Saturday, June 19, 2010

Website Complete!

It was true, I couldn't go another day without a website. And in dedication to my dearest Allie, who has encouraged me to build one for so long now, I would like to premiere it here on the Birdfeeder.




AKBeecher.com is now up and running! I used wix, although I'm hoping that it's just a place holder until I can build my own. It functions as an online portfolio, some of my video work, but mostly my photos. Thoughts and suggestions always welcome. Be nice, I'm a newbie.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Some Cards

I made this illustration for my friends Greg and Megan's wedding a few weeks ago. Just a simple representation of them, with the added stroke of genius of Robocop. For anyone that doesn't know Greg, I'm pretty sure Robocop ranks pretty high (maybe even #2, after his new wife) on his list of life's important things.


This is an illustration I made for my best friend Beth's birthday card. Its supposed to be me and her in college. Her, in a striped "skirt" that I made pretty much hand-sewn from scraps of fabric, and drinking, of course, PBR. I'm on the right, wearing the denim skirt I lived in on any given saturday night, and a grey hoodie that I wore to shreds (which only made me love it more). My drink of choice: vodka + tonic.
If you're wondering why it says "Barf + Bird," (at the risk of sounding pretty lame) those were tags we came up with one year for ourselves, that we promptly sharpied all over things in our basement apartment. Yeah, we were damn cool. And still are!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Romper is Your New Overlord.



Jezebel has an awesome section of their site called Today In Catalogs where they go through recent catalogs, pointing out how ridiculous they are. Everything from photography setups to the lifestyles they're trying to sell, to the clothes themselves.
Gems about Urban Outfitters clothing like "The Romper Is Ubiquitous. The Romper Is Happening. The Romper Is Your New Overlord. Bow down to The Romper" couldn't be more hilarious and true! (from the article "5 Fugly Things Urban Outfitters Wants You To Wear This Spring")

Today in browsing the catalog comedy, I found an article called Catalog Fantasies: The Life Your Life Could Be Like which outlines Jezebel's views of the type of lifestyles certain popular catalogs are trying to sell you/make you think you live in.

Another gem describing Urban Outfitters:
"You go to rock shows in your romper. Your apartment is full of flimsy furniture and unfunny coffee table books, but you don't care because you are always a little drunk, and you look beautiful all the time even though you never wash your hair. You let people write shit on your wall. Your boyfriend's t-shirt has a Midwestern state on it, and yours has a bird turning into a roller skate, and sometimes you trade and nobody notices."

So go browse Today In Catalogs and have a laugh about the culture you love to make fun of, while walking around in your pre-ripped $150 boyfriend jeans and "authentic" bohemian moccasins.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Lil' Inappropriate Golden Books




Pixar artist, Josh Cooley, is creating a compilation of his adult versions of Golden Books, called Movies R Fun. The book will have illustrations of famous movie scenes that are definitely not kid-friendly. Pretty clever, I say.

Via SlashFilm

Friday, May 21, 2010

Motivation Proclaimations


For some time now, in the back of my mind, crammed between my wit and hunger synapses, the words "mind over muffin" have echoed faintly. A simple diet mantra, reminding myself to think "do i really need the muffin (or cupcake, or nachos, or cheese), and all its carb-y goodness/badness? or are my eyes bigger than my stomach?" Ranting briefly with Steph a few weeks ago about all the unholy food temptations we try to avoid in order to be summer wardrobe-ready, I mentioned my muffin mantra and we realized i need to create a series of motivational diet graphics. And so, here are my first 3. Now, lets see if I'm motivated enough to come up with some more! Now that my beloved tv season has come to its yearly summer break, perhaps I will have some time, and space in my brain for things other than hot doctors and feuding housewives.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Blowing through the jasmine in my mind


I found this image of a ranunculus (my new favorite flower right now) on DesignSponge today, and I instantly wanted summer. So I put together a color board with this lovely take on complementary colors blue and orange - which i usually hate together! Now this little collage has resulted in the song Summer Breeze being stuck in my head. Oh how I'd love to be laying on a polka-dotted blanket in a warm breezy field, eating creamsicles.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Book Covers


I'm not much of a reader. We all know that. But when I do buy a book I do tend to judge them by their covers. Here's the portfolio of designer Elizabeth Ackerman Valins, who used to create beautiful editorial layouts for Martha Stewart Living, but also has an impressive collection of book cover designs. I appreciate her variety of styles and unique type design.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Yes.

Absolutely Beautiful!


Loving this watercolor typography by Sasha Prood! I'm a big fan of processes that take digital type and make it handmade, while still maintaining the subtleties that make it the typeface it is. This is more what I do when making hand drawn type-as I'm not much of an illustrator from scratch, and more of a tracer. This work goes the extra step from just tracing or replicating printed letters though, as it has a lovely painterly feel and I adore the color blending! I would love some of this work on anything from totebags to pillowcases to just a framed print on my wall!

Speaking of Cupcakes!


Thursday, April 29, 2010

CupcakesCrazy




I'm almost hesitant to post this because it clearly dominates over any cupcake-making skills I may have. But everything about this blog is delicious. The recipes, the photos, even the layout. lovelove. The recipes are pretty unique as is her presentation. Beet-chocolate cake? Fig-filling? Port wine and cherry chocolate? YES PLEASE! I'm definitely jealin' and really want to try some of these out. She also has some interesting cookie recipes up here as well. Check out MingMakesCupcakes!

(special thanks to Zeynep for linking this to me!)

And just for reference/comparison/extra yums... here's where you can find some of my own cupcakey accomlishments

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Speaking of Color!

Found this dazzing chart illustrating the evolution of Crayola Crayon colors over time, made by Steve Von Worley. It was posted over here, on Black Eiffel.

Personally I'd love to have this piece blown up the size of an entire wall in my house. Splash of color? pshhh... Tidal wave of color!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Colorboards

Not that I've been doing any design in my free time lately, but I do enjoy color combos in general and for other uses. I figured a good way to use up some spare time without feeling the pressure to create something out of nothing, would be to make color palettes for possible future use. I think most of the time when I'm inspired by color its more for fashion purposes.
I've been having a not-so-secret love affair with nautical colors for a few years now, as culminated in last years SOHO quest for a simple red tank top (thank you, Top Shop) just to pair with my new navy + white striped cardigan.

Here are two color palettes I created a little while ago that I just enjoy gazing at. A classic red/blue/navy combo and my new favorite combo (sparked by the newest additions to my shoe family - navy blue keds-like sneakers and yellow peeptoe flats).

I think neutrals are in this year, or so I believe I've heard. so i think i may actually break my life-long hatred of khakis and give them a chance this year. boyfriend-style of course.



Monday, April 26, 2010

MechanicalAnimal





How great is this set of prints? Here's why these should be on my wall...

  1. Most of the art I already own is animal-related. And pretty much the only things I've ever doodled/painted/sewn in the past few years have been animal-related.
  2. If you know me well enough, you'd know I'm also a huge nerd with somewhat-useless stores of memory with bits of science I learned in high school.
So naturally this combo of animal and mechanics really makes my heart pitterpatter. I also adore the color palette, as lately I've been more drawn to greyed out hues. Which is weird because fashion-wise all I've wanted to wear lately is sequins and sparkle.

Too bad my birthday just passed, so I'll have to get these prints from Poster Cabaret myself.

Sidenote: Mechanical Animal would make a sweet band name.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Pillow Love


This news report about a man who married his pillow, called a dakimakura (a life-sized pillow with a picture of an anime character on it), is made only awesomer because of James Franco's guest role on 30 rock where he was in love with a similar pillow. Love knows no bounds people!
Here's the article.

and here's the pillowtastic 30-rock episode. best part is the very end, by far.
Let's do this.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Art History



Here's a cute and clever video by french band, Hold Your Horses. Now I know i fell asleep during most of my art history lectures at school, but somehow most of these classic paintings managed to stay embedded in my brain.

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Sink Yer Fangs Into This


A little free advertising (on the small scale of my little blog here) for my friends Fang Island! I went to school with some of these guys, and i finally downloaded their new album, which needless to say, rocks. I remember sitting in a friend's house back maybe around sophomore year when they first played me some of the songs they'd started recording for their (at the time, brand new) band, and from the get-go i thought the sound was awesome, so unique and full of spirit. its a crime i haven't gone to see them live since about 3 years ago!
Their song, Daisy was just featured in the commercial for a new MTV show called The Buried Life. Its great whether you need a boost at the gym or staring at your computer for an 8 hour work day. Give it a listen and then go download their album (name your own price)!

<a href="http://digital.fangisland.com/track/daisy">Daisy by Fang Island</a>

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Amanda Wachob Tattoos

I do have to give credit to my friend Ferry for tweeting this link today...
Amanda Wachob's tattoo style is like nothing I've seen before. Although I'm not much of a connoisseur, these do look pretty damn unique to me. I love how the ink looks like painted brushstrokes. Even when the subject matter of her work is more common, like birds or skulls, there's a very new look about it that doesn't feel like it was taken from your typical book of tattoo flash. Her style ranges from a modern abstract feel to some great mexican art-inspired collages of skeletons and flowers. Check out her work and try to resist the urge to book an appointment!





Monday, February 15, 2010

Valentine's Day Dinner

This Valentine's day we decided to be a bit budget-friendly and avoid any high-priced/small-portioned prixe fixe menus. I've been wanting to try making fresh pasta at home, and also just love a good Italian meal as a treat (complete with DiBruno Brothers cheese, sopprassata, and other marinated goodies), so we decided to try this recipe for lamb and pork ragu to accompany some homemade pappardelle. The pasta was the hardest part just because of the manual labor it required of Scott to knead and roll out the dough, which would've been better if we could've gotten it rolled thinner (or had a pasta maker). Here's the recipe for the ragu, which was pretty easy and so delicious.


Daddy's little helper


Pappardelle hanging to dry



Good Eats!




Pappardelle with Ragu (from Braises and Stews, by Tori Ritchie)

  • 1 lb boneless lamb stew (trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
  • 1 lb boneless pork stew (trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
  • kosher salt
  • olive oil
  • 4 ounces pancetta, diced
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 carrots, finely chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1-28oz can and 1-14.5oz can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 lb pappardelle pasta
  • 1/3 cup chopped parsley
  • grated parmesan cheese
Sprinkle cubed meat with kosher salt. Coat bottom of 5-7 quart dutch oven with olive oil and heat on medium/high heat until oil shimmers. Add enough meat to cover bottom of the pot in 1 layer and cook, without stirring, util meat lifts easily from pot with tongs and is well browned on bottom, about 5 minutes. Turn and brown on the other side, about 5 minutes more. Transfer meat to a plate and continue cooking the rest of the meat in batches.
When last batch is removed, drain off all but about 1 tbsp fat from pot. Add pancetta and cook until fat renders off, about 1 minute. Pour in the wine and cook for 1 minute, stirring to release brown bits. Return meat to pan along with any accumulated juices. Stir in paprika. Add tomatoes and bay leaf and let come to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat falls into shreds when pushed with the side of a spoon, about 21/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and let stand while you cook the pasta.
Serve over fresh cooked pappardelle with chopped parsley and grated parmesan.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Crowded Teeth



I think this girl's work is just the cutest. Whenever I try to make vector illustrations I wish I could have her brain. She makes so many adorable animal/character/objects/whathaveyou/drawings as well as designs them into sell-able wares. I also wish I was her friend so she would make me awesome pictures and presents for my birthday.

Learn about Michelle Romo and browse her shop
and check out her blog

The Key to Happiness

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Hiro, the Jungle Cat

Today I had to do some work from home, which wasn't all that bad because Hiro kept me company and kept a lookout on the snowy weather out the window. Here he is in his new favorite hangout, amidst the jungle of houseplants and terrariums in me and scott's office.




Hopefully I'll be set free from my computer soon, because we're planning on making some delicious chili for dinner tonight. And let me add, that I better be able to partake in the chili cookin's because we trekked out in the knee-deep snow to buy the ingredients this morning!
I'm sure there will be a chili post in the near future! mmMMmm

Friday, February 5, 2010

Meanwhile in Miami...

It has been far too long since I have posted. So I return to the birdfeeder with a video of my nutty music pals down in Miami.

Babyhairs - Little Gnome from Shaun Wright on Vimeo.




This is my friend Shaun Wright (and the ass-kicking Geneva) performing Babyhairs - Little Gnome

Good times and goofiness filmed on his brand new Canon 7D (valentines day present anyone?)

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Passion for Fashion

Check out sass-queen Kim on the right! :P

Crowded Closet is my friend Kim's fashion blog, where her and her stylish friend post pictures of their daily outfits and describe the inspiration and execution behind them. What I love about their posts (besides the sassy poses they've perfected!) is that they totally inspire me to take another look at my own crowded closet, and realize that i too can look like i walked out of a magazine, while still working with a budget and tons of clothes from h+m and forever 21!

100 Layer Cake

I love this blog. I love wedding blogs. Its a dangerous thing though, considering I'm 25 and just last weekend moved in with my boyfriend...so lets not tell him I'm secretly pining over the fantastic wedding ideas in 100 Layer Cake.

One of my favorite parts of 100 Layer Cake are the color schemes. I love the photography used in these palettes and the color combos pulled from them are great, not to mention the names she comes up with for each hue!




Check out 100 Layer Cake and get inspired (and try to resist getting wedding-fever)