Quicky

I'll post some photos of the Craft Fair later, but here's a quick update:

- I didn't make a killing, but I did not too bad. I sold all three of the softy block sets and sewed up another set for a lady yesterday. People were wishing I had more. Good note for the future. The magnetic paper dolls were also a big hit, I sold 13 of my 15 sets. I sold some prints and some birds. Only one doll :(. And no wristlets. Oh and I sold some fabric prints, but next time I'll make some smaller cheaper patch sized ones as well. Greeting cards went decently. I sold out of the popular ones, so next time I'll reprint less designs.

- I handed out a lot of business cards and have a couple potential webpage projects out of it.

- I met a lot of fun people. So good to actually spend time chatting with other artsy people. Right right, that's why I shouldn't just sit in front of the computer everyday.

- I am exhausted. Three days of standing on cement, smiling at everyone foolish enough to make eye contact with me (no matter how far away they were) and explaining 5000 times that it was actually my artwork on the dolls and fabric was more tiring than I had anticipated. I will sleep for a week.

Allo

Greetings from Craft Fair Land. I am so tired. I made enough to pay for my booth rental. Here's hoping for big sales tomorrow! Nighty Night.

I am a chicken with my head cut off

And I know what that looks like. Funny story for another time.

Seriously, my house went overnight from a little less than perfect to a disaster zone. For those of you who live in the Nelson Area and have not been paying attention, stop by and see me this weekend!

Kootenay Winter Artisans Market

Nov 28 - 1-9
Nov 29 - 1-9
Nov 30 - 10-4

At the Rod and Gun Club, 801 Railway St. (by Cottonwood Falls)

I finished 10 dolls yesterday, and printed till I was out of ink. I plan to do two more dolls tonight, and then I'll be as ready as I can be. Well, I have lots to set up and package tomorrow, but I'll have elves.

I just finished spraying my booth walls down with fire retardant. Because nothing says eco-friendly designer like dousing your booth in chemicals. But I will be impervious to fire. And rain incidentally.

No photos today because I HAVE NO TIME, but I'll be sure to post lots of the weekend for you all later. Wish me luck!

PS, big thanks to those of you who have been praying for me. I'm doing much better these last couple days.

Update

You haven't been hearing much from me for a few reasons, hopefully it'll be better soon. Here's what's up:

Good news:
- I am making good progress on the sewing. I have a lot left to do, but I certainly won't have an empty booth come Friday.
- I will be able to sell my blocks and wristlets at the fair, they're similar enough to what I showed in my application that they don't mind.
- I'm down 8 lbs since spring.
- After next week I will be done with the market, and working less. I'm looking forward to December.

Not so good news:
- My computer isn't turning on. I'm going to have to take it in to get looked at. Boo. This means I'll have to hook up my old system to do my prints for the weekend.
- I haven't drawn anything in over a month. Too busy moving and sewing. I miss it.
- I've been going through a rough time in the past week. As in anxiety/depression. It's really not cool. If you are praying people I would appreciate your support.

So that is all. Hope all is well in your guy's worlds!

Kitchen

Here's a few pics I took of our kitchen the other day. I was making apple sauce...in case you're wondering what's cooking on the stove. It's fairly small, but I like that it's open to the living room, makes it nicer to be in.





Ack, I was posting this and my monitor turned off. Apparently our house has bad wiring and we are learning all the quirks. Fun. My big monitor is still not working. Any suggestions oh techy ones? I'm relieved, I thought it was my computer for a bit. Poor baby.

Yum yum yum

Check out these Food Chain Friends plushies by Odd Doll. Soooo amusing.


(via Ohdeedoh)

Birdies!

I've been spending all my spare (ha!) moments sewing birds this week. Here's my two new designs, a robin and a cardinal.

Book Meme

Blame my mom for tagging me. These are seven random book related facts about me.

1. I read really fast. About 3 novels a week on average (I can read one a day easy if I let myself). Once in college they gave us speed reading tips, for studying purposes...and I realized that that's how I read all the time. This also means that I have a huge vocabulary and crap spelling.

2. Pride and Prejudice is my favourite book that I've never read. I love all three movie versions...as well as anything else loosely based on it. That's actually really embarrassing, I need to read that book.

3. When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to read most of my parents sci-fi/fantasy books (for good reason :P) but the covers were soooo pretty. So when they left them in the bathroom I would read them and put them back exactly as I found them. Ha, betcha you two didn't know that!

4. I own 38 books by Anne McCaffrey. Hrm, that's kinda a lot considering it's been a while since I read them. But you just don't sell your friends.

5. My scary tolerance is higher for books than it is for movies. Much higher as my movie tolerance is that I'm a big pansy.

6. My mom read my brother and I "Strange Companions" when we were kids and I was sooo upset when Archie died (sorry for the spoiler :P) that I wouldn't let her continue for a long time. He was trampled by a moose. I'm still kinda scared of mooses. Well not that scared apparently.

7. My favourite book covers of all time are:
Kushiels Chosen (cover by John Jude Palencar...I love him)

Od Magic (cover by kinuko craft...who I also love)

Iron Kissed (cover By Daniel Dos Santos, okay so I love them all)

The Black Unicorn (cover by Heather Cooper...who I don't acually know anything about...but let's assume I'd love her)


Say no to cheap photo manip covers people! More paintings!

And for extra fun...this is one of my least favourite covers eeeever. Who thought these were a good idea? Who!

Well that might have been a bit much for number 7.

I tag:
1. Kait
2. Karen (ha! you've been double tagged, now you have to do it)
3. Nicole
4. And Nicole
5. Mirtika
6. Jen (post it on facebook if you must)
7. Kari (ditto)

this is a title.

Still setting life up. And working. And sewing. And sometimes...sometimes even sleeping. We went out to see the new Bond movie today. Very enjoyable. And now, as I go off to bed, here's what photoshop would look like if it were real:

by Wandaaaa (via drawn)

Allo

Just wanted to let you guys know that we're all moved in and almost all unpacked. I starting pounding nails into the wall today, so it's officially home.

Here's what makes me sad:
-We can't walk to the grocery store. Or the library. Or the movie store. Or the cool island in the river we used to live beside.
-No bath tub :(
-No washer or dryer.
-No bus service.

Here's what makes me happy:
-The place is nicer, lots of light, big bay windows looking over the river bank.
-We can walk to work/school (15 minutes through the woods for me)
-We have carpet.
-The shower has great water pressure.
-All the elements on the stove work. And the oven doesn't shoot up 100 degrees at random. I think.
-We get more cable channels (HGTV! Food! OLN!)

So all in all it seems to be an improvement. I'll take pictures when I'm finished setting up.

Gold Star Design: Gisele Jaquenod & Birdie

So this is a new (maybe) weekly feature. I'd just like to share some webpage designs that inspire and amuse me. Today's site is:

Gisele Jaquenod & Birdie


I love how it's bright and colourful without being hard on the eyes. There's a great attention to detail with the sidebar sections and overall cohesiveness. Also, it's a cute illustration (scroll to the bottom! So cute!) but it's kept very simple for the main body of the blog. Overall=love.

Pretty!

Okay I know I'm sposed to be packing...we do move today...but first I have to share this:

Yuken Teruya's Corner Forest

Um, this is beyond what I normally think of when I hear about crafts with toilet paper rolls.
Via Oh Joy!

Fabricness!

Hooray, my Spoonflower order arrived today. Here it is in all it's glory, attempting to eat my couch.


And here it is all clean and washed and waiting for me:

I want to sew sew sew those toys together. But I must go back to packing now...moving day is tomorrow.

sorries

No time for blogging, only packing. Be back soon!

One Word Meme

Where is your mobile phone? nonexistent
Where is your significant other? near
Your hair colour? brown
Your mother? writer
Your father? reader
Your favourite thing? drawing
Your dream last night? Andes
Your dream goal? illustrator
The room you're in? cozy
Your hobby? prettiness
Your fear? obscurity
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Kootenays
Where were you last night? home
What you're not? perfect
One of your wish-list items? xti
Where you grew up? Kootenays
The last thing you did? sew
What are you wearing? pajamas
Your TV? off
Your pets? dead
Your computer? speedy
Your mood? sleepy
Missing someone? brother
Your car? pathetic
Something you're not wearing? socks
Favourite shop? vintage
Your summer? creative
Love someone? many
Your favourite colour? red
When is the last time you laughed? today
When is the last time you cried? September

Victory is Mine!

So I've been having wristlet issues. Here's the one I did yesterday morning:


You might be thinking that it is cute but needs ironing. Well YOU ARE WRONG (not about the ironing part though)! I am crazy with hate for the zipper. The evil zipper of evil death. As shown below:


Ugly! Ugly like a bum! I have concluded that this whole zipper on the top method is for people who are less perfectionistic than me. The just don't look professional enough.

So then I tried another tutorial. Lucky #3. By Javajem. With some minor adjustments all is well. It worked perfectly and is sooo much cleaner looking. The lining has a raw edge, but that's much more acceptable to me than an ugly zipper.




I love it with an undying love.

On to story #2.
Today I went to the craft fair at the rec centre. Because, well it's across the hallway from work and only $2. Last year I went and noted that there was a lot of crotcheted doilies and borscht. This year was much of the same. However I did buy this awesome hair clip/brooch thing by Beth Schwartz of Clever Fawn. I love her stuff, and she's a super nice girl as well. She'll be in the Market I'm in, but the other weekend. Look, it's pretty:


Check out her Etsy site: Clever Fawn. She has amazing jewelry:

And wreaths:

And really cool pillows, although they aren't online.

I then found a table with a couple girls knitting. They had these great kids hats with ears and whatnot. And then I talked to them for a bit. And then I just sat down for half an hour. And now we are friends. And that's the story of why Craig has given up on ever going to craft fairs with me. They bring out my chatty side.

Is that enough for you? Sorry, I get long winded when I wake up early. Nap time.

uck

Today was an Uck day. My fabric is still not here (and I only have 3 weeks left till the market!) and my wristlets just aren't working out as I'd like. There was slush falling from the sky. The pool water was cold. I forgot about a meeting for work that I had planned. Sigh.

So now I'm home, in pajamas and a hoodie, ready to have chicken noodle soup and biscuits. Aaaaall better.

If you need some cheering as well, here's a fun site: 51 Japanese Characters. The site has 51 little drawings and explanations of different Japanese types of people. It's cute aaaand educational. You know, if you were wondering what a Matsuri is.

Plugging away

Here's 12 little Astrids drying out on the floor. Now off to *sigh* pack some more.

Paper Heart

Check this out, it's made of paper. Wait a minute and you'll see that all the gears turn. Strangely mesmerizing.

Photolicious

Hmm, I keep thinking I'm over my obsession with Japanese Culture...but really, not so much. Check out this gorgeous flickr collection by Maiko Gallery. Here's some of my favourites:

Caitlys

Hooray, I can show this finally! This is Caitlys, she's a character from the book summa elvetica that I painted for Marcher Lord Press's virtual coffee table book.

I love her, she's my favourite yet. Sorry about the crazy amount of redheads in my gallery, I swear it's not my fault.

Beautiful Reference by Elandria

Softie Blocks!

Hooray! There are 3 sets of three. Each set has one side with parts of one of my illustrations and pretty pretty fabric from my stash on the other sides. These will hopefully be in my market booth, but if not (they weren't in my application...) then they will be up in my shop in a couple weeks.