tucker's tv debut

A couple weeks ago, I told you about the great work that the Oregon Humane Society does for abused and neglected animals in Oregon and beyond. Well, here's a clip of one of my personal favorite stories – you guessed it: it's our little boy Tucker, live, right there on TV during their annual telethon.



Isn't he a cutie?! Yes, I'm a little biased but you've got to admit, he's adjusted wonderfully to his new, normal, food- and love-filled home! Thank you, OHS, and thanks also to Brian the Volunteer/Tivo Guru who provided me this clip!

cheap-but-good book arts

Last Sunday I stopped by the "Cheap-But-Good" Book Arts Sale at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts to be inspired and to hopefully pick up a few items. It was fun to see the studio and all the artists' work laid out. And yes, I did find a few things:

Gorgeous print of an owl on a moonlight sky – love the use of white ink on black paper to really capture the dark of night. This will be perfect in our bedroom! (Sorry, I can't read the signature very well, it looks like it might say Denise Jacobs?)

Love, love, love these two cards by Textura Printing. The detail is amazing and the imagery so classy. Colors are very tasteful, too, although sadly my photography doesn't do it justice.

This card is so "Oregon" that I bought two! By Tiger Food Press.

And although I have stacks of my own Cecily Ink wrapping paper, this sheet of silvery grey daffodils by Debra Glanz was too pretty to pass up.

happy halloween

It's almost time for the ghosts and goblins to crawl out of their hiding places! To celebrate, I thought I'd share a little sneak peek of another illustration for my Defteling Design client holiday gift, a weekly day planner with illustrations separating each month:

I'm quite pleased with how these illustrations are turning out. And although I've decided against releasing a limited edition set of CD calendars this year, not to fret: it's definitely on my agenda for next year so watch for its release around August 2010. And to ease your pain of having to wait so long, keep an eye out for a give-away of the day planner come early December!

Right now, there are lots of other crows and ravens flyin' about in Etsy land. I thought I'd share some of the ones that caught my eye:

ABOVE: Poe's Raven by Middleburg

ABOVE: Chirping Blackbird by Blue Dog Rose

ABOVE: Feather Print 1 by Little Paper Bird

ABOVE: Wing Note Card by Ingrid Art Studio

ABOVE: Lumberjack and Crow by Native Vermont

ABOVE: Raven on a Tree Branch by Myriad Art

ABOVE: Upcycled Suitcase by Get Ready Set GO

ABOVE: Three Crows by Oaky

ABOVE: Flock of Crows Wall Decals by Wilson Graphics

expo loot

Another Portland Antique Expo has come and gone this past weekend and I'm left with happy memories and a fabulous loot:

My favorite finds are definitely this old rubber squeaky toy of a big bull and this much-loved lion:

And I totally scored at an ephemera booth that had a couple of shoe boxes filled with cheap photographs. Most of these beauties cost me only a quarter each:

At another booth I found stacks and stacks of glass transparency slides. Not sure yet how I'll incorporate these into my trash-to-treasure art assemblages, but I'm sure I'll figure out something (if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!):

The same booth also had these old cardboard film canisters – love the graphics. And the old glove mold is now the third in my collection of necklace holders in the bathroom:

Last but not least, I couldn't pass up this wonderful snowman:

And yes, there was one thing that got away: a gorgeous vintage dressmaker's mannequin! It was in great condition and had a metal cage and cast iron stand on rollers. Just couldn't justify the price tag for something I don't really need (although I've been told $295 wasn't really that bad a price – darn it!)

before & after

Well, even though we're not quite done (really, we're only a half-day's worth of work away, my contractor assures me!), I've decided it's time to share pictures of how our summer-long home improvement project turned out.

You may recall how our shower leaking turned into a full bath remodel (click here) back in May. Well, what started out as our house needing a paint job turned into a full exterior make-over: new roof, new siding, new window trim, new paint.

The difference is quite dramatic, and I'm just thrilled with our "new" 1939 English Tudor:
BEFORE:
AFTER:Yes, I know, it's a bit bare – we'll tackle the landscaping next spring! And in the meantime, we did add a porch light, house numbers and mail box (all black, of course!)

Other changes that are less visible from the outside are the airy skylights that were added to the upstairs bathroom and bedroom:

We also opened up the upstairs hallway by having a full wall cut down to a half wall:
(and yes, that's the staircase where I'd like to hang the perfectly proportioned modern mobile)

I then got a super strong itch to tear out the gross carpeting and see what's hiding underneath: the original fir floors, yeah! Sadly, they're quite damaged by former owners' remodel projects so bringing these floors back to their original glory will be part of our "phase 2" (timeline yet TBD).

Last, but certainly not least, are the new French doors that replaced a single door leading out into your backyard. Last April I pulled our dining room table into our den for Todd's surprise birthday party; the new arrangement was perfect so we added a set of three Ikea pendants:

Oh, and yes: I painted our fireplace green – just got tired of the bright red:

Now I'm ready to take a break till spring and enjoy my newly feathered nest!

modern mobile roundup

I've been on the hunt for the perfect mobile to hang above our staircase and was hoping to find something locally. However, after seeing some of these gorgeous examples, I may have to order one online instead!

My favorite (I think!) is this one I found on Bookhou:

Then there's this modern red version that might look really good: (click here for info)

I always envisioned birds somehow, like these from Criswell Creations:

But in the end, I think something less literal and more abstract would probably be best, like this one from PukaPuka in Sydney, Australia :

I love the all-white butterflies clustered together on this one from Royal Buffet – sadly, it's too vertical for our purposes:

And although this is wayyy too cute for our staircase, I just had to include it in my round-up: darling deer silhouettes from Salty and Sweet.

etsy fave

Just came across these fun letterpress cards – perfect for a type geek like me:

Find more in their Etsy shop here (via Poppytalk).

illustrator – cristian turdera

The Oregon Humane Society Telethon yesterday was a huge success: over $261,000 raised, yeah! A big thank you to everyone who called in and donated! OHS has been one of my favorite non-profits for quite a while and it's great to see so much support for the great work they do!

Every quarter as I design the next issue of their magazine, I always am so touched reading the stories and seeing the photos. This past issue had a nice bonus: a new ad campaign was launched! If you live in the Portland area, you've probably seen the billboards all around town, you may even have seen banner ads pop up as you browse the web.

And I must say, Leopold Ketel did a fantastic job, as usual! Austin Hilde at LK was the art director and Cristian Turdera the illustrator. Turdera lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has an extensive portfolio of work. Here are just a few samples that caught my eye as I browsed his website:


If you click here, you can see the new TV ad, also illustrated by Turdera. Can't wait to see what's next!

Oregon Humane Society Telethon

After already having been featured in two local papers, our celebrity doggie Tucker will now be on TV, too: tune in this Sunday from 1 to 5 and watch the Oregon Humane Society Telethon on KATU Channel 2.

Tucker (formerly Cooper) was part of a massive rescue effort by the Oregon Humane Society back in March, when they brought back 126 neglected dogs from Burns, Oregon.

I'm happy to report that since March, OHS has successfully found new homes for almost all the dogs, and Tucker has adjusted wonderfully to his new home. He's changed quite a bit, grown from a little 17-pound puppy to a hefty 42-pound boy – his hair has even grown back!

Just take a look at the fluffy, little fur ball he was back in March:

And how he's maturing into a handsome boy:

A BIG thank you to OHS!!! They do an amazing job, as shown by the fact that OHS has one of the nation's highest adoption rates (99% for dogs and 98% for cats!) And in case you'd like to find a furry soulmate of your own, just take a look at these adorable faces ready to come home with you:

Visit the OHS website for info on these and many other adoptable pets. Or if your home is already filled with four-legged friends, you can donate your time or money here! And don't forget to tune in for Tucker's TV debut this Sunday on KATU Channel 2 from 1:00 to 5:00 (Tucker and I should appear on camera around 4:45).