• the creative vibe •

Ehh, what’s up, Doc?

[Written while sipping her mocha + caramel coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts.]

• Labor Day Weekend •

I know it’s a bit late, but I really felt that I needed to add to the gender rights debate (although I feel that calling it a debate is putting it kindly as most rely on emotions to spur them on). So with that out of the way, I think we can move on to happier, less controversial topics.

Like cupcakes + photo shoots!

My favorite fellow ginger came to stay with us over Labor Day weekend and we had a blast. We decorated for autumn, blasted K-Pop over the speakers, made cupcakes (I say we – I mean I made cupcakes), and stepped outside for pictures.

Cupcakes

I have a little story for you here.

Mom cleaned our baking cupboard a few weeks ago and I discovered that we were in possession of a cake decorating set. The feeling I had upon this discovery can be likened to that of finding out that you have a long lost twin and they were living in the basement you didn’t know you had.

Essentially, a m a z i n g.

For the cupcake recipe, click here.

For the frosting recipe, click here.

Photo Shoot

So it’s not officially autumn, but it is autumn in my heart. I feel that it is now appropriate to dress the part.

*cue the purple eye shadow, plaid, black, + combat boots*

• Beyond Labor Day •

Since then, school has been metaphorically kicking my butt, but I am overcoming it. Or maybe not. I’m not sure anymore. Last night, I got bored, so I did algebra.

I’m not sure who’s winning.

I’m not even sure whose side I’m on anymore.

However, I did speak with my high school teacher yesterday and we struck a deal. Cookies for an A. She’s really quite the bomb diggity. This is the teacher that gave me all the points for a smart alec answer to a math question.

On the even brighter side, I made pumpkin bread + crumble topping.

For the recipe, click here.

(It’s absolutely delicious with cream cheese!)

I also made a paleo pumpkin syrup for coffee! I find it’s best if you heat up the milk + syrup at the same time. That way, the spices dissolve a bit. Here’s the recipe for that.

• the muse •

My art class is entirely too long (3.5 hours every Wednesday) but it’s gotten me to do a little more than I normally would.

For homework, I had to draw some interior. I chose my side of the room my sister and I share. Hopefully, I’ll get that up sometime, but it’s on my USB which is currently not plugged in to my computer and I’m far too lazy to fish it out of my bag.

I do have a non-homework sketch though!

Meet Luhan, ex-member of EXO (a pretty kicking K-Pop boy band).

I need to fix his eye and mouth (mouths have always been a trouble spot for me artistically speaking and not so artistically speaking), but I’m pretty happy with how he turned out anyway!

His hair was fun. I really like drawing hair.

It might be because I have an affinity for my own head of the stuff, but h a i r, man.

Speaking of which, check out this video.

I nominate Stephen Colbert for president.

#Colbert2016

And now, I’d like to close by quoting a mischievous bunny: The-uh-the-uh-the-uh-That’s all folks!

Have a lovely rest of the week! You’re going to be swell!

Love,

Rana

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My Hand Lettering Process

Sorry for the radio silence! We’ve been driving all around the state, looking at colleges + universities last week. But I don’t want to talk about that now.

I want to talk art.

More specifically, I want to talk about hand lettering art! Now, I’m not assuming anything about you, but I know I can’t be the only awkward chick with no social life worth speaking of. So in case you’re looking for something to do between now and the apocalypse, here’s a peek at my hand lettering process because, I tell you, this is the bomb diggity.

What You’ll Need:

• A quote
• Scrap paper
• Printer paper (or a nice piece of thick paper, depending on how professional you want your end result to be – just make sure you can see through to your scrap paper)
• Pencils
• Eraser
• Ruler
• Scotch tape
• Marker/pen with a fine tip (I use Copic muti-liner in the size 3.0)
• Colors (optional)
• Imagination + Patience

The Process:

Step the first: acquire your scrap paper + quote and get sketching! There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Just do what you want until you like what you’ve got. I use the ruler to make sure my lines are straight. Make sure they’re evenly spaced too. Oh, and this might be the greatest time to give your progress a quick look-see and be sure you have all your words and letters. Yes, I have left out letters before…

What you can do to help eliminate that mistake is write your quote down at the top of the page and just keep checking to make sure you’re not missing anything.

Atomic Fireballs are optional, but a snack is never a bad idea. As nice as it would be to be known for dying a starving artist, I’m not sure if that benefit outweighs the cost, you know?

A dear friend gifted the pencil-miser, special pencils, fine-tipped markers, and colored pencils to me last Christmas and they (and she) are the bomb-diggity.

(TIP: Go to a fonts website – I like 1001 Fonts -, choose one you like and can copy by hand. Choose the option of looking at all the letters in your font of choice. From there, you can copy your quote with that font! And don’t be afraid to make some words bigger than others or use different fonts. A quick Google search can show you which pair of fonts look best together.)

Step the second: Outline with a fine-tipped pen. I used that Copic one.

Step III: Take your nice paper and lay it on top; make sure it’s directly parallel. You don’t want straight lines going semi-vertically across the page! Or do you? Now go ahead and tape your nice paper onto the scrap paper and begin tracing over that with either a pencil or a pen, depending on how confident you are in your tracing abilities.

(NOTE: If you’re worried the paper will rip, just slap the tape onto the back of your hand a couple times to take away some of the sticky-ness.)

Final Step: Add some quirky art! I usually outline in pencil (do it lightly so you can erase without burning a hole in the paper) and then go back over it in pen + color.

(NOTE: I’ve been revisiting this page for inspiration. But when you’re looking for doodles (or quotes), make sure you limit that time or you’ll never get anything done.

Other hand lettering pieces: Excuse the poor lighting/quality. These are already on my wall and I didn’t want to take them down.

I love the circular aspect of it. It just requires more time, patience, and imagination. 😉

And these are a million others.

If you decide to give hand lettering a go, I’d love to see it in the comments!

God bless and may you never be conquered by marauding vikings. Or geese.

Rana

Merry Christmas Message

Hello, darling and Merry Christmas!

I just want to say thank you. You are truly amazing and a wonderful gift to me. I have not much to give in return except my thoughts (for now). Thank you for listening. Thank you for encouraging me, loving me, supporting me.

I realize that this is not the most interesting blog to follow as I cannot respond to most comments; therefore, it’s not as interactive as the plethora of other blogs out there. But those of you who “like” and “follow” mean so much more. Your gift of time, I realize, is not merely a “you’re a friend, so I have to read what you write” sort of thing. The fact that you freely and willingly take the time to read what I have to say and then decide that it’s worthy of waiting to see what else I come up with means the world.

So, thank you, love. Thank you and Merry Christmas.

Can you tell I made it to The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies? 😉 If you haven’t, I highly recommend it!

 

God bless!

Rana

P.S.

Writers, stay tuned! I have a late Christmas gift for you coming (hopefully) early next year.

Full Time Student, Artist, and Procrastinator

Well, I have a midterm to take later today and I should be studying. But instead, I figured it wouldn’t help me by getting upset over something I’m not good at (science). Instead, I’d focus on something I can be good at when the hands cooperate. Every artist understands this struggle.

So, my friends, “art.” I don’t promise that it’s all fantastic. I’m just not mentally ready to immerse myself in the world of general science. Procrastination by uploadation.

This is my life.

Okay. That’s it.

Have a lovely day and pray for me please!

Thank you and bless you!

Rana