specifially at one site

So I turned in my portfolio for my mid term fiber arts project today. I'm not going to try to explain its meaning or anything like that, it would be longwinded and partly bs... I will just show you the pictures instead.

And here are some pictures of me working on it, taken by my mom who was really great and helped me put up and document the who piece.


(It was really windy)

Anyway, I need to send out the quilt block swap partner info right now, so I better push off. Don't forget to check out the new pattern on crafty leftovers, it's a travel sized tissue holder. I know I'm getting the sniffles all over the place!

Have a good week!

Hi there!

So I've been a little absent lately, but I do have good reasons, which I'm not going to disclose here because this is public and they are private. The good news is that I'm back and I have some pictures and I'm going to do a little show and tell.

Here is my wall of drawings that I've been working on from time to time. There aren't as many as I would like, but the diversion in my life has made it so. Hopefully I will get more up there soon.

I started working on the bathmat again, it's almost finished, but I ran out of yarn on one of the balls (I'm working off three strands at once), so I'm going to have to rewind the large ball into 3 smaller ones. I hope I have enough. I recycled a sweater to get it, so there is no more yarn to find. Only 10 more rows to go too! Keep your fingers crossed.
I also started work back up on the Go Everywhere with Everything sweater for stitch and bitch, that I started about, well, it was the first sweater I started about a year and a half ago, so I decided that it's about time that I get it finished.
And while picking up some supplies at JoAnn's I decided to pick out a little $2 prize for myself.
And I was making it into things when Mr B came along:
And I ended up making what I was making to small and decided to use fabric that I had more of into this:
Which you can get a pattern for over at Crafty Leftovers, I just posted the new pattern today, you should go check it out.


And horror so horror! I broke my favorite knitting needles today. It was the sparrow milk protein ones... I loved those and they don't sell them anymore. I think it was being in the warm and then really cold and then warm again that made them brittle. I really don't want to buy a new pair of needles right now, I'm really trying to save money, but at the same time I'm trying to get the wavy line sweater finished by Christmas time.

Oh and this week I'm going to be in the Art and Craft Sale that Ars Nova is hosting in the Glass Gallery at NIU. It should be fun. I'm going to make a bunch of these:


I'm actually going to be making wallets that are tri-folds, double folds (like the one above), and check book holders. I'm going to be putting any that are left over up for sale in my etsy shop.... I will keep you posted.

Anyway, I'm taking off for the night, I will see all you kiddos again on Monday! Wish me luck on getting all those wallets/checkbook holders made!

down and up again

So sorry no posts for a bit here, I've been trying, but I don't know if it is just me or blogger, but everytime I have gotten an error, and now I'm not sure what really has been posted and what hasn't, so I'm starting fresh. I will start regular (blogger providing) posting on Wednesday evening. I have a paper due Tuesday so no distractions tomorrow.

There will be a new pattern over at crafty leftovers this Friday!

Have a good week!

Ugh!

Okay, so I was planning on a longer post but I have had a bit of a crisis: I went to officailly drop my french class and they won't let me! It turns out that I missed the withdraw deadline by less than 48 hours! So now I am in French again and have to finish my homework tonight for class tomorrow morning! plus study for my art history exam! I am appealing my case to the dean on Thursday, but until I find out for sure I need to do my homework! So ugh! I was looking forward to less stress and instead I find myself full of it! I am not going to be able to post on Wednesday because of cramming, but will on Friday. Sorry! Have a good week, I sure hope mine gets better.

editted in: So I have stopped freaking out and realized that I wouldn't normally start working on my french homework until today anyway, so really not so bad. Also, I think I'm just going to stick it out. This semester has flown by so I'm sure the rest of it will as well..... and something that made me emencely happy. I checked in on a craftster post I did awhile ago on crafty leftovers and check this out... someone made my pattern! and it was their first sewing pattern! And they still understood how to make it! How exciting/encouraging! Okay, so back to homework... I just didn't want everyone thinking that my life was all doom and gloom today. I guess, this not being able to withdraw from french class must have happened for a reason. Have a good week!

Ups and Downs

Okay, so I realize that readership often depends on regular posting and well, i blew it with crafty leftovers.... I was late posting patterns and had a heck of a month trying to pull it back together... and because of it everyone that was reading, well, isn't. And it's kind of sad, I was feeling sorry for myself and I posted my pattern today thinking "is anyone really going to even see this or care" or "has anyone even looked at the site today" so I clicked on the site meter icon on the bottom of Crafty Leftovers and lo' and behold I saw that someone had found my site through another site.... so I was curious and wanted to see if it was random or if I was mentioned somewhere.... I was on someone's frequent blog/site list! I was right under Wee Wonderfuls and Hello My Name is Heather! I read those all the time, so to be included in the same list, well, even if I am at the bottom, makes me pretty happy. So thank you person out there who added me to your list. It made my day!

I don't really have much to report. I haven't really made much since Wednesday and don't really have any projects planned for the weekend because I will be spending time with my family for my Dad's birthday. (I get to see Jason too, horray! I haven't seen him in 3 weeks). I am working at the Yarn Exchange tomorrow, which is always nice, I hope I can remember all the passwords for everything I need to remember them for.... fingers crossed.

I did finally get my book back, which is great, just seeing all of the wonderful projects makes me inspired. Plus I always get nervous loaning out my books, it seems I rarely get them back.

Well, it is way passed my bedtime, so I am going to go to sleep now.

I feel a rant coming on....

...But I swear I will try to suppress it until after the progress photos. So here they are:

I've been trying to pick up and finish old projects, so dug into my bag and found one sock + one cuff of a sock. So I finished up the heel flap and have been working to finish my first pair of properly fitting socks!


Here is some more of the same yarn that I will combine with the same Cotton Fine - Rue yarn. I hope they turn out as well as the first pair!
Then I also picked up and looked at my wavy line sweater, figured out where the heck I was, and then realized that I would like to get a second opinion on what to do with the shoulder seams. I think I should just put it on some extra yarn and then do a three needle bind off when I get the front finished.


I also started on the heel flap of my xxl trekking socks.



And because I did all of this work on my existing WIP's, I didn't feel so guilty taking my sweater with me on the Chicago trip, I got a whole lot done. I almost have the back finished!

I also finished two quilt blocks today for the swap. Unfortunately, I was not supposed to be participating, but it came to my attention that one of our members, was well, a delinquent... And two different people sent their blocks to her, but she never sent them her's.... So I am making 4 blocks this month and sending them out to the people who had their blocks stolen. Now, I realize that stolen is a harsh word, but when you sign up for a swap, and then take someone's handmade goods without returning the favor, that is stealing. So these are the blocks I whipped up, I took a whole lot of photos and am going to be making a tutorial for the swap out of them. I'm going to start out with the basics and move into more complex techniques.

And then here is my sculpture project for my beginning sculpture class. The whole point was to cast something. So I cast a spool of thread.............. 42 times. I have now been labeled obsessive compulsive by my classmates because I wound them with thread as well. Whatever, it wasn't too hard at all. I definitely know how to make a plaster cast! It looks a lot better in real life, there is more anger and frustration conveyed, the thread is more tangled too. I'm not sure what to call it, I'm not sure if I need to call it anything.
Okay so, the quilt block swap thing was the rant I felt coming on, and I think I was pretty to the point about it, not too long of a rant.

Now Chicago... Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because, well, I didn't take my camera. I figured that our dear president wouldn't tolerate stragglers, and boy was I right. She is a power walker that happens to be about a foot taller than me so I, and everyone else, was struggling to keep up. The cool things that happened were ... I think I hear the ups man! I've been waiting for my book to come all day!.... Okay, no ups... The Chicago Cultural Center, that was one of the really amazing things. There were quite a few different exhibits, but the really the exhibit on Ukraine early 20th century painting and the other on women's role around the world, portrayed in easily over 100 pieces, were the best. Breath-taking. Go check it out if you are in the area, it's free too! The MCA was pretty great, I'm not even going to try to explain the main exhibit or the performance, they were so... Well... Interesting/well done. I would like to go see the exhibit again, it was so much, too much to take in at once.

No one died/got lost/hit by a car, so that combined with a whole lot of art was the first Ars Nova successful trip that I have organized! Hot dog!

Well, I need to get some stuff done, and I've given up on UPS for today so I'm going to run my books to the library and do homework.

Oh yeah, does anyone know a good area to live in Chicago?

Have a good day!

edited in: Okay, so I know, maybe I'm being a little overly anxious, but seriously, my package has still not come, and to rub it in my face, someone just got a packaged delivered to them downstairs... but then again, you can't really see the apartment numbers, so that might be my package down there, but i'm not going to go look, no i won't snoop around checking the apartment # on packages left at other people's doors.... jeeze... i just want my fricking soup cookbook, it was my last impulse buy before I swore it off! I just wanted to make some soup!

Monday time!

Well don't you just love those days where you have that "what am i doing in my life and why?" question running through your head all day? It's good I realize, but what an inconvenient time to have a day where there was no avoiding self evaluation.... and evaluate I did.... Nothing too crazy, just making actual decisions on things that have been in my mind for awhile now. To sum up the whole thing: I am an artist and I just need to stop denying it/making "rational" career back-up plans.

So I have decided to embrace it, which is exciting. So how am I embracing it? I'm only going to get a minor in art history instead of a duel degree... plus I am only going to take 3 years of french instead of getting a minor. By doing this I will finish my undergrad in a year instead of two... and the last year I will only need to take 3 classes over the course of two semesters. Which means that I can concentrate on getting my portfolio ready to apply to grad school. And this means that I will be able to finally make the final push to an MFA in Art Theory and Practice... which is, after all what I really want in my life. I'm looking into the program at Northwestern University.... but they only have 12 students in the program at a time and I'm hoping that I can cut it. I know I can, but I don't know if they will know I can.

Also, depending on Jason and other things like jobs and what not, I may move closer to the Chicago area next summer, which I feel is also a move in the right direction, it depends also on where Jason is able to find a job. But still, out of DeKalb is good I think.

Why was yesterday and today an inconvenient time for this? Because I have an essay due tomorrow in my Advanced French Grammer and Composition class.... so it goes. Life does these things.

Anyway, with all this self-evaluation, I wasn't able to take pictures of my work, so progress photos will have to wait until Wednesday.

I will also let you all in on how the Chicago trip went as well.

Have a good day tomorrow!

ps - thank you so much for the super nice, making my day comment and emails that I received over the weekend, they really made me feel better about working towards being a full time artist and an in general crafty person! Thank you!

Trip Ahoy!

Well tomorrow is the big Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago trip (MCA trip). I'm pretty excited/apprehensive/nervous/excited... Did I mention excited! It's the first trip I've organized for Ars Nova and I'm really hoping it goes off without a hitch... Hopefully. There are some certain people who are being a thorn in my side, but I'm going to just put that aside, bring my knitting, a sandwich, and just enjoy my time in the Windy City. We are going to end the day with a theatrical performance called Super Vision at the MCA, which is so exciting! My friend from Oak Park (Deanna) is going to meet us up there and it's always good to see her. So keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well.

In other news, I've been so tired that I haven't been able to work on my own paintings lately at all, so I'm hoping, by posting this underpainting, it will get me to take some next steps and show you some actual progress.
I found the picture I took of the fabric that my friend Deb sent to me a bit ago (thank you again by the way).
I also started knitting again, I haven't for about a week (gasp)! So I'm working on the heel gusset on my second sock (I'm finally getting over the second sock syndrome), put another inch on my sweater (only two more inches to go til the shoulder shaping), and pulled out the wavy line sweater and I'm going to start the front. So lots of knitting progress, I will post some photos of that and Chicago on Monday.

Have a good weekend!

Walnuts!

Here is more of me loving this time of the year. I rode by the "secret garden" (this woman sets stuff out from her garden on a picnic table and you just leave money in the coffee can). I love it by the way, I get all of my fresh tomatoes, asparagus, zucchini, green peppers, and now gords from her. Only 10 to 25 cents each. I was so excited. Can I really eat these though? Or are they strickly ordimental... I have no idea, if anyone does, let me in on it. Also, with more dyeing escapades close at hand I decided that I'm going to make photo references for all of my dye stuff collecting. Like an identifier source book. I did make swatch cards for what I dyed the other day and wrote my process down in case I want to get similar colors again. I'm going to make a source card for the onions too. I will write on it where I can get it, what colors I have gotten with what fabric/yarn and mordants. With stuff collected out in the wild (only stuff that is all over the place) I will make identifier cards with photo references, where I have found it, what colors with what fabric and mordants. I figure it will be a good reference for my area because every area is different after all. And lord knows I'm not going to remember where I got half the stuff. Anyway, these are the pictures that are going into the book.




I also just bought some iron, tin, and copper mordants from The Woolery and am hoping to receive them later this week and will try them out over the weekend. My professor said that I could use the school's facilities as long as this other girl Michelle (which just happens to be my middle name) is there. It's understandable because this is my first fiber arts class and she doesn't know how much I've been doing for this. Plus Michelle is using walnuts to dye paper right now and she was wondering how an iron mordant would effect the color/fastness of the dye. I also picked up some yarn from Stick Chick Designs, she sells really nice undyed yarn really cheap, she seems really nice in general too and wants to see pictures when I'm done. You should check out her etsy shop.

Anyway, I'm going to go collect some dye stuff, go to an Ars Nova meeting, go to class, and then come home and finish my sculpture and french homework, so I better shove off.

Have a good rest of the week and craft it up!

Dye ahoy!

Alright, so exciting stuff is going to happen. I just order some mordants for plant dyeing and am going to try it out later this week (if it comes in time to work with it). I will be using Walnut hulls and dyeing some more organic fabric and yarn. This time though I'm going to try some wax relief too.

Here are shot I took the other day with Jason. It was a lot of fun.

Well okay, I lied, only the second picture was taken when I was shooting with Jason, the other images are from my site that I am going to be doing an instillation piece at, or for you art people out there it will actually be a site specific instillation dealing with secluded/private space and it's impact on the seeds of ideas.... yep.

The rest of this past weekend was mainly spent doing research for my south east Asian art history paper, which was actually really enjoyable, but no pictures of that. I also hung 75 Ars Nova Art and Craft fair call for vendors flyers with my friend, which took a good hour or so. Tonight I have been winding red thread around plaster casts of spools of thread. It's for a sculpture project I'm working on. I was hoping to get it done tonight, but I was only able to get 14 wound out of the 45+ that I have to do... yikes and this is due on Thursday? I'm definitely feeling a time crunch.

Did I mention I love fall by the way. I like sitting here with my laptop, cup of tea, and a sweater around me. Love it!

It is supposed to snow on Thursday though and I'm really not so fond of that.

Have a good week!

Found and Found!

Well I finally found my cord to my camera and it's a good thing too, I needed to take some more pictures for an art project and it was full with no way to get what I had on there off! So I'm just going to show you what I was working on today and then on Monday I will do a backlog post (which is pretty much me out in the park having fun! I love this time of year, the colors are great!)

Okay so today's overall running project what my first shot at dying with onions. I thought that I was just going to get some really faded browns, but instead they dyed up into khaki, rust, yellow and a lush, well, so mop cotton isn't the best thing to try to dye so it just kind of looks like a dirty mop. The wool, linen, and cotton twill were great though. With the dirty mop cotton, well I'm going to make it into a rug, so it won't look dirty when it really is! Ha!


Here it is in the dye bath. It kind of looks like a spaghetti soup or something.

Then, my crafty leftovers project that I've been working on, well, wasn't working because I didn't have enough stuffing! RAH! So I made this instead, which is great, because I really needed a new wallet and I like this a whole lot more than any of that fake snake skin junk they have been selling. The pattern is up and posted over at Crafty Leftovers along with more pictures. Go Make One! (and send me a picture of it!)

I also whipped up some catnip pillow for Jason's cat Molly (she's my lovely little lady). And also his friend's mom wanted two, so I guess that's kind of an order, I am getting paid for them, so yeah! Go me!


And then, another really neat thing that happened today was that I got my hands on a paper display from the art store I work at (correction, the art department in a bookstore that I work at). Anyway, they are normally, well, out of my price range to say the least, and I was able to get it for $16! My studio is so much more uncluttered and the main thing is that I can see all of the paper/things that I have because they are not berried in stacks of other things! Neat-O-Tastic!....2006!

It already looks right at home and when I took the picture it was only here for an hour! Oh, and here's a close up of the drawings on the wall. I've been doing some pen drawings from just random stuff laying around and I'm going to make them into a larger piece once I do a enormous amount of them, but that will take at least another week... At least... Maybe more.

And yes, I do have random skulls and eyes laying around... well at work anyway.

Have a good weekend, hopefully I am productive the next two days as I have been today!

Still Lost... dang!

Okay, so I still cannot find my camera cord. I honestly have not had much time to look though. In fact I do not have much time to post right now, so I will just do a quick update.

I have fallen into full swing of being V.P. of Ars Nova and have been organizing and getting things done, it's all very exciting. We are going to go to the MCA Chicago for the Super Vox performance along with the massive change exhibit. We will also be checking out the cultural center. I am organizing a Spring Ars Nova Book Sale to fund a two day trip to Art Chicago in the Sping. We are going to start collecting books now, so if anyone wants to donate some drop me an email and I can get you an address to send them to. I am also cordinating a Knit In to knit a bunch of red sweaters for the Red Sweater project! It will hopefully be in collaboration with the LGBT group here at NIU (I just emailed them and haven't heard back yet) and the local yarn shop (one of the workers, two including myself, have volunteered to help teach people how to knit!) and I'm hoping to borrow some needles from them too. I'm very excited, I've been wanting to knit for this project for a long time. Anyway, lots of great stuff happening. I do have my first French Exam tomorrow, which isn't so bad except the translation part! English to French is the hardest and we will have to do a whole paragraph! no dictionary either!

I'm hoping to finally dye stuff this Friday and have everything all ready, I just need to buy an enamel pot, which I just have not had the time to do. I will post pictures when I'm done, and I find my cable.

A New Crafty Leftover pattern is going up Friday so keep your eyes peeled (most likely late Friday).

Well have a good week!

Monday!

Oh boy! It's Monday! Woot.... I guess.... Anyway, I have internet on a regular basis now so I am going to attempt to keep to my Monday, Wednesday, Friday posting plan. I unfortunately don't have any pictures to show today because my weekend was totally unproductive.... Ha! I'm lying. I actually got a lot of stuff done, I just lost my camera cord again so pictures of current stuff will have to wait until later.... Like when I find the dang thing, it has to be around here somewhere.

So I started on a new Crafty Leftovers project that will be posted on this Friday... So no seeing that until then anyway. I also knit up a whole bunch of inches on my newest sweater, I'm almost to the shoulder shaping and I just started last Thursday! I played with some stuff called clayboard.... I think I really like it, but it reminds me of hotpressed illustration board, which I realize is totally different, but I think I will go with the illustration board all the same because it is a whole lot cheaper. I did do a bunch of pen and ink drawings of eyes and a skull and a shrimp and I think I will take them all and collage them into one big work.

I also made a template up for my sewing kits and a price list, but I need to make up the 2 other templates and add some pictures before I send it out. Let me know if you would like to be on my mailing list.

Oh the new swap just started at Quilt Block Swap, the deadline for the November swap is October 27th... You should sign up! Also, all the just made blocks should be coming in over the next couple of days... Hopefully... So be sure to check those out.

I found a picture of a nowise work in progress, here are the fabric swatches that I dyed the iterate.... I used fiber reactive dyes, just for fun. I really like the bold colors, although I'm looking forward to the onion skin dying that is in the near future... I prepared the fabric and yarn, prepared the dye stuff, and totally forgot to buy the enamel pot.... So I will hopefully get to it on Wednesday and have pictures to post on Friday. We will see how it goes.


Have a crafty week!

Post of Craftness past... and future....

Okay okay, so this is it folks, I am going to attempt to play catch up on all the "I will post this when I have internet" pictures. I have internet now so, here they are!

Here is a two in one picture. It is both the sweater that I knit for Catalina Yarns and my cabled gloves that I finally got around to blocking! (the image is kind of skewed, sorry about that).
Here is Mr B during his morning freakout and run around time.

Here is what Deb ordered (three sewing kits, 4 dish cloths, and one catnip pillow).

Here's a thumbnail of a painting that will be up for sale in my online store in the spring, don't you wish you could see the rest of it?

I cast on for my cardigan today! Here is what it will look like, but I'm using not so bulky yarn so it will be more delicate and it will be a merlot wine type of red and not orange.

So, in other news, I'm seriously considering quitting my job at the art store for reason I will not send off into cyber space.

Anyway, so my hope is that I will do fill in work for the Yarn Exchange and Encore to make up the pay I will be losing from cutting my hours (I'm not going to quit cold turkey, I do have bills to pay). I am also hoping to support myself though my art/handy work.... Fingers crossed.

If you are interested in ordering a sewing kit, catnip pillow, dish cloth, or pencil clutch, just email me for a price list, now would be a good time, it would help my confidence a whole lot.

Have a good Thursday!

Kristin

Done and Done!

Haha! I finished! What did I finish? the sweater of course, I actually finished it two nights ago and blocked it and sent it out yesterday morning. I took pictures... but I can't find the cord that hooks up my camera to my computer, so no pictures, again.... dang it! Oh well.

I had big plans this weekend to try out some natural dyeing, but I have a research project, a presentation, and article summaries all due tomorrow, so unfortunately that takes presidence.... dang it again.

I have decided that I am going to spend the morning organizing my art stuff and cleaning in general, it should be good. It's another dreary day and I really just want to sit around and knit and drink tea, but that will have to wait until winter break in december.

I'm planning a trip to Chicago for this student association group called Ars Nova. We are going to spend the day putsing around at the cultural center, which happens to have some really interesting stuff going on Oct 13/14 and maybe hop over to the Museum of Contemporary Photography, then on to the MCA to check out the Massive Change exhibit and then the performance that kind of goes along with it at 7:30pm, then back to dekalb. It should be pretty good. I'm going to talk to the MCA about group discounts. I hope people come.... I hope there is nothing big going on at NIU that weekend.

Oh, that posting schedule I kind of perposed a bit ago... Monday, Wednesday, Friday, will take effect after 1) I get the internet 2) I find my camera data transfer cord

Have a good weekend.

p.s. - I almost forgot! I posted two new patterns on Crafty Leftovers, a drawing will be held in four weeks for a winner. Also, the quilt block swap deadline is almost up, so sign up by the Sept 27th to join the October swap!

No pictures again!

Alright, so I'm really slacking off again....no pictures.... but I was so excited I had to say something about it. First of all, I recieved some fabric from Deb, that's right, she pays me to make stuff for her, and then sends me a craft care package with the check! The best customer ever! Also, I came home today and there were packages waiting for me.... I love that! I finally recieved my priority mail boxes (in two sizes), which will make sending things way easier. Secondly, I also recieved the fabric that I ordered! I am going to test dye some swatches on sunday with onion skins! I've been wanting to do this forever and am really excited. Cross your figures for me that it turns out okay. I ordered two different types of fabric. One is a linen plain weave organic hemp/cotton blend and the other is a organic cotton fine twill... they are both wonderful and I can't wait to work with them, I am almost afraid to cut them, but I will!

That's all for now! Have a good night!

Ahhh.... a nice sigh of relief...

Well kind of a nice sigh of relief. I am finally getting caught up in life and should be all settled in for the semester (it only took me the first four weeks to do so). I am going to have the sweater finished tonight (fingers crossed) or tomorrow. I stretched and gessoed 3 canvases for a new series that I'm going to start working on. Deb (my first customer) received her order and says that it is wonderful... Which is a wonderfully nice thing to say and I am so happy she liked everything. I'm making my very first coil/wrapped basket which is exciting also. I'm going to try some plant dying next weekend and am collecting some basic supplies for it. So basically I have a lot of really neat stuff going on... But the bad news.... My internet is down...I am yet again spending some time at panera. So it goes I guess. I am going to call Comcast on Monday and hopefully get everything squared away.

I will post a picture of the sweater (if I get permission from the yarn company to do so) and a picture of Deb's order that I sent to her when I get them off my camera.

Have a good weekend (what's left of it anyway)!

The trip back to sanity....

So to travel back to sanity I must have at one point gone insane.... this week was deffinately it. Not only was there the "oh you will only have to work 12-16 hours a week (aka more like 35)" but there was the "it's the first two weeks of school and all the professors had nice vacations and are all geared up to dish out rediculous amounts of homework" and the side projects and the going out of town for 4 days. I think I was already over booked and when I went out of town it just made it worse. It didn't help that it wasn't the most relaxing trip ever, in fact it was downright stressful. Also I became really sick on the plane so on the way home I took some motion sickness meds which helped, but they also made me pass out for two days straight, I'm honestly still feeling really loopy from it.... So hopefully, by Monday, I will get on top of all the things that are going on and get some free time to work on things I would like to work on... like my new product line. That's right you heard me. It's going to be pretty simple at first and you guys will be the first to get the details on it. We are hoping to debut the online store by December 2006 (well that is what I'm hoping for) and that is when you will get to see what I have been working on! Wee!

So after being so whiney I thought I would give you some good news:
1. I finally got a studio space at school so I'm going to start painting more on my own.
2. It waited to rain until just now, and I'm done riding my bike for the day so it can rain it's heart out.
3. I am home and don't have to go anywhere for a couple weeks so I can get some stuff done.
4. A new pattern will be posted over at crafty leftovers tomorrow night and I will announce two winners! (so go post a comment saying, "I would like to be entered into the drawing" by tomorrow night and you will get a free kit).
5. I am almost done with the sweater for the yarn company.
6. Return to Normality Fest, fall '06 is underway!

I think I'm going to start posting on a schedule so I don't forget to post or post so much that it is more quantity and not quality. I'm thinking Monday, Wednesday, Friday would be good because those are my least hectic days. Monday will be "Finished Projects Day" (that I finished over the weekend) and Friday will be "WIP Day," with Wednesday as the off topic update and general rambling post. And don't worry, I will be sure to have a lot of general rambling on Mondays and Fridays too!

Well have a good week! Happy Crafting and what not!

Ho Hum...

Well shoot! I wanted to post some pictures for you, but they are all secrets! Darn my luck. I'm going out of town on Wednesday and it just really seems like there is way to much to do before I leave. I should get back to work. There are dishes to be done, portfolios to finish, and many other little things like doing the laundry... I hate doing the laundry, but that comes from not having a mechine in my house... it's annoying, so it goes.

Have a good Tuesday!

Every day this week is my birthday!

To warn you, the pictures are random and have nothing to do with anything.

Okay, so I have felt so completely spoiled this week! I am feeling like a real artist and it's going to my head. First of all there is the hiring by the yarn company to knit a sweater, an order for some of my handmades by a dear friend, and a portrait commission that is finally being finished up. I'm working on deadlines, doing research, getting stuff in the mail, making plans for my business, it is so much fun! I mean, it's a lot of work, too much work, but I love it, it makes me so happy. I just received my tax number in the mail and registered my business Kristin.Roach.Originals and although tax law is a bit overwhelming, it's all very exciting. Anyway, I'm also feeling like I am in a book a day club or something because for the past week everyday I have had a package waiting for me. Friday the mail man brought me The Artist's Handbook for Materials and Techniques and my workbook for my french class and The Painter's Handbook. Yesterday Vegitarian Meals for People-On-the-Go came and I plan on trying out some recipes today... they have a very yummy looking avacado/potato dish that would make a perfect lunch.

I also recieved the yarn...the lushious yarn! And some coffee and the money for my commissions should be coming in soon from a couple different places, which is exciting because I'm going to take it and put it back into my business. I'm going to be getting some business cards and brochures printed soon (by the end of the month) and I am looking for wholesale suppliers for fabric and yarn... which means that I'm going to be getting a ton of swatches in the mail over the next couple weeks (which is better than getting a bag of candy in the mail, for me anyway). I have some ideas running through my head, but it is a secret... and you all know how bad I am with those so I am not even going to go into it at all. But it is going to be great.

I'm organizing my life around making a living from what I love to do and it is so exciting. I just need to make it viable by the time I graduate so I can pay for all those student loans.

Wish me luck!

Friday Picture Day!

Okay, so, today is my picture day. I am going to load this post up!

I went to a junk sale the other day with Jason and this is what I found.

Not only are the books just great looking, but I have actually been wanting to do a raglan sweater and this little book is perfect, they have it for all sizes gauges and what nots! And the green little book is actually a book on Amazon head hunters! There are all these crazy pictures in there and I'm sure most of the info is out of date and ridiculous because it is about 40+ years old, so it should be fun to look through (if not a little disturbing).

Here are my "I finally finished a project and I will show you a picture later" from a couple weeks ago. Pretty cool huh? I made up the pattern myself too! They are going to be great for riding my bike when it starts to cool down a bit.

I received half of the payment for knitting a sweater for the yarn company today. I'm going to knit this sweater with it. I haven't decided on buttons yet though.


That is totally going to be me this winter, looking cute and sophisticated in my little red hand knit sweater..... Ah... Alpaca and silk, the perfect marriage.

The yarn that I'm knitting the company's sweater with is super nice! It's a color that hasn't come out yet and it just happens to be one of my favorite colors! How exciting right. Too bad I don't get to keep it. So it goes. It's worth it though... I like working for cash and yarn, if I could make a living doing this I would!

This is the bug that has been invading my home. He(She) is only about 1/8 inch long and really isn't much of a threat... So I thought...... But then they got into my clothes and under my bed... I really don't like the idea of "bed bugs," I brought out the raid and now they are pretty much gone.

I made an smock last weekend and here she be!
So I look a little frumpy in this picture, and I may look like I am either sleep deprived or on drugs, but whatever, just don't look at me too much okay. It's actually pretty cute. I'm thinking about doing top stitching around the trim... But I haven't decided.

My little squirrel buddy that is always outside of my window is throwing a huge fit! He's be squeaking and cackling for the last 15 mins straight... I feel kind of bad for the little guy, he must be pretty stressed out.

Well, I think that covers everything! Have a good labor day weekend!