Not ok

Well, then. This guy was on my blinds, inches from my face. He's now back outside where he belongs.

Procrastination Result

New dress accomplished! With pockets!

I super-love fireworks!

And so does my Vyts!

Half the kitchen :(

And today shall be spent unpacking from the fair!

There. I fixed it.

This is now my desk. As you can see, it is not only clean, but my guild also just downed Ryolith, as we were running Firelands for funsies--all of our mains and alts having killed Deathwing this week. And I might still be working on the legendary staff like a giant lame-o.

This is my co-pilot desk. As you can once again see, it too is clean. Flounce is waiting for his close-up (not that he really cares), and I am waiting for glorious daylight to once more flood through my window and help illuminate the photo-shoot.

And yes, I do really talk that way. And yes, my husband does make fun me.

EDIT: This post is a follow-up to this other post.

Home again, home again.

Well, really, we got home last night. But I've been busy sleeping, gardening, unpacking and cleaning since then.

Vytas and I were in Maine this past week. We camped the first two nights at the Hermit Island Campgroud (oh my gosh I cannot recommend this place enough!), before heading up to Boothbay and eventually Bar Harbor. We had a great time sea kayaking--we saw and were followed by seals!--getting burnt to hell despite lots of sunblock, hiking about Acadia, and eating superbly fresh seafood.

But now we are home. And while it is nice to be home and able to see my garden flourishing and hear my cat be as complain-y as ever, it was amazing to be in Maine. Soonish I'll get the pictures up on Facebook and share a link here for anyone who may or may not be interested in the sights of Maine.

The next steps are to figure out our August schedule, work on wedding invitation designs so I can make matching save the dates, and then start registering for more shows!

Time to putz

Last week was insane. I had to remake nearly my entire stock for the show in Pequannock. This week, while I did well at the show, I don't have quite as much stock to remake. I suppose things sold a bit more evenly (so rather than having all of certain Monsters sell out while none of others sold at all, only one or two of each Monster variety sold).

I spent Monday and Tuesday not making Monsters. I can't quite say what I did do, however. I think I played in the yard a fair amount, because I didn't have time to the week before. Yesterday I went to Michael's for their stock-up sale to buy vast quantities of clay and such. Then I made three new Monsters (yet to be named and storied) and a few more of one of the themed ones.

Today I photographed all the new Scrabble necklaces and posted about five or six of them to Etsy. Then I played in the yard some more! And by some more, I mean for the rest of the day. Here is what I did:

Yep! A new flower bed in the weird, awkward back corner of the yard. The vertical bricks had been one more row of horizontal paving with a nice awkward strip of dirt between the side of that house(?) and the paving (kind of like you can sort of see to the far right of the picture where it does it again). I dug up the bricks, stood them vertically, mooshed up the dirt, and transplanted some lilies from the very overcrowded bed by the table and chairs. I also put some bulbs in the front of the lilies. I know it is a bit late for bulbs, but I found them on super clearance at Home Depot the other day and figured what the heck.

Vytas and I had been talking about doing this for weeks, but I've been far too busy with shows. He's been far too busy playing WoW in front of me and also helping me get ready for shows.

But now it is done and all we need is to redo the picnic table and benches that are out there. The wood is all rotted out, but it has nice metal bracket leg bits that can be refastened to new wood.

Mechanical Squirrel Figurine

From my horrible, horrible addiction, WoW, this is a mechanical squirrel pet. I made it for my friend Stevie for Christmas. It is polymer clay on a wood base and is about an inch and a half tall. I simplified quite a lot, but this version looks better than my first few attempts to exactly recreate the thing. I'm pleased. She loved it.

ShrinkyDink Butterfly

After I finished I realized the horrendous mistake I made. This is very clearly a swallowtail butterfly. Swallowtails are yellow. Vytas assured me that no one would notice, and maybe he would have been right if I hadn't just said something.

This butterfly was drawn and colored onto frosted (cause I like the texture) ShrinkyDinks with LOTS of colored pencil. Each wing was on its own sheet of ShinkyDink. The body is made from polymer clay and has wire antennae out the top and a round hang-y bit out the back.

This was a gift for my father, who in June told me about his grand plans to make wooden butterflies like we used to have in Cicero. He wanted, however, to have the wings/colorful parts be something see-through. I suggested colored transparencies or perhaps lighting gels to use in a wooden frame. When Christmas was coming and I was trying to decide what to make or get him, I decided to try my hand at a yard butterfly.

I nearly made the shiny underside the top so it would be more reflective and more like what he had in mind, BUT the excess of colored pencil on the frosted textured surface of the ShrinkyDinks too perfectly resembled the soft powdery look of actual butterfly wings.

All-in-all he seemed quite impressed--despite the color mistake--with the butterfly and asked repeatedly about ShrinkyDinks, how to use them, and where to get them.

An update on life and Monsters

I had a phone interview last night for a position I hadn't really expected to hear anything about. I knew that it was a shot in the dark, but hate being a bagger that much. Anyway, the guy emails about wanting to do a phone interview at 8p. At 8:40p he calls to ask if he can call back in an hour. An hour later he makes it quite apparent that he wanted to tell me how unqualified I am for the position. He then finds out I am partly/mostly self-employed. He asks a bit more about this before deciding he wants to set up a meeting for today at 5:40p (I didn't get out of the grocery store till 5p, yay!) in a cafe in NYC, and he wants me to bring some of the marketing material I've designed for myself.

After hanging up with him and crying about how I didn't understand why he would call to talk about the job he made clear I wasn't qualified for, I decided I would not go. I did not want him bringing down my artwork and the things I've worked so hard for, as well.

I have another interview on the 15th. I am qualified for this one. It is also in NYC, and I sort of hope I get it so I can stop being a bagger, but... I kind of know I'll have all the same issues as I did with the people at Ruhl & Ruhl: the insincerity, the not caring for anyone/thing but money, the utter ignorance that oozes off them--"Now Shakespeare... was that his first name or his last name?" *sigh* But it pays more, won't have insane people asking me to double bag their 10lb sacks of potatoes, their 2 gallon bottles of Tide, their 30lb bags of cat litter, etc... and, the company, Questus, does actually sound pretty interesting. So *fingers crossed*!

Oh, and today, I worked half the day in bakery, and they want to keep me! It is way better than front end.

Alright, on to art. Um... I have another commission, it is small and a graduation Monster like I've made before, only as an ornament. And... *drumroll*

THE THIRD INSTALLMENT!

He is posted in my Etsy! Go get him!

I may or may not get another/some more Chewbacas made tonight/tomorrow/over the next few days, as the first one sold rather quickly.

Here are some recent postings that have gone up in the past week or so. Mostly I have decided to skip posting the "normal" Timid Monsters here--at least during the holidays--because I post so many a day/week, that you would surely get bored with them. I guess I'm trying to make this more interesting without really knowing how to go about doing so, but while assuming that the more complex things are also the more interesting.

This first Monster's inspiration came--in a roundabout way--from a friend I used to have in high school who always owned rats. However, since a ways back we had a rather nasty falling out, I didn't use the friend's name (though I rather wanted to), and I was careful to avoid any points of recognition in the description. You know? Because we still have some mutual friends and are awkwardly still FaceBook buddies. I didn't know if she would take offence to me making her into a Monster with her favorite pet--especially such a brightly colored Monster!
Cameron the Timid Monster goes everywhere with Jacob, much to the chagrin of the other Monsters. They think all rats are filthy and vile. Little do they know that Jacob and Cameron both have impeccable hygeine. Cameron in afraid Jacob will never be accepted as a Monster if he doesn't grow some horns.

Next! I've had elephants before, but now, I have PET elephants. Yeah! I think they are adorable. I only have two made that are pets, amongst the few other smaller ones that are, well, free range, perhaps? I am hoping pet elephants are as popular as the past non-pet ones I've posted.

Always wanted to have a pet elephant? Me, too. And now you can own your very own sans the expensive food bill, messy clean up and hard-to-find-camouflage grey.

It has been a long time since I posted a habitat, but it isn't for lack of making them. Hmm, I suppose that should be it is not for lack of having them made and sitting on my shelf collecting dust because I have a hard time photographing them and then choosing only five angles to post on Etsy. So since the category "Timid Monster Habitats" has sat unused for months now, I decided ENOUGH was ENOUGH. I hope you like Harlow. Most of his nasty habits can be avoided by not leaving his jar open at night.

Harlow was found in an empty corner of the garden looking sad and lonely. So far, it seems that he likes to impersonate stumps, read over your shoulder, and reset the margins in word processing programs. Harlow eats mostly flowers and mushrooms that he grows and harvests in his new home.

Wowee! Three posts in one night?!

Indeed. I have a happy/sad announcement. I have been offered a job at the new Bayonne Shoprite. It is official when I hand in my paperwork between the hours of 10a and 4p.

This is good news as I've now been applying for various work--at literally hundreds of places--for well over a year, and I finally got something. It is sad because this is the only place I've even heard back from. Yay! Bachelor of Arts in English with a writing emphasis and Bachelor of Arts in psychology! *sigh* Don't mind me, I'm still in the tail end of my pity party.

The really sad news is that as with everytime I've had fulltime work, I will have significantly less time to make things, post them to Etsy, and generally be amazing. (Hey! I'm trying to stop wallowing in my grocery retail goodness!) But since I've been working on a new website that I have yet to launch, and I keep feeling like I'm on the verge of something big and great, I am going to try to keep this up as full time as I have the energy for.

That is all. Oh. And if my camera battery ever finishes recharging, expect a fourth post with pictures of two more finished commissions.

Keychains!

Hand colored works of art for your keys! Because ShrinkyDinks are not jstu for kids!

Seriously, these are super fun to make. I've had one on my keys since August, and it is holding up perfectly! So I am pretty excited that I am finally starting to post these in my shop.

Things worth posting about.

I finally have some plushes (read "2") up for general sale in my Etsy shop. Here they are:

and

I have more done, I just don't have them posted yet. I've been trying to mix up my listings on Etsy so that it wasn't 90 Monsters, followed by 30 pieces of jewelry, followed by 10 plushes, followed by so forth and so on.

Also, this was done a while ago, but I had been hoping to get a few more like him done to have in stock. I was also hoping to get a few more in the series done (only have 2 others so far). But, I figure he'd been collecting dust long enough. Time to get him posted! So here he is: Chewbaca the Timid Monster, the first in a line of Star Wars Monsters!

I've been a bad blogger,

but a good Etsy-er. I haven't been posting EVERYTHING here partly because I've been busy, partly because I've been lazy, and partly because I was feeling as though I am too boring on my blog. But! As it is November, a mere month and a half before Christmas, and my Timid Monster stock was running dangerously low, I've been posting an average 4-6 new Monsters a day--some of which are already sold! Wow-ee! I've also been reposting expired jewelry listings and have lots of new things to get up.

On the note of being a boring blogger, I think I am going to see about a blog poll or something, like other bloggers I follow do, and see what people think about me posting EVERY single Monster I make on this blog versus just the commissions or just ones I am particularly fond of versus well I don't know yet.

I am working on an independent website to sell only Timid Monsters and Timid Monster related things from. And after much debate, I've decided that TMs are going to start repeating--at least the ones that appear on the new site--so I can keep things in stock easier, have less creative strain as far as writing their biographies go, and so the I can streamline things and make it a little easier on myself all around. This wasn't an easy decision, but I am kind of glad for it. I plan on bringing back some of my favorite Timid Monsters (Valdemar, Edwin, and Heather come to mind) and maybe introducing one or two new Monster designs a week that will then always be in stock . So the blog could go more along the lines of commissions and the one or two new designs a week. And then any other art/jewelry I make (btw, I am finally starting to play with the genuine amber Vyts's grandmother gave me last Christmas!).

I guess we'll see. In the meantime, let me build up hype about a recent TM I made that is both themed and NOT a commission. I have the pictures taken, just not processed. The inspiration came from a suggestion I made on a recent commisison. I was so bummed out about the customer not liking/choosing the idea that I was compelled to make one for general sale! I hope to have the picture up tomorrow.

After a long, rambling entry about random TM topics, I will call it a night.

Pumpkin carving and latest commission

Yeah, two unrelated things, I know. But I'm too lazy right now to make two separate entries. So first, here are the pumpkins.
Vyts carved the Hallowed Helm from WoW (on the right) upon my request, while I tediously worked on the Deathstar (on the left). I know. We're dorks. I'm ok with that, though.

WOO! FINALLY finished this order (though the customer is sending a new order of four my way!) This was the hardest because I had to redo the hair three times (it kept looking not good with the rest of the Monster) and I had no idea how to do shopping bags. So after several attempts! BAM!

Not allowed to sleep anymore.

Yesterday I woke up to a phone call from my sister. Only, I didn't actually answer the phone because upon awakening to my ring tone, my first thoughts was, "Oh! Where's the circle pillow?" I then proceeded to search the bed and blankets for the circle pillow. Finally, after realizing we don't actually own a circle pillow, I figure out it is my phone ringing. I fumble around the shelf above the bed, finally find the phone, and then can't figure out how to answer it until I miss the call.

Last night, I went to bed at about midnight, telling Vytas to try, but not too hard, to wake me up in the morning when he is leaving for work. I vaguely remember him doing this and telling me that it was 6:30, and he was getting ready to go. I woke up about 2o minutes later--or so it seemed--and was shocked to see it was 12:30p. Yeah.

That! And the doozeys I've been dreaming up make me wonder if there wasn't a massive spill at a halucinogenic drug company upriver of my drinking water source.

So my ultimate decision from all this, is that I'm not allowed to sleep anymore.

Houseguest

This past week I had an old friend visiting from Chicago-land. She had never been to the East coast, so we did a lot of the usual tourists things. We spent a lot of time in Manhattan tromping through Central Park, mid-town, downtown, and the Greenwich area. We saw Chinatown, Little Italy, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Battery, Rockefellar Center, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and, of course, Time Square. And! we saw everything in between these sites as well!

Well, I was seeing it all again. But I was more than happy to go about seeing it all with her, but this morning I dropped her off at the airport and have been trying to gain some kind of productive momentum since.

I have a number of commisisons I'm working on. I'm still trying to get my website up and running and functional, and I am getting my shop ready for the holiday season. Whew, I'm already exhausted just from thinking about it.

Brief reprieve with a sneak preview!

I know I am not done posting the Bridal Party Timid Monsters yet (hey! my sister had 20 people in her bridal party not counting herself or the groom), but I thought I'd give you a reprieve and post one of my latest commissions AND the start of a new line of Timid Monsters!

TADA! Timid Monster Plushes! Something I had been talking about doing forever and was finally pushed into with a commission request from Tiffany over at PicnicBasketCrafts. Thanks for the boost forward! They were a blast to make, and I will have plenty more finished and up for individual sale soon.

I like the bright blue one with the distrusting gaze. Oh! And they all have spots on their butts/backs! I'll post more pictures when I start posting them for sale.

I will now return you to your regularly schedule Bridal Party Monsters.

The posting of wedding stuff begins

The ring-bearer's pillow, guest book, and flower girl's basket for my sister's wedding.

Stupidly I did not take any decent photos of her veil. I'll have to wait and see if the wedding photographer got any good shots of it.

I still have MANY, MANY more things I did for her wedding to post, so be on the look out.