All posts for the month July, 2012

Cooper Young Festival Art Update 4.0

Welcome to my latest Cooper Young Festival Art update. If you’ve been reading these since the beginning, you can go ahead and skip to the next paragraph. For the newcomers, my sister (Kristen) and I have signed up as vendors for the 2012 Cooper Young Festival so we can sell our art/prints/photography/all-around-awesome-Archerness. This September 15th, you can visit us at Booth D-23. To catch up on my previous CY Fest posts, you can go here and start at the bottom. You can also see some of my prints at my new Etsy Shop.

At the end of my last post, I promised to show you some more of our home decor pieces and tell you about my fear of power tools. Sadly, I don’t have the photos of those pieces, yet. Next time. Promise.

So, today…today we’re going to talk about Elvis Presley. Allow me to preface this post by telling you that, yes, I am a Memphian—born and raised. But no. I have never been to Graceland.

Did you just dislocate your jaw from it dropping so fast? If you’re from Memphis, then you’re probably not fazed. Your jaw is no doubt still attached because you have most likely not ventured to Graceland, either.

It’s one of the first questions people ask the second they meet someone from Memphis, TN.

Have you been to Graceland?

I have nothing against Elvis Presley. I like Elvis. I enjoy his songs. I love that his memory and celebrity both live on and help to attract hundreds of thousands of people to our wonderful city each year. And, honestly, I’ve meant to visit Graceland. For years I’ve been saying I need to go. I admit it would be nice to be able to simply nod yes to that initial Memphis inquiry about our beloved King of Rock and Roll.

Except, despite its close proximity to my house—fifteen minutes—I simply haven’t gotten around to it. And, every August, I am reminded of that fact. I am slapped in the face with that fact. Why? Two words. Elvis. Week.

Every year, leading up to the anniversary of The King’s death—August 16th—Memphis explodes with All. Things. Elvis. Beale Street vomits up Elvis Impersonators of all ages and ethnicities. Local restaurants update their menus to include variations of the disgusting famous peanut-butter-and-banana-sandwich. There are concerts, festivals, a 5K, conventions, more concerts, conferences, memorials, parties, more concerts, tributes, special guests and more concerts. People invade Memphis from all over the world. It. Is. CRAZY.

With this year marking the 35th Anniversary of Elvis’s death, Elvis Week will no doubt be even crazier than normal. Since I—like many native Memphians—will be avoiding downtown like the plague during the week of August 10-18, I thought I’d come up with my own way to celebrate Elvis Week 2012…from the safety of my own neighborhood.

I have my own two words for you. Art. Prints. I combined my love for typography and Memphis’s love for all things Elvis to design my own custom Elvis Presley art prints.

First up, one of my favorite Elvis Presley quotes, “When things go wrong, don’t go with them,” complete with a retro microphone graphic (visit the Etsy listing HERE). As always, click on images to enlarge.

I also designed another variation of this print with a vector illustration of The King Himself (visit the Etsy listing HERE).

And, you can’t create an Elvis Presley art print without mentioning anything about those infamous blue suede shoes. So, I designed up a few different blue suede shoes prints (visit the Etsy listings HERE and HERE).

Just like my other prints, these are all available in my Etsy Shop as 8″ x 10″ (unmatted & unframed) prints. For CY Fest, I’ll be offering the majority of these pre-matted, in both 8″ x 10″ and 11″ x 14″ sizes (Booth D-23).

And, who knows. I might attend an Elvis Week event this year. Maybe by this time next year, I’ll have even made that visit out to Graceland.

Or, maybe not.

- lindsey archer

3 Comments
by Lindsey E Archer on July 23, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Lindsey E Archer on July 23, 2012

http://lindseyearcher.com/2012/07/23/cooper-young-festival-art-update-4-0/

Cooper Young Festival Art Update 3.0

Welcome to my latest Cooper Young Festival Art Update. To catch up on my previous CY Fest posts, you can go here and start at the bottom. If you’re too lazy to read that much—no judging, I’m totally lazy, so I get it—my sister and I signed up as vendors for the 2012 Cooper Young Festival. We’re hoping to sell some of our awesome Archerness. Me—paintings and graphic design prints. Kristen—photography. Both—Archerized home decor. Oh, and I opened up my own Etsy shop last week.

You know what’s REALLY exciting about having an Etsy shop?  You get emails every time someone looks, buys or favorites anything listed in your Etsy shop. I made my first sale on Friday. TWO sales, actually. Email. Email. GO. ME. Right?

You know what really SUCKS about having an Etsy shop? You get emails every time someone looks, buys or favorites anything listed in your Etsy shop. Do you have any idea what that means? Every time my iPhone buzzes or beeps with a new e-mail message, I freak out and frantically navigate to my inbox. I feel like Mark Zuckerberg’s character at the end of The Social Network movie, hitting re-fresh. Re-fresh. Re-fresh. All with the small hope that email ding actually meant I just made another Etsy sale…only to find another damn message in my inbox from Bed Bath & Beyond telling me my “20% off in-store saving certificate is here.” Why, Thank you. I’ll file that with the other hundred blue paper coupons you’ve mailed to my house. Someone really should tell BB&B they could save a lot of money on printing costs if they forewent the direct mail coupons and simply put a big sign in front of every store, announcing: 20% off any one item, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.

But, back to my CY Fest art. That is why you came by, right?

I believe I have written before about my obsession with Scrabble and Words with Friends. I love the game. I’ve played for years. So, it’s only fitting that my latest set of graphic design prints all share a Scrabble theme. I had a lot of fun creating 26 Scrabble tiles from scratch, using a combination of Illustrator and Photoshop. Then I scoured the internet for short, inspirational sayings. Add in some decorative graphic design for a background and you have the finished product: Scrabble Quote art prints.

Here’s the first finished piece, showing what the print would look like hung up, matted and framed.

Here’s a close up of “Dreams don’t work unless you do.”

I created four different prints for this series and hope to do a few more before September 15th rolls around.

“Don’t forget to be awesome every day.”

“Live, Laugh, Love.”

And, Kristen’s favorite, “Nothing great ever came that easy.”

Just like my typography prints, these are all available in my Etsy shop as 8″ x 10″ (unmatted & unframed) prints. For CY Fest, I’ll be offering the majority of these pre-matted, in both 8″ x 10″ and 11″ x 14″ sizes.

My sister and I are struggling with just how MANY prints we should have available for the Festival. We don’t want to do too little, but we also don’t want to WAY overshoot it. To narrow it down, it would be a tremendous help if you would let me know which of these is your favorite. Thanks! And until September 15th, happy shopping.

- lindsey archer

UP NEXT for CY Fest: some more home decor frame pieces (similar to these), coupled with my growing fear of power tools

11 Comments
by Lindsey E Archer on July 17, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Lindsey E Archer on July 17, 2012

http://lindseyearcher.com/2012/07/17/cooper-young-festival-art-update-3-0/

Cooper Young Festival Art Update 2.0

If you stop by here regularly, you might notice there is a new page up in the navigation bar, titled shop. If today is your first visit to my blog, then let’s pretend shop has always been there because I’m super organized and never procrastinate.

Moving on.

Today is the Grand Opening of my official Etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/lindseyearcher. The prints currently up for sale are the pieces I’m going to show you today. They will also be available this September at Booth D-23 at the 2012 Cooper Young Festival.

In case you missed my first CY Fest post (go here to catch up), my sister and I have signed up as vendors for the 2012 Cooper Young Festival. Since I’ll be updating the blog regularly until September with my Cooper Young Art, I decided I should start numbering these. Today is update No. 2. Go here for Update No. 1.

Like most graphic designers, I’m obsessed with typography. Side note: Comic Sans does not qualify as typography. As I recently reiterated on twitter, “Every time you use Comic Sans, a graphic designer cries.” Fact.

Anyways, since my city paintings take a significant chunk of time to produce (there are multiple steps and hoops I have to jump thru in order to make them), I wanted to create a print version of the idea for CY Fest. I’ve been glued to my desk at home this past week, turning that into a reality. Part of that time was probably wasted away on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and other various black holes (such as this and this and this). Regardless, I actually made some progress and I’m rather pleased with the finished products.

First up, my Memphis themed city print (because Hello, I’m from Memphis and my city is awesome).

For a full listing of the 32 places/attractions listed in this Memphis print, you can visit the Etsy listing here. I also have this print available in black and white textured backgrounds:

 

Next up, since all of this is for the 2012 Cooper Young Festival and I do happen to live in the Cooper Young Neighborhood, I designed a print comprised of neighborhood places/hot spots.

For a complete list of the 30 Cooper Young places/phrases featured, visit its Etsy listing here. I also have this one available in black textured and teal backgrounds.

  

Now, on to my absolute favorite. If you’re a Midtowner, or happen to know a few of us, then you’ve no doubt heard the saying, “Midtown is Memphis.” We also have an affection for “38104″ bumper stickers, which is the Midtown Memphis Zip Code. If you’re not a Midtown lover, then both of these references probably drive you crazy. I apologize. We may be a tad obsessed with our neighborhood (um…because it’s AWESOME). I will admit I’ve been referred to as a Midtown snob once or twice before. Those of you who frequently use this moniker about me and my neighbors, please refer to this GIF.

Back to business. For this typography print, I decided to take a creative spin on the traditional Snellen Eye Chart. I’ve seen something similar to this done before with a New York theme, so I thought…why not Midtown Memphis? If you look closely, you’ll notice the phrases “Midtown is Memphis” and “I love midtown and 38104″ are both incorporated into the 36 letters of this eye chart.

These are also available in black and white textured color schemes.

  

In my Etsy shop, these are all available as 8″ x 10″ (unmatted & unframed) prints. For CY Fest, I’ll be offering the majority of these pre-matted, in both 8″ x 10″ and 11″ x 14″ sizes.

As you can see, my shop is currently comprised of All. Things. Memphis. I plan on creating more typography prints that are non-Memphis related, with which I could use your help. What popular/inspiring sayings/quotes do you think would make a great typography print? Short, long, funny, sweet…let me know in the comments, and I’ll draw up a few for next week’s update.

In the meantime, if you’re bored, feel free to do a little shopping.

- lindsey archer

11 Comments
by Lindsey E Archer on July 13, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Lindsey E Archer on July 13, 2012

http://lindseyearcher.com/2012/07/13/cooper-young-festival-art-update-2-0/

Cooper Young Festival Art Update

Like I mentioned in my first CY Fest post (go here to catch up), my sister and I have signed up as vendors for the 2012 Cooper Young Festival. This September 15, from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, we’ll be selling our art, photography and a few home decor pieces—most of which I’ll be cataloging here on the blog, up until the day of the festival.

Here’s our latest home decor project, courtesy of palette wood, paint, decorative knobs and wine corks. Throw in a few power tools on temporary loan from our lovely dad (no one was harmed during the use of said power tools). Put all the ingredients together and you have some custom, shabby chic racks—good for hanging jewelry, purses, keys, etc.

We’ve completed two so far, as you can see below. First up, the black & white on teal:

Followed by the blue & red on cream:

Either of these can be yours with a short visit to Booth D-23 at this fall’s 2012 Cooper Young Festival. September 15th. Festival opens at 9:00 am. See you there?

- lindsey archer

3 Comments
by Lindsey E Archer on July 6, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Lindsey E Archer on July 6, 2012

http://lindseyearcher.com/2012/07/06/cooper-young-festival-art-update/

project 365 | days 95 thru 110

I just completed day 117 of my Project 365 project. Triple digits. Unbelievable.

For my previous Project 365 posts, you can go here, scroll down to the bottom and select older posts. Today we’re starting with Day 95. As always, click on images to enlarge.

Day 95, you kind of have to know me to really appreciate this photo. My bedroom floor often looks as though a laundromat exploded on it. The fact you can actually see the grain of my hardwood floors in this image is a downright miracle. Amazing what a few loads of laundry can do, huh? This beautiful scene did not, however, last very long. At this very moment, there is more clothing strewn across my floor and spilling out of my laundry basket than in my actual closet. One day at a time. Day 96, another day at the Overton Bark Dog Park, another night of Maddie barely trotting thru the front door before collapsing in a heap of dirty, puppy exhaustion.

 

Day 97, I’ve been a fan of Grey’s Anatomy for years. When I noticed the entire series run pop up on Hulu+, I was a little too excited for the chance to re-watch it from the beginning. I didn’t really think thru the decision. Once I started on Season 1 Episode 1, I could not stop until I finished all eight seasons. I’m a tad ashamed at just how quickly I flew thru the 172 episodes. Day 98, because we’re so worldly and cultured, Kristen and I tried a new restaurant—Skunx Chef Pub. Temporarily closed down for a little remodeling, it is now officially back open for business. We had some olive oil, spinach, chicken pizza creation that was absolutely wonderful. You know what else was wonderful? The two free beers the owner gave us. He just gained two loyal customers.

 

Day 99, I’m a golfer. Notice, I did not say I’m a good golfer. Just your average, every-day, mulligan-loving-golfer. For a pre-father’s day outing, I joined my brother and dad for an extremely early morning tee time to beat the heat. We didn’t beat it. Day 100, Father’s Day dinner at The Butcher Shop Steakhouse. I love my Dad.

 

Day 101, my favorite part about dining at Chinese restaurants are the fortune cookies you get to crack open after stuffing your face full of sticky rice and egg rolls. I don’t know about you, but I hate the actual taste of fortune cookies. I mean, who really enjoys eating bland cardboard? I just love the little white piece of paper inside that allows me the ability to add significant meaning to some generic statement that has absolutely 100% chance of coming true because HELLO it tells you the future so it is extremely important and always accurate. Except for when it tells me bullshit like, “You are talented in many ways.” Um…no shit, Sherlock. But, can you just answer me this, Mr. Fortune Cookie? When, exactly, did my mother start working for you? Because that, my sir, is Not. A. Fortune. Day 102, Mulligan has recently taken to playing hide and seek under the covers. Not quite sure what it is he’s hiding from, other than the 45 lbs. of terror puppy.

 

Day 103, speaking of terror puppy…she is head over heels in love with our parent’s beast of dog, Bogey. They like to frolic around in my parent’s backyard. And by frolic, I mean run around at break-neck speeds while managing to find the singular spot of mud in the entire yard so they can bathe in it together. Day 104, as I mentioned in this week’s previous post (go here), Kristen and I have officially signed up as vendors for this fall’s Cooper Young Festival. That means I have a little more than two months to turn this dusty white canvas—along with many more—into a breathtaking work of art that might cause someone other than a member of my immediate family to open their wallet and purchase. Wish me luck.

 

Day 105, I will always be grateful to Bert Johnston for gifting me with my first subscription to Poets & Writers Magazine. It’s always a great day when I come home to find this waiting in my mailbox. Day 106, another day at the pool with my close friend, Starbucks, and another wonderful book, WHERE THINGS COME BACK, by John Corey Whaley. This book will definitely make an appearance on my Best of List for books I read in 2012. Beautiful story.

 

Day 107, I love getting to look into other people’s homes. I did not mean that in the incredibly creepy way it just sounded. Okay, I’m nosy and i love to…yeah, there’s just not a way to make that sound not creepy. Moving on. There’s a house on the corner of our street that has been in the remodel process since we moved into our neighborhood last October. Kristen and I have driven and walked by this beautiful midtown home dozens of times and it’s been fun to track the progress of its transformation from the outside. Luckily, an open house was held recently and we got to walk thru and see the house in all of its glory. It’s absolutely beautiful. Looking for a home in the midtown area? I high recommend 2063 Young Avenue. Day 108, another dinner at Huey’s because well, you can’t go wrong at Huey’s. Ever.

 

Day 109, I cooked! I call this miracle pasta. Why? It was a miracle in that I was able to turn the depressingly sparse contents of our fridge into an actual, edible meal. Just call me Master Chef Archer. Day 110, I’m not against vanity license plates. I’ve been wanting a Mississippi State one for years. It’s just…really? The Boss? I guess it makes sense, though. Douchebag is probably too many letters to fit.

 

And, that’s a good stopping point. Check back tomorrow for another Cooper Young Festival Art update.

- lindsey archer

3 Comments
by Lindsey E Archer on July 5, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Lindsey E Archer on July 5, 2012

http://lindseyearcher.com/2012/07/05/project-365-days-95-thru-110/

Cooper Young Festival 2012

Call us crazy, but my sister and I have officially signed up as vendors for the Cooper Young Festival.

For those who have not had the pleasure of living in Memphis for close to their entire life, our neighborhood hosts a free festival every fall where approximately 400 artists from around the country get to sell their art/crafts amid a huge crowd while enjoying live music, yummy greasy festival food and a whole lot of fun. And by fun, I mean beer.

Cooper Young Fest is the largest one day festival in the city of Memphis…full of food, bands and shopping. This year, instead of just enjoying my ice cold draught beer and greasy pronto pup slathered in mustard while spending money I don’t have at all the awesome booths, I’ll hopefully be making money. Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t still spend some of that hard-earned cash at the other booths. And I’ll definitely still be having a pronto pup. And a beer. Or two.

Less than three months away, the festival will be held on Saturday, September 15, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. Mark your calendars. If you plan on attending, please stop by the Archer booth and say hi. I can’t speak for my sister, but I’d love to meet you. We’ll be at D-23, in the parking lot of the First Congo Church (here’s a map).

So, now that all that’s settled and the details are out of the way, we can get down to the nitty gritty of what my sister and I will actually be selling: paintings (me), photography (Kristen), prints (both) & random bits of home decor (collective effort). Leading up to September 15th, I’ll be cataloging and previewing my pieces here on the blog. Since I haven’t gotten around to applying paint brush to canvas quite yet, we’ll start today with some of the prints* of original paintings currently displayed at my house.

Here’s the Memphis Trolley I’ve spoken about before (go here & scroll down). A lot of love went into this painting and since Kristen will not allow me to sell the original off of our living room wall, I’ve converted it into an art print.

Next up is Memphis/Nashville Skyline Mash-up. I’ve also spoken briefly about this piece (go here again & scroll down). It’s bright and abstract and really…who doesn’t love a skyline?

Last painting for today is the Pear Pair currently hanging in the hallway directly outside of my kitchen. This was originally painted to fill up a large blank wall in the kitchen of the old apartment I shared with my best friend. Can you tell I enjoy painting with bright colors?

As for the home decor, my sister and I are obsessed with DIY projects. We’ve stripped, painted and distressed a majority of the pieces of furniture in our own home—as you can see here and here. We also love transforming the random bits of things we find while perusing thrift/antique stores, which is sort of what we’ve done here. So, what do you get when you mix together an old dusty frame, some paint, sand paper, a strip of decorative fabric, a swatch of burlap and an antique rusty key? Home decor, my friends. Shabby chic home decor.

Here’s a look at all five of the Framed Keys we made this weekend after we came home from a movie and figured it was as good a time as any to start our Cooper Young projects around midnight on a Saturday. Add in a friend and a few bottles of wine and here are your finished products:

Between the two of us, we have a lot of creative DNA (thanks mom and dad), so we’re both beyond excited about being a part of the Cooper Young Festival this year. As I already mentioned, I’ll be previewing all the pieces on the blog before September rolls around, so check back later for more painting, prints and home decor.

If you happen to be near the Memphis area on September 15th, please stop by the festival. Don’t forget—Booth D-23 (map here). Now, if you’ll excuse me…I have a lot of painting to do.

- lindsey archer

*The images shown here are mock-ups of what one of my prints would look like matted in a black frame. All paintings are my original work (acrylic on canvas) and therefore are not to be copied or duplicated without my permission.

3 Comments
by Lindsey E Archer on July 2, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Lindsey E Archer on July 2, 2012

http://lindseyearcher.com/2012/07/02/cooper-young-festival-2012/

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