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

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.

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.

Happy New Years

So it's that time of the year again where we all make our lists of resolutions for the new year. If any of you are like me... you hardly ever follow through with your newly set goals. My goals generally consist of the regulars: lose weight, be more productive, sell lots of things online, be happier and on and on. Maybe I have set my hopes far too high. I am only human after all, there's only so much I can do in a short year!

This year I am going to set a simple easily attainable goal! While browsing some newly found blogs I came across Emma's post on her blog Hello Beautiful! She set a goal to create one useful item of clothing for her self each and every month! I absolutely love this idea! I am going to put my own spin on the project and attempt this feat myself.

My guidelines will be outlined below, to keep myself on track and maybe even inspire some of you to start a project of your own.


I want to create one new sewn project every month of the year. Wether it be for personal use or to be used for a new "product" for my Etsy shop. I want to take it in a new direction and this resolution goal will help me achieve that.

I want to create my own patterns for these projects or piece together other projects to create something one of a kind. There will be posts to follow along with each item posted here on my blog. Showing the finished products and some of the steps I took to accomplish them!

So stay tuned and be sure to follow along to check up on my progress! ❤

You are all FAN-TAS-TIC!

Look even my blog pictures think you're fantastic!

    But really I just wanted to say Thanks to each and every one of you for following, liking, commenting, messaging and just being there! It really means the world to me to have so many people be interested in what I'm trying to accomplish. Whatever that may be haha! Antique, junkin' ,  jewelry making, crafting in general, and blogging! 


ON THE FLIPSIDE:
    Things should hopefully fall into a more rhythmic manor shortly. "Real life" is starting to get better! I got the assistant invitation designer position I mentioned in my last post. I actually start on Monday! Woohoo! And in regards to the Beloved Bygones side of things... I have lots of reallllly awesome things to make into jewelry. Well...I think they are awesome, hopefully you will as well!
    Met a couple awesome people this past week, which has made things seem so much better as well! The kind gentleman down the road had an open barn sale and I got some really awesome old glass trinkets. I was going to go visit again today but kinda slept in! Hey it's saturday...I can be extra lazy!

THANK YOU AND HAVE A FAN-TAS-TIC WEEKEND! 

Times they are a changin'

     Today faired to be much better than the past couple of weeks. I had an interview for an assistant custom invitation designer position at Party City. I'm super excited about it because I really do enjoy doing design work. I'll admit it's been a while (4 years) since I've had to design anything for print. But I think that getting to do something that involves both retail AND graphic design would be fantastic. Seeing some of the cool things Diane our local specialist has done really got me feeling creative this evening. So I think I am going to force myself to finally sit down and get some things accomplished this evening. Not to mention I shared on facebook that I will be having a giveaway soon! So I have to come up with something super duper exciting that will catch peoples eyes and make them want to enter to win it! Aiming to have the contest up and posted before this weekend! 

    Ohhhh speaking of this weekend! I'll be going to the Vintage Marketplace at the Springfield Flea Market on friday! I was lucky enough to win a ticket from the lovely Theresa at TimeWorn Interiors, so not only do I get to meet lots of awesome people but I get to get in fo free! Heck yeah! I'm going to take my camera. So be prepared to see lots of pointless pictures! I'm sure I will take pictures of lots of cool things I cant afford and awesome ideas that everyone has come up with! Ahhh...I'm getting more exciting while writing this! Should be a uplifting fun filled weekend! 

Today's Question

Have you had anything happen lately that just made everything seem like its going great?