| zip up! |
[Apr. 13th, 2008|10:29 am] |
*Z is for zipper notecard on Etsy*
this weekend, I've discovered that I'm good at the following things:
1. guessing the weight of fruits and vegetables in the produce aisle.
2. killing threads in the etsy forums.
3. spelling ridiculous words, like triskaidekaphobia, on the first try.
4. determining what my dreams will be before I fall asleep.
I'm also quite talented at avoiding things I want nothing to do with, like FAFSA forms... |
|
|
| yo. |
[Apr. 12th, 2008|10:18 pm] |
*Y is for yo-yo notecard at etsy*
with the rain streaking past my window today, I found myself anchored to the couch, suffering from an inexplicable spell of congestion/sneezing/sore throat. it could be allergies (although I'm still not really sure what I'm allergic to), or maybe a head cold? the craziness of the matter is that it came on very quickly. I was on the phone with a dear friend for over an hour - at the beginning of the conversation, I was fine; by the end, I was totally congested and sneezing like a freak. I hate sneezing - it makes me so disgusted with myself.
I did manage to take pictures off of the camera for the first time in a spell. here are my favorites:
*the magical bass player with sam gooden and fred cash of the impressions*
*a mischievous chanchito*
*broken glass, broken heart* |
|
|
| oh, livejournal... |
[Apr. 10th, 2008|06:40 pm] |
... how I've forsaken thee. sorry about the lack of connectivity in the blogosphere. but as I had little news, I felt the need to avoid adding yet another boring blog into said sphere.
but here is something new!
*V is for violin notecard, newly listed in my etsy shop*
other than that, I got nothin'... |
|
|
| benny and the... |
[Mar. 25th, 2008|10:36 pm] |
| [ | I'm listening to: |
| | cape cod kwassa kwassa | ] |
... jet!
*J is for jet notecard*
and say what you will about vampire weekend - any modern band that eagerly employs harpsichord in their song composition is alright in my book. listening to them on my headphones make me feel like I'm walking through a benneton ad. |
|
|
| snow + elephant + toast |
[Mar. 22nd, 2008|12:06 pm] |
yesterday brought the second official day of spring, and a pretty spectacular snow storm. I first woke up at 5:00 a.m, and was disappointed to not find any of the snow that the local meteorologists had been in such a tizzy about the day before. then I came to my senses, went back to sleep, and woke again at 9:00, to a nice dusting of snow. the snow came down pretty much all day - at one point, the flakes were so big they looked like cotton balls falling from the sky. I know a lot of people were pretty bitter about snow in the middle of March, but I thought it was beautiful.
I spent yesterday watching the storm and making cards. I managed to get a few done for my consignment with renegade handmade, and also made these for etsy:
*E is for elephant notecard*
*T is for toast notecard*
then I went to a lovely show , where friends convened from various parts of the country for one night only, and finally put my head on the pillow at an obscene hour.
obscene for this old broad, anyway. |
|
|
| a lidless eye, wreathed in flame. |
[Mar. 19th, 2008|08:13 pm] |
| [ | I'm listening to: |
| | think tank | ] |
*self portrait with fire*
watching america's next top model always makes me want to take pictures. and since my usual model is somewhere in indiana tonight (with his other girlfriend, le rock et roll), I had to settle for moi.
eh. I'll work on it.
this I'm pretty proud of:
*A is for artichoke notecard*
I like it in white. I think it makes the artichoke look especially tasty, don't you?
also! wonderful news - I applied to renegade handmade here in chicago, and today they contacted me to let me know they would LOVE (emphasis theirs, not mine) to carry 8 of my card designs!
wow - it's so nice to think of people actually picking up and holding my cards, contemplating whether they have a place in their lives, but being able to make that decision based on something near and tangible. plus, it's really lovely to think of my cards featured next to some of the beauties already in the shop. some of which I may or may not have purchased in the past...
and lastly - truly this day was full!- I was watching judge david young today, and actually saw someone I know! well, she is the ex-wife of a former co-worker, but I did meet her once. it's crazy to think that anyone I'm acquainted with could be on a television small claims court show, but there you have it. |
|
|
| books. |
[Mar. 17th, 2008|08:39 pm] |
this is so beautiful:
Giving a Box of Books Away
Little caskets of my former dreams,
I feed you back into the Ganges
of living perceptions, extravagant
longings, that life, no matter how
scattered, buffeted, ridden by floods
of feeling and need, can't do without.
Let somebody else finish Tasso.
Let somebody else put the citadel
of Plutarch, the shield of Proust
on the shelf above his bed to protect him
from a life without extravagant hope.
My underlinings in Freud, my shouts
in the margins of Dostoyevsky, my first
edition of Goodbye Wisconsin, my
Swap and Go: Home Exchanging
As a Way of Live, as the way of my life
becomes clear and less cluttered.
I set afloat in the sleepy bulrushes
of the delta like a child I couldn't keep.
Good-bye ambition, good-by to keeping
around what even memory lets go.
The sea greets us like a long-lost friend
while gigantic mountains of cumulonimbus
collapse and inflate across the sky.
-Roger Mitchell
this is the perfect way to describe giving away long-kept books, after finally resigning yourself to the fact that you're not going to read Murakami's Kafka on the Shore in its original Japanese.
only, I still haven't reached this point - I'm not ready to send my books away, to become someone else's responsiblity to finish, and to keep in a home more loving and devoted.
I'm a selfish book hoarder, and I'm not ashamed. |
|
|
| color is great! |
[Mar. 16th, 2008|11:17 am] |
so, always willing to invest heavily in my tiny business (it will upgrade to a small business someday soon, I'm sure of it!), I threw down $1.09 last weekend to get some colorful posterboard. here is one result of my investment:
*C is for cloud notecard*
it's amazing what a bright background and some actual sunshine can do! I also bought blue posterboard, but I'm still searching for some posterboard in a nice spring or lime green. I'm thinking blick might be the place, and frankly, any excuse to go there is fine with me.
if I happen to walk out with lots of paint, a few blank canvases and some green posterboard, well, that's just more of an investment, right?
right.
also - I just watched 'wuthering heights' starring juliette binoche and ralph fiennes yesterday, and I have to say I was disappointed. I know that healthcliff is supposed to be a rough gypsy, but honestly, looking at him for extended periods of time was difficult. I was typically relieved when his character wasn't on screen.
janet mcteer as nellie was brilliant, and sinead o'connor as emily bronte was very creative. but ralph fiennes had terrible hair extensions and looked as though he was smeared with grease pen. I'll take laurence olivier anyday... |
|
|
| would you consider it irony... |
[Mar. 15th, 2008|11:59 am] |
... that I've made a total of two umbrella notecards:
and I've never seen Mary Poppins? from what I hear, umbrellas are prominently featured in that particular film. and something about a chimney?
(and yes, I realize the irony is a bit of a stretch, but bear with me: very little sleep last night.)
other films that seem particularly popular, that I have yet to see:
Goonies
The Way We Were (well, I've seen bits and pieces, but I've never been able to stomach the whole thing)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
there are many more. I just recently saw Gremlins, after much prodding from outside parties. apparently it's unacceptable to have grown up in the 80's and not have seen Gremlins. I guess my parents really dropped the ball on that one.
actually, I think I was too busy watching The Wizard of Oz over and over to allow any other movies to make their way into the VCR. I was slightly obsessed, and one summer, I had the entire dialogue and all of the song lyrics memorized. I'm sure it was such fun to watch that movie with me! |
|
|
| it's been a spell! |
[Mar. 12th, 2008|07:57 pm] |
bonjour!
I didn't forget about livejournal. life just got a little bananas.
I got a little lost in the (albeit still fairly awkward) etsy shuffle this past weekend, so today I sat on the couch, turned on NPR, and made card after card. aside from lunch with a lovely friend, it basically consumed my day. here's a new rendition of the headphones card:
*now in pink!*
and a brontosaurus!
phew.
I'm exhausted! |
|
|
| high fidelity |
[Mar. 6th, 2008|10:14 pm] |
| [ | I'm listening to: |
| | my headphones, they saved my life. | ] |
so, as I was making this card:
*H is for headphones notecard*
I mean, while I was sketching it, then while I made my boyfriend finish sketching it (I got a little frustrated), then while I was stitching it, then while I was taking pictures of it, then while I was sizing the photos of it, then while I just posted it on etsy, I had Bjork's "Headphones" in my head.
it's really a lovely song, especially in my head. I think I'll go listen to it for real now... |
|
|
| an octopus and a clean grill! |
[Mar. 5th, 2008|04:58 pm] |
| [ | I'm listening to: |
| | wincing the night away | ] |
after getting a clean bill of health and an only semi-obnoxious cleaning at the dentist, I decided it was too nice of a day to spend the trip home on a bus. so I walked the two miles home, admiring how ugly/beautiful my city can be on a cold day.
the river was a swampy greenish brown, and the trees were all bald. and all of the old industrial buildings had something of a twinkle to them. it was a charming walk, followed up with some leftover pizza and a little card-making:
*O is for octopus notecard* |
|
|
| a vice grip... |
[Mar. 3rd, 2008|01:36 pm] |
... seemed to have a hold of my poor head this morning, so I cried "uncle!" and called in sick to work. now I'm sitting on my couch on a very gray day, watching some silly television. I did manage to stitch a little something...
*K is for kite notecard*
...in between court shows on fox, and spreading some brie cheese on apples, crackers, and anything else I could find that seemed tasty (I had forgotten how much I love brie cheese). most likely because of the cheese, I feel much better! |
|
|
| for someone who's afraid to ride one... |
[Mar. 2nd, 2008|08:52 pm] |
... I'm sure stitching a lot of bicycles these days:
*B is for bicycle notecard*
and yes, you read that right - I'm afraid to ride a bicycle. I was always uneasy on a bike, even on leisurely rides to the local dairy queen as a kid. and the older I got, the more I would think "this is crazy. my entire body is perched atop this thin contraption, which could tip at any moment! what am I, nuts?!"
I really don't have anything against bicycles - as you can no doubt tell, I find them very appealing aesthetically - but my sense of balance stinks. I always grip banisters (sometimes firmly) when descending stairs, and taking my shoes off at the end of day almost always results in a fall (you'd think I would learn my lesson and take a seat, but no...). so although I love the look of bicycles, and love watching people ride bicycles, I have no intention of taking a seat on a bicycle anytime soon. |
|
|
| never thought I would say this... |
[Feb. 29th, 2008|02:34 pm] |
... but thanks, martha stewart! whether or not it was the etsy exposure on your show today, I just sold another bicycle! so keep steering your viewers with disposable income towards the handmade crafter set, martha my dear...
and, whilst watching the show, I started feeling crafty (no-brainer), so I stitched this guy up:
*G is for grass notecard*
have yet to see any actual grass in my region of the country - in fact we had another quickie snow storm last night, just as I went to bed. I have to say, I still haven't tired of watching the snow drift (or blow, as was the case last night) past my window.
also, if you didn't catch the "New York Philharmonic in North Korea" on PBS last night, I recommend trying to track it down. for me personally, it was very educational - I didn't know that all citizens (or at least those featured) wore a memorial pin of Kim-Il sung over their heart at all times, for example. And the music they chose was so poignant - my favorite was Dvoràk's "New World Symphony". the second movement, "Largo," is so simple and moving and beautiful - I saw more than one musician and audience member with tears in their eyes (through my own teary eyes, of course).
I like the idea of music as ambassador. and I might be biased, but I think art plays well in that role, as well... |
|
|
| bam! |
[Feb. 27th, 2008|09:17 pm] |
| [ | I'm listening to: |
| | bat for lashes | ] |
today was a phenomenally productive day - I hyper-cleaned the apartment; finished an application to graduate school; picked out poems I'm submitting to a publication contest; finished 'revolutionary road' (amazing, by the way); and made this:
*B is for bicycle notecard*
it's just a re-list of a card I've already sold, with different thread and cardstock.
plus, the sun broke free from the clouds just long enough for me to soak in some vitamin D, and take bright photos of some more cards.
days off are the bees knees. |
|
|
| chance of precipitation: 100% |
[Feb. 26th, 2008|11:12 pm] |
gracious, this past week has been loooong. I did manage to make a little something:
*U is for umbrella notecard*
it still makes me giggle when I see people walking around in the snow with umbrellas. although in the summer months, I've been known to use an umbrella as a parasol on sunny days. so maybe I should stifle my giggling a little... |
|
|
| ugh. |
[Feb. 23rd, 2008|06:11 pm] |
I'm such a slacker. I made this today, while watching 'mighty joe young' on television:
*W is for whale notecard*
and, just to ensure everyone that I'm a loser, I wept like a baby in the end when I thought that the giant gorilla was dead.
I've just sort of lost my card-making mojo in the last week. I'm still excited about what I'm making, but I'm not as revved up to make them.
I think I'm finally ready for spring. partly because my apartment is so cold that I haven't felt my toes all day, and partly because I'm ready for a change. and the change of seasons is as good as any. |
|
|
| lincoln, je t'aime |
[Feb. 18th, 2008|10:15 am] |
| [ | I'm feeling: |
| | cheeky | ] |
| [ | I'm listening to: |
| | henry purcell | ] |
I simply adore long weekends. it's so wonderful to lounge about on a sunday night, knowing you won't have to make the journey into work the next morning. and knowing that you have another day to make stuff, such as:
*B is for bicycle notecard, my 14th item in my etsy shop (I'm getting up there)!
I love bicycles. especially vintage ones. especially, especially vintage ones buried away in some foliage:
this bicycle lived in the wilds behind my boyfriend's house in college. it was chained to the tree, otherwise I would have rescued it. actually, I think I tried one evening, after a decent amount of wine, to take to the chain with tools of various ridiculousness, but to no avail.
I wonder whether the bicycle is still there? |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
tulippluspanda's journal