chilly tuesday

weather's been sooo cool! i mean, i shouldn't be surprised since it is three weeks into october (wow!)- but i am loving wearing my trusty gray boots that ryan hates, lots of layers, and scarves... so happy :)



i think the best purchase i have made recently has to be that huge bag of birdseed. i guess the south philly birds finally all got the memo, and at any given time there are about ten little birdies and 1-2 pigeons on my roof! lilly loves it. it makes me so happy that she has birds to look at again, since it used to be like her favorite thing ever in my old apt. right now she is sitting on a pair of folded jeans on my radiator, peeking her head over the windowsill... i think she realized that all the noise she makes getting up and sitting in the windowsill scares most of the birds off! ha she is so fat and cute! it's just amazing considering i saw NO birds whatsoever in this neighborhood when i moved in, and now there are bunches!



i had a really fun (hallo)weekend-- i actually went to another haunted house, something i swore never to do again, and it wasn't terrible! i was a big baby and almost backed out, even after paying, but it was a few house walk-throughs, a forest walk through, and a haunted hayride. plus, it was a little trip to delaware so that was fun, too! i also got to help ryan make a pumpkin cheesecake from scratch, pick pumpkins with ryan (and bridget & dan) at linvilla orchards again, then got together with a huuuuuge group to carve them (and eat pumpkin seeds and drink pumpkin beer)! mine is the second picture, and it was from a template in a CVS carving kit. ha! it was messy and cute fun with everyone. and i actually got to bring my copies of hocus pocus & earnest scared stupid along! nobody but me likes the latter, though, eep- we turned it off 15 minutes in.


also! lastly! i finally scanned in all of my polaroids (that i could find) since i bought my camera, back when i was like 13... and i decided on a new way to display some of them, rather than hanging them on my art-clothesline. i am starting a new blog at http://polaroidsandnotes.blogspot.com that i'll start updating a little bit when i find time this week-- lots of homework, studying, work, and finally some orders trickling in. whew! busybusy.

i can't believe i'm a phillies fan.

let's see... quick update... midterms this week, one year anniversary with ryan this evening (although, he and i cannot agree whether it's today or tomorrow), trying to find time to start over on my loom, being very very broke ever since etsy sales went completely stagnant for the first time in months (sigh!)

i am very much hoping to get to boston/salem/lexington the weekend after this one, and have kept my eye out for super cheap last minute hotel deals... ryan and i went last year, and sort of want to make it a special tradition (and hello! salem at halloweentime is totally magical!), though i can't afford to pay for one of the night's right now... so if you've been thinking of buying from me, now is the time :) ha!

hope everyone is well. i am loving this warm, warm, light-sweater weather. lilly is faaaaast asleep next to me while i am finishing up some homework and trying to schedule time to craft this week... buh. here are some of the cute things i added to my shop last week-- lots of mailing labels/gift stickers & stuffed autumn ornaments (block printed on cloth with my original linocuts!)

warm monday!

i am in the best mood-- again! i love the transition into autumn. not to mention my room is sooo much brighter since ryan took out my huge clunky AC unit from my only little window in my bedroom, and i love having a real breeze slowly drift through. my old apartment had more windows than walls, and i really miss it! it also had a berry tree right outside of one of the windows, and lilly loved to sit all day and watch the birds feed. here in my new place (new? i've been here four months!) there really aren't too many birds that come around. so as a treat for lilly and me, i went and bought a huge 6 lb bag of bird seed and sprinkled it on the roof and windowsill! i have seen one or two, and i hope they tell their friends so that i can start listening to bird songs while i work, rather than distant city buzz. she has already perked up a bunch and has become even more snuggly than usual (as if that's possible!)

here are some finished gocco prints/handmade notebooks that i did last week. i am increasingly nervous about making new gocco screens since, apparently, the production has shut down for real this time. so now that i have a little scheduled craft time, i'm scared to use it! ack.





i am finally about to go use this great loom my aunt sent me-- it has some really wild and traditional plaid scarf patterns in it, and i cannooooot wait, i have been thinking about it all day! i loved using the small loom we made when i was a fibers student, and this one is 100x nicer! so i am going to pop in season one of big love and start watching that while i work- yayay! and then ryan is heading over after work/before going to NJ so that we can fry up these last two green tomatoes my new school friend brought to me! what a good monday! hope you are also in great spirits-- and don't forget to check out my etsy shop so i can afford a little weekend getaway to boston (hope hope!) for me and ryan's 1 year. :)

hellooooo october!!

i am in the best mood right now! i have had a strange week so far, but i honestly can not find the feelings to complain oneeee bit. i budgeted my time away from school & work to not only make a really fun custom napkin order this week, but make TWO new gocco screens!! here is a sneak peek of one pattern i made up-- i am going to make lots of notebooks and cards from the prints tonight. :)



i think now that i have a good routine with school (and completing thu-mon's homework by every wednesday night! i am such a dork, but i LOVE not having hw on weekends-) that i can start crafting some more. i think that the lack of art time (as well as my awful steroids, ugh!) were contributing to me being a real negative grumpy butt for a good two weeks there. but! i have cut back on my medicine and i have loooots of new hair growth, so i am a happy healthy girl. not to mention these 60-something temperatures on the ten day weather forecast. yay!

aaaaand! announcing the winner of the blog giveaway: congrats to toria munoz! i've given you a heads up, girl, so once you get your contact info to me i'll get either the pendant or print right out to ya! thank you EVERYONE for participating! i found some greeeat new blogs as a result :)

i hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of the new month, considering all of the craaaazy things that are going on in the world/US right now. just remember to keep looking forward and that you will always have those who love you as that one stable force in your life. !