Category Archives: Midweek Mix

Midweek Mix: Springtime Art Projects

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I always feel more creative in the spring and I’ve been creating up a storm these past few weeks! Here are some of the projects I’ve completed so far:

Painted flowers on a jarI’ve had this white jar around forever (I think at one point I had a peppermint plant in it). I figured it could use a makeover so I used my Sharpie paint pens to draw some 1970s inspired flowers and cheer it up a little! The bottom two pictures in the image above show the before (left) and after (right) of two of the flowers.

I recently bought a mirror from Goodwill with a white plastic frame that was in serious need of rehabilitation. I had a lot of fun with this project and the blue and white really cheered up our bathroom when I hung the mirror there:

Painted thrifted mirror Mirror2

The most recent thing I’ve been doing is drawing again. I used to draw every day but I’d sort of gotten out of habit. Then I started watching Murder, She Wrote, which is set in the fictional town of Cabbot Cove, Maine. I decided it would be fun to draw a map of my homestate that included some real towns and all the fictional  murder/horror related ones I could think of. Here’s the result! Pretty cool, huh?:

Maine fictional horror towns map by Aubin ThomasI think I might do this idea with some other states too. What state do you think I should do next?

Midweek Mix: Maine Maple Sugar Sunday

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Maine Maple Sunday vintage maple syrup containers

This is the 30th year of Maine Maple Sugar Sunday, a day in March where sugarhouses and farms all across Maine are open to visitors for homemade pancakes, demonstrations of how maple sap gets turned into syrup, and of course free samples of syrup! My friends and I visited three different maple farms this past Maple Sugar Sunday (partly due to my quest for maple cotton candy, which I eventually found at Merrifield Farm). Here are some pictures of our adventures!

Maine Maple Sunday sugar shack line

Maine Maple Sunday sap collecting

Maine Maple Sunday syrup being boiled

Maine Maple Sunday Merrifield Farm

Maine Maple Sunday animals Maine Maple Sunday animals Maine Maple Sunday animals Maine Maple Sunday animalsBonus: on our way back from the last farm we found a covered bridge!

Babb's Bridge in Windham, Maine

Midweek Mix

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IMG_1100The local record shop sometimes has a free bin  and I found these two 1960s gems in it on my walk back home the other day! Despite the Petula Clark record not having a jacket it plays well and the Paul Revere & the Raiders record has its original full color photo booklet. 

IMG_1229I met with my friend Lyndsey at Bard Coffee on Saturday to learn some new crochet techniques from her. I hadn’t been to Bard in a little over a year but I will definitely be back there soon. The staff was so friendly and their wi-fi password was whimsical– I couldn’t help but love it there!

IMG_1238I got out my pencils and markers and started drawing again. I’ve been interested in the idea of costumes lately and how recognizable parts of a costume can be. These are just a few of the recognizable costumes from pop culture I’ve drawn so far.

IMG_1264

My husband Joel and I had our first date on March 17th three years ago. To celebrate the anniversary of that we had dinner at King of the Roll and dessert at one of our favorite places, Gelato Fiasco! He had some Butterfinger gelato and I had a dish of pomegranate chocolate chunk sorbetto and dark chocolate tangerine sorbetto. Plus, we sat by the window and got to see the St. Patrick’s Day revelers having a bit too much fun, which is always entertaining.

IMG_1284I love seeing things like this, and Portland has a fair amount of it, thank goodness.

IMG_1316I love receiving mail, especially when it’s as exciting as these packages! My BirchBox for the month, some new washi tape, and a lot of vintage magazines. Speaking of which…

IMG_1325Here are the vintage Teen magazines I’ve been playing with lately. As you might expect, they’re full of body-shaming, misogyny, personal image fear mongering, and questionable advice, but I love looking at them from an historical perspective. In 2013, things are not perfect by any means but it’s still interesting to look back to only a few decades ago and see the few steps forward we’ve made.

Midweek Mix: Purple & Papa Nez

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Circle Sky Vintage jewelry

I started photographing my growing collection of vintage jewelry to sell it online because, well, there are people out there who will enjoy it and use it more than I do.

Joel and the new futon

Joel bought and set up a futon in our living room. The person he bought it from kept it in a room with a working fireplace and it smells like a campfire, which we fortunately find agreeable.

Aubin and The Cat

The Cat told me some secrets (like how she hates that I pet her when she’s trying to sleep)

Portland Press Herald headline

The Portland Press Herald summed up how I’ve felt this past week

Aubin blonde

I went blonde

Aubin purple

And then I went purple using the only jar of Manic Panic Lie Locks in the greater Portland area (it took me two days and three stores to find it)

I’ve had this song stuck in my head for the past few days. It’s called the Tahiti Condo Remix by Mike Nesmith and is a good example of why I’m never bored of this man’s art no matter what form it’s in. He updates his Facebook status from his dog’s point of view, writes surreal autobiographical fiction, and makes songs like this. What’s not to love?