I've been procrastinating so so so much today. Here I am still procrastinating. But I figured that I'd get down to business after this post.
I wanted so hard to try and post everyday, but I found that once classes started, it wasn't so easy. I apologize for not posting much lately, but I'm really trying.
I decided to write a quick recap of things that occured recently.

01. My caricature project is due next week, so I'll keep you posted with my process of putting together my finals.
02. I got a haircut! It's super-duper short, but not pixie-short, so have no fear. I plan on making it some kind of "two-step" process - got the haircut, and I plan on dyeing it soon. Maybe I'll post a before & after when I'm done and satisfied with the outcome.
03. How was your valentine's day? Mine was a bit bland. It was a plain, normal day. But it ended nicely when I a stranger gave me a cupcake. Sounds creepy, but it isn't - resulted after having a conversation while helping some poor lady recover her signed Adam Lambert poster through Google searches. It's a strange but interesting story.
04. Bought a few new items that I'm quite excited about! Waiting for them to arrive - I'll share when they come in!
05. And lastly, my new computer is almost done! My friend has been keeping me updated on his progress. He received all parts, put them together in the tower, and has installed the awesome LED lights inside. We've run into a few snags, but we're sorting them all out. I think it'll be done sometime in the next week! I am way too excited, no words can't describe it. I can't wait to have my computer back and running!

Time to get back to homework assignments. Here's a great song - a great way to end this post.

I don't want to do anything today. I'm having one of those I have my homework in front of me but I haven't touched it since yesterday days. Maybe it's laziness, or maybe having my laptop on isn't helping. Kinda hard to turn it off when I do need it for my assignment. Lose/lose situation I guess!

Part two of my caricature project! Finalizing on a theme and sketching out a better version that I can work off of for the final. I decided to do caricatures for the movie Clue, one of my favorite movies! Can't do Twin Peaks all the time (well, I can, but it doesn't hurt to have some variety for projects). Still working out ideas, but this is an idea I really want to use for my final.
Curlicue frame, simple black and white character, "name" plate at the bottom with the weapons the characters are associated with, and red backgrounds. I'm diggin' it.

They're a little hard to see - they all have a sheet of tracing paper of top with the red filling. But you get the basic idea.

Also, I've been browsing through lots of my old photos and have been feeling real nostalgic lately. I'll post about that another day though. Other than old images, I've been looking through some old art that I've done. This isn't too long ago, but I did this digital image of Danny Elfman in my computer class last year. Played around with the masking tool and inserted galaxy images. It's so weird but fun.

Danny Elfman is the mystical god of the galaxy!
I'm on a Danny Elfman kick now. Here's a wonderful Danny Elfman song!

This week has been busy, busy, busy. I have to say though, I know it's still real early in the semester, but I feel like I'll have more time to breathe. I don't think things will be as hectic as they were last semester, and I'm really excited for that. I have spare time, which is wonderful!

Last night, I was rearranging things in my room. It's looking good, and not as cluttered.
I dug out these little fold-able containers that I used when I lived in the dorms. I didn't know what to use them for. Then last night I decided to fill one with colored tissue paper and the other with magazine scraps. I don't have it in me to throw out scraps that I know I could use. So why not keep them accessible in cute little containers like these?

It's also Thursday. Here's another page from one of my handmade-books-turned-into-art-journals.
Quick sketch from a magazine, doodles, and a thumbnail from the beginning stage of my monster box!
Page 11, in my 001. Under The Milky Way art journal.

And my song of the moment is by The Raveonettes, one of my top favorite bands. They're releasing a new EP in March and I'm super psyched. I love everything they release, and I'm so happy that they're finding their sound, which is perfect. I can't wait to hear their new songs.

I apologize for being absent for almost a week. Finished my first week of classes. Seriously feels like winter break never happened and we just breezed straight into Spring semester as soon as the Fall semester ended. So much work to do already! Nuts.

When I woke up this morning, I had an urge to bake. But I had no intention of spending and hour baking sweet goodness. When browsing through old recipes in my mother's recipe book, I came across a print-out of a recipe for the "5 Minute Chocolate Cake". It was just what I needed!
It is the strangest thing ever, but I tried it anyway. Next time I make it, I plan on experimenting with different flavors and possibly add some frosting! Fun stuff can happen in a small period of time.

As for caricatures, I had to draw some out for my first project for my general illustration class. I've never drawn caricatures before, so this was new for me. I've been experimenting with Twin Peaks characters. It's actually kinda fun but difficult at the same time.
These are just quick sketches, but as soon as this assignment is done, I plan on gluing these into my handmade books and continuing my collages. They'll be a fun addition.

Anyway, so here's the recipe for the 5 Minute Chocolate Cake!

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips [optional]
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug [microwave safe]

01. Add dry ingredients to the mug and mix.
02. Add egg and mix thoroughly.
03. Pour in milk and oil and mix.
04. Add chocolate chips [if using] and vanilla extract and mix.
05. Put mug in microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
*Cake will rise over top, so don't be alarmed.
**When finished, you can also tip over into plate if desired.
Enjoy!

Yep, it's Sunday. Classes start tomorrow. Not really all that excited at the moment. Probably because it hasn't hit me yet, but tomorrow's going to be such a wake up call. Oi.
I'm trying to keep myself relaxed and productive today. It'll be my last relaxing day I'll probably have for a while.

So anyway, I was cleaning up yesterday and came across two items that I'm happy I found. When I say local finds, I mean super local, as in my very own room.

First I found this little cupcake journal. I think it was given to me as a gift around the time I graduated high school. Had it for quite some time. I stored it away because I'm not one to fill out journals or diaries. I had no idea what to do with it. Then it hit me that I should turn it into my very first recipe book. I always saved printouts and magazine clippings of recipes, but I like the more personal feeling of writing them down. I wrote in a few already. This fits perfect with one of my resolutions; to learn how to cook. Well at least, learn how to cook better. I've become a pretty decent baker over the years, so the oven was never a problem for me. It's that stove. I've been trying, making an effort. That counts. Keeping a recipe book I think will be a good thing for me.

Another little goodie I found was this little sunglasses pin. It's really small but really cute. I've always wanted to snazz up hoodies or sweaters with pins, but I always end up leaving the house forgetting to. After finding this pin, it has made me want to give into accessorizing. Why not. For years now, I've stopped wearing makeup, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. I think it's time to start that up again. I own so much. Why not put them to use?

I don't know what it was, but I had an eye opener a few days ago. Maybe it was the planning of my future - my plan of leaving and starting fresh by myself far away from home. I really like my plan, but I can't go on with it thinking the way I do. I need to change myself for the better. And I'd like to be prepared by then so I can move on feeling happy. When the new year came, I couldn't even think of one resolution. In the past week, I've made a whole list of resolutions. And I'm actually looking forward to trying. It's a weird feeling, but it feels pretty wonderful.
So here's to a new year, new resolutions, and accepting new changes!

One more thing? Song of the moment? Yes. It's by Local Natives. Those harmonies are amazing.

As I was sitting here during this rainy Friday, I thought about what I could post for this Flashback Friday. Then it hit me, I never spoke about my screen-printing class I took last semester. I made so many goodies in that class. Honestly I probably made so many things that I would need to expand it into a few posts.
This is the majority of what I printed in class. Lots and lots of shirts, some pillowcases, and other pieces of fabric that I plan on making into pillows. I drew out two designs, and the other designs were spontaneous play with paper and marbleizing.

One item I use a lot is my pillowcase I printed. I drew out the fancy "X", or in this case it looks like a plus-sign, and marbleized the spontaneous background.

This shirt I made for a friend. It was one of the first shirts I printed. I cut out an oval and pieces of paper to make a tree shape. For the bushy-leaves area, I used groups of yarn. My friend loved it.

I loved the class, but I learned that screen-printing requires so much work. There's a LOT of machinery involved. My professor showed us how it is possible to do this at home, but even she had some machinery in her loft. I can't imagine me personally trying this in my spare time because of all that's involved, but I'm happy I did take the class. Maybe in the future I'll try it again.
I'll leave this post short. Unfortunately, my other photos I have of things I've screen-printed are in my broken computer. I have made good progress on getting it fixed. My friend is going to build me a new one which I'm pretty damn excited about. Don't really have an idea when it'll be finished or how much it'll cost (I don't even want to talk about that, it makes me want to cry), but all that matters is that he has my computer in his possession now, so it's one step closer to being fixed. We also discussed adding some fun things to spice it up, so I'm quite excited.

There's always room for a song at the moment. While writing this post up, I've had Pandora on with my Helium station playing. So here's a Helium song!

Another week, another page.

Random sketches of models in magazines, doodles, and dried up flower petals:
Page 09, in my 001. Under The Milky Way art journal.

I set up my Etsy account today. I apparently created an account years ago when I made my first purchase. Made things easier knowing that I had a preexisting account. I think I'll list some items soonish.

My song of the moment is by Surf City! I love bands from New Zealand. They truly are a breath of fresh air.