Wild Fox

30 Day Yoga Challenge with Erin Motzenbecker

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Hey readers. Just wanted to pop in for a quick post. My friend Erin Motzenbecker is hosting a totally free 30 day yoga challenge. It starts today and I'm already loving it! They're short(ish) yoga challenges you can do daily for the whole month of June.

If you're interested simply sign up here. You'll receive one video in your email box every day. If you've missed a day or two don't fret as there's a section for you to catch up on all the challenges!

Let's make it a great month for health and fitness! Also, it's summer and I don't like wearing pants. Gotta tone those legs!

Wanderlust Manifesto 2013

photo credit: that gorgeous map of the world is a print from Poppy and Pincone on Etsy

Summer for me is all about traveling and soaking up the warmer weather.

Last year I challenged you all to create a Wanderlust Manifesto. I'll admit that I didn't get to check off everything on that list but I did get to travel to a few places: Hamilton Pool, Austin, Tx and Cozumel, Mexico.

This year I'm creating a new one. Unlike last year, I'm going to travel quite extensively. This July I'll be taking a road trip with my sister, her fiance, my best friend and her boyfriend to Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Parks, Lake Powell, Horsehoe Bend and Antelope Canyons.

My crafty project for last year's wanderlust manifesto was a super fun travel journal. This year I wanted to do something a little different.

 Inspired by the mountains and starry night skies, I opted for a watercolor illustration.

Again, I would like to challenge you all to create your own wanderlust manifesto. If you do drop back with a comment and let me know where you plan on traveling to!

 

Favorite Illustration and Sketch Pens

I never realized how important the pens were when it came to sketching and illustration. For awhile I've been using my favorite pilot gel pens. For writing, they're amazing but for sketching and illustrations....not so much. The tip would carve too deeply into the paper; it would smear or the tip, despite using a really thin tip, just wasn't thin enough.

Then I upgraded to a pack of micron pens and boy, let me tell you, they made a world of difference. I excitedly texted my best friend about how much I loved these pens and, like she usually does, thought I was a litle crazy.

I love that the pack comes in varying sizes but more importantly the pens write smoothly or don't press hard into the paper. I'd describe the smoothness and texture along the lines of a marker without all the bleeding. Love, love, love.

If you're into sketching and illustrating (or hand lettering) these pens are the best!

Water Color Plant Illustration

I'm not a painter by any stretch of the imagination but when I saw Amanda's plant portraits I absolutely fell in love and the crazy plant lady inside of me felt the need to create one for my wall.

So I decided to sketch Elise's donkey tail succulent she had posted on instagram (shown above). Something about that photo I just fell in love with (and will now immediately need to purchase a real donkey tail succulent for my home).

As you can tell I get impatient and switched between sketching and coloring in. It's probably not the best plant illustration but I'm happy with my attempt.

Not a bad way to add (super) cheap "art" to the home. The nice thing is if I get bored I can toss it without feeling guilty since I didn't paint on a super expensive canvas of any sort. I originally wanted to adhere the illustration to my wall with some washi tape but my walls suck. The bumpy texture doesn't hold anything very well.

Do you paint? If so do you have any tips or techniques to share?

Non-Traditional Warmer Weather Outfits: Black and White

Summer weather is in full swing over here in Houston and I've been craving nothing but summer clothes. I know we always equate summer with bright and fun colors and while I do love a good colorful print, I like neutrals. Right now I'm craving a ton of black and white but my way of keeping it summer-y is with the light and flowey fabric. Here are a few of my favorite outfits I'm digging right now.

I'll admit these two are completely out of character for me. I'm neither a jumpsuit or maxi dress kind of gal but I want these in my closet. I think the black just makes it look so sleek and with the light fabric it's airy but also perfect for tossing on and running out the door. If there's anything I look for in during the warmer months is easiness and breathable clothes.

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Of course I love a good bathing suit and wedges. How great are these?

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If I weren't on such a tight spending budget I would buy that printed dress in a heartbeat. It's totally me! As for the outfit on the right I'm not entirely sold on the skirt but I do love that top combo. Perfect for date night.

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What are some of your must-have qualities for warmer weather outfits?

Natural Dye Table Napkins

This project is called, "Mary forgot to eat her blueberries and felt bad about tossing them out so she decded to craft with them."

Basically, I used my about to go bad blueberries and made a natural dye. Give them a good smash, add several cups of water, 1/4 cup of salt and let simmer in a pot for 30 minutes then turn off the heat. I cut some muslin fabric I had leftover from another project to napkin-ish sizes and dipped half of the fabric into the pot and "clipped" the fabric to a pair of tongs, which I let rest on the side of the pot. They sat there for a few hours while I graded.

I liked the ombre effect this method gave. If you want a full on dye just immerse the entire fabric. Remember once the fabric dries it'll be a good 5 shades lighter so make sure you keep that in mind when dying. I then rinsed, let it dry and then stitched a border around the napkin to give it a finished look.

Easy peasy!

You can use any fruits and veggies you have left over.

Rosenberg, TX

Do you ever watch the the Foodnetwork Channel and suddenly shout "EAT ALL THE FOOD!" and crave the different dishes they've shown....even though you've already eaten dinner and couldn't possibly eat another bite?

No? Am I the only piggy who does this? Well, a few weeks ago I had the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives marathon running in the background while I did some work and found myself in this particular situation. There may or may not be drool on my students' papers. I can't guarantee the latter though. We'll throw that one into Confessions of a College Professor: Grading Edition. 

It just so happened that Guy visited Rosenberg, a little town just 30 minutes outside of Houston and I knew I immediately needed a road trip out there. So yesterday my buddy Rey and I went out there to visit the Taco Station and Snowball Station.

I'll admit my meal was good but nothing I would visit for again simply because migas con huevos is migas con huevos. But their tortillas are made fresh from scratch and you can totally tell the difference.

The snowballs on the other hand....so. darn. good! It's not your usual snowcones, which is usually "chunky" and "icy" and tastes of syrup. These resemble well....snowballs. They're soft, fluffy, creamy and hold the flavors really nicely. I figured if I'm living on the edge for the day I may as well go all the way and ordered the wedding cake instead of the usual fruit flavors. I was not disappointed although I shoveled it into my face too quickly and ended up with a terrible brain freeze. I really should stop shoveling food into my face. Lesson learned.

We then took a little stroll into their downtown district and went antiquing. All in all a solid Saturday. These aren't the best photos to share but I really just wanted to quickly snap something for the blog.

Since I'm posting this in place of my Sunday Inspiration series I wanted to share a post by Evani I found really great. Let's cultivate guilt free living!

Breakfast Bowl: Quinoa and Greek Yogurt

I find that while I love breakfast I don't ever eat breakfast in the morning. I'm more of cook up an omelette for dinner kind of gal.

Probably the main reason I don't eat in the morning is I wake up really early to teach and if I'm being perfectly honest, I would rather sleep an extra 20-25 minutes it takes to eat. I like to squeeze in every minute of sleep possible! Trust me, the only time I'm even more cranky than when I'm hungry is when I'm sleepy.

I'm just a ball of sunshine in the morning.

But lately in the middle of my classes I'm super hungry and the belly grumbles. The idea of a breakfast bowl is perfect for my lifestyle. I can pack it up in a little container and eat it in my office before I have to teach.

For this particular bowl I mixed black cherry greek yogurt, a few spoonfuls of quinoa, slivered almonds and raspberries. That's it!

The texture of the quinoa and the greek yogurt is amazing and the flavors is the perfect balance between sweet and salty.

You can totally mix up the ingrediets such as a different nut, flavored greek yogurt or berries if your choice.

Sketchbook and Hand Lettering Practice # 1

I'm strangely obsessed with typography and recently wanted to try some hand lettering practice.

These are a few sketches for my card shop. I used to purcahse fonts and design my cards on my computer but I thought it would be more fun to try doing it organically by hand. This way it gives me a lot more freedom in the creative department.

It's also a lot harder than you may think! I'm really enjoying it and that's all that matters. Practice makes perfect, right? I wanted to share a few of my sketches with you all....so enjoy!

If you'd like to see the final sketches colored in or purchase them in card form you can find them here.

Sunday Inspiration: Chantelle Grady

Somehow I find it hard to believe it's Sunday night. I'm not entirely sure where the week went but here it is. A week gone and a new one about to begin...and of course, as promised my Sunday inspiration series post.

Chantelle Grady is probably one of my favorite photographers next to Nicole Franzen. I absolutely love her little blog. I'll admit, there are a lot of times I don't read the actual posts itself. Don't get me wrong. It's not that she isn't a wonderful writer....but her photos are the main reason I'm a follower.

Sometimes I just want to absorb all the beautifulness because let me you....her styling skills are killer. I decided to opt for a few photos of hers that weren't food focused to change up the subject matter a little bit. 

What can I say? I love beautifull styled food. Sometimes it feels like food porn up in here.

Enjoy these non-food but inspiring photos.

photo credit: All photos belong to Chantelle Grady.