the long road

tea with red dragon back in the shop!

I started this post early this morning, but now its night and C & I are hanging out with the twins (sleeping). It has been a while since I was consistently blogging... there are lots of reasons for that.

These days the boys sure are getting big- it seems ages ago it was summertime and there we were spending all that time at the hospital waiting to meet them. Now M is sucking his thumb, S is finding his smile (those gummy grins are killing me!), and just as a pattern has started to emerge around all of our schedules, C is off in no time at all to spend a couple months back home. Oh, and Lost is coming back on (wink sweet sister). While my nephews are getting to know the scratchy skyline of a New England winter, their auntie hopes to be full sail on art * art * art. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

audrey and the flying fish back in the shop!

As for me, this month previous has found hard economic times at my place of employment, with growing anxiety and worried faces. With all the strife effecting myself and people I love and care about, it has been disheartening at times to get through the month. Normally I wouldn't get into things like that, but I know a lot of people are suffering through uncertain times and grave decisions right now.

Disheartening, but there has been a lot to be grateful for (now I'm realizing I missed the Thanksgiving post... I even had the obligatory "baby next to turkey" photo. damn.).

I feel lucky indeed to be able to joyfully re-enter my Etsy career, and even luckier that my customers have been good spirited and welcoming~ we could all use such simple kindnesses these days. I've sold out of every last Gocco printed journal that made the cross-country adventure of moving... within two weeks of having the shop open again. That was truly magical!

little monkey Gocco printed tags

* * *

My earnest desire is that my next move involves a place to unfurl the printmaking system again. Every precious moment of downtime is spent with a pencil in hand. Although, now that the shop is up, there is necessary computer time, too. Not many blogs I follow talk about the person behind the scenes, or the process of keeping one's self inspired (blog suggestions or reading material ALWAYS welcome, ladies and gents) but friends and neighbors let's just admit it's not always easy. There are more than enough distractions from the simple act of beginning and finishing a drawing.

Those of you following the blog last year know that it was intended to document the opening and beginning of my Etsy shop. Printmaking came next, and knitting, then cooking, then painting. Although I would love to pick up right where I left off, life is full of a million beginnings and endings, the rolling along of events. What I'm going to try and do is just begin with this week: I'm going to try and post every night until next Saturday. Revive the blog and see what kind of art can come around again from the bottom of a backpack, while house-sitting here with my sister. Why not? I've been living in flux for years now, and at least for a week my computer will be in one house, consistently. With any luck I could even become one of those people who do something crafty every day (...again)!
:)

Very heartfelt best to those of you out there who are having a difficult time this winter. Goodnight, dears, and don't forget the simple kindnesses.

recent sketching (going through a voice bubble thing)

Friday nights are not for Etsy, I learned that last year. And so, though I have looked at my page at least 5 times since coming home an hour ago, I'm letting it go for the night by posting on my blog and then (hopefully) closing my computer. Hello blog, I have missed you.

The other goal I have for my night is to get some drawing done. I'm not using markers as much as I was last year- hopelessly devoted to pencil as I always have been, it was only a matter of time before I was picking and choosing from my Prismacolors (yay) without a second thought of the Sharpies (boo). But, anyway, I like the pen-pencil combo I've been coming up with lately, still bulky cartoony now with the softness and texture of pencil too.

recent inspiration, Banyai's "The Other Side"

No such drawings have become "items", followers of the blog and the shop may have noticed I'm beginning my shop with the same stock as last year: Gocco prints, pen-and-ink notecards, some ACEOs and onesies thrown into the mix. In fact, more ouou clothing may get added before any new card styles. Right now I just am not sure where to find a scanner for all my scanny needs. Still, its right and good to keep on drawing until I resolve those initial just-opened, new-town issues.

Okay, back to work!

some steps to re-opening an online business...

Step 1: quit slacking!

Hi everyone. Okay, today I finally finally finally scored internet at home. PHEW! Onward and upward on the list of Things To Do involving re-opening the Etsy shop
... as long as I can stay focused...
...not spend the day streaming the Daily Show...
...maybe this was a bad time to sign up for NetFlix, too...
...alright, a little blog post to clear my head.

Today is a very very rainy day in Portland, windy and gloomy. I'm the kind of person who is completely bewildered by weather (I blame my Massachusetts upbringing~ you don't have to live there for 27 years to catch on to the annual "What, snow again?" tradition) and can't really get involved with any precipitation without becoming entirely drenched, bedraggled and hopelessly uncoordinated. So, it was little more than a walk to the grocery store (soaked to the knees, hair plastered to my face, shooting uneasy glances at my umbrella) that convinced me I might as well just stay inside today.

I've opened boxes, taken stock of what was packed and hauled cross-country, and created an inventory of items that need complimentary supplies before they hit the shop (i.e. cards + envelopes). I've gone over my Shop Policies finer details and started figuring out the maths on what supplies actually cost. Last year I admit- I often just threw money into the shop willy nilly, and yes- those were some nasty lessons to learn.

I also admit- I'm staring wistfully at the Gocco box day after day, awaiting with increasing impatience for the time when I can jump back in to printmaking. (sigh) For the moment, these steps and preparations will have to do. Steps 2, 3 and 4 (in my view) are Get Inspired, Get Inspired, Get Inspired. Be it through crafting, art-making, reading, knitting, wandering, whatever you do... I'm beginning to remember what a time sucker these computers can be and I am so very grateful I've got books lining the walls of my new apartment, catching my gaze when I look up from the screen.

Before I go, I want to sincerely thank Ms. Little Bee for giving my blog it's very first ***award***!Yay! Certainly it was one of the motivations to get on with it and begin prepping the shop: let me tell you its no small task to get me on the phone with Comcast for a big chunk of the afternoon! But, aside from that, Jennifer of the Busy Bee Blog has always been a stalwart support (even with what I imagine is my appalling grammatical variety) through all of the ups and downs of my own blogventures.

Her engaging blog is always such a peaceful place to visit~ the clicking of knitting needles, smell of baking bread, and Clarence cameos welcome you in. Jennifer's award offers me the opportunity to reach out and spread the love, sending out awards to 5 other blogs I'm following. So, here it is: with my fractured, scattered internet use over this past season, I've been a seriously slack blog follower. With a little more time in front of the screen, I'll have my awards ready this weekend. Until that time, to all of you lovelies reading along- you know who you are... and I couldn't thank you enough for the love and support.

somewhere, I'm in here

Finally, months and months after closing my Etsy shop last April... I'm here to announce I'm beginning the (gulp) task of starting up shop again. I have yet to acquire wireless in my apartment, this has been a major determining factor in the shop being down... as well as limited posts here in the 'ol blog. Those of you who have been following along since the road trip know that this transition across country has been a major shift in so many lives. I guess, putting those two factors on the table, the thought of opening up shop again has been daunting.

My hope is that within the next couple of weeks I can make some leaps forward and have an online presence again for the holidays. I'm anxious about it, I admit, although I'm not quite sure if any of my reasons for that anxiety are quite clear or close to sense-making. Ah, well, onward with a deep breath and my mantra for the time being... "start small, start small, start small".

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

catching up...

...with sketching :)

post

Having lived here for 5 months and not yet investigated the local art store scene (because I work in a supplier for paper and fancy crafting goods) it is high time I do some exploring. I wandered into Art Media on my way home from work last week. I ended up with a bag full of pencils, colored pencils, and pens. I also left with a new find~ Strathmore Layout Bond. I've never seen this paper before and like to try out a new weight every once in a while. It was really a dream. The next day I had the evening to myself and really soaked it up, wedging into a coffee shop corner for hours nursing chamomile tea and sketching. Oh, I'm going to have to find a way to do that more often. :)