An argument for polygamy (just kidding- an Etsy shop feature)

So, the other day I was outside with my 5 year old nephew, you know, the one with the cool leaf mask from earlier this week. This conversation ensued:
Geordie: Aunt Judith, when will you decide to get married?
Me: When I meet the right person.
G: Have you met the right person?

Me: I don't know- don't think so.
G: Have you even asked anyone?!
Me: What am I supposed to do, just go around asking everybody?
G: Yup!
Me: Okay, George, I'll keep that in mind.
G: But what if every boy says yes?
Me: I don't know, Geordie, what do you think I should do then?
G: Just marry all of them!

Planning out one's future with a five year old is always a good idea.

Anyway, weddings have been on my mind a lot this summer- I've been to two already, and will (I think?) be singing for one this weekend. I've decided that all of the fuss and spending lots of money on one day is really a bit silly, at least for me, because marriage really is supposed to be about spending your life with someone, not a huge party... and I get that it's something to celebrate, but... I don't know, maybe it's just because I'm not a huge party person! But, if I ever get married, and if things go according to Geordie's plan I'll be getting married a lot, I plan to keep it simple... just get married at church, have some snacks afterwards, and play some jazzy music for some swing dancing. Because obviously, it will be entirely my decision, right? (I hope my sarcasm is coming across).
So, my simple, low key plan, might not include fancy wedding cake toppers, but just look at how adorable things from annacrafts are!

So crazy cute!

These wedding cake toppers remind me of something from Aardman Studios (the people who do things like "Wallace and Gromit") and are so wonderful! And the best thing is that you can send in a photo of the couple and make special requests as to what you want the cake topper to look like. These are a few of my favorites:

                              

                           

                                            

These toppers are just too awesome... maybe I will have to get one, for one or two of my weddings...

Leaf Me Alone!

Okay, don't. Even though you'll probably want to after that bad pun...

So, this week I've been using leaves from the great outdoors to help with some craft projects!

First, I picked some leaves from a bunch of different trees/plants/bushes/weeds in our garden:

Then, I traced around them onto some paper and added some veins:


Then, using my light box, I traced them onto a 100% cotton blouse with a washable marker. A couple days later I painted over those lines with some soy wax, and today I dyed it! Here's the result:

Just put it in my shop!

What do you all think? I wish that I had maybe used a darker green, because then there would be more contrast with the white and the leaves would show up better, but I'm pretty pleased.

I could have just left the stencils to use later, but I decided to color them in... basically just because there was a box of crayons sitting on the kitchen table:

Not sure what I'll do with those yet... but I think they'd make a cool print or poster or something!

The last thing I have for you is this... I was outside with my nephew, Geordie, and he found a cool leaf with a hole in it that he immediately put up to his face and peeked through. I took the leaf, traced around it, colored it in, and turned it into a mask! He wore it for most of the day and seemed to like it a lot. I'm sure a similar thing could be done with felt and fabric paint, which would be more durable.

Excitement! Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center

So, I go back to school in just a couple of weeks. I'm excited to see all of my friends again, and everything... but looking over my schedule, I'm feeling stressed out already- Between four 4-credit classes, four 1-credit classes, my church job, my work study, driving to the University of Minnesota for my Korean class, my clubs, practicing for voice/piano lessons, and possibly play practice if I get cast... I'll have my hands full to say the least. Yet, in spite of that, I'm super super excited for one thing: Our new music building!

Last year, the building was under construction, which meant that the music department was alllll sorts of crazy. We were kind of the nomads of campus. Our lessons were held in a tiny annex off of campus, our classes were in dorm buildings and social science buildings, choir rehearsals and performances were held in nearby churches, our recitals were held in the on campus chapel, and our practice rooms were in the basement of the library. There were some in the music annex, but their walls were lined with foam... which meant that you could hear the other people practicing, and they could hear you, a little too well. So, there was all sorts of running around. But no longer! How gorgeous is this building?!

A for real recital hall! So beautiful...

I was there a couple of weeks ago to warm up before an audition... and I had chills and tears in my eyes it was all so beautiful. And the best part? I'll  almost never have to go outside in the cold Minnesota winters... all of my classes are in music and humanities and I work in the theatre department... and all of those buildings are connected! It'll be a good year.

Instagram before Instagram

Not actually my camera, but it's the same kind.

So, as promised- I picked up my Werra film this morning... I'm both surprised and pleased with the results!
This little baby is something I grabbed at the garage sale my grandparents had about 8 (I think?) years ago when they sold their home in Columbia, MO, deciding to split their time between Florida and Wisconsin. I'm not really sure exactly when this camera was made, but my mom seems to recall her mom getting it sometime around 1980. Doing a bit of internet searching tells me that this was quite the camera in its day, and that apparently there's something special about the lens (it's handcrafted or something snazzy like that- I didn't look too much into it.)

After wasting 2 rolls of film and what seemed like millions of years trying to figure out how the heck to  open the back and load the film in this thing (I'm too used to modern technology, unfortunately), I finally got it ready, and headed to downtown La Crosse to try it out. I wasn't expecting too much, but tried to take some shots of things that I thought would blend well with the vintage feel I was hoping to get. These are a couple of my favorites.

I still have to figure out how to work this thing out (with the shutter, and all the settings and stuff) but I'm pretty excited about its possibilities. It takes some nice shots and it a whole lot smaller and lighter than my film slr, so it would be more convenient for me to take places. Cameras used to be so much nicer than they are now.

To see the other photos from yesterday, you can go to my flickr.

Etsy Shop Feature Numero Uno- My Shop!

My plan is to at least one Etsy shop feature a week. I've been on Etsy since January and I am constantly in awe of the amazing and creative artists that sell their wares there. Whether it's clothing or jewelry or vintage items you're looking for, Etsy's got you covered!

Not going to lie, I'm going to post a lot about my shop on here... but that's only because I like to share what I've been doing!

So, today's shop feature: Grace Atieno!

In my shop, I sell photography and clothing, mostly. My summer project while I've been at home in good ol' La Crosse, WI has been to experiment with batik- I really love it! It combines almost all of my favorite things when it comes to art- The color possibilities are endless, it's always a surprise, and it allows me to create art that is actually functional instead of just... pretty... which I think is great! Here are a few of my favorite things I've done this summer:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/102152356/batik-circle-skirt-medium-hand-dyed-sky

https://www.etsy.com/listing/105826937/batik-tank-top-womens-orange-sun-hand

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106603551/batik-canvas-tote-bag-lizard-design

I also post lots of photography, like this one, which I received a silver medal for in theScholastic Art and Writing Awards:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/92772774/8-x-10-film-phototography-print-carnival

So, that's all for today. I went downtown earlier and played around with an old camera I got from my grandparents a long time ago... the film's getting developed as I type... so, if any of them turn out, I'll post them tomorrow.

Introductions

Hello, interwebs!
My name's Judith-- I've decided to try my hand at blogging, even though my other attempts have been less than successful... but it's worth a try!
I'm hoping to use this blog as an outlet for my creativity- I'll do features on Etsy shops, post photography, post some recordings of me, talk about cool things I find to do... and whatever else happens to come to mind!

Off we go!