A random adventure to the Long Beach Flea market.

Long Beach Flea Market: a peachy dress

Treasures and visual delights abound. I took a gazillion photos so I’m going to split them up for a couple posts. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. This floaty peach dress caught my eye.

Long Beach Flea Market: keys

If you hadn’t figured it out by now, I’ve got a thing for keys.

Long Beach Flea Market: pair of velvet mustard chairs

I wanted to take this pair of velvet mustard chairs home with me!

I love this blanket! This is the second one I’ve made from the Purl Bee pattern and I’m kind of in love (here’s the first one).

The Purl Bee Chevron Stripe Baby Blanket

I used KnitPicks Brava Bulky again; I kind of think it’s perfect for baby goods. It’s machine washable and pretty soft. It doesn’t hurt that it’s bulky and knits up superfast!

For-Placement-Only Action shot!

Glamour shot! In the amazing office of Hoodzpah Art + Graphics. I can’t wait for a real action shot of my new nephew with the blanket!

Close-up and far away.

I went with skinnier stripes in this version and added some black for more contrast. Also into the large chunk of white for the last third of the blanket; kind of makes the darker, more somber colors feel lighter in a way.

Zig zag monochrome.

Chevron is sort of everywhere but that won’t stop me from loving it!

“Wrong” side; extra striping from the blips.

The thing about flat knitting is that there is a right side and a “wrong” side. The wrong side refers to the backside or the inside of a knitted piece. It’s the side that isn’t usually seen and usually hides all the blips (those little extra white stitches that form a very slender row of white). But, I rather like the blips. It’s like a bonus stripe. The more stripes the better, really.

Happy April! From me to you, the April downloads! Celebrate your good fortune with More Than Ever or console yourself with the More Than This. <3

Printables
To get the printable April 2013 calendar, click on the picture below. Save as to your computer.

Printer-Friendly April Calendar

Desktop Wallpaper
To get the full size April 2013 desktop version, click on the image below.
Click to zoom in and then right click & save as to your computer.

April Desktop Wallpaper

iPhone Wallpaper
To get the iPhone version, right click on the image below.
Click to zoom in and then right click & save as to your computer.

April More Than This iPhone Wallpaper

April More Than Ever iPhone Wallpaper

It’s been 8 years (!!) since I started rottencupcakes and since I designed my logo! Springtime sounds like the right time to redesign and freshen up.

rottencupcakes: then & now

Started with some doodles. I wanted to make sure my logo still retained the skill and cupcake. A few people have also mentioned to me over the years that there’s a bit of similarity between my logo and Johnny Cupcakes adorable logo so I definitely wanted to avoid that and make mine stand out more and certainly be it’s own recognizable brand. Plus, hello 8 years of design experence is sure to make a better logo!

Sketching out ideas…

Next I moved onto playing with Illustrator, creating the shapes I wanted and moving around my type. Here’s a few early versions…

Early Illustrator rounds

& here are the final versions! The skull became the cupcakes (& the teeth–a cupcake wrapper). & even a bite mark to make the eye sockets. For the finishing touch, the crossbones got swapped out for a pair of knitting needles. Voila! A new logo.

Final versions

A little instagram peek (follow me: rottencupcakes) at the new logo in action on my shiny new business cards! Just in time for Craftcation!

In action with new business cards!

In the coming months, I’m hoping to redesign the whole site so keep your eyes peeled for little (& big) changes!
<3

patternmash: stripes & dots

Simple, simple. I love mixing patterns together but know that it can be a bit overwhelming if everything clashes too much. By keeping everything in the same color family, it keeps the mix pretty subdued & mellow.  The heels keep the whole outfit from being too dressed down and help polish up my unkempt, softly-wrinkled appearance.

Dots and stripes are my favorites to mix  together. What’re your go-tos for a patternmash?

So dreamy.

HOT DAMN: that detail and the different textures conveyed with oil paint is incredible.

I did eventually realize that I ought to be taking photos of the artworks’ placards to identify them after the fact; however not when I snapped this photo. But not to fret, Google to the rescue! Goodness gracious, how I love Google’s reverse image search. This painting is by Jacques-Louis David and is called Portrait of Madame Charles-Pierre Pecoul, nee Potain, mother-in-law of the artist.

Happy happy March! May warmer weather be heading your way. In the meantime, cats in animal suits! Yeah! Oh & they have calendars.

Printables
To get the printable March 2013 calendar, click on the picture below. Save as to your computer.

Printer-Friendly March Calendar

Desktop Wallpaper
To get the full size March 2013 desktop version, click on the image below.
Click to zoom in and then right click & save as to your computer.

March Desktop Wallpaper

iPhone Wallpaper
To get the iPhone version, right click on the image below.
Click to zoom in and then right click & save as to your computer.

March Sheep iPhone Wallpaper

March Lion iPhone Wallpaper

Are you a Lion or a Lamb?
Sometimes I pretend to be a lion but I’m really more of a nervous housecat.