Day 136: Saturday, February 27

Last night I made an ambitious list of errands to run today — bank, post office, UPS store, garage sale, art gallery, bead show, grocery store and Target.

My initial plan was to leave the house by 9am, but I woke up with a throbbing headache and ended up falling asleep on the couch for a few extra hours after seeing Ryan off to work.

Though I got off to a late start, I’m pretty pleased to say that I accomplished just about everything I wanted to do today.

Here are the highlights:

– Had to go to the bank, PO, and UPS store, so I tackled those first.

– Almost skipped the garage sale because it wasn’t life-threatening, however, their post on Craiglist looked interesting.  They were selling some musical instruments which were nice, but I ended up only buying a brooch.  Decided to go there since it was only a few minutes away from the UPS store.

– Got coffee on the road.  I didn’t want to waste time brewing it at home because I kind of panicked when I first woke up and it was…uh… a little later than 9AM.  The headache was still lingering even though I took some Tylenol earlier in the day, so I thought the coffee might help.

– Went to the Jefferson Studio in Tremont to drop off my submission for the Biggest Little Canvas Show.  Today was the last day to enter (I thought) and the gallery was only open until 4, so I had tackle this one, too.

Here’s what I made (you can click on them to see a larger image):

and

Basically, the gist of the show is to see what you can do on a miniature canvas (mine measure 2″x2″).  On the next Tremont Art Walk (March 12), visitors will vote for their favorite artist, who will receive the entry fees as their prize.  There’s still time to enter, if anyone’s interested.  Just drop off your work tomorrow!

I was expecting this errand to only take a minute, but I ended up sticking around for nearly an hour talking with the gallery owner, as well as the owner of gallery next door.  Both were super-nice and told me about their work and studios.  The second studio even had a gorgeous and friendly calico cat that greeted me at the door.

I suspect that I’ll be hanging out around there more often as I try to get back into the fine art world…

-At this point I wasn’t sure if I could make it to the Intergalactic Bead Show on time.  The venue was about 20 minutes away and it was nearly 4PM (show ends at 5) , but I gave it a shot anyway since I was on a roll.  I did make it, and as a bonus prize, the $5 admission fee was waived since I came in so close to the end!

The show was kind of small, so I’m glad that I didn’t put it off until tomorrow.  I was able to do a quick run around all of the booths, and then take the last 15-20 minutes to buy a couple things like this neato hinged frame glass pendant thing that you can fill with your own designs.

-Lastly, I went to Giant Eagle to pick up a perscription.

The only place I didn’t make it to was Target.  I could have made it because they are open late, however, all I wanted to get was some page protectors for my recipe binder.  It was getting pretty snowy/foggy at this point, so I didn’t want to push it.

I mean, I didn’t want things to turn out too perfectly today.

( :

Day 130: Sunday, February 21

Last Monday I finally bought my domain and year’s worth of web hosting.  So I spent the better part of this week working on my site.

I was hoping to do a preliminary “reveal” this week, however, I still can’t figure out how to accomplish all of the things I want to include.  Once I establish a template, though, adding content shouldn’t be a huge deal.

The basic problem that I’m running into is that I planned out my design in Photoshop and am having trouble trying to translate that into a functional site through Dreamweaver.   For example, I want to have a drop shadow and beveled edge around my main content box and want to use a special font in my (playfully askew) navigation buttons.  So I need to import these elements as images instead of taking advantage of the navigation menu formats readily created in the program, and am having trouble aligning all of the pieces.

Dreamweaver is awesome because you just put the parts together visually and it does all of the code-writing for you.  The “downfall” is that you still have to obey the rules of HTML and can’t just put anything anywhere, like you can in Photoshop.

I could circumvent many of the issues by simplifying my design to better-suit my skill level, but I’m not willing to do that yet.  Just need some more time to experiment with different approaches.  I’ve already made 5-7 distinct attempts that I saved separately in case I come up with a brilliant way to fix what I’ve started.

I am a little burnt out from thinking about it.  I’ve actually had dreams about how to take the next steps…

*****

So yesterday and today I’ve taken a break from it to organize my crafting supplies.

I have this giant box of random beads and broken jewelry that I acquired from a crazy Gabriel Brothers sidewalk sale that I had yet to sort.  Some parts I’ve salvaged for myself, and organized them in color-coded sectioned plastic cases.  The rest, I’ve packed in tiny zippy bags by type and am planning to post on eBay.  I’ve had some mild success getting rid of excess supplies this way.

Anyway, I’m going to get back to doing that so I can pick all of my junk off of the floor.  Then it’s cartoon night on Fox — hooray!

Day 123: Sunday, February 14

I had a really nice weekend!  Spent a lot of time outside of the house, which was a welcome change…

*****

Friday night, Ryan and I met some friends in Tremont for happy hour snacks and drinks.  I didn’t know this beforehand, but it was also the night of the neighborhood’s monthly art walk,  so after dinner we walked around (for as much time as we could tolerate in the bitter cold) and checked out some galleries.

It made me really happy to see fine art in person again.  I still haven’t made it up to the art museum, so this gave me a great boost.

It made me a little sad, though, because I felt somewhat out-of-the-art-loop.  Sure I’ve been crafting and doing some digital design work, but I’m overdue for playing around with paints and fabrics and other fun materials.

There is an art show coming up where all entries are to be on tiny canvases.  I bought some years ago because I thought they were cute, but never used them.  Think it’s about time to…

*****

Saturday was amazing because I actually coordinated a friendly gathering where the invited parties could all attend, and ended up having a really great time.

Of course, there were only three of us so you’d think it wouldn’t be that difficult to plan an event, but for me it’s a feat.  For some reason it seems that any time I initiate a “hang out” it just doesn’t work out.

Anyway, the three of us (me + two Art Ed college buddies) went to the Valentine’s edition of the Bazaar Bizarre downtown.  It was kind of small, but the venue was nice.  Just a bit tough to find parking.

Afterward, we went to the Chocolate Bar, which ended up being (nearly) right across the street from the craft show.  Earlier in the week it was featured on the Fox8 morning show, and since then I’ve been anxious to check it out.

They have wonderful, thick hot chocolate that tastes like a melted candy bar and a ton of desserty foods and drinks like white chocolate spaghetti, crepes, and flavored martinis (such as creme brulee).  I ended up ordering a layered Belgian chocolate cake with chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, and whipped cream.  Very delicious!

*****

Today = Happy Valentine’s Day!

Here’s what I got Ryan:

A few weeks ago we were talking about candy in the check out line at the grocery store.   Ryan said that when he was little, his grandma always had HUGE gummy bears at her house and that they were his favorite treat.  So I later Googled “huge gummy bears” and came up with these, which were sold wholesale in a store display box.

I may have been able to find them sold singly, but where’s the fun in that?

Ryan was incredibly surprised, though, because these ones are apparently many times larger than the ones he had growing up.  Which is great, but I was initially hoping to recreate the gummy bear experience of yesteryear…

This evening we went to a hibachi restaurant for dinner.  It’s the same place that we went to last year, and had so much fun that we wanted to do it again.  I think we even had the same waitress and chef as before.

Either way, the food was amazing (we had shark steak!), the chef was very funny, and we came home very full. Looking forward to going next year (or sooner)!

Day 120: Thursday, February 11

Today I mailed some beaded “quilt” squares to Alaska to donate to a breast cancer awareness project.

Now, I’m not huge into the buy-everything-pink-3-day-walk breast cancer campaign (there are other cancers, you know), but I found out about this project on a jewelry site and it sounded interesting.  Basically, people from around the world submit as many of these 2 inch squares as they want, and the donations are sewn together to form “quilts,” which are auctioned off at bead shows to gain money for the cause.

Each year there’s a theme… As you may have guessed, this year’s is the turtle (for it’s persistence).  Other years have been flowers or hearts, which are a little easier to work with.  Still, I’m pretty pleased that I was able to come up with three different designs considering my limited knowledge of turtles (and that you only have a 1.5″x1.5″ space within which to work).

I think that the finished quilt designs will be posted on that site in the late spring/early summer.  I’ll post links once they’re available.

Day 117: Monday, February 8

I’ve spent a lot of time online these past few days.

I know that I’ve talked about this before, but I want to get my internet empire up-and-running soon. You know, buy my own domain.  Post portfolio images online. Make a “one stop shop” for all things Autumn.

So I’ve been looking for a little inspiration.  Through this, I’ve found lots of neat Photoshop tutorials, free font sites, and design blogs.

I’m still (slowly) plowing my way through my epic 900-some page Dreamweaver book and want to do all of the work myself.  I also need to re-acquaint myself with Flash because I have this cool intro idea for my site.  I got a book for that, too…

Anyway, here are some of my new favorite sites:

Web Design Fan

DaFont

Clients From Hell

…and for those who could care less about the digital arts (be prepared to say “AWWWW!”):

Cute Overload

*****

Also spent a lot of time on the job hunt.  I didn’t make the cut for the job mentioned in my last post, but I have heard back from someone else.  So we’ll see.

Day 112: Wednesday, February 3

I’ve been having a lot of dreams lately that I can remember in great detail.  Some have a common reoccurring theme, like not being able to find privacy when I need it.

According to DreamMoods.com this could mean:

To dream that you have no privacy, suggests that you are feeling exposed and unprotected. What are you trying to hide? Alternatively, it indicates that you are repressing your emotions and not allowing them to be fully expressed. You are worried that others will see the real you and criticize you.

Similarly, according to DreamForth.com:

To dream about lack of privacy suggests insecurity and vulnerability. It suggests that you might be hiding something significant from people around you. It may also mean you try to keep emotions to yourself because of fear of ridicule if you express your real feelings.

Now, my curiosity in dream interpretation doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to ride my golden unicorn to the local psychic to write an absolute blueprint for my life, however, those results are interesting…

*****

So in the interest of sharing my emotions openly and honestly:

Yesterday I felt like a teenager… in a bad way.

You know, not in the hyper-go-getter-the-world-is-my-oyster way, but in the restless-I-can’t-do-anything-’cause-I-don’t-have-control sort of way.

It happens occasionally where I want to do something random like drive down to Kentucky, just because I haven’t been there before.

I felt better, though, after doing a little shopping at the craft store.  It was just far enough away from home that it somewhat satisfied my need for an adventure (for now).

I think some of my uneasiness stems from the uncertainty of unemployment, which makes sense.  So I’m not super-worried about it.  I know that something will come along.

I actually did hear from one potential employer.  I had to fill out and submit a mini written test, but have yet to hear if they are interested in my coming to a live interview.

I think the other part of my restlessness is a result of the cold weather keeping me in the house more often.  Which will (eventually) get better.

*****

You may notice that I talk about crafting a lot in this blog.  The reason being that creating things keeps me sane.

I get to tackle challenges like discovering the best use of certain materials and figuring out how to draw more people to my Etsy page.  Yeah, it’s not like brain surgery or solving a Rubik’s cube, but it helps to keep my mind going.  Still, I think I’m hungry for more challenges.

Unfortunately, I was not accepted as a vendor at the Valentine’s Bazaar Bizarre show, but I am going to try and enter a jewelry design contest through BeadStyle Magazine.

I’ll let you know how that goes.