dameling art and design

New Acquisitions

2009-09-29T12:00:00.001-05:00

Since I brought home all sorts of goodies from the Printers' Wayzgoose in Mt. Pleasant, I've wanted to test is all out. Here are a few shots of some of the things I brought home and have been testing out.

APA Wayzgoose!

2009-09-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

Some of you may wonder exactly what a Wayzgoose is....so here is the definition (via Wikipedia):

"Wayzgoose was at one time the name for an entertainment given by a master printer to his workmen each year on or about St Bartholomew's Day (24 August). This marked the traditional end of summer and the point at which the season of working by candlelight began. Later, the word came to refer to the annual outing and dinner of the staff of a printing works or the printers on a newspaper"

From September 18-20 I attended the Amalgamated Printer's Association's annual Wayzgoose at Printers' Hall in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Printers' Hall is a working museum, with nearly thirty pieces (if not more) of working printing equipment. They coined this Wayzgoose as a "Play-goose," as everyone was encouraged to "play" with the equipment.

While I was there I got to print on a Uni-I Vandercook, as well as watch and listen to many older printers and some young ones alike. Overall it was not only educational but a great time. And I also came home with a bunch of new type and equipment!

The worst blogger ever....

2009-09-27T23:34:00.004-05:00

...is me! September has been so crazy! I've felt out of touch with blogger world, but I've had so much to share!

As seen in the previous post, Matt and I were heading up to Okoboji for Labor Day weekend. We camped out and it was gorgeous the entire weekend. The above shot is our view from the tent.

Of course the main reason we headed north was for the flea markets. Okoboji has three flea markets over the holiday weekend and we stopped by Clear Lake's flea market on the way home Sunday. Here is some of the great stuff along the path of the Okoboji Flea Market and Clear Lake Flea Market. There was a ton of great stuff at both places. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) my car limits the amount of purchases we can make, so most the photos here are objects of desire. Enjoy!

Take a trip to the I-O-W-A Ocean!

2009-09-01T23:06:00.003-05:00

This weekend Matt and I will be making our annual pilgrimage to the one, the only I-O-W-A Ocean, otherwise known as Okoboji. The major summer holidays are filled with multiple flea markets in the Okoboji area and we both love a flea hunt. Vick's Corner will be celebrating its 118th flea market, while Treasure Village and the Dickinson Co. Expo Antique and Flea Market will also be crawling with bargain hunters, junk pilferers, and antique junkies.

In addition to the flea-trifecta, the Iowa Rock n Roll Hall of Fame will be holding their annual induction ceremony. The schedule of events seems quite promising and I hope Matt and I get a chance to view some of the celebration.

And for those not familiar with the term I-O-W-A Ocean, check out Wally Shoop and the Zombies here (scroll down to the bottom of the list for a listen).

photo link

Anticipation.....

2009-08-12T22:30:00.003-05:00

is not only a Carly Simon song.....it's what I'm feeling right now!!! In September the Great Northern Printer's Fair along with the Amalgamated Printer's Association's Annual Wayzgoose will be held in Mt. Pleasant, IA and I will be attending all the days this year! There will be demonstrations on printing (even registering a 7 color job I'm told), bookbinding, and even paper marbling. I've really been needing some time for myself lately and I can't can't wait for it to come!

To check out some of last years awesome-ness (and pictures of me printing things) click here and here for my old post.

TYPE!

2009-08-10T21:37:00.001-05:00

The second poster offering from The Occasional Print Club!
Originally uploaded by The Occasional Print Club

I'm pretty sure I definitely need this. And I need to form my own Occasional Print Club!

Great work by The Occasional Print Club via their flickr stream

Big Building, Big Dreams

2009-08-09T10:30:00.002-05:00

Many of you may know I'm originally from Ossian, Iowa and I still get my Ossian Bee, the local newspaper, to keep up on the news. While catching up on Ossian news last night I perused the City Council minutes, to find out one of the largest buildings on Main Street had been donated to the city. The Dessel building as it is known, has been sitting empty on Main Street for approximately 25 years according to the article. It is the second building in from the right in the photo above.

Now this may not seem particularly newsworthy, but as I kept reading it stated, "A lengthy discussion ensued regarding liability, insurance, maintenance, possible uses for the structure, and possible demolition of the building." Now this got me a little riled up, as I have been dreaming more or less about having my own little letterpress business in this building and residing in the second floor. Now, this is obviously just a dream at this point, but now that they are talking demolition, it really breaks my heart.

An excerpt from Reflections of a Golden Era, Ossian, Iowa shares this about the Dessel building:

"The year 1898 found much new construction in Ossian. F. W. [Dessel] started the construction of the "Dessel Building." This building is 42' x 100', 2 stories in height with a brick and stone front. The huge limestone blocks which are at the 4 corners of the basement area were quarried from the Fred J. Figge quarry south of Ossian in the Silver Springs area." It goes on to mention that the walls are 6 bricks wide and the Dessel business closed in 1962.

I would really hate to see the building go. It could be utilized in so many different ways. I just hope the city reconsiders or perhaps sells it off to someone wanting to utilize and preserve the building.

Tea and Tarts

2009-08-02T17:23:00.003-05:00

Last week I decided to have a little lady pampering party for a few friends. When I was planning the party, I really wanted to use these vintage display pieces that I had found recently. They are kind of like mini cupcake trees, but I haven't seen them anywhere else.

I began searching for dessert recipes that would be appropriate for the display tree and thought; Tarts! They'd be perfect. I eventually found a recipe on the Joy of Baking for Shortbread Tarts with Cream Filling, using blueberries for the topping, and they were delicious!

Here is the recipe:

SHORTBREAD TARTS:
1 cup (227 grams) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (72 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch or rice flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
1-8-oz. (227 grams) package cream cheese - softened
1-14 ounce (396 grams) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup (80 ml) lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
Zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

GARNISH:
Any combination of berries (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries) or other fruit such as slices of kiwi.

Shortbread Tarts: Lightly butter, or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, 36 miniature muffin tins (approximately 2 inch (5 cm) in diameter). Set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together (approximately two minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix just until incorporated.

Divide the dough into 36 even pieces and place one ball of dough in the center of each muffin tin. With your fingertips, press the dough up the sides of the individual muffin tin so there is an indentation in the center. Once filled, place the tart pan, with the unbaked shells, in the freezer for about 10 minutes so the shortbread can become firm. (This will help to prevent the shortbread from puffing up during baking.)

Bake for approximately 18 - 20 minutes or until lightly browned. About halfway through the baking time, lightly prick the bottom of each shortbread, with the tines of a fork, if they have puffed up. Check again after another five minutes and prick again if needed. Once they are fully baked, remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When completely cooled, remove the tarts from the pan. (These may be made in large quantities and frozen.)

CREAM CHEESE FILLING: In your food processor or electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the condensed milk, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla and process until smooth. Transfer the filling to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until serving time. It is best to make the filling at least a day in advance to give it time to become firm and for all the flavors to mingle.
To serve: Using two small spoons, fill the tart shells with the cream cheese filling. The filled tart shells can be made several hours in advance and refrigerated. Just before serving top with fresh berries or cut up fruit.
Makes about 36 - 2 inch (5 cm) miniature tarts.

I guess I'm a bad blogger....

2009-07-31T14:59:00.005-05:00

but look I updated my etsy shop!

And I promise more posts coming soon! There are lots of projects on the horizon.

Maybellene

2009-07-09T23:03:00.003-05:00

I just paused from my internet life, and saw a commercial on Ovation TV for what looks to be an awesome series called "American Revolutionaries." They will be featuring some great musicians, from Sarah Vaughn to Chuck Berry (hence the name of this post). Not only does the series look good, I love their graphics! The saturated illustration on top of the black and white photo and the great use of type, its love all over. To check out a schedule of the American Revoluntionaries series, click here.

Whew!

2009-06-30T23:24:00.003-05:00

Well I think I've finally recovered from the Des Moines Art Festival! It was a long and pretty warm weekend, but overall I had a good time. All my preparations and planning finally went into full swing.

I saw a lot of great people and had a lot of help from my family and friends (thanks you guys!!!!). I couldn't have done it without you.

Since I was one of the Iowa Emerging Artists, I was required to do a demonstration during the weekend festivities. My prints are generally printed with my Nolan proof press, but due to its weight, I decided to just print by hand. Thanks to Grant for his lovely "arty" photos :)

I brought a bunch of my tools and even had the linocut locked up in a galley to show during my demo. I had quite a few people stop by and hope they enjoyed learning a little more about printmaking.

Process Ladder

2009-06-22T15:49:00.001-05:00

Process Ladder
Originally uploaded by frank-chimero

I love the work of Frank Chimero and I think this illustration is great. Reminds me of our process books in Advanced Graphic Design, there to show the process.

Awesome Fabric Flowers

2009-06-17T19:53:00.003-05:00

flowers to wear
Originally uploaded by calamity kim

Aren't these beautiful!?!!! I've been wanting to make some fabric flowers forever now and I'm totally in love with these. Check out the tutorial at Calamity Kim.

Put a Record on...

2009-06-16T17:00:00.000-05:00

Likewise, this is also hilarious. Especially with the vast amounts of records spewing from our house.

Via Printeresting

A Tiny Press

2009-06-16T11:00:00.003-05:00

This was too great not to post!

via Printeresting

Hometown Vintage Style

2009-06-15T15:44:00.003-05:00

In postcards that is. Over Memorial Day weekend, Matt and I spent some time in Okoboji, Iowa at their various flea markets and antique shows/shops. We go antiquing quite frequently, but I've never really found any memorablia from my hometown, mostly due to the fact that Ossian is only home to 850 people.

Well in Okoboji I ended up purusing the booth of a woman with about a zillion postcards. She had the Iowa postcards separated by town and to my surprise found not only one, but three postcards from Ossian.

I guessing the top one was a stock "Good Luck" postcard, with the gold painted on later for which ever town wanted them.

The middle postcard has a house that looks very familiar, but has no clues as to its location. The writer indicates "I suppose you know this house without me telling you." Too bad you didn't tell me. I think it is a house on E Broadway, near the railroad tracks, but I'm not certain.

The colored house at the bottom I think is actually now on what is known as Becker Ave. The house still stands there and is home to some former neighbors. They worked on restoring the house and they might have even had a copy of this postcard, as the paint scheme is very similar to what it is painted now.

Any Ossianites out there recognize these homes? Do they still stand? Am I correct in their location?

Letterpress Set-up

2009-06-13T20:59:00.004-05:00

When I describe my interest in letterpress, many people have lots of questions and can't really visualize the process. Today I finished up printing some new business cards and thought it would be a good opportunity to "show off" my set-up.

For my business cards, I started out designing in InDesign. Once finished, a pdf is sent off to get a letterpress cut. These cuts are made of magnesium and are reflected so they print correctly.

Mixing the ink color comes next. For my business cards, a dark orange was appropriate. This is where my background in painting comes in handy to mix up the right color. I use a Nolan Proof Press, so I hand ink every pass of the press. After inking the cut, I place the stock on the cut, apply the packing, and pull the roller across the cut. And then I repeat and repeat.

Since each piece is hand inked and pulled, one consideration to keep in mind is registration. Each color on a piece has to go through the press a separate time. In addition, the paper has to be registered properly to ensure proper placement.

There are many ways to handle registration, but thus far I've been using masking tape to eyeball the placement. Thus far it has been working fairly well, but tight registration does pose a problem with my masking tape system. I hope to look into a better registration system as I get into more complicated designs, but for now it works.

There's a short overview of letterpress. Hope you all enjoy :) Back to making more prints!

Where as all the time gone????

2009-06-11T22:44:00.004-05:00

Obviously I've been a little pre-occupied to post any time recently...........here's a quick update of the past few months.......

I graduated in April with a degree in graphic design

ALT went to publication and was distrubuted throughout Des Moines

Matt and I went to the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans.

I'm still working with Main Street Iowa, but looking for full time graphic design work

I joined the Prairie Book Collaborative

And I've been busy busy busy preparing for the Des Moines Art Festival coming up here near the end of June.

Today I took the day off to work on some printing and such----found it kind of ironic that my finger nail polish looked all nice just to get covered in black ink :) But I like it none-the-less.

Freakin' Hilarious!

2009-02-10T21:03:00.004-06:00

So I found this while perusing the Internets.......and it is hilarious!

artwork by Lawrence Yang via FFFFound

All in fun :)

2009-02-03T16:19:00.002-06:00

So I've missed a few posts here now....which means I'm insanely busy!!! Last semester of my senior year is definately not full of "fluff." In the mean time, enjoy this little delight :)

These little baggies will make your sandwich swipe free. Would be great for the office fridge :) click here for more info. (5% of all purchases will be donated to ‘freedom from hunger’)

via Design Sponge

No post?

2009-01-30T16:14:00.002-06:00

So I ran out of time yesterday to post.........which means I'm working really hard! Ironic for "Work in Progress Thursday." Lately I've been preparing my portfolio to go out into the "real world," which by the way, why do they call it the "real world;" isn't the life I'm living right now "real"? I'm hoping once I'm out of school the "real" world won't be so damn busy so I have time to do things for myself once in awhile........but I hope I find a job none the less.

Off to find something for Fun Friday ;)

Take a Piece of my Type

2009-01-28T16:41:00.002-06:00

Found this while purusing the internets today. The website, Type is Art, allows you to take pieces of typography and transform them into a little piece of art. Above is a little sampling of mine. Enjoy!

New Talent Tuesday!

2009-01-27T14:57:00.003-06:00

Time for New Talent Tuesday! I found this painting on Etsy, using the Pounce feature. I love the drawing quality and the vibrant colors. Plus, the cow harkens back to my rural Iowa roots :) Check out ErinGoPaint's store here.

Rubik's Cube

2009-01-26T21:59:00.003-06:00

rubik's cube
Originally uploaded by Joe McLaren

Time for a little inspiration Monday! I've loved Joe McLaren's illustration style on flickr for some time now. The colors and the way he uses shapes is awesome.

Fun Friday-For all the A-holes out there!

2009-01-23T20:09:00.002-06:00

a personal study of the a-holes
Originally uploaded by albertonomo

This is too great! Everybody needs a little designer comedy now and then! Happy Weekend!

Logo Work

2009-01-22T15:15:00.001-06:00

At my internship I've been busy working away at some new logos. So far I'm leaning to the first two there, but we'll see which one ends up being used :)

Awesome Type Coin

2009-01-22T14:36:00.006-06:00

Graphic Design Wednesday---A Little Late

Stani Michiels, architect and artist recently won a design competition for the Dutch Ministry of Finance for the new 5 Euro coin. The theme, "Netherlands and Architecture," inspired him to create the coin using Architect's names to create a portrait of the Dutch queen on the front of the coin, while the back uses a variety of Architecture books to create an outline of the Netherlands. He says on his blog, “The books rise as buildings towards the center. Through their careful placement they combine to outline the Netherlands, while birds’ silhouettes suggest the capitals of all the provinces."

“I approached the subject ‘Netherlands and Architecture’ from two points of view,” he says on his blog. “On one hand I paid tribute to the rich Dutch architecture history and on the other hand to the contemporary quality of Dutch architecture. These form also the two sides of my coin. Traditionally the front of the coin needs to portray the queen, while the back side displays the value of the coin.”

Thanks to Creative Review for the link

Resolutions

2009-01-21T16:32:00.003-06:00

I usually never make resolutions, but one of the things I've resolved to do this year is post on my blog more often, in fact, I'm going to try to do it every week day! The schedule that I've made up will follow the following ;)

Monday-Inspiration Monday-Why not begin your week with a little inspiration
Tuesday-New Talent Tuesday-Posts of any new or new to me works of art, design, or craft
Wednesday-Graphic Design Wednesday-I can't go a week without looking at something graphic-related, so neither should you!
Thursday-Work in Progress Thursday-Posting of projects I'm working on, graphic design, craft, or others
Friday-Fun Friday-Something fun to end the week with :)

I think this schedule will be fun and will make me more likely to post more often. I hope you all enjoy! Coming up in a few, Graphic Design Wednesday!

When Your a Jet....Snap, Snap, Snap

2009-01-09T09:10:00.005-06:00

Etsy user frillz made up this wonderful treasury using one of my prints, with an awesome theme of West Side Story. Thanks frillz :)

For the Love of Posters

2009-01-08T22:21:00.003-06:00

Chicago Printmakers Gallery
Originally uploaded by Threadless Chicago

On January 15th, Steve Walters of Screwball Press will be giving a demonstration and presentation about his screenprinted posters at Grand View University. His show looks awesome in the gallery and I'm way excited about going. Rumor is, if you go, you get a free poster :)

I'm Famous!

2009-01-08T21:54:00.003-06:00

Well kind of.......by Ossian standards......... :)

I've been accepted as an Emerging Iowa Artist for the Des Moines Art Festival, so I made the front page of the Ossian Bee. I've yet to see the actual newspaper but you can check out the online edition here. Thanks everyone for the kind words about my acceptance as well :)

Crazy Busyness!

2008-12-05T16:23:00.002-06:00

As you can see from the lack of posting, I've been extremely busy as of late. Stay tuned for the quick update:

Finals for school are next week! (and they changed over to Grand View University)

I had my senior show exhibit at school and a well attended reception

I turned 22 with lots of my favorite peeps around

One of my good friends got engaged (congrats!)

I picked up my very own letterpress!

I was selected as an Emerging Iowa Artist for the Des Moines Art Festival

My group and I won the marketing/design competition for the Iowa Crossroads Competition

Today is my brother's 17th birthday!

And its almost Christmas time!

So much stuff, so little time to post :(

Heading to the Beach

2008-10-23T20:18:00.004-05:00

Today I came home to find an unassuming postal box sent from my favorite cousin. Earlier this month I had entered his blog contest, to send an artistic representation of Jacksonville, North Carolina. I've never been there, but was sad to see no one enter his contest. To remedy this situation, I sent him a little painting sketch I had done for a larger project. Since I "won" his contest with a painting of "Jacksonville," he sent me, as promised, a jar of sand from the coast. I must admit, I do enjoy going to the beach any time I want now. Especially since today it was only about 45 degrees outside and rainy. I also enjoyed the irony of the sand, all the way from North Carolina, was placed inside a strawberry jam jar from Minnesota.

Check out Phil's blog here to see my wonderful winning artwork :) You can also see his day to day experiences and his journalism skills in use at the Jacksonville Daily News. Thanks for the trip to the beach Phil!

Norwegian Goodness

2008-10-16T22:13:00.002-05:00

Last Friday was Matt's birthday. He's not too much into birthday cake and I kept tempting him with how great my Great-Grandma's Norweigan blitz torte recipe is, so I decided to make it for his birthday. For the most part it was a success. I don't have the right pans for it, but it was still delicious and I even got the meriange to work out :) Too bad its all gone now...

Quick post of a great find!

2008-10-02T15:41:00.003-05:00

I'm in love with this stamp. I may have to buy some just to make my letters (aka bills) prettier :) They are very Jim Flora inspired. He illustrated albums covers and children's books in the 40's, 50's and 60's.

Here is what the USPS website said about this stamp:

"On September 8, 2008, in Washington, DC, the Postal Service™ issued a 42–cent, Latin Jazz commemorative stamp.With the issuance of the Latin Jazz stamp, the United States Postal Service® celebrates the rich musical heritage of the United States of America. The stamp features a bold, graphic design by San Francisco–based artist and Latin jazz fan Michael Bartalos of San Francisco, California. The design conveys the multicultural aspects of the music, its percussive and improvisational nature, and its rhythmic complexity"

BEST bookbinding team featured on Etsy!

2008-09-25T22:42:00.002-05:00

I was just checking my email and found out my Etsy team, the BEST bookbinding team has been featured on Etsy. Check out the article here. And check out our blog here. And my shop here!

Great Northern Midwest Printer's Fair

2008-09-20T22:31:00.003-05:00

Today I took a little roadtrip over to Mt. Pleasant for the Great Northern Midwest Printer's Fair. I was on the lookout for a press, but alas I did not find one. I did meet some nice people and got to see the Printer's Hall which was pretty cool. They even have the press and paper folder from my home town newspaper. The giant Babcock Reliance. Maybe by next year's Printer's Fair I'll have my own press.

Busy Busy and New Design

2008-09-16T22:31:00.003-05:00

So I've been awful about posting lately. School has been taking priority thus far and I've also been dealing with personal things as well. Just recently went home to help my family move to the new house. Kind of sad to pack up from the only home I've lived in, but somewhat exciting to move into a new place.

Even though I've been busy, I took some time tonight to go to my friend Lacee's Mary Kay party. I've been using Mary Kay since I started wearing make-up (I won a free make over). They recently changed the design of their compacts and I was blown away with the design. My old compact was obviously a few designs ago. The new design is sleek and modern and I love how they used the pink. I ended up spending probably more than I needed to, but it was a fun time.

I've Found It!

2008-09-08T00:19:00.003-05:00

My new car that is! or perhaps my "someday when you're rich and famous you can buy this car" car. The Highland Parks Area Association had a car show this weekend and Matt and I went to check it out. There were some pretty sweet cars there and I wish we would have had some more time to check it out more throughly. Overall it was quite enjoyable and I could imagine myself driving off in one of these :)

I'm Published!

2008-09-03T23:16:00.003-05:00

Well kind of.....how to you describe it when somebody uses your design? Anyway, one of my logos was used and I just got to see the pictures! Yeay exciting! Hope you enjoy :)

It's Yellow!

2008-09-01T00:28:00.002-05:00

And totally great!!!! I found this awesome table at an estate sale for $30! With the chairs! I was pretty excited to get it and love it in my kitchen. It happens to go well with the way I redecorated as well.

Iowa State Fair

2008-08-24T23:16:00.003-05:00

Oh the Iowa State Fair. I was in 4-H for nine years so I've very familiar with fair time. I didn't get a chance to head back to Winneshiek county for their fair, but Kari and Grant, and later Kindra as well joined Matt and I for a couple trips to the Iowa State Fair.Besides finding everything you can imagine on a stick (even salad on the stick this year!), we saw the sites of the fair. Everything is bigger there, including this giant pumpkin! It weighed over 1200 lbs! This is the biggest bull---no lie!

And the biggest boar---weighed almost the same amount as the giant pumpkin!
And a lovely view of the fair from the sky glider.
All in all, it was a fun time, enjoyed the sites, the company, and relived my years in 4-H. And now, the wait begins for next year's fair!

When I grow up...

2008-08-19T21:15:00.002-05:00

I want to be like this girl! This print is from Elizabeth House and I stumbled upon her blog and love her stuff! She's into printmaking and bookbinding and also is a new fabric designer! Maybe when I grow up I can be a fabric designer too (or just be printing and bookbinding in my "studio" aka the basement :)

Fall done by Etsy

2008-08-18T16:00:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking more and more about fall lately, probably due to the mild August we've been having. As I've thinking about fall, I've been looking at some finds on Etsy that my fall spirit is pining for :)

First is the great shawl by TickedPinkKnits:

And this great combo, sold separately, but they look great together, from Elmstudios: plate, bowl

And these great fall earrings from ShopClementine:

I love the color combo in these kitchen towels from MichelleBruse:
And everybody needs a little vintage inspired art hanging around :) Great little print from monkeypoweredSo much stuff to look forward to fall with :)

Weekly Round-up

2008-08-17T12:28:00.005-05:00

It's been a busy week (as seen by my lack of posting), so here's a weekly round-up of all things of this week :)
I made delicious banana bread early on in the week :) It's my grandma's recipe and it is so delicious :) Matt and I went through half a loaf right after I made it
On Thursday I got free tickets to the I-cubs game. I haven't gone to a game in 2 years at least, so it was fun to go. The game was really pretty good and the I-cubs ended up winning. Unfortunately we left at the bottom of the 8th because the wind really picked up and I could barely see because of my contacts. It started raining as we walked back to the car.
And to top off the weekend, Kindra and I went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning. I'd never gone before, but I throughly enjoyed it. I ended up making this beautiful bouquet for $3.50! I love fresh flowers!

After the flea market we stopped at West End Architectural Salvage. It was a really cool place, a little on the pricey side, but pretty cool. Have to remember it when I own my house someday. We also stopped out at the bridal store so Kindra could show me my bridesmaid dress. I'm so excited for her wedding :)

A very busy week, but a great one....and soon, a post about the one and only Iowa State Fair :) Gotta have some fun before school starts (in a week, eek!)

First Trip to a Real Zoo!

2008-08-13T23:30:00.004-05:00

That's right, I've experienced my first trip to an actual zoo. And when I say actual zoo, I mean one that isn't a petting zoo or the Las Vegas Zoo (never go to the Las Vegas Zoo, unless you want to pay $8 to get chased by crazy birds). This last weekend Kari and Grant came down to the big D to visit and we went to the Blank Park Zoo. It was a good time and Kari got some great videos of our zoo experience. Here are some of the pics I captured.

Summer Time

2008-08-12T20:53:00.004-05:00

Summer is nearing an end here in the land of Ioway. One of my favorite parts of summer is the abundant amount of fresh strawberries. During my last berry binge, I found a quite peculiar strawberry and just thought I'd share :)

Enjoy the rest of summer!

Ossian Fest!

2008-08-08T21:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was the grand ole Ossian Fest. Matt and I took the trek back up home Thursday night in preparation for Ossian Fest on Friday. Woke up for the free breakfast (pancakes and Brockman's sausage is the best!) and then wandered around town, grabbed a couple of 19 cent ice cream cones and checked out the flea market. Later that evening we grabbed a piece of curb and watched the parade. Here are some pics of the fabulous Ossian Fest Parade.
This was crazy! This man had trained all of his ducks to march in line with him and every one of them had different little costumes.
And the classic shriners in their clown get-up.
And here's one of my great uncles driving his restored tractor.

All in all Ossian Fest was a great time. Good times with friends and classic Ossian Fest goodness :)

Another Treasury + Sale!

2008-08-08T00:00:00.003-05:00

It's back to school time and everyone needs a new book or two! It's time for BESTbooks Team Back to School Sale! I will be offering free shipping beginning Aug 8 going through Aug 10. Check out the BESTbooks blog for the complete list of sales. Also check out our sweet treasury here :)

Fun Treasury

2008-08-07T21:26:00.004-05:00

My lack of posting is starting to show...so I apologize. I have contracted a cold (from my brother, little poop) so I have been trying to recoop.

Today I did get a nice little convo today that I've been featured in a treasury! :) Thanks to RainbowMom for featuring one of my handmade books. She even gave me some props on her blog :)

Thanks RainbowMom!

Storque Article!

2008-08-04T13:30:00.003-05:00

One of my books made it into the "related items" in a storque article! I was so excited (and still am). I've never been on the front page so this is the first time I've come close to the glory of the front page treasury. There my little book is on the bottom of the front page of Etsy (the little pink arrow is pointing to it)

And this is the article about creating memories with your kids and they mention creating photo brag books and that's how my little book came in :)And at the bottom of the article there is my little book :) Middle book in the top row.

And now I'll wait and see if this brings any more views (or better yet, sales).

Re-decorating

2008-07-29T22:04:00.010-05:00

This past weekend I decided it was time to clean. And by clean, I mean everything, dust, wash, mop, vaccuum, everything. And by doing this I gave myself the opportunity to redecorate everything. I decided to go with some fun bright colors since it is summer after all (the 90+ degree weather with crazy humid sure shows me that). Anyway, here are some pics of my redecorating!
There's my great little estate find (see previous post).

Print and photos by wmah! And you can buy the print at my etsy shop :) http://dameling.etsy.com/
And hey its me and my fam :)To see more pictures of my redecorating, see my flickr :)

Garage Sale Finds!

2008-07-28T17:18:00.006-05:00

I found some great stuff this past weekend! Matt and I went out to West Des Moines so he could look at some records (he owns a record store). Although the records weren't good, my garage sale finds were! My first find was this awesome chair.

I found this at an estate sale for the grand total of $6! I love the back and the tapered legs! The upholstery is a little worn, but I plan on fixing that...maybe with my next find! This fabric was calling out my name when we stopped at another sale!

I found three unopened packets of this material of these great little birdies. Inside the packets were little instructions on how to make a tea cozy, typewriter cover, and telephone book cover, among others out of the fabric. It also came with some lime green fabric that matches the little green birdy perfectly.

And, finally my last awesome find!

This little tea pot was at the same estate sale as the chair. I couldn't pass up the little retro geometric shapes! It's a little more on the yellow cream side than the pictures show, but soon I'll be posting where I put my little tea pot!

It's Done.....

2008-07-24T12:52:00.004-05:00

...well not quite, but it's getting close! The newsletter that is. I've been working on this newsletter for school. Basically it's trying to sell the art department to high schoolers. I had a really hard time trying to get the design down, for some reason. I think my main problem was trying to create a great design, while still trying to appeal to high schoolers. I'm not that far removed from high school, but looking back, it feels so far away.

I've definately got some more tweaking to do, but I think I'm on the right track now. Tonight I'm going to try and finish up the tweaking and hopefully have time for some other projects I'm working on...more on that later :)

Back to the Future...

2008-07-22T23:42:00.003-05:00

...is one of the greatest movies ever! But this post isn't about Marty McFly (even though Nike just came out with the future shoes of Marty McFly). Mostly I've been thinking about my future, pretty much all the time. This year is my senior year at Grand View and I will graduate in April with a graphic design degree. Thus far I've been working at an internship, which I think is good experience and I enjoy most of my co-workers, but I think it's sucking out my soul. I feel like I'm chained to my desk and making things take longer so I actually have something to work on.

I've been thinking heavily about having my own business. Currently I've just been selling on etsy and a few Craft Saturdays. Neither have been extremely profitable, which isn't really why I make things. I love design as well, but I think I need to find something where I can combine my love of design and creating things by hand.

I've been checking out letterpress businesses as a possibility after graduation. I'd love to have my own press and go printing away, but being a poor college student, the press is a little out of my price range. One business I found which I absolutely fell in love with was Orange Beautiful. They're based out of Chicago and what they're doing is my dream. There's also Hello Lucky that has great stuff, along with Red Prairie Press.

Enjoy those links and see you soon!

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-21T22:24:00.003-05:00

Oh home sweet home. This weekend I went up to my parents for a few days. The main excuse for my visit was to clean out all of my stuff since my parents are moving. Now they are only moving across town and by across town, I mean within walking distance as Ossian's population is just over 850. Even though they'll still be in the same town and within walking distance of the old house, I find myself being a little recluse about the whole moving thing. It's the only house I ever knew growing up. Plus it is a beautiful house and one of the older homes in town. The house was built in 1900 and two other houses on the street were built with the same floor plans.

While I was cleaning out my room, I snuck into the little dormer connected to my room and forgot how much I loved the pattern on the floor. I can only hope the future owners enjoy the pattern as much as I do. Until then, it will still be my home sweet home :)

Mini books :)

2008-07-17T20:13:00.005-05:00

I found this paper at work that was old letterhead and it turns out when you cut off the logo area, it is the perfect size for these little wood covers and they make these great little books. I already sold one of them but I still have two in my shop (check them out at http://dameling.etsy.com/) and am in the progress of working on more....that is once I finished this newsletter for school....now off to work on that...

Total Cute-ness!

2008-07-14T23:42:00.005-05:00

I just bought these on etsy tonight! Too too cute from junecrafts! I thought they'd be great for my kitchen in all its retro teal/red glory :) Just thought I'd share the cute-ness!

Thank You Mr. Flora

2008-07-12T18:58:00.006-05:00

Last week my boyfriend and I were shopping downtown and happened to walk by this poster in a store window. Now being a graphic designer, I happen to like to look at the poster more for the design than anything else, and when I saw this poster I immediately wanted to find out where I could get one. Unfortunately I couldn't find a place to get one, nor could I find a pic of it online.

The main reason I fell in love with this poster was because of its obvious Jim Flora influence. For those that don't know Jim Flora's work, he was an illustrator and designer in the 40's and 50's and illustrated for RCA and Columbia records. His primary focus was on jazz albums and his work was influential to many of today's designers like Tim Biskup.

Luckily I have a few of his album covers and I hope to get the books of his work (The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora and the Mischievous Art of Jim Flora).

Here is the schedule for the Jazz in July Festival (hopefully I can get a copy of the poster soon and post it here!)

And here is the Jim Flora album cover that I think gave the most influence to the Jazz in July series. Please take a minute or two to check out his awesome work at http://www.jimflora.com/ or check out the blog about his work at http://jimflora.blogspot.com.

I Succumbed.....

2008-07-11T23:33:00.003-05:00

Yes, I finally succumbed to starting my own blog. It's been on my mind for some time now, as I'm continuing to create more and more of an online presence to help along my etsy shop, and hopefully someday a full-time business. This is part of the goals I have for myself in the coming months. I need to finalize some of my other goals. I am at a transition point---this fall will be my last year in college and I would love to have an online business to support myself. Currently I have an internship and it has taught me I do not like office politics....

But I think that is enough for my first post. I hope you enjoy the musings of Ms. Danielle and thank you for your support.

If you would like check out some of my work, here are a few places to find it :)
http://www.dameling.etsy.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/dameling
http://students.gvc.edu/danielle.ameling