I'm so jealous of etsy shops that say: From a pet and smoke free environment.
I try my hardest to keep my animals away from my projects but I fail miserably every time.
I put my yarn into gallon size Ziplock bags when I get them. I pull the end from the bag and store it in the bag. I put the finished projects into Rubbermaid bins.
Then I realize I am not as fastidious as I think I am and realize I have a handful of UFO (Un-Finished Objects) that sit on the table when I get up to refill my tea cup or sit on my lap when I get distracted watching a tv show......and guess who sits with me while I watch tv? My foreman: Rumble, my tabby. And to keep things fair, his sister, Tootsie, is sitting on the adjacent loveseat.....she doesn't like me much, she's a total daddy's girl.
A few weeks ago my mom was over hanging out and laughed out loud when she saw me chasing Rumble though the house, first thru the den then the dining room trying to retrieve my WIP (Work In Progress) that he had attacked---through the Ziplock bag and ran away with, out of my hands, crochet hook included. Apparently he was very attracted to the ball of yarn spinning inside the bag.
I love my kitties (even Tootsie who has all but stolen my boyfriend away from me), but I do not love taking tweezers to every finished project to collect any stray hairs of mine and kittie fur. Oh well, its a trade-off for the excellent supervision I get from my foreman.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Figuring out a Signature Style
I love watching old movies from the 1930s-1960s. Women all had this amazing sense of style and really put effort into how they presented themselves. The had their own signature style.
I consider the day a success if I get out of my sweats....which I didn't today. In my defense I really needed a lazy day and I still left the house to donate a car full of stuff to the thrift store.
I was thinking about how my university "re-branded" itself my senior year and had a new logo and EVERYTHING and I mean E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. had that new logo and the website printed on it. You knew instantly when you got something in the mail that it was from the school--every page within the website had that logo prominently displayed.
I've been thinking about doing that to my shop for some time now. In fact one of my very talented artist friends is in the process of designing me my very own logo! She is incredibly gifted with pen and ink (among many other mediums) and has shown me several different options and will be fine tuning the one I chose soon.
*****************************************************************
I also need to figure out a "signature style" for items in my shop. A lot of the shops I really admire specialize in one type of item but I make several different items that are all connected.
Maybe I'll just start making everything with skulls (like I tried out again today) or hearts or stars or something. We'll just have to wait and see where life and inspiration take me.
I consider the day a success if I get out of my sweats....which I didn't today. In my defense I really needed a lazy day and I still left the house to donate a car full of stuff to the thrift store.
I was thinking about how my university "re-branded" itself my senior year and had a new logo and EVERYTHING and I mean E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. had that new logo and the website printed on it. You knew instantly when you got something in the mail that it was from the school--every page within the website had that logo prominently displayed.
I've been thinking about doing that to my shop for some time now. In fact one of my very talented artist friends is in the process of designing me my very own logo! She is incredibly gifted with pen and ink (among many other mediums) and has shown me several different options and will be fine tuning the one I chose soon.
*****************************************************************
I also need to figure out a "signature style" for items in my shop. A lot of the shops I really admire specialize in one type of item but I make several different items that are all connected.
Opening myself to people and opportunities
I have some OCD and lots of feelings of perfectionism fighting with impatience. My mind is a constant battlefield.
This is one of the reasons I really like to crochet, I can get sucked into the repetitive motions and the organized pattern and just count a lot and it really helps me calm down and just focus on creating. The possibilities of crocheting are endless and looking through patterns and yarns fill me with hope and eagerness and the greatest desire to contribute to the artistic community.
I never feel that way with people. Meeting a bunch of new people makes me skeptical and apprehensive and I see all the negatives and put up a personal bubble to isolate myself to some extent. I let new people see the persona that is appropriate for the situation but never all of me. Which is probably due to my life-long connection to the stage and being burned by those who were closest to me.
So we keep trying every day. Some days are winners. Others are not but the only way you loose it to not try at all.
(Kind of depressing today huh? I didn't intend it to be but its what came out of my fingers...I even had a pretty good day!)
This is one of the reasons I really like to crochet, I can get sucked into the repetitive motions and the organized pattern and just count a lot and it really helps me calm down and just focus on creating. The possibilities of crocheting are endless and looking through patterns and yarns fill me with hope and eagerness and the greatest desire to contribute to the artistic community.
I never feel that way with people. Meeting a bunch of new people makes me skeptical and apprehensive and I see all the negatives and put up a personal bubble to isolate myself to some extent. I let new people see the persona that is appropriate for the situation but never all of me. Which is probably due to my life-long connection to the stage and being burned by those who were closest to me.
So we keep trying every day. Some days are winners. Others are not but the only way you loose it to not try at all.
(Kind of depressing today huh? I didn't intend it to be but its what came out of my fingers...I even had a pretty good day!)
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Parade Floats and Caramel Cheesecake Trivia
Taking advantage of my time off of both of my jobs (due to the off season, not vacation days) we went on an adventure today to see the Tournament of Roses Parade Floats in Pasadena. This was a bigger ordeal than I perceived it to be only because of the lack of parking and how many people were there! It was like Disneyland on the most crowded day during a parade when you just wanna cross to another land and can't quite get to the Partners statue. (That'll make sense to the Disney freaks)
The floats were very interesting to inspect from a designers point of view. I loved seeing how much planning and detail work had to go into each one of them. Even the tow hitches were covered in some plant/natural accent. Some of the floats were very uninspiring while others were just outstanding. The four of us all had different favorite ones but mine was the Dr. Seuss "oh the places you'll go" (there were actually two of them and both were awesome and linked....like a sequel float.)
Trying to decide on a place to eat afterwards was difficult (as it always is for us) but we finally decided on Hooters in Burbank. The main part of the place was filled with "Gators" who were very loud and had Gators' trivia going on over the restaurant's sound system....ugh! Even the Hooters girls were over it all. We had great service and since none of us had ever eaten there before it was an adventure. The highlight was the Hooter's Trivia on the few flatscreens that weren't showing Gators or other sporting events. I L.O.V.E. trivia games, especially computer ones, but this one was not as fun for me because it was mostly sports questions (always my weakest subject). If you earn enough trivia points (thru your smartphone--which I appreciate) you get free food/discounts on your bill. Had we played every game from the moment we walked in we would have gotten our dessert for free but maybe next time.
I was very happy that all four of us had on my hat creations while we walked around everywhere. We got a lot of stares and some big compliments on my Lorax hat ( https://www.etsy.com/listing/95168372/lorax-tribute-hat-fan-art-speak-for-the )and my mom's cookie monster hat. ( https://www.etsy.com/listing/94977769/me-love-cookies-cookie-monster-tribute )
Here's to new artistic adventures, showing off my shop and yummy caramel cheesecake for dessert, even when you have to pay full price for it.
The floats were very interesting to inspect from a designers point of view. I loved seeing how much planning and detail work had to go into each one of them. Even the tow hitches were covered in some plant/natural accent. Some of the floats were very uninspiring while others were just outstanding. The four of us all had different favorite ones but mine was the Dr. Seuss "oh the places you'll go" (there were actually two of them and both were awesome and linked....like a sequel float.)
Trying to decide on a place to eat afterwards was difficult (as it always is for us) but we finally decided on Hooters in Burbank. The main part of the place was filled with "Gators" who were very loud and had Gators' trivia going on over the restaurant's sound system....ugh! Even the Hooters girls were over it all. We had great service and since none of us had ever eaten there before it was an adventure. The highlight was the Hooter's Trivia on the few flatscreens that weren't showing Gators or other sporting events. I L.O.V.E. trivia games, especially computer ones, but this one was not as fun for me because it was mostly sports questions (always my weakest subject). If you earn enough trivia points (thru your smartphone--which I appreciate) you get free food/discounts on your bill. Had we played every game from the moment we walked in we would have gotten our dessert for free but maybe next time.
I was very happy that all four of us had on my hat creations while we walked around everywhere. We got a lot of stares and some big compliments on my Lorax hat ( https://www.etsy.com/listing/95168372/lorax-tribute-hat-fan-art-speak-for-the )and my mom's cookie monster hat. ( https://www.etsy.com/listing/94977769/me-love-cookies-cookie-monster-tribute )
Here's to new artistic adventures, showing off my shop and yummy caramel cheesecake for dessert, even when you have to pay full price for it.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
A new year, maybe some optimism?
I've never been accused of being an optimist---not even as a young human child, but I feel like this year is a turning point for me. I'll be turning 30 at the end of the year and that's the whole return of Saturn phase. (The planet Saturn will be in the same position as it was during my birth) and it has a lot of significance.
I want to actually use my blog to post my random musings and lots of my craft projects. I'll be going thru some of my old projects and posting them with how I made them and how I wish I could improve upon them.
I also want to keep better track of how I spend my days, I frequently feel like my life is flying by but that I'm not getting nearly enough accomplished.
Today I woke up (after a couple of hours or rest, not sleep exactly) to some of my closest friends in various states of hangover/sleep. We hung out and then made a big breakfast buffet for everyone to share (delicious bacon and kielbasa egg scramble, some apple slices, toast, day old Starbucks muffins/pastries courtesy of a barista sleepover guest, and milk/juice/coffee.
Once everyone left my coworker/good friend L and my amazingly sweet and tolerant boyfriend decided they wanted to go to the L.A. Zoo so we took off and within an hour we were checking out the zebras, lemurs and more birds that I could count!
We finished the day with dinner at BJs Brewery after having false starts at several highly Urbanspoon/Yelp recommended places that were closed due to the holiday. Lots of yummy foods were consumed but my favorite is always the Pazookie (a freshly baked cookie of your choice in a small pizza pie pan (mine was about 4 inches in diameter) with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream melting on top of it.
Light-hearted conversations all day and no stress or hurrying to make a deadline made for a great first day of the year! I will make a conscience effort to have more fun, light-hearted days this year and less stress filled, I hate everything days.
I want to actually use my blog to post my random musings and lots of my craft projects. I'll be going thru some of my old projects and posting them with how I made them and how I wish I could improve upon them.
I also want to keep better track of how I spend my days, I frequently feel like my life is flying by but that I'm not getting nearly enough accomplished.
Today I woke up (after a couple of hours or rest, not sleep exactly) to some of my closest friends in various states of hangover/sleep. We hung out and then made a big breakfast buffet for everyone to share (delicious bacon and kielbasa egg scramble, some apple slices, toast, day old Starbucks muffins/pastries courtesy of a barista sleepover guest, and milk/juice/coffee.
Once everyone left my coworker/good friend L and my amazingly sweet and tolerant boyfriend decided they wanted to go to the L.A. Zoo so we took off and within an hour we were checking out the zebras, lemurs and more birds that I could count!
We finished the day with dinner at BJs Brewery after having false starts at several highly Urbanspoon/Yelp recommended places that were closed due to the holiday. Lots of yummy foods were consumed but my favorite is always the Pazookie (a freshly baked cookie of your choice in a small pizza pie pan (mine was about 4 inches in diameter) with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream melting on top of it.
Light-hearted conversations all day and no stress or hurrying to make a deadline made for a great first day of the year! I will make a conscience effort to have more fun, light-hearted days this year and less stress filled, I hate everything days.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
fun with food
So I rushed home on my lunch break today to have lunch with the boyfriend only to find out via text he was also on his way home from work and that whoever got home first should start cooking. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
I decided to go cheap fast and easy for lunch since we have chicken defrosted for dinner tonite: sandwiches. I piled my toasted 10grain whole wheat with slivers of cheese and turkey but when I got to his, I decided to play a little joke. It started out as just a face then I realized that I could make it look like Ferb from Disney's Phineas and Ferb with the uneven eyes/eyebrows and green hair (broccoli on the plate since we were out of lettuce with tomato slices with a dab of mustard for eyes and onion slices for the eyebrows)
He walked in right as I was putting stuff on the table and said: What's for Lunch? I told him I was having a half sandwich but he got to eat Ferb's head. Bewildered, he looked at the cutting board and adjacent plate with his food and laughed. Said it would be only fitting to watch an episode while we ate, but I had to leave before it finished :(
GOOD NEWS: I get to work a 12+ hour shift this Friday of Disney's Phineas and Ferb Live
BAD NEWS: He started smearing mayo and more mustard on the sandwich before I got to take a picture of it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
AUTUMN IS HERE!!!
I love Autumn! It is my favorite time of year, mostly due to sweater weather but also I love pumpkin flavored anything, marshmallows in my hot chocolate and the leaves changing colors. I don't live somewhere where there are true seasons but the air just feels different in Autumn.
I am definitely a hat person (could you tell from all the hats in my etsy shop? http://www.etsy.com/shop/13thHourDesigns ) and love making the perfect hat for everyone I know. I love to share my creations and love selling them so more people can feel how comfy they are and enjoy them.
This season, I'm expanding my line to be more cartoony. I've been spending more time with my neices and watching cartoons and really love how happy the characters make them. In honor of that, I'm designing more tribute hats to their favorite characters to add to my Lorax fan tribute: https://www.etsy.com/listing/95168372/sale-was-2500-lorax-tribute-hat-fan-art
and my Cookie Monster fan tribute: https://www.etsy.com/listing/94977769/sale-was-2500-me-love-cookies-cookie
Stay tuned for more Dr. Seuss inspired pieces, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock character hats, AdventureTime character tributes and some Disney fan art.
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