was from a destash sale) so I had to somehow extend this one skein into a full project. Using a ribbed pattern would require more yarn so using this easy technique maximized the length and width of each stitch.
Anywho, it wasn't until I started to take pictures of it that I realized what it reminded me of: a Monet painting. After several tries to capture the real texture of this scarf, I noticed that the incredibly blurry pictures were actually beautiful..something like a Monet painting.. I'm now in love all over again with this finished piece :)

p.s. For those keeping up with my blog, I did finish one of the pirate wristwarmers! Will be posting pictures of that very soon. This has indeed been a productive weekend crafty-wise.
Labels: artwork, crafty, knitting

Made with love for all the mommies out there :)
Labels: artwork, holiday