Scrappy Travels

Making It - NBC Promo Art Unlike most people, I hate the drama of reality shows. I've never seen an episode of Big Brother or The Bachelor . I'd much prefer to watch a scripted show. At least in those instances, if something is ever so over the top, you know it was written that way. I also hate to see people argue and bicker, which is another reason I tend to stay away from reality shows. The constant yelling is too much to handle. Now all of that being said, there are a handful of reality shows I will watch. I can't miss Top Chef and Face Off . I love seeing people using their many skills and actually accomplishing something. What's even better, in the last few years on Top Chef , and always on Face Off , the contestants are nice to each other. They help each other out. And there's very little screaming in people's faces. Because of that love for wholesome, creative and fun reality shows, I was immediately drawn to Making It on NBC, which is my curre...

I'll admit when the concept of Paint Nights (groups of people get together to drink and paint the same picture) were first introduced, I was intrigued.  I went to one and had a blast and discovered I wasn't nearly as terrible at painting as I thought I'd be. However, after attending 2-3 more, I was sort of over it. How many not all that fabulous canvases can you hang in your home?  It turns out, none. I liked the paintings I had done, but I didn't like them enough to hang them in my house. So I've been fairly anti-Paint Night ever since. But I did enjoy the concept of going out and trying some new form of craftiness. Scrapbooking is fun, but no one in my group of friends does it, so it's a fairly lonely activity. I enjoy it immensely, but I'm not engaging when I'm doing it. That brings me to the new and totally fabulous business that just opened in Anne Arundel County called Mix & Marble. The ladies behind Mix & Marble also enjoyed the P...

A few of my faves.  You can't tell, but the Times Square card is gold embossed - so shiny! One of the best things about the arts community, is that there are so many creative pursuits within it.  Each artist has their own specialty, so there really is no limit to the art these people can create.  Basically, art begets art, which is a fabulous prospect in today's less-than-beautiful times.   One of these pursuits is the Lights of Broadway show cards, created by Squigs Robertson .  These trading cards are basically baseball cards for theatre nerds, however the design of each is about 100 times better than any old-fashioned baseball card.  Squigs designs and illustrates each of these works of art by hand.  If his whimsical artwork looks familiar, it's because you may have seen his designs around online.  For each new show that opens, Squigs lovingly creates a one of a kind design in his own style. These illustrations of shows, as well as ...