Bananas

Hi!  I did another round of editing photos and adding items to my shop and it took me way less time.  I even re-shot this guy because the first round of pictures were terrible and I can finally fully admit it.  Click the images for shop details.

Here's what is making me bananas... I am using Pixlr to edit my pics and while in the program they look great - the background looks very white and the contrast and lighting are perfect.  Now when I look at the image below I can't believe how pink the background is. Are you seeing this, too?  Were my eyes just confused when I was editing or is something getting lost in my saving translation?  Any guesses?  I promise that I will eventually get this figured out.

These two guys have been in my shop before but I revamped them a bit. I'm so in love with tassels, I want to add them onto everything.  I want to make a bunch more pom garlands for the shop.  I think they are a classic staple.

I finished my second one of these this month!  All total this is the forth pom curtain I've made.  Eventually I want to make one for myself.  It would be perfect for a photobooth backdrop.  I have been assembling these in the guest bedroom because the shelf is so easiest for working on.  I have slowly turned this room into my second studio.  I think of it as the "clean studio." And who doesn't want a bed in their studio?

I feel like I have seemed very melancholy in my blog lately. I don't mean to sound that way. I am really very content right now I just have a lot on my mind. In the past month I feel like I have worked the hardest I have ever worked in a long time and it feels really good. As I mentioned before I am probably a bit stir crazy and when you mix that with my anxiety about returning life to "normal" it can make for a weird feelings tornado.  I did try to make today last as long as possible. Now I'm going to end today like I did last night... making pom poms on the couch with my fella watching 30 Rock reruns.  I have to go to sleep early and retrain myself to get up super early.  It's so much easier to do that in the summer.  I hope you have a good evening and if your life is returning to normal tomorrow it goes very well.  And I hope you get to have cookies.

Stir Crazy Agoraphobe

The weather here has been so cold! Are you feeling the same thing where you are? I seem to follow a lot of people from Australia on instagram and all their summer photos have made me very envious.  I promise times a thousand that when it's super muggy and hot this summer I will not complain.  

The place where I worked was closed today and will be closed again tomorrow. I am super grateful for these extra days to work at home but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit stir crazy.  I know I can go outside but I am scared.  I have irrational fears of becoming immediately freezer burned. I have been homebound for 5 days with only a few trips out. It is very easy for me to slip into agoraphobia (fear of leaving the home) after being here for so long.  I start to get  a little anxious at the idea of returning to normal life and leaving my home for longer than an hour or so.  When I was little I used to try to make Sundays stretch out as long as possible because I had terrible anxiety about going to school. I thought if I made the day very boring it would never end.  I was pretty clever...

Most of my friends know I love unicorns (who wouldn't?) and over the years I have been gifted some great unicorn items.  This bell from my friend Courtney really takes the cake.  She suggested I ring it after each Etsy sale which I totally will do now.  That reminded me of when I bought my wedding dress and they made me ring a bell and make a wish. At first I thought it was so cheesy  but when I finally did I got a little teary. I am a sucker for pomp and circumstance. 

Look at this rabbit.

I just clocked two and a half hours editing and listing the following goodies in my shop.  Click on each pic for details.  I had a million other items on my to-do list tonight but it's ten o'clock and my fella is in the other room watching reruns of 30 Rock and I really want to join him. Besides, tomorrow I have to make it the most boring day possible so it will last forever so I should hopefully have plenty of time to get more work done.

Oh! Do you watch Girls? Do you read Gawker? I do both and boy did Hannah really zing Gawker on the show the other night. Actually Adam did. The timing was perfect after Jezebel was so weird about Lena Dunham's Vogue photos. If you have no idea what I'm talking about I'm sorry. I just love a good zing!

xoxo

Working Weekend

Etsy can be so overwhelming.  I have been working since 3:30 trying to take a good pic of the arrow garland below.  After tons of trial and error I felt fine with what I had but editing it was so hard. I just don't understand cameras or how to edit or any of the technical stuff.  Finally I got this listed but when I tried to search for Valentine's Day Garland I was blown away by how many there were. I couldn't even find my own listing! Sometimes I forget just HOW MANY PEOPLE are on etsy! It can be really frustrating but I have to think of it in a positive way which is to say that it's so awesome that people get to make beautiful things and have a place to sell those things.  I'm happy to know this is a shared experience.  I'm sure many of those people also had a long afternoon of trying to photograph and edit their work. I hope their return is huge.  I also hope they drank yummy tea like I did and they have someone special in the kitchen making them supper.  You can find this "love you garland" here. I won't make you try to search for it.

I had a wonderful three day weekend spend working and working and working.  This is the kind of work I would like to do round the clock. I would never have to punch in because I would never punch out.  I got my hands on Pantone's color of the year - Radiant Orchid - and painted a new grouping of arrows that I was pretty in love with.

I also REALLY DID attempt to play the ukelele.  I think a lot of people doubted that part about my last post.  It was easy when compared to a guitar but it was hard when compared to my ability to play a stringed instrument.  I need to practice for a long time before I'll be playing any recitals.

What if I became famous for playing the ukelele?

Valentine's day is one of my favorite holidays when it comes to decoration.  I love the colors so much and hearts are always my favorite shape.  I have been too busy to do a lot of vday crafting so I made sure to do a little bit this weekend.  My studio is caked in gold glitter and I'm pretty sure my lungs are filled with yarn particles.  There are worst things to fill my lungs with so I think it's probably okay.

The pizza is ready... That's right... PIZZA!  This may be the best weekend ever.

<3 p="">

Honestly Lately

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Happy new year! It's nearly a month into 2014 and I have no idea where the time has gone.  It has been a "blink and you miss it month."  In the days leading up to January 1st I spent lots of time thinking of new year's resolutions.  Make more, work harder, keep the house clean, blog more, watch less TV, the usual... while I was spending all that time thinking life got in the way.  This has been a month filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows.  My business has taken off in unexpected ways so I have been happily working in my studio producing custom orders and dreaming of new creations for the future. It has given me a kind of confidence that I have not had in a very very long time.  Right now I feel good, like I can really do it!

Other parts of my life have been a bit more of a struggle but from what I understand about life you have to take the good with the bad.  (Cue the Facts of Life theme song)  I'll be very honest with you... for Christmas all I wanted was to say I got the greatest gift of all which would be a little pink plus sign.  Every single month I shell out more and more money hoping for that little symbol on a small white stick and every month I only see the line that lets me know the stick is working but not working the way I hoped.  In my fantasies it would all happen at Christmas time so I could wear everyone out with saying what a great gift I got. I'm still hoping and hoping and spending more money on something that should be free.... seriously, a stick you pee on? I'm paying how much?  At least include a free piece of chocolate. 

I am also dealing with changes that are happening in my world that I have no control over and can only watch and hope for the best.  The control freak in me wants to wave a magic wand and make everything okay but what happens when you don't even know what "okay" is?

And not to lay it on too thick but my current job is becoming more and more temporary as I am in a situation where I am not permanently hired and have no idea what the future is going to hold.  Last summer I did not have a job and we were fine but I can see the relief in my husband's eyes that I have this steady gig so I know that to return to where we were before may be a bit more stressful than I hoped.  I'm honestly scared because I'm finding it harder and harder to make time for all the things I want to do for my business. I have had tons of work sitting and waiting to be photographed. You can see that I haven't blogged in a million years and it's something that I really miss. I used to be such a dreamer and I still am but the realities of life make it harder and harder to feel optimistic about making my dreams come true.

The last of my struggles, and I promise this is it, is this terrible weather.  I'm burning my favorite Spring-scented candle and trying not to think about how truly awful it is.  This is the worst it has been in years.  I am always dreaming about moving to Nashville and right now my dreams are in overload.  I can't believe it is still January. How much longer?  

Lets talk about good things.  My dear friend Courtney had a birthday and her wish was for a crafting date. She made the above cake and I added the candles.  I did not have THE ONLY NUMBER WE NEEDED (sorry for yelling!) so I made up for it with a pretty color scheme. We later changed it to our area code.  The cake was delicious and the crafting date was much needed. Our friend Robyn also joined us. Later that week I got the print you see below from Robyn in the mail. That girl is full of surprises. I swear she just sits at home and thinks of ways to make people feel better.  When it comes to friends I am the luckiest girl in town.

Speaking of friends, I have a group of friends and we call ourselves Pink Ice (a reference to the pink ice rings girls used to wear back in the 90s).  They are another example of what truly amazing friends I have.  They all live so far away so we rely on group text messages to get through our problems and to make each other laugh. They are printmakers at heart and wear the best fashions. Here are some of their websites: Meghan, Rachael, Katy, Claudia.

I tried to quit drinking coffee this week. I made it all the way up to today and caved and had a cup this morning.  I think I'd rather try to quit eating sweets and let myself have a big cup of coffee in the morning and tea all afternoon.  Next week no sweet treats.  I'll really try.

Today I am going to learn to play the ukelele.  I am super excited.

I should also mention how lucky I am to have a supportive family.  They have really been encouraging lately. If they had websites I would share those, too. My mom has been rocking it in the knitting department lately and I am so proud of her. I come from a family of strong women and I hope to make them proud.

Sorry for such a long post and to be a bit of a downer.  I just want to be honest.  I hope where ever you are you are warm and happy and eating a cookie.