Travel Diary - Going to Ecuador

Here are some more pages from travelling in which we go to Ecuador. Colombia was great, but, because it was the first place we went to in South America, I don't think we fully appreciated it. The Spanish was so slow and easy to understand and there was always juice made from so many different kinds of fruit. I didn't realize at the time how little things like these weren't a given.

Colombia Travel Diary - Part 2

Here's some more pages from Colombia adventures. We worked at the hostel in northern Colombia for a month and found it through a website called Workaway. It was an okay experience, no better or worse than wwoofing, and both are a great way to travel on the cheap and get to know a place as more than a tourist. When we left Minca, I got a big hug from the shopkeeper. And I really do miss Lola even if she was a pain most of the time. 

Colombia Travel Diary - Part 1

Here are a few pages of my travel journal from our trip last year. I'll be posting more pages as I get them ready. I've been meaning to sort through this journal forever, but the big move to London has taken up most of my time. On the plus side, Sam and I finally have our own apartment, full-time work and next weekend I'm applying for my very own bank account! I think my excitement at this is a sign I am now very grownup. 

I'm baaaaack!

After five months travelling in South America and two months getting settled in London, everything is finally starting to feel normal again. Well, not normal, but as normal as it ever gets.

Here's some llamas from Colombia:

I'm moving into a new flat at the end of the month and with that I'll be able to set up a new studio space and start posting new projects.

Until then, here's the link to Make Something Cool Every Day. I've finally posted the last few photos from last year's art project. I'm actually really proud of how it turned out. It was a crazy year - I got my master's degree, I got married and we moved to a new country - but now I have a great visual reminder of 2012 and everything that happened. Here's to an even better 2013!

Pictured below: The human letter Z. (Fun fact - in England they say 'zed' not 'zee')

Hiatus!

I'm off on an adventure for a few months! Time to explore the rainforest and practice my Spanish, and get lots of new material to write stories about. I'm still making cool things and will return with a full update in March when I move to London. Happy days!

Week Thirty Five

Click here for Make Something Cool (new items are at the bottom!). Pictured below: Another Wisconsin sunset.

London Underground

As part of my ongoing obsession with geography and cartography, and as part of my post-graduation ennui, I've made a map of the London Underground with cut paper. I used foam core as the base and all my leftover paper from my school projects for the different lines. I officially know more about the metro system than the engineers who designed it. I'm ready to move!

The map measures about 32" by 40" so I'm going to have to find a really big frame somewhere. I had to print out my template on something like nine sheets of tabloid sized paper and tape them all together. Then keep re-taping the template as I cut through it to make the twelve lines of transit. I omitted the overground trains to keep it purely the subway system and wrote all of the labels by hand.

The large scale was definitely a challenge, but next time it would be even more interesting to go in the opposite direction and make a tiny, handheld diagrammatic map.

I made this as a wedding present for Sam, my English husband. I imagine we'll hang it in our living room and forever be the people who know the best routes of public transportation.

Of course, if we need to take a bus, we're screwed.