VeganMoFo Day 03: Lemon Cake!

It's happy cake time! Nik's birthday was last week, and though I would have loved to make him a super rainbow layer cake, he's more of a lemon and vanilla kind of dude.  Delicious though!  I used the vanilla cupcake and lemon buttercream out of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, with lotsa extra added lemon zest and juice. 

Super-happy rainbow cake is for sale here. 

Medium: Watercolor on heavy Arches paper
Size: Approximately 8"x8" (image size is 7"x7")
Will fit in 8"x8" frame! Signed on back.

Note: I am doing a painting-a-day challenge for VeganMoFo, and will be creating a new painting of rescue animals or vegan food throughout the month of October, and placing them for sale. All proceeds (minus shipping) will be donated to For the Animals Sanctuary, because they are a pretty super-great non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary, in Blairstown NJ, and are vegan owned and operated. Feeding, housing, and taking care of these animals costs a lot of money, and as a non-profit organization, they rely entirely on donations. Hopefully (with your help!), I'll be able to make a size-able donation at the end of the month!

VeganMoFo Day 02: Ollie

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Meet Ollie!  Ollie loves sitting in high places, sprawling in the afternoon sun, and just generally being a rascal.  He's a young kitty, but struts like a full-grown tiger and knows how to play the cute card to get attention.  Nachos and a good veggie burger (with actual veggies in it) are his fave.  If there are sweet potato fries around, he will come a'running.  Ollie wants to find a happy home with a super-great person who can also tell great jokes.

Adopt Ollie here!

***Details***
Medium: Watercolor on heavy Arches paper
Size: Approximately 8"x8" (image size is 7"x7")
Will fit in 8"x8" frame! Signed on back.

Note: I am doing a painting-a-day challenge for VeganMoFo, and will be creating a new painting of rescue animals or vegan food throughout the month of October, and placing them for sale.  All proceeds will be donated to For the Animals Sanctuary, because they are a super-great non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary, in Blairstown NJ, and are vegan owned and operated.  Feeding, housing, and taking care of these animals costs a lot of money, and as a non-profit organization, they rely entirely on donations.  Hopefully (with your help!), I'll be able to make a size-able donation at the end of the month!

I just got back from an extended weekend away in Washington D.C. and I'm still in vacation recovery mode, but I thought I would show one of my favorite meals I had there.  Nik and I went to Busboys and Poets our first night there, and we shared an epic vegan nacho platter, followed by a pretty gigunda veggie burger with sweet potato fries.  No, I couldn't finish it!  Darn if I tried though...

Both were delicious! The burger really reminded me of Campbells veggie soup (like, from the can), which was odd, but completely delicious.  The nacho platter was masterfully made, with alternating layers, so we weren't left with a pile of soggy chips at the end (win!)  I automatically order sweet potato fries whenever they are on a menu because they are my fave!  These didn't disappoint and were super crispy and sweet.   We had Thai food and pizza (they had Daiya mozzarella there!) the other two nights, but it was dark in both places, so no photos.   Super-yummy all around!

Vegan burger and SWEET POTATO FRIES from Busboys and Poets, in Washington D.C.

Epic vegan nachos from Busboys and Poets, in Washington D.C.

VeganMofo Time!

Squee!  Brutus and Abbie, photo from For the Animals Sanctuary

It's time for VeganMofo again!  I'm super-excited to participate for my 3rd year in a row, and I'm doing something a little bit different this year.  Usually I will paint cute little food or animal paintings that go along with my daily meals or recipes (you can see some past examples here and here and here).  I'm still going to be doing this, BUT I decided to go a little bit further this year and put the paintings up for sale and give all the proceeds from this to a charity.  I've chosen to donate to For the Animals Sanctuary, because they are a pretty super-great non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary, in Blairstown NJ, and are vegan-owned.  Feeding, housing, and taking care of these animals costs a lot of money, and as a non-profit organization, they rely entirely on donations.  Hopefully (with your help!) I'll be able to make a sizeable donation at the end of the month!   I will be making original watercolor paintings of a mix of cute 'lil animals and my goofy food characters, and will be in the $25-45 range (depending on complexity, size, time it took, etc.)  I ran into a bit of a conundrum for this first day of mofo, since I'm actually in Washington D.C. at the moment, so the first painting will go up tomorrow (along with some tasty DC eats I've been enjoying) when I'm back home!  Excited!

Happy VeganMoFo!

xo,

Michelle

Crafty Bastards! D.C.!

So I'm heading to Washington D.C. this weekend for Crafty Bastards, and I'm pretty excited about it.  I've only been to D.C. once before, during the Inauguration, and I can't wait to properly explore the city and take part in what is shaping up to being an amazing craft fair.   If you are in the D.C. area, I would absolutely LOVE it if you came and introduced yourself to me!  And, if you have any can't-miss tips for things I should do/eat in D.C. (I am already pretty excited for Sticky Fingers Bakery...), that would be much appreciated.

I will be at booth #163, in the tennis court area.  Also,  if you are so inclined, I would love it if you voted me "Craftiest Bastard."  I could win some pretty sweet swag!  Thank you!

xo,
Michelle

Ticket Stubs

I've been to a lot of concerts.  Last night I went to see one of my faves play, Mount Eerie (for the third time), and I got to thinking about all the ticket stubs I have and how many great memories I have of those shows.  I love being able to look at a ticket stub, and instantly recall a flash of the concert or a snippet of a memory.  Like when Michael Stipe dedicated "Tongue" to Radiohead (their openers for the show), or when I was upgraded to 3rd row seats at Madison Sq. Garden for the New Year's Eve show of Wilco and the Flaming Lips (!), or all the road trips I have taken to Canada to see Radiohead play (and Jonny waving to my friends and I after we called out to him after the show in Barrie, ON), or seeing Rainer Maria at a dive bar in Buffalo, NY and them not getting on the stage until almost 3am.  Ani Difranco was on crutches when I saw her (also in Buffalo) and the memory of her beautiful voice carrying throughout the auditorium,  grabbing the setlist from The Arcade Fire's tiny show at a church in NYC (and my 2-hour wait in the freezing cold without a ticket and ending up inside standing next to David Byrne in the audience!), all the road trips to Bonnaroo and the amazing bands that played, seeing Gwar and really trying hard not to get any of their blood and other fluids that they spew into the audience on me (I made it until the last song, when they shot out some sort of liquid straight out and it reached the very back wall where I was standing), all the warehouse shows of tiny bands that went onto be big bands,  standing in line without a ticket for Beck at the Hiro East Ballroom and slipping the bouncer $20 to let me in (he did), cutting in line and making it into The Boredoms "77 drummers" show on a beautiful summer day in Brooklyn.  PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, Underworld, Sigur Ros, Massive Attack, Liz Phair, Bjork, and I could go on forever.  

I've never really thought of myself as a "collector" of anything, but I guess I do have one real collection in all the ticket stubs I have amassed over the years. My Dad is a really avid concert-goer and I was always in awe of his ticket-stub collection when I was younger (think of just about any classic rock and blues players and he has probably seen them...).  I definitely am my father's daughter in this respect, and he was the inspiration behind me saving every ticket stub I was left with after a show.

Anyways, I was sad last night when there was no ticket stub and it got me thinking back to all the will call or free concerts I have been to (probably quadruple the amount of ticketed shows) and how I don't have that printed stub to trigger a memory of it. Sad!  I wish I had thought to document them in other ways in the past...

Tomorrow night I'm seeing Radiohead for the 12th time!  I'm just really excited to have seen so many of my favorites play in person, ticket stubs or not (but hopefully!)

2012 Wall Calendar and New Prints!

2012 Wall Calendar, available here in my shop.

So this is what I have been working feverishly on for the last couple months, my 2012 calendar!  As has been a bit of a tradition over the last couple years, I created 12 brand new illustrations, surrounding some sort of theme for my calendar.  I've been feeling a bit daring lately, and dreaming about all sorts of magical lands and fun times that I want to experience, so I hereby declare this year the YEAR OF ADVENTURE!  Yep, that's right!  Adventure doesn't have to mean traveling to a foreign land or jumping off a plane, it can also mean taking a different route home or just having no plan whatsoever for an evening and seeing where it takes you.  So hooray, I'm super-happy about this coming year and really excited about how my calendar came out!

2012 Wall calendar and all twelve prints are now available in my shop here!

Twelve brand new prints, available here in my shop.

Chicago Fun-times

My display.  Experimental lightweight pocketed wall worked out pretty well.  Everything fit in a suitcase!

So I'm back from Chicago and Renegade was a complete success!  So much fun and I met so many nice people that came to my booth.  Plus, we had PERFECT weather (SO happy about that).  My boothmate, Paula Egan, was great and she makes absolutely beautiful jewelry made out of handmade paper and resin.  I didn't really get a chance to walk around the show at all, which I was a little sad about , but an A+ time overall!

New zippered pouches and 2012 calendars, which I will be putting in my shop super-soon.

I also got to wander around Chicago a bit and hang out with one of my very best friends that I don't get to see as often as I would like.  I walked around Chicago while he was at work on Friday and saw Lincoln Park, Millenium Park, the Tiffany dome at the Cultural Center, and went to the Museum of Surgical Science and of course, The Chicago Diner (yay!)  

I have more pics up on my Flickr stream, if you were so interested!

Tiffany glass dome at the Cultural Center

Taking a break in Lincoln park.

Orchestra playing in Millenium Park

Bean at Millenium Park

Duh!

Vegan PB Cookie Dough shake at the Chicago Diner

Vegan Radical Reuben at the Chicago Diner

Museum of Surgical Science

Museum of Surgical Science

Museum of Surgical Science

First Kotex ad. Museum of Surgical Science

Museum of Surgical Science

Renegade Chicago! This weekend!

So excited!  I leave for Chicago in a few hours for Renegade and to spend some time with a super-great friend of mine in his lovely city.  If you are in Chicago this weekend, I would love to meet you!  I will be at booth #184 on Division st. btwn. Wood and Hermitage. 

Have a great weekend and I'll be back next week with my new calendar and all sorts of new prints and fun stuff to show you!