New Listings!

All right, I have been super motivated lately; I don't know what it is, but I've been making books like crazy! The proof? Two new listings today! First, this Barbara Streisand Renewed Album Cover Notebook:

And second, this cute little owl notebook:

I'm excited to finally be putting new stuff in the old shop. I guess I was just in a big rut after the holidays, but I'm starting to snap out of it. Don't you just love the owl notebook? It's really different from the notebooks I usually make; for starters, it's much smaller, only 3.5" by 4.25" and it only has 46 pages. Also, the cover is just a page from a book, it doesn't have any sort of hard backing. I'm interested to see if/how people respond to it.

I'm trying to make myself do more with flickr these days, everyone always talks about what a great tool flickr is, and I really haven't done all I can to take advantage of it. Maybe it's just me, but I don't find it to be the easiest site to navigate, and my computer at work is very slow at opening it for some reason. But I will give it a chance. I've been uploading pictures to it almost everyday, so if you'd like to see what I'm working on, that's a good place to look.

One last thing; look out for upcoming interviews! I have a couple done that I'm really excited about. They're all ready to post, so look for them in the next day or two!

mel

get ready y'all, get ready

That's right people, you better be getting ready, because tonight is the night...that I very well may be listing new books! I know, the excitement is almost too much for you. Well, just put your head between your knees and breathe in to a paper bag and it'll be all right. Anyway, yes, I made some books yesterday, they're pretty cute, and tonight Steve and I will be taking pictures and with any luck I'll get them up on Etsy by tomorrow! Yay! February will be a whole new month in the land of Roska.
Also, the piece on Roska Handmade I promised you is now delivered! Click RIGHT HERE to view it yourself. Go, bathe in the warmth of my genius. Or, you know, in the tepidness of me making an ass of myself. Whichever. But you should really click up there because the blog in question belongs to Mr. JJMFinance, the purveyor of awesome excel spreadsheets to help you keep your business in business, and he is obviously a real smarty pants and you will want to know what he knows. Trust me.
Well, that is pretty much that. I am working at getting some interviews with some of my fave etsy sellers for your blogreading enjoyment, so look out for that. Wish me lots and lots of luck, because tonight I am taking the Jeopardy Contestant online test! Oh man, my stomach is turning into knots just thinking about it. Oh, also, you should check out my other blog, 1+1=400, because I am trying to bring it back from the dead and I think, if you like movies, you will like it. You should probably add it to your internet favorites because it has a very long address that you will probably find difficult to remember. I know I do.
mel

sweatpants and sweatpants

The ol' blog got a bit of a makeover today, in honor of that broken ruler (it was orange). Not. I just thought things were looking a little washed out, so these colors seem richer to me. Or, as Nina Garcia loves to say, it looks expensive. Not.
Anyway, I was poking around my favorites' favorites on etsy today and found this awesome shop Red Sweatpants Blue Sweatpants. I would love them for the name alone, it reminds of a really awesome blog someone I know had for about two seconds that I unfortunately cannot find a link for right now. But! I love them because they have A W E S O M E clothes that would totally make Steve throw up if i were to wear them. Like this

Steve would have a conniption fit. Because it is too awesome for him to understand. (jk!) This jacket is cute too

So, the gist is that these two kids from Connecticut love sweatpants (just like me) and screen print their totes cute designs on to thrifted gear. Or, I guess in some cases, ie the sweatshirt, they applique.

I just finished up a little questionnaire (that I should have done like last week) for another etsy sellers blog, so I will link to that when/if he publishes it. It, in conjunction with writing about Red Sweatpants Blue Sweatpants got me to thinking that I really should be attempting to interview the peeps I'm featuring on here like I promised long ago. I think that would be really cool. So, maybe some day I'll get around to it.

Oh, also, I am going to have to do a professional visitation for my graphic design class before march. I was looking around etsy today to see who I could call and I am pretty excited about my prospects. If you know anyone working in the graphic design industry who would be cool with me asking them some questions and visiting their place of work leave me a sweet little comment and I will be eternally grateful. and comment if you think the blog's new look sucks/is awesome/ could be better/whatevs.

mel

Leaving early

So you may have noticed (but probably not because i think my shop is being very unpopular lately) that i haven't added any new items to my shop in a while. last night i was finally getting ready to reverse this sitch, i was all set to make some new little books, i had my paper blocks already made, i thought to myself, "now i just need to measure out these pieces of matting that will become the covers." which is when i realized that my ruler had been run over by a computer chair and crushed to bitsy pieces. and also that i do not have another ruler. there is not a ruler in my house. sometimes i am really amazed by the things we do not have because they are things that i pretty much take for granted. like rulers. and formerly like staplers, but then it turned out that we actually have two. anyway, the point is that i will soon make new books, but first i am going to have to buy a ruler. preferrably one not made of brittle plastic that will crumble like a tortilla chip.
i am leaving for monterey in a matter of minutes. i hope it will be pretty there and i will take pictures and draw things for your enjoyment.
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

Very Helpful Lists

List #1: A non-comprehensive, off the top of my head, in no order top ten favorite beatles' songs:
1. I've Just Seen A Face
2. You Won't See Me
3. Do You Want to Know a Secret?
4. Back in the USSR
5. Wait
6. I'm Down
7. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
8. One After 909
9. Things We Said Today
10. Baby You're A Rich Man

List #2: steve's favorite beatles' songs:
1. Paperback Writer

List #3: top ten, in no order, my favorite pavement songs:
1. box elder
2. i love perth
3. spit on a stranger
4. fame throwa
5. range life
6. at&t
7. grave architecture
8. father to a sister of thought
9. here
10. gold soundz

List #4: my favorite soups:
1. pho
2. pho gai
3. hot and sour soup
4. sizzling rice soup
5. tom yum
6. beef barley
7. cream of broccoli
8. cream of asparagus
9. chicken noodle
10. vegetable
11. potato leek
12. italian wedding
13. matzoh ball
14. borscht
15. turkey barley
16. velvet lemon chicken with snow peas
17. tomato
18. chicken tortilla
19. black bean

List #5: my favorite albums of 2007:
1. Jens Lekman - Night Falls on Kortedala
2. whatever lil' mama's album was called

List #6: my favorite places to drink in san francisco:
1. jbc (rip)
2. victor's pizza
3. giorgio's pizza
4. edinburgh castle
5. mr. bing's
6. my house

mel

How To Be Calm

I am kind of sad because I went to this new-ish salon in my neighborhood and I was disappointed. I wanted to like it so much before I went because it looked nice, and so much more after I was there because everyone who worked there was so nice. But I was disappointed! I got a manicure and a pedicure and the actual processes were fine, they felt nice, but the results are less than stellar. My pedicure has chipped already, after only two days. Two days! That is not normal. And my manicure...where to begin. The paint doesn't go all the way to the edges of my nails, I can make out the layers of polish, you can see all these tiny airbubbles, and my nails are all different shapes. So, I am kind of sad. I probably won't go there again. I am trying to enjoy my manicure still, because it is white which is kind of fun. I think I might get blue next time. I'm trying to start a new color trend. Anyway, the point of all this jabber is that my new year's resolution is to try to relax. Some people (Steve) might laugh at this resolution because they think I am lazy. I mean more like stop worrying all the time, thinking too much while I'm trying to go to sleep, giving myself a stomache over things I can't control. That kind of relaxing. Not the making the house messy not making notebooks kind of relaxing. That kind of relaxing has got to go, stat.
mel

RIP Dan Pawson

Gosh darn it, I can't find a picture of my new favorite Jeopardy champ on the internet, so here is one of my other favorite winners:Yeah, that guy was awesome. And that picture is sooo totally creepy. I'm posting it because I am really sad about last night's game, in which the first contestant to win more than 5 consecutive games in 2 years (or something like that) lost last night. Dan Pawson (I think that was his name, isn't it cute? Makes me think of little puppy paws) was a really good champ, very gracious and only the teensiest bit asshole-y and, at times, painfully dorky. He will be missed. Maybe I'll find a picture to post soon, because he is pretty awesome looking. Like a bear. I hope it's not bad form to write RIP in the title there, since he's not actually dead. I just hope he'll be resting peacefully now that he has all that moolah. That's ok, right?

Well, I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year and all that. I have to say that I'm kind of glad all the hooplah is over. I'm looking forward to things getting back to normal. I haven't worked on my books in a long time! I have a bunch of books that I made for the big bust of a craft fair that I still haven't listed because I haven't made any sales since before Christmas so I'm thinking I need to get some different kinds of stuff up there. The books I have are mainly those map books, which I haven't sold one of yet, so I don't really want to put anymore of those up. I might work on some tonight, my sister got me some really pretty paper for Christmas and Steve's sister bought me this awesome glitter glue pack. 40 tubes of glitter glue! All different colors! Who ever thought you could need so many colors of glitter glue! Not only that, it comes with a battery operated glue squeezer! I could really have fun with that. Maybe I'll do some glitter glue collage book covers. The possibilities are now practically endless.

You know what else? I'm going to brag about some of my recent etsy purchases, and muse on some others that may be made in the future. Here is a fun fun fun necklace I bought, by bettydeath:

It's an elk! I wish I had a plain white tshirt to wear this with, because i think that's how it would look best. I think I need to go buy one. But you know, everytime I get a necklace I wish two things: 1) that i ever wore necklaces, and 2) that my neck were slimmer.

I also bought this pendant for my BFF for Christmas, by hapslappy:

Hello. It's a polymer clay pepperoni pizza slice pendant with GLOW IN THE DARK CHEESE! I think I need to also buy one for myself because it pretty much blows my mind with it's amazingness every time I think about it. Actually, you know what? I just did. Buy it, that is. I mean, come on, how could I not?

Hmm what else...ooh, these earrings:

These are all by featherwitch. The shop has all kinds of feathery things, like things for your hair and other things but I like the earrings the best. Which is kind of strange, because I didn't expect that I would be drawn to these kind of hippie-ish accessories, but, there you go. The pictures they have of the feathers against hair look really pretty. Oh, and also the store is based in San Francisco, which is also cool.

I'm also really into another kind of hippie-ish thing right now, tooled leather, like this purse by BeasBargains:

It's tough and western-y but girly at the same time. I think I've always been a tooled leather fan. Luckily, it's too expensive for me, because I think it would probably make Steve throw up.

mel

Big Country

If you know me even a little bit you probably are aware that I am kind of really into Pandora Radio. As if often the case, I was listening to it today at work and for the first time In A Big Country by Big Country popped up on my Jens Lekman station. I got totally psyched as soon as I heard the opening notes because a few years ago this was my ULTIMATE JAM OF THE YEAR. I don't know why I loved this song so much all of a sudden in the summer of 2003, but, before today, I don't think I'd heard it since then. Somehow it doesn't sound the same on computer as it did played from the tapedeck of my stereo. Still, it sounded pretty awesome. This of course reminds me that this year I saw a movie called The Big Country, starring Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston:

The thing about this movie is that it is SOOOOO long. It's like three hours long. The other thing about this movie is that it has the best fight scene in cinema history. I used to give that distinction to Class, with Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy, but The Big Country's fight scene is in a whole other category. It's in a whole other galaxy for that matter. Just a The Big Country is an almost ridiculously long movie, the fight scene, between Peck and Heston, is ludicrously long. As you're watching it and it's going longer and longer you're thinking, "what the heck is going on? This is insane. How much longer can I watch these two grown men tussling about in the dim light of evening? There hasn't been a close up since this thing started." But as it goes on and on and on you slowly come to realize that it is the greatest fight scene ever comitted to film. I can't explain it. You just have to watch it. I know I haven't been painting the most flattering picture of the movie, but it is one the best movies I've watched this year. So, to recap, I am recommending Pandora.com, Big Country the band, and The Big Country the movie. Now it's all up to you.

mel

Boo

So, the craft fair was....bad. I don't know, it was fine, it's just that I didn't sell anything. Which is ok. It was still fun. And I got a buncha buncha books made, and I've been slowly getting those up on my etsy page, and now they are selling like hotcakes! So everything is ok. I just don't think the holiday craft fair at my place of work is the right market for me. But hey, I learned that lesson, and it's important to learn, right? Anyway, do you want to see some of my books? Ok, here we go

I really like this one, it's from this really old atlas (1942!) that I bought a long time ago, but I had never used before. I am really happy with how they turned out, I think they look really great. You can see that I did these a little differently than usual, they have "wrap around" covers and I think they're cool. And since the maps are interesting because they are so old; the world looked pretty different then. I think on this one you can see that there was no Vietnam yet, it was called French IndoChina. These would be perfect for history buffs, they would really get a kick out of them I think.

Not too much else going on, just chugging away making books and knitting a lot. In fact, I taught Steve how to knit! It's pretty cute. He asked me to teach him, I think, because he can't stand that there is something I'm good at that he can't challenge me at. He's very competitive. And I'm happy to report that he's doing really well, he's picking it up very quickly. All my success with teaching people how to knit tempts me to start offering lessons on craigslist or something. Steve is the seventh or eighth of my friends that I've taught the knitting basics, but probably it's different teaching your friends than it is teaching strangers. It's something to think about though, I guess.

Oh, just one more thing. I've been really enjoying this blog lately: mccain blogette. It's written by John McCain's daughter, who is on the campaign trail with him, riding the "straight talk express" or whatever his bus is called. Don't be scared, this is NOT a political blog, it is pretty much 100% fluff, but Ms. McCain is strangely winning. And she has the cutest clothes. But mostly I like it because it is a look at campaigning from a point of view that someone like me (early 20s, female, not particularly interested in politics) can appreciate. And it makes John McCain look really likable, which is a feat; you would think the McCain peeps would be pimping it a little harder, they could probably win some lady voters.

mel

click click

Okay, as promised, here is the clickable list of BEST holiday sale participating shops. Enjoy!
Flurrsprite
Roska (hey, that's me!)
Yatsu
subu
DeckeldegdeBindery
YellowcraftyChick
Arrrt!
Moonbindery
KupoKiley
MyHandboundBooks
Temno
TheCraftyKitten
RePaper
JennysBooks
LadyArtisan
Jellygnite
Tomoebookarts
Scodioli
MoonlightBindery
LifeStoriesBooks
ThisisBexx
LostMyMarbles
DevilsParadise
LolaLuv

mel

the BEST sale ever!

Just wanted to let everyone know, the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team is having a holiday sale, one week only starting today! You can see all the participating shops above, just barely. I'll post later today with links to all the shops. By the way, I'm offering free shipping on everything. Too bad I only have five items....I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend, in addition to getting ready for that darn craft fair.

I don't want to be all down, so let me end with something good. My MOO cards came yesterday! They are so awesome, I am really really pleased with them. They are so tiny and cute and they have that nice kind of rubbery matte finish; they're just great. I plan to use some of them as price tags at the fair, I think they'll be perfect because they have my website on them and they say thank you and they have a big white space on the back so I'll even have room to write the materials for scarves. I'm getting excited!

mel

be careful what you wish for

Okay, I know, I know! I haven't posted in a really long time. I'm sorry. There, now that's out of the way. I've been really busy with class and all kinds of things. I'm working really hard to get stuff ready; I was accepted to be a vendor at the holiday craft fair at my work, but it's on the 14th! So soon! And I barely have anything to sell! Today I started to get a little stressed out. Before, I was just excited at the prospect of my very first craft show, but today I'm nervous. I have sooooo much work to do. I will try really hard to remember my camera that day, then I can post some pictures of my table. I don't know how I'm going to set up, I have a few ideas but I haven't thought about it that much. I'm selling my books and some scarves and maybe some hats. My mom sells her scarves at her work and she displays them in a big vase with the scarves all spilling out, so I might do something like that. I don't know! You should leave a comment if you have any suggestions for me, ok?

I started doing my Christmas shopping today. It's going pretty well, I guess. I found things for four of the people on my list. I'm trying to do most of my shopping online this year, mostly on Etsy of course. I don't really have any ideas of what I want to get for people though, so I'm just browsing and choosing randomly. That's why it's not going especially quickly.


Well, gotta get back to work. I'll leave you with this cool shop I came across on Etsy today. 2ndDraft, they're pretty new to Etsy but they had this bracelet on the front page today. Everything in the shop is made with film; microfilm or regular film. It makes for a really interesting look. I love this clutch:

mel

I Heart You, Porkins

Sigh. Ok, geeking out alert! I don't know why, but I am having some nostalgic Star Wars withdrawals. I guess watching Star Wars used to be a pretty common occurrence for me; my roommate and I both loved it, she had it on DVD and I had it on VHS. You know what though? My roommate moved to Sacramento and took her DVDs with her, and we got rid of our VCR and all our (my) VHS tapes when we moved. For the first time in probably 10 years or more, I do not own the original Star Wars trilogy! I can't just watch it whenever I want, which is pretty sad. Something must be done, or my once formidable store of Star Wars trivia will dwindle out of existence. I'll have to check out netflix and see if Star Wars is one of those movies you can watch on their website. Probably not I guess.

Anyway, enough of that geekery! Sorry for that. So, oh my gosh you guys, we have so much catching up to do! Obviously, I failed at NaBloPoMo, but that's ok, because while I was doing it I had so much fun. I have total faith that next year I will succeed! I'll be training all year. The awesomeness of the Jens Lekman show was enough to make up for my failure. It was sooooo good. I am so glad that I was able to go, and that I got my tickets early because it totally sold out! I recommend to all of you, if you get a chance, go see his show! He sounds awesome live, the energy is so high, and you can tell that he loves music, and the joy is infectious. I don't want to go on too long, especially since I don't have any pictures to share, but I will post this link to a song from his new album, and I hope you'll all click and listen to it. Click Here Y'all.

In more "music" "news", I am seeing two more shows next month! Both are at The Great American Music Hall, which is a super awesome venue that is only a few blocks from my house! First is Jonathan Richman (love love love) and second is Stephen Malkmus. I am a little leery about the SM show. Pavement is my all time favorite band, and I have been known to embarrassingly, drunkenly call Stephen Malkmus a genius, and I love the first SM solo album to DEATH....but I kind of hated the last two albums. So...it's kind of a shaky proposition. I hope it doesn't suck. And Steve is going to go with me! Even though he never goes to shows! I'm going to be keeping my fingers crossed. I know Jonathan Richman will be awesome, I saw him once before, actually twice, and I'm sure this show will be even better because it's not at some douchey bar in the Mission.

Let's get to the crafting, shall we? After all, this isn't a music blog, dude! There is some exciting crafting stuff to discuss, first, I made a sale! Very surprising, because I hadn't listed since the beginning of October and I was sure no one was even looking at my shop. I guess I was wrong. People are looking at my shop a bit now, because I finally posted new items! Two new notebooks, take a looksie:

Well, people aren't really looking that much. I have a bunch of new notebooks just waiting to be listed though! I'm really excited because I haven't had new stuff in so long, and I'm really proud of these notebooks, I think they're really cool and well made.
In case you were wondering, things are coming along very well with my homework. I'll post a picture when it's done, so y'all can let me know if you think it sucks.
love ya!

mel

SuperOrange

All right, I think I am seriously addicted to Orange-Carrot Juice. For a while I was having it everyday for breakfast. Then I stopped for a while, because I am lazy to walk to Jamba Juice from my office, but I was thinking about it ALL THE TIME. Now I'm back. It's just soooo good. I don't know what it is, there's just something so refreshing, yet slightly creamy about it...it's really flavorful and satiating. The way they make it at Jamba Juice it gets all frothy....yum, just thinking about it is making me salivate. Anyway, the point is that I'm a little worried that having the same thing for breakfast everyday is not good for me. Also, I am a little worried that I might turn a little orange, even though, really, I know that won't happen. But still. So I tried having yogurt and an apple for breakfast but it's just not the same! I'm going to try the yogurt thing for a while though, because I bought a TON of yogurt, and maybe eventually I'll be as obsessed with yogurt as I am now with Orange-Carrot juice. It could happen.

It seems like I am finally starting to feel creative again. Unfortunately, so far it seems like I'm feeling most creative while I'm at work, where there is nothing creative to do but doodle. Like I've mentioned before, I've really been inspired by this collage project we're doing in my drawing class, and by the Joseph Cornell exhibit at the SFMOMA. In fact, I went to see the Cornell exhibit again last night, with my boyfriend, and I feel like I wouldn't mind at all if I were going to see it again. I loved it so much. Last night I wanted to walk across the scary bridge they have on the top floor of the museum. The walkway is metal, but the floor is kind of a grid (they call it steel truss), so you can see through it. The walkway is on the fourth floor of the museum, and you can see all the way to the ground floor. And these are gallery floors so I they're a bit taller than normal floors I think. If you get a chance to go to the SFMOMA and you are not too scared of heights, you should definitely do the walkway. It is so incredibly terrifying. But fun! Really! It's indescribable. I was giggling in terror for like five minutes after. But I did it twice! The real point is that on the other side of the bridge was the Olafur Eliasson exhibition, which was also super cool. It was all about geometry and it was organic, but it had elements of collage as well, but used in a totally different way than Cornell used them. It was a really interesting contrast.

The museum lobby and the bridge with Eliasson's work "One Way Color Tunnel." Unfortunately, it doesn't make the bridge look very scary. Sorry.

So, yes, very inspiring. But it doesn't really mean anything unless I make myself sit down and get to work. And now I'm thinking about doing the Holiday Shopping Fair at my work. My coworkers have been on me about it all year, asking me if I'm going to sell my scarves and hats. I want to because then I would get to basically take a half day off work, which is always awesome. But it also means that I would need to start cranking out the knitwear like NOW. So, I guess I'll have to see what happens.

mel

countdown - tomorrow

Sipping on the Sweet Nectar

mel

countdown - 2 days

Ok, I'm real tired, but I just wanted to let y'all know: I am so excited for Jens Lekman! The show is day after tomorrow! I'm so so psyched.

It's going to be so awesome! In the meantime, check out these pretty flowers my boyfriend sent me at work.

Aren't they so pretty? I hope they're still ok, I was homesick from work today and I think they probably really needed their water changed. I love looking at them, they're so vibrant and so unlike the rest of my office, I find myself just staring at them for really long stretches. I'm thinking I should always have flowers on my desk.


I'm off to bed, but I'll leave you with a pretty crappy picture of the last book I made. I know, I finally made another book!

Nighty night!

mel

blogs y'all pt. 2

1. my love for you is a stampede of horses - Ok, first of all, I just love the title of her blog. So romantic, huh? The author, Meighan, has a great eye for art, jewelry, and fashion. I have been introduced to so many innovative and unique artists through this blog. When I started reading this blog, Meighan was living in San Francisco, and in a section called cutiepies I could check out what all the cool kids in my town were wearing. Recently she moved to Boston, so I'm excited to start seeing how the cool kids in New England are gussying themselves up.

2. Wooster Collective - On the Wooster Collective site they have the most amazing collection of street art I have ever seen. People send in their photos of works from all over the world. If you are ever feeling a little rut-ish, Wooster Collective is a good place to look for inspiration, you will be awed by the art, trust me. Here's an example of one of my favorites, from London.

3. little doodles - This is Kate Wilson's blog. Kate does the most adorable illustrations of little birds and the most drool inducing fashion drawings. She makes clothes and (especially) shoes look even more delicious than real life. For the last few days she's been putting her impeccable taste to use making holiday gift guides for her readers. Looks like a very stylish Christmas.

4. typewriter - Here is a fun blog out of Canada. It's written by the mastermind behind KiwiPunchDesigns, where you can purchase lovely hand stitched greeting cards. She often posts her works in progress, but the blog is definitely more personal journal than all business. Which is fine by me because she is quite the winning writer; she is funny and cheerful and sweet. Also, I love reading blogs and feeling that something isn't quite right, and gradually putting the pieces together to find that they are writing from some where outside the US. I just love blogs from foreign lands! That is one of the cool things about typewriter, I feel like I really get a sense of Canadian life.

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

boo hoo pt. 2

I hope things work out better today! I don't know what happened yesterday, my post just kept getting deleted. I guess, technically, I've now failed at NaBloPoMo. Boo. It shouldn't really count though, because I was trying to get a blog post up yesterday! It wasn't my fault! I guess I should have tried to post earlier. I think weekends are going to be the hardest because on weekdays I'm at my computer all day, so it's not so hard. On weekends though I'm usually out all day. This is definitely going to be a challenge.
Anyway, this was another unproductive weekend. I don't know why I've been so uninspired to work lately. I hope my passion will reignite soon and I'll get some cool new books made. I am excited about my art class, we're doing photo collages and then blowing them up and drawing them. I already made my collages, they're pretty neat, but it's going to be hard to decide which one to use in my final project. If anyone is thinking of taking a drawing or printing class at CCSF I would definitely recommend taking one with Robin Kaneshiro, he is really really great teacher. I love this class so much.
Along with the NaBloPoMo, this month I am also trying to cut down on the amount of times I eat out. Right now, we eat dinner out almost every night, and I eat lunch out at least half the time. It's really bad! So, we're really going to try hard to cook more. I cooked tonight and last night. Both times it was super delicious. Last night we had a kind of tamale pie/taco casserole thing and tonight we had miso chicken and mashed potatoes. Yummy. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can sustain!

mel