one of those days

Yes, I am having one of those days. Bad hair day, bad skin day. Tired and achy. Late for work. Bored. And, worst of all, I can't check the treasury on etsy at work anymore! So so sad. I'm trying to cheer myself up with this cute picture of Ava in a box and by eating a delicious roast beef panini for lunch. It's working just ok. Actually, the picture is making me feel a little guilty; it seems like I have lots of pictures of Ava, but not so many pictures of Nick Nolte. I have a good reason for it; Ava is much less camera shy than Nick, and she's good at posing, whereas Nick doesn't like to stay still very much. But still. I'm going to be trying harder in the future to take and post lots of cute photos of the cuteness that is Nick Nolte.

Anyway, I did have a reason for posting today other than to complain and talk about my cats. I am trying a couple new things with my notebooks that I think are pretty cool. In the past I have used matboard to make my animal books; I cover the matboard with the pages of illustrations and use those as the covers. Recently I ran out of matboard. I haven't been able to get to SCRAP in ages, so I haven't had a chance to restock. I tried using the chipboard that I use in my bookbinding class, and it was fine, but just a little too thick and heavy for the size of book that I'm making. So I was kind of stumped when I wanted to make some new books the other night. Then I noticed the back cover of the Air Supply record I had just made a book out of. Usually I save the album sleeve scraps I have to use in packaging, but I don't use that much, so I end up with a big pile of scraps that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So I though, why not use that scrap cover as I would use matboard to make animal books! So I made a couple and was really happy with the results. The album cover is the perfect weight, not to heavy but not too light, and substantial but still flexible. The first of these is in the shop, it is covered with cute owls and it is pink and lavender! You have to see it, it's adorable. And more will be popping up in the coming days. Yay!

mel

400

Ava's cute face inspired the stencil on this little notebook. I am considering making some to sell. What do you think?
I am stressed out lately. There is no good reason why. Things get kind of hard when I'm taking classes because I end up not being home very much. I am really really loving my classes, but I will be glad when the semester is over. At least my saturday class is only 8 sessions, so pretty soon my saturdays will be all open again.
On the good news side, as of yesterday I have 400 hearts! Wow! Business has been super brisk these past few months. I feel like I am finally coming into my own as an artist and an Etsy seller. Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way, and to you lovely blog readers!
mel

On Cats and New Notebooks

Oh yes, you heard right, there is a new goosey notebook in the shop. Hurrah!

So, as I've been saying, things have been a little crazy lately. I'm feeling rundown and sometimes in a funk. Oh, nothing serious, just not feeling quite up to par. I'm sure we all feel that way once in a while. Well, I think I've found a cure for all of us. It's called an adorable cuddly cat, like Mr. Nick Nolte up there. Last night we fell asleep with him all cuddled up in my arms. It was pretty adorable. The result? I feel leagues better today. If only we could send a cute kitten to all the leaders of nations so they could cuddle up to them at night. I think probably the world would be a better place.

mel

(I'm sorry, I think I have used the word cuddle too many times in this post. It's starting to look strange to me.)

Monday = Sad Day

I had such a wonderful long weekend, and I am not super happy that it is over. It was so much fun! I saw a bunch of movies at reperatory theaters and made my house all shiny and clean and worked and worked and worked and took a lovely walk in Golden Gate Park. Ah, if only it could last forever. But it can't, and, you know, that's really ok. If my whole life was a weekend, what would I have to look forward to?

I discovered this cool mosaic tool last week, and I've been having a bunch of fun with it. I used it to put together those two detail shots up there of a Surprise project I'm working on. I used it to make this cute montage of my cat Ava.

And this one of statues in Golden Gate Park.

Yep, fun stuff. That pretty much sums up my weekend. I have some cool stuff coming up for you this week, so stayed tuned.

Oh, also I was featured on this neat blog, Environmental Friendlies. The name is pretty self explanatory, it features products that are friendly to the earth. I am honored to have my books featured. You should check it out!

mel

Etsy Find of the Day: Lucy Player

68, originally uploaded by lucy rose.

So, I have a neat Etsy find today, which I originally found through her flickr page, which is so awesome. I was really taken with her sweet line drawings, so of course I was really excited when she opened an etsy shop. The name is Lucy Player, and it features the aforementioned line drawings as well as screenprints and linocuts, many on nice, totally reasonably priced greeting card sets. I think her shop is really going to take off! My personal favorites are featured below.
No. 1 - Geranium Greetings Card
No. 2 - My Cat Likes to Sleep Like This - Greeting Card
No. 3 - Triangles Screenprint on Grey
mel

New Look and 10% off in the Shop!

Ava's sultry look, originally uploaded by wickedfreshie.

So, after much soul searching I decided to change the look of my blog a bit. I've read a lot of comments lately that people DO NOT LIKE black backgrounds. I chose a dark background for my blog for a few reasons. First, my color scheme was an homage to the cute little monster in the above photo, my cat Ava. Also, I'd heard that black backgrounds were more energy efficient and better for the environment, a la blackle. Third, I thought the dark background was more striking and a stronger anchor for my words and pictures. But, I don't want to hurt anyone's eyes, so I acquiesce. My new color scheme is inspired by the sky; the blue of a sunny sky, the grey of a stormy one and the pinks purples and oranges of a sunset. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Is the new color scheme more pleasing to your eye? Is it easier to read? I'd love to hear from you! How about this, every person who comments here will be eligible for a ten percent discount off an item from my shop! What a deal! Just be sure to mention your etsy name in your comment and mention your comment in the notes to the seller when checking out.
mel

meh

Mel, originally uploaded by Difusa.

This is the first day in a while now that I haven't been super eager as soon as I got up to blog about something exciting. I think I am just unexcitable today. The only slightly interesting thing going on with me is that I've hit the 200 uploads mark on my flickr account, so I suppose I'm going to have to upgrade to a paid account. Anyone with a paid account want to weigh in with how awesome it is (or not)?
Anyway, my day hasn't been going super well from the moment I woke up this morning, but I'm hoping that a delicious burrito dinner will cheer me up. In the meantime, let me try to get in the spirit of things a bit and share the above adorable kitten with you. Hello, it's name is Mel! Just like me!

mel

The DigiCam

It has arrived! Yay! But...it is quite evident that I am going to need a lot of time to practice taking photos before I post anything for sale. Here are some examples of what I mean:

Eeps, right? Everything is so grainy and shadowy...I am going to have to put aside some time to really work on lighting and figuring out this editing program that came with the cam...sigh. So much to do, so little time. Now that my shop opening is imminent I'm getting really nervous! I'm kind of worried that the market may be oversaturated with blank books. I hope that mine are nice enough to get noticed. Well, I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but this post will have to be short because I am super tired. Here is a picture of Nick Nolte for some LOLs.

Ooh...Isn't he scary?

mel