OCTOBER UNIFORM

Gooooodbyyyyyyye October! I miss you already!

Unlike years past, I wasn't sad with fall's arrival. In fact, I was enamored with watching the season change in front of my eyes as each day passed. The leaves! The fall air! The food! I loved it all! I did go a little nuts on the pumpkin-flavored things, thanks to Trader Joe's. I made my first batch of chili last week and I couldn't have been happier! Christopher and I did miss out on going apple picking or taking our kayaks out for a fall ride, but next year we will squeeze them in!

Throughout the month the weather was cool but comfortable. I lived in light jackets and got back into draping myself in scarves that are basically blankets.

Here was my uniform:

TOP
Light weight tops were still on heavy rotation because of the addition of a…

JACKET
Mainly utility jackets like my 'Daria' coat that I've had for years or I would reach for my rain jacket.

ACCESSORIES
Blanket scarves all the way! I picked up two recently and there is nothing better than being wrapped in a blanket AND it be socially acceptable. The trick for me was finding ones that aren't too big, because I still like to be able to move my neck and not suffocate. HA!

BOTTOM
Black skinny pants because they go with everything!!!!!!!

HAIR
I recently got a hair cut and I love the way it was done. It has a lot more shape and bounce. I let it go as wild as possible most days.

MAKE-UP
Neutral. Everything on my face has been minimal, which is not out of the ordinary, but I have been drawn to simple color palettes like browns and creams for the eyes and throwing on a nude matte lip.

SCENT
Dark, deep, a little spicy and smoooooth. I have been really enjoying wearing the perfume Velvet Orchid by Tom Ford lately. It smells like all of what's great about fall and winter. I got a sample size from amazon which is the perfect amount for me.

FEET
Black ankle boots have returned to my closet! I have a pair of flat black boots that I got second hand but I also got a new pair to join the herd. These boots have a very sassy high, for me, heel (seen in the photo above). I am not a fan of heels, I almost never wear them, but these are actually comfortable and I think they make my legs look pretty 👌.

BAG
My trusty satchel. It is my day-to-day purse bestie, we go everywhere together.

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Check out my September Uniform here if you'd like to see what I was wearing last month!

DRAWN & DELIVERED ROUND-UP 2

Hello, card lovers! I thought I would take the time to do another Drawn & Delivered card round up since I've made quite a few more since I shared my first batch.

COLORING CARDS

The concept for this mini set of cards came from coloring books. These cards were made for two young brothers and because of that I wanted to make the cards fun and interactive. I remember getting cards as a kid and being very underwhelmed by the experience unless it was covered in glitter or had money inside. Ha!

To take advantage of this coloring book concept I used both the front and back of the cards to create the scene. I wanted to give them as much room to color as possible! To create the textured contour lines I used my trusty Pentel Duopoint brush pen.

The older of the two boys was sent the bird card which involved more detail and smaller shapes. This was to encourage the use of MANY colors because using all of the colors in the box of crayons is the goal, right? ;) 

The younger boy was sent the dinosaur card which has less detail and large shapes, perfect for kids who are still getting the hang of their fine motor skills. Their facial expressions are way goofy but dinosaurs are just goofy in general so, I'm okay with it.

THE MAC DADDY

This card was one for a good friend of mine and fellow macaroni and cheese lover. As I was drawing some rough drafts of this card I drew a huge macaroni noodle and the absurdity of it make me laugh. Before I knew it, I was cutting out the shape from the card form and drew on some sun glasses and before my eyes the Mac Daddy of Cheese was born!

The base color came from a Crayola crayon, color: macaroni and cheese (of course). The outlines were done with a Faber Castell fine point black marker. Sunglasses were painted on using Speedball black calligraphy ink. That rad chain? It was also painted using Speedball calligraphy ink, this time featuring the color gold in all of its fancy schmancy glory. The inside was written with a Tombow dual brush pen.

LIKE PEAS & CARROTS

When the recipient of this card requested something that focused on love and marriage I noticed that the delivery date was scheduled for right around the time they were to be getting married! I was so surprised that the scheduling worked out like that. Couldn't have planned that better!

I oped to take an alternative route to the traditional imagery associated with love and looked for pairs that went well together. Peas and carrots stuck out right away. I love the colors and drawing them in a way that used their form to spell out the words was so much fun. The final was a result of using colored pencils, a black Micron pen, and green calligraphy ink.

So that wraps up this round up of cards!

I continue to have so much fun drawing and sending these guys in the mail. Each card is exciting to make as I come up with new ideas and techniques to practice. To everyone who signed-up, I can't thank you enough. The privilege has been all mine!

MUESLI FOR BREAKFAST

What can I say, I love breakfast. I even love to eat it in the morning!

There was a time when I preferred my breakfast consumption to take place at dinner time or even after that! When I used to work at a library during college I would go out to IHOP after the night shift was over with some fellow co-workers and eat many a stack of pancakes.

Anyway. Times have sure changed! My jam during breakfast time recently has been oatmeal. What is a more quintessentially fall or winter food than oatmeal?

My number 1 oat-love right now is Seven Sundays Muesli. Specifically, the Unsweetened Bircher variety. This is a breakfast loving brand from my city, Minneapolis! YAY! The contents are more than just oats, it contains barley, currents, dates, almonds, apples, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and more. You can prepare it cold, soaked, or my favorite, heated. Basically you take equal parts oat and water over a hot stove top. Heat up until it starts to bubble and bring the heat down and stir that sucker until it is cooked to your liking.

You can do whatever you want from here, grab a spoon, add milk, or any favorable garnish. I have been really loving the combination of the hot oats, almond milk, and sliced banana. I enjoy every bite as well as sipping on some tea or coffee to get my day started.

Beginning a day this way feels is just like getting a hug from my kitchen.

Enjoy the video below of me getting down in the kitchen and making my favorite breakfast of the moment.

Sidenote:
This was another attempt at video and it seems that every time I put one together I learn a lot. I used Final Cut Express this time for editing and I do like it, but of course, there was a learning curve. This time I learned about the different file codecs and compressions for audio files. Bringing small videos like this together from storyboarding, shooting, directing and editing is a lot of work and a lot satisfying.