Monday Monday

Sigh. Mondays are such a drag. I'm trying to keep positive by reminding myself that this is a short week! Woo hoo! Three day weekend! I am really excited about that, mostly because I hope to get tons and tons of making done. This weekend I cut paper for about 4 hours, resulting in this:

Many many piles of paper, just itching to be made into lovely little notebooks. Like the one at the top of this post, but not quite like it because that notebook is 5 by 7 inches, and all those pieces of cut paper are 4.25 by 5.5 inches. Also, the above notebook is currently up in my etsy shop, so it's got a one up on those other guys.

Besides cutting up bunches of paper, I had a really nice weekend, I got to go to tea which I haven't done in a long time and that was really nice. If you live in San Francisco and you haven't been to Lovejoy's Tearoom, you should call them up stat and make a reservation. It is one of the nicest things one can do in an afternoon.

Have a happy Monday!

mel

Work Positive

20080530 :: bento diary :: tier 2, originally uploaded by vingt_deux.

Mostly I wanted to share the above photo because, hello, it is awesome. Star Wars bento box? I want it! But I also wanted to note this momentus occasion. At my work we are always participation in fundraising walks, and around the time of the walk employees are given the opportunity to buy a ribbon for 20 bucks that allows them to wear jeans for a whole week (i know, awesome life i lead, isn't it?). So July is the AIDS walk and next week is our jeans opportunity week. I'd been debating whether or not to buy a ribbon, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when my boss walked out of his office and started handing out ribbons for everyone on my team! I just wanted to share because, hey, it's not everyday I have two positive things to say about work!
mel

3 pm

All right, so I updated my flickr account to pro today, pretty exciting...I guess. We'll see, I'll have to take some time to play around later today. I got ten free moo cards with my upgrade, which I will use to...I don't know what, I still have an almost full box of moo cards from when they had that deal with etsy. They are nice little cards, I used them as price tags for my books at the Christmas Craft fair last year but that didn't go so well. I guess I can use them as business cards when I run out of my regular business cards.
I did a little extra time at work on monday and got to work pretty early today, and the result is that I get to leave at three today! I'm so excited, I cannot wait for 3'o'clock to come. I have so much I want to do, like go to paper source to get more PVA, go to the art store to get some different ink for linoprints, go to the post office and take pictures of new notebooks...and of course make more notebooks! I'm really excited by the possibilities.
I wanted to share this with you too, stolen from the Turtle Travel blog, it's super neat, animals found in the map of the London Underground! The animals are so cute. I'm going to have to check out the SF Muni maps now (especially with their impending revamp) and see what's lurking and hiding in there! Ha ha, probably not much, our underground lines are a little less complicated. I suppose if you took into account all the bus lines, maybe you could have something there.
mel

Lessons Learned

Circles are a gazillion times easier to draw than squares.

Not Too Late

It's now been officially over a month since I've posted here. Oops. I guess I've been sidetracked by street fashion blogs lately. Since I started working in an office and going out less, my wardrobe has become totally sleep inducing and lazy, so I like to look at blogs like fashioni.st (because it is San Francisco based) and The Sartorialist (because it is basically The Godfather of street fashion blogs) and imagine that I'm going to start dressing awesome again. But that never happens. Because I'm lazy. But I like to dream.

I've also been sidetracked by Baby-Sitters' Club blogs, which is a teensy bit embarrassing, but not that embarrassing because, judging by the way What Claudia Wore blew up in my blogosphere this week, I am not the only gal who just ate up the BSC series. Which is kind of obvious because, if I were, it's doubtful that Ann M. Martin and ghostwriters would have written hundreds of entries to the series. Or that Ann M. Martin would have ghostwriters at all. Anyway, blogs, yes, What Claudia Wore is a good one, and there is also BSC Headquarters, the first BSC blog I started reading. That one is a little snarkier. Really though, it's crazy how nearly every blog that I check on a daily basis mentioned What Claudia Wore within the last four days. It's a display of connectivity, I think. Or not. I don't really know what connectivity means. Dictionary, a little help please?

The quality or condition of being connected or connective.
The ability to make and maintain a connection between two or more points in a telecommunications system: a phone company that offers excellent Internet connectivity.

Well, I guess that's kind of what I meant. It'll do. Please leave me a comment if you have a suggestion for a word that would work better.

So, on the creative front...nothing much is happening. I'm trying to get together some drawings that I'm happy with to post on Etsy, and I've also been contemplating doing some linoleum cut prints...maybe on fabric. I'm feeling very indecisive at the moment. I'll try to post some pictures of things I've been working on soon.

mel

the internet hates me

i was listening to my pandora internet radio again today and lately i have been really into merle haggard. it's been i guess over the last couple of months. there is this one hag song that comes on sometimes called I'm Always On a Mountain When I Fall, and oftentimes i will skip it without even letting it start because i can't remember what it is and, by the title alone, it sounds super lame. but today i let it play and it is awesome. so that set me wondering, why did i think this song sucked? what is it about the title that is so offputting? all i could think of was maybe it sounds a little like a gospel song. i am not averse to gospel music, i don't go out of my way to listen to it but i like it well enough, but i usually am especially apathetic when it is done by white people.

i have lately become addicted to this blog, ReadySteadyGo. i feel a kinship to the writer because she is my age and we seem to have very similar opinions on most things, except that she is mildly in love with bill buford and i hate him with all my being. she seems to be much more successful than i am in that her blog is nicer looking and i assume more popular and she has a job that sounds awesome that she loves. and she lives in new york city, which i kind of think of as the big sister of san francisco, in that san francisco is always trying on it's make up and stealing it's coolest shoes and wants to be JUST LIKE HER when it grows up.
in other news today i registered for the jeopardy online test. it is january 31st. it is my life goal to be on jeopardy. i need to be on jeopardy. i am so nervous just thinking about this test though. and i feel i have a right to be, it could be the impetus to the most important event of my entire life. and i think i will totally rock it out. i hope. this is helping me. and it is fun and totally addicting.
oh and i am sososososososo in love with this:

it comes in black and gold and white too, but i think i love orange the best. i wish someone would buy it for me, but it is 96pounds. a lot of money. sigh. it reminds me of a time when i told steve that he smells like dinosaurs.

mel

Lunch Break Musings

Sigh. Why is the weekend so short? I have somehow broken through the wall that did not allow me to sleep past 8 am and, let me tell you, I am NOT happy about it. I used to think there was nothing lovelier than sleeping in past noon on a Saturday after being up all night on Friday. That was way back then, when I would have weekdays free to go to places that are open during the day only. Now, I have but one day to do things like go to the post office, or the museum,or a matinee, or, god forbid, the bank: Saturday. Waking up at 8 made it possible for me to do all that and still feel like I was having a nice relaxing weekend day.

Like I said before, I got a big, fat NOTHING done this weekend. But, sitting here at work, I'm starting to get a little inspired! I'm thinking about something cute to do for Christmas ornaments that is kind of 2-dimensional, yet sculptural...I'm being inspired by that Joseph Cornell exhibit I talked about, so I want to something in collage. I hope I won't be too tired when I get home from class tonight to work on some stuff.

Okay, so I have to give a shout out to an awesome Etsy shop, Bradli. A little while ago, I purchased this facial soap and it was soooo awesome. I had this little rough patch on my chin (that I am praying is not psoriasis, as that is something runs in my family) and I couldn't get it to go away; I tried exfoliating and moisturizing, different facial washes and nothing was working. The Bradli face bar was the only thing that made the rough patch COMPLETELY go away. It's amazing. As long as I use the bar, no rough patch. As soon as I stop, the patch comes back. So, there it is, my ringing endorsement of Bradli's Luxury Facial Bar with Avocado, Cucumber, Clay, Chamomile etc., etc.,...

...which, I just saw, is no longer in Bradli's shop. Bradli! Please! This is my plea to you: bring the luxury facial bar back! I don't just want it, I need it.

mel

elephunk

I am currently on a bit of an elephant kick. It first popped into my mind last month, trying to make a cute circus themed thank you card for my grandparents. I was finding it very difficult to draw the elephants and it was really taking away from my bowling game...because I always bowl while I make thank you cards, don't you? Anyway, I was noticing these stuffed elephants that my coworker has in the cube across from me (ahh, the cube life) and I realized that elephants are easy to draw! They only have two shapes to them if you draw them in profile, and now I've just been busy busy doodling elephants all day! Then I turned to Etsy, of course, and look what I found!

~ The Best of Friends Brooch by Stick In the Mud - It doesn't get much cuter than pink elephants. This brooch would be perfect on a t-shirt or a big canvas bag. I'm glad I found Stick in the Mud in my search for all things elephant, she has a huge inventory of cute stud earrings(dinosaurs!), and lots of other little treasures.

~Japanese Elephants Zip Pouch by KungFuCowgirl - Ooh, kawaii! I love the colors of this bag, so fresh. And what is so exciting is that KungFuCowgirl is having a pretty awesome deal at her Etsy shop now, where any three zip pouches 5x5 or smaller are only $12 shipped! And she will remake a sold item if she still has the fabric. Hmm, it's almost too tempting.

~White Elephants block print by Amanda Kindregan - I love the colors in this print, and the little elephants look so sweet and sleepy. Be sure to check out Amanda's blog to see new work if you dig her rustic-retro prints and paintings.

~I Will Never Forget You necklace by basilthecat - basilthecat makes funky, pretty jewelry using materials she picks up at thrift shops, estate sales, and the like, which means a lot of her pieces are one of a kind, like this elephant necklace (I love the name!). This pendant has really amazing detail, it reminds me of something my grandmother has.

~ Baby Boy Elephant Mobile by GeorgeBee - Ok, I know it says baby boy ... but I can't resist the big eyes! They're too much for me! And I am really into felt lately. Unfortch, I could never own this (or any other mobile, I suppose), the cats would destroy it in a matter of minutes! But maybe another of GeorgeBee's felt items. She also has amazing handpainted false nails! So amazing! I am head over heels for the lime green set, they are so outrageous, but Steve would not be pleased. And how would I type?

I should probably quit the Etsy before I get myself in too much trouble!

Again, I am hoping to get some pictures of my work on here by tomorrow, if I am not too hungover after my friend's birthday party tonight. Cross your fingers!

mel