greenpepperpressblog

Tag: cool stuff

  • chew on this

    Grimmshirts

    Thank you to all who sent their public and private thoughtful sympathies for my Aunt Kitty.  A great lady who will be missed by many.  I was grateful to be in Minnesota with my family.  I really needed a little levity and found it at the airport, of all places!  Saw this shirt and had to get it.  I visited the manufacturer’s site to capture these graphics to show you more of their clever t’s.  Hope they make you smile too.  (grimminc.com)

    Fivegum

    Have you seen this new gum?  The packaging rocks and the gum is good too!  I was impressed that it was from Wrigley.  Very hip.  (It’s not even on their website yet but the tv ads are cool).  I used to collect gum wrappers as a kid – even had a few prized foreign language ones.  It’s cool when someone knows what you’re into and they bring you cool stuff for your collection.  I had Juicy Fruit in Japanese.  Say it…… (how cool is that?)

    Juicyfruit2

    I just have to rant for a minute about gum wrappers.  Where are they?  Have you noticed that most gums that come in stick form no longer have a paper wrapper?  It’s foil only.  Now I can’t complain about the new FIVE gum I just showed you because those foils rock.  But where’s the paper?  How are you supposed to make gum wrapper bracelets?  Honestly!  And while I’m ranting about Juicy Fruit being wrapper-less did you know the gum is now YELLOW?  Really, go check.  What happened to that classic cement gray color?  Forget the yellow.  I remember visiting my grandfather and he had a candy closet that was always stocked with Juicy Fruit.  The whole closet smelled like it.  The scent reminds me of him.  That’s the ONLY reason I continue to buy it.

    We are heading up to Marineland this week.  Whale tales to follow when we return.  I always bum out when the summer winds down because I don’t want this time with our kids to end.  Savoring the last of it…. 

  • chillin’

    Absolutidentity_2 

    For years I would collect Absolut ads from magazines.  Always easy to find in the first or last few pages of a magazine.  Always a major score when the ad was the back cover.  New York magazine would have an annual holiday surprise – one year it was an ad that had a liquid covering and floating white stuff in it like a snowglobe in 2-D.  Another year there were Absolut logo real nylon stockings enclosed.  Still have them. 

    Absolut3

    You may remember some of these….Had the Warhol framed on my wall.  The "Catch" is from a recent online contest.  I always wanted to submit a design of my own.  "Absolut Approval" would have been my slogan….with the bottle shown inverted, in wood, as part of an old style handled rubber stamp….and yep, a stamped "approved" marking across the page.  You can see hundreds of ads in this gallery HERE.  (They still don’t have an "approval"!)

    Absolutbooks_2  It was an exciting day when the first book came out.  So many ads I hadn’t seen.  So much cleverness.  A week ago I picked up the sequel.  Fun to chill out at the pool and browse through the pages of both books.  The magazines I’m into buying now don’t have ads for vodka so I’m a little out of tune on what they’ve been doing but I do enjoy visiting the site from time to time. Very cool. 

    And I’m loving the new PEAR flavor. 

    I’ve always wanted to go to an ice bar.  I wouldn’t care if it was an actual Absolut bar….but I would like it to be in Finland.  Any wagers why???

    Absolut2

    Do you love that Escher carved in ice?  Wouldn’t this be a great place to hang out?  They give you coats.

    Absolut1

    I am heading out of town for a few days.  Sadly my aunt lost her battle with cancer and we are gathering to celebrate our memory of her.  On that note…..SEIZE THE DAY!

  • chillin’

    Absolutidentity_2 

    For years I would collect Absolut ads from magazines.  Always easy to find in the first or last few pages of a magazine.  Always a major score when the ad was the back cover.  New York magazine would have an annual holiday surprise – one year it was an ad that had a liquid covering and floating white stuff in it like a snowglobe in 2-D.  Another year there were Absolut logo real nylon stockings enclosed.  Still have them. 

    Absolut3

    You may remember some of these….Had the Warhol framed on my wall.  The "Catch" is from a recent online contest.  I always wanted to submit a design of my own.  "Absolut Approval" would have been my slogan….with the bottle shown inverted, in wood, as part of an old style handled rubber stamp….and yep, a stamped "approved" marking across the page.  You can see hundreds of ads in this gallery HERE.  (They still don’t have an "approval"!)

    Absolutbooks_2  It was an exciting day when the first book came out.  So many ads I hadn’t seen.  So much cleverness.  A week ago I picked up the sequel.  Fun to chill out at the pool and browse through the pages of both books.  The magazines I’m into buying now don’t have ads for vodka so I’m a little out of tune on what they’ve been doing but I do enjoy visiting the site from time to time. Very cool. 

    And I’m loving the new PEAR flavor. 

    I’ve always wanted to go to an ice bar.  I wouldn’t care if it was an actual Absolut bar….but I would like it to be in Finland.  Any wagers why???

    Absolut2

    Do you love that Escher carved in ice?  Wouldn’t this be a great place to hang out?  They give you coats.

    Absolut1

    I am heading out of town for a few days.  Sadly my aunt lost her battle with cancer and we are gathering to celebrate our memory of her.  On that note…..SEIZE THE DAY!

  • Since the title of my last post was……

    ….."it takes two", I decided we needed two winners for the drawing of Artful Blogging plus goodies.  Before I get to the names, let me thank all of you for dropping by and leaving your comments.  It’s always cool to get feedback so I appreciate you sharing your enthusiasm.  I am pleased to be able to share this magazine – a perfect giveaway from a blog keeper to blog readers.Mwwinnersbannerstar

    The winners:  Alice and Cindi.  My husband picked the numbers.  I swear I wasn’t swayed by what Cindi said 🙂  If you still haven’t found a copy of AB at your local bookstore why not order direct from Stampington.  Better yet, get a subscription.  I can imagine you’ll want every issue – me too! 

    Thanks to Kari for hosting a terrific online party.  I’m still working my way through all the artful offerings.  Have a great weekend!!

    Mwrockon

  • Since the title of my last post was……

    ….."it takes two", I decided we needed two winners for the drawing of Artful Blogging plus goodies.  Before I get to the names, let me thank all of you for dropping by and leaving your comments.  It’s always cool to get feedback so I appreciate you sharing your enthusiasm.  I am pleased to be able to share this magazine – a perfect giveaway from a blog keeper to blog readers.Mwwinnersbannerstar

    The winners:  Alice and Cindi.  My husband picked the numbers.  I swear I wasn’t swayed by what Cindi said 🙂  If you still haven’t found a copy of AB at your local bookstore why not order direct from Stampington.  Better yet, get a subscription.  I can imagine you’ll want every issue – me too! 

    Thanks to Kari for hosting a terrific online party.  I’m still working my way through all the artful offerings.  Have a great weekend!!

    Mwrockon

  • It takes two

    Mwalteredtextsm

    The best is when you can design an image that results in both a stencil and mask.  For instance, see HERE. 

    Often, you actually have to alter an image, and cut it twice to yield both a stencil and a mask.  Like the text above….it needed small portions to be removed in order to be a stencil.  The black parts get cut out.  If the are any "islands", portions that aren’t connected to the main background, they will fall out with the cuts.  In order to preserve the image, in this case the letter forms, you will need to alter the image.  I’ve indicated in red where the cutting should stop to preserve the "islands".  Imagine those red markings as white and you can see how the stencil  is formed.  For a mask you need to reverse your thinking.  This time the black is going to be the end product.  All parts need to connect so you will have to modify the original text by extending connectors.  Imagine the green markings as black and you can see the mask.

    Mwalteredtext2

    Here is the completed stencil and mask.  I cut them from acetate with an exacto blade.  The image was printed directly onto acetate.  (I also like to use a heated tip stencil burner.)

    Mwalteredtextstencilsample

    Mwalteredtextmasksample

    Kari has initiated an online blog party.  It’s a great idea as I believe networking and building communities is one of the perks of blogging.  If you are new here and just hopped over from Kari’s party then I welcome you.  You’ll find my current obsession is utilizing stencils and masks with spray paint in my art, and you will find many blog posts here about that subject.  I recently compiled most of the images into my "Sprayed!" album in the left sidebar.  I run another blog called the GPP Street Team which was featured in Artful Blogging.  You are invited to come over and see the fun we are having there.  It is an example of an online community that is building itself.  This months crusade is about adding music to your blog, and last month we were all about Mail Art.  Thanks for coming by!   (Oh, and if you haven’t been to Kari’s site yet – she has been adding dozens of links to artful bloggers who have joined in the party!)

    P.S.  DUH!  Since this is a party i should be giving something away, right?  I have extra copies of Artful Blogging…so leave a comment if you want to be in the drawing for a copy of the magazine and some other goodies from my studio.  (Collecting names through Thursday @ midnight EST)

  • It takes two

    Mwalteredtextsm

    The best is when you can design an image that results in both a stencil and mask.  For instance, see HERE. 

    Often, you actually have to alter an image, and cut it twice to yield both a stencil and a mask.  Like the text above….it needed small portions to be removed in order to be a stencil.  The black parts get cut out.  If the are any "islands", portions that aren’t connected to the main background, they will fall out with the cuts.  In order to preserve the image, in this case the letter forms, you will need to alter the image.  I’ve indicated in red where the cutting should stop to preserve the "islands".  Imagine those red markings as white and you can see how the stencil  is formed.  For a mask you need to reverse your thinking.  This time the black is going to be the end product.  All parts need to connect so you will have to modify the original text by extending connectors.  Imagine the green markings as black and you can see the mask.

    Mwalteredtext2

    Here is the completed stencil and mask.  I cut them from acetate with an exacto blade.  The image was printed directly onto acetate.  (I also like to use a heated tip stencil burner.)

    Mwalteredtextstencilsample

    Mwalteredtextmasksample

    Kari has initiated an online blog party.  It’s a great idea as I believe networking and building communities is one of the perks of blogging.  If you are new here and just hopped over from Kari’s party then I welcome you.  You’ll find my current obsession is utilizing stencils and masks with spray paint in my art, and you will find many blog posts here about that subject.  I recently compiled most of the images into my "Sprayed!" album in the left sidebar.  I run another blog called the GPP Street Team which was featured in Artful Blogging.  You are invited to come over and see the fun we are having there.  It is an example of an online community that is building itself.  This months crusade is about adding music to your blog, and last month we were all about Mail Art.  Thanks for coming by!   (Oh, and if you haven’t been to Kari’s site yet – she has been adding dozens of links to artful bloggers who have joined in the party!)

    P.S.  DUH!  Since this is a party i should be giving something away, right?  I have extra copies of Artful Blogging…so leave a comment if you want to be in the drawing for a copy of the magazine and some other goodies from my studio.  (Collecting names through Thursday @ midnight EST)

  • get ’em while you can!

    Mwpsaelmersmarkers  

    So I’ve had these markers sitting around and thought I would try them over the spray paint.  If you’ve been spraying you know it can be hard to write over.  Sharpies and grease pens are fine….but THESE!  Go run and get some while they are still on the rack.  Elmers website say "no longer available".  What are they thinking?  The metallics are a yawn, they clog up like most other metallics.  This WHITE is smooth and dreamy and write over spray.  It’s called ELMERS PAINTERS, Opaque Paint Marker.  You can thank me later 🙂       Oh, and I prefer the medium tip, but we can’t be getting picky during this tragedy.

    EDIT:  here’s what they look like and I just found some online HERE.

    Painterpen_2 

  • get ’em while you can!

    Mwpsaelmersmarkers  

    So I’ve had these markers sitting around and thought I would try them over the spray paint.  If you’ve been spraying you know it can be hard to write over.  Sharpies and grease pens are fine….but THESE!  Go run and get some while they are still on the rack.  Elmers website say "no longer available".  What are they thinking?  The metallics are a yawn, they clog up like most other metallics.  This WHITE is smooth and dreamy and write over spray.  It’s called ELMERS PAINTERS, Opaque Paint Marker.  You can thank me later 🙂       Oh, and I prefer the medium tip, but we can’t be getting picky during this tragedy.

    EDIT:  here’s what they look like and I just found some online HERE.

    Painterpen_2 

  • Double Fisted Coolness

    Art in Action. Performance Art.  It began with Denny Dent, then followed Brian Olsen and Dan Dunn (freebird on a spinning canvas! and his site here). Painting to music, with BOTH hands. Lovin’ it.

    Lots more videos on youtube.  Look up spray art while you’re there.  *faints*