new year

I love resolutions. I do. I'm kinda lazy about enforcing them (like the year I vowed to cut back on swearing) but I enjoy making them. I think because I like making lists.

So this year I'm going to try:

*Get organized
*Keep going to the gym (because i joined and it turns out i actually like it. weird right?)
*dress better


My usual new years eve partner dropped out on me so i'm undecided if this is an excuse to a) Wander around this city solo and see what happens
b) Wander around NYC and see what happens
c) ring in the new year with my cat at my house
d) do something i would never do, but am actually kinda considering it, but i want to keep it to myself, cause a girl's gotta have some secrets, right?

back to work! (well, sorta)

After a bit of unscheduled (err... unplanned) stuff at work this morning, today is looking to be really slow, so I might take this opportunity to update the blogs I like to read and the policy stuff for my etsy shop.

Suggestions for blog-reading gladly accepted!

honeymoon over

and now it's time to go.
i miss my house and my mess and most of all, my fantastic cat. i'm going to be totally queer and put a picture of her here, cause i can, and cause i like falling into cliches such as 'blogging about cats'.

document the moment

right now i'm sitting in a rickety four-poster bed at my parents house, looking out the window at the sun rising, various animals outside,
warm laptop balanced on my leg.
it's christmas morning and everything feels right.

merry christmas!

finding inspiration everywhere

The haircut was successful! Unlike me linking to the picture.
I've been to Dino at Bang on U st. twice now, and I don't know how else to say it, but that man has great instincts about hair.
Plus, everyone *everyone* at Bang is hot and tattoo-ed. I remember last spring when I was there, one of the women had a Descendants/Milo tattoo, which is obviously a good sign.
I've been thinking a lot about clothes, and through etsy found this blog:
http://theblackapple.typepad.com/somegirlswander which is so totally inspirational on so many levels.
And through that blog i found this sweater:

Which might be an inspiration for altering some clothes i have around.

chop CHOP!

with my hard-earned craftin' money, i'm getting a haircut tonight. I think maybe something like this:

This is an article from the NY Times yesterday, it's mostly about Etsy, but it raises some good points about the indie craft community.

One of the subject breaks is titled: STEP 1: Weave Do-It-Yourself Spirit Into a Community. That's something I'd like to see my little craft-group do. For most intents and purposes, we tried to do that with the show we put on Saturday. And I think it showed. We raised almost $200 for the food pantry for the church we held the show in, and the turn out was great.
I wish more people believed in that philosophy. It is as simple as not littering in your neighborhood. If you think about your community and its space and its people, you're more likely to take care of it.
I think too, this is maybe part of the answer to a question posed by a friend of mine a few weeks ago. Why in certain neighborhoods public art projects tend to be "community involvement" instead of finding one, great artist that represents the neighborhood.
I couldn't answer it at the time, but I've been thinking about it, and I think perhaps it's that some neighborhoods have been neglected by their cities and their services so the residents feel a little neglected and they inturn neglect their own neighborhood with trash, letting abandoned cars sit, not reporting (or contributing to) graffitti-tags. Sometimes it takes a community effort to involve people and make them wake up to the place they live, and once residents feel like they've made (even a small piece of) change, attiudes begin to change and citizens can reclaim their neighborhood and effort and pride are exerted in their communities.
Anyway, read the article. Be inspired by something. Make stuff.

So much press!

The other ladies of the Craft Mutiny have been busy busting their humps to get a lot of press for the Holiday Booty Market. It's pretty incredible. We've had ads in the City Paper, DCist, the Post, etc...Now I'm afraid I'm going to be woefully unprepared for tomorrow...yikes!

I hope people come out...and don't haggle.

just added:

To my Etsy shop:

come out saturday!

This saturday is the Holiday Booty Market
5 Thomas Circle (the big circle at M &14th, near the farragut west metro)

It's in the ground floor of the City Church's free-trade gift shop. Entrance is on 14th street, north of the circle, on the west side of 14th.

You ever have one of those days where you have a hard time getting started?

yeah, today is one of those.

great weekend

wow.

the craftacular was awesome. I was next to Diana and Liza from Make Workshop http://www.makeworkshop.com/ who could not have been sweeter.
the vendors were so nice, the crowds were plentiful and wonderful. And not once did someone try to haggle with prices.

it was fantastic.

and the rock and shop at the black cat last night was great too! one person tried to haggle over the price of the cards that i was selling on tina's behalf.

seriously, people of DC. what is that? it's not a flea market. We make stuff, we price it at what we think is fair. You buy it.
i don't understand why people think it's ok to undervalue artwork. i guess maybe because of chain stores and mass-production, but still.

whales!

DSC00209
Originally uploaded by tigersscareme

I've made two whales out of a blue argyle sweater. i have another sweater that's the same shade of blue, but it has a grey stripe- for this one i sewed a piece of a grey sweater to the bottom.
the back is plaid wool

friends' favorites

I have some seriously talented friends...look at the new stuff in my friends' etsy shops!



From Rania.
It's so cute, i think i need one!

Here's something from Sean's shop


From Art:


And Tina:

nerves!

I'm getting so nervous for the craftacular!

i didn't accomplish quite as much as i hoped i would over the thanksgiving weekend, and last night i went to the gym and came home and fell asleep! I can't sleep!!! i have WAY too much to do!
yikes.


If you're so inclined (or locally placed) I'll be in Baltimore (in the great Hampden neighborhood) showing folks some ideas on homemade christmas ornaments.
That's first holiday hurdle!

I've got some fun ideas that i think are going to work out! here's info on the :
store - Earth Alley
The ornament making begins at 2:30 pm. December 1st! COme on out

happy

Last night i went to the 9:30 club to see the 1990's, art brut, and the hold steady. I've seen art brut and the hold steady a few times before and I was a little afraid that a bigger venue would equal more lunchboxes yowling around me, but i have to say, it was pretty pretty great.
so thanks, crowd, for not being a total lunchbox.

Now, since i was tagged by the lovely allthose3's, here are some things about me:
It's supposed to be 5 'weird' things, but i'm dreadfully normal, so here are just 5 (maybe surprising?)things i do:

1) I always carry earplugs with me (always) because i never know when a rock show is going to break out. It's true. It's happened. And it's good to be safe.
2) I joined a gym at the end of august. i'm actually down one pants-size so far which is exciting. I never thought i'd be that person, but I'm actually really into those stupid elliptical machines. It turns out, if you stick a tv in front of me, i can go forever. the worse the tv the better. bring it on saved by the bell!
3) this kinda goes with #2, but back in the day (and by that i mean highschool) i use to play soccer and softball and fieldhockey and such and then i hurt my knee kinda badly so i stopped. i would really like to play soccer or fieldhockey again.
4) i use to keep track of all the bands i've seen. like, in a notebook. i stopped.
5) i moved to this city knowing one person and only having been here once in 1994 when some friends and i drove down from indiana pennsylvania to see one of the last dog faced hermans shows my senior year of college. it was a fucking fun night but i still wonder why i moved here sometimes.

new for Bust!

Yesterday I made a family of owls, today i made a turtle. I'm working on getting everything to a point where i can finish it over thanksgiving up in PA.

NYC Here I come! (again!)

I was put on the waitlist for the Bust Craftacular in NYC on the 8th, and today I got an email saying there was an open spot.

so HOLY CRAP!

i'm going to NYC again...

it's funny, because i turned down a fun show to do something not fun because i already committed to the not fun one thinking 'i can't cancel when i've already said i would do it. i'm sure that this will help my karma'.

BAM!

Meet DC artists!

At 12 p.m. on Wednesday November 28, the public is invited to the Wilson Building for a guided tour through the City Hall public collection of art on permanent display on floors 1-5 of the Wilson building. The tour will be lead by a local artist featured in the collection- Denee Barr.

This is a unique chance to meet with local artists featured in the collection and have a discussion on being an artist in the Nation’s Capitol and to see a rich cross section of local artists (both established and emerging). This will be a bi-monthly occurrence.

The tour is free; however space is limited. Please RSVP to beth.baldwin@dc.gov with the number in your party. Meet at the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance — the building is located at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW. ID is required to enter the building.

birdhouse

birdhouse
Originally uploaded by tigersscareme

this is a little birdhouse i painted. i need to seal the exterior.

i'm not sure what i'm going to do with it...maybe sell it on etsy.

all i want for christmas