A Yarn-ful Update

First I would like to start out by saying, I have been addicted to Cut Copy today.

This past weekend I finished up a lot of my random, half done projects I had lying around. Kind of wanted to clean stuff up before my hectic March.

Reusable bags.

My favorite pair of mittens I've made so far.

I finally learned how to properly make these kind of fabric flowers. Boy, are they a mess to make. But I love them anyways.

These are a couple of older projects I hadn't photographed yet.

I love the chunky yarn to make hats. Plus, they are super warm.

These brimmed hats are a little funky...The brim kind of goes down over the eyes rather than out. But I found a different pattern in more of the style I was trying to achieve. I'm going to have to try that one next.

My plan is to, in the middle of March, after I get back from shooting a friend's engagement photos, I am going to open an Etsy shop. I know I've been saying I'm going to for awhile now...

I made some wonderful gluten-free cookies yesterday with this mix:

Hodgson Mill

I mixed in peanut butter and choco chips. They are FANTASTIC. Love them a lot. 

"A picture of someone who inspires you."

Okay, so you may be wondering why I posted that piece of typography rather than a portrait of somebody. I have several answers to your wondering. One, because there are SO many people who inspire me it would be an extremely long post because there's no way I could choose just one. The people that inspire me the most are people who want to make a difference and believe that they can make a difference. I get inspired by people who go out an make their dreams come true, who want to make this world a better place.

My second reason is going to sound really backwards from the objective of this particular day, but one person that has inspired me most was the person that told me I wouldn't be doing anything with my life. That I would be back at my high school job after college, which wasn't a glamorous job by any means (are high school jobs ever?) So I take challenges like that and run with them. Now, granted, I may not be doing my absolute dream job right now, but I am working my way there. I guess, I get a kick out of people who tell me I can't. I'm out to prove you wrong. 

:)

Inspire Me: Animations

I love animations. 3D animations, stop motion animations, 2D animations. I thought I would pass along a few of my favorites to you.

This past summer I found an awesome animation from the Ringling College of Art and Design: Home. And a little while ago a friend showed me a couple others. These students are super talented and creative! I hope to be able to fiddle around more in creative modeling and animation at some point.

"The Visionary"

This made me think of my Pa and the first time he tried using contact lenses.

"Against the Grain"

"Snow Day"

Kind of makes me think how people in the southern part of the U.S. react when snow hits. 

The rest are just a mish-mash of animations I really love. 

"Western Spaghetti" by PES

"This is Where We Live" by Apt Studio

"Deadline" It is student work done at the Savannah college of art and design. 

Such a clever idea. I am a Post-It Note addict. I wish I would have thought to do something like this.

And I will leave you with the masters of animation, Pixar. It is their newest short from Toy Story 3 (which is aaaaamazing). I love all of the Pixar shorts. If you haven't seen them, you should.

Day N Night

I will be back later tonight or tomorrow with my craft-iness update. I was productive in the art of crochet this weekend. Finished the random projects I had started and finally photographed some that I finished awhile ago. 

The Oscar's are on tonight and my faaaave actor is singing his song from Tangled and I want to listen. Plus, there are a couple of other random things I want to work on. Like my sketches for my portfolio site. Saturday and this morning, I had gotten up to work on them, started working on them, and promptly stopped when I couldn't decide how I want it to look. I got very frustrated this morning. I started the project with a vision and now it's all skewed. So, I'm going to sit down and do sketches instead. 

:)

A Lil' Somethin' in Graphic Design

So last week on the ever fantastic podcast that keep me entertained at work, Stuff You Missed in History Class, I learned about the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. I won't give you a history lesson or anything. But it involves some great mobsters such as Al Capone. If you know my love for The Roaring 20's and Prohibition, you'll know that this podcast fascinated me so I had to listen to it more than once.

The source for my illustration.

Last night before I went to bed I had an idea for a Saint Valentine's Day Massacre poster. I felt the urge to work on it tonight :) Plus, I haven't posted anything I've designed for a little while. I figured it was about time. Now to just work on the dozen other design things I have ideas for.

This weekends To Do List:
-Finish my bag(s)
-Work on portfolio site and/or Flower Girl
-Make homemade tortilla shells
-Start new hat and headbands
-Make a pattern for the totes
-DON'T SPEND MONEY

That last one could be difficult. There is a craft fair next weekend I'm going home for, Unglued Craft Fest. One of my classmates from BSU, Cody, is going to be selling his screen prints there and I really want to get one. He is an amazing artist. Watch out for him one day. He'll be famous.

I also have to get my bridesmaid dress altered, my taxes done, my oil changed...It will be an expensive trip so I am going to use all the self-control I have to NOT spend money this weekend. Which is why I've overloaded myself with craft-iness and creativeness to be productive with. This usually only sometimes works. Must. Practice. Self. Control.

"A picture of something you want to do before you die."

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and/or

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I am not the biggest fan of heights. They scare me. But...I want do kind of conquer that by being ridiculously high up in the air either free falling for floating. Perhaps both. I figure if I can be talked into jumping off a little cliff into water (which combines two fears in one), I could probably be talked into jumping out of a plane also. The hot air balloon wouldn't take as much convincing if any at all. Think of the photographs you could get in a hot air balloon! 

:)

Foods: Simple Simple Cinnamon Rolls

Last week for a co-worker's birthday we had a mini food day. Somebody brought in these amazing mini cinnamon rolls. They were absolutely divine. I decided I wanted to try making my own.

I am a lover of a good cream cheese frosting. Yummmm. 

"A picture of somebody you could never imagine your life without."

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My Ma and Pa. They don't like photographs taken of them. I guess it runs in the family, haha. Love them Couldn't live without them. Even with life happening they are always supportive and let me live my life. I'm very appreciative of that. I've been able to make my own mistakes and have to fix them. It has taught me a lot. I like that they don't hold my hand through life. But, they are always there if I do need something. Sometimes we don't always get along but hey, that's family. 

My apartment floor is currently littered with projects I am working on. Still plugging away at my bag. I should probably dig out the first one I started and finish that too. Chunky headbands. Patterns for the totes. My computer is also packed with projects. Hopefully I can hash out quite a bit on my business set and flash website for my portfolio site this weekend. I want to start designing the product tags for the Flower Girl stuff I started ages ago in hopes that maybe I can get another idea for the business set.  I've just got tons of stuff going on and not a whole lot of motivation at the moment.

Ooooooofta. Much to do. But that's okay. I like to be busy and working on stuff. Thank goodness huh? 

:)

History Lessons: The Winchester Mystery House

My history lesson today  is courtesy of the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast from How Stuff Works. I thought it was super interesting and wanted to share it with you. 

It is about the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA. The House was built over 38 years by Sarah Winchester. It is said that the House is one of the most haunted places in California and the U.S. Sarah Winchester was the wife of William Winchester, the heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The company developed the "gun that won the west" and helped the North win in the Civil War. 

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Sarah and William had a daughter who passed away soon after birth. William passed away afterwards and Sarah never recovered from the deaths. She was told by a medium that there were spirits haunting the Winchester family who were killed by the Winchester rifles. She told Sarah that she was to move out west from the east coast. She was to build a grand house for the spirits to reside. She left and found a place in the Santa Clara Valley where she began construction on the house.

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The original house was 6 room farmhouse that sat on 162 acres of land. Sarah turned this house into a 7 story mansion. Construction went on for 38 years, 24 hours a day. She thought that if she stopped building on the house she would die, which is why construction on the house was continuous. Legend has that the construction and planning of the house was to thwart off the evil spirits and confuse them but provide the good spirits with a home. It is said that the house was supposed to have over 500 rooms but only 160 were finished.

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What makes this house strange and a mystery is there are hallways that lead to nowhere, doors that open to drop-offs, extremely narrow stairs that lead to ceilings and walls. There is a staircase in the house that is seven flights, contains 44 stairs, but is only 9 feet tall. Each step is only 2 inches high. It is thought that this staircase was built to accommodate Sarah's arthritis. One of the rooms contains four fireplaces and a drop-off leads to a sink several floors below.

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Now I'm sure you're wondering where in the heck she got all of this money to build the house. She had inherited $20,000,000 after her husband passed away and half the stock from the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. That have her $1,000 to live off of per day!

This place is definitely on my list of places to go. Visit www.winchestermysteryhouse.com for more about Sarah Winchester, the Mystery House, and the legends.

:)

Change the World

Post-It Note world. 

One epic evening in the lighting studio with a couple of great people.

"If you're not doing something with your life, then it doesn't matter how long you live. If you're doing something with your life, then it doesn't matter how short your life may be. A life is not measured by years lived, but by its usefulness. If you are giving, loving, serving, helping, encouraging, and adding value to others, then you're living a life that counts."

I want to do something to help change the world. I haven't figured out how I'm going to do it yet...But one day, I will help out a little bit.

One of my life goals is to start a non-profit. I'm thinking in design somehow. I started thinking about my summer with the Upward Bound Math Science program. (I miss those kids and I am super bummed I won't be returning this summer...) I think I want to start a program that will be associated with the company I will start later on down the road. It will bring in high school students who have an interest in graphic design. Something, maybe like a summer camp, where the kids will come in and we will teach them about design, what college classes are like, and how the real world works. (Marlon and I have already discussed this a bit. So maybe I kind of have figured it out...)

I think education is huge, especially getting a college education. Even though right now, with the economy the way it is, having it may not seem legit. Sometimes I don't think students realize that you can get a degree for making super sweet designs. Plus, I have seen a lot of talented people waste their talent because they think that getting a degree in business or something else will suit them better (no offense to people who major in business or anything else!) I just don't think the resources are always there to open students eyes to what else is out there.

I have huge life goals don't I? Hope I achieve them all...

"A picture of your favorite band or artist." 

source -- source

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I have such a difficult time with that question. My musical tastes are always, always changing. 

But right now, I heart:

-The talented and inspiring Miss Caitlin Crosby. I love her songs and what she sings about. 

-The Daylights, of course. Epic band. If you haven't listened to them, go. Do it. 

-And the ever great Cobra Starship, for when I want to get my dance on. 

I'm off to go doodle...or something. I'm working on product prototypes. Kind of. Working on ideas anyways. I've got some crafty things a-brewing. 

:)

Curiouser and Curiouser

I am watching one of my favorite movies, the newer Alice in Wonderland. There are so many things I like about this movie: the animations, the costumes, the message. There is one quote after a rant that Alice goes on to Bayard and she says, "This is my dream. I will decide where to go from here. I make the path." In the movie, Alice's fate is to slay the Jabberwocky. She believes she is the wrong Alice and she can make her own fate. But in the end, of course, she ends up slaying it (sorry for the spoiler if you haven't seen the movie.) It got me thinking about fate and where our lives are supposed to go. Here is what I came up with:

"Fate is fate. We will all end up exactly where we are supposed to be. Just the path we chose to get there is up to us."

I guess I am just a strong believer in fate and that I will end up where I am supposed to. I just decide at any given point if I want to take Path A, Path B, Path C, etc. It's like one big gave of Shoots and Ladders. Some paths will get us there quicker than others, some we will end up going backwards for a little bit and having to keep plugging away.

BUT on a lighter note, the whole reason why I decided to watch Alice in Wonderland was because of these bad boys:

I discovered these back in college and fell in love with them...then forgot about them today when I rediscovered them. They just scream Alice in Wonderland to me. And I want one. Really want one. They are from Dust Furniture.

I also really love the costumes from the movie that Mia Wasikoska gets to wear:

 

 

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I discovered an amazing song today by Josh Hoge featuring (a favorite) Caitlin Crosby.

"A picture of something that you love." 

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Life. Simply said.

I made cinnamon rolls today (probably post a recipe later this week) and started a new crochet bag (even though I haven't finished my first one yet.) I am working on trying not to spend money and keep my bank accounts afloat. I also, was a weekend ahead of myself all week, thinking I was going home next weekend when I am not. Oops, my bad. 

Tomorrow is Monday. Back to work...

:)

Pretty Rings & Other Things

I've been getting my creative on today. Making rings, magnets, working on my own personal design/photography branding. It is a nice weekend before all my crazy-driving-all-over-the-state-weekends I have coming up.

Yes...The book is Harry Potter.

This pretty purple flower was a surprise when I got the bands in the mail. I didn't know I was getting it as well. 

This one is my own personal ring that I bought. I think I mentioned it in a blog earlier this week. I got it at a local shop called "The Curiosity Shop."

Magnets. I saw a little tutorial thing online the other day. Don't remember what site it was now though. I used an old CMYK magazine I had for the images.

I think these are screaming Etsy shop. Except for these magnets. I don't think using other people's designs is legit :) I will just have to make my own.

That is some of what I had going on today. I made more homemade ice cream. I think I'm addicted. This time I made a Lemon Raspberry and a Brownies and Creme. Yummmm. Tomorrow I'm debating on making cinnamon rolls or homemade flour tortillas. 

"A picture of something you hate."

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Hate is a very strong word. I'm going to say "pet peeve" instead. And one of mine is people who spell with crazy text lingo. I think the only ones I use regularly are "bc" and "ppl." But when I see text messages full of them or Facebook/Twitter updates that use them I get very irritated. It's probably because it got hammered into my brain via school and articles about professionalism that it is inappropriate. Apparently people have let text lingo cross over into resumes and memos. I don't understand how people think that is okay. Our generation is losing IQ points and getting more stupid.