Nifty Findings: Art

I find when I'm roaming the inter-web I'm always coming across amazing artists. I just wanted to share a couple of these nifty findings. First is Sophie Lecuyer. An amazing french artist who has a unique illustration style and tons of layer inky goodness through out her work. I found her HERE. My favorite project of hers is Metamorphoses. She has done screen prints on light boxes and when you turn it on the image changes. Such a brilliant idea and done so wonderfully. Check out her work. She does tons of etchings, sketches, illustrations, screen prints, mono prints and textiles. The lady is just awesome when it comes to utilizing techniques.

Sophie Lecuyer

Second is Nathaniel Russell. This guy has an awesome style that is witty and simple. I love artists that are distinct and you can instantly recognize it anywhere. I can't wait to get my hands on some of his prints or records. I'm also smitten over THIS post from his blog. Check out his work. You'll for sure find something that'll make you smile.

Nathaniel Russell

Third, are awesome sketches by Megan. I found on her blog Megan-Ta da! Also THIS lovely interview with  Marina Muun. Who has such a sweet and unique style that I just adore.

Marina Munn

Finally we've got a new lil' video from Rone, an amazing street artist from Australia. My heart just melts for some good street art. His style is awesome. Hes got layery drippy goodness all over the place. He works on a massive scale that just blows me away. The video is put together really well so you can see a little insight to his process. I mean, the guy is just cool.

Phew! Hope I haven't been too rambly. I just love art so much. I can't help but want to ramble and share it with everyone! Hope you got some inspiration from these guys, I know I did!

-Mint~Tea

Sketches

Lately I've been getting quite behind on my correspondence. I love snail mail and I always put extra love into every letter I send, but in the long run it takes me forever just to send a simple note. As my letters get piled up other projects are getting done. So, not a complete loss. I'm still being productive just not productively sending letters.  Other projects I've been working on are new tee shirt designs and new sticker designs! I'm also excited to make some nifty lil' note cards. Which should help me get caught up on my snail mail because I love sending handmade cards! Finally worked out some sketches and scanned them in. Now all I need to do is clean them up and get them ready for printing!

Alright, I know the sketches are rough. I mean really, really rough. But these silly little doodles help out a ton when I'm putting it into illustrator. 

Flower sticker designs. Hopefully we'll be able to finally use our new sticker maker! 

Forest on the water. Inspired from one of my favorite films The Science of Sleep. This one still has a lot of details to work out.  So we'll see how that turns out, it might not work out. It wouldn't be the first time.

Note card design I'm working on. Secret notes! 

-Mint~Tea

Music Monday: Happy-ish Playlist

Hello friends! Its Monday and I've made you a playlist! Now, not just any playlist but one that will make you bob your head and wanna dance a little bit. I listen to all kinds of music and although I hate to admit it, I enjoy a nice lil' pop tune here and there. (Within moderation of course) So I give you nice little happy tunes on this lovely Monday! If one of these songs made you smile or dance a little bit then my mission is complete. If not I accept the challenge! But for now, enjoy this playlist. 

And yes, that is a Matt & Kim  and The Beastie Boys mash-up tacked on to the end. Awesome, I know. Plus Kimbra doing a cover song/mash up. Double awesomeness. I should really do a playlist of just mash ups. Hm, next week my lovelies. 

-Mint~Tea

Sending

Catching up and some correspondence! I love sending mystery mail to people. Letters are fun to get but surprise letters are even better! I'm always pulling names off of sendsomething.net to send lil' notes to people.  Send something is one of my favorites because there is always new people and I've had some of my longest lasting pen pals off of there. But if you're not brave enough to send to random people there is always the Letters Writers Alliance.

Mail to strangers! 

Is that bad that I choose random people to send stuff to by there name? I mean the name Olive is just cool. Also whenever I see guys that like to send mail I always have to send them something, just because there isn't enough guys that send letters! After reading statistics from the LWA they only had 10% of there members that are male. So guys grab a pen and get writing! 

Send more mail!

-Mint~Tea

Music Monday: Charity Children Berlin

Hello Monday! This week I give you Charity Children Berlin. If these little tunes don't brighten your moody Monday then I'm not sure what will. When I first stumbled upon these guys and immediately fell in love with the catchy ukulele and sweet lyrics. There songs are so simply wonderful and her strange voice is so unique. Listening to there music I always get a sense  that I can write songs too! Which in reality is oddly difficult. But there simplify is so appealing and seems do-able. Which in turn makes you feel like you can do it too! Oh I just love em'. On top of it all they are one of the cutest couples! (We all know Jenny and Johnny take first place in my book for worlds cutest couple, but they aren't too far behind.) Just reading about them in interviews such as THIS. You really just fall in love with these two. Starting off as street musicians and working there way up. You gotta give them some respect for that. I'd probably be way too overly excited if I was wondering around Berlin and came across these two singing in the street. But wouldn't that just be so awesome! Ok, well just being in Berlin and wondering around would be neato, but cool tunes on top of that! Hell yes!

 Any ways, listen and enjoy! Make this Monday a happy one! 

-Mint~Tea

Nifty Findings: Cameras

As I was roaming around on the internet looking for more camera projects I ran across some neato things that I wanted to share! First off, this project call the PHOTO SWAP. I love the idea of this project and the fact that it supports using film cameras, which I love! I haven't participated in this one yet, but once I get time I'm totally signing up! The lady also has a nifty BLOG and posts tons of cool lomography pictures and shes got some cool cameras. Also after reading one of my favorite blogs THE DAINTY SQUID. I'm on a mission to save up my pennies and buy a  Polaroid land camera. Shes also got some great tips and a lovely review of Instax cameras. Which is oh so helpful! I found THESE tips from the brilliant minds at Photojojo that have some great ways to tweak with your disposable camera. I've also been contemplating getting THIS darkroom in a box kit. Which just seems like something I would have way too much fun with. 

My heart does melt for photography! 

-Mint~Tea

Music Monday: Gregory Alan Isakov

Happy Monday! For this music Monday I give a new find of mine Gregory Alan Isakov. Now, I try to always been finding and discovering music. Most of the time I write about band and artist on Monday that I've been keen too for a while. But with this one I seriously discovered him this morning. Thanks to my lovely mom and her obsession with Pandora radio. So, I haven't had time to really listen and dissect all of his discography or learn much about him. After looking up a few of his songs I was sold. He's got these melancholy, sickly sweet tunes. At first listen I was afraid that all his stuff was too slow and similar. Then I came across song like Tin Can Roses and 5 O'clock Shadow that are like upbeat nifty lil' tunes. But the real gems that this guy offers are his slowly building, lyrically heartfelt songs. Which he has not shortage of, from what I've heard so far. I love lyrics that can have multiple meanings and let the listener kinda decide what they want it to mean to them. (Yes, I know you can to this with all music. But his songs make it simpler for some reason.) Anyways, I was taken today by this guy and wanted to share the new found sweetness of Gregory Alan Isakov. Hope you enjoy these soft, easy going tunes on this fine August Monday. 

"So I'll send you my words. From the corners of my room.

And though I write them by the light of day.

Please read them by the light of the moon." 

Let's be conquers of the world! Well, at least for today.

-Mint~Tea

Photo Challenge..er.. Project Thingy

I've always thought that disposable camera projects were really cool. There are tons of them out there that you can participate in. I first read about it on a kick-starter page for a project that  is consisted of cameras left in public places in New York for strangers to take pictures. Which seems like a neat idea. Then I was reading about The Disposable Memory Project. Which was kinda the same idea but more world wide.  Anyways I wanted to start one of these kinda projects. But my problem was I wasn't sure how much money and time I wanted to invest in a project like this. I feel like way too much of the success rate relies on the stranger taking the photos and returning  the camera. So, I came up with my own version of the project and am just sending these cameras out to my snail mail pen pals around the world. I've compiled a little list that's more of a guide line for them to follow and sent out a few cameras.

yeah, I know I accidentally typed 12 twice. Typewriters don't have a back space. 

Now, I've only sent out 3 of these and have yet to receive one back. So the success is kinda up in the air. But I'm hoping that if it works out well I can send these to all my pen pals. It will just be fun to kinda see what they see everyday. Yeah, that sounds creepy, but you know what I mean. Taking the "stranger" part out of the project. I have a feeling that there are still some little details to work out. Hopefully with these test ones I'll get all the kinks worked out. 

Oh how I do love analog photography! Wish me luck! 

-Mint~Tea

Elevated Envelope Project

We all know I love snail mail, pen pals and papery goodness. So when I found out about the Elevated Envelope Project I just had to participate! Basically you decorate a bunch of envelopes and send them to a list of people you're given and those people also send you a decorated envelope. The first time around I didn't give myself enough time to fulfill my decorating desires. So this time I'm getting a jump on it, although I have already fallen behind. Needless to say, punctuality isn't my strong suit. I've already received a couple of envelopes and man they are awesome. It always makes my mail box happy to digest a beautifully decorated envelope. This project is perfect if you want to send and receive mail but don't want the long commitment that snail mail entails. Its a really fun project to be a part of. Hats off to Tara Bliven! Shes got an awesome blog and store.

Here are the few that I've finished. 3 down 7 to go! I'm really into these kinda flowery patterns as of late. I'm thinking I should make a tee shirt or note cards with the same kind of patterns. 

One of my favorite envelopes that I've ever received. I really want this ladies stamp and stationary sets. She drew those awesome flowers on the envelope! The overall design is just awesome. 

One that I received the other day. My photograph doesn't do this envelope justice. I just love the calligraphy on the front. I need to work on making fancier fonts. 

It's a known fact that people love handwritten letters. Go send some pretty mail and make someones day! 

-Mint~Tea

Flower Lino Cut

I'm always rambling one about how much I love print making. But seriously, I do love it oh so much. This is one of my favorite lino cuts that I've done. Flowers are always my go-to thing to draw, i'm not sure why but it's always just been something I'm good at drawing. Anyways I just wanted to share some of these prints that I've made. These are handy for writing little notes on the back and sending to my snail mail buddies. Or these are good for using them as thank-you/congratulations/(insert occasion here) cards. 

The nifty thing about making a lino cut is you can print it as many times are you want. The block doesn't go bad. Well, unless you do some wacky stuff to it or don't care for it properly. BUT in general, should last a life time. I was running out of black ink so the black ones didn't turn out too well and I was rolling the ink a bit funky so my brayer kept sticking. So I'm definitely going to have to do this print again in the black ink. 

Lino cuts are fun and pretty simple to do. The supplies don't cost too much and it's a great art medium! the possibilities are endless when it comes to printmaking. You can use these in so many different projects in so many different ways.  So go hack at some blocks and make some prints! 

-Mint~Tea

Music Monday: Twilight Concert Series Playlist

Hello! This Monday I made you a playlist! Now, if you live in Utah and love music you've probably heard of the Twilight Concert Series. These concerts use to be free, but this year they have started charging 5$ a ticket. They've been having these concerts for as long as I can remember. Mom and Dad use to take us to them back when they were free. I'm not sure how they do it but they get some awesome bands to play. This year we've seen Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket and Joshua James play. I mean paying only 5$ to see these big bands is not bad at all. Although the venue is lacking greatly in some aspects, especially sound quality. Which isn't a good thing when you're going there to listen to some music. But they do have good food vendors, art booths and it is outdoors AND it's only 5$. I guess you get what you pay for. In a couple weeks we're going to see Iron and Wine and possibly M.Ward. We did have hopes to see Passion Pitt but sadly they canceled their tour for the rest of the summer. Any ways long story short. Utah is actually a cool place to see some awesome bands for cheap. You can always find some music somewhere. 

This playlist are my favorite songs from Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket and Iron and Wine. All three of these bands have released awesome albums. Sadly I couldn't fit all of the awesomeness on to one playlist, so I've left off a lot of greatness that can be found in these bands discography. If you don't know these bands, look them up! 

Happy Monday!

-Mint~Tea