TRIPPING PART 1: LAS VEGAS

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Rob and I went to Las Vegas and The Nevada desert for a quick three day adventure. I met Rob in college, and we've talked about going since then, but it never really came together until now. Why Vegas? We both have a love for carnival-esque ridiculousness and humourous excess! As you can see above, with this thematic hotel slash casino slash mall slash roller coaster slash trinket depository - the ridiculousness was in full effect.

A representation of what all my slot machine pulls looked like. I did not come home a rich person, but you can see how casino's make all that cash. Desperation and hope are a dangerous combination. I probably spent $25 over the course of 3 days in random penny/quarter slot machines, and every time I pulled I thought what if....

Fremont Street has a digital canopy (outside) that projects images. It goes on for 4 blocks! There was a Queen presentation going on while we were there, and Bohemian Rhapsody sounded/looked pretty excellent. My highlight (besides this awesome cowboy sign) was Carl "Safe Sax" Ferris playing sax standing in the back of a pick up truck. Cool nickname, man. There were also some very weird celebrity impersonators in this zone, people zip lining overhead, a less polished overall vibe than the strip, and some pretty impressive cover bands.

At Circus Circus we watched a lady do swing tricks with a bunch of families, tall cans in hand. You can drink everywhere in Vegas. Even at this kid friendly midway show! There was a live keyboard player and drummer accompanying this performance, and they played the best dark synth metal/casino rock.

NEON EVERYTHING.

Roseanne happened to be performing in Vegas while we were there. We found out a couple days before we left and got tickets! In a weird twist of fate, Roseanne re-runs were being played on the plane (until the TV stopped working and we both reluctantly watched the last half of Life of Pie). It was a super intimate show, and hearing Roseanne laugh IRL was pretty amazing.

"If I was a stripper, my show stopper would be the Roseanne theme. Think about it." - Rob.

Oh yeah, we slept in a GIANT PYRAMID. Cross that one off the bucket list! It smelled like coconut all the time (gross), and you could buy a slushie booze drink at any hour of the day (gross), but it was a pyramid (yes!). Did we sing a lot of Frank Ocean? We did.

I wish I could have brought home some fireworks from this roadside store. 

They had quite an exciting selection.

The Bellagio had a pretty neat conservatory and botanical garden area. Huge mushrooms! Giant swans! Windmills! We walked through it around midnight with some beers. While the price of food stuff is inflated in Vegas (a coffee at Starbucks ran me $3.50), you can walk around all day looking at weird stuff for free.

A Bellagio swan & our pyramid shaped hotel room number.

There are over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers on the ceiling at The Bellagio.

The hotel beside ours was shaped like a castle. No biggie.

Even McDonald's has a fancy neon sign.

There are people in costumes all over the strip looking for donations from tourists to get their pictures taken with them. I gave this unofficial Mickey and Minnie team 2 of my dollars. There were basketball players, superheros, the cookie monster, a weird guy in a bad hot dog costume, a really amazing batman and joker duo, etc.

It was all definitely something to see. Good times!

COFFEE TIME.

COFFEE TIME IS THE BEST TIME.

PUMPKINS ONLINE.

Finally updated my Etsy shop with these two pumpkin prints!  

Sad Pumpkin 1: Bar Open

This guy had a rough day at the office. After he punched the clock he went over to his local watering hole for a beer or two and some alone time. He has a lot on his mind, you know? It's too bad his friends are busy tonight. Soon he will hear a song he likes on the radio, and then he'll pay his tab. He's going to be ok!

12 X 18 4 colour screen print on cardstock. Ships rolled.

Limited edition run of 20. Signed and numbered.

Sad Pumpkin 2: Bad News

This pumpkin is having a rough morning. He slept through his alarm, spilled 90 percent of his coffee, and the paper is FULL of bad news. It's not even 9 yet! What is he going to make for dinner tonight? Will it rain later? He forgot his umbrella...again. That's ok. He's tough. He will survive!

8 X 8 inch 5 colour screen print on Stonehenge paper. Ships flat.

Limited edition run of 25 prints! Signed and numbered.

If you're located in Toronto, and would like to pick a print up locally to save $ on shipping, email me: info(at)deadweight.ca

SIGN PAINTERS MOVIE

SIGN PAINTERS (OFFICIAL TRAILER) from samuel j macon on Vimeo.

"On my gravestone it's going to say He Died For Greater Opacity."  I really want to see this movie!

Website.

FALCONWRIGHT SPRING.

Big news! We released our spring collection over at Falconwright today!  

Shop / Blog / Site 

Danielle and I built a fruit stand in our studio for this collection. Hoisted up an awning with fishing line, covered tables in burlap, stacked fruit, etc. Pretty lucky that making a fake fruit stand is part of my job. And now our new backup career plan is to go into the fruit game. Time to go eat some more bananas...

It was such an honour to meet one of the Honest Ed's sign painters, Doug Kerr. If you aren't from Toronto, google image search HONEST ED'S SIGNS, because there are so many, and they are all so good. Our studio is right down the street from this local landmark, and as a nod to our city, we thought it would be really fun to use Doug's authentic talents. He also paints ice cream trucks in this town! Lettering pros blow my mind.

As promised you will find: zippers, neon, new metal tags, some nature inspired prints to go with our usual bold geometric stuff (flowers!), some bright leather colours, some neutral leather colours, and a bunch of contrasting leather zipper pulls for good measure! YEAH.

PRINTING ON THE FLY.

Taped off a bunch of random parts of different screens the other day and made this shape collection card. Weird on the fly spacing and no colour planning! Improv printing! Find it here.

I stopped myself from adding a million more layers in fear that I would just ruin it in the end, but I think that I'll experiment with a larger format print inspired by this little one soon. Tons of colours, lots of shapes, semi transparent inks all over each other, fades, etc. Pastel tones? Who knows!

5 LAYER SHUFFLE.

A little process gif action. 5 layers & all kinds of different lighting conditions! 

Whenever I successfully make it through a multi-layer print, I always kind of feel like I got away with something. Despite years of screen printing experience, there is always this brief moment of surprise when something actually works out as planned. I love that moment. 

Another day, another sad pumpkin. This one goes out to a guy I saw on the bus who spilled a giant cup of coffee all over the floor on his morning commute and barely made a sound. He just looked down at the expanding puddle and DEALT with it. Total pro.

DANIELLE WRIGHT'S NECKLACE SHOP.

Something happened today. Danielle Wright (collab partner extraordinaire & true crime stories lover) opened an online shop for her jewelry! 

These pieces are all limited and totally unique. I have a pyramids necklace and a bead loops necklace and I still have to stop myself from stealing all the other necklaces every time I go into the studio.

See that top left one? Danielle calls it a cone with handle necklace, but if I was put in an Inception scenario where I was going to extract very important info from someone else's dreams, this would definitely be my totem. Is this real life? Am I awake? Yes you are (and you have an awesome necklace).

SOME PLACES.

I have a confession to make.

(clears throat) I've lived in Toronto for 10 years and I've never been to the AGO. What? I KNOW! It's outrageous, right? I finally went a couple weeks ago to check out the Patti Smith photos, the wood rich building, and everything else. That is one beautiful building! I will go again.

This roller coaster bed by Los Carpinteros was my favourite piece. Sleeping and rollercoasters? Two of the greatest things ever! This is such a fun idea and so pleasing to look at. Check out another take on their fun with bed design here. 

While I've never been to the AGO until recently, I have been to the Riverdale Farm, which is a couple blocks from my place. This is a cool place for families. It's also a cool place for me when I'm in bad moods. I find it kind of hard to be irritated when I look at cows. Cows are hilarious. (unpictured: cows)

Here are some shots from back in the fall:

Lastly: Allan Gardens. You might say "Sandi, you've already blogged about this place before! How repetitive!" And to that I say: you are correct. But I love it so much! And lots of things I do are repetitive. I will literally never tire of having coffee in the morning. Or eating a President's Choice The Decadent Chocoloate Chip Cookie Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich right before bed. Same goes for Allan Gardens. No matter what is happening outside, it is always a quiet tropical paradise inside.

LATELY.

Inspired by one of Anabela's cakes, my friend Tim's talk of vanilla cake, and my general desire to avoid doing everything I should have been doing; I baked something the other day. Shocker! It's a kid style cake. Party boob cake? Dennis and I worked on eating this cake for days. Sometimes it feels good to work, ya know?

 Winter continues. That's...pretty cool. 

Danielle and I are hard at work on our next Falconwright collection. I am so excited to unleash this update! There are so many exciting new details. Zippers, lots of new patterns, fun colours,  new branding, and more! YES.

Speaking of Falconwright, Danielle and I recently got a box full of samples from our Urban Outfitters collaboration. Here is a peek at the branding and me modelling the guitar strap. Is having your own guitar strap on your guitar the most egotistic thing on the planet? Probably. Whatever. I like it.

Lastly, a picture of Mac. Who continues to be under the impression that feet are toys. Not so, guy. Not so.

A PUMPKIN WALKS INTO A BAR

Distressed pumpkin man has a drink and contemplates life. 

Drink of choice: beer. Mood: weary. Plans for tomorrow: much of the same.

Finally starting to work on a series of drawings featuring this pumpkin man. I've been thinking about this pumpkin guy (Jack?) for quite some time, and I almost feel relieved that he is now a reality. Is this guy the sensitive younger brother of The Headless Horseman? What is his favourite kind of pie? Does he wear a hat when it's cold outside, or does he prefer earmuffs? Does he even have ears? Has his heart been broken? I've always found sad feelings to be more inspiring to me than happy ones, despite my big love for bright colours and my overall lust for good times and adventure, so for this series I'm just going to dive right into that (pumpkin)head first.

Jack-o-lanterns are the best. I love how you can carve any emotion you'd like into the face of this fruit every Halloween. How the end result can be crude or elaborate or not even a face at all, and all of those things are equally as pleasing. Halloween forever!

DEALS, BOOKS, WEATHER, KID STUFF.

The only thing that connects these images is their complete lack of colour. Here we go!

Caitlyn and I are almost out of our dog postcard sets and snacks zines. If you need to send some words to the dog lovers in your life, or compare your favourite snacks with ours, both of these items are now half price in our shops. $6 bucks each. Also? You should check out Caitlyn's series of drawings called I DON'T LIKE THIS on her blog! It's a good one.

A winter peek outside my back door. Old man Winter has been a real joker lately. Snow, rain, spring jackets, ice, etc. Make up your mind, man.

I recently (aka finally) finished Just Kids by Patti Smith. A+ book! It's pretty embarrassing how long it takes me to finish a book these days. I would really like to read more! I would also like to win the lottery, learn how to drive a car, and establish a lust for getting up early and seizing the day. To live is to dream...

My sister brought me a bunch of weird drawings that I did when I was a kid over the holidays. Most of our childhood photos, etc have been displaced over time or ruined by a small house flood, so it was a treat to look though some old stuff. This is one of them I photocopied. A princess (me), holding a balloon (with a girl's face on it? my own face?), saying hello to her Dad in the sky (is the dad a bird? is the Dad driving a plane about to hit a bird?). Kids are weird. I'm pretty much still this good at drawing people.

I've been attempting to blog more. Is this the kind of thing my blog is for? Do people care what my backyard looks like in the winter, if I have a new tattoo, or if there's a really cool garden close to my house? Do I just stick to new design work and process shots? Who knows, but I'm going to take my own advice from the post below and stop worrying/over-analysing and just go with it. 

Yours, 

Sandi Falconer

Going With It Since 2013

STOP WORRYING

A new print now available in my shop! For all the worriers, panic lovers, and anxiety fighters in the house! While it's certainly appropriate to worry sometimes, I definitely worry too much. What a boring drain of energy! I posted a pic of this guy on instagram while I was printing it, and the reaction leads me to believe that I am definitely not alone. Looks like we all need to be reminded to dial it back a little ;) While this print may not change your tendency to over worry, or mine, maybe it will remind us to try harder? I WANT TO BELIEVE.

8X10 screen print. If you're in Toronto and would like to pick up a copy, feel free to send me an email! info@deadweight.ca

Dot dot dot!