New directions

I haven't posted in over a month-- this often happens whenever I try starting a blog... Life gets in the way or I run out of things to talk about or it just isn't worth it.

I've come to the realization that I keep talking about silly stuff that in the grand scheme of things doesn't really matter and doesn't really speak to me... So I think that it's time to expand the purpose of this blog.

I'll admit- initially I started this because I heard it was a really good way to draw traffic to your etsy shop. Well, I'm still going to share and talk about projects of mine, and if I find an etsy shop that is really spectacular I'll share it, but I want to do more.

This blog is now going to become a receptacle for my thoughts, ideas, and dreams. I'll throw journal entries on here and poetry and art and questions... I've found that my mind is very theologically and philosophically oriented, so probably a lot of posts will end up being about that, but don't worry! I will do my best to make my thoughts and questions relevant to those of you that don't share my beliefs, because I think we can all learn from each other's questions.

"Learning to Fly" taken by me Spring 2011 of my friend Chris 

Trogdoooooor! (A little baby dragon quilt)!

Greetings from Missouri, where I am right now for family Christmas shindigs!
The super exciting thing I want to talk about has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, however. My sister Miriam's having a baby! In February! Her baby shower was yesterday, so to get ready for it I got to crafting as soon as I got home from school last week (I survived finals- can you even believe it?!)

When my sister Sophie had her baby Felix my mom and I made a quilt for him and that was my first semi-major batik project. It was all adorable and sailory, so I batiked an anchor center piece. This time around I made the quilt by myself and dyed all of the fabric on the front, and I'm really pleased with it! Miriam and Danny decided to go with a dragon theme for their nursery, which I think is awesome.

The batik pieces are all left overs from other projects in my etsy shop and the kind of mottle-y pieces were dyed using the method described in this tutorial. It's really nice because it's a fun way to dye fabric without having to go outside, which I certainly appreciate given all the snow. The back is some fun cotton I found at Hancock Fabrics and the center piece is a dragon my dad helped me design (hence the Celtic knot work stuff).

Now that I'm home for all of January, I have all sorts of crafty ideas to keep myself busy, so stay tuned!

Oh, and here's TROOOOOGDOOOOOOOOOOOOR, in case the title got you all excited. 

What I actually want to do for my whole life

I ended up being the poster person for the student theatre group I'm in at Mac... these are the posters I made for our two festivals. Needless to say, I'm super proud of my artistic skills. I'll be expecting the emails to do graphic design work any day now.

(The last one is my favorite).

365 Days of Gratitude- The Conclusion

So, last year on Thanksgiving I started doing this thing called "365 Days of Gratitude" on my tumblr.
...I never finished. I even stopped regularly using tumblr.
But that's only because my life has been so full that I haven't had time, and I'm thankful for that.
This year I've fallen in love with people, ideas, music, and myself.
I've been sad and angry.
I've been happier than ever.
I've been homesick.
I've made new homes.
I've grown so much,
and realized just how much growing I still have to do.
I've figured some things out,
and realized that I'm never going to completely know what the heck is going on in this world.
My cup has overflown, and for that I am truly thankful.

And I'm home this weekend, so I've been eating yummy food, reading my nephew bedtime stories, and snuggling lots with my cat.
Life is wonderful.

Guys, help!

...I'm slowly...quickly becoming a crazy cat lady. And I'm not even 20 yet.

I discovered Animal Planet's Kitten Cam this week... and it's bookmarked next to all of the things I need for my classes.

On Friday night when my friend/honorary younger brother and I went to eat Korean food and then went to the Korean market I bought these adorable little ceramic rice bowls... just because they have cute animals (one was a cat) on them... even though I already had like, 4... and even though I don't usually cook rice when I'm at school because I'm on a meal plan... and then I had to force myself not to buy all of the other cute cat bowls/platters/plates that they had.

And my mom's posted a couple pictures of my cat to my facebook, which always makes me just a tad over emotional...

What should I do?!

Translation: I can't wait until I go home for Thanksgiving so I can see my cat (and my family too, I guess) again!

How could I forget?!

So, she must have added more things to her shop since I wrote my last post... or I was blind or something... but I just found this:

Oh. My. Goodness. I want this shirt, and I'm not even three years old. Ahh!

Too cute!

I don't even have any children, but I can't get over The Trendy Tot! Crafter/Mom/I'm sure awesome human being Jen makes all of these adorable little girls' clothes... With all of the bright colors, patterns, and animals, I'm sure these would be clothes 4 year old me would have loved... and, if I ever have a daughter, what she'll probably end up wearing as well... 

What I especially appreciate is the fact that the leggings have those felt appliques on the knees- so smart for little baby children!