APE!

So we're literally packing our car up now to head over to San Francisco for APE this Saturday and Sunday. Please join us if you're in the area, or plan to be in the area! I will be shillin' four zines, including three brand new ones - Bad Girls Throughout History, A Short Guide to Your Bathroom, That's Not My Name!, and the mini version of Food Therapy. There are also packages that are exclusive to APE, like this Bad Girls Super Secret APE Pack!

Hope to see you there!

Exploits, Now Not So Daring

Illustration I did based on this article from the New York Times Op-Ed pages.

Sunday Style Section: 60s Coat

There's a cool breeze definitively creeping into these days, which leads me to thinking about crisp cold nights. How cute and perfect is this coat. She makes it look so effortlessly cool.

source

Week in Review

Dog-sat while my parents were out of town for a few days. It was a circus of cute (even though Oliver looks not so in this picture).



Did a lot of prep work for APE, including getting these buttons of my work made! So excited. If you're in the San Francisco area the weekend of October 1-2, drop by and see me!


It was a good mail week, including prints from Caitlin, the aforementioned pins, new magazines, and this amazing book. I can't wait to read it.

ALSO: meeting Jon & Virginia in San Diego for some fine Mexican food, Extraordinary Desserts in the fridge, second week of final term of school, exciting opportunities coming up via email, being elbow deep in work, finishing one book, two more books to go before APE, buckling down to work my butt off all weekend.

Do something fun for me, won't ya?

Actually, I'm a Scarlet Ibis.

I'm working on a new book/zine about zoo animals - specifically, the ones who are often misidentified for their more, er, popular counterparts. Like this Scarlet Ibis. I did some research in the field, and made a record of the best mistaken identities and now I'm helping clear up the facts for these undervalued animals. The zine's titled That's Not My Name!

A Short Guide To Your Bathroom

Yesterday I wrapped up production (aka made copies, bound and trimmed them at my kitchen table) on my latest zine, A Short Guide To Your Bathroom. It has a silver 65lb. cover stock, which I love! Any time I can add some sparkle, especially in unexpected places, I'm a happy gal. I only made an edition of 25, which I'm bringing to APE with me - and after that, I may throw them up for sale online.

At the suggestion of my friend Abby, I'm seriously considering starting a subscription-based zine. I'll make a zine every month, and send it out to dear subscribers who are keeping me up to my ears in pennies for the xerox machine. How does that sound? I think it'd be fun, 90s Riot grrrl style...

Two Shots for Tuesday

Received an amazing package of prints in the mail from the lovely Caitlin Shearer. Dog-sitting for my parents, so their sweet little dog Sugar is adding to our animal circus of a home. It's cute overload over here.

He Who Seeks Beauty Will Find It

A really great film I watched this weekend was this documentary about New York Times' style photographer, Bill Cunningham. He's incredibly charming and humble, and this film was a fascinating look into his deceivingly simple approach to life and work. You can catch it on Netflix Watch Instantly right now.

Sunday Style Section: Red & Pink & Stefani

My favorite color combo right now, confirmed after red and pink made a huge wave around NYFW. And one of my favorite modern style icons: Gwen Stefani. I especially love her street style, always a mix between California casual and polished lady rocker with those red lips. When I was in high school (ten years ago, eep!), I totally rocked these victory rolls for a school dance. Still would!

source

One Night Only

Earlier this year I worked on a project where we made illustrations based on Ocean's Eleven (the 1960s one with the Rat Pack). I absolutely loved it since it was a visual combination of two of my favorite subjects: the 1960s and Vegas.

I decided to approach it in a medium I haven't really worked in before: paper cut! I love paper cut illustrations, and wanted to tackle it in my own way. I learned so much from this first piece - mostly that cutting curves is a bitch, but turns out the only trick to mastering them is patience and ass power.

Banana Dance

Josephine Baker is one of my favorite ladies in history, and definitely in my Bad Girls Throughout History zine.

Pumpkin Bread Ice Cream

For my last birthday, my best friend got me an ice cream maker. I thought that was the kind of gift that you got at your wedding, the kind that you never knew you needed in your life but now you can't imagine anything better (that's why she's my best friend).

So making ice cream is actually much simpler than I thought, especially the non-custard (read: no-egg) kind that I specialize in (meaning: I've done it three times so I know what I'm doing, guys).

Last Friday night, while missing the Ghirardelli shop in downtown San Diego (I can't believe there isn't one in LA - someone steal my idea and open up a fancy ice cream parlor here), we went to Scoops which is amazing but not in a fancy-ice-cream-sundae-date kinda way. They do have an amazing brown bread ice cream, which is what inspired me to pursue making my own version - and pumpkin bread ice cream was born!

The secret is Grape Nuts, folks. You caramelize those Grape Nuts in brown sugar, then add it to a vanilla base ice cream recipe (like this one). I also tossed in a half teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, since it feels like fall and why not?

Up next, Ryan is fixated on making an almond ice cream, and I'm set on a lemon chocolate chip. Kinda love that the sky is the limit with ice cream here. Any flavor recommendations?

Sunday Style Section: Picture Day

Perfect for starting the school year. Lots of sass wrapped up in class. She looks like she's wearing the classic bow headband, doesn't she?

Sneak Peek

This weekend I'm buckling down to finish illustrating one of my books for APE, A Short Guide to Your Bathroom. It's a short story about all the demons and ghosts that live in your, well, bathroom. Can't wait to share it when it's done! Also, a little nervous that APE is coming up in just three short weeks - lots of work to do!

P.S. This is my dream bathroom tile - a blue honeycomb.

Hair-spiration

Finally getting my haircut today.


source

Peek Inside My Studio

This summer, I did some rearranging and reorganizing of our studio. Thought I could share a couple peeks into where I do a majority of my illustrating and designing - as you can see here, I subscribe to the "beautiful chaos" theory.

Grace Coddington

The brilliant, scene-stealing Creative Director of Vogue in her teen model days.

Oldie but Goodie

Still one of my favorite drawings, done two years ago. It was done as part of my Food Therapy book (which is now becoming a zine! for APE!). Dear Future Art Students, there will come a time in your life where you will discover stippling and you will think it is the shit.

Sunday Style Section: Pink Hot Summer

Obviously I'm on an Audrey Hepburn kick this week life. Perfectly hot summer, perfect style icon. This is what the weather feels like lately, but prettier.

source

Endless Summer

Have a wonderful, last hurrah of a summer weekend! I just want to land face first in this beautiful pile of ice cream - and cross off two last things on my summer to-do list: visit the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA and make homemade ice cream.

image found via fancy fine

Summer Dinner Staple

This has been one of my go-to summer dinner meals. The kind where you haven't gone grocery shopping for three weeks and you have three dollars in your bank account, so you pretty much make do with what you've got. Turns out, it's also pasta carbonara. I wonder if that's how it was invented?

I made a vegetarian-friendly version of it, which was kind of tough to find a recipe for but since I've never had classic pasta carbonara, I couldn't tell the difference. Morningstar bacon filled the palate requirement of smoky-salty.

Ingredients:
- handful of spaghetti (or whatever pasta you have on hand), a package feeds four so you decide
- 4 oz. butter
- frozen peas (half a cup per person)
- 4 strips of Morningstar bacon
- chopped parsley
- gruyere or parmesan
- eggs (one per person)

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. While cooking spaghetti, prep the f'acon according to package directions.

As you wait, fill a pan with water and heat it on medium high to poach the eggs. I find a shallow pan and a splash of white vinegar always helps keep the eggs together.

Drain spaghetti. Saute the peas with butter in the emptied pot, then toss the spaghetti back in and mix. Crumble the cooked f'acon and sprinkle on top. Sprinkle parsley on top. Mix it all up, plate it, and gingerly lay a poached egg on the bed of pasta. Salt and pepper. As I learned from Jen, Maldon salt is the only way to go here. Grate cheese on top, and voila! Dinner's ready.

Audrey Is My Homegirl

Yesterday was my last day at one of my summer internships. It was bittersweet because I had an amazing time and worked with really inspiring, supportive people, but man do I need a little breather before the last term of school starts.

It's always hard to take a break when you're doing what you love to do (or even when you're not, which makes it even worse) - but if you don't, you'll burn out fast and hard. You've gotta take a break to recharge and stay fresh! Your work depends on it, especially if you're a creative.

On a related note, even though for most of July I worked 14+ hour days, I never suffered the severe stress-related health consequences I've had during other stressful times in my life. And I think that doing what you love has to be a huge part of that.

Anyway, I'm going to spend today, my first day of summer break, having an Audrey Hepburn movie marathon, doing laundry, and catching up on my big stack of magazines that have been waiting for me all summer. I love days like this.

What are your favorite movies to watch on days you need to recharge?

photo source