summer breeze

Holy moly! Summer has already come and gone. It was a good one, both personally and business-wise. Here are some highlights:

Going to an anime convention in Chesapeake with my boyfriend and little sister. It was really neat seeing the costumes people had built for themselves.

Beach time! I got to spend a little time at Virginia Beach, and spent a few days at Myrtle Beach with my boyfriend, by the generosity of his coworker.

Deep sea fishing in Myrtle Beach (only slightly marred by sea sickness:), and boating on the fourth of July.

Hanging out with my best friend here in Richmond, and seeing the butterfly exhibit at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

A few sales, including a wholesale order with Sardine Gallery in Brooklyn, just in time for Open Studios!

Lots of cooking delicious meals, and eating good food around town. I hit up the Vegetarian Festival too (Boka takos, anyone?).

Rearranging furniture and organizing my space in preparation for class (!!)

I'm actually about a month into class right now, time does fly. I'm learning so much, but I'm gonna reserve that for another entry, since this one is such a behemoth already. Maybe if I didn't wait six months to write each blog, I wouldn't have this problem!

done and done

Just a quick post to say I updated my shop! Latest obsession: boondoggle. I also got a leather tooling kit recently. Lord, help me. There are still other pieces in the works, namely another peyote necklace. I took a little hiatus to do a lot of this:



and a wee bit of this:



along with working my butt off (and having a sore butt from the previous activity). I just started reading The Power of Habit, and along with all the etsy articles I read, it's making me want to make lists and goals and rework my branding again! It's a process, for sure. Thankfully, a fun process! Speaking of fun processes, I'm gonna go eat some pineapple and paint wooden snakes whilst listening to good music.

Happy Leap Year Day!

It's a dreary, rainy day, but we probably needed the moisture. Here is a peek at my workbench. By the way, it's usually messier than that, but I'm trying to make more of an effort to spruce it up these days.



It's my birthday on Saturday, and my very best girlfriend is coming to celebrate with me this weekend. I can't wait! This also means a needed vacation (for the both of us). Right now, however, I need to worry about picking up and cleaning, ha.

muir maiden

I just took a walk today, and a few words come to mind:

Stiff, cumbersome, heavy, unwieldy.

Yes, it has been a while since I've actually exercised. I can't wait until the weather is consistently warm again. I often have a sore shoulder, from carrying stress. I went for months without one, and I finally figured out it was the walking i did around Boat Lake all summer and fall (Yeah, it really is called that. Not impressed??). Bear with me while I get earnest.

I usually walk to the lake as the sun is going down, and everything looks so crisp. There were seagulls flying overhead today, and all the trees were blooming with white flowers. The geese were swimming, there was a breeze, and I just strolled around and listened to Bat For Lashes. I'm telling you, it's the most zen moment of my day, when I can really be in the present.

Anyway, me talking about it is not the same as being there. I'm gonna try to at least take a picture tomorrow to post. I used to think my friend was funny for sitting next to this lake whenever she would come back to visit Richmond. But there is something to it! I get it, Renee.

breathing room

I finally, FINALLY, organized my studio space. It was looking pretty bad for a while. The whole house was, in fact. Right now though, the place is almost perfect. I've been patting myself on the back for how much I was able to get rid of. I even got rid of some of my fabric stash! And let me tell you, it's good to be uncluttered (we are speaking of Leslie standards of uncluttered, by the way).

So anyhoo, since I had all this wide open space, I was able to comfortably do projects! I started a fabric necklace I saw in a Craftster tutorial. I made TWO tailor's hams with some fabric scraps I had. And I made this lovely jumper, which I am so taken with.


It's stretchy sweatshirt-ish material, which will be great for fall. It only took a couple of hours, including cutting time, because of my serger (how I love thee, serger). Sewing the buttons on took almost as much time as the construction, ha. I got all the buttons in a giant jar from the thrift store. There were so many awesome ones that didn't have matches and I wanted to make something that put them all together.


I've organized my half-finished projects so I know what's there, which is a relief too. I have tons of ideas all the time, and I usually feel guilty when I'm not making things. It's good to know I can just come into my studio now and get crackin'!

P.S. -- Forgive my crappy photos. The only non-perfect thing in my house is the low lighting...

fighting the elements

I just have to say, my computer and technology skills are sadly deficient. Today I tried to take new pictures of my jewelry for the shop, but it did not go well at all. The above example was the best I got. Granted, I was using natural light on a intermittently rainy day, and it is quite windy outside. But it was just not working. I thought about making a new banner instead, since the photography session was not flowing, but I'm kind of crap with Photoshop. These are the times I feel like I have five arms, and to me that's the upper body equivalent of having two left feet.

On the brighter side, I managed to have some good sewing experiences recently, and I feel like I'm back on track there. The aforementioned skirt issue was resolved, and I'm excited to start some wholly original projects soon.

Highlights of the week:

Getting these, which I used Tuesday for my FENCING CLASS. My goal is to have as many obscure and unrelated hobbies as possible.

Seeing a parade of tow trucks today picking up cars on my block for street sweeping. In my mind I imagine that the tow truck drivers look forward to it. I don't know why I get enjoyment out of this anyway, it's kind of sadistic.

Noticing that the object my dog picked up in the park Thursday was a dead mouse. I screamed in disgust loudly enough that he dropped it right away, which is better than digging through his clenched teeth to fish it out.

Getting rid of piles of stuff. The closer I get to moving, the more I want to throw everything away.

This is not an outfit

I love the weather right now. What has made it more perfect is that it rained for three or four days this past week and cleared the air. I am one of those nerds with allergies, so I was grateful for that.

I've been outside a lot.

I'm also trying to get back on the Singer. I had taken a long hiatus due to an unreasonable fear of sewing. I suddenly became self-conscious about my abilites after a few small failed projects. Today I modified a vintage skirt, and it was only a partial failure! I'll have to ease back into the whole thing. And on a more practical note, stock up on thread.

P.S. -- When I went to Manhattan at the beginning of the month, I wore the above shoes and apparently got several double takes. I was surprised -- I expected New Yorkers to be less phased by gaudy footwear. Am I crazy for thinking that?

warm shoulders

I wanted to put up a few pictures that make me happy. It was gorgeous outside, and with the possibility of staying that way, so to celebrate I wore a tiny dress and sunglasses and walked as much as possible. These were a couple of the things I saw whilst outside.

One of those forgotten joys... I saw at least three of these.

I walked to a little market down the street to get lunch, then ate on my front porch. Later, I went to check out an apartment with my sister. The thing was an enormous one bedroom that was amazing, with old fireplaces, eleven foot ceilings, giant wooden sliding doors, and the amenities I like (dishwasher, utilities included, off-street parking!).

I still don't know about the price though, as I would love to be able to set more aside in savings for a house. I also have this problem of falling in love with apartments and imagining all of my stuff inside before I even think about my other choices.

I'm working on some new items for the shop as well. More on that later!