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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Happy Friday + Randomness

May 23, 2014

Happy Friday! A little watercolor painting of a coral today -- I really enjoy drawing sea life and I've been doing a lot of it lately. Speaking of enjoying things, last week while driving into downtown to run an errand early on a Saturday morning, I saw a man swaying his arms to and fro in exaggerated movements as he walked. The traffic light turned red, and I had the chance to observe this youngish man who looked decidedly un-homeless. Medium-build, glasses, sweatshirt and jeans. And massive, ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, life, watercolor • by sanae • 12 Comments

Productivity Tools

May 21, 2014

I used to have a near-photographic memory, and it's one of the main things I miss from my younger days. I rarely had to write down anything and spelling bees were a snap. Then, around my early twenties, I started to forget. Little things here and there evaporated quietly and mysteriously, and I started to delve into all sorts of organizational and productivity systems. I tried the Franklin, the David Allen method, you name it. Nothing really stuck. Eventually, I settled on the age-old and simple ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 14 Comments

Chutzpah

May 6, 2014

About a month ago, a collarless cat appeared in our yard out of nowhere. He lithely hopped onto our next door neighbor's porch (our townhouses are side-by-side) and gave K a saucy stare. He slowly glided to and fro, sizing us up, as though we were auditioning for the role of potential owners. We were on our way out and I urged K and M to hurry, but K was riveted. I happened to have my camera on me, so I snapped a few photos, all the while saying, "C'mon, we have to go!" Oh, he was ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 18 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

May 2, 2014

Happy Friday! Boy, am I glad it's the end of the week. I caught K's stomach bug and spent all day Wednesday in bed and part of Thursday feeling mildly queasy - I got about 20 hours of sleep though, and thankfully, it was a 24-hour thing so I'm back to my normal self today. The goldfish illustration is truly random, but I did feel like I was underwater whilst in in the grips of what felt like food poisoning. I've come to the conclusion that M must not be human because he never gets ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, life • by sanae • 10 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

April 25, 2014

One of my big goals for the past couple of years has been to practice photography and get to a point where I could blow up at least one of my images to hang on our walls. My skills haven't improved much, but I'm understanding my camera better and better every day. I started a "To Print" folder on my desktop for the images that might have potential. These are a few of the ones I've been gathering, and I thought I'd share. Due to my privacy policy, I had to cut off this photo above, but it's the ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 6 Comments

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Happy almost Valentine’s Day! I designed some pr Happy almost Valentine’s Day! I designed some printables for @creativebug that are free for members. I love these little foldable cards and boxes that are fun for non-V-Day occasions too!
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