With the start of the new year and a couple of bucks in my pocket thanks to a couple of Etsy sales, I've decided to pick up and move. Digitally speaking anyway. Upon deciding to stick with the i art a day theme and getting some good ideas about the shop, I also decided that it was time art had it's own dotcom. No more of this .blogspot.com nonsense. Thus:

I've recently discovered that I have not one but two - possibly three HBO channels. I do not pay for these channels nor are they on my channel line-up. I don't have digital cable so there's nothing "On Demand" or any of that fancy business. At first I thought it could just be one of those promo things where HBO throws a couple of free movies out there during the holidays to get you to buy MORE tv, but it's still around and kicking out shows.

Hello 2009!

Things have been pretty bustling around here, regardless of the stagnancy of the blog. Before the holidays I had a couple of orders to work on through Etsy which I was super excited about! Many books were made and shipped, as well as a stationary set this weekend. On top of all of that the gifts for friends and family were wrapped up and mailed out.

One of my favorite gifts given was a handmade pillow copied as closely as possible from napoleonquilts. I absolutely love the graphic and figured I could duplicate it for a little less and get some more mileage out of my new vintage sewing machine:



Two of my (many) favorite gifts received were from the boyfriend, a fantastic owl drawing print from MATTY8080 and an adorable little clutch I've been eyeing up for months from dawning!



I'm seriously dreading taking my Christmas tree down. It works so well in my apartment, the light coming from it is great, and it just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. Anyway, the last of my gifts were given out this weekend and I'm back for a full week of work this week, so the holidays really are over. {le sigh} But, I'm not letting it get me down with so many other great things planned.

Let's talk about goals. I'll save you the full list of new years goals and narrow it down to the strictly creative ones:

1. Esty Shop development. I want to get this thing really moving along full steam. The catch? Inventory Inventory INVENTORY. Items must be made to be sold. At the moment the little shop is sitting bare - which I'm thrilled about - but needs to be restocked PRONTO. The sales that I've had have really boosted my confidence and determination to really make this into something fun and great. More books, more sewing, prints, more photos! I'd like to get at least 1 new item in the shop a week (and two or three items made for stocking).

2. Craft Fairs. Assuming again that I can build up a good bulk of inventory, I'd LOVE to get myself into at least 1 craft fair, if not two this year! Of course, the biggest fairs are around the holidays, so I've got 11 months to get it together. If I'm really producing then perhaps in the spring/summer I'll be able to set up a table somewhere as well.

3. Painting & drawing. I've let this kinda cool off on the back burner for a while now, but it's something I enjoy so much that I don't want to do without it anymore. I've got 6 or so unfinished pieces dying for some work in my apartment and plenty more ideas that need to come to fruition! My goal is 2 completed pieces a month. This is going to be pretty tough with everything else going on, but it's worth it.

Time to get busy!

Wednesday's day off to create turned out to be an extremely productive day. I managed to make:

3 softcover notebooks for an Etsy order
2 softcover notebooks for gifts
a screen for screen printing postcards
25 screen printed postcards
1 fantastically soft scarf
5 wrapped presents
1 trip to the post office

All of this before collapsing in my bed with a runny nose and scratchy throat feeling like the black plague. I'm going to go ahead and pin this one on the boyfriend (or just my fault for not staying away). Other injuries sustained during the creation frenzy include a puncture wound on my left ring finger thanks to a light duty awl (which was immediately replaced with a heavy duty awl), and a fierce paper cut on my right pointer finger.

Last night I got some more hardcover notebooks for the etsy shop wrapped up and mailed out, but still have the local presents to finish up. In the mean time here's another little glimpse of the holiday creations:


ikea jars and coordinating labels printed on sturdy matte photo paper, then rubber cemented on so they can be removed and jars reused for something else.


hand painted image onto screen and printed on fabriano's fancy line of italian notecards.

Did you know December was halfway over?! I just looked at the calendar yesterday and realized that I've got less than a week to wrap all of these gifts up and get them out - a day for ones that are getting mailed! Luckily, I'm taking the day off tomorrow to finalize some things (and get on with the screen printing!) and hope to post some progress as well. In the mean time, I've landed myself a (voluntary) position with a little theater group to help out with some set design, which I'm very excited to sink my teeth into. Last night my friend looked at me and said, "If you take on any more side projects you won't even have to work soon" to which I kinda laughed and thought to myself - isn't that the point? After all, my interests are substantially wider than the field of architecture, and I can't help but pack my time with all of these great projects that keep me inspired.

Also, Pandora's playing a GREAT mix on my "Super Girly" station right now.
As for as my Etsy shop, last week I was greeted with:

Last night I finally finished making the hardcover books to send out - which has taken up a good deal of my creative time this week. Anyway, it'll be on to other Christmas present-y things tonight! In the mean time, here's so photos and thoughts for food (or something):



This fall was absolutely one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. It's the season when I first moved to Philadelphia in college, so it's almost the most comforting season, my new year, a new start as the leaves are falling. The subtle but daily change in the lights and sunsets as I walked home from work made some of the chatter that rumbles around in my head during the day quiet down as I stepped into the streets. I find myself listening to music with heart stringed cellos and temperament quieting oboes. My motivation skyrockets and new projects and ideas pop into my head almost hourly.

This year I became so intrigued with night time imagery. Unfortunately I am not currently operating a D-SLR, so it takes a little longer to get the images I'm interested in. The fall colors, lit in the dark by street lights and passing cars were even more brilliant with an air of mystery. The whole city appeared to have fallen out of a detective movie in the chilly rain and under the glowing neon and tungsten lights.

By now all of the trees have dropped their leaves and the cold bitter winds have started whipping around the buildings. It rains when you expect it to snow and snows when you expect it to rain, and a sunny day is a once-a-week occasion. Thankfully it's still light on the walk to work in the morning, and the city is just as captivating by the dark walk home.

This past weekend was full of so much creativity that I could barely contain myself! Friday night I headed up to Fishtown for a little craft fair that a couple of my friends were showing stuff in. A couple of people that caught my eye were:

Of course, there's still plenty of holiday gifts for the care packages to work on, so I spent a little while Sunday night filling little nylon tea bags with aromatic pomegranate white tea and wrapping each one in little envelopes designed to coordinate with my whole holiday theme this year!

I know, I'm a tad on the design OCD side this year, but so what!? I think they turned out great - and while it's sort of a tedious process cutting & folding each of the little envelopes, I know I would be thrilled to find them on my doorstep Christmas day! More holiday crafts and projects to follow as they're completed! What did you do this weekend?