Epic Flames...

Finally.

After MONTHS of planning and worry and failure after failure, I finally have a page of vinyl flames for Vince's Duesenburg guitar.  I'm happy with they way they turned out...but I'm not sure if they're exactely what he had in mind.  My instructions were, "You could curve it like this..."  I'm really hoping that he'll find some that he can use and will like well enough to put on his baby! 

ps...I really like that you can see my fbook pic peeking out from behind the flames up top... :)

I'm thinking that I should probably cut another page in yellow...

Much Love,

j

{5 loves...Design Tools}

Sorry I missed you yesterday!  I've been feeling a bit off lately and spent most of my day either sleeping...or outside in the sun.  My reward?  A fabulous burn that quickly went brown! :)

My {5 loves} this week are my favorite Design Tools.  I thought about it for a bit and finally went with the ones that are making me 1, happiest and 2, making my life easier at the moment.   In no particular order (I think that Provo Craft should give me a job...):

The YourStory Bookbinding/Laminating Machine

The Yudu Personal Screen Printing Machine

The Cricut Expression Personal Electronic Cutter

The Gypsy Portable Design Studio

(This works with your Cricut!)

The Brother CS6000I 60-Stitch Computerized Free-Arm Sewing Machine with Multiple Stitch Functions

(Yes, I had to type the whole thing!)

I am absolutely IN LOVE with these 5 things.

I'll have to get some pics posted of the projects that I've MADE with them!

Much Love,
 
j

{5 loves...Music}

So...many of the blogs that I read have a weekly listing of the authors "loves".  I've done a few lists of my own over the past couple of months, but am REALLY loving the idea of having a weekly list!  My goal is to have a list of five themed loves each Sunday...

Today's list?  My five music loves!

The Gibson J-200

JET

Classic iPod in Silver

(mine is engraved with:

j, Keep Your Antenna Up

& Follow the Muse)

Blackbird by The Beatles

Illustration by Folon from The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics

I'm learning the picking pattern for Blackbird now.

The Marshall MG 15

I LOVE this amp!  It's portable, has amazing Marshall sound

AND

it has a line in option so you can play your iPod through/with it!

Seriously, your iPod will never sound better!!!

With your iPod connected, you can play along with your favorite songs...

Bliss...

Much love!

j

Something More...

Turns out that you can't take burritos into The Depot, but you CAN take cameras in...  Geez...I HAD to wear my tight skirt...

BIG thanks to Star for taking these pics that she shared with me I stole...

I look manic...and really hot.

Literally.

Crash Kings

I LOVE Mike's Orange amp!

YES we were this close...  (I got even closer for JET!)

I was standing to the left a little, behind the guy in denim.  He smelled like a mix of cotton candy and the Henri Bendel Firewood candle.

It was nice...

The girl next to him, I'll call her "Beth", was excellent.  She came and rocked it alone.

Notice the pics on Mark's mic stand?

Apparently it's REALLY hard to get a good picture of them.

(The guy wearing a JET pass with a camera took about 30 before he shook his head and gave up.)

Way to go Star!!!  (She was also able to snag his set list!)

Also, enjoy Mark's pants and Italian leather Beatle boots and the mic for Chris. 

He sang every 5th song or so.

I LOVE this shot of Nic and Cam.

...and Mr. Security Guard...

Is it weird that I'm SURE that I had prolonged eye contact with Nic more than once?

Nah...It's totally normal, right?!

I also LOVED the old and loved Marshall in the backgound.

(And the keyboard guy with the bedroom eyes...)

Much Love,
j

La Di Da...

I went back to Lowes this afternoon and spent about an hour out in the wind drooling over the gorgeous Spring plants.

Ranunculus are my FAVORITE and I LOVED these colors! 

(next to tulips...)

This is my front planter...under my bedroom window.  This is a twisted view, but I love it!  It has all of the important bits:

tulips, sedum, violets, and a few ranunculus that I planted last year.

I  some snapdragons and pansies to fill in around the tulips in the front. 

They remind me of Alice in Wonderland! :)

I've never seen this plant before.  The tag said it's a 'Fragrant Wallflower'.

I loved the bright yellow and purple mix, but the best part is that it was COVERED in...

HONEY BEES!!

Tasty anaheim peppers...

(I also put the fabulous wall-o-waters around two different types of tomatoes.)

PARSNIPS!!!  I plated these last Summer...but they are better if you let them winter over...

I'm going to fill the gaps in with beets.

It was so windy that I had to pull my hair back in a clip AND a braid...

Even then, the wind pulled it out.

(I'm also noticing that it's BEYOND time to color my hair.  My black has faded to red and brown...and the blond roots are scary!)

I found a peat pot full of red and white tulips.  I put them in my tulip house for inside...

I'll get the table cleaned off soon...promise...

I put these under my Japanese Maple tree in the front yard...mostly for the quail.

Our neighbor planted strawberries in the strip of dirt next to our fence and a few starts have made their way into this patch.  I thought they might like some company. :)

This is under our picture window.  There are close to 100 tulips in this planter, but it still needed some color.  I added some pansies and snapdragons here, too.

I'm tingling in anticipation... 

j

JET...

& Crash Kings!!!!!

(In tight pants)

It started off with this...




And after an amazing hour of being close enough I could see in their mouths and the outlines of pockets, I got this...




(Without the onstage dancers...)



Seriously, it was one of the best shows I've been to (and that's saying a LOT!)


I didn't get this:



But I really wish I had...  And I kind of wish, I was on my way to Vegas with them...


Much Love,

j

Custom M.U.S.E....

I know I've posted these pics just about EVERYWHERE else...but I'm REALLY happy and proud of my work! (Besides that, I wanted a more permanent record of them. I'm actually planning on printing my blog one day... :) )

I was asked-and very honored-to create a logo and a custom web design for a hand made guitar about two weeks ago. Daniel, the master craftsman is 16 and he did ALL of the work on his own. I think he did an amazing job (and want him to design ME a guitar one day!)


This is the logo that I created for Daniel. I included the spider (which I LOVE!) as a surprise. I hope he likes it! This is done out of matte black adhesive vinyl. I designed the logo on the Gypsy and cut it with the Cricut. I LOVE Provo Craft...they have made my life SO much easier-and fun...and messy...and creative!


The ONLY instructions Daniel had for me was, "Cover it in spiderwebs!". I hope this is something like what he had in mind. I hand cut this out of the same black vinyl as the logo using an Exacto knife and LOTS of patience. I absolutely LOVE the contrast between the matte black vinyl and the satin finish of the guitar. This pic doesn't do it justice, but I swear, I was drooling a bit when I got it on. I chose adhesive vinyl for this project because the guitar will be played. Static vinyl is a great choice for guitars, but given the location of the largest web, Daniel's arm will be in almost constant contact with the design. I didn't want the web to budge!

I've had a few questions about how adhesive vinyl works...and if it could damage the surface of the guitars. My thought is, NO! It should NOT damage the surface/finish of your guitar. The adhesive vinyl I use is the kind made to go on walls, glass, ceramic, etc. I have NEVER seen it damage or harm any surface. This vinyl IS removable, but NOT reusable. Also, for matte or satin finish guitars, the static vinyl has a difficult time sticking-adhesive is the best bet. I have both adhesive and static vinyl on a few of my personal guitars and have NEVER had a problem! On the plus side, static vinyl is removable and reusable! :)

*For those who are interested, a job like this including a custom logo and a hand cut design sells for around $60 (depending on size, materials and time).

j