.art.work.

The other day I brought my camera to work, because I thought it would be cute to take a couple of snapshots of where I'm currently working!





I work at a paint-your-own-pottery studio, where I've created several of my own personalized dishes, mugs, and figurines over the years! It's a tradition for my aunt and I to go and paint something when we're together (if we have the time and resources), which is how it started it all. Her encouragement to make my own artwork and express myself with painting (as well as other artistic mediums) is part of why I'm so crazy wonderfully creative today!









People can come in, chose a piece of pottery (pre-made, so people who are not super great at the pottery wheel aka me do not have to fear), and then get to work painting it in any way, shape, or form they want. The only thing I'm pretty devastated about is that there are no sparkly/metallic colors (because it wouldn't be food-safe), but I guess I'd rather be able to actually eat off the dishes I create. After people finish painting, they leave their pieces for us to glaze (which is a fun dipping process in a vat of light blue substance that gets EVERYWHERE) and fire in the kilns. I think our kilns are so pretty and shiny.



I adore this plate that someone made a couple of days ago. SO. CUTE.

Other than working and applying to jobs (and perhaps even getting job offers...more on that later), I've also been creating charms. A LOT. I actually made my mom ornaments of our dogs, Winston and Taffy, for Christmas (well, belated Christmas). I just finished Winston the other day.





I love it. It makes me want to take on other challenges, so if you would like to custom order your own pet immortalized as an ornament or charm necklace, please don't hesitate to check out my store and contact me!

Time for bed!

wintertime wonders

I tried making a title like "summertime sadness" with alliteration, and this is what I came up with. So...

Here are some photos I've taken this winter! My first steps into the "posting during the same season" goal!











































I went to Zoolights one night with Alice and Amelia, which is an amazing time full of pretty lights, hot chocolate, and lively zoo animals! // I love the texture of old trees // Bats! // I love this one because it's in the new rocky shores exhibit where all of my favorite animals are (except owls and all other birds except bald eagles...) // I will never get enough of light pictures. I love lights // the Christmas tree // natural fox behaviors in art! // friends since high school :) // more glowy lights, my favorite // golden // this little penguin went into a slide // another group shot, I love this one because we could NOT get one without people photobombing us (most of them on accident) so I finally chose this one where people are clearly trying to rush past us to not "ruin" our picture haha // frozen droplets // AHHH SO PRETTYYYY // rainbow bokeh (I'm obsessed with bokeh) // a lovely female Red-Tailed Hawk in my backyard that kept screaming at me // seahorse parade // my nick-namesake! // snowstorm // presents under the tree!! // handsome Winston, I love him so much

10 things I love sunday

One of my goals for this year was to implement a weekly blog feature (or maybe even a couple) to help me out with blogging more than once a month. I've decided to start off with a fairly popular one, "10 things I love". So without further ado, here are ten things I've been really into lately.

1.



This absolutely ADORABLE Barn Owl necklace. This Etsy artist is actually one of my huge inspirations for my own charms!

2.



What Not to Wear. It's on Netflix! (well, two seasons, which I've already watched). I'm super obsessed with it, not because I care about fashion, but because I love the hosts. Stacy London and Clinton Kelly are HILARIOUS and bitchy. I may not agree with everything they say on the show, but watching them is my true entertainment.

3.



This is an ICE CASTLE. Made entirely out of carefully cultivated ICE. It reminds me so much of Frozen, which is like my new favorite movie ever. Also, even better news, it's less an hour drive from my house! You'd better believe I'm visiting and taking one million pictures. Go here to learn more and see if they're in a town near you!

4.



Speaking of Frozen, I am OBSESSED with the soundtrack! I love it so much, and actually immediately loved it vs. the past two Disney films where I had to get used to the music before I actually liked it. My favorite song is, of course, the dramatic ballad.



CHILLS

5.



Salted Carmel Mochas from Starbucks. I completely support independent, local coffee shops and religiously frequented one that became my home before I left for Minnesota. However, now that I work RIGHT NEXT DOOR to a Starbucks, I've caved and found my newest weakness. I love salted carmel anything right now, so this is the PERFECT DRINK.

6.



Daenerys Targaryen. Serious girl crush, right here. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. We just finished season two of GoT so I'm excited to watch season three before season four comes out in April! YAY!

7.



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I'm obsessed with sparkler photos. I've been wanting to take some for awhile, and finally did on NYE! We got some pictures of us writing our names, making hearts, and then just dancing with swirls. I want to practice more with writing and making cute shapes (also dinosaurs).

8.



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I love this print by Katie Daisy, and the quote.

...and this one



9.



This adorable video of a baby Barred Owl exploring after she's fledged

10.



Job interviews! I've had some really promising ones, and I have three this upcoming week! I'm making a curriculum about animal adaptations for one of them, which I'm really excited about!


I'm planning on spending what's left of my weekend painting charms! Peace out, rainbow trouts!

new in the shop!

One night I was fairly bored and had a lot of construction paper.



So this happened! I made the polaroid and the camera out of construction paper and card-stock, then created the painting around it. I really love the look of it.



You can purchase it in my shop here.

Happy Hump Day!

inspiration

I stumbled upon this photo while browsing Tumblr and fell in love



I absolutely love the contrast and the composition (plus, A BIRD). Upon further inspection, I found the photographer's flickr.











Um, she's a sophomore in college and she's fantastic! This definitely makes me want to step up my game and inspires me to take more pictures!

So in love with that top picture

Four Things

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE

1. Undergraduate researcher/lab aide in a lab that studied avian ectoparasites. I got to work with pigeons and bird behavior, as well as do field research in the city and the deserts of Arizona.
2. Naturalist at the Audubon Center of the North Woods, where I lived in the woods, taught K-12 students about nature, had many adventures, and got to work with raptors.
3. Educator at Raptor Education Group, Inc. I got to handle ALL THE RAPTORS and educate people about them, which I love.
4. Guest Services Associate at Color Me Mine, a paint-your-own-pottery place. I get to help people with their pieces, give advice, paint, play with little kids, and I get tips! WOO!





FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER

1. Yellow Submarine, UGH I love this movie! It's so soothing to me and just very much all of my favorite things
2. Flashdance, for some reason I always choose this movie to watch while I paint charms or edit photos
3. Dark Knight, I love this movie so, so much. I literally watched this eight times in the theaters, I was so obsessed with it
4. Pitch Perfect, this movie is never not hilarious. I have watched it approximately 435522 times and I still laugh EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.




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FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN

1. Salt Lake City, UT
2. Sandstone, MN
3. Antigo, WI
4. Palo Alto, CA





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FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH

1. Toddlers and Tiaras
2. The Simpsons
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Animal Cops

(when it comes to TV shows, I'm the absolute worst)



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FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION

1. Bonaire, a dutch-owned island off the coast of Venezuela, to go scuba diving!
2. Oahu, Hawaii, as a graduation trip, where I swam with sea turtles and sea kayaked ten miles
3. New York City, NY, a 16th birthday trip where I saw Lion King on Broadway and ate many bagels
4. Disneyland, CA! Many trips with my friends where we frolicked obnoxiously and admired glowing things






FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY

1. Tumblr.com (I love it, it's basically my giant picture diary/collection)
2. Facebook.com (yup, I'm slightly addicted)
3. Gmail.com (so I can see if anyone wants to offer me a job)
4. Usually several blogs: abeautifulmess.com, skunkboyblog.com, thedaintysquid.com, etc.



(recent acquisition from my tumblr)

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FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS

1. Macaroni and Cheese
2. Garlic Bread
3. Honeydew
4. Pizza

I'm a carb monster, but I swear to God I love honeydew so much, I would eat it all the time if I could



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FOUR SCHOOLS YOU'VE ATTENDED

1. Skyline High School
2. University of Utah
3. Hamline University
4. Willow Canyon Elementary (really reaching there, haha)

FOUR THINGS IN YOUR ROOM

1. Acoustic guitar (currently unused, I need to remedy that as I now have dreams of performing '80s covers)
2. Scorch (my pet dragon)
3. Blue fairy lights
4. A print of a Great Grey Owl

(I have so much stuff in my room, I panicked)




FOUR THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW

1. Coral sweater
2. Grey jeans
3. Light blue fleece
4. Black underarmor (I'm going sledding later!)


FOUR PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW

1. San Francisco (so I can visit my frans and play in the ocean!)
2. Costa Rica (I want to visit so much and see all the amazing birds)
3. Galapagos (For the same reasons as Costa Rica, also because it's just so AWESOME)
4. New Orleans, Rome, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Bonaire, Belize... (I cheated because I want to be everywhere)



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Welp. That was fun. Time to go sledding with Alibus, PEACE.