Thursday, July 31, 2008

last post in july

eep. just a few more hours left before it's august! if my birthday wasn't in august, i think it would be my least favorite month... in august, the summer really, really tries to get its hottest, most humid days in before the fall. no major holidays. it's just hot and blah and awful and you know that september (omg, i cannot wait) is around the corner.

i can't believe i just said that. september is around the corner. but it is!

here's a little gocco goodness... my newest print. in order to use one screen and two VERY CLOSE colors, i did some intense ink blocking (see first pic). which still allowed a little seepage and mixing, unfortunately, but still achieved the main idea.





i also had a very promising interview today... for my dream job... so hopefully if i mention it again it means i got it! if i don't say anything, that means i didn't get it and my life is basically over because i want it sooo bad.
ho hum, getting the last of school stuff together too. which feels very weird. transferring has been the biggest hassle of my whole life.
i hope everyone had a great july! i have no idea where it went. it was very sleepy and art-ful and hot. but good!

-- ohh! almost forgot. if you want to get to know me (as an artist) a little better, diffraction did a GREAT interview that you can check out at dif-fraction.blogspot.com/. the blog itself is really neat, with tips & tricks for etsy'ers as well as other great interviews. i can't get it to load on firefox on mac and have to use safari, but that just might be me-- you have been warned, though!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

almost august!

it is SO humid out today, but i managed to take a trip to the park with mistie & pick up some groceries anyway... by the way, you truly haven't lived in a city until you've had to carry 40 lbs of groceries at least ten blocks. i, luckily, have been able to get ryan or my roommate to take me in a car whenever i can... but before them, it was just par to make that trip weekly. i have the world's strongest shoulders (just ask my boyfriend, he thinks they are creepily muscular)
also, you truly haven't been a crazy cat lady until half of those 40 lbs are a huuuge stash of canned cat food. eek!

less words! i just wanted to share a little color with you today.



embroidery detail for a towel i made & sent as part of jessica gonacha's art swap


cute rainbow screen windows in dirty south phlly


alright, now i'm going to try to get some pictures of new gocco works that need to be posted in the shop tomorrow. they are CUTE. i hope :)

Monday, July 28, 2008

adventures with herald

sooo my best friend bought a ferret named herald a few months back. i was so scared of ferrets, and herald, until he fell asleep in my lap at the coffee shop last week. when i first met him, he was a feisty baby who needed lots of training! he crawled up on my face and NIBBLED my cheek which was enough to scar me for life... i avoided him thereafter like a bad plague. eep! but now he's a grown up (not really, he's only 10 months) handsome, well-behaved little guy. he loves kissing puppies, meeting kids with little fingers (no more biting! whew!) and just napping in public. seriously, seeing dogs come up and give him big kisses is like the highlight of my life.



Saturday, July 26, 2008

good week

+ MOST AMAZING ART TRADE PACKAGE EVER from jess gonacha-- showing it off to everyone that comes over
+ walking home at 630AM after a night at mistie's, and realizing even south philly can be beautiful at sunrise
+ 5 calorie (splenda!) fla-vor-ice for $1 a box at walgreens
+ glorious thunderstorm getting rid of the heat wave
+ $10 shorts. i love them.
+ gocco success!!!


Tuesday, July 22, 2008

blog crazy!!

sooo! after reading SO many forum posts on etsy from wholesale buyers looking for new accounts, and etsy sellers looking for wholesale buyers... i took a HUGE plunge and opened up a blogger account to organize all of the etsy sellers offering wholesale/consignment!

i now have over 200 sellers tucked away in a list, and about 50 of them posted. i did the design in about half an hour, so it needs a lot of work, but i am so excited! i know it's kind of nuts, but it was something that DESPERATELY needed to be done. and what's done for the good of etsy is done for the good of the individual seller. i'm hoping i will have a little more visibility, but if not it's fine because i, too, am on the wholesale list. i don't have any intentions of putting my name and link all over it, because i want to be fair. but! if anyone gets super thankful and wants to buy from my shop, hullo, they are more than welcome :)

ooh here's the link! http://etsywholesalelist.blogspot.com

sorry if i sound really frazzled! it's because i am! i decided to do this like three hours ago and have been manically working on it ever since, taking only a few breaks for house chores and filling orders. yay filling orders!

btw! last night i had my first bike ride ever! well, i'm not sure if it's EVER but the first bike ride i can remember in ages. i had a (full size, dorky) scooter as a kid and used to ride that alongside my sisters on their bikes... anyway, it took me HALF AN HOUR (or so!) of struggling in the alley just to LEARN to ride a bike! so scary! then we had a good ride down the bike lanes on snyder and s. columbus... scary, busy streets, but the only ones with bike lanes! plus, it was the evening so there were fewer cars out.

anywho, it was really terrifying and idk when i'll get the nerve to go again- but it's going to be part of my lifestyle so hopefully i'll go again soon! plus, my bike is SO CUTE! here are pics, finally!





cuute details! the frame is some obscure vintage local NJ brand(?) called "general". but it's suuuch a cute vintage frame. ry sanded, primed, painted, and top-coated it for me. he let me pick out the seat from one of his grandpop's dozens, and i got the cutest one! the back wheel was a trade for yuengling from my friend matt-- so it's a little mix of lots of parts, but more importantly, lots of love.

Friday, July 18, 2008

i should be zzzz ++gocco rambles!

so with the creative funk & all, i still was cranking a few things out. i made a neat new textile stamp that i'm actually crazy about (of course it's not pictured yet--) and worked on an art trade package & a bday present... so my sort of stifled creativity didn't necessarily result in a total standstill, but it was pretty close.

i think half the reason i was going nuts is because i ordered a print gocco last saturday at like 3AM... ahhhhh!!! i have been looking at them for, ohhh. i want to say nearly a year but i know that's impossible. it's more likely just months and months of dreaming! well, i was just aching for one and i finally decided to take the plunge, but i didn't really have the spare money. after calling my mom and being reassured half (?? idk maybe more-- regardless, she is really great as far as me being impulsive and never waiting until my birthday ever) will be "reimbursed" as a bday present. i initially asked her to order it but then realized 1. i start school super soon after my bday 2. my mother would probably never be able to figure out the wacky sparse gocco dealers' websites. eep! i'll be turning 20 and i still treat my bday like a baby.

the whole thing was pretty lucky, considering the site i found with the cheapest pg11 ++ extra pack had an announcement that they got a surprise shipment in... and the monday after i ordered they were all sold out! whew!
ANYWAY it came today!!! it's all i've been thinking about and now that it's here i'm sooo nervous to even use it. i read the manual & watched dozens of tutorials today but all of a sudden i feel like my sketches are unworthy... like i'm going to hate everything i do! i guess we'll see :) i'm trying to talk ry into playing with me the first time buuut who knows-

last weekend was great, this weekend has also been great-- very summery and full of friends. spent today with ry's family for a (lateish, but lovely) graduation party... sooo many cute babies and toddlers! he's got a great fam, so it was nice being surrounded by that in the suburbs rather than being surrounded by smog in the city--

anywho! here's a linocut print that i FINALLY pulled after carving it like two weeks ago... and i'll leave you with that-- have a good weekend!

(psst that's two colors on MLA Format handbook)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

so cute!!

in this little lull from craft posts... check this out! so cute!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

inspiration standstill

wellllll. after getting so excited about the block printed napkins, i'm experiencing a little craft blah. i've embroidered a little the past couple of days for pleasure, and am still working on custom orders/consignment-- but as far as feeling like creating something totally new (or maybe just creating new something to sell??) i'm kind of burned out! i think it's partially to do with it being a rough week, as far as family/ex-landlord/school stuff... but i'm trying to keep a smile on my face and be somewhat productive.

my bike is downstairs, it's amazing. brakes aren't ready (yes, i am about to totally destroy my boyfriend for letting me SEE it while it's still not usable) but i go down and oogle it all the time... pictures soon! and that sonova-you know what better have it ready sooooon.(.. ha jk!) i can't complain much since it's a DREAM BIKE and it was totally free, except for a few odds and ends i had to pick up at the bike store.

hmmm, what else? lots of birthdays coming up. wish i had more of a real job so i could go overboard shopping... i finally got my resume/app to my *DREAM JOB* turned into a pdf (again, i have a useful, wonderful boyfriend) and sent out... ooh i hope that turns out. in the mean time, it's more applications & resumes being dropped off with fingers crossed. booo hoooo.

ohhh! i remember why i was posting now! i want to start a featured artists blog, but with a 50-states theme. i've already registered the name, i just want to know what people think/hear suggestions of artists before i go starting something new and crazy. i basically just want to show a few thumbnails, where they are from, fav. galleries/restaurants in their hometown, maybe an art piece of theirs in particular that has been inspired by their hometown? i think that, after assembling the 50 states and beginning to double up on states, it would be cool to have a clickable art map. anywho that's far in the future-- just wanted some input on the idea.

no pictures this post! hope everyone is having a good evening.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

happy fourth!!



that is SO FUNNY and idk why. the bear just cracks me up!

sooo, what's new? finally finished all of my cloth napkins (and one towel)!





...much more on my etsy and flickr-

well, i'm applying for my dream job again but don't want to talk about it in case it doesn't work out... my bike is all done, except for the (white!!) handlebar tape. umm, i am talking to a consignment shop in west philly, as well as planning a thank you package, trade package, and some birthday packages. i am also recovering from a 4 mile walk to sephora and back with mistie! idk why we get these ideas, it was such a nice day but my flats were behaving horribly! i'm just being young, happy, and shocked it is july... whew-

anyway, happy fourth everyone! be very, very safe! i'll make a real update later.