life's a peach.

HEY

2010-06-08T17:31:00.001-07:00

Get yourself over to my new blog, peach picking! at blog.juliepeach.com :)

hi!

2010-05-04T09:00:00.001-07:00

Hi hi! If you've found this, it's probably because you followed my profile from a comment I've left somewhere. This blog has looong been abandoned, and I am currently in the process of making a more substantial one.
In the meantime, you can still visit
my tumblr
my flickr
and my etsy shop
for new works & thoughts. I'll post the link to the big girl blog as soon as it's done!

two months!

2009-11-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

good lord, two months not blogging here?
truth is, i am maxed out in life. i don't really have a lot of opportunity to make stuff anymore! i've also started blogging at tumblr because it allows me to make short (sometimes thoughtful) posts, rather than feeling super anxious about writing a big ol' post here.

so!
go check it out at http://juliepeach.tumblr.com !

school school school school

2009-09-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

all i want to do is make things. but i do school, school, and more school. and then work. and the brief time i have to myself is usually spent catching up with orders.

let's just say i'd pull my hair out, except...

lovely art links!

2009-07-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

okay, so this second summer session is BORING. macroeconomics and business law! snoooore. it's totally on the other spectrum of art classes & environmental science classes. i just am ready to move onto my major courses...
i'm also having a hard time finding time to make stuff... no surprise there. but i am fortunately making time for good things otherwise-- volunteering at paws has been awesome, i can't wait to go back tomorrow! i'm also transforming my room veeery slowly into a more grown-up (see: not all generic ikea) space. exciting! i'll have picture updates of that soon.

i just wanted to post because i have found some VERY inspiring artists this week, and i want to share them with you!

by spread the love

and jon klassen's website, http://www.burstofbeaden.com/ , is really amazing to go through. you can get some of his greeting cards at red cap cards, i got this guy to frame up!

i also got three cards, including the one above from gold teeth's etsy page. really cool silkscreened cards- i'm going to frame them up, too!

so you can see what i mean about having a more grown-up room-- framing pictures is a big deal for me, i almost never do it even though it makes everything look so much better. exciting!

back to school...

2009-07-06T20:35:00.001-07:00

second half of summer session began today.
i always overwork myself, but i don't think i could handle not doing my very best in school. so i will probably be a little MIA for a bit again while i tend to my studies...

here are some of the pillowcases i added to the shop last week- lilly seems unimpressed.

islands in the stream

2009-06-30T18:19:00.001-07:00

hi guys! i'm on day one of my four day summer. I AM SO HAPPY. i have been making things & watching movies all day (house bunny, what a way to go, steel magnolias, and now 1776 the musical). i've made lots of hand printed fabric yards, and some pillow slip covers that i'll photograph tomorrow when the sun is up. did i mention how happy i am? i really wish i took off the second half off the summer from school... :(

welp, i'm off to finish my movie and read a little more of dolly parton's autobiography. :) i think the video below is such a great example of what an extraordinary performer she is! did you know i love her, like, a lot?

catching up!

2009-06-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

you know, for as much time i spend holed up in my room doing homework, i sure do have the feeling that i'm always on the go. i think it is just an issue of constantly having obligations and errands to tend to, even when i THINK i have time to myself. but i am getting a little better at sorting out my life and working on those goals i recently posted about... i think i would REALLY be in good shape with everything if it wasn't for dang summer classes. what was i thinking!
plus, my sister came through and stayed two days with me the other week, so i gt a little behind on everything. but other than my aunt & uncle, she was the first family member to visit me up here-- i've lived here three years now!

anywho- finally made some new stationary sets with that new (well, month old) block! i had so much fun coordinating colors & making fun palettes. i now cannot wait to test the block on fabric!

i also finally tackled my giant box of paper... recycled a bunch, sorted by size/whether it had been printed on, and finally made use of tinier strips. i made a bunch of new gift tags for the shop! really easy & fun. there are tons of styles in the shop already. :)

well! i have to get going. a dear friend from home is coming to stay with me a few days next week (with her boyfriend), so i'm trying to get all of my huuuuuge final papers done as soon as possible. first summer session is officially over monday the 29th! my nantucket travel plans with my lovely auntie fell through, so i'll have that entire week off before starting the second half of classes. looking forward to the time off! does anyone have any good holiday weekend plans for then?

a new month!

2009-06-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

oh lord- so there i was thinking i had all the time in the world ahead of me to get busy and post/work. but it never works out like that, does it?? soon after writing my last post i carved a new linocut and... i have no idea what happened thereafter.

while my summer classes aren't TOTALLY consuming, the laziness that results between the hours of 1pm-5pm is. if i'm not working for philapets, i end up napping, running errands, going to the laundromat, munching, catching up on blogs, and doing puzzles. i guess that isn't so terrible, but i have pages and pages of ideas that i somehow have not gotten far into because i can't seem to find the right chunk of time to work. and that is seriously a shame!

but i had a little epiphany this weekend that, okay, i don't feel guilty for catching up on sleep (especially considering i've been going through a new ferretin/iv drip treatment for 2 weeks already)-- but i'm over it. in the coming weeks, i have some really fun summertime goals for myself:
-start a new exciting workout regimen! on top of borrowing the roommate's trainer and biking in my room every AM, i am doing a little research about what yoga videos people like. i have heard amazing things about yoga and i feel like it's something i really want to incorporate in my life. any suggestions?? a little speedy inside bike ride, yoga, and my usual 2+ miles of walking 5x a week... sounds so good to me!!
-read dolly parton's autobiography! the title "my life and other unfinished business" made me remember to update my blog, believe it or not... ha! i grabbed it on half.com for $5 along with...
-jane fonda's autobiography! yes!
-stop letting 3 hours of classes in the AM interfere with the productivity of the rest of my day. AKA no naps missy!
-rephotograph basically everything in my shop. i'm also seriously considering moving over to foxtrotting.etsy and having a whole new chic style. my current shop just feels so cluttered and i want to start over sorta. eek.

that's that. i SWEAR new stuff soon.

two months later!

2009-05-07T11:46:00.001-07:00

wow, so i haven't updated since my spring break back in march. that has a LOT to do with the fact that, once school started back up my work load tripled. i was coming right home to sit in front of the computer doing homework about 6-7 hours every day. i usually gave myself off friday nights and saturdays from homework, but was so burned out by the weekend that i just relaxed or spent time with ryan and friends.
two months later, i am TOTALLY ENJOYING LIFE. it has been raining here all week, and i haven't once started to pity myself on the soaking walks home. instead i've just... enjoyed it. i've enjoyed the warm rain, i've enjoyed the fact that having short hair means little to no humidity issues, and i've enjoyed the fact that everything seems to be falling into place.
i am feeling so dorky and gooey-- this past week was my "study week" and beginning of finals. i am almost done with the semester from hell! a few weeks ago, i had sort of an epiphany that maybe i'm not in the right major (yes, again). i spent some time thinking about what i really wanted, and in a single conversation with my roommate realized just how long i've been saying "well what I really want to do is..." - and now i'm going to do that! i'm switching to marketing, which i feel like is the right thing. i'm realizing now that it doesn't mean i am abandoning animals if i'm not running around in the jungle saving them (though that wouldn't be a bad fate). it's just what i need to do, and i'm exploring outlets to continue to help animals any way i can. but i think it's important to follow a career that feels natural, and makes you happy.
the change of major actually didn't make me any more behind! hooray. but to catch up with my 2010 graduation, i am taking summer classes both sessions, which means up at 7 and home at 1, 4 days a week. but i am so looking forward to my new path in life that i can't even complain!
i am also happy that: i love my jobs. both of them. how did i get so lucky? they don't even feel like jobs. i love my boyfriend, yeah gag i know but it's true. i love my dopey cat. i love my living situation and this apartment/my roommate/her crazy cat. i love my new major, and feeling confident and excited about school again. i'm just really very happy with everything right now!

while i was nuts with school, i put my shop on a little hiatus. now that i'm back, i wanted to come back into the scene bearing gifts. sooo! i was approached by a lovely lady who is having a series of giveaways, and through that you could win one of my tulip block print notebooks!
Go to: http://tinyurl.com/peachgiveaway
It's also worth checking out the other items up-- as well as her blog itself! That's candacetodd.blogspot.com

I hope EVERYONE is as happy and dorky as I am... I'm about to sort through some old school notebooks & cut out doodles that I want to incorporate into new designs. Lilly is in the window, in the warm sun watching the rain. It's weird weather but I love it. :)

hello! gloomy day

2009-03-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

oh lordy lord. i had this crazy, crazy long post written on my one-year etsy anniversary/spring break last week, but was waiting to upload some pictures to add to it. then i got totally immersed in art orders, then school started back... so obviously, by now it's gone. i have no idea where it went but here's basically what it said:

- i am so happy in the new place. my room is over twice the size of the last place. my roommate is totally perfect/fun/considerate AND shares interests. we had a fun party our first settled weekend, & i hadn't gotten to play host since like 2006? other good things: having people over while i do homework, and remembering how much i love sitting in livingrooms on a couch instead of holed up in my room all day. "craft night"s turned lazy fun girl night... with so many more to come. oh lord i don't even know. it's just a great place! i love my room, my huge closet, my giant bathroom, my helpful landlord (who just shoved his hand down our disposal because we were too scared to), kailey's kitten (who is asleep on my leg). i even love that it means i'm back to walking a minimum of two miles a day again, between getting to the subway, from the subway to classes, and back. this is a good way to start spring!

- alllthough. i miss blogging, making new things, taking pictures, did i say making new things? i've been so, so busy with this semester and will NEVER take this many classes at one time ever again! unless one is just a wonky easy class at least. i just registered for my summer classes and that's pretty exciting... the idea of 9-12/9-2 days and walking as many doggies as possible! but for now, i've got to stick this out and get through it. i still haven't gotten to use my sticker maker, and any time i have to make things goes to orders.

- which brings me to my one year etsy-verssary. :) i am just so thrilled to have gotten on etsy. while i still don't take myself and the things i make too terribly serious, it is incredibly exciting that i hit 130 orders in one year. the day of, i had just mailed out a huge custom invitation order, a wholesale card order, 40 notebooks to one shop, and trying to figure out how i was going to get another 40 to a different shop. i'm just so shocked & happy about how many consignment/wholesale orders i had a chance to do, and a wedding i got to make 125 notebooks for, and however many households are using my napkins at their dinners! i'm just SO very thankful. it allowed me to get by doing etsy & philapets (love my jobs!) instead of having to work at a job i hate again. and it isn't like i wouldn't be making all of these things in the mean time, at least now they are going somewhere!

i am actually going to end this now. i have lots of really fun things in the works- like maybe a livingroom reorganizing two-girl party with kailey this weekend (ha!), hopefully spending a few months in guatemala/costa rica/SOMEWHERE with a fam next summer learning spanish & volunteering (POTENTIAL DREAM COME TRUE), and a huge purchase to allow me to fulfill one of my dorky art dreams (!!!)
so next time, i will cover all of those things and bore everyone to death.

i'm moving!!

2009-02-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

in ONE WEEK! i am moving!! i'm so, so excited. i am a little worried about how i am going to make it work, on top of etsy/work/school-- but working a little harder to get packed and moved in the midst of crazy life is totally worth it.

i found this GREAT place with a girl named kailey- it's $100 under the budget we were working on, central AC (this NEVER happens in philly), 1200 sq ft, huge livingroom & great bedrooms... and we EACH HAVE OUR OWN FULL BATHROOM. it's insane! she's also great and artsy/crafty and has wonderful kitchen appliances, so our domesticity is going to be in full bloom. the place is a totally great find, and if i hadn't happened to skip 2 classes for the first time at temple last monday, i wouldn't have seen the brief, non-detailed craigslist post with no pictures... it was literally a whim, but i have this goofy belief in fate when it comes to finding places. i couldn't believe how big it was, how cheap, and how nobody had snagged it yet. the week from seeing it, until now, has been incredibly stressful because i *just knew* something had to go wrong, that it was tooooo perfect. but we signed the lease today, and the official move in date is next weekend!

more room to work, more windows for lilly, really close to the grocery store (finally)... i am so happy :) i'm actually going to take this boring saturday night at home as an opportunity to get ahead on homework for next week, so i can transition more smoothly!

i hope miss lilly doesn't mind yet another move, esp since she's going to have a new boyf/roommate in a week. she is a well-traveled (but very agreeable) cat. i think she's going to love having another girl around, and having an opportunity to snuggle more strangers/guests. ahhhh so you probably won't hear from me, or see anything new, for like two weeks. but i promise new apartment pictures, pictures of lilly staring out her new windows (i'm stocking up on birdseed), and THEN new arty work. :) hope everyone's 2009 is turning out this exciting so far in!

whoa.

2009-02-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

good. lord. i cannot believe how nutty i am with school work. i average 7 hours a night of hard work on homework from mon-thu, then take it easy friday and saturday with light reading for school on sunday. i'm also trying to turn sunday into a little more productive than snuggleday with ryan. i managed to complete some orders, as well as design & assemble (much needed) new packaging for my paper goods.

i am also, very excitedly, house/apt hunting with a girl named kailey. i think it is going to be a great new start, especially after we gushed about arts & crafts today. the goal is a little more space to work, a great kitchen, and having our two cats, and not spending much more. so far we have met some criteria, though not all at once. :( ideally, i'll get a callback from a house down the street tomorrow with the news that they are willing to let us have our cats. otherwise we have found a really funky/cute/totally unique place with great, sunny bedrooms and a cute roof deck. it isn't ideal for hosting lots of people at a time, but everything else is a wonderful size and close to the subway. okay, i'm gushing. i have moved 4 times since 2006 and i kind of enjoy the process of it.

in case you were wondering:
it's all out & starting to re-grow! i'm still almost completely bald in the back, so i wear hats constantly still... but this thick healthy regrowth is so exciting. i think my hair (color, texture) is coming back totally different.

other than that, i'm just trying to keep up with any orders that trickle in. i'm talking to a shop in old city about doing consignment there, which for once i'm totally going to follow through (i almost always talk myself out of it, if only because i hate the idea of giving a cut away) because i need to make more of an effort of an income whenever i have the chance.

hope everyone is doing lovely! ideally i'll have new things to post in the future... but it might not be for a month, when my spring break starts. eek!

back to school, yuck

2009-01-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

tis the season for books and short nights of sleep and sore bones from being bent over homework. i opted to take an additional class beyond what i essentially took last semester, forgetting that the math & chem i had then was super easy basic material... so i'm pretty much feeling flustered already. while i love homework, i've been much more beat than usual lately. it doesn't help that i had to go to the doctor today (what else is new!), which resulted in my first missed class of the semester... three days in! i'm hoping this semester will be a lot less, hm, health intensive, so i can keep my work on track. i had a dang b+ stinking up my grades and can hopefully get ALL a's this time around.

so basically, if you think of lilly as homework and scuz as me, this is a pretty good metaphor for my week.

(there is a whole series of these, taken by my poor roommate, that i've posted on my flickr)

i am hoping to do some silk screening patterns on fabric soon... when i can scope out the time. hope everyone is enjoying the last handful of days of january!

zzz

2009-01-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

i so miss my healthy sleep schedule. i am still getting as many productive hours in the day, and normal amounts of sleep at night (a hearty seven!)-- though it has shifted about four hours later. this may be inevitable over any college winter break, but it makes me nutty!

speaking of... this has probably been one of the best winter breaks i can remember. a nice (but, whoa, so short) trip home for a week+, the laziest/best week ever with Ryan while he was off for new years/birthday, the most productive week EVER all by myself last week, and then... well... not sure what this week is shaping up to be, outside of preparing for the new semester. i got to see a lot of friends (as well as 3 doctors, and one more next week!). i'm now sitting warm next to lilly, enjoying the golden girls for the first time since my mysteriously free lifetime went away.

hope everyone is having a good 2009, and that those of you doing any school shopping will hop over to my etsy to pick up some notebooks to jot your notes/homework in. :)
here's some of the new stuff! these are notebooks with hand drawn patterns that were scanned in, then printed on glorious card stock. i added little clay ornaments and a few paintings, too!

and hellloooo 2009!

2009-01-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

a new year. love the idea of it, a clean slate and all! 2008 was very serious and very rough- though i did teach myself lots of new crafty things and started up my etsy. i had this vivid memory last night of when i used to sit on my tiny couch in my old tiny apartment, carving linoleum and rubber for the first time. i would be blanketed up, very serious, and watching golden girls. it was a very safe feeling! i love that old apartment, i know i say it all the time, but it had so many good memories and nothing beats living alone. (well, with a cat and a part-time live-in boyfriend)

in 2009 i'm hoping to:
first and foremost, stop losing hair
grow hair and keep it
go on one great adventure (hoping to make it to france to visit liz! but i'm poor)
maybe get some more space to work, whatever that means
take some summer classes and be 100% on track to graduate 2010, since i'm behind from transferring
continue with my etsy, and double my sales? :)
finally have a real website! i'm talking to my fav illustrator san about doing some stuff for it, and having ryan put the actual site together. the idea is really exciting!
meet some more friends, and maybe actually have more than 2 girl friends?

sounds ambitious, but there's a whole year ahead of me! when i start to think that 2008 went by fast, i go back and think of the big changes, accomplishments, and decisions i made. it was about time to be over. as i said, new slate. love it. happy new year!

here are some more new notebooks in the shop.

goodbye 2008!

2008-12-31T17:13:00.000-08:00

i had a great time at home for the holidays- and hope everyone had a good holiday too. i am really very happy 2008 is over. it felt brief, but got old sooo quickly. i am wishing for good health for me and my loved ones and am going to try to make as many good decisions as i can in 2009. :)

merry

2008-12-12T20:46:00.001-08:00

xmas 2007 b
Originally uploaded by juliepeach

this picture from last year cracks me up... lilly's face. one only a cat mother could love. right now she's sleeping across my notebook, keeping me from studying...

i miss that apartment, every day. it was SO, just, me. small, but perfect. soooo clean. everything where it needed to be. and i decorated the heck out of it.

if all goes as planned, nyc christmas light/window display extravagaza this weekend! then home a week from tomorrow! tis the season, but how did it get here so fast??

the christmas kitten story

2008-12-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

soooo, over the weekend i was watching the MST ADORABLE bull terrier named buster. i actually was really scared of this breed for a long time, until him. he looooved me! his owner had never been away from him before, and had me coming 3x a day for walks. eventually he learned to hop up and hug me when i said "up! hug!". i totally spoiled him.

ANYWAY, last sunday was probably one of the coldest, windiest days i have ever experienced. it was just-- bitter. the streets were empty, as everyone was trying to stay in as much as possible. after my very last walk, in the pitch dark of 830pm, i was heading toward broad street (big busy main street in philadelphia) when i turned to my right to see a tiny kitten huddled in a recessed store front stoop. he(?) looked sooo cold, as i think the wind chill had it feeling 20 degrees colder (something like 8? it was just miserable). and i just exclaimed, "oh! kitty!" because it upset me so much. and he IMMEDIATELY hopped out and started rubbing on my legs, purring, trying to stand up to get me to pet him. i initially didn't touch him because
1. i have gotten attacked by a few strays here that SEEM really nice and purr-y and then just flip
2. i didn't want to take anything home to lilly & scuz
but he was relentless. i mean, nicest happiest cat ever. and i said, kitty, no no i can't take you home. but i knew he was freezing so i took off my scarf and tried to wrap him/make a bed in the recessed store front... to no avail. he just kept rubbing on me and trying to get me to pet him. i tried to walk in circles to see if he would go anywhere, or if he had a notion of home... and he followed me. i mean, right behind me. purring, meowing, and marching behind me like we were a team. i had nooo idea what to do, because scuz is INCREDIBLY violent and would probably flip out and hurt us/the kitten if i brought him home. plus, again, i wasn't sure if this cat potentially had illness or anything. i was near my friend carolyn's, so i gave her a call to see if she had any food or anything i could bring back. kitty, of course, followed right behind me the block and a half there. i wasn't talking to it or encouraging it, and was in fact getting more and more stressed about the situation.
i knew i COULD NOT leave the cat in weather like that, but that i couldn't take him home.

so i got to carolyn's, who didn't have anything but some water, and the cat just rubbed all over her & her roommate. he was so happy, and so nice. when a big gust of wind came, he would sit and wrap his tail around himself and shiver. i mean, it was just so sad. i said goodnight to carolyn and tried to figure out what to do.

my plan was literally to walk around until someone showed interest, or the cat would run off to wherever he had been living (most cats stake out a territory and get fed by the same people)... but no. he followed me for almost half an hour. i was so desperate i was thinking about knocking on doors and asking people if they wanted to adopt a cat.

well. i decided to at least feed him, and walked over to walgreens. he sat and waited, watching me, as i crossed the busy busy street. when i came back out, he was trotting after a woman i had just seen come out of a pizza place. i yelled after her, is that your cat? and she laughed and said no, that he just started following her, too! so i stopped and opened the can... he was totally famished. and i started talking to the woman, and she said she also had two cats and seemed just as torn about the whole thing. she eventually said, i can't leave him, i just can't. my boss has been looking for a cat for his store (lots of places around here keep store cats, often fat and spoiled and happy, to catch mice)... and she decided to take him home and temporarily keep him downstairs, then give him to her boss! i said, well, great! do you want any help? and she laughed and said, no, i think he'll probably just follow me. she picked up the can of food, and sure enough, he trotted after her all the way home.

sorry that was so long! it was seriously soooo heartwarming. poor ryan had cooked us dinner and was waiting for me to get back, but i couldn't just leave that cat. some strays are obviously just happy being strays. but this cat wanted a home, and was so so full of love. did i mention he was a little tortie like lilly, and had one half ear? like typical cartoon stray cat. he seemed totally healthy otherwise, and was just so so cute. i came home and hugged lilly SO TIGHT. every animal is a treasure, and i am glad there is one less on the street.

whew! i love this season. it was just magical. :)

now, a break from words, some of the finished notebooks from my digital patterns. !

alright, back to studying for finals. i cannot believe the semester is over, and that i will be in GA in a week and a half.

taking a break

2008-12-03T17:04:00.000-08:00

ahhh!! my last full week of classes! next week we have 3 regular days, then two days off as "study days" before a week of finals. i cannot believe the end of the semester is here. i don't think i realized how little would be left after thanksgiving... it's such a blur!

i am taking a break from a night of intense cleaning (hour 2, still about 2-3 hours until i'll be satisfied) to watch the lighting of the tree (can't wait to see miley cyrus perform!!) on NBC. I LOVE CHRISTMAS! i really do! i have just about finished my christmas shopping-- most of which was on etsy. i got some really, really amazing gifts for my family. i did do a little regular store shopping, and it just reminded me how much i love gift giving. i sort of pride myself on being super good at listening to what people like/want and being a good gift giver, so it's REALLY fun for me. i especially have fun shopping for ryan, since he is a challenge with him having his birthday 5 days after xmas. last year i prepared stockings for us along his gifts, and i have great ideas for super sweet stocking stuffers this year. ack, i am going to be the best aunt/mom/godmother ever some day!!

okay, so it's been a while since i've posted. and a while since i've had time to make anything new, since any craft time lately has been devoted to orders. BUT i have lots of new ideas, and am going to start focusing a little on printing on card stock to make notebooks as well as all of the traditional printmaking techniques i use. here's one of the first ones that will be made! i can't wait to see how it turns out as a notebook:

you can also use it as a tiled background for your desktop!
oh my goodness i cannot wait to watch tony bennett & miley cyrus perform christmas music!!! i am going to try to get to NYC the weekend after this to see the tree, as one last hurrah before i head to atlanta the weekend after. this weekend, i have a crafty fatty sleepover planned with melissa and jamie... a reunion long, long overdue. i am a happy girl. i stopped taking my prednisone and suddenly i'm back to my old self! i'm going bald faster (ack! ha) but at least i feel physically well again for the first time in months. hope everyone is well!!

winter shop update!

2008-11-17T13:58:00.001-08:00

ahh! i can't believe i totally forgot to update this with the new winter/holiday stuff in my etsy shop ! i didn't even do anything this weekend-- in fact, besides some homework and papers it was the laziest weekend i've had in many many months! but yeah, i got this stuff in the shop last week but who cares because it was just so nice to take time to myself to create winter-y fun stuff. i do think that i will include some of 'em in gifts to family this year.

i cannot believe that thanksgiving is ten days away-- and going home to visit is only one month & three days away!! i can't wait. i only wish i wasn't going to be TOTALLY BALDY the first time seeing friends/family in over a year and a half :( ! i am sooo excited, and have already started the bulk of my xmas shopping through etsy. i can't post links for obvious reasons, but i have found some GREAT stuff ! and only on etsy could you get someone to ship to "JULIE CHRISTMAS DO NOT OPEN" at your mom's house in georgia. :)

anywho! here are some of the things i got to make last week...

two block, four color hand-pulled linocut merry cards! these were lots of fun to doodle, but a real pain to carve out !

block printed winter wonderland cloth dinner napkins!

winter wonderland notebooks (few other colors available)

hope everyone is well, and adjusting to our SUPER EARLY SUNDOWNs (it's dark at 5pm here! sad)

being a creeper

2008-11-12T20:55:00.000-08:00

i have been CARVING CARVING CARVING all night long (it feels greeeat! i'll show new stuff tomorrow) but wanted to brag about knowing someone so talented... i know a handful of people that i'm really, really proud to even be in their life- one of them is allie w. and she makes the craziest most amazing stuff i've seen. i really wish i got to talk to her more when we were in class together, and i wish our schedules were a little less wacky so i could get to know her now. i don't take many people seriously (esp myself, HELLO i make ugly animal block prints) but all of her work just. makes me stop what i'm doing and wonder where she gets it all from. i wish i could articulate it better, but honestly her work speaks for itself much better than i can. just check out a few:

her blog is http://fishwithoutbicycles.blogspot.com/ -- for much much more. on another note, i hope she and i get to hang out very soon. and that she doesn't mind i just snagged her photobucket images :)

i just ordered 240 cans of cat food.

2008-11-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

finally working on some new stuff... putting aside a little homework to allow myself creative pleasures. christmas-y creative pleasures-- i think i've earned it! i'll show you later this week, when i finally finally have a little time to finish up and take pictures.

otherwise. just health stuff, work, lots of class, trying to find something to cover up my head. here are some other pictures from boston.

how is your mid-november shaping up? i cannot believe how close the holidays are. i am quite ready for another vacation, sigh.

just saying.

2008-11-04T20:12:00.001-08:00

i cant wait to tell my grandbabies how their twenty year old grandma sat in her unmade bed, alone, bald, bawling tears of joy because barack obama was elected 44th president.

ready for a long nap!

2008-11-03T21:15:00.000-08:00

i've been MIA, haven't i? it's been kinda crazy lately. on top of the usual (school, walkin doggies, filling art orders), lots has been going on. of course, i haven't had the time to make anything new-- :( my favorite season is coming up and i have lots of ideas for it !

i had a short (but sweet)! getaway with ryan on the weekend of the 24th. we spent a day in salem, MA and a day (and a half?) in boston. our hotel was in lexington (i am partial to that area, plus it's a little cheaper and closeish to both salem AND boston)... more specifically, it was a totally hip new sheraton resort that was built over the classic sheraton i stayed at 4 years ago! anywho, it was super dreamy and wonderful. warmer than we hoped, but the leaves were changing so it was gorgeous.

last weekend was phillies insanity from them winning the world series (as was all of last week, now that i think of it) and halloween and stuff. i actually missed a lot of everything due to classes and poor timing... oh! and saturday morning i participated in my first craft fair thing, though it was SUPER small and SUPER last minute. it was outside of the whole foods at art museum-- the girl organizing it found/contacted me like 36 hours before, so i was running around getting packaging and pricing ready for that. it was like me and 10 other people, and i don't think anyone did terribly amazing- but i got to meet some people from etsy which was really fun! the weather was also super dreamy.

soooo that's been that. my weeks have also included the usual doctor's appts for this stupid alopecia areata... i had 45 more shots in the head, came off of my oral steroids, and am continuing my topical steroids. it's all falling out again just as bad when it first started, though. i made ryan run his hand through my hair tonight to see how easy it was, and he got a small handful. it's surreal. i have too little hair to hide my bald spots anymore. i think i am going to literally be 100% bald before it's finished, because i can't get to my doctor in time for a new prescription (work/class/voting tomorrow, i can't miss any more wednesdays for doctor's appts, so hopefully thurs! but it takes a few days)... even if i do get more oral steroids (which made me super nutty) they are only suppressants! there is no cure. so weird. i would say about 35-40% of my head is bald spots, and including the areas that have thinned i have lost 60% of my original hair mass. i went hat shopping but all of the hats for this season are that saggy beanie style for hipster girls with great big hair :( i am at a total loss at this point! i'm too scared to shave it off because i can't predict where will grow back, and it might be really gross to have a buzzed patchy head. yick. i guess it's really petty since my health itself is intact, but it's just been tough on top of some other things.

good news is, it's november. christmas is permeating the malls! the radios! tv ads! and i loooove it! i listen to christmas music year-round so this is my prime :)
okay well. hope everyone has nice weather for the long lines at voting tomorrow... please don't let a little rain change the course of history! i'm crossing my fingers (not to mention, shaking in my boots) for obama, and a group of us are going to get together to watch the count tomorrow night. i don't want to get political because i know everyone is tired of hearing about it, but i honestly don't know what will happen to this country without him. or more seriously, what will happen to the world and the animals in it.

chilly tuesday

2008-10-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-10-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-06T13:32:00.001-07:00

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!!

2008-10-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

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. !

almost october!

2008-09-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

i am spending this friday in, by myself, in my PJs. i am soooo happy! i haven't had a night without homework, custom orders, or plans in a long, long time! i wanted to go craft crazy, but i got a little distracted with the debates. it is still early, so i might try to do a little embroidery on some napkins that i dyed brown before ryan heads back over.

did anyone watch the office premier last night? it was so funny. i didn't realize how hilarious i thought it was until i kept thinking of quotes today. my favorite in particular was the reference to the girl in the art school dorms crying to the RA because "her roommate drank her soy milk". i am actually really excited about all of the art school references that may come this season. one of the writers MUST have gone, because it was dead on.

a few of us got together to watch it, and between homework/cleaning yesterday i FINALLY finally took the time to make up some cute autumn treats! i made three batches (eep! dishes-a-rama!) of rice krispie treats: plain, peanutbutter, and chocolate. i guessed on the recipe as far as adding additional ingredients, and i think they came out all right... they got eaten! i only had a few spots in my new halloween mold/silicone pan (candy corn and ghosts!), so the rest i flattened out, cut into squares and tossed with whole marshmallows, chocolate chips, and halloween sprinkles. not very healthy, but reallyyyy tasty!

don't forget about my giveaway! just comment on the previous post and you could win goodies! have a great weekend, everyone. :)

i miss crafting! giveaway

2008-09-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

i miss blogging, i miss making new stuff, and i miss my old routine! i'm busybusy with school and trying to keep friendly ties together (considering my best friend here is moving away, it is becoming very very important to make socializing a priority!)-- any creative time i have had has been working on lots of custom orders. all of a sudden! it's been really fun, and to see what color combination/more "masculine" variations people come up with is super exciting. i took a few pictures but they didn't come out so great, so this will be another wordy post.

so my health! i had to get steroids injected (yes! via needle!) into my scalp about thirty times. i am also putting a steroid solution on my head, and taking an excessive amount of oral steroids (that makes me clench my jaw and totally nutty!!) two times a day to help the problem. so what IS the problem?? my body thinks my hair is a virus, and is rejecting it and pushing it out!! eep! so i am missing lots of hair, still losing some (think like 70-80 per AM shower/brushing) and have big bald patches... but knowing what the issue was has made it SO much better for me to move on. just a random case of alopecia areata? i don't know why/how/how much longer/what will/when it grow back... pooh! the doctor's don't know a whole lot about it in general, so i don't either!

okay SO because i have been terribly dull & MIA lately, i want to offer a little giveaway as a thank you for keeping up with me! leave a funny story, or something interesting, and i'll pick a random comment # (probably will have it generated by some RNG online) and announce the winner next Wednesday, the 1st of October!
the winner will get to choose between this great pendant, printed on plastic and sealed for protection. it's from a picture i took a few years ago, and the yummy colors just make the best accessory! OR an original of my chatty mountain gocco print! (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13648605)
so:

OR

yay! hope we have a very happy winner. i PROMISE i will make a real update soon... i am just aching to find time to create!

brief mid-sept update

2008-09-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

sooo. i am very busy with school, repetitive homework, seven hour jury duty this AM, trying to remember the few names of classmates that i've learned, doing some philapets work and making art/craft stuff WHENEVER i can! which hasn't been very much lately, except for a big boutique napkin order and a few little sales here and there. nothing new, which is making my skin crawl. i need a little time off to breathe and make make make!

soo! my health: the hair loss wasn't a chemical burn, after all. it has been almost two weeks, and i have lost about 1/3 of my hair count by now. saturday, it got so bad (huge huge chunks) that i had my handsome boyfriend take me to the ER (i felt like such a jerk there) to try to handle the situation. they took me seriously, thank goodness, and ran a few blood tests to figure out what is going on. i got the results back this afternoon with no answers, so i made an urgent dermatologist appt for tomorrow (i'll have to miss a class for it, which means i have to go in early to make up stuff for three different classes between health/jury duty). we know it's alopecia, but not what type, how permanent, why it's happening, etc. everyone's best guess is that it might be stress related from my big adult decision-making back in may, that left me crying for weeks.
at the first hospital trip, i was prescribed steroids and told to not brush/wash my hair as much as possible. i did wash it today, of course, and sooo much hair came out in the brush (a thick handful!) that i am following orders and keeping my hair in a loooose ponytail now. i think all i can stand is to wash it every other day, though... i'm hoping the steroids will start working soon, because i can move on past this hair loss... as long as it stops before it gets impossible to hide! i have very little left, including yucky bald patches on the underside of my hair line. and tonight i found one on the back top of my head, that is so very visible. my aunt (who has been amazing through this, as well as the other females in my family that have come rooting for old baldy here) ordered me some treatment that has only had insanely amazing reviews-- i am excited to start using it ASAP, though the turnaround time may be a little slow.

okay, well, i just wanted to let everyone know that's why i haven't been art/crafting/blogging very much. i had to buy goggles for my chem lab, and i think i may bejewel them tonight haha. i feel so ridiculous lately that it may be just the extra sparkle i need in my life for that 8:30AM lab class.

hope everyone is doing well!! my RSS feed is constantly overflowing, it's soo hard to catch up but i am reading everyone's blogs and am so happy with the great stuff everyone is making! love love.

sorry, more words!

2008-09-06T23:54:00.000-07:00

well, my first week of school is finished. it's going to be hard to go back next week-- not that it was terrible, it just kept feeling like some fleeting phase. like a summer camp. it will be really hard to get into the routine.

i talked a lot about how it was going to be lonely and awkward, as a transfer with few legitimate core credits toward my major (outside of english and humanities, the other 50-something are just electives)-- but i don't think i totally believed it. most of my classes are lots of freshman who just graduated from the same schools, or are dorm'ing together and becoming very close. there are the few transfers like myself, a little lost (not to mention resentful of the huge age gap) and glum. i am so friendly and try to talk to a lot of people, but so far it has just been very quiet!
my classes themselves are OK. they are actually easy, which i am hoping is just because it was the first week. i really missed real academic classes.

sooo i'm not exactly pulling my hair out over everything-- or am i!

it seems that, even though i have been bleaching and dying my hair for about eight years now, my scalp is finally giving up on me. i have had many reactions to cheap, expensive, and even a $200 "100% organic salon" visit last summer-- i have sensitive skin so it's not strange at all, and i usually bounce back pretty quick. well, this week in class i was absent-mindedly toying with my hair and experienced 5-7 hairs coming out at a time! i was really panicked and after some investigation, it seems that my last dye resulted in a chemical burn at the back hair line (my neck) that has... made my hair fall out. there is a sad little bald patch! and to add insult to injury, i had just gone to the closest shade to my natural color so i'd never have to die again. sigh!

i took a shower tonight, and more hair fell out. like a lot more. i can't figure out from where, so i think it was just the surrounding area of the last bit. i am so sad and worried that it won't stop, or that hair won't grow back.

i posted about it in the etsy forums, hoping a bath & body shop would offer some advice... and after a couple general replies, i got the best convo ever. her name is tamara and her shop is tamarasherbes.etsy.com-- she talked me through all the appropriate measures and didn't pressure me to buy anything at all! she told me many, many times that she is NOT a doctor but she is so informed and sweet! she carries a serum(?) that she suggested to help repair my hair and scalp, and i bought it right away. (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14363323) i cannot wait for it! even after, she spent the evening sending long replies of advice, even giving me a recipe for a herb & apple cider vinegar rinse that will help shade my hair if my roots do grow in darker than the rest of my hair. i cannot express my gratitude and excitement of finding her shop! she has lots of other natural goodies that i am oogling & will remember to pick up when i have a better flow of cash (thank you $500 in text books)

basically, i guess, it was a bad first week of school and my hair is falling out which is just so worrisome... but i am not unhappy and i am trying to stay very positive. i had a good day/weekend so far, and my darling ry got his very, very good job (i knew he would) so! ack- i'll get back to crafting and things soon, and will stop writing so dang much and post pictures. until then, hope everyone is doing just great!

NO WAY IT'S SEPTEMBER

2008-09-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

there's no way!! i cannot believe it is september 1st. where the heck is 2008 going?? what a crazy year already, and it's still got 1/4th to go!

i start my new school tomorrow... i am SO nervous. i think that it is even scarier than moving to a place you've never even seen PICTURES of (let alone stepped foot in) the day after you turn 18... at least it is for me! in that situation i was going to a very small school as a freshman with a bunch of other freshmen to keep me company. this time around, with like 35 thou students and coming in as a transfer- i really feel like the odd girl out. i had nightmare after nightmare last night about being lost and late to all of my classes!!

i am kind of excited to see how i toggle my two "jobs" and school. i use quotes because making crafts and playing with animals just, i can't believe they are my work! i am also excited for making new friends and even a little excited for homework... but still very scared. i think that if the weather were cooler and i had great new sweaters to start the year right, that i might be a little more gung ho. but it's going to be 91 on my first day, and i'll have just ridden the stinky subway from one nice neighborhood in the ghetto to another nice neighborhood in the ghetto. ha!

okay so! i don't have any new crafts, arty stuff, or photos to share but i DON'T want to leave you with just words. so here are some links to crazy wonderful sellers on etsy that i've gotten stuff from.

http://earcmra.etsy.com
I got this three flavor sampler for a birthday treat to myself... me and Ryan really tore through them! I would order more but I was literally addicted to their buttery sweet goodness and I think I would binge if I had them this soon again ha!

leafty.etsy
My sister got me this great ring from leafty on etsy!! I love love love it... it's too cute! Her shop is really amazing and it leaves me wondering why she doesn't have 180000000 sales. :)

humade.etsy.com
My sister ALSO got me this on etsy from my favorite's. I LOVE it. It makes me feel so classy whenever I pull it out to get to my... Septa tokens. haha! I also wish more people saw her shop, because the quality is INSANELY beautiful!

So! Hope everyone had a good first of the month! I'm off to make a few more napkins to mail out tomorrow!

ohh.

2008-08-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

quick post. sorry my last one was soooo wordy!
summer's almost up. i start school next tuesday-- so scary. but i'm ready for autumn like you wouldn't believe!!
happy with my schedule i think, got my dorky ID, love my "job". cannot believe i am twenty.

new key rack for the keys i have to keep for work-- frame & hooks from ikea, assembled in about ten minutes by ryan, and a REALLY old test print on fabric in the frame.

new autumn block prints, illustrated by me & hand carved. two blocks per print! (so six new carved stamp linocuts total) soooo these are the new napkins :)

sooo! what's new with YOU?

little milestones

2008-08-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

oh my goodness, i almost titled this "my last day as a teenager" without thinking... but it REALLY is my last day as a teenager! i feel like i should be doing something really stupid & really wild, but here's been my day so far: i just met a new client (a dog named butter! i love her!) and went to cvs to fill a perscrip... on the way home i FINALLY stopped at the little open air market on passyunk & got a HUGE basil plant for $3!! pretty exciting, right? these are not the great adventures of a 19 year old... anywho, tomorrow is my big #20! no plans, and i'll probably just take it easy and let myself NOT work on anything productive whatsoever. i haven't had big big hullaballoo on my birthday since my 17th, what with moving 700 miles away and all, so please don't call me all day asking why i'm not out living the dream. that was sooo depressing last year. all i did was go to cvs then, too! haha

it's also coming up on my 2nd anniversary of being in philly. i moved the day after my 18th birthday, on the 22nd. and it's kind of sad to think that i've only been to visit GA twice since then-- once at christmas 2006, and once last summer 07. i am homesick a lot, so i don't know how i haven't gone home more than that (other than the hefty cost of a plane ticket.) i've had many, many ups & downs here-- i don't know if i've grown or matured all that much but i've experienced a pretty wide, & new, range of emotions. eep! oh and the 22nd is one year ry & my first date. if it was even a date. i think i only remember it sooo specifically because it was the day after my birthday. but it's cute, right?

hmm what else? ry & i went peach picking this weekend!! and i saw my first pear tree!! last week we also got to see radiohead & the eagles (team, not the band sadly-) play for free. played my first game of poker last night!! and a couple of days ago i realized that "purple nurples" is a play on words of "purple nipples" and can't stop laughing every time i think of it. i love my job, and my pets i take care of soooo much! and i love that i woke up to a big order this morning. i'm not CRAZY about my school schedule (which i keep trying to tweak to perfection) but i am happy about the thought of being in class again... weird.

the weather is getting cooler & i'm smiling more. summer isn't my favorite season, at all, so i won't be sad to shoo this one out. i'm already in the fall spirit, walking in the shade and trying to justify wearing jeans instead of shorts. here's a little of what i've been up to, in pictures.

whew!

2008-08-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

okay, hi! i have been a little off the radar... just trying to get my school stuff sorted out (all at once! it has been SUCH a nightmare), doctor's appointments, placement testing, and exciting pre-job stuff. not to mention squeeeezing a little summer out!

i FINALLY start my job tomorrow-- i am a dog walker & cat sitter! i know it sounds dorky that i'm soo excited about it, but there are real paychecks, totally customizable schedule, insured company, and better pay than i've made in any other job i've ever had. i cannot waaaaait to get started after training tomorrow. i will have a double-income, PLAYING WITH ANIMALS and MAKING BAD ART! i like the direction things are heading.

hello!! is anyone else having amazing weather? it has been hovering under 80 degrees here... it makes me feel soooo dreamy for autumn weather. we also had another great, stormy sunday-- and there's no better excuse to lay in bed at watch TLC with your other half & fat cat than a thunderstorm.

i haven't made anything tooooo exciting lately-- i had a few custom orders that i really, really wish i had photographed! like a really interesting color combo set of napkins, and a huuuuge custom stamp. i just packaged them up before i remembered to take pictures.
but! i did find a use for all of the thin scraps of paper i had been hoarding (I KNEW they would be good for something)! i made tons of little notebooks with perforated pages-- perfect for whenever someone asks for a scrap (and you don't want to destroy your planners!) for notes or gum or whatever. i'm already loving using my own, which comes in use since i have a gum-fanatic boyfriend.

detail of the cute perforated pages

sunset at national park in NJ

i got hired for my dream job

2008-08-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired i got hired for my dream job dream job dream job dream job dream job dream job dream job dream job dream job dream job dream job :)

also had to take the subway by myself for the first time ever, last minute, in the rain, at 7AM, after waking up at 530, to temple, for 6 hours of placement testing. and it wasn't that bad :)

last post in july

2008-07-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

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!

almost august!

2008-07-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

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 :)

adventures with herald

2008-07-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

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.

good week

2008-07-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

+ 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!!!

blog crazy!!

2008-07-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

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.

i should be zzzz ++gocco rambles!

2008-07-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

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)

so cute!!

2008-07-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

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

inspiration standstill

2008-07-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

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.

happy fourth!!

2008-07-03T22:09:00.001-07:00

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.

bzz bzz bzz busy bee!

2008-06-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

not much to say- other than i am jess gonacha's biggest fan. c: on top of the fact that she is sooo crazy good at everything she does, she was the biggest help with fabric block printing drama. we are talking about doing a trade (i know, i really feel like i've lucked out and that she is out of her mind) so i will have a fun update of that when it happens-

i finally completed the wholesale order for 3 sets of undersea notebook sets (each set = 4 undersea creature notebooks) yesterday- this was a particularly fun project, as it resulted in three new cute animal blocks (i'll show them later! it's a turtle, sting ray, and blowfish along with the jellyfish one i've already posted)... the girl who runs the shop (Splendid Little Shoppe in Petaluma, CA) suggested i make little name plates(?? idk what to call it) for the back of the notebooks- she also suggested i make an artist's bio to put on display! ry designed it for me, of course, and even though he was a big negative nancy about the final i LOVE it. i made a little stand out of folded cardstock so it's freestanding! dorky but fun.

the "bio" says: "Julie Malone is a 20 year old artist from Atlanta residing in Philadelphia, PA. After attending art school for two years, she realized her true calling and transferred to Temple University for Wildlife and Environmental Sciences. Her love for wildlife shows in nearly all of her work through reoccurring linoleum cut
animals. She works primarily with printmaking techniques to produce hand-pulled prints and one of a kind paper goods, but occasionally dabbles in other mediums."
IT'S FROM THE FUTURE! i didn't want to put a lot of "almost" and "is going to", but for the record i won't be 20/attending temple until august. big whoop! I felt a little silly writing that up, since I still don't take my stuff serious as "art" or anything- it's just a lot of fun that I have been doing lately, and I hope it never ends!

lastly, here is a sneak peek of a super fun project i've been working on... my cloth napkins! as i said, jess was a HUGE help with some problems i had on my first attempts last night. this was about an hour into it, and i spent the rest of the afternoon being a craft machine and pumping out a bunch more! i'll post those as i finish the sets... i'm trying to sucker ry into doing the bellyband design but i might end up winging it myself.

eek okay so apparently i had a LOT to say! but that's it, i swear! i just had half a cup of iced coffee forgetting it's 1AM and will probably be all crazy for a few more hours.

ice cream parties

2008-06-23T15:37:00.001-07:00

i just love summer. ryan has been cooking out nearly every night we eat together, so i'm getting veggie burgers or fresh grilled veggies at least 3 nights a week! i'm also loving how late it stays light out- i think it helps night people like me stay totally focused & productive for many more hours! (and not feel so bad for waking up inexcusably late every couple of days, ack)

lou & i had some friends over last night for an ice cream party- it was suuuuper gooey sugary sweet fun! i had made a joke the night before about putting lucky charms on my ice cream, and lou went out and bought a box! ha. so we had chocolate syrup, whipped cream, lucky charms, m&ms, and my super embarrassingly large sprinkle collection to choose from. above is a little photo collage of everyone's ice cream masterpiece! i think i missed a couple but they were all pretty similar... lots of toppings!

ohh! speaking of food! my dad USPS'd me a box of green tomatoes! it was totally unexpected & kooky (he does strange things like that sometimes) but i fried them up and made tons and tons of fried green tomatoes... now i have this lingering craving for them all the time. i've GOT to get back to juliette, GA (sight of the classic movie) to the Whistlestop Cafe (!!) for more. that was like the best southern meal i've ever had, period.

also, of course, i've been keeping up with my linocut stuff. it's so strange how much i'm enjoying it, that i haven't gotten tired and moved onto a new medium. i'm usually gung ho with stuff for a few weeks or months, then feel very obligated to the medium and move on- or worse, experience a total inspiration dry spell. i think because it is a pretty vast medium & it's given me the courage i've never had to start attempting to illustrate things. the image above was a quick, two minute doodle and 15 minute carve.

that tangent actually reminded me, last summer around this time i got some money together and bought everything i needed to start casting resin. that lasted about 3 weeks or so when i became discouraged after i realized how easy it is for everything to come out looking really kitschy and cheap (which, oddly enough, would be how i endearingly describe my paper goods style). welp, the other afternoon i found a bunch of pieces that i actually like and i went ahead and drilled them & started attaching wire so they could be pendants. i literally stopped mid-posting the last paragraph to try to get some nice pictures while there is still some daylight left in my room- maybe i'll post a few pictures here. & i would love honest feedback, my feelings won't be hurt since this was a medium i never took the time to learn about. are they ugly? are they something you would wear, or even a kooky relative would wear? i would love feedback because if i keep holding onto them i'll eventually trash them like everything else. (there's not supposed to be a cat hair in the second! i didnt notice it until after i uploaded the pic, & it brushed right away.)

that should be about it for today, i think. i'm going to try to be a little better about smaller, more frequent posts rather than these massive ones. ohhh but be excited! this time next week i should have some sets of cloth napkins ready! i am sooooo excited about fabric block printing- i'm going to start practicing tonight on scraps. c:

a very etsy post

2008-06-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

so i survived that nasty heat wave we had last a week ago or so- it was like 100 degrees and unbreathable humidity. nuts! today, though, it was like 78, sunny, breezy wonderful. so i recruited mistie & we ran some errands back and forth, then walked into the area i used to live to go to pearl... ugh it was sooo nice out! we easily walked about five miles the whole trip, and it felt so so good out that i hardly noticed at all. i hope we have at least a few more of these days before summer humidity comes in full swing, yucky.

let's see, what else? still leisurely crafting. made two pretty big linocuts last week- a jellyfish and a set of coral. made some new stationary & books with them, and one of the jellyfish hello cards is listed at the bottom of an etsy front page article! (http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/thisHandmadeLife/article/etsy-world-tour-bermuda-with-lusciousnaturals/1977/) super cool. did i mention that a few weeks ago i made etsy front page itself? that was pretty fun, too! not that the admin really hand pick each item to be on the front page, that comes from treasuries.

aaaand speaking of, i finally had good enough timing to snag a treasury and get some of my favorite items out there! i'm really hoping it makes front page because i really, really want all of the items to sell for these artists because they are pretty amazing. you can view it at: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=13341
clicking on the items helps the chances of it hitting front page, i think, i'm not really positive how the admin pick particular lists. but anyway it's totally worth sorting through because they are crazy amazing.

alright well check those links if you have time! etsy sure is fun. i'm going to go work on a super secret corn dog crest linocut... ha! but really i am. let me know how you're doing in a comment, i love to know who actually keeps up with this. c:

warm thoughts

2008-06-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

so although i was listening to this album nonstop a few months ago, i sort of forgot about it recently -- even though now the weather is really suited for it. anyhow, just saw this video about two minutes ago and it was so heart warming (plus! oh! that little apartment made me so sentimental feeling) that i wanted to show it right away

other things:
picked out paint for my bike today- the bike itself was a real (lucky! saved me tons of $$!!) fluke and i couldn't be more excited. ry found it along with some other bikes his grandpa owned when he did repairs? and/or built them? it's very vintage and petite and i cannot wait until it's all updated and ready for me! the paint i picked out tonight is the dreamiest creamiest ice blue! and i'm going to get peach or yellow handlebar tape, depending on how light or dark the paint actually turns out after sanding/priming/painting/top coating.

summer looks good, so far, already. the bike is a big, big plus because i'll be able to head over to my old stomping grounds more frequently, and i can finally ride around the park with ryan. and mistie just got the most adorable bike, too! so we can add that to things to do together.

cats are behaving a little better, although we dealt with a bit of a traumatic situation earlier when (and we're still not positive how) scuz fell out of the second story window! he is totally fine and actually seems unphased, but he hit the awning and then the ground. our assumption is that he got spooked by lilly and/or she chased him, and he jumped into the window harder than usual and popped the screen out (it was practically mangled into the awning). here is the handsome devil, just hours before the whole thing went down.

it hardly looks like 125 but it is! 20 pages each, = 40 front and back

i finished the wedding order! it took me three days (day two, i made 76 IN ONE SITTING) and now i'm not sure what to do with myself! i worked very hard to get it done, since their wedding is the 13th- but i feel a little sad that it is over. what an adventure! they chose the two patterns & color scheme. i kind of wish it were silver ink, because it's so much subtler but i think this matches their wedding and looks pretty nice anyhow.

one bbq and then (ack, mustache) party tomorrow, very exciting- tonight was a rather impromptu bbq. it was short and sweet, basically a group dinner, but it got me excited for more (planned out) ones. ++ ice cream party?? hopefully??

(i am drinking about two of these a day)
i'm really happy in this house. i was so sad about leaving my apartment, but i couldn't be in a better place. and! for the first time in like two years i have a full-sized refrigerator AND ice!! as a result i am making massive amounts of iced coffee (which i served alongside the veggie burgers/veggie hot dogs ry cooked tonight, so weird! but good) the only thing is my dang roommate gets to GO HELP WITH A PAULA DEEN PHOTOSHOOT ON SUNDAY as part of an internship and i think i couldn't be more jealous of anything in the world, besides like my best friend sleeping with bobby flay or ryan leaving me for giadda delaurentis (btw how creepy is it that i spelled that right the first try?).

it's so late! hopefully ryan will get back soon so we can play his wii for the first time in forever, and get some sleep in a cool room before it hits in the 90's tomorrow. ! hope everyone is having a great weekend, and special thoughts to dear san on her birthday.

thoughts on moving

2008-06-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

i have nearly finished unpacking... this is probably the slowest i've ever packed & unpacked, but there's just so, so much stuff and i keep getting so distracted! i wish i had a picture of lou's living room on move-in day, it was amazing to see the heart, soul, and guts of my old apartment disassembled, bagged, and in puzzle-packed three cubic feet boxes.

lou's cat, scuz, is having a hard time adjusting to his first real interactions with another cat. he's taking it out on everyone, (mostly lou) but is calming down a little more every day. i feel so bad because it's his home and lilly bumbles around like she owns the place.
she thinks she is in heaven with all of the snooping and adventuring that a new house & moving boxes provides. not to mention carpet, hello! she just rolls and rolls and massages it and rubs her face on it- in my next life i want to come back as a fluffy overfed ugly cat.

(lilly in her second fav spot in the new place. she loooves this bathroom window)

just spoke to my mother for the first time in about a week i guess, and she was asking me about the move and and the house and all... and she started asking me about lou, since i referred to him as the nicest guy in our group of friends- and she said "WHAT i thought he was MY AGE! i thought he was old! like in his fourties or fifties!" and then started asking if he had a girlfriend, if he was a "nice guy", and if we shared a bathroom. so apparently she's thought that i was moving in with a 50 year old man for some time and never thought to ask any questions, but because he is around my age group she starts to think suspiciously? seriously, she thought i was going to live with an old dude?

i am quite tired and trying to get on track with this wedding order & a custom order. i just want my room to be doooooone. and before i go, here is the finished al borland painting. it's been done for many weeks but i was too lazy to cut it down, photo, and post it.

hilarious snippets from dogtalk with ry

2008-05-28T21:05:00.001-07:00

nobody thinks other people's conversations are funny, but i'm dying

julie
i love bts
11:44
i think you should get one

lettheloveage
AIM
11:44
i want to
11:44
but i don't want a sick dog

julie
AIM
11:44
aww
11:45
well that can happen with any dog ryan

lettheloveage
AIM
11:45
yeah but waht if he pokes his eyes out?

julie
AIM
11:46
hahahah
11:46
"what if he pokes his eyes out"
11:46
hahahahha
11:46
has to be
11:46
the best question ever

lettheloveage
AIM
11:48
man these sites are making me weary about a bt

julie
AIM
11:50
aw well it'll be like that for every pure bred ry

lettheloveage
AIM
11:50
yeah
11:50
but eye loss
11:50
man

julie
AIM
11:50
but lots of people have pure breds and never have problems

lettheloveage
AIM
11:50
yeah but i have shitty luck

julie
AIM
11:50
aww

lettheloveage
AIM
11:50
my dog will run into a wall

julie
AIM
11:51
nuh uh
11:51
hahahaha

lettheloveage
AIM
11:51
or fight my cat

julie
AIM
11:51
wtf

lettheloveage
AIM
11:51
who will gouge him

julie
AIM
11:51
yeah well yuor cat would gouge a pitbull

lettheloveage
AIM
11:51
yeah well pitbulls close their eyes
11:51
maybe i'll get a frency
11:51
frenchy
---

i want a girl man
11:57
i hate boy dogs
11:57
they have weiners
11:57
and hump

julie
AIM
11:57
hahaha
11:57
k

lettheloveage
AIM
11:57
and pee sideways
11:57
i want a down peeer

---

lettheloveage
"Some badly bred Boston Terriers may have a bone defect in the skull that stunts brain growth, resulting in a retarded dog." man
12:03
i dont want a boston tardier
12:04
maybe i'll make him wear goggles all the time

---

julie
12:05
every dog is going to have its risks and responsibilities, ry, you know that

lettheloveage
AIM
12:05
yeah but
12:05
i'm accident prone
12:06
what if i trip and my finger pokes him in the eye
12:06
or he is tarded and scratches his ears and slips and hits his eye

julie
AIM
12:08
hahahaha
12:08
wtf
12:08
ryan
12:08
does that ever happen

lettheloveage
AIM
12:08
man i do'nt know
12:08
it may
12:08
i can't care for a blind dog
12:08
i need a healthy dog
12:08
that needs basic care and lots of loving
12:08
not a seeing eye owner

---

enjoy your night, bye.

gaining my footing!

2008-05-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

it's amazing how hopeless everything was like a month ago- i mean, truly, absolutely terrified hopeless. i didn't let on much here because i didn't want to degrade this into a ranty blog, but i was so upset and scared all the time.

and now, with (only a few) boxes packed and FOUR giant bags to donate to philly aids thrift (i'm like the antipackrat)- everything is just looking up

i went to lou's block's memorial day bbq on sunday... it was so, so sweet & fun. i wish i had taken pictures, but i could not be more excited about those people being my neighbors. OH i don't think i've mentioned it, that's my new living arrangement! i am moving in with my good friend lou, who has basically been one of the like 4 totally true & reliable friends i've made here. i'm gonna be in a sweet safe south philly neighborhood with a bunch of old people and charming italian people. i am super excited (even with the loss of my teeny sweet cozy love love apartment :[ ), and everything should be really great as long as his cat (scuz) and my lilly get along.

so anyway, i am writing this now on a breathing break. i made a bunch of animal "hello" cards with the SIX new linocuts i made this week- so far they are what i am most excited about, and it kind of makes me want to empty out my entire etsy of the junk i made when i was first learning. ha!

(chickadee, bear, capybara, and anteater!)

everything is going to get real nuts real fast. i move out THIS weekend, hopefully in one day, and then i have to immediately get started on making 125 NOTEBOOKS FOR A WEDDING! i am so nervous & excited about such a big order! it is going to be really exciting to see everything laid out, what a massive number! i also have a small boutique order of stuff that i think is all already made & ready to be handed away. then! hopefully! a "real" job ASAP- i met/spoke to/handed my resume to mistie's boss at the bean exchange. he said he wished i applied earlier, and when i told him i did in january he acted really bummed that my resume never resurfaced- so anyway, if two girls there that are "on notice" end up leaving i could have a job there. if not, i'll be a little disappointed but there's always trying at philapets after i get a bike, or even doggie style. soooo lots of changes, but they are positive exciting ones.

sorry i am sooooo wordy but i am experiencing that high that comes with new, exciting things ahead. yay. hope everyone else is doing well!

animal friends & crafting

2008-05-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

everything has been such a blur lately- i've been so busy packing, crafting, & warm warm adventuring. such a nice change from the dark dreary winter! because i yacked so much last post i'm going to make this one primarily photos-

keeping up with summertime fun, lilly has had a new adventure of her own making friends with mistie's ferret, herald! he's only been over once but they got along really well, except for the fact that he was totally uninterested in paying attention to her so she kept yowling at mistie to pet her!

& i managed to do a little crafting that will help make packing a little easier- ryan and i built one of those wooden organizers from ikea (you know, the ones that come in like 400 pieces?). a while ago on apartment therapy (link http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/look/look-ikea-decorative-scrap-paper-box-drawer-047557) i saw a great idea for giving it a new look. i just decoupaged with neat paper from ac moore before we assembled, so it was soooo easy. and now my desk space is just as neat a the rest of my crafts!

speakin' of. i finally sat down and made a more traditional linocut (as opposed to just stamps) and it was a blast. i have little to no real illustration skills but it's kind of hard to screw up a happy little narwhal. used it for a bunch of notebooks that are up on my (rapidly growing) etsy.

so that's that! it's a friday night so hopefully after this my plans will come together and i can enjoy my last real weekend living in this apartment... sad!

i am full of okra!

2008-05-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

georgia! on my mind! it's recently hit me that i am just a month shy of it being a year since i've last been home. i miss gidget so so much, my little tiny baby doggy- she still apparently looks for me in my old room sometimes. sigh. i haven't seen any friends or family, except for my aunt & uncle that i drove up to the catskills with for christmas. i missed my great aunt's (we call her droopy) 90th birthday bash that my aunt organized- i love her so dearly, she's such an amazing sweet funny old lady and i'm really bummed i couldn't arrange/afford to fly in. somewhat of a relief from homesickness, tonight, last minute, i got to see the braves (um, hello, in these amazing free seats ryan snagged via his aunt) beat the phillies! to celebrate i came home and made up some fried okra- i almost never, ever eat it anymore. i've only found it one other time since i've been up here, and it rotted before i found corn meal to bread it with. so that's a good 2+ years without having my favorite childhood food.

speaking of food, ryan and i had a stuffed pepper night the other night! he is really into that wilted spinach/feta orzo i posted a picture of before. we saw trader joe's use little bell peppers as bowls for orzo, so i grilled up some halves and we scooped it in. then we found a "low fat" recipe for jalapeno poppers, that calls for low fat cream cheese, cheese, and baking rather than frying. while we cook a lot more glamorous things (truly, we grill a lot and make stunning kebabs) they were such a cute pair that i couldn't help but take a picture.

(lilly doesn't want to leave! & my excessive packing supplies.)
they've rented out my apartment and i've got a little over two weeks to pack up & move. i'm pretty bummed about it- so so much has changed here, and even though mistie and i technically had our first apartment for six months... i still really consider this my first. it's too expensive for me to renew my lease, so. we move on.

so other things- this has been a really great week. ryan and i went to see ben folds play at drexel for $5 on saturday, totally last minute. yesterday we met up with dan and had a photo adventure around the nicer, greener parts of philadelphia (see above!) then tonight the three of us went to the aforementioned braves' game, in probably the best seats i've ever sat in. this weekend ry has the kanye/lupe/rhianna/NERD tickets for free, i think- so i'm finally moving at my preferred speed again, and feeling really good about it. especially since it's all been virtually free!

wow, this was soooo wordy. i hope everyone else is enjoying their start to the summer- love love.

already into may??

2008-05-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

okay, it's official: this has been the fastest year ever! i cannot believe we're into may, already... eek!
besides working on my future STILL (like visiting temple, making arrangements & calls, sorting the huge huge boxes of packing boxes my wonderful aunt sent me) i have been having a frantic love affair with my rotary cutter... no, seriously. i loaned it to ryan this week so he can work on finals & books & portfolio stuff, so i have a little break from insane crafting/etsying to make a post.

i made like five new stamps this week! and it's so funny because the ones that took me the longest, i'm not that crazy about. i made some from doodles & on scrap speedycarve and they turned out to be my new favorites. ah, well.

in the same fashion as all of my other ugly patterns. i just love love sketchy ugly repeating patterns!

yeah, i literally made this in a few minutes with no reference sketch- expecting to toss it since it was on a tiny scrap corner... and hullo, what a cute surprise! a lil stripey tomato!

i haven't gotten a really outstanding picture of this print yet- but its stripey lovely leaves. it was sooo quick, too, and just based off of a quick doodle. it's so very ikea, isn't it??

well anyway, i'll try to get more pictures taken now that everything is lush lush lush! i am just very bad about bringing my camera out when i'm running around with friends and all. this is going to be a good, busy summer, though (i hope!). i can just feel it.

fretting

2008-04-28T14:11:00.001-07:00

okay, alright, so maybe i am still stalling at the crossroads of philly vs. athens. i have been way past my ten deadlines to decide and start getting things in motion. just different outside factors keep affecting my decisions, plans, desires, etc. i have been soooo nutty these past few months, ugh!
and all i really, truly want to do is disappear to the catskills, ny or to juliette, GA and do some real dirty rural exploring. i honestly would do anything to have a fried green tomato sandwich, drink sweet tea from a mason jar, and pick up some local honey. aghhhh. i think i am due for a trip to farmtown, PA to get all of this dreaminess out of my head.

in other news!

i've been making little notebooks, which is a lot more rewarding than just cards and notes- as soon as i finish this i am going to try to make a few more. the first is fabric collage, and the second is just stamped with a new stamp.

here's another new stamp! my first working with type, so i feel pretty good about that. i still want to do the whole alphabet, ack

yay spring, yay feeding pigeons, yay being able to laze about outside with friends instead of inside with the cat and ryan- except for today, of course, which has just been dark and endlessly rainy. ah, well. going to make some french toast with the last bit of groceries in the house, and use this time to think, snug, craft, lounge in pjs, etc.

i'm still alive!

2008-04-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

ack, so, sorry i disappeared for a little while. i was finally being a grown up (aka being curled up in a ball, crying for three days, desperate for guidance and advice) and working out the kinks in my immediate future.
officially, from here on out, it's philadelphia part two! i was starting the motions of moving to & attending uga, but it just didn't feel right. okay, there were like ten thousand other factors but very, very long story short: i am going to move out of this super expensive area at the end of my lease and attend temple. i am very excited about getting a bigger place (hopefully!) and spending less, although i'm going to miss living right next to whole foods, south st, so many cafes, etc. ugh, i have already started mentally decorating and ikea-shopping- i can't wait to start fresh!

i am now focusing on crafting my tush off again. i just finished some stuff that will be en route tomorrow to a man with a boutique! i made a friend's mom some stuff for her birthday, and apparently her boss saw them/my etsy, and bought a few things to sell in a shop that he owns. i'm really hoping it goes over well, because then i will have a real store! in the world with some of my stuff. kind of exciting, but i am not getting my hopes too too high. also, with my new paper cutter: grocery lists! little dreamy notebooks!

about two (or three?) weeks ago, i started experimenting with more challenging and realistic "stamps". i made a betty white linocut, and was going to do all four golden girls, but it didn't come out really anything like i hoped. so now i have a four inch old lady stamp and nothing to do with it! weird

also, that same superproductive week, i got everything out and silkscreened for the first time since early autumn. this apartment is totally unsuited for it- hopefully the next will be a little better. anyway, it's those damn gossipping rabbits. i am not making any more of the earrings because i don't want to burn out on it, but i think the image is just too too appropriate for cards.

aaaand, most of my attention has been on this gaudy painting. as of the last week, though, i haven't touched it because i am dreading taping everything off to do the plaid background. i'm a little confused about the increments and all, and totally unmotivated to get into it.

so, that's that! the weather is DREAMY and i wore a skirt outside all day! i am thankful for the great people in my life who were so supportive this week. i feel like myself again, i am very happy, and cannot. wait. to throw out this evil couch. hopefully my next post will be a little less craftcraftcraft, but i need to do a better job of taking pictures while i'm out for that to be a possibility. yack yack yack, goodnight!

illuminations

2008-03-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-12T16:26:00.001-07:00

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

2008-03-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

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

2008-03-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-03-01T23:44:00.000-08:00

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.

first five stamps

2008-02-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

+this is what happened to my macbook power adapter in about 36 hours, from tiny tear to total meltdown. looking at the reviews of the adapter on apple.com's shop, apparently this has happened to hundreds of people. most of which are not lucky enough to have theirs replaced for free- i think i only did because i told the applecare rep that i was burned, and he switched me over to a supervisor in a panic. anyway, called them yesterday at noon and had a new one by this morning. my faith in apple has been restored.

+sometime last week, i remembered sitting in a friend's art class in high school and messing around with rubber and carving tools... and how fucking much i loved it. except, i carved freehand and actually wasted a lot of good, expensive linoleum and rubber without realizing it. so i took a trip to pearl over this weekend and spent money (that i don't have) on supplies! i was DYING to craft all weekend, but just couldn't find the down time. so yesterday i sat down and made my first five stamps, and here they are! i still haven't quite gotten the hang of using the tacky (as in sticky) speedball ink with the roller, so some of these aren't quite as crisp as they should be.

i started off with these super simple flower shapes- based on vintage wallpaper i found. they look really dinky alone, but when used as a pattern they are kind of cute.

this stamp is going to be used heavily to (ideally) produce that sort of ornate wallpaper pattern that is so hot right now.

an acorn! sooo super cute. adapted from some clip art i found.

my own dinky mountains, and the only freehand stamp i've done so far.

i'll post the cards/stationary/clothes??/whatever i end up using these for when that ship sails.

all things cold!

2008-02-22T12:29:00.000-08:00

+this is my little roof deck. woke up about 830 to beautiful, three inches of snow! very exciting. but now, i am stuck in my apartment waiting for ryan to get back from school stuff. i was going to make plans for today, but the gorgeous snow turned to a really disgusting mist that is melting everything. i went to the grocery store a few blocks away, and the sidewalks are gray slush that are soaking my feet, gorgeous boots included.

+i just want to show my boots. maybe the most important fashion lesson i learned this year (the hard way, btw) is to freaking tuck your pants into your socks before trying to wiggle into slouch boots. i'm hoping to pass on this knowledge, because it really knocked five minutes off my routine. FIVE MINUTES OF PUTTING ON SHOES.

+the sundaes i made ry and i for dessert night last night. we've skipped the past few weeks, so this was a real treat. HOW CUTE IS THAT.

on cats, cameras, knitting, and zooey.

2008-02-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

+this friday, ryan and i went to buy cameras together. i finally used my best buy credit (from returning all of my christmas presents) and got a sony cybershot. i was really holding out for a DSLR (which ryan ended up getting, and it is so gorgeous) but i realized i should start by having a camera i am likely to pull out and use. one of the things i've regretted most about the time i've spent here is the total lack of pictures i have to account for it. right now it's just allowed me to take more pictures of my cat, but soon it'll be worth it. i bet. hopefully.

+i am trying to use my out-of-school and (unwillingly) unemployed time for creative efforts, but it's been so hard to get myself in shape. i have been dying to make the ridiculously cute knitted bangles from see mi knit, but have somehow still not found the right bracelets to start with. check out the link if you're even remotely interested in knitting. it's nuts how easy it is.

+before i go, i have to do a terrible thing and suggest you all run out and download the new zooey deschenel project, she & him. it's twangy and motowny and zooey's vocals are every bit as dreamy as you'd expect from her. just download the early release now and then go buy the real thing when it comes out.

hello, first post

2008-02-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

well. here's where i am at this second, rather than trying to be retrospective and catch up with nineteen years:

i live in philadelphia, pa. a city that i hate very much, with the exception of my tiny overpriced apartment, two fond friends, my fugly cat, and my boyfriend. it's hard for me to admit that i really only have three people here that i am even moderately close to, since i moved away from countless close, wonderful, brilliant, selfless friends to come here.

i quit the art school i was attending (university of the arts) because a week before my sophomore year classes started, i realized i was on the wrong path. i finished out the semester and have now applied to transfer to five different cities. wherever i end up (a huge debate!), i will be studying to be a wildlife technician.

wrote this in my other functioning blog about ten minutes ago:
quite a while ago, mitt romney dropped out. thank god, those nightmares have stopped
however, i am still dreaming about mike rowe and one magical giant birthday cake. really.
today castro stepped down and i'm mostly just worried about cuba's environmental policies. sorry, but i call it like i see it and he was one heckuva conservationist. ugh weird.

finished every single college transfer app, paid collegeboard.com so much for AP and SAT scores, done with uarts forev. those things. i think i mentioned that already.
actually, i stopped by and visited the fibers girls and got much-needed long, long hugs. i'm going to try to keep in touch with a few of them better. i still kick myself all the time for not taking pictures even once of the studio/girls.

i finally saw joe today, on purpose, for the first time since about the summer. we have fortunately run into each other a few times but somehow our wires kept getting too crossed to have any real time to reconnect. weekly lunches with jamie. seeing mistie here and there. in ryan's arms, eating his delicious pasta and helping him with homework most thu-sun. not to mention drunk dials and care packages from some people too far away to run into. it's nice right now. the times i don't sit and evaluate and re-evaluate my options, they are good times.

besides answering my big questions, trying to budget is so hard, especially when nobody gets that i really have been trying to snag a job. i have waned in my efforts somewhat because i got discouraged. also, because i got an odd job that provided a little income boost. need more of them, if anyone knows of any.

also, help! my inspiration/drive has run totally freaking dry and i don't know how to stand up, walk over to my work space, and get cracking. suggestions there, too.
hope you're all well, whoever still reads this at all.