Hannah Whitman

Katie Daisy

2010-11-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

Newest on my design blogroll is Katie Daisy. Katie does a wonderful job at describing herself on her website. Here is what she says:

"Katie Daisy is a wandering artist whose home is the prairie. Originally from a small farm in Illinois, Katie is greatly inspired by rural life. Ms. Daisy makes her way by enjoying simple country pleasures such as a sweet goldfinch song, swimming in lakes, canoe trips that creep into the night and sipping chamomile tea with honey.

After a rigorous (and fun!) bout of schooling at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Katie Daisy now follows her bliss as a full time artist. At only 23 years, Katie has worked for numerous clients such as Target, HGTV, & American Greetings. Katie's work has also been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, Chronicle Books, HOW Magazine, CMYK Magazine, Pregnancy & Newborn, and Stampington's Artful Blogging Magazine."

There are many things that I love about her artwork. The biggest thing is her works seems simply sweet an untainted. Now that I have learned that she has worked for Target, I vaguely remember seeing her work there. I also love her name, Katie Daisy. When I was young, I told my parents that I wanted to rename myself to "Daisy Rose." They never let me forget that. Maybe that is one of the reasons I really like Katie Daisy's work.

New Project: Chair Upholstery

2010-11-20T19:11:00.000-08:00

Since I finished my door tables, I have been itching for a new project. For the past couple weeks I have been on the lookout for a good furniture project. Tonight I found one. I was watching some of Etsy's video podcasts and came across a video showcase on Spruce Home in Austin, Texas. (Why are all the coolest artists in Austin??) These girls run their own upholstery shop. They take old dumpster-ready furniture and revive it to the coolest standards. I love their stuff! So, here I am, stating to the world (or maybe my DH who is the only viewer), I am going to take on a project just like this. I am going to find an old chair and blog my way through reupholstering it. This should be comical.

Check out Spruce Home's video below (created by Etsy), and if you are ever bored and need some creative inspiration, check out Etsy's videos.

Process: Upholstery with Spruce Home from Etsy on Vimeo.

Helms Workshop

2010-11-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

I am absolutely loving Helms Workshop. Helms Workshop is a creative firm that offer many different varieties of services. They offer anything you need from interactive media, web and print, to ... yes ... a plane design. One of their most recent works, Frank Hot Dogs was profiled in Communication Arts 2010 Design Annual (This is a huge accomplishment). You can see more of their work on their own website or at Graphic Exchange (where I discovered them).

Colored Pumpkins

2010-11-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

This idea came from a previous post - it was Sweet Paul's idea to paint pumpkins instead of carving them. "What a great idea," I thought. Well, it was fun to paint them, however, it took a long time. A pumpkin needs several layers of acrylic paint to become opaque, and I had to keep flipping them on their sides and painting small portions at a time so that the wet portion didn't touch the table. Also, the paint is very sensitive and easily chips. So be careful if you choose to do this or else you will find yourself finger painting every hour because you nudged them... again.

I chose to paint my pumpkins some of the same colors on my mom's paintings. You can see these abstract paintings in the background of one of the pictures below. I love striking contrast. So these pumpkins on top of my black table sit well with my soul.

Door-Desk Project: Complete!

2010-10-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

I think we did it. I think we completed our door-desk project! These doors have been in our apartment since early August, and now, finally, we are done!

This last weekend, I went over to Lowes and found replaceable banquet table legs. Then in one evening, DH and I assembled both tables! The plan from the beginning was to also add glass tops to these. Well, after I got one outrageous quote, I was given another local company to seek out. However, now that we have reached this point in the project and discovered that we don't absolutely need the glass tops (yet), we are going to call it complete. At least for now. That is just how DH and I handle things-if it isn't a dire need, don't bother. So for now, we aren't going to bother.

I should add this note: These two awesome (and sturdy) tables cost us a total of $40! The doors were free (by someone's trash... we are not above that), and a package of two replacement banquet table legs cost $20 from Lowes (x2=$40). Note that if you are going to try this project, make sure of two things...

1. Use screws that aren't longer than the width of the portion of the door you are screwing through. If you don't you could have many little sharp screws poking through your table.

2. Make sure that wherever you assemble these doors you can get the doors out of the room once completed! This is why we chose to use the collapsable table legs-we didn't want to have to disassemble the tables if we were ever to move.

My advice is to get a guy to assemble these.

The entire room.

The side table with our web & print design and adobe-help books.

My side.

The Table

New Link, New Post: Sweet Paul

2010-10-29T19:24:00.001-07:00

I was clicking around from blog to blog tonight and came across Sweet Paul. Sweet Paul, run by a man named (you guessed it) Paul, is a blog that highlights portions of his Sweet Paul Magazine. The magazine just completed their second issue, and already they have been nominated the "Food and Drink Magazine of the Year" by DMA (Digital Magazine Awards). This is what Paul says about himself:

I'm a 43 year old food and prop stylist and crafter who packed his Louis and moved from Oslo to New York to live and love. Been working with some amazing photographers, great clients and fab magazines. You can see more of my work on my agents site, www.bigleoproductions.com.

The magazine is not only yummy, but beautifully designed. Simple layout. Stunning photography. Crafty projects, etc. You can browse through the digital magazine by clicking here. Have fun!

New Fall Magazine

Halloween crafts - the white makes it better in my eyes.

Love the idea of painting pumpkins all white.

Whoever says this one isn't gorgeous is lying to themself.

Door-Desk Project

2010-10-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

If you have been over to my place in the past, hmm, 4 months, you will have noticed two doors in my spare room. Two random doors-laying against the wall-doing nothing. I have always told my husband (DH) how much I would love to make a table out of doors. It has been done before on many of my favorite crafty blogs, and it looks so great when completed. When I got back from India this summer, one of the many surprises my DH (deer hunter) had for me was this pair of doors. All I needed to do was come up with a plan (and spare time-who has that anymore?) then assemble two tables. Well, I have done my research and come up with a plan. However, this plan has many steps. First, I need to go to home depot for metal table-legs. I've already narrowed down which table-legs I want, but it's a matter of getting over there and buying them. (So much easier said than done-again, spare time anyone?) Then I need to order a glass top measured exactly for the doors' length and width. I found several online companies, but they want to charge me an arm and a leg for manufacturing and shipping. So I have to find a local framing shop who can do this for me. Then, DH can assemble the entire table.

This may take me a while longer to get all the parts and pieces collected. In the meantime, I decided to get resourceful. We had a spare table in this room for a while. I took off the adjustable wings and laid one of the doors on top of it. The other door in behind the table (covering all the computer cords). Since these doors are about 50 pounds each, the weight holds it steady. I also reinforced it with my heavy crafting boxes in the center (DH knows this-those boxes are heavy!). Viola! We have a temporary door-desk.

Gorgeous Things Gallery

2010-10-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

On my desktop is a folder named "Blog." When I come across a design that I think is blog-worthy, I drag the image into this folder. Well, the folder has gotten too big and needs emptying. I had hoped to devout an entire post to each of these designs, but that is just not feasible right now. So I hope you enjoy this mini gallery of gorgeous things.

Bucket of Weeds and Cans of Beets

2010-09-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

This morning, I met my mom at my grandmother's home to do something I have never done before. Pickle and can beets. For over 3 hours, the three of us boiled, pealed, sliced, canned, pickled and reboiled beets. About 30 mason jars total. I am sure my mom will explain in much better detail the process on her blog given time. It really was fun. I wish I had unlimited time sitting at my grandmother's kitchen learning from her all that she knows.

On the way home I decided to do some spontaneous shopping (since my deer-loving husband was distracted by a football game). I stopped into a department store and picked up a pretty vase. There was only one problem. Now I had to buy myself flowers to justify the vase purchase. I called my mom and asked if it was silly to buy yourself a bouquet of flowers. "No. But there is another option..." My mom explained that her mother use to embarrass her silly when she would pull over on the side of the road and pick wildflowers to put in their home. She would stop everywhere and anywhere. I thought this was a fabulous idea! I pulled over within 5 minutes and chopped myself down some pretty weeds. You can see the assortment I was able to gather free of charge. I think I found myself a new past-time. Hope I don't get poison ivy.

Lisa Rupp

2010-09-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

There are some designers that I just gawk at. Lisa Rupp is one of them. Lisa is a designer in Arizona and has an unbelievable talent. She is by trade an illustrator, crafter and designer. If you ask me what the difference is between these trades, I would say it comes to tools. Lisa is capable of working with many tools. Like Adobe Illustrator (illustrations), Adobe Photoshop (design/illustrations), Adobe InDesign (design), as well as with a pencil and paper, scissors, glue gun, and a million other things that are sold at Joann Fabrics. A master of all trades in the art world. Her online portfolio shows off her talent. Take a look. She also has a blog here called "That's Happy." Love the title. Probably because it makes me happy.

If I could narrow my focus as a designer towards one specific trade it would be digital illustration. My mom would probably say that this is suiting since I spent a lot of time when I was young looking at Mary Engelbreit's books. Illustration is still so broad however. You can focus on so many different aspects. Jessica Hische (love her) focuses on typography as illustration and Lisa Rupp focuses on patterns and vector art. Then there is also the understated worlds of packaging illustration (not much creative thinking involved here) and medical illustration (cool, but I don't want to go to med school). I tend to lean towards typography and vector art, but I would love to learn more.

I have an idea of what I want this blog to turn into. It is not just a site about me and my Brock. Trust me, that would get old fast. Instead I want to use it to post free downloads for anyone to use. It could be anything from illustrations to calendars. Hopefully it is not just a thought but a plan. Time will tell.

The Team

2010-08-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

God certainly knew what He was doing as He formed our team this year. Darlene Sorrells (on right) was our team leader. She had been on this trip twice before leading it this year. Kathy Klopp (on left) was a fellow teammate. She has been on this trip once before. She and I roomed together. Then there is me-the newbee. Kathy said they purposefully never let a newbee room on their own. I was so thankful for that. Darlene did a marvelous job leading us-she is a courageous and humble woman who I was privileged to learn from. She never faltered, even on no sleep. Kathy was right there next to me (24 hours a day-we were roommates) to constantly encourage and support me. She, also, taught me so much.

In the past there have been more than three woman traveling on this trip, so when God put only the three of us together it was different than what was expected. Now that the trip has come and gone, we see God's provision in every detail-including the formation of our team. I love these women. I don't think I can express how grateful I am for each of them.

Oh, and you would be surprised and how hard they can make you laugh!!!

Children's Program

2010-08-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

During the children's program, our team had the opportunity to express our appreciation to them in return for all they did for us. So our team planned on doing the movements in sign language to "Love the Lord your God" by Lincoln Brewster. We first taught them the movements, then invited them to stand and do it with us. They loved it. Here is a picture of us teaching it to the children.

Then afterwards, we handed out bookmarks for each of them that I created. They show the hand movements that we taught them. Below is a picture of the bookmark. It was a sincerely joyful hour. The children of India are precious and loving.

Sharon Gardens

2010-08-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

Sharon Gardens is IGL's campus in Salem, India. Like I wrote in a post below, the campus has everything on it. President's home, rooms for guests, amphitheater, hospital, orphanage, sewing school, elementary and high schools, medical college and machine shop. There is even more that I am forgetting about. It is a huge compound. Gated with guards at all hours. It is a very safe place to be.

The environment in southern India is very rough, but this compound is an oasis among it. It is lush and green. The owners have done a marvelous job making it into a beautiful place. We stayed there for three nights when we first arrived. Last year's team stayed there for their entire trip. They went out from Sharon Gardens to each of their conferences. We traveled more, so we stayed in hotels for most of the trip.

Sharon Gardens has been in its location for many many years. Just recently land was purchased near by for a new Hindu temple to be built. In the past this has been a quiet peaceful property, however that is changing. The Hindu temple is now playing Hindu chants at all hours through massive speakers. It is certainly an crafty attack by Satan. Please pray that the Lord protects these precious children from the indoctrinating lies being blared.

Here are some pictures of Sharon Gardens.

Can you read the verse on the back wall? "Where there is no vision, the people perish." This is the scripture verse that IGL's founder gave the current president as he handed down all of IGL to him. It speaks so clearly to the holistic vision of IGL's mission. They first go in with the Gospel - they reach the people for Jesus Christ. Then they provide opportunities for the people to grow in a trade. They teach them skills to make a better life for themselves. God has given IGL this vision and they certainly are carrying it out. God is great.

The entrance to the compound.

Flowers

Children waiting for school to begin.

Monkeys are everywhere. They are like squirrels here. They are everywhere.

Courtyard

Elementary School

University

Hospital with Pastor Benni. Pastor Benni took us everywhere in India. He is the most wonderful man. So kind and funny. He really put up with us curious and loud (and obnoxious at times) American women.

Inside the hospital. This is a hallway looking out at the inside courtyard.

Cool blue hallways inside the hospital.

Children of India

2010-08-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

The children of India are beautiful. They ones I saw have gorgeous dark skin and hair. Their eyes stand out so distinctly. The girls are dressed in the most beautiful sarees. The colors of the sarees contrast perfectly with their skin. The village children are always smiling, even though they are so poor.

Schools in India are all private. That is why you see the children wearing uniforms. A bill has just been proposed to Indian government for public schools. We will see if this passes or not. Even if it does, 80% of India lives in the rural villages where (piped) running water doesn't reach-how in the world is the government going to reach their towns with education? It seems like an impossible task but absolutely worth striving for.

Little girls at the last conference.

School children walking in an orderly line to class.

The most beautiful two angels I saw walking down a rural village street.

Schoolgirls.

The same two angels walking away.

1, 2, 3-Smile!

2010-08-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

This was at our last conference. I built up enough guts to tell them all to smile before I began my lecture on obedience. They loved it! Before I was asked up on stage, I was sitting next to Kathy (American dressed in blue up front). We were singing praise songs. The Indian women kept coming up (during worship) and snapping photos of us. It was hysterical! So I figured if they can do it, so can I. I asked the translator to say "1, 2, 3-Smile!" and she did. I love how the back rows all raised and waved their hands. What wonderful spirited women.

Lunchboxes-whoops-totes. Lunch-totes.

2010-08-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

These are school children's lunch-totes lined up outside the doors of the schoolhouse. All these bags were most likely made by their families.

Indian Dancing - Part 2

2010-08-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

At the third conference, there was a time of worship and dancing. Women came forward as they were led. They each danced for the Lord. It was a true reflection of their hearts for Him! A woman played the drums as the entire crowd sang. It made me want to get up and dance-however, I knew that I would look like a fool in comparison.

India

2010-08-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Back from across the globe. My trip to India cannot be described easily. It was certainly bittersweet. I have never been so discouraged and depressed before-The poverty in India is worse than you can ever imagine. Then I was more encouraged and joyful then I had ever been. God is doing mighty things through India Gospel League (IGL - the outreach group I worked with). The people they are impacting are truly being transformed by the Gospel. IGL is really being the salt of the earth and light of the world to their nation.

We spoke at 4 conferences throughout our time there. The conferences were called "Women with a Mission." They were one and two day conferences. The days were lecture packed and very hot (No AC in the conference halls). The first three conferences had about 100-150 women there. The last conference had about 250 women. It was such a blessing to stand before them and discuss our living God!

One night we had the priviledge of attending a children's program given in our honor. There were many skits, testimonies and dances that evening. It was all so beautiful! Here is a video of the young boys doing a traditional Indian dance for us. The children you see in the audience are all orphans at Sharon Garden's orphanage. Sharon Gardens is the India Gospel League (IGL) campus in Salem, India. On that campus is a university, orphanage, president's home, rooms for guests, machine shop and hospital. The hospital is one of 6 hospitals in all of India that is certified to treat cancer patients.