Sprouting: A new design and organization tips!

Hello everyone! Wow, can you believe that July is almost here? It may be hot and sticky at times, but there’s so much to do and explore—let’s make it a great Summer! 

Yesterday I visited my good friend Sarah G. for the first time in a while, with a belated graduation gift I had been meaning to give her before I went adventuring up north for the next few weeks. In the process of making her gift, I discovered (almost by accident) that it was a design that I wanted to pursue for my upcoming Blueberry Crumble plushies. “Happy little accidents,” as Bob Ross (one of my role models) might say! It helped me to find ways in which to improve over previous designs I’ve had, and Sarah sure seemed to enjoy her new friend. Here’s a picture:

                                                 Hello! Do you have any carrots?

The rabbit, who I tentatively dubbed “Bonnie Bun,” is a step up from its cousin Strawberry-Choco the cat; for starters, I’ve been continuing to practice embroidery, and although Bonnie’s eyes didn’t come out exactly as I’d hoped, I have a much better idea of how I’d like my dolls’ eyes to look in the future. I also learned how to do button-jointing, which I though added a cute touch to the limbs and a little more potential for posing and interaction. (Bonnie can either lay back on a nice patch of grass or assume the hug position!) I wanted to blog about the bunny doll because I felt it was a big improvement for me and the vision I had for my plushies, even though it started out as a simple gift, which is important to me—I went for months without really knowing what I wanted to do or what I wanted my dolls to look like. Hooray for small victories!

                                                  A closer view of the button jointed arm.

Slowly but surely, more space is being cleared in the second bedroom (or “craft room,” as I reluctantly call it), which is another step in the right direction. I’ve managed to get a lot of stuff off of my main desk, clearing up room for my sewing machine to be used, and cleared a lot more floor space; the cleaner it gets, the more I actually want to go in there and craft, funny enough! I think having your own personal space has a bit of sacredness to it and can be almost like an escape, depending on the atmosphere of the room. It is what you make it to be, after all! With this in mind, I set out to find some helpful tips on keeping an area organized and clutter-free, to maximize happiness and productivity—something anyone can benefit from, to be sure! Here are some webpages that stood out to me:

1. Organizing Your Craft Room: http://www.getcreativeshow.com/Craft_Sew_Business/Business_Seminars/craftroom.htm
2. Tips for Organizing Craft Room (via Country Living): http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/make-craft-room-0306
3. How To Organize Craft and Hobby Materials (via eHow): http://www.ehow.com/how_137851_organize-craft-hobby.html
4. Easy Organizing: Craft Supplies (via Good Housekeeping): http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/organizing/organizing-craft-room

This is just the tip of the iceberg! Hopefully this inspires you to come up with your own ideas for organizing your own craft space and making it an easy place to work and unwind. Good luck!

That’s all for now, friends! I’ll be away from July 2nd to the 17th, so in the meantime, why not leave a comment? I’d like to hear about any Fourth of July plans you might have or any updates on your own craftstuffs! Take care!

Best wishes,
-Angie

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A Taste of Maine

Happy Thursday, everyone! I hope my East Coast readers (presumably all of you) aren't getting too much rain this week! Today I'm going to talk a bit about my home away from home: Maine! It's not the most popular or populous state, to be sure--in fact, I had quite a bit of trouble finding activities and events that weren't two or three hours away! However, it's special to me because not only do I have relatives up there (my aunt, uncle, and grandma), but I've also gone up there many summers since I was young, and have fond memories of the different sights we'd see and the times we'd spend playing board games and being together as a family. I still remember when I was little and we'd go to the beach and boogieboard, haha! Nothing quite like the rocky shores, the brisk air (which I swear to anyone is much cleaner and fresher), and the quaint atmosphere, even in bigger cities. This is the first year I'll have gone back in maybe 3 or 4 years, I think, and since I'll be much busier in years to come, I wanted to go there this year while I still had no job (and no reservations). So, let me take you into my memory banks as I show you some of the things that I've done in
Maine over the years (and still do...some things never change!).

Click the image to get a closer look!

#1: Maine State Museum: Located right in the heart of Augusta next to the State House, I've been here more times than I can count! I could probably walk you through several exhibits and point out little things from memory, like the sardine can collection in the Fishing exhibit, the sheen on the fake apples in barrels near an apple mill, or the gigantic water wheel that operates and changes as you move up and down several floors. I remember the glow of the gemstones in the gemstone exhibit, the giant moose in the nature exhibit (which recreates nature scenes of Maine during all seasons), the fake slab of meat in the center pit of a Native American scene, and the video of a Maine basket weaver weaving a basket painstakingly by hand (which is probably still played today!). All little things, certainly, but evidence that I've been there long enough to remember them! Historical facts...well, I could use a little brushing up on those, eheheh. It is a museum rich in culture and history, though, and something I always look forward to whenever I'm up in Maine.

#2: Lake St. George: A state park in Liberty, we would all go here for picnics every year, often under the shade of bushy-leaved trees near the lake itself. I remember I would be so impatient to get in and out of the water, it made eating lunch difficult, haha! (I must have been a fish in my past life.) One funny thing my family could tell you about me being in the lake is that I used to bring my best pair of swim goggles, swim to the bottom, and collect rocks that looked interesting or weird. I was a big rock collector, for sure. I dove down, carrying as much as I could in one hand and collecting with the other, and sometimes found big rock piles that people had built so they could stand higher above the water. (Sometimes I found schools of fish around these piles!) One time, I found a dragon necklace at the bottom of the lake that someone had dropped (who knows when and where); I kept it and still have it today! When I wasn't being a fish, I was playing frisbee with my relatives in the lake and on land, and basking in the warm glow of the sun to dry. Sometimes I even caught glimpses of animals like eels and oddly-colored squirrels (one which I caught munching on some bark really close to our table one year). I was a curious youngster. :)

#3: Miniature golf and Gifford's ice cream stand: Nothing like a good game of mini golf, and nothing like the ice cream they make at the Gifford's ice cream stand right next door! In addition to batting cages, they have a full 18-hole mini golf course with cute course designs like an ice cream truck, whale, operating windmill, covered bridge, and a clown face to end the round (I think if you get the ball in his nose, you win a free game). Some of those courses were tough, though!--especially the ones where you have to hit the ball with some, but not too much, strength. My golf balls were always attracted to gravel, haha. When we were done playing, we'd head over to the ice cream stand for a couple of scoops, which were always generous. My favorite of all time was (and is) Maine Black Bear: vanilla ice cream with a black raspberry swirl and little chocolate cups filled with raspberry syrup. There's really nothing else like it, and I always get so excited to have it again. The cups are a delicious surprise whenever I have a spoonful. Ooh..now I'm hungry for ice cream...

#4: Bar Harbor: We didn't go here very often because it's so far from where my relatives live, but when we did go, I never failed to have a fun time. There are lots and lots of adorable little shops along the roads, none of them chain stores (from what I can remember), each with their own unique charm; the harbor itself is very pretty, and there's something soothing and distinctly Maine about being there. One of my more interesting experiences there was at a homemade ice cream shop (there I go with ice cream again, haha), who sold lobster ice cream! Gross, right? Well, I tried a small serving of it and it actually wasn't bad, although towards the end I started to get a little sick of it. (I don't know what I would've done without the tasty vanilla ice cream backing up those lobster pieces...but then I guess I'd just have lobster, huh?) Also discovered in Bar Harbor was a soft drink called Moxie, apparently the official state soft drink. Why, Maine, why?! (Haha!) All I regret to remember was that it was strong, bitter, and reminded me of medicine. Yuck yuck. I guess there must be people out there who like the stuff if it keeps selling, right?

Oh, it's different, all right...

#5: Cadillac Mountain: Towering over Acadia National Park (which is near Bar Harbor, actually) is Cadillac Mountain, 1,528 feet above sea level! (I had to look that up, haha.) It's also the first place in the United States where you can see the sun rise, though only in Fall and Winter (contrary to popular belief). We drove up there on a paved road and walked around at the tippy top, and boy what a beautiful view! Nothing like being on a mountaintop to make you feel like a small speck in this big world! I can imagine it'd be a lovely place to watch the sun rise or set, or to spend a romantic moment with your special someone.

Everyone looks like ants from up here!



#6: Lobster fishing: Can you believe that yours truly is a bit of a seafarer? When I was younger (maybe early 2000's, if not before), I went on a day trip with my aunt and uncle to see a friend of theirs, who lived right on the coast. He took us out on his small boat to bring up some lobster traps so that we could enjoy an authentic Maine delicacy (if you didn't know, Maine and lobster go together like Kermit and Miss Piggy...okay, maybe not the best analogy, but they're inseparable!). I'll never forget how colorful the sea of buoys was! It fascinated me that there were just so many different fisherman who had traps set to catch these poor, delicious creatures. (I was also impressed by the amount of different patterns on the buoys...who knew there were so many?) Pulling up the buoys, we caught a fair catch of both lobsters and crabs (both of which I was slightly terrified, at risk of being pinched), but I got to watch the fisherman band their claws before we went back to shore and boiled them up. It was there that I learned to take apart my first lobster and savor the meat inside--lobster meat that no other has rivaled in all my years of eating lobster. I promise! There's nothing like fresh seafood...mmm mmm. I'm no Paula Deen, but with a little butter on the side...food paradise!

#7: Big G's Deli: Okay okay, so I know I've mentioned food a lot so far...but you can't deny that part of a travel experience is the food you eat! (This coming from someone who watches "Bizarre Foods" whenever she gets a chance..) Last on my feature of Maine is Big G's Deli, a delicious restaurant not far from Waterville. I used to go there a lot (not every single day, but in terms of years), and I would almost always get their chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, which were as big as their plates! I could never finish them, in all my vain attempts..not even close. (This was back when my stomach could handle pancakes..these days, it'd be digestive suicide, uwahh.) What I liked about this place besides the pancakes was the special feeling I got when going out to breakfast with my relatives for no particular reason, as well as the atmosphere and the gigantic deli menu I got a kick out of reading; every sub (or grinder, as I grew up calling it) had a name, like The Elvis or The Kermit the Frog, and there were many different combinations, all of which I've yet to try. Apparently this place is really well-known for its good food! But I don't really care about its popularity, just the memories of going out to breakfast with my relatives. It was a staple of my visit for quite a few years!

Apart from all of those things, sometimes the best way we'd spend time together was when we played board games together, like Aggravation on a homemade board with colored marbles or Quiddler (a word card game that I hope I'm not confusing with Luna Lovegood's newspaper). Spending time at the library or at home with my aunt and uncle and their two cats was also satisfying and nice, and I'm grateful that I've been able to go visit them as much as I have and have all these fond memories of a place not many have been to. Who knows what the future holds this time around? Whatever it is, you can bet I'll be taking plenty of pictures! :)

Have a great day,

-Angie

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Jambalaya!

I would usually post something craft-related, but ahhhh, I made the most delicious jambalaya today! I never made it before and felt like some Southern cooking for a change, so I nabbed a recipe from this website and got cooking--don't let the 4/5 stars fool you, it exceeded my expectations by a lot! It has lots of flavor and tastes great even without shrimp (I couldn't bring myself to buy shrimp because it was so expensive). Here's a picture of my results:

Super-tasty! Ping was freaking out when he took a bite!

I recommend it 100%! Tasty jambalaya, watching The Princess and the Frog while cooking (now I want to try Tiana's pastries)...this week is off to a great start!

-Angie

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Where to go from here?

Hey everyone! Wow it's been months since I've updated here (again, haha), but this time I'm free of school (for now), so I have no excuses! I really should be updating more than I have been, but I won't beat myself up about it. Better to press on than have too many little regrets. I do miss regularly updating a journal, and it's nice to just type my thoughts out for a change.

Now that school is over with, I look forward to working more on cleaning up my messy craft room and getting to work on my craftstuffs for Etsy and possibly MangaNEXT in the fall. It's definitely tough making crafts when your craft space is cluttered; most of the time, I find myself bringing things into the living room rather than working on them in the craft room! Things are getting better, but there's a lot I'd like to get rid of, and I've implemented some neat fixes already--such as installing some ribbon holders on my desk and getting all of my fabric onto one cart. I'm also hoping to get a few bookshelves in there for my children's book collection, and making it into a guest room so that it can finally be a comfortable space for visitors to sleep and hang out. That is one of my biggest summer goals, for sure! :) Being organized is sometimes easier said than done, but one of my little secrets is watching the show "Clean House"--that usually motivates me to clean my apartment, haha!

There was something that happened this past weekend that really kinda hit me by surprise and has had me thinking a lot about the future of my crafts. From June 10-12, I went to AnimeNEXT as an attendee, for the first time in 2 or 3 years (I usually go as an artist to sell my crafts). I was shocked when I discovered that someone had created teru teru bozu cell phone charms almost identical to the ones I've sold there in the past; I mustered up the courage to confront them about it, thanks to the support of my friend Sarah G., and although there wasn't much I could do about it, it was clear from what they told me that they had used my picture as a direct reference for their charms. It's not that the charms are hard to make--actually, the design is generic enough that anyone can make it--but I've been noticing that it wasn't until I started selling them at AnimeNEXT and posting them online that I've been seeing them more frequently in both places. Sarah S. brought up a good example--that she and her art group were selling face masks that started a surge of imitations--and it had me wondering: what now? It's not the end of the world that other people are making and selling teru teru bozu--they're certainly entitled to. But for a long time, teru teru bozu have been kind of my..."thing." They're special to me and part of my identity, so seeing other people making them look almost exactly like mine really hurt, to be honest. It's hard to explain to some people.

It has had me thinking, however, that I should take my crafts in a new, more exclusively original direction, making crafts that are much harder for people to imitate and really ooze a personal touch. I'm thinking of making Blueberry Crumble a hub for original stuffed animals, as well as other assorted accessories and little decorations like crocheted flowers and such. (When I learn to crochet, that is! Hehe.) I already came up with a new pattern for my "Crumble Critters"--a cat!

This one, a prototype Strawberry Choco, is being sent to my penpal in Wisconsin.

I definitely think it's about time that I move towards more original work, and probably look into copyrighting and getting tags for my plushies. (Does anybody happen to know how to go about doing that, by the way?) I also hope to get in some more embroidery practice so that I can experiment with embroidering the dolls' faces, and jot down my ideas in a notebook so I don't forget them. It's a lot to do for sure, but I have high hopes that it'll work out and maybe even become a source of income somewhere down the road. :)

In other news, I'm soon going to Maine for the first time in 3 or 4 years! (In addition, I'll be spending a week with my parents, who haven't been in the best of health lately; I'll be helping them out around the house and spending some quality time with them, which has been harder to do these days.) I'll be taking a bus and train there to visit with my aunt, uncle, and grandma, and then going back to Connecticut to stay with my parents. Luckily I have the free time to do both things, since chances are I'll have at least a part-time job next year to pay for my student loans and such, so it looks like I'll have plenty of photo-ops and chances for crafting. (My aunt is into crafts too, lucky me! She does stamping, cardmaking, and crocheting!) Maybe I'll find more inspiration and work on my things there--I miss seeing my family, and trips like that are usually a great refresher. Stay tuned for cool stuff! :]

Well, that's all for now, folks! I'm looking forward to updating again soon! Hope everything is well with you and that you're enjoying your summer so far!

-Angie

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