Halfway up the mountain!

With Twist behind me and all my Craftland goodies shipped, I'm rationing my remaining energy to sustain me through two more fairs. Bazaar Bizarre Boston is right around the corner and Mass Market (also in Boston) follows shortly after.

I have plenty of inventory and my display all set but I'm a little disappointed in myself for not introducing as many new products as I'd planned. There are a couple new card designs but I didn't set up my studio in our new place quickly enough to be truly efficient. With just three work days left before Bazaar Bizarre, I'm trying to decide which of my many new design concepts will be realized in time for the show. I've got a dusty chinchilla print, some pinback buttons, tea sipping camels and a cat in a paper bag to choose from.

I'm also trying very hard to not let the new home suck up too much of my attention this month. I'd like to be able to put everything on hold and take a week to hang art, sew pillowcovers, decorate for the holidays and go thrifting for furniture. I must remind myself that the home isn't going anywhere and it isn't a priority during the hectic holiday season. And yet... I have to show you these acts (above photos) of wintry window embellishing I committed last night while over-caffeinated from chai-nog.

Well, I must get going on tonight's print sleeve-ing process. I'm glad I can do that task on the couch in front of a movie because I'm really in the mood to watch Die Hard (at least one of them).

My fingertips are tingling.

After months of halfhearted occasional posts, I think I feel like blogging again. I hope so. It's like exercise for me in that I rarely am in he mood but I feel super excellent after. I just need to get back in the habit. Besides, I have loads to catch up on!

Justin and I moved into our new home. It is the best feeling ever. When the boxes are fully unpacked and the art is hung, I'll be eager to share. It's kind of a disaster right now though. The best part is having an entire room to make things and store products. I haven't had a real studio in a few years and I don't know how I managed.

Another thing I don't know how I managed without is a car. Neither Justin or I had access to a car for the past two years! We did lots of walking and train riding and, in general, enjoyed the experience. But we decided that the limitations of carlessness were getting too aggravating so we bought an old white Volvo and I think it's the best! We are reveling in our ability to go ANYWHERE at ANY TIME! I have some driver anxiety that I need to get over but I'm thinking that this manageable and exceedingly safe car will be the one that helps me learn to drive again.

I'm actually tackling a rather long and significantly out of my comfort zone trip this weekend. I'm driving across Massachusetts from Salem to Northampton for the Twist craft fair I'm participating in. I'm usually a bit nervous going to a big show but I'm extra extra nervous with a long drive to boot! Today, I'm getting in some driving practice and putting the finishing touches on my display. Wish me luck!

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Time for my monthly check-in. This time I'll spare everyone the "who wants to blog when it's so nice outside?" excuse and get down to the thing in my life that is so exciting and monumental that it brought me back to the internet so I could report.

The thing is:

Justin and I just bought our first home!

My life has been focused on almost nothing else for the past month. Right after I got back from vacation, we decided it was time to get serious about finding a place and after seeing a handful of homes, we found one that was juuuuust right. We decided to stay in Salem but the condo is a little less downtown. It's the first floor unit in a renovated yellow Victorian with lots of windows and a room for a studio! We move in on October 16th. Ahhhhhhhh!

I've been fantasizing a lot about what colors to paint the rooms (I'm thinking pink in the kitchen!) and about new light fixtures and getting some big art since we will have a few big walls. I'm worried that all our furniture will look runty in the new place. It's a big change moving from a studio to a two bedroom.

Justin and I are laughing at ourselves because we will be owning a house before we even have a car.

Lots more pictures on Flickr.

I'm skipping town!

I'm leaving tomorrow for my annual trip to my Uncle's cabin in Maine. I think a little break from my day job and a change of scenery is just what my brain has been needing. There is nothing I find more refreshing than quiet time by a lake with no responsibilities.

I'm bringing paper and pens so I can get going on the zine I've been promising for a long time. My friend wrote a short story and asked me to illustrate it. That counts as a zine since we're printing it ourselves right?

I'm also putting the finishing touches on a few new designs for cards. I have a pile 99% complete ideas that are begging for attention.

It appears I have no idea how to take a vacation! Even if I can't help but work, at least I'll be sitting on a big rock with my feet in the water.

PS: I put my Etsy shop on vacation mode so it looks empty but it'll be back on the 31st.

Making do

A fresh coat of paint and cushion covers for the porch!

I've been taking an unscheduled break from the internet and my business for the past month in an attempt to take care of a few neglected elements of my life that are forever being pushed aside so I can do Argyle Whale stuff.

One of the projects I worked on in my absence is apartment beautification. Justin and I realized that we're most likely going to stay in our current place for a few more years and that made me feel restless. Instead of making an irrational move, I focused on freshening up our space and treating it more like a home than an in-between-places type of apartment.

The worst eyesore in our life is the porch that all our neighbors share with us. It's a depressing dumping ground for bedraggled old furniture and since it's everyone's, nobody takes responsibility to care for it. My upstairs neighbor and I tackled the gloomy chipped black iron patio furniture and enlivened it with a few coats of intense green paint. Then, I ripped off the deteriorating cushion covers and recovered them in dark blue denim. We spent a whole day scrubbing the deck and tables and planting herbs and the place looks much livelier. I still have more to do, but it's made a huge difference.

I'm trying to embrace the old saying, "make do or do without". I'm hoping to save up enough money to reupholster our stained couch too. I'm also emboldened to break the no painting rule in our bathroom. The walls are the color of masking tape!

I found a hamster.

This is kind of old news but I wanted to share my found poster with you because I hung it up at my bakery workplace and people seemed to like it so much that I figured it could be worth a blog mention.

Here is the story of the hamster:

I have an elderly neighbor who knows about my fondness for little pets and he knocked on my door awhile ago and told me that he'd found a guinea pig hanging out in our apartment building's trash can shelter. I got pretty excited because I have always wanted a guinea pig and though I wouldn't go out and get one (since we're already fairly overrun with little creatures). If a guinea pig came to me, I figured I could keep it and love it forever.

I gathered my critter-catching accessories (carrier, gloves, a banana and some reading material for the stakeout) and waited for the guinea pig to appear. After a little while, I spotted a tiny face peering out at me and realized that the trash-shelter dweller was actually a hamster (an exceptionally cute hamster with calico spots). To my dismay, an hour or two of my most enticing cooing and banana brandishing left me hamsterless and I opted to put out a have-a-heart trap and wait until morning.

When I woke up, I was greeted by my neighbor at my door with the trapped hamster! Hooray! I made a little nest area in a rubbermaid bin and started making these posters to put up around town. I am very skeptical that the hamster was actually lost and not just abandoned but I figured I would give it a try.

After only a short while a nice new home was found for the hamster! Win!

If you particularly enjoy the art of the found poster. I highly recommend this book.

Oh no! Am I a jerk blogger?

I'm really sorry.

So, I probably should have read some "how to be a good blogger" articles before I started writing and because I didn't (until Leah posted this article on her blog), I just found out that I have been a little rude to you fine readers for a long time. I've been especially neglectful of those of you who are nice enough to leave a comment.

See (now I know this is no excuse), I leave comments on a few blogs from time to time and I never return to the blogs to check and see if the authors have replied to my comments. Therefore, because everyone MUST think exactly like me, I thought that none of the people who commented on my blog looked for replies either.

I have since learned two things:

1. Not replying to comments may make you look like you think you are "too cool for school".
2. There is a simple way for people to get replies to their comments known as "subscribing to the comments". I feel silly that I did not know this and have never used the trick myself.

I am going digging through past posts now and leaving replies to ancient comments and pledge to be better about replies form now on. Your comments really are my favorite part of having a blog!

bunny photo by Megan Taylor Brooks