Regrets

I've never been the kind of person who regrets anything. I live my life how I like and whatever happens is the result of my own decisions and I have never felt as if any of my decisions shouldn't have been made. Every step I've taken, every relationship I've been in has brought me to where I am today.

I've never been the kind of person who regrets anything... until today. My boyfriend is moving. Typing it that way makes it sound so silly and trivial, like I should just be okay with it. I'm not okay. I feel as if we've wasted so much time butting heads and being stubborn that we never appreciated what we had. Now he's leaving. And I'm running out of time.

There were so many things I wanted to do. I wanted to eat breakfast on the beach and watch the sunrise. I wanted to spend an entire day in bed just eating ice cream out of the container and hiding under the covers. I wanted to introduce him to my favorite movies and songs. I wanted to run through the rain. I wanted spend another day just wandering around the city. I wanted to buy him a replacement cup of hot chocolate. I wanted to take him to the little movie theatre in Bradley Beach and eat at the old Italian restaurant next door. I wanted to go dancing. I wanted to drink our anniversary wine. I wanted to introduce him to all of my friends. I wanted to cook for him - really cook for him. I wanted to visit his Mother in Virginia. I wanted to go to the Museum of Natural History and the Met and Central Park and the zoo. I wanted to share my favorite books with him. I wanted to have more crazy, spontaneous, middle-of-the-night adventures. I wanted there to be quiet moments over cups of coffee. I wanted to wear more funny hats.

But we can't. Everything's changing. Time is short. These things will never happen. I can feel him slipping away, starting a new life with a new routine, new worries, and new priorities. I don't think I've ever faced anything this difficult and I don't think I've ever gone through this many tissue boxes in one day.

I'm sorry to digress from the usually sunny blog posts, but I had to get this out. I've never been this heartbroken and I've never considered time "wasted" before today. I'm scared.

Things to do..

So here I am making yet another list. (Well, technically, transcribing another list as this one is an extended version of the one I scribbled down on a Post-it around 2:30 this morning, but I digress.) This one is for this week. There is so much work to be done, so many people to see and projects to be finished and cupcakes to be baked. It's going to be a good week. A long one, perhaps, but a very very good one.


And so, here we go...


Things To Do
1. Purchase tillie as soon as my check clears today. The wonderful Regina from everyeskimo reserved her for me as I simply can't live without her. She'll be a wonderful edition to the itsy bitsy everyeskimo softie family I've acquired.

2. Find some kind of allergy medicine to help clear up my breathing. Saturday night I was down at my Grandparents beach house and I had an allergic reaction to something in the air. My eyes became puffy and red, my throat closed up, and I could barely breathe. Even today, when I try to take a deep breath, I start coughing. While I'm terribly allergic to mold, dust, and pollen, I've never had a reaction like this and I'm pretty reluctant to head down the shore again if there's a possibility this could happen again. I usually have terrible luck with allergy medication, well, medication of any kind really, so I'm not quite sure where to start, but I have to find something. We're supposed to be having a 4th of July celebration down there this week and I couldn't imagine missing it.

3. Continue working on this rediculous project and finish up my last rediculous project. Every time I get inspiration, I always end up coming up with some easy projects and some completely ludicrous ones that are going to take me forever. I have no idea if this was the best project to start at this current moment, but it gives me something to do.. and it looks quite promising, doesn't it? Well, actually it looks like oversized calamari.... Hmm...

I also have to finish a project I started as a suprise for someone special. Here's a hint:

It turned out not to be a terribly long list, but it's a list nonetheless that needs to be fit in around work and friends and other appointments. We'll see how this week goes; I hope it'll be as good as I'm predicting.

And finally, because I can't help myself, a gratuitious boyfriend picture.

He can't decide whether to be grupmpy about the hat or start laughing hysterically...
<3

Well, well, well.. a new idea!

Lately I've been having a very hard time finding inspiration for new crochet patterns. I guess it's the same creative rut that every artist goes through. I happen to find it particularly frustrating because every time I can't figure out something new to work up, I try my hand at knitting, ultimately fail, and then get super frustrated at the fact that I still can't figure out where to put the damn needles and my left hand hurts in places it never does when I crochet making it virtually unuseable for a good 48 hours afterward.

So, after having gone through that seemingly inevitable process a few days ago, I finally managed to eek out some new sketches... without the use of my left hand, of course.

I'm developing a new free pattern and a few new goodies to put in the shop, so be on the look out!


I'm headed to the shore this weekend, so no blogging for me, but before I go, I just wanted to share this adorable babies from Regina over at everyeskimo.

This is wheezie

And this is tillie

These little guys are oeuflings, or the miniature creatures that hatch out of unfound easter eggs. I can't decide which one I love more, although tillie is starting to pull on my heartstrings quite a bit. You really should pop over to her shop and check them out along with the oodles of vintage goodies she sells and her fabulous embroidery pieces.

And.. even though I said there was going to be a gratuitous boyfriend picture in this post.. I decided to go with a gratuitous gato picture instead.. mostly because she's rubbing up against my leg as I'm typing and I can't resist.

This is my Luna... isn't she adorable? When she isn't trying to rip my face off, that is.......

Projects, Old and New

So many projects to talk about, so little time! (mostly because I'm exhausted, but I simply can't resist sharing..)

I haven't been crocheting much for myself lately. Boyfriend has opened up a whole new world of possibilities, and it's been amazing being able to make things for someone who not only appreciates them, but appreciates me. That being said, a few selfish projects have managed to worm their way into my schedule.

First, there was this guy:

With his three layers of ice creamy goodness and his multi-colored bugle bead sprinkles, he was a joy to make. There's nothing like envisioning something in your head and then watching it come to life. He's a modification of the Strawberry and French Vanilla Ice Cream Cone Pattern that's available in my shop. When I decided to make him, I knew I wanted something larger than the original and with a little more spunk. And he certainly has spunk.. especially the scoop of strawberry ice cream at the top. I think the sprinkles make him a bit more sassy than his peers.

Then I didn't make anything for a while that wasn't for someone else until... the fifth season Doctor Who episode with the weeping angels aired. A friend of mine was cleaning out his garden and found his old cement fountain had cracked over the winter and the pudgy cherubs had broken into rather large chunks. He gave a particularly whiney looking severed cherub head to my Mother to stage in my room as a joke. She wanted to throw it out afterward. Unfortunately, I had fallen in love.... and decided he needed a hat, of course.
So, here he is, hat and all: (his mushed face and tempermental whine remind me of the mandrakes in Harry Potter.... I mean, really, how could you resist?)

As for future projects... I just discovered these (unfortunately) at PurlSoho. They're needlepoint canvases based on the work of illustrator Charley Harper, who I idolize. His colors range from the vibrant to the mundane, but the minimalist way he depicted animals infused such a life and sense of soul in them, it's hard to look at his work and not be inspired. He broke nature down to its base parts in such a unique way, his silkscreen work became ledgend and it is easy to see the building blocks of every modern, minimalist artist in his pieces.

Unfortunately, PurlSoho has taken it upon themselves to attmept to make these needlepoint canvases as snooty and expensive as possible. Needlepoint is a dying art, and therefore the canvases are a bit more expensive than they used to be and a bit harder to find, but charging upwards of $100 for the canvas alone is obscene. Apparently, PurlSoho felt the need to have the canvases handpainted instead of simply printed because it makes them "extra special" ::coughcoughextraexpensivecoughcough:: Here, you might as well read for yourself:

"Handpainted needlepoint canvases are extra special because the artist takes extra care to paint the colors on the canvas grid in such a manner that it is perfectly clear what color each stitch should be. If this process weren't taken so seriously, colors would bleed from one hole of the mesh to the next, making it unclear what colors should be used for what stitches and therefore creating a much less satisfying result."

Oh, I get it now. They're trying to save me from having to think about where I'm putting my stitches. Well, that makes sense. A crafter isn't supposed to be thinking about their work or the overall aesthetic value of it. Thanks, PurlSoho for saving me from the incredibly difficult art of using my brain to make creative choices. You really are swell.

Thankfully, in what seems to have been a lapse of judgement in the company's "lets bilk our customers for all they're worth because we're in Soho and we can" department, they not only posted a picture of the completed Rainforest Birds canvas (which happens to be my favorite)...

they also posted a detailed color key which can be seen at full size and downloaded here.And so, armed with the tracing skills I picked up in the first grade and some old, blank, needlepoint canvases I picked up at a yard sale, I'm ready to get started... and save $90.
How's that for using my noodle, PurlSoho?






As an unrelated side note, there will be a boyfriend picture in the next post. I'm done resisting...

The morning after.

So shining in the sunlight this morning, the cactuses seem quite pleased with their new home. Just about as pleased as I am to be shining in the sunlight in my new t-shirt from Threadless.com. It's adorable and grotesque - just how I like things.

(I was trying way too hard not to giggle in this picture.)

You know what else I like? Handlebar moustaches.
(As a side note, while I abhor Urban Outfitters for the gall they seem to have when it comes to pricing, they do have some adorable, unique, and semi-reasonable stuff.. especially in the adorable moustache department.) Today I decided to check out Etsy and see what moustache goodies were lurking around.

This adorable totebag from PaisleyMagic.

A light switch cover that looks like it stepped right out of a 1950's malt shop by julietew

These fabulous moustache props courtesy of Whiskerworks.

And, my personal favorite, this all too-true keychain handmade by AnniePants. Because we've all thought about that moustache... whether we want to admit it or not.

So, whether Tom Selleck is your man, or Teddy Roosevelt is more your style, there are plenty of moustachy goodies available on Etsy.. trust me, I'm looking.

And I'm still resisting the urge to post a gratuitous boyfriend picture... even though he does have a moustache so it would be semi-appropriate... hmm.. He just shaved.. so much for that.. I suppose I'll have to find another flimsy reason to post one.

Of cupcakes and plant stands and cherry lime soda..

My fingers are killing me.

The downside of being catus-obsessed, I suppose. I set up a new, incredibly pink plant stand tonight which involved moving some wayward cactuses from where they had taken a prolonged pit-stop on the dining room table (ruining a tablecover in the process, I might add. Some plants you just can't take anywhere) into my bedroom.

They seem happy with their brightly colored pots and miniature umbrellas.. not as happy as I am though. That plant stand was successfully garbage picked, and now after having been painted a candy-coated shade of bubblegum pink looks as good as new and worth far more than the $40 miniature one I priced at Urban Outfitters last week. Yooo-hoo! Hipsters! I think you may be getting ripped off... but maybe it's just me. Perhaps paying an inflated price for miniature decor is part of the allure of hipsterdom.

In case you haven't noticed, the blog has gotten a bit of a face lift. New color scheme, same basic premise. The shop has been re-stocked, I have new business cards on the way, and now I'm sitting back, enjoying a rainbow striped cupcake and a cherry limeaide... and picking the minute spines out of my finger tips. Oh summertime. Does it get any better than this?

Oh wait.. It can! Danielle from Danielleorama is giving away an adorable owl brooch that just makes me melt. All you have to do is pop over to her site and post a comment listing your favorite things about summer (the only hard part about that is narrowing down all the choices) and your email address. Then you're immediately entered to win! The contest goes through June 24th so you better head over there fast. Trust me, you don't want to miss it.




I'm tempted to throw in a gratuitous boyfriend picture right about now, but he may just kill me..... perhaps in the next post...