Inspiration Post: EYE Spy!

Hey everyone!! October is the perfect time to think kooky and spooky projects so in the spirit of Halloween, I figured it was a good time to crank out a creatively creepy “Inspiration Post." The "Inspiration Post," is a monthly themed collection of pieces I dig up for you from around to web to inspire your creativity!! I started this blog segment back in August of 2012 making it officially 2 years old!! My first chosen theme was simply "Cats." This month's theme is "EYE Spy!"

How thankful I am for my set of eyes! They let me see so many different things each and everyday. Whether it be a beautiful rainbow stretching across the sky or a stinky, overflowing garbage can sitting on someone's curb. Not only that, but they turn everyday objects into an instant pal. Boring still life? Add some eyes and they'll take that bowl of fruit from average to the friendliest bowl of produce you'll ever encounter! So scroll down to see what EYE Spy as inspiration!

Cat Got Your Eyeballs T-shirt - DarkMattersClothing Etsy Shop

First up we have just a couple of cute kittens playing with some . . . uh are those real eyeballs? This disturbing hand-painted t-shirt design features two curious kittens batting around a bunch of blue eyes freshly harvested from their sockets. Painted on a sparkling pink background this is one eye-catching piece of apparel. The contrast between cute and creepy is what makes me appreciate this fun concept! It’s amazing how switching out even ONE element to something MORE out of the ordinary can bring a piece to an entirely new level of creativity.

Raquel Reed Photoshoot - MISKA NYC 

If my numerous Marie Antoinette related post haven't quite tipped you off, I'm always inspired by an over-the-top hairdos. And this towering trio of eyeballs is no exception!! Raquel Reed is styled up to her eyes in well. . .eyes in this photoshoot for  “МИШКА,” a NYC clothing company. Their mission statement is to “destroy everything boring and the mundane!” The use of contrasting colors and consistency in graphic eyeball imagery is anything but boring! The creeping red tendrils securing the eyes into the wig is super spooky. Mission accomplished! 

Alice in Wonderland Eyeball Necklace - Rui Nishioka tumblr

This necklace was the original inspiration for my "Eye Spy,” October theme. It reminded me a lot of myself if I were a giant floating eyeball!! With a little research, I found out it’s a piece in a collection of “Alice in Wonderland,” inspired jewelry created by Rui Nishioka. This artist uniquely utilizes insects and artificial eyes to create one striking line of jewelry. This particular necklace is obviously Alice, with her signature black ribbon and blond hair. Being that she’s only an eyeball I imagine she’s ever alert for all the dangers Wonderland throws her way!

Kreepsville 666 Eyeball Handbag - Dolls Kill Boutique

So we have a necklace, a shirt, why not grab an eye-mazing bag to go with? There are plenty of round purses and bags in the world but this one is a literal eyeful! Not overly complicated and relying on the iconic eyeball to do all the talking, I had to add the Kreepsville 666 Eyeball Handbag to this post!! The bright colors of the design (both the red and the green versions) really pop against the clear material! Vector illustrations always remind me of plastic so I can see the clear PVC being the best material to create this real eye-opening accessory!!

Look Before You Speak Poster - Sab Sesay

Last is a poster print of a logo design by "Sab Sesay" or Sab Rena. This artist has more than a few more eerie eye pieces in her portfolio I found inspiring! It was almost hard to narrow it down to just one. I like the muddy, saturated colors for this straight forward design. The logo featured is composed of really simple shapes; a burst, hearts, circles, etc. while still making a statement! And the repeating color-changing eyeball and lips icon is quite Warhol-esque. On a sidenote, one of her early inspirations to create art was the “Sailor Moon,” series which I also adore!!

(image via SAB Sesay Behance)

Care to spy some more inspiration?? Check out my Pinterest board titled "Inspiration" for all the pieces that didn't quite make the post and any extra things I store away for future inspiration. Follow http://www.pinterest.com/nerdycupcakes/inspirations/ to digest a healthy dose of creative inspiration.  Have a super week and a safe Halloween!!

Laura Cooks: Cooking with Pumpkin (w/ illustrations)

Hey everyone just wanted to update my blog with a pumpkin-themed fun cooking adventure I had. And since this is my illustration blog, I also created a cute little pumpkin character to guide us through each dish!

I LOVE all things pumpkin. I'm a pumpkin addict!! And fall just happens to be my favorite season. Unforunately everyone is still focused on summer and it's just a TAD too early for stores to be carrying their "pumpkin spice" seasonal eats. I decided I'm not waiting until fall. Armed with a can of pumpkin and Pinterest recipes I had all day pumpkin feast!

 

First came breakfast. Even though it's been about a billiondy degrees outside almost daily I decided to start my morning with the "Clean Eating Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal" recipe from "The Gracious Pantry." The recipe only required simple ingredients I already had at home. The oatmeal serves 4 but I'm only one person so I adjusted it back to 1 serving.

Drizzled with maple syrup and topped with chopped pecans, this was such a filling breakfast!! And yes, it looks as good as it tastes!! Next up came my lunch. What could you possibly make for lunch with canned pumpkin?? Two words: grilled cheese.

Mmmm cheese on carbs!! Not the healthiest thing to be stuffing my face with but the ingredients weren't too terrible for you. For instance, the recipe calls for a laughing cow cheese wedge which are very low in calories (and super yummy). And instead of a deli cheese slice I used some vegan cheese made from rice and it tasted just as good.

Bizarre sounding but totally savory!! The pumpkin "filling" was enough for 2 separate sandwiches but I piled it all on one anyway. YOLO my friends. I ate my sandwich with some wheat thins and some applesauce. Mmmm!! Check out the full recipe by user asally04 on the "KeyIngredient" website. And last but not least dinner.

All I needed was one more pumpkin recipe and my pumpkin feast would be complete!! And I definitely had one up my sleeve. "Pumpkin Mac and Cheese" by "Eat. Drink. Love." I can't say no to Mac and Cheese. It took me two attempts to make this. The first attempt I burned myself on the pot of boiling water and spilled the entire pound of curly noodles all over the floor. Yikes!! It just goes to show you accidents happen. We all need to be careful when we cook!!

I'm glad I picked myself up and tried again because this recipe was a unique filling dish!! It calls for not only cheddar cheese but also Gruyere. If you don't feel like buying Gruyere you can use Swiss but I wanted the full Pumpkin Mac and Cheese experience!! It was a great way to end my day. I hope you enjoyed the illustrations. If you're a true pumpkin addict like me, go try out some of the recipes!!

2012 Facebook Cover-Illustrations!!

Hello everyone!! It is almost the weekend, yay! I wanted to update the blog with another one of my 2012 projects. Ever since Facebook made me make the official switch to timeline I challenged myself to create a different illustrated cover photo with my name and title. I am an artist afterall and wish to show off my skills and remind all my friends what I do, graphic design and illustration!!

The first month I created for was August. I started out with my favorite thing, cupcakes!! The cupcakes are an original illustration against a stock background.

Next was September. This was an official premier of my NerdyCupcakes characters. We have strawberry on the left and cherry chocolate chip on the right both original illustrations of my creation on a stock swirly vector background.

October was next and I am such a huge fan of Halloween!! The little NerdyCupcakes were such a cute concept I couldn't resist dressing some up for the season! Pumpkin spice is on the left with a spooky little black cat cupcake on a stock background.

Even though it's plenty cold out in November I couldn't keep the idea of a sweet little couple of Ice Cream cone kids in love!! The illustration is based off of a sketch I created on some notebook paper on some downtown at my job at the time. The background is a stock photo of a chocolate swirl mmmm!

And last but not least my cover photo for December!! This little kitten character was inspired by a pair of pajamas I saw while Christmas shopping. This entire illustration is original with no stock elements this time.

I had such a fun time creating my different cover photos and already have a new one up for the month of January on my personal Facebook page!! If Facebook keeps timeline for the year 2013 I will make sure to make a review post of all the ones I create this year!!  Hope everyone has a great day and a safe weekend!!

Inspiration Post: PIZZA PIZZA!

Happy Halloween everyone!! Just because it's a Holiday doesn't mean I'm not going to post October's edition of "What Inspires Laura." The time I take out each month to compile a list of group of things that inspire me in hopes to inspire YOU as well! This month's theme is "PIZZA PIZZA."

Mmmmm! Pizza!! The tasty treat that in the states is literally just a phone call away from arriving at your door piping hot and covered in whatever toppings you fancy! Pizza was always a treat at my household and it still remains my brother's favorite food. Try not to get hungry as you scroll down!!

Hello Kitty Mini Pizzas - LoveBones Flickr

Let's start things out with an actual photograph of some pizza; Hello Kitty pizza that is!! I love Hello Kitty so why not? I bet these took a long time to make. And any little girl (or even big girl) would light up if they found these in her lunchbox for lunch! The pepperoni bows are just too cute! I found this photo on Flickr by user LoveBones!

Twinkie Chan - Pepperoni Pizza Scarf on Etsy

Time to move onto something less edible. A pizza-themed scarf?? Yes, by TwinkieChan and if her name (or photo) doesn't seem familliar to you, I highly suggest you check out her Etsy store or her website. She creates all sorts of crazy crochet creations and is solely responsible for this yummy looking scarf for boys or girls! Not only would I totally rock this scarf it's so creative and unconventional it makes my imagination do backflips!

Toys N Bricks - LEGO Pizza Promo Set NYCC 2012

From pizza scarves to building blocks!! I was never good at playing with LEGOs it was more something appealed to my brother's creativity but I am really digging this promo pizza set for New York Comic Con this year!! Bravo to the people at LEGO for thinking up this blocky little slice in it's own matching authentic pizza carry out box!! For more photos and details of this set be sure to check out the Toys N Brick's blog!!

Tiny Pepperoni Pizza Ring - CatrinasToybox on Etsy

Pizza is round so where's a perfect place for it to wind up at? On a ring of course! I have to hand it to Catrina'sToybox on making this very realistic looking ring. It makes me want to go out, buy some polymer clay and get to work on making my own itty bitty pieces of food! You can only buy this ring on Etsy so be sure to check out her shop with lots of other Polymer Clay listings!

Birthday Party Invitations - DwellStudio on TinyPrints

And last but not least a print piece, something more up my alley. I always adore simple designs. This invitation features a simplistic full color pizza with a slice cut out and ready to eat. All your party info is on the right in white text on a bright green background. It definitely inspires me to create my OWN pizza party invites! You can snag these invites from TinyPrints by clicking this link: http://www.tinyprints.com/product/8056/birthday_party_invitations_pizza_slice.html

And that is all I have for this month!! Hope you didn't drool too much over these different approaches of the always appetizing PIZZA! I've showed you pizza on a ring, on a scarf and even made of building blocks! Where will you we see pizza next?? That's up to you!! Hope everyone has a GREAT week and stay tuned for next month's inspiration post!

Nananana Pumpkin!

If I said it once, I said it a million billion times but I  . . . LOVE. . . HALLOWEEN. So this post is going to be about another ode to Halloween; pumpkin carving! Almost every year since I've had this blog I've posted my carved pumpkins including an American Psycho pumpkin and a yummy cupcake. But this was last minute, late at night and I should not be able to handle sharp objects past 8pm but I had a hand in pretty awesome pumpkin carving this year!

My friend's family went down to the pumpkin patch and brought home a pumpkin. The problem was what to carve in it? The obvious answer? BATMAN. But who would be able to draw Batman on a pumpkin for them? That's where I came in.

From there it was carved out and we threw in a jar candle. I think the pumpkin turned out pretty awesome. I hope everyone in the states is okay during hurricane "Sandy." I'm ready with Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwhiches, books and flashlights. Stay safe everyone!

Triana Orpheus Illustration: Venture Bros

Hey everyone!! I know I haven't posted lately but things have been so hectic. Fall and Halloween are also my favorite time of the year so I haven't been sitting around the computer lately but instead going out and doing festive stuff with my and my friends!!

(image via Venture Bros Blog)

Something that makes THIS year's Halloween extra special is that the Venture Bros (probably my biggest television obsession) is premiering a new episode tomorrow in the states, at 11h30PM Eastern Time! To raise awareness of the awesome show that is The Venture Bros and since this is my doodle blog I thought I would share a Venture-Themed illustration I created!!

I created it to enter it into a contest (sadly didn't win). The illustration depicts Triana Orpheus, daughter of a necromancer staring at a her closet in fright. If you're not familiar with the show at all, she has every reason to concerned about her glowing closet because it's actually a dimensional portral!

Shhhhh! Don't question it!! Triana isn't one of my favorite characters but the colors of her bedroom and really convinced me to use her as my muse. If your not familliar of what she ACTUALLY looks like, here is a pic of her I kidnapped of the Venture Bros Wiki (http://venturefans.org): 

And a close up of my my stylized approach:

I made sure to incorporate a lot of elements that make up Triana's appearance in the show. And some items that caught my attention in scenes they present of her room. A few things include giant grandma panties, a pudding cup and even one of her signature inappropriately short shirts!

I used (and improved upon) the style and technique of my Crystal Castles Alice Glass illustration. Unfortunately for me I don't have too many friends that appreciate the Venture Bros but I urge you to give it at least a try!! I know I'm excited for tomorrow night!! Hope everyone has a great weekend and GO TEAM VENTURE!

Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire 2011

Hey everyone! I just wanted to blog about my visit to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. I went on October 1st with all my friends.

Everyone dresses in medieval costumes and you even get a discount if you dress up so I dressed up as BATMAN. Technically . . .I was actually supposed to be dressed as a girl can possibly do of Hank Venture as Batman AKA "The Bat." Because, Hank, like myself, loves Batman and if there is any reason to don a costume or fancy outfit he goes straight for the Batsuit.

Complete with umbrella (since it was raining :\)

My friend Kara dressed as a Death Eater from Harry Potter. Everyone was afraid of her costume.

We had a whole lot of fun. At first it was really weird because people like, GOOD DAY and YOU MAKE THE LORD NERVOUS! But then after awhile you just immersed in and used to it and are all like GOD SAVE THE QUEEN! The food there was wonderful and bountiful.

It rained all day though. We still got to see Human Chess and the Joust and a lot of little skits under the comfort of some large tarps. We even got to Paolo Garbanzo the juggler, who is awesome.

There was also lots of cool weapons there including the sword of time and the Hylian shield (pictured below)! There was an awesome pirate lady (pictured above) who told me about weapon for women's at how they aren't allowed any so they usually sharpened up their sewing scissors to stab people with. YAYY!

Everyone was totally cool with me being THE BAT. A knight even came up to me and was like, "Ahh, from one Dark Knight to Another!" There was also a Power Ranger there so I was in good company I suppose. Only one lady was really mad that I was dressed at Batman and gabbed to her and her friends that it wasn't "comi-con." But oh well, screw her. Overall it was a great time and I would definitely go back again :D

Happy (belated) Halloween!!

Hey everyone, just updating the blog :D

Halloween is gone and past and I just wanted to post of the stuff I got into!! I carved two pumpkins:

A cuppycake :D

And a ring pop!!

They weren't difficult to carve, I just purchased some artificial pumpkins and cut a hole at the top to drop a electric tea light into. I created the designs in Illustrator (black and white) and printed them out. I then taped the designs to the pumpkins with scotch tape and cut out all the black sections.

And now for the costumes, my friend Kara was Lady Kruger

And I dressed as Hit Girl from the movie KickAss



It was a blast!! More updates coming soon :)

My Last Week

Hey doodleblog. Blah blah blah excuses work etc. Well I have been working on my Christmas cards. I literally did no artwork last week since I was covering a lot of shifts at work, including working 10-4 and then coming back to work 7-close...grrr...

Me and a friend sat down last nite trying to figure out the best way to turn out a profit, since I just orderedt hose from the printer, and I'm probably going to sell them in packs of six, for about 12 dollars.

My little Christmas fairies I haven't been working on due to issues transferring files back and forth the various computers that I own :\

Work on my website has halted...for now. I made a few changes in organizing my portfolio with some new nifty buttons. Here's a screen cap but for the full effect be sure to visit my site at www.violet-ink.com :D

Oh and used my two days off to have a Halloween Party with my friends...I was Robin!

So hope everyone had a good Halloween.