I did it. I made a print. And I made an etsy shop. I cannae believe it. Usually when I do work I make a lot of people look at it and give me their honest opinion. Didn't do that this time. So here it is.




The quote is by Langston Hughes, and I wanted to make something spring-y and cheerful, yet witty at the same time.

Here's the link to my etsy shop.

Here's the link to the blog.

Stop by and check it out!

Holy crap! With the crappy economy and all that, I've really had to start being strict with money (eg no more going out to eat a lot and restricting my etsy purchases). Work has been kind of slow. So. How does one make more money?

Get more freelancing jobs? Possibly.

Get a job at the mall. Nay.

Get a temp job doing admin work. HELL NO.

Open my own etsy shop and make something to sell. DING DING DING.

It's a little intimidating because there are so many talented people out there who can draw etc etc etc. I'm only mediocre w/ drawing things (I still draw stick people as people and when I try to draw horses they look uber retarded). But I'm good with color and possibly making prints...so...this is the direction I am going to go in. I have some ideas that I'm playing around with. It's a bit intimidating...but I will keep you posted as to what happens. If someone actually ends up buying my work, I'll have to like buy the entire internets a drink or something. Lucky bastages! ;)

This book Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear is the latest to enthrall me (so much so that I've already bought the rest of the series and read all of them). If you are stuck in the void of what should I read next, I heartily recommend Masie. Set in the early 1900's, Maisie is sent to work as a servant in a manor, but the lady of the house recognizes her potential and intelligence so Maisie is able to get educated and move beyond her humble beginnings. She is accepted into Girton College (part of Cambridge Uni I think). In the midst of it all, WWI starts and she joins as a nurse to help out the cause. She falls in love during the war, but loses him (you'll find out how in book #1 it's heartbreaking). After the war is over, she becomes a private investigator and solves cases and such, all the while trying to recover from her experiences during the war. Back then it was referred to as "shell-shocked", nowadays it's prob known as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Winspear writes not only a clever plot regarding the mystery aspect of the novel (for Maisie does solve cases) but she details the conditions of Britain following the war...economically, socially etc in a vivid way that keeps the reader very interested. I guess you can draw some parallels to today in terms of how soldiers who come back from a conflict (Iraq) and how difficult it is for them to deal with...everything.

Maisie is not a static character who goes around solving cases, you can see her character develop as the book progresses.

For example did you know that (this is from Birds of a Feather), that back in the day some Col. thought it'd be brilliant to have a group of women go around distributing feathers to all the boys they could to try and drum up army recruitment? A white feather was apparently a sign of cowardice and to get one from a woman implied you were "not a man". A lot of men enlisted because of this (many of them underrage), but it was a terrible way to get them to enlist...

Anyways, I can't stop raving about this book. Go, read it...be enthralled.

Back from 4 days in glorious Nashville TN, eating and drinking pretty much everything in sight and taking in the lovely views. I asked Tina whether any hawt cowboys would spontaneously appear and start line dancing just for me, but she said "We'll have to head to downtown Nashville for that."

Oh and a quick geography lesson, Graceland is actually in Memphis, which is not the same as Nashville. So I didn't get to visit Graceland...oh well maybe next time...

Here is an evening shot of downtown Nashville, the skyline is supposed to be very pretty at night.



ZOMG! The first real cowboy I spotted!



Jack's BBQ, supposedly one of the best places to have BBQ in TN. It was pretty damn good actually!





I know the yellow stuff is creamed corn and I can identify baked beans. I honestly don't know what the other stuff is.



An evening shot of the blvd after dinner. The whole street is like this, very pretty.



Heh. I will post more later.

So when I was in grade school, I happily did a school report on the great state of Tennessee (mainly because I was horse mad at the time and TN were known for their Tennessee Walking Horses. Little did I know that centuries later I would be visiting that same state!! Yes dear readers, I am off to TN to visit my college friend Tina for the next few days. There I will be indulging in Elvis, Graceland, BBQ and all kinds of southern goodness...and I even heard tell that Tina wants to take me line dancing...but I only wear Birkenstocks, so line dancing in Birks will be an interesting experience. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and post them here, so y'all can bask in the glow of TN right along with me.

So in the meantime, while I'm horking down on BBQ and buying up lots of velvet Elvis paintings...enjoy Obama's new logos for upcoming initiatives via
Mode Projct. They are pretty damn cool!

Wanna really knock em dead at that next fancy party with your innate sense of haute couture? Here are a couple of ideas...



A Bacon Scented Bacon Print Tuxedo! I dare someone to wear this to their prom lol.

And for the lady...



The couch dress! I'd buy just to wear it and freak my mom out, but then she'd probably just say "Why did you spend so much money on that thing, I could've made it for you free."