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3.20.2013

Just going to float along for a while...

"Is this really it for me?"

    That is a question I have been asking myself a lot as of here lately. I can't really figure out a system for regularity in my life. I know not ever day should be predictable or the same... but I would really like to feel a sense of completeness at the end of the day. Like my purpose is being fulfilled and I am living up to my potential. Things have been all sorts of crazy the last few weeks. It has been nothing but non-stop stress. With issues at my work, home life, debt and my love interests... I have been doing a lot of self evaluation. 

    I miss the feeling of happiness I had last summer. It was during the time I first came up with the idea of Beloved Bygones. On a whim, I decided that with my passion of all sorts of art that thrifting and repurposing would be a part time hobby of mine. I wanted to have a thriving Etsy shop that was full of old vintage things I had found, maybe even a few handmade treasures of my own!

    But as time went by it seemed like more and more negative things kept getting piled on me. I quit my office job where I was making $10 an hour. Shortly after I started working at my current job, at the party store, where I was an assistant studio designer. I was so excited to be working at a job where I could use my graphic design skills in a printshop manor. I ended up stepping up for a promotion shortly after being hired... little did I know it would reduce my studio time to nearly nothing. I rarely get to design customer orders anymore. And when I do, it's normally rushed because I am generally in the middle of some other project. It has definitely put a damper on my enthusiasm for going to work. I am at a point that I dread going to work when I am scheduled. It takes a lot of energy to force myself there each day. Not to mention all the other stress of working in a retail store. Grouchy customers, false assumptions and rotten co-workers! 


    I really want to be creative again. I need that outlet to relieve some stress! First step I need to take in bettering my life is getting a full time job. Even if it is a boring factory job where I just put items on a conveyor belt during my whole shift. I really need to get my debt under control and start saving for a future. Because right now I have absolutely no reserve funding and still live at home. I would like a place to call my own. Somewhere I can escape if needed, somewhere I will feel free. From there I can start focusing on my art again. I really want to get back to the roots of this "business".  Reviving lovely hand-me-down items, so they can be loved again like they were when they were new.

Everything has a purpose, you just have to find it.  


And some inspirational songage for your day: Modest Mouse - Float On

1.25.2013

Day late and a dollar short...

Just a day late for the weekly Run 2 the Wild sketchbook prompt!


This week's prompt was as follows:
   "Rest your pencil to a fresh sketchbook page, close your eyes and begin to move your pencil all over the page for 15 seconds. open your eyes. spend the next 15 mins turning your scribble into a recognizable image!"

Got busy yesterday and didnt get a chance to jump on to see the new task!
  I will admit, I was a bit worried once I read the prompt. How on Earth can I draw random lines and then create something with them?!

Well I did! And ended up with a stalagmite filled cave! I decided to draw my initial doodle lines in red so they could be easily seen with the sketch over top. I only used a light blue colored pencil over but for some reason it looks as if its got a shade of grey along with the ridiculously bright looking blue! Oh well, ya win some, ya lose some.



1.17.2013

Double Posty

Going to do a bit of a double random post here!  Well it's not so random...

The first part is going to be about my New Year's Resolution project! Ya know the one sewn piece a month, all year long! Yeahhhh! And the second portion will be my first sketch prompt from my friend at Run 2 the Wild's blog!

Sewn Project for January! 
   My plan was to create a pleather pull over hoodie! I had absolutely no patterns for this, so was just sort of winging it from one of my favorite pullovers! It's still a bit unfinished due to lack of budget... but wanted to update on the progress. I forgot to leave a bit extra for seams because well... pleather does not stretch like most other fabrics. Haha, so it's a bit snug! But hey that gives me more incentive to get healthy so I can rock this baby when it's finished!  As you can see below it still needs to be hemed. I need to find a cheap place to buy some black ribbing to finish it off! Oh and also need to figure out how I want the neckline finished (a simple swoop neck or a v cut) But in all honestly it turned out much better than I originally thought it would without having a pattern.

- On a side note, I should invest in a serger! Trying to reinforce the stitching with my sewing machine was quite the task!

I will post a finished product whenever that may be and also post some ideas for next months project!



Run 2 the Wild's Sketch Promt #1: Conceptual Self Portrait

 Courtney at R2W has started up an awesome sketchbook workshop! Every week she will post a new prompt to get our creative juices flowing! It's been quite a long time since I have just sat down and "doodled". So this definitely caught my interest! I am going to limit myself to drawing what I can in a 10 minute span. The shorter the length of time the better I think, shows what you can do in "crunch time". Hoping this will also help improve my long lost drawing skills.

So here it is... My first sketchbook entry in a very very long time.
(need to figure out a better way to get a picture of these on here)
Looks much better in person. Silly camera flash!  Cant wait until next week's prompt.