Mail Day » Danny Brito

My best friend, Molly, also has a Birthday in April. I decided to mail her a sweet little gift. She has sent me some of her amazing art and thoughtful little cards since she's been down South. So, I figured it was my turn to do something nice in return. Oh, and also just for the fact that she's awesome and beautiful. Along with some other random, interesting junk, I sent her a framed print of Teen Witch by Danny Brito. I've been a follower of Danny Brito's Blog, Tumblr, and Instagram for a while so I was very pleased to have an opportunity to finally show my support and place an order. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little jealous that it wasn't going to stay hanging on my pretty blue wall, but I know she would love it just as much as I do and it would look just as lovely in her North Carolina home. To make it even more personal, I added an old frame that had just been collecting dust in my apartment. I painted the frame a bright magenta color and mixed in some glitter paint. I'm really pleased with how the finished product turned out.  The frame was still a little beat up and missing a hook, but thanks to the clever ideas floating around the world wide web, I just snapped the tab off of a soda can, nailed it on, and it was as good as new! After this little project, I feel like I've been non-stop lurking the internet for all kinds of special paintings, illustrations, and prints to purchase as soon as I get the funds. I just want to cover my walls in inspiration like this and admire it all day long!

» Linds

Polyester Rash on Etsy

Hello! I'm so glad it's Friday! For some reason, it seems like it was the longest week, even though I was off work Monday for the 4th! This week really seemed to drag on!

This evening, I had a nice dinner with Alex, followed by a super quick shopping trip for some things for the pets. It was payday today. Sometimes you just have to splurge and treat yourself to some thing special. It's nice to see the hard work truly pay off.

Anyway, here's something I'm pretty pumped about...

My dear friend, Molly, finally opened up an Etsy shop. I'm so excited! She will be adding more plushies and art sculptures in the near future, so keep your eyes open! I've been waiting for her to open a shop for some time now. She is SO very talented and I'm so glad others will be able to own and admire her work! :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/mollymoxxi

xo, Linds

Ode to Molly

I got a heavy heart tonight. It's been one of those days where it is nearly impossible to keep the negative out. I am really trying to push through it. I have hardly any patience and my blog wasn't really cooperating with me. I didn't intend to make this post yet. I've been working on it a little here and there so it's not perfect but I think you will get the big picture. My wandering mind has got me feeling like I should tell everyone just how much I appreciate them being a part of my life. So I want to introduce you to one of thee most important...

I have a very special friend named Molly. I met her when I was in 8th or 9th grade. The first occasion I really recall is having lunch together outside in the fall, where she had stuffed a bunch of dead leaves down her shirt and made me laugh. It was pretty much love at first sight. I'm kidding. I could go on and on with specific memories in this post, but no one would ever get it. Basically, we had the same friends, went to the same local shows to see our friends bands play, went to the same parties, and so on... so naturally, we became friends.

We had a ton of crazy and fun times throughout highschool and as teenagers. Sometimes I become incredibly nostalgic thinking back on these days. All in all, I gained one of my very best friends during this time in my life. She's practically like another sister to me. She's like family. I love her that much.

After graduating highschool, Molly went to Douglas Education Center for Tom Savini's Special Makeup Effects Program.These are just some examples of her projects and film work she has done.

 She makes toys, sculptures, figurines, dolls, molds and paints and makes prop alongside with special effects for film and television. She is excellent at what she does, obviously. I truly admire her work.

Here are two pieces of work I am lucky enough to own. I'm positive I have other sketches by her buried somewhere amidst all my other belongings that are very sentimental to me, but these two are some of my favorite items I own in my little apartment!

Molly eventually moved down South in search of more work. She lives in a cute little place with her lovely boyfriend, Cory (whom is also a very talented  special effects artists and musician.) I do miss her dearly, but I know she has much better opportunities and  lot of great things going for her down there.

Oh, and of course, I just gotta' mention, she has a sweet doggie named Bronson, but I have yet to meet him!

We've been fortunate enough to travel back and forth to visit each other a couple time since she's moved. It's a wonderful time seeing her and catching up. It's something I'll always look forward to.

Please take the time to visit her blog, Polyester Rash. There you can get a peak into her latest achievements, as well as, works in progress, and other amusing snippets and snapshots of her life.

Not only am I thankful to have a friend to just generally grow up with, but she's some one who I can share things with creatively. I admire her work and fully support anything she does and I'm sure she would do the same for me.

I love having a friendship that cannot be touched by distance or time. It's truly a special thing, in my opinion. I can't imagine not knowing this girl for the rest of my life. I'm blessed to have such a talented, inspiring friend in my lifetime.

Thank you, Molly. I love you. :)

xo, Linds

A week in Instagrams 5.23.11

Better late than never. :)

1. A very special pizza for Laura, Michael, and I to kick off the start of my vacation. We were all so lucky to all be off work by early Monday afternoon to spend the day together and go on an adventure.
2. Michael taking a break on the railroad bridge on our walk.
3. I don't know who Sanford is, where he's from, or how old these tags are but there's something so simple about them that I like and that really stands out to me.

4. This photo got skipped over last week somehow, so I'm including it in this week. I first noticed this book when I started working at my job about 3 years ago and this is the first I've actually got a good picture of it. "Too Many Puppies" ....A Barbie book or a Primus song? :) This will always be funny to me.
5. Laura left her bed at the apartment so Michael and I finally got it out of the spare room and brought it over into our room. Now we have a "super bed." We had some fun playing with the ferrets on it. Jason gave them this little referee doll. They like to drag it around the house.
6. In my effort to make the house clean and pretty, I made sure to include all the animals. I think the newts are lovin' their clean home.

7. This week I made my way to Donora to visit my old friend, Nichole, and her cute little daughter, Taylor. Of course, I got lost somehow, but I ran straight into a dead end with this lovely looking run down building smack dab in front of me. I love it.

8. I'm an addict. Sorry. I sent in all my LPS stickers to get the limited edition Kiwi Bird and he finally came in the mail this week! As for the Armadillo, I just saw him and couldn't help myself, even though Kelsey said she was bringing me home a few from Florida and told me not to buy anymore! Oops. Guess what? She got me the Armadillo, too. She said she's going to return it and surprise me with something else! So sweet.
9. One of my favorite things about visiting home is getting too look at all the trains on the way!

10. Friday night I went with Laura and Michael to see some bands play in Pittsburgh. I always enjoy seeing live music and whenever I find myself in it's presence, I often wonder why I don't go see bands more often. I use to keep busy with local shows almost every weekend when I was younger and I've been to more concerts than I can even remember at this point. The music was good and I got to see a couple friends. However, there were a couple little events that turned the night sour, but I'll try not to focus on that part of the experience. Win some, lose some, right?
11. The Saracastics were one of the bands that played at the pub from the last photo. They are a local band that I remember being around for... well, as long as I can remember going to shows for the past 10 years. Probably more. They kind of seem to disappear for years at a time but always come back with different memebers and fill ins. Nonetheless, they always put on a good show and I like to pay my respects, so to speak.
12. Here is just a snapshot of town while I was driving home one day. The weather has been wonderful lately. We got over a week of pretty solid rain spell and it's been about in the 80's almost every day this past week. That's a little too hot for my liking, but it's good to see such pretty, sunny skies again. Summer is not my favorite but I will always welcome it.

13. This is a photo of my dog, Sheba. She passed a little over a year ago. I can't decide if that feels like forever ago or just yesterday. This dog has an extremely special place in my heart and in my family. I can recall this dog being around throughout my childhood and then later (after a series of crazy events) she kind of just came to us and starting living with us. She was a very special pup. It's hard to put into words. I have lots of photos of her that I'm sure I will share over time. This particular photograph is in my car at all times.
14. This is me! As a chalkboard illustrated character. (The trim around my doors and windows in my kitchen is done in chalkboard paint!) My dear friend, Molly, kind of sketched this up there real quick when she was home visiting from North Carolina. It's a little worn off and has been touched up a couple times so it's not completely accurate to what it was at first but it's just so cute and a fun reminder of Molly so I try to keep it up there! It's much better than the vulgarities all my other friends like to draw on there!
15. Here is Lux and Ick playing in my room while I was getting ready one day. They like to take naps on the piles of clothes on the floor. Lux has become very interested in my hair dryer. He is constantly running up to me and standing on my lap and looking at me while I dry my hair to try to figure out what the heck it is. This last time, he tried to bite it and take it off me. Their curiosity with everything is the cutest!

xo, Linds

A week in Instagrams 5.16.11

I'm back for the weekly "A week in Instagrams". These are some snapshots throughout the past week.  Thought I better get these posted since we're almost to hump day already! Enjoy!

1. More chocolate milk love! I can't seem to part with my nearly empty bottles of chocolate syrup. You never know when you might just need another squirt to make one more glass. So currently, there's about 4 of them on my kitchen counter. I also loathe grocery shopping so I try to make things last as long as possible.
2. There's are my salt and pepper shakers! Aren't they the cutest thing everrrr? I got them from Stapes Treasure Trove shop on Etsy. Speaking of Etsy, I think I deserve a pat on the back. I've done a swell job of avoiding excessive online shopping. Particularly from Etsy. It was getting kind of.. scary.
3. Here's a quick shot of Nixon. He was helping me out with some portraits of my LPS collection for an upcoming post. I realized that it's going to be kind of hard to introduce you to Nixon, seeing as.. how am I going to take a picture of my camera? So I'm sure you will get some lovely cell phone photos that will have to do.

4. Ichabod took a nap with Michael when he got home from work Sunday afternoon. They look too precious all snuggled up on the loveseat.

5. I believe I may have already posted this photo of Dolb and I, but oh well. Hans and Dolby had a little sleepover here earlier in the week. It's always a fun time.
6. It's rare to find Lux napping on the couch, so I had to take a picture. He napped next to me on the couch while I was surfin' the web and Michael and Ick napped on the loveseat Sunday afternoon, pictured in #4.

 10. One of my Pike Days finds! I took the photo especially to text it to Kelsey while she's still down in sunny Florida. Kelsey loves owls and she supports my LPS love 100%. She gets just as excited about them as I do, if not more, at times! :) I can't wait to hang out with her when she gets home!
11. A little snapshot of some things on my fridge; including; A pumpkin magnet that I made with the kids at work. An old Polaroid of an older lady that we found when we moved in the apartment. A Betty Boop magnet that my grandparents cut out of wood and painted, A magnet from when I was about in 5th grade. I collected aliens when I was younger. (See, I've been collecting for years!) A Bruce Springsteen magnet from The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Also, a sticker that says I love Caseys Buffet. Molly sent this bumper sticker up to me when she sent me the cute little birdie (pictured next). Casey Buffet was, indeed, delicious. I long to go back to North Carolina and to see Molly, but unfortunately, the time and funds are just not in my cards. :(
12. Nixon also helped me out with taking some pictures of some things Molly created and gave me. I'm planning on doing sort of an "Ode to Molly" type post. So hold tight for better pictures of these creepy, cute critters.

13. These 2 guitars belong to Michael's friend, Emilio. Not exactly sure how they ended up here or why they are still here, BUT I'm not complaining. They are easy on the eyes when I wake up and see them by my bedside every morning.
14. Michael's Pike Days find! He seriously LOVES this jacket. We took some silly photos with it. This is one of them. I think he called this one "Captain Abe and Moby Ick."
15. A beautiful flower I found growing out in the wild and an even more beautiful piece by Mean painted on the brick wall behind it. You will get a better look into this old lumber yard shortly. I've got lots of posts in the works.

xo, Linds