illuminations

so, although pressure really should be on with planning my almost immediate future, i have been reading warm with the windows open, leisurely crafting, and visiting with friends. i am feeling a little better that my lease is two weeks longer than i previously thought, as well as that my last month's (may) rent was paid when i moved in. i still need to get serious about this, but i can't help but sit by and wait for something big and dramatic to point me in the right direction.

i made a few more sales and put up a few more items this week- the more i make, the better i feel like i am getting at it! and today was really exciting- i finished up card sets, did the photo/posting for them, pulled out/color-coordinated all my fabrics and started four fabric collages, did a little doodle and design, and burned a screen full of images to use. i love days full of diverse crafts. not to mention i ran errands for a few hours in a sleeveless sweater while drinking lemonade iced tea! i mean, everyone else was in jackets and uggs still- but don't they know it's spring in the south?



after sending out a few care packages last week and being in utter panic that everything wouldn't make it in one piece (even after stuffing bags in plastic bubble wrap envelopes for insane cushion), i started making some gift boxes. my first one is here, and i actually made it simply by eyeballing with no real measurements. so i was excited with the results! as well as it gives me a use for stamp patterns that i've decided i don't like enough to cut into tags.


other things: i splurged a week or so ago and picked up some woodsy lights from target.com that jamie said reminded her of me. she was right! my mantle has been really bare since christmas season ended, and i was stuck with what to put up next. i admit they are a little, um, autumn-y but i intend to make them my nonseasonal default decor. sooo precious!


lilly really liked the box the most, and will probably continue napping in it until trash day.


and here, speaking of lights, is one of the few projects i liked at uarts. the assignment was, simply, to create a kind of lace (knit, cut, crochet, burn, etc) that interacts with light (natural, artificial) in an interesting way. i ended up slowly, slowly xacto cutting these greeeeat big sheets of fragile paper with some vintage damask patterns- then i glued/decoupaged?? them over a frosted plastic- i just turned the sheets into lamps bc i had to idea how else to show them. i really want to make more, because they are really beautiful (sorry if that's snooty to say!) in both light & dark. click here! for them in the light, they are great shades of blue.

i hope everyone had as delicious and pug-filled easter as i did, but i really doubt that's possible! i had soooo much food and three friendly pugs to smooch at ry's family easter. okay, back to golden girls and then trying to get some zzzzz.

few things

so i am having to deal with the fact that, in less than two months, i will be totally out of my apartment. i am JUST NOW getting everything where i want it (as much as i can for a renter that can't paint/put up shelves). i'm trying to document everything and will post any semi-interesting parts as i get them together.

ry's bike and a solution to excess polaroids/white wall space

the radiator+cover that serves as an extra shelf in my tiny kitchen- it's about twice this size but the rest is just herbs, sugar, garlic, etc. above it are the dirty cakes that i have made or made with friends- i need to put a few newer ones up.

i'm going to miss my apartment, if only because i'm so settled in. i really wish i had a bigger apartment and hope my next one is about double this size. ryan and i always talk about how great it would be if my place were big enough to have friends over for dinner, drinks, movies, etc. we always cook such yummy food, and have been sooo brainwashed by food network entertaining specials. and last night i was thinking how great it would be to host dinner/cocktail parties that cost $5 or a +/- donation, which would go directly to the arbor day foundation for rain forest space (sooo cheap for so much space you can save!), to pay for a bed in a pet shelter, etc. i mean, imagine how much more rewarding would that be than knowing your $5 at a kegger or something is going to profit the host. which is par for a lot of parties up here. ugh.


also, i made four etsy sales this week. which is exciting but pretty slow considering i have really no other income right now. yiiick. then i got a reply from esquire about a nutty letter i wrote them at 4AM a week or so ago- they asked me to confirm my details/that i wrote it because they are "considering running it in an upcoming issue". ha! i'm really not banking on it, but it was a real crack up to find that reply.

before i go, here are a few rings i made earlier this week- stamped polymer clay/gloss varnish and experimental resin bits i made over the summer.



bye!

thank you for being a friend

so i can't stop watching golden girls. part of my insomnia is because it comes on at about 1 AM, right when my body clock generally is telling me to get to bed.

so besides the hilarity that is inevitable every fucking episode, i watch a lot just for the fashion. no, seriously. i cannot get enough of the sweaters! the patterns! rose's hot legs (also not a joke)! i would trade over my wardrobe, WITHOUT QUESTION, for even half of what they own. (or to have legs like rose's.) well, not so much blanche or dorothy, but sophia and rose. ugh. that's where it's at.

before you think i am nuts, take a look at this glorious collage i made (... yeah.) of some stills. and even if you're like, no way, that's gross... just picture really cute scene girl's faces on top of the golden girls'. i think i have proved my point.



have a great weekend!

happy wednesday

okay, okay, so i know how annoying it is to post two days in a row. but i am having a really great day, and i want to get these pictures up since they are already on flickr.

i got my books today! i am afraid it is going to hinder my productivity, but i am so excited to read again. and learn to draw! if i see any progress, i will try to post it so other drawing-challenged people can know it's not bunk.

last night i made my first etsy sale- it was really exciting to have a sale so fast but i have a feeling i'll probably go a month without another. c: i made a logo stamp for myself last night and picked up some stuff to make clay/silver adjustable rings. i am feeling so creative ever since i left art school, go figure.



today jamie and i went to lunch (i think our like 8th week in a row eating the same meals in the same place) and then fabric row after. the above photos are of the salad i get, that i am so obsessed with (it has trail mix, sprouts, chick peas, roasted red pepper, tons of herbs, veggies, etc for like $4) and jamie. the photos below are of my favorite store on fabric row (it is like that aisle on both sides, plus middle aisles and a huge back with rolls of fabric) and my dream fabric that i have talked myself out of buying for curtains about eight times now. i think that i am going to miss that coffee shop and fabric row a lot if i move away. ugh having an entire strip of fabric stores is so dreamy, even if the majority of them are mostly just upholstery.



alright, i am going to go either make some earrings or dye my jeans dark again or read or whatever- they are all good options.

mid-week updates

i finally spent my barnes & noble gift card, part of which went to buying a copy of that 'drawing from the right side of the brain' book that everyone just raves about. if a semester with a genius teacher couldn't help me, maybe this can? and if not, i'm giving up, it's cool. it'll be my last effort and i can be at peace with it. anyway, i am so excited to start reading and practicing!

i never thought i would be one of those people that lights up with a cup of coffee- i used to be such a nutty morning person that would hop out of bed (naturally!) at 8 and immediately start my day. since i've been out of school, out of work, crafting, and dating an insomniac, my sleep schedule has been so out of whack. and a lot of it is that i get TOO much daylight sleep (ie. sleep from 4am to 11am), and the only thing that will bring that spark back into my eyes is coffee. yiiick!

the most exciting news perhaps is that i have improved more on my stamping and finally got an etsy account up. my link is http://juliepeach.etsy.com
here are a few of the things I posted!





not much else is new. i have a pretty solid schedule every week and i'm trying to focus on the right now as much as i can. thinking about and planning my future has kept me up too many nights already-
hope everyone is enjoying these warm fronts!

clumsy

i really resent that i can't draw at all. i feel like with all the illustration-based hobbies i've collected (silkscreening, stamping, embroidery, etc) that i'm really held back by the fact that i can't draw anything that looks... like anything. so i mostly rely a lot on traces/copies of old copyright-free textbooks, edits of old wallpapers- that sort of thing. i got a c+ in freshma drawing and it just made it all so real, that i just cannot freaking draw. i don't enjoy it, nothing i ever try to get down looks like the elaborate concepts in my head. and it's not even bad in that kitschy marketable way. it's just bad. ugh.

well regardless of this never-ending setback, i have a couple of new stamps! including a new ornate stamp that is about 3x the size of the last little guy. i CANNOT WAIT to stamp jersey fabric with this and go nuts making dresses.



here are some of the first finished card sets. i probably will keep these for myself/toss out because they printed so terribly- thankfully i have tons of nice stamping inks coming from jo-ann's this week (ugh i got sucked into a sale + free shipping). also! the colors aren't so offensive IRL, i just took them in a dark room on a black table.





oh! you gotta see this delicious bread that ryan made -from scratch- for us to eat with dinner the other night- (vegan!) recipe courtesy of: my paper crane


and since i've weighed you down with images, i am just going to urge you to look at marc jacob's spring (ready to wear) shoe collection @ marcjacobs.com. i have thought about it at least once a day since i first saw it over christmas break. it will seriously blow your mind.

night!

welp.

almost 3AM on a saturday night- the second night this weekend that i've stayed in by choice to work on someone else's typeface homework. really! i think i am at my peak of my pathetic homebody lifestyle.

to pass a little time while i wait on ryan to get back from the bar, here are a few links and things i have been really into lately!

http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/
Paper/stationary that you literally PLANT after reading! Not to mention it is so, so beautiful. I am dying to get my hands on some.

http://weburbanist.com/2008/02/24/10-more-pieces-of-clever-transforming-furniture-from-tetris-tables-to-rooms-in-a-box/
Really exciting furniture design. I am nuts about every single piece. Planar furniture esp! I went to a plastic store in Philly the other day and was going nuts over the smelly, freshly melted and molded furniture. I would never own it, but I could look at it for days and days.

http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/
Geninne's Art Blog. I don't know this woman personally, but I (as well as many others) check up on her art updates regularly. She does some stamp carving, but mostly painting and illustration of precious little birdies. Tons of gorgeous pictures of her cabin and studio space- it's sooo inspiring.

http://www.mypapercrane.com/blog/?cat=9
My Paper Crane blog. As far as I am concerned, she is THE world's best! most exciting! plushmaker. Especially her recreations of things around the home (um hullo, happy toilet). This is a really good site & blog to browse on shitty gloomy days.


i am so bored now that i have nothing else to work on tonight. hopefully tomorrow is a day full of stamp-/card-making, crafts, snoozing/snuggling, etc. although i haven't earned it, i could sure use a warm, wonderful sunday.