Try not to cry

from the Mindy Gledhill concert for NieNie

I've been working...

I promise.

Really.

I should have a heaping amount of updates later this week or over the weekend.

Life's just getting in the way... and creative bursts of energy. They don't come around as often so I have to run with them before i forget them!

So...
Until later.

I know you're out there...

so you wanna win a 2009 Wall Calendar?





I'll choose two lucky ducks to win.

Just leave a comment and you'll automatically be entered- one per person please. Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you via email, your blog or Etsy shop. If I do not have contact information for you, I will have to pick another winner. This is open to international winners as well! You do not have to be visiting from the Bloggy Carnival to win! If you are just stopping by, please enter!

This is apart of the big BloggyGiveaway Blog Carnival hosted here and runs until Friday, October 31st

Check out all I have to offer in my Etsy shop. New holiday items will be coming soon!

I hearby find you GUILTY!

It has been decided that I am not allowed to go to the mall by myself. I have agreed to these terms and though I may not agree 100% with the reasoning behind these actions against me, for the greater good of my household and my bank account I must oblige.

Below you will find some of the evidence against me.

Exhibit A


Exhibit B


Exhibit C


Exhibit D


Case and point.

Why I cannot be a millionaire and buy my way out of this will haunt me forever.

Explain to me how someone is supposed to raise a daughter in this world and teach her that objects and material goods and THINGS are not important... when places are offering these amazing pieces of fabulousness? I

If this collection came in my size, I'd break my no matching outfits rules.

images courtesy of Janie&Jack ... click if you dare- you'll get sucked in.

Miss Artsy Fartsy...

never disappoints

checkitout.

Miss Blog Buddy, Erika, wrote up a great little mentioning of Five Dot on her Artsy Fartsy Shopaholic blog today. I never really know what to say when someone does something like this- I'm so flattered and humbled to find someone that likes my work as much as my mom does. And word to the wise- subscribe to her blog... it's definitely a great read and she ends up showing some fantastic Etsy sellers- um, hello? She found me didn't she :-)

So, thank you Erika! I can't wait to snatch up an apron when she's back in business. I hope see's back in time for Christmas shopping! Check out her flickr here.

And love on this painting here.

I was in the middle of this.

Writing almost this exact post.

More on it later... or read an earlier post that is similar here.

A Play date with some new friends.

It was a VERY productive weekend for me. It was virtually kid-free (which also lead us to find out that Little Miss was NOT happy about being away that long), so both the hubz and I were able to focus on a few projects uninterrupted.

Friday: Operation Oz.
Well, it's almost finished. It doesn't look all that pretty. But it's almost finished. I never realized how zippy Singers were! Man, Betsy was flying! I didn't really have an problems following the pattern, but I had a little trouble controlling the pedal (apparently I'm a lead-foot), so the stitches aren't all that pretty. It's okay. It's my first attempt at anything by myself and it could be waaay worse. I had to rip the stitches out of two of the sections and should be able to get that sewn up this week for her debut this weekend at a Family Halloween Party out in the country.






Saturday: Operation Oz continued
I worked until about 1am on Saturday morning, got up around 9:30, ate the yummy french toast my hubs made and then got right back to it. After sewing a bit, I decided I was tired and lounged a bit before having to go pick up the Nugget.



Sunday: Punch it Margaret!
I finally changed into my scumming tshirt and pulled out the rubber ink. Margaret came out to play this weekend. I ran her (the lovely letterpress) on Sunday after a trip to the grocery. I had to do a lot of tinkering and a lot of readjusting, but I was able to get some ink on some paper. There is still a lot of tinkering and more adjusting to do, but it was good to get my hands dirty- er blue (the ink is still in my nails). I think I'm going to have some ornamental designs made into blocks so that I can get a few things rolling. I just wanted to get digging into the press, get my hands dirty and print. I wanted to USE my machine. It spent about an hour downstairs tightening and loosening bolts, making passes over the ink plate and the "L" locked up in the chase. It was fun. It was a nice and relaxing. Marv came down and laid on the floor next to me and only made a ruckus once (why do dogs eat their own poo? seriously!).








Monday: Wholesale
I'm super excited about the first possible wholesale account I have on the table. The glitch? I didn't have my wholesale policies or my line sheets or my catalog ready to go. Ugh. I managed to pull a quick line sheet with pricing together (which will be worked into a proper line sheet once I get the photos taken for my catalog and will no longer need to rely on my digital illustrations.) It's a daunting task to take on. Especially with a tight turn-around time!

365

On a completely different note, Jenny the Artist 2 included a picture of our old bathroom in a lovely inspiration board. Last photo, 4th row. Oh Swannies...