so it goes...

patience does reward itself!

drum roll please...

presenting my very first knitted sweater! i probably could've chosen an easier sweater to begin with and preferably one that came with a more coherent pattern (sorry wenlan), but, hey, it's finally finished at last! and i even made a hat too.

the sweater is the best friend cardigan from wenlan chia's "big city knits". one warning: the patterns are at times vague and confusing and there is a pdf file online with errata that you might want to check out before making one of her designs. but hey, i love a challenge and learned to improvise! pretty soon i'll be writing my own patterns.... :D

i only recently discovered a site that sells wenlan's twinkle chunky yarn at a discount. if you love her yarns like i do but can't bear to pay the $19.95 price tag for 83 yards, do check it out: fabulous yarn. there are so many discounts involved with that site - i only wished they carried more brands.

i've already bought yarn to start another project from the book. but that'll have to wait until my flurry of midterm examinations are over with!

Some things take time

As I am learning right now... while in the middle of a last minute cram session before my first midterm of the semester. My LAST semester, mind you.



I could only wish to have the patience to bake such wonderfully appealing bread. Until then, I live in the wonders of cooperative living! Mmm... aren't they just delightful to look at? I do not think I've ever seen anyone bake bread before (minus foccacia and banana bread).



My patience has been tried ever since receiving my first screen print kit. I've used it several times and have made plenty of items (must remind self to show photos at some point), but nothing has taken longer than this unfinished print. This is my first attempt at a print and will be in very limited quantities, but I hope someone somewhere will enjoy it. It's still missing one element and it's a very simple print. Explanation to come.



But nothing pushes the envelope more than trying to knit a sweater! With cable! Using the vague and somewhat inaccurate patterns by Wenlan Chia, no less! I know, I know... amateur knitter attempting difficulty task. I think I've heard that fable somewhere. ...Oh, right... it's me. :) Despite the wonks and kinks, I believe there is hope for this sweater yet. (It had better because this silly hobby of mine is costing me lots of moolah! Wenlan's prices for yarn are not exactly for the faint of heart.)



Despite all the other challenges to my patience, there is a silver lining. Just look at this gorgeous shoe rack! From Ikea, painted purple because it's the paint lying around in my room and I didn't feel like looking for other paint. I think it looks pretty nice and really brings out the colors of my shoe collection (my other shoes are back home with the parentals). I, um, have a, sort of, minor, problem,... with spending money. *shrugs shoulders* What can I say? Appearance matters to me and the appearance of my room has been atrocious of late. But, hey, at least my shoe rack is a dandy alternative for my eyes.

Stay tuned folks... I'm already in the sketching stages of a new print/cut out (or both, really, cuz I'm ambitious like that!). I'm also trying to get some dolls made (got the parts cut out but never sewn up... hmm.. that must be fixed). I'm also in the process of purchasing some fabrics in hopes of making a few bags (SANS pattern - I'm not a pattern gal; they're great to have when you're completely lost, but patterns generally confuse me more!). Oy! What a run-on sentence I weave. For shame.

It's way too hot!!!!!

School's already started. Almost two weeks to be exact-ish. The weather went from cold summer to hot, hot, hot fall. what's up with that? Global warming, I'll just blame it on you. (and my ignorance of weather-ness).

I'm still quite alive, miserably so. Given my schedule, do not know when I'll be back and updating regularly. If you've noticed, I've also commented less on the blogs I typically visit. Sorry... I still read it though!

I did make a cool little book bag for myself after reading skinny laminx's blog post about bags. I so have to take pictures as I'm quite proud of it and have been putting it to abusive use!

I'm almost done with the print art I've been working on. I'm almost done carving out the rubber stamp and just need to mix some paint for it. Cannot wait! I've also got some little screen printed card samplers (nothing fancy) that I've been meaning to post about and add to my shop. But, alas, folks, I've been too busy with school and the cooperative house and my managerial position in the house... and soon to add volunteering to do anything crafty related. Well.. I still craft, but not sharing it. Many many heartfelt apologies.

Now if the darn weather would just give me a breeze I'd be almost content. And maybe turned down the heat a few notches. Not asking much. I just don't want to walk around campus like I'm in the middle of a dehydrated heat stroke!

hello

Just stopping by to say hi, in case anyone still visits. Hi!

My latest "distraction" has been my good friend's dental school application. He e-mailed me a copy of his personal statement, and well, let's just say it was not a bestseller. And he knows it and that's why he's enlisting help from his friends. It's never easy to request help or accept it, but in this case I think it was a smart decision. Dental school is not an easy thing to get into and, of course, you'd ideally like to get into a good one with good training. Am I right?

So I've been busy helping my friend draft out an outline, rephrase sentences, and providing a much-needed structure. (I know with my own experiences in writing such darned things as personal statements that, sometimes, it's difficult and frustrating to write when there is no direction.) A research paper is easy because someone is telling you what to write about, what to look out for and what to accomplish. Y'know?

Anyway, I hope this blog picks up again in the fall semester. That is highly unlikely as I will be finishing up my last semester of undergraduate study. And, as is fate, I have a bunch of tiny courses (avg. 2 units per course) in my schedule as opposed to 3 or 4 bigger courses. Oh well. AND - I'll be back here at Glide once a week to volunteer with the case manager. AND - I'll be sharing the responsibility of being workshift (fancy schmancy name for house chores) manager at my cooperative house. So... I've got a plate full on me.

But, do not despair, I will certainly make time to write and blog and post lovely photos again!

Meanwhile, I've been working on getting those dolls all sewed up and getting those prints (wip I've mentioned countless times before) all printed up.

It'll be fun. I'll barrage you with lots and lots of catch-up photos!

So tell me, what art projects have you been doing? And how have you given back to your community?

Lotta Jansdotter + Screen print samples

I am sooooo incredibly late with these photos of Lotta Jansdotter. She was here in SF for a printing workshop of sorts in June. It was nice to finally meet the woman behind the books and the famous designs. I haven't looked through all the photos yet but here's two!



Here is a photo of some simple mushroom cards I created with my not-so-new screen print kit. None of them are perfect but I've found the imperfections unique. They're just screen print samples. They're so cute! I'll be putting them up in the shop as individual cards, along with envelopes. And meanwhile, I've been perfecting my skills on a print I mentioned earlier. Photos to come!

WIP update

i created a sketch a while back that i never got a chance to show anyone. i didn't know what to do with it and i was getting tired of stationery (speaking of which, i printed some cards to try out my screen printing kit and have been meaning to post about those - nothing fancy), so... what else could i do? the easy answer (though it took some time for it to occur to me) was to produce some prints! yay!

so with my paycheck in the bank (i'm going to miss receiving a paycheck btw), i went to the art store and purchased several different kinds of lovely cream/ivory cardstock. got me some canson and two other brands. anyhow, i'm still at work right now so i'll have to wait until later tonight to commence the printing part. i enjoyed cutting the paper though, with my trusty paper cutter (those things they sell for scrapbooking, those watchmacallits).

i'll have photos for you in a day or two. it's taking a while because removing screen filler is difficult! i still dont have all of the screen filler removed but i'll make do. there's enough space to fit my design.

anyway, sorry again for the lack of lovely photos! :(

Updates to come... and yes, I'm still alive!

My summer internship has been intensive. I am really starting to understand why a full time job (regardless of how interesting it may be) can be sooooo sucky. It drains the energy out of you (even if you don't have to do hard labor...).

BUT - and here's the but - I will slowly try and get myself back on the map! I've been doing so much before the internship began and never got a chance to show and tell. And that was very bad of me. I guess I shall have to work on it. Anyhow, to keep things interesting, I'll do mini posts of some of the projects I've been working on and the many WIP (works in progress) that I have. I'll even show you photos of my parents' living room! It's a complete mess!!!! :) I've taken over.

AND - I've also begun cutting out the parts to the dolls I've been meaning to stuff and sew. I'll also get around to that. Maybe make one per night or every other night. Slowly, but surely, they'll be appearing in the shop.

S

50th Post!

It has been a tremendously long time since my last post. I have been incredibly busy at work. I am an intern at Glide Memorial Church. If you've never heard of this church and its foundation, or if you've never heard of Cecil Williams and his wife Janice Mirikitani, then I suggest you go on over to Google and search for them. They are amazing people and this church has done some wonderful things to help the homeless, the working poor, and anyone who's had their luck taken away.

I have the pleasure of working in the social case management office with Harry Williams (no relation to Cecil), the case manager. I work with him during his meetings with clients and my tasks are numerous. I do anything that he would normally do by himself. And my hours are from 9am - 5pm. I usually get home so exhausted that I have been neglecting this little blog of mine. However, I've been keeping up with a few blogs and reading when I can. I haven't completely neglected the blog world.

This weekend will be the 1st annual Renegade Craft fair in San Francisco, which I'll be attending. I can't wait to meet Lynn of Satsuma Press and I hope to snap lots of photos and buy lots of goodies! :) And hopefully this weekend I'll update with photos from the Lotta Jansdotter printing fest last month, as well as updates from my own personal crafting.

What have y'all been up to?

my, my, my

i have been neglecting my little blog here. and my shop as well.

i've many new things to share and many new photos i need to take.

all will come in due time.

just popped in to say, i've been busy with school and internship/work. but my summer class will be done in one week. so i will have more time to devote to this little blog of mine.

trying new things

in case you haven't noticed, i'm always presenting you with something new i've done or made. rarely do you see a repeat of the technique or item. except maybe the bears. and the stationery.

right now i'm still in the stationery phase of my creative endeavors. i'm looking for low cost, low technique way to put my designs onto paper. as a college student (for one more semester!), it doesn't make sense for me to try to take on bigger things that usually require lots of time, money and equipment - none of which are available in large quantities in my case. but this doesn't mean that i shouldn't try to learn new things and experiment within my means. and the fun part, in all of this, is trying to make something look nice, but handmade, when your resources are few.

i'm up for the challenge!

earlier in the spring i started with just scanning an image and printing it with my home printer or using a copy place. which is always easy and handy to do. but it didn't provide me with the texture that i so crave in stationery.

this past weekend i decided to carve out my own rubber stamps (being inspired by lotta jansdotter's new book and all). i discovered soon after that it is hard to hand carve a design with fine lines. that did not deter me. please, shirley is much courageous than to simply give up. i managed a sketchy pussy willow design that i'll put up soon. it came out alright for a first try.

two nights ago i decided to carve out my logo (the bunny with bird on its back). i changed it slightly to make it more carve-able and i must say it came our rather lovely. i'll definitely have to put up pictures of that.

and yesterday i bought some clear embossing powder and heat tool to use those stamps to create embossed stationery. i still need a bit of practice with the heat tool but i love it! i've created texture! and definitely hand made, well, hand carved, at least. and i finally bought myself a paper trimmer (though i had really wanted a paper guillotine trimmer), so i can buy paper in large sheets and in bulk (much more cost effective) and cut it to the desired dimensions.

i'm enjoying the process and while i would love to shoot straight into professional hand made mode, i can only stick to what i can do and what i do have and make it work. so, sometimes my end product looks slightly crooked, just slightly, and sometimes my design looks too hand drawn (which i love actually), but hey, with anything in life, there's a little push and shove, a little give and take. and i'm taking it with me.

meanwhile, with all this learning and trying new things, i'm excited for the arrival of my own screen print kit by speedball (the same company who made the rubber stamp kit i used). i cannot wait! at least with screen printing i have higher hopes of printing with my fine line drawings. carving rubber stamps is fun and all, but i dont think it's so great for fine lines. i nearly ruined my stamp carving when i carved really near the outline. yikes!

i'm currently on campus (i had a morning class) doing some research for a paper and catching up on missed reading assignments (oops... wonder why i "forgot" to do the reading...), so photos will have to come at another day.

so what new things have you tried lately?

oh, and btw, any suggestions for other low cost ways to print stationery (aside from the mentioned rubber stamp and screen printing)? i'll take what i've given. :D