Update: life's at it again

Ahhhhhhhh!
Since my last post, I have been busy as all hell. Got a new job which I absolutely love and have just been enjoying summer. Outdoor free concerts, picnics, gardens, pools, and baking ridiculous amounts of goods. Just yesterday, I baked homemade cheese its and today got the vegetable strainer out of storage and using goods from our own garden canned homemade pasta sauce (rendered above by the adobe ideas app on my iPad -which I'm using to type this post!). Delicious!

Hopefully things slow down enough that I can have time to update more and post to the 30 days of creativity, but we'll see.

Happy summer!

Art for Joplin

Moosylvannia, a Marketing company in St. Louis, working with All Along Press, a nonprofit screenprinting and art studio on Cherokee Street came together to use ART to raise money for Joplin. Art for Joplin is a compilation of posters designed by local artists in the St. Louis area where all proceeds go to the United Way in help of Joplin. Pretty cool idea, ay???

A very talented designer and photographer and collage artist, Fran Foster - whom I also went to High School with:) - designed the poster below. I just love her work, and now I get to own it! 

You can too if you follow the link and help out Joplin as well! Its really win win, I think.

You should defintely check out the site and help out the cause!

30 Days of Creativity: Day 2

Per the 30 days of creativity calendar, June 2nd's inspiration was ice cream, so I just doodled a little diddy inspired by Munch's Scream painting. I then played around with it in photoshop adding saturated colors. Just messing around. Kind of fun to break from the work of the day.

30 Days of Creativity: Day 1

So, I was very excited to start on my 30 days of creativity yesterday, especially while going through everyone's postings during work. I was amped to get home and make something. I got off work, worked out, tended to the garden, played with the dogs, and got down to making fresh banana and oat bread (seen below).

It turned out pretty amazing. I followed one of my old recipes for it adding a few things like oats, which I love and even though its summer - a dash of pumpkin spice.

Packed up some bags for me and my husband to take to work today and got a delightful email from him telling me how good it was - always fun to hear :)

Now, for a preview of things to come!

One of my New Years resolutions was to learn to knit and crochet. Well I've begun teaching myself with the help of youtube videos and hopefully will have some fun things to make within this 30 day assignment! YEAH YEAH YEAH!

Memorial Day: Remembering

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Thank God for my life. For the Stars and Stripes. May Freedom forever fly. Let it Reign.
Salute the ones that died. The ones that give their lives.
So we dont have to sacrifice all the things we love.

My Family has a tradition (its about the only tradition we really take seriously or even have) on memorial day to visit graveyards and place flags on sites of those who served in the military as well as family members. We visited 6 in all, ending at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetary - which is by far the most overwhelming.

Grandpa Joe, Great grandfather to me.

Grandma Lodyce. I miss you everyday.
She drank Stag everyday, all day, until she went to bed so we always leave one for her.

And then there is Andy.

I cannot believe its been 3 years. I remember being in my cube when I still worked at JWT and getting the phone call of his passing. I remember hanging up and just feeling absolutely stunned like the air was unable to gain entry into my lungs. He was a year younger than me and yet he gave his life for our country.

What have any of us done that is even remotely of such value?
Try to think of him or the other 4,000+ soldiers killed in action in the Gulf, the next time you complain about something insignificant. Believe me, it will pale in comparison to their sacrifice. 

So, to Andy:

I think of you often...

Chesterfield Amphitheater Grand Opening

Attended the Grand Unveiling of the Chesterfield Amphitheater with Adrienne last weekend. With an all day festival ending with a FREE Edwin Mccain Concert - Party likes its 1997! To quote my husband "I have heard the name Edmin Mccain more in the past 2 days than I have in the past 10 years" haha, it was pretty awesome though.

The amphitheater was very well built for its intended use. Very open and surrounded with trails overlooking the ponds and waterfalls. I guess these are the kinds of things a city gets when you have rich people tax money.

Anywho, the Chesterfield Parks will sponsor free concerts all summer - and you are free to bring picnics and coolers. Fun and Free! My 2 favorite things. All I can say is, I will be back!

Currently Reading: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

 So we met last week for Read Wine to discuss Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter on the day of the severe weather in St. Louis. Everyone shared how they were trapped in their basements at work all day, but never to miss an opportunity to get together - Read Wine still met, although missing many members who had undoubtedly good excuse.

The book was okay to say the least. As an appreciator of history and Abraham Lincoln, I enjoyed the historical accuracy with bits of fantasy. There were a couple things I found to be lazy and could have been better (towards the end) but it was still entertaining. I wont give it away because you should read it :)

Thirty Days of Creativity

 

 JUNE 1-30 - I pledge to create something everyday! This is such an amazing idea and its got me all aflutter with creative madness!

Twitter was abuzz with all the design and craft blogs I follow going insane with #30daysofcreativity love. All their information from @createstuff can be found on their tumblr where they have inspirational videos and a calendar of ideas to get you started.

I just want to go home and break out my sewing machine and start on all the projects I have been putting off. But I shall wait...maybe take to the weekend to come up with some ideas and watch some knitting tutorials.

Mindsnacks, a language learning program iphone app

On another note in my life, I recently decided to take up Italiano and have spent a lot of my free time studying just for the fun of it. I went to Italy during college for a summer study abroad and would love to go back with my husband sometime in the next couple years - only more fluent. With a bunch of Italian apps on my iphone (I even changed the language setting to Italian which has been a slow start to getting used to) to borrowing some audio and study guides from my local library. My goal is to be able to have basic conversation and understand basic Italian by the end of summer.

Lofty goals, my friends. Lofty bilingual goals...

Thought of the day: Devour

"When life hands you lemons"

Never understood the saying "When life hands you lemons make lemonade" cause to me lemons should never be associated as a bad thing. They are delicious! I can eat them raw, or with salt or with pretzels. I cant get enough of them.

It is probably why my teeth are so white, even though I will have no enamel when I'm older to fight off tooth decay. But we're talking about the lighter side of things today. Always one with a positive look on life, I can't help but radiate my wonderful mood today. Am I glowing? Its just bronzer and a tan, but it's just a lovely feeling for sure.

Been playing a lot with online tutorials lately just to pass the time and see if I can learn anything new about the programs I use daily. I was going a little mad trying to figure out more complicated wordpress and web tutorials so took a break to play with more light hearted stuff. The lemon above comes from an illustrator tutorial from Spoon Graphics. Boop.

I hope everyone has a glorious weekend. Cant wait for the St. Louis Renaissance Faire this weekend.

I love turkey legs.

I am Ashley Scroggins and I approve this message.

Thought of the Day: Wonderful

"Things Really are as Wonderful as They Seem."

Doodled this at work and just took a picture of it then played around with the settings on the app
FX Photo Studio. Its $1.99 but I think its kind of fun and worth it. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some Instagram, but I like to play with layers upon layers and get something completely ridiculous.

And you know what...Things really are as wonderful as they seem.
Hope you have a fabulous day and keep the optimism flowing :)

Thirsty Thursday!

Thought of the day: Hustle

("Good things happen to those who hustle." - Quote posted by @erinloechner of design for mainkind, collage design by me)

 Absolutely love this quote! The moment I read it, I knew I wanted to do something with it. It is exactly my motto to get through the work day and life. Designed this little thing for it during some free time. The walrus is my mascot for life. You've probably seen me use it from time to time.
"I don't want to be an animal."
"You're a walrus!"

Have a great day!
And hustle.

Thought of the day: Command

(quote via @erinloechner of Design for Mankind on twitter, design by me)

Stop typing and breathe.
Today has potential.

It's going around.

Wish List: Locket Love

I just love this Dancing Couple Locket, I stumbled upon on Etsy. Actually, everything in bellehibou's shop is pretty adorable. I oh so long for a locket. Perhaps someday...

Bridal Shower

About the only time I spent indoors this weekend was a bridal shower I attended on Saturday at Jilly's Cupcakes. I always meant to go there when I lived in Clayton and never made it out. I did however have one of their delicious goods before after a race in downtown St. Louis. But that is the closest I has come to pastry nirvana until now. These cupcakes are so rich, not to mention gi-normous. You can only eat about a fourth of it at a time!

Thought that I should share this creative little party game - the shower was split into 3 groups and we had to create a wedding dress from 3 rolls of toilet paper. This was our lovely model, Grace (who will also be getting married this August!) so this was a little preview for her. We were going for "modern hippie bride" haha.

 

 Onto the bridal gift. Reprising the Salsa recipe cards and kit (Tim, the groom to be, is an amazing creator of salsa. He has this one he makes with corn and goods - very spicy, just the way I like it. So I thought this was fitting. I also made blank cards for him to dabble his own creations.

 

Here is the almost finished product without the recipe cards attached. It includes a cutting board and outdoor dining cook book as well as strainer and cute fiesta bowl for all the veggie goodness - wrapped up tight with ribbons and cutting knife.

 

Hope Sam enjoyed her shower and gifts! I love being able to add a personal touch to gifts - I think it adds a little flavor and added thought to them instead of just going straight to the registry. I know that that's what the registry is for, but I like to give the gift of thought as well ;)

Ofallon Farmer's Market and Founder's Day

This entire weekend was so beautiful that I couldn't resist spending all of my free time outdoors. From Farmer's Markets to Founder's Day to Produce stands, biking in the park and gardening.  Just an all around great weekend for outdoor activities. I hope everyone got a chance to get some vitamin D - absolutely wonderful weekend.

BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich from the Ofallon Farmer's Market.

Log house from the Fort Zumwalt Park. Fun Fact: the city of Ofallon purchased the land for this park for $1 in 1978.
That, folks, is what we call a deal.

Lots of fun stand with activities and demonstrations.

Bought 2 handcarved sling shots from one of the stand. Awesome!

My sister milking a fake cow...?

Microfest

This weekend was the St. Louis Microfest in Forest Park. A very good friend of mine and fellow designer, Adrienne was tapped to create the logo for this year's event. Thinking of it now, I wish I would have gotten last year's logo for a comparison. Needless to say, her version was a serious upgrade. Love love love the coaster look.

Her design was plastered over all kinds of goodies.

Tasting Glass as well as collectors item.

Because Adrienne was the logo designer, she was given 4 free tickets to the event and invited me and my husband to enjoy in the microbrew festivities...V.I.P! That means we got free delicious food too.

Over a hundred vendors were involved.

Lots of fun advertising.

Me and my homegirl. Adrienne.

It was a beautiful night, weatherwise, in Forest Park. The temperature was amazing. And I'm super excited for Adrienne's involvement. She got to mix her 2 favorite activites: design and socializing. Congrats to her, and thanks for letting me be a part of it!

Preview: Weekend Lineup

Hancock's Fabric Purchase

A weekend of crafting is upon us!

Happy Friday.

Wascally Wabbits

So we planted our garden last weekend - a wonderful array of tomatoes, pepper plants, corn, cucumber and onions. However, by the end of the week it was almost all but gone (leaving the one hottest habanero pepper plant standing).

So we decided to build a security system around the perimeter of the garden and this is what we came up with:

New security system.

I'd like to see those wascally wabbits try to penetrate that! Obviously, the baby bunny that our puppy killed a couple of weeks ago didn't get the message across. We mean business! HaHa. I think MeLady has been sleeping on the job much like those air traffic control peeps.

I'll keep updating about our garden as it goes. Not shown are the blackberry and raspberry bushes, the blueberry plants, the potted patio tomatoes and peppers, lettuce and herbs AND the 2 trees we planted in our backyard. Our green thumbs have been very busy as of late trying to get it all in - in between the breaks from the pouring rain.

Living off the fat of the land...

Currently Reading: Plain Truth

PLAIN TRUTH by Jodi Piccoult

Last night, Read Wine Book Club met to discuss our latest literary tale -- Plain Truth. I, personally have not read Jodi Piccoult's other books (although I hear good things about My Sister's Keeper), but other girls in the group who have were disappointed by this one. They said it followed the same outline as all her books and that was a bit of a let down. Fortunately, I have not been tainted from those other accounts (I tried to read The Pact, but never made it past page 17 - I just couldn't get into it) and really appreciated this story . I love courtroom drama and have had a facination with the Amish since a 20/20 episode when I was younger.

Yes, I watched 20/20 when I was a kid. I loved Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs always trying to scare the crap out of me with stories of deadly spiders and restaurant germs.

Anywho, this book gets a thumbs up from me. I wont ruin it for you, but the last 2 pages are explosive!

Adrienne design and printed a banner for our meetings and this was its debut. Great job, Pi.

Nichole was our host this time and crafted an amazing spread of dips. Not bad for a prego ;)

And here were the amazing wine choices. I actually brought 2 bottles this time because I wasn't drinking the month of April and didn't get to partake in that meeting with Never Let Me Go. Mine were Monogamy and Irony - they went hand in hand together in this story, fo sho.

I save the best for last because...well Shannon was late and she didn't read the book...but this was still the best wine label inspired from the story, I thought. Great job, Shannon!

TRUTH!

Up next, we will be reading my choice: Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter! Sounds awesome and they are also making a movie.

To follow Read Wine Book Club on facebook, click here.

Happy reading...

Osama Bin Dead

TIME, May 20, 2011, Art Director: D.W. Pine, Illustrator: Tim O'Brien.

Overwhelming excitement was felt by all when news broke late Sunday night.
Osama Bin Laden is dead.

8 Years to the day of Mission Accomplished.
I must admit, my heart raced as Brian Williams shared the breaking news in his iconic monotone (it's hard for me to take him seriously when it comes off so sarcastic which is why I love him). All those Georgetown kids rushing the gates of the White House to celebrate - oh college.

Then monday came. And I heard things like "I cant feel good at someone else's expense" or "I cant celebrate death." Boo f*cking hoo.

If this was 1945, could you bask in the glory of this image. Because after taking the 3.5 hour tour of the Holocaust museum in DC, I cant do anything but smile at the thought of Hitler putting a pistol in his mouth as his world caves in with Russian and American tanks racing to retrieve his body first.

My point is sometimes violence is the only thing necessary to stop a violent person. As a military brat, I sure as hell CAN celebrate the death of an enemy because growing up - the opposite would mean more harm for my father and friends. So I do feel an overwhelming sense of pride to be an American today, like all days, but more so today.

So maybe you don't have to "celebrate" Osama's death, but you don't have to be a pretentious little snoot about it either. I'd Have to say the best thing to come out of this whole ordeal are the jokes. I feverishly tweeted and retweeted Sunday night anything that made me laugh out hysterically.
Gem's like:
RT @joshacagan Sources say that Obama will also announce a 50 state tour where he will, "High-five the shit out of everyone in America."
and
"A prince got married and a bad guy is dead. It's a real life Disney story."

Now to the art of it all (since this is a art blog of sorts). In tradition of the time magazine X covers as seen below with Saddam and Hitler -- It has been confirmed that TIME will move forward with the Osama X cover as posted above with artwork by Tim O'Brien.


So simple, yet powerful.
For more, you should totally read this article by Big Think. I think it reinforces my thoughts pretty effectively.

Also, I'd like to mention Andy and how he might be alive today if it were not for this S.O.B. and/or the other dicksmack pictured above, Saddam. I salute you and am forever grateful for your sacrifice.

May freedom forever fly. Let it reign.
Ashley

Now we sit and wait for zombie Osama.