whoa, what?!

i’m back.  can you believe it?

i have to say, it has been a productive, restful time away from the old interwebs, and i want to tell you all about it.  here is a little recap from my last month (i’ll do my best to keep it short.  or at least snappy.):

i designed a funny little show poster for a benefit concert coming up this next sunday night.  i go to a tiny, wonderful church full of artists and musicians and one of our big things is that our liturgies are all written by members of the congregation.  now we’re working on recording them, so the show on sunday will help raise a little money for the recording fund.

i finished my first custom etsy order requested by a stranger, and i designed some wintry cards.  i started a few other new designs and am excited about what’s going on in the studio these days!  more to come on that, for sure.

i spent a week in wisconsin, which was a really great time with my family.

i felt really super-cool when i installed amharic onto my font book (for an upcoming order of wedding invitations).

i sold my letterpress to a really nice woman who will actually use it, and today plan to order a heavy-duty paper cutter and a camera tripod.  ooh!  and i’m going to buy web hosting.  new website, here i come!  i might also buy a button-maker.  any suggestions out there?

i started a job that i thought would be great and it turned out to be awful, so i quit.  i  did a lot of research and planning about getting ready for art fairs, residencies, grants, fellowships, and galleries.  i have a greater sense of focus now than ever before.

which brings me to this weekend, which maybe needs a post all its own. . . but i’ll give you the goods right here:

i spent saturday at the fifth annual no coast craft-o-rama, with my friend jessica, the mastermind behind plushroom soup.  it was another packed year, and i will admit that my clausterphobia got the best of me a time or two.  however, i did manage to find a few things that i really like, and came home with a pair of silver earrings cast from vintage buttons from deux amis, a really great show poster from the guys at aesthetic apparatus, who KNOW good design.  seriously.  the poster was for the m. ward show back in april, which i actually went to, so i didn’t feel like too much of a poser for buying.

oh, and i met this guy:

not really sure what's going on with my hair here. . . or my fake-ish smile. meh, it was early.

and can i just tell you–which i could have told you before–that he totally represented the quintessential minnesota indie creative type during his days on the televsion.  for reals.  anyway, he was there selling men’s underwear and wallets with eyes on them.

okay, but honestly (and i hope i have your attention re-focused here!), i was more excited to meet this guy, because what he is doing is so totally great.  i think he and his wife might just be kindred spirits.  he is basically fleshing out an issue i wrestle with almost daily:  how do i use my creativity, resources, knowledge, privilege to help those in need?  he does it by designing t-shirts and posters, selling them, and giving all the profits away.  if you are still looking for christmas gifts to give, i would so highly encourage you to check out the t-shirts and posters from the remakers.  ALL of the profits go to some really amazing charities.  i am completely inspired and challenged.

so, it’s been a good few weeks.  and can i just tell you, i think it’s going to get better?  my golden birthday is coming up this month.  for some reason, i have a feeling that year twenty-eight is going to be a good one.  maybe the best yet.  i have a lot of work to do, but i am looking forward to it, i am ready for it.

i hope you all have a wonderful monday.  it’s nice to be back here.

friday/announcement

i attended another pocket lab poetry reading last night, and it was delightfully inspiring (delightfully inspiring?  i sound like i’m channeling my anne-of-green-gables-loving, twelve-year-old self).  uh, but it’s true.  the poets and their poems were really great.  and it, along with a few other things that have been happening lately, helps me to realize that i need a break from the internet–like, a real break.  and really, i think i actually need a break from blogs.  and, um, from blogging.  sometimes i feel like i take in so much stuff, between reading all my favorite blogs, and researching all the opportunities i want to pursue, that i feel like i have not had room for my own inner voice to be heard over the chatter (that kind of sounds cheesy, but it’s true).  things i used to look at for inspiration now sort of just make me crazy and wonder what i should be doing with my life and creativity.

one of the things that has begun to contribute to this is the expectation i have put on myself to keep up this blog on a daily basis.  i think i will still be around, but i need to take the expectation to blog daily off my shoulders.  i would like this space to be used to talk about what i am working on and reflecting on, and hopefully the next few months will be productive for me.

and i hope the weekend is a good one for you as well!  take it easy, i will be around. . . .

wish list. i mean, favorites.

i’ve been favoriting a lot of things on etsy lately, in an effort to get into the spirit of things (what?  yeah, i’m trying to “get in the spirit of etsy”, it’s true.  what that means is, i’m taking embrionic steps toward participating in the overwhelming etsy universe.  and i do this by saying i like things, i guess).  i thought i’d start off with a bang:

have you ever seen such a funny, adorable thing?  did you grow up with a kewpie doll?  we did.  she was our little bathtime friend in the brown house (at least, in my memory).  now circaceramics makes great plates with her face on them.

and then there are the pretty paper leaves from mrYen.

and a little pillow made from sweaters from woodroots.  this might look a little scrappy, but i can totally understand what the artist is doing here.  and i love it.

and if it were possible to simultaneously escape and save up some much-needed pennies, i could do both of those things in this (except that someone already bought it, apparently):

it’s a little bank in the shape of a trailer!  from rpfeikgraphics.

what are you looking at lately?

a few things + a to do list.

hello there!  i had a great little computer break over the weekend and i’m not ready to get back into the swing of things.  i don’t know if i feel totally re-energized (we had no trick-or-treaters, so guess who ate the candy?!), but i do feel good about not falling asleep to hulu every night, so that is good.

okay.  there are a few things i need to take care of this morning.  first things first:  remember the october giveaway that i entirely forgot about?  yeah, i know.  well, i thought i would finally pick a winner, and random.org helped me.  and you know what?  sometimes the number one actually does get picked!  so, sally, i’ll send you a little set of camping cards today.

and second things second:  modish biztips goals for the month list.  october was all about research, wordpress, and wedding stationery.  i think i knew those were big goals, and i have actually made some real progress on them, but it seems pretty intangible at the moment, since there isn’t anything to see right now (except a calendar with a bunch of deadlines on it, which no one wants to see, i’m pretty sure).  i know i’m also having trouble with getting motivated and getting past some sort of creative block (i’m just so not motivated!  or creative!), so i would kind of like to get to the bottom of that this month, if possible.  humph.

also, i wanted to shed some light on a project i have put a lot of work into:  the save the thread fundraiser.  i have been working with erin from design for mankind to put together a public radio-style fundraiser for an art studio/gallery in virginia that lost everything in a fire this summer.  several wonderful artists have been generous to donate work for it, and i am hopeful that we will reach the $3,000 goal.

okay, so i obviously have a busy day ahead of me.  i hope your tuesday is wonderful.  it was good to take a break, but it’s good to be writing here again.

i have been in a major slump lately.  i think it’s a combination of things, but a big thing is the weather.  i love fall so much, but it really is a difficult season for me.  this year especially has been a strange one and i feel like i haven’t really gotten to enjoy it much and now we are about to be in november and who knows when the snow will start to fly?!  well, the weather men do, probably, which reminds me of some favorite questions i have received during my temping days at the tv station.  in no particular order, here you go (this is bonus material for your friday enjoyment):

1.  why wasn’t ‘cold case’ on?  are they going to air it, or what?

2.  can you tell me what the weather is going to be like in november?

3.  (this is more of a comment)  tell esme (the reporter) her outfit is adorable!

4.  what happened to my soap opera?  what is this game show that’s on now?  (did you know that ‘guiding light’, which went off the air in september, was the longest running show in american television history?  it started as a radio show in 1937 and ran for 72 years!)

5.  my child isn’t feeling good, what should i do?  (seriously.)

and finally. . . .

6.  can you tell me which way the wind is going to blow tomorrow?

i didn’t make any of those up.  how could i?  okay, but back to my autumnal difficulties.  i have just been wondering what is wrong with me these days.  i have been exhausted, unmotivated, and kind of feeling disconnected from my brain.  so yesterday, i made a point of looking around me as i walked home from the studio (since i want to take advantage of the beauty of fall as much as i possibly can).  and this is what i saw.  a lot of leaves.  i think the fact that the day was gray and rainy made their colors pop all the more.

bright green leaves in puddles. . .

orange leaves still holding onto the trees. . .

overachieving leaves all bundled up and ready to go to the compost. . .

trees whose leaves have totally abandoned them. . .

leaves so gold they seem to glow (i love how the dark tree trunks and the gray skies contrast so much with the leaves). . .

and more glowing golden leaves covering the steps to my backyard.

i think the internet might also be partially responsible for my lack of productivity and general laziness.  i am going to take a break from it this weekend, and hopefully monday as well.  i would really like to focus on spending time in the studio and getting some projects taken care of.  so i will see you here on tuesday and i hope you have a wonderful weekend, taking advantage of the last bits of fall! (not to mention daylight savings time ending = an extra hour of sleep?)

i was reading this book, based on a recommendation of a friend.

but i kind of want to throw it across the room (and let me tell you, it takes a lot for me to want to stop reading a book).  now i’m reading this book, also recommended by a friend.

and i like it so far.

what are you reading these days?  anyone want to convince me to give calvino another chance?

happy thursday!

laura’s got a brand new bag.

first things first:  today is my dad’s birthday.  happy birthday, dad!  i have the best picture ever of the two of us from many, many moons ago, but the last time i ran across it, it put it in such a safe place that i can’t find it now.  oops.  i’ll post it when i do.

second things second:  i want to show you a bag i recently made!  here is the story:  i had been using this bag for about five years, since my friend sara snagged it for me at the grand opening of the new central library.

i really like it because it reminded me of a little hand-me-down satchel i had as a kid (these were, after all, designed for children).  over the years, i have spotted other adults wearing theirs and felt a little kinship to them:  “look!  there’s another cheapskate library-lover like me!”  but i would also think, “boy, this strap sure is short” and occasionally, i would think, “i’m twenty-seven, why am i still carrying around a kid bag?”  and i started to think about taking the great shape and size of the bag and making a more grown-up version, especially since my little red friend has started to show his wear.

so i headed to crafty planet and picked out some of the prettiest canvas i could find  (it has a bit of a stretch to it, which is nice), and some of those parts you need to make an adjustable strap.  i kind of really wanted the metal ones, but they only had plastic in the width i wanted, and the black hides pretty well.  i also picked out a coordinating canvas for the lining, since this new canvas is thinner than the last bag’s canvas.  i only needed half a yard of each (i probably could have gotten away with a little less of the lining).  i was really lazy and used white thread, but i don’t mind it much at all.

i originally bought a length of canvas strap material, but it was so heavy and i wasn’t super excited about it, so i opted to make a strap out of the bird fabric, and i am so glad i did.  the one thing i do want to change is the length of the loop that holds the black ring (and by ring, i mean rectangle thingy, but ring is shorter to type).  right now, it is pretty big and the ring slips around a lot, turning and scrunching up the strap, which drives me crazy.  i think it will work to just make it smaller, giving the black ring less wiggle room.

i also really like the little panthers in the lining:

i’m really happy with how it turned out, and i have been using it pretty much every day.  it incorporates all the things i loved about the previous bag (the size and shape) with the added perks of the adjustable strap and the pretty, grown-up fabric–not to mention, now i have a totally one-of-a-kind bag, which i like.

monday-schmonday!

i am up EARLY today (i have a temping gig)!  whew.  and ouch, a little.  i had a long, reflective post all ready to go this morning, but i woke up and decided i’m not in an emotional-vomitting sort of mood.  the synopsis?  basically, last week was awful, but in the end everything worked out and–surprise, surprise–it always helps to have a good attitude!  so this week will be better, and i wanted to start it off with some color, and some things i’ve been obsessed with ever since i’ve seen them.

i really like lena corwin’s work and her blog, and most recently, the paper chandeliers she is making! they are so gorgeous and festive for the fall and holidays, i want to make some of my own (and maybe some garlands inspired by the shapes and materials?).

lena mentioned that her inspiration was laura normandin’s blog, which also has a lot of beautiful images, like this one:

all that to say, i am now on the hunt for materials and maybe instructions to make my own. . . aren’t they beautiful?  i hope your monday is wonderful!

one reason i love living in minneapolis:

my finished letterpress project from this spring, which i finally editioned this week.

gah!  this week was LONG.  friday could not come fast enough and i am so glad it is finally here.  it’s dark and rainy here this morning, which i kind of love.  except that it makes me want to go back to bed and sleep some more instead of get up and get going.  i think mostly because i am exhausted.  which means i’m having trouble coming up with anything interesting (or even positive) here today.    i have been struggling a lot this week with staying positive and moving forward, so i think i’ll take my grumpy self, get out of bed, and go visit a new baby!  my oldest friend in the whole world had a baby three weeks ago, and i am so excited to meet her, especially since i was asked to be her godmother!  which is such a big honor.  and who can be negative when there is a tiny person to hold?

i hope your weekend is great.  take it easy and enjoy fall (in whatever form it takes in your neck of the woods)!