Office Pot Luck, A horrible cold, and Blog Reassessing

Hello All!

These past few weeks I have been doing some major thinking about this blog, my Etsy shop LoveUPaperly and so many other things!  I am hoping that all of these things I have been thinking about will start showing up as changes in the New Year!

I think that is one of the reasons that I love the Holidays, Christmas, and New Years so much.  I always feel like it is a time to reassess and figure out if I think I am going in the right direction.

Besides that, I finally finished school this semester and I have a break until the end of January which is badly needed.

As for this weekend, I have had a horrible cold all week and it has only been getting worse so I am going to bunker down the next two days and try to get rid of these germs.  Last year I had just had surgery so Christmas was rather miserable for both Meridyth and myself so this year, cold or no cold, I am determined to try and feel well!

Friday we had an office potluck which was full of all different types of food.  I decided to go for a rustic Italian dish and made roasted cauliflower and broccoli with garlic and olive oil with tomatoes and of course pasta.  I topped the whole thing off with some mozzarella cheese!

I think it tasted pretty good!

Second, I took some pictures of the final product for my Parent's Chanukah present.  They were absolutely thrilled!  My Mom keeps calling to say that she keeps trying the pictures in different places all over her house.

I'm off to take some Theraflu.

Lots of Love,

Jess

Pencil vs. Camera: Ben Heine

Happy Thursday!  We have all almost made it through the week! 

Today I wanted to share with you a series done by artist Ben Heine.  When I came across these drawings I was so excited because they are just...that...cool.

Here is what he say's about them:

"Pencil Vs Camera is nothing but the result of a long graphic exploration and a logic consequence of my artistic evolution. It's a new concept. My primary intention was to create a "battle field" between 2 disciplines: drawing and photography, mixing imagination and reality. The only boundary is my own perception of the world. It's a very exciting project because I can share "pieces of dreams" with the world through illusion and surrealism."

~ Ben Heine

Check out Ben Heine's website for more series and images.

I think this series is so imaginative and whimsical.  I have a few favorites, but the robot with the pencil makes me smile.

Have a great day everyone!

Love,

Jess

Illustrator Ellen Van Engelen and her sketchbook

I know it's not time yet for an artist showcase, but I needed/wanted/NEEDED to share an illustrator that I came across.

Her name is Ellen Van Engelen and she is an illustrator who grew up in Belgium and lives in Antwerp.  She has worked for numerous huge magazines like The New Yorker, The Guardian, New York Times Magazine, GQ Russia....so yeah, she is definitely a big deal, but I just came across her art yesterday and it is AWESOME!

I particularly love her sketchbook, so that is some of the work I am going to show.  When I look at the work I think it feels spontaneous, emotive, interesting, and it truly captures the feeling of the people she is drawing.

Aren't these sketches amazing!  I kind of have a thing for looking at other artist sketchbooks.  Being allowed into another artists spontaneous world makes me feel like I'm sneaking a look at my sisters diary or listening to adult conversations when I was a kid.

I feel like I'm doing something wrong but at the same time something sooo right.  Does that make sense?

Be sure to check out more of her work on her website....I think I could stare at her drawings all day!

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess