!

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

Ok, I'm ready to talk.

Ohhh I have been a very bad blogger. Sometimes, I have so much that I need to talk about that I feel overwhelmed and put it off. But, silly girl, the passage of time leads to much more stuff that piles up needing to be talked about! So, instead of infinite procrastination, I'm opting to write tiny manageable tidbits so I can get back on track. I know most of these things are deserving of their own thorough post but I simply do not have the stamina at the moment. I am also going to go ahead and blame Twitter for making writing full paragraphs seem like hard work.

Renegade Craft Fair, Brooklyn, NY: Holy woah! This fair was fun city. Justin and I had a super time and met so many people we internet-adored who we now IRL-adore! I ate corn-on-a-stick for the first time and loved it a lot. I also celebrity-spotted Paul Dano. I made only a little bit of money but ended up pirate-rich in trades! I'm blaming Renegade for my current state of lethargy. I did months of work preparing and the event was so energy-sapping that I needed to recuperate for a week or two. I'm that delicate! Here are some photos: flickr

Mass Market, Boston, MA: This fair was my Renegade remedy. It was a small but well attended event that felt very friendly and relaxed. I finally got to hang out a little with Alice of Forest Bound and Francesca and met a nice new person who happens to also be named Elise.

Tattoo: I got my very first tattoo! It is, of course, bunny related. Here is a photo: flickr. Turns out, it's true what people say about tattoos being addictive; I'm already thinking about my next one.

The Internet: Soon I'll be spreading myself all over the internet (Goodness! That sounds racy!). I was invited to be a guest writer for both Hello Craft and North Shore Art Throb. I am feeling my usual combination of both excited and nervous. I'm excited to be sharing with a much wider audience but I'm nervous about writing for someone else's site and using PROPER PUNCTUATION!

Also, I have the honor of being this weeks "Artsy Wonderbug" on my friend Leah's website today. Please head over to read my little interview here.

Snorg Tees: My very exciting opportunity to have some of my designs turned into tshirts for Snorg is still slowly coming along. They will be made soon though and I can't wait!

What now?: Yes, this post has been catching up on the past but what I'm really excited about is what is coming up in the next few weeks. Nothingness! Yes, it's true, my fair season is over and my commitments are dwindling. I finally should be able to have time to make some new things! It has pained me to put fresh ideas on hold so that I could complete tasks like set up credit card processing accounts and make signs for my fair display. My next post will be all about what has been brewing in my mind for weeks and I'll be able to show off a couple projects in progress.

Now I'm wondering why I put off writing for so long. I enjoyed that.

Big happenings this weekend. RENEGADE!

Today is my last full day of work before heading off to New York City as a vendor at The Renegade Craft Fair! I have been crazy nervous for weeks while I tried to amass inventory, work on my display and get a credit card machine. It's all coming together just in time and I'm finally feeling genuine excitement. I am so very thankful that I am able to participate in Renegade this year! I have actually had this as a goal in my mind before I even had a business! There are so many makers that will be showing at Renegade who I hold in such high regard that I am proud to be beside them. This is by far the biggest event I've ever been a part of!

Are any of you fine blog followers going to be selling or shopping there? Please let me know so I can look forward to meeting you!