Sunday, September 23, 2012

Playing catch-up

Okay, I can explain my unannounced absence from the blogging world over the past several months.

SKYRIM.

Sorta. I didn't exactly spend every moment parked in front of the XBox playing the incredibly addicting game, but what time that could have been spent blogging was wasted on killing dragons and raiding dungeons. I started playing said game after Christmas, but it was only very brief (my first character was some Breton mage chick) as I had to hunker down and work on my dreaded taxes. It took me until about a week before the tax deadline that I finished and submitted all of my paperwork, leaving me free to pick up Skyrim once more. This time, I started anew with a female Khajiit warrior-thief (currently level 60). Then Dawnguard came out, followed by Hearthfire. I powered through the former about a week after downloading it and haven't really delved into the latter due to an annoying glitch with the Falkreath house. Oh well. There's still Assassin's Creed III to look forward to.

Skyrim aside, I was invited by the lovely Holly Foy of the band Callanish to sell my Ireland photography prints at the St. Patrick's Day festival. Spent the week prior running on very little sleep while printing out my photos, mounting and packaging them. My partner unfortunately wound up with the flu so I had to work my booth solo. Luckily, I managed to do fine that day. I even got to chat with some of the other wonderful vendors and musicians during downtime.

There's not much else in regards to shop-related news. I mostly worked my screen printing press, producing a variety of t-shirts and very gradually sketching out concept art of Bob Corgman's family. Sorry I haven't been putting out many new designs this year, as I've recently acquired a part-time temp job with the local university as a graphic designer. So far, I'm loving my new job as it's actually more relaxing compared to running an entire business by yourself. Plus, I like my co-workers. :)

Work-stuff aside, I've also been painting my formal living room a nice, pale shade of grey, with the accent wall, interior of front door and built-in shelving in charcoal grey. Most of the effort was concentrated on said built-in shelving as they required a variety of uncomfortable maneuvering to get at the nooks and crannies. I still also have to Mod Podge some asanoha-print paper over the switch plate and outlet covers, and more importantly, furnish the damn room.

For one of the guest bedrooms, I've been planning and bugeting to replace the old carpeting with North American cherry hardwood flooring. Since out-of-town guest visits are few and far in-between, I'll probably turn that room into my office/sewing room since I'm wary of the reliability of my art studio heaters during the harshest period of winter. Not very interesting to mention, but it's part of why I was busy. Even less interesting were the occasional days I spent curled up under the blankets with my laptop playing various shows on Hulu because I didn't feel like doing jack.

That's basically it so far. More posts to come. :)







Saturday, September 15, 2012

Uhh...I'm back.

And I brought cupcakes with me.

Pumpkin cupcakes.

With whipped cream and cinnamon on top.


Here's the link to the recipe. Ignore the Argo brand ingredients and use whatever ya got, of course. The only difference was that I replaced the vegetable oil with 1/2 stick of light butter and 1/2 a banana.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

New Photography Pieces

Much of yesterday and today's "downtime" were spent tinkering around with some older photos I took during my 2008 Ireland trip. Two are finished, not sure if I'm going to bother with the others.

If you notice in my shop, much of my pieces have a dreamy, washed out, lo-fi feel, so I'm trying to keep with the general theme. I don't own an iPhone, nor have I ever used Instagram - all of the effects you see below were made from scratch.

The Irish landscape images were altered using adjustment layers for contrast, saturation, vignetting, and curves. Extra layers were used for overlaying airbrushing (one layer per color), which were then blurred and set in varying modes to achieve the light leaks one would get from old Holga cameras. The black "viewfinder" frame in the first image was actually an original stock pic I took through my Kodak Duaflex II camera, layered over the image.

Thoughts? Critiques? I'll try to get them listed in my photography shop later tonight and will post the links here.

"Drifting Through the Haze"

"Road Tripping Across the Countryside"

Post-Valentine's Day Post

Hope everyone's Valentine's Day went well. The SO and I agreed that we shouldn't be arsed with getting each other flowers, cards, etc. this time around, so we stayed in all day relaxing. We started the early afternoon (yes, we got to sleep in!) with breakfast in bed of bacon, eggs, and french toast with a bit of honey (my guy took his bread regular toasted).

For dinner, we whipped up some champ w/ sauteed onions and mushroom, and grilled big-ass slabs of steak.

Totally conquered, like a BAWSS.

For dessert, which happened a few hours later due to being too stuffed, I made chocolate-dipped strawberries. They didn't look as presentable as I'd hoped, but they still tasted groin-grabbingly good.

And to cap off the night after a nice massage, a glass of this:


One would think that after omnomming on so much calorie-laden food, an extra couple of pounds would be expected on the scale the following day, but...nope. Lost about .4 lbs and down to my lowest weight so far. :D Go me.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Haven't done this in a while...

O look, I actually drew something that's not work-related. I rarely get to kick back with my sketchbook and draw for fun. Recently, I've been playing catch-up with orders and tons of messages that have been unfortunately neglected due to some bug I caught last week. Spent much of my time trying to keep warm either by curling up under tons of blankets or hobbling around the house layered in coats and sweaters like a hobo.

Many apologies to those who had their orders delayed. I did not wish to get my nasty germs all over your items. Hopefully in the future, illness will not rear its ugly head in my household often.

So yup, I was inspired to make a relatively quick/crappy sketch (shown below) after being amused by what the admin said (as quoted in said pic) in a comment on J'zargo's FB page.



Sorry if J'zargo looks wonky here, it's been years since I drew any anthropomorphic-related art. Hopefully the kitty-mage of awesomeness won't go all Palpatine on my arse.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Kimono Photo Shoot!

Recently, I got my coveted shishi nagoya obi in the mail:

Awww yeeeah!

...and I took some time off to get dolled up in kimono and do a little photo shoot. I wore my red/cream yabane komon with my new obi, accessorized 'em with a navy/white han eri, pale green shibori obiage and dusty red/green obijime. I also wore my white zori with mustard yellow floral print hanao (thong straps of the zori sandals), but those aren't pictured due to the room wasn't big enough to get all of me in frame.

Also, I really need to buy more obi accessories and zori, because I'm severely lacking in those departments.


EDIT: It's been so long since I wore kimono that I forgot to keep the sleeve openings at the back, not leave them at the front. *headdesk* My bad. Will definitely keep that in mind next time.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Prints

It's been a while since I've listed new photography prints. I was rifling through the hundreds of pics I took during my previous trips to Ireland and stumbled on a few that I couldn't resist tinkering with in Photoshop.

Click the images to head over to their listings.

Galway Clock Tower
"Clock Tower" 8x8" Print (5x5" version coming soon)

Irish Summer Daybreak
"Irish Summer at Dawn" 8x8" Print

5x5" version available here

Saturday, December 31, 2011

2012 Resolutions and Year-End Review

And so, another year passes. 2011, you have been a harsh mistress and you won't be missed. I know that many of you have had a rough year as well. There have been a few highlights, but overall - pretty blah. Here's hoping that 2012 will be more forgiving.

The list below not only contains my next set of resolutions, but also a review on what I've accomplished.

1) Reach my goal weight - I've lost about 33lbs. this year and whittled down from a size 8 to a size 4US (or 3/5 juniors). Yay! So I've accomplished my weight loss goal (20lbs.) and went 13 lbs. beyond that. My friend, Jane got me hooked on MyFitnessPal (username is mjrojas if you wish to add me), a free online diary where you can keep track of your daily fitness and caloric intake. Using this diary has made me become more conscious of what and how much I eat, as well as motivate me to exercise more. It's been very well the far most effective weight loss plan I've ever used - and I've done 'em all!

Now all I need is to lose the last 15lbs., which I should achieve come this spring. I wanna buy up and rock some skinny jeans in all the colors of the rainbow!

2) I've surpassed my 300 sales goal, that is if you count all sales outside of Etsy. I'm still adding up the total, but I know it's far more than 300. Perhaps I should go for 1,000 in 2012?

3) Accomplished goal #3 by partaking in Underground Artists Market's fall craft show. Not that many people showed up due to the freak snowstorm that weekend, but I managed to make some sales and network with a some wonderful vendors and and a few customers.

I'll definitely try to participate in more craft shows, especially People's Choice. I will need to invest in an EZ-Up tent and stuff to outfit said tent. I still prefer indoor craft shows, though. :P

4) I didn't get to take Marduk out for as many walks as I'd like to this year, due to work and personal stuff, but I'll try harder this time. I'd love to take up hiking, just some easy trails for us.

5) Again, did not achieve the interior re-painting for parts of the house, and I still have the floor left to scrub and paint in the art studio. Will try to get the formal living room done this January and go from there.

6) I finally got around to replacing the nasty 20+ year-old carpeting in the den with some gorgeous acacia hardwood flooring that I got on clearance at SimpleFloors. I still have to find proper matching thresholds (the most difficult task) and install those, but other than that, it's all done.

7) Hallway bathroom renovation has not been done yet, although I don't really count this as a goal. I did acquire some new hardware and accessories and have also found the toilet, tub, vanity, tiles and fixtures I want to buy.

8) I did manage to work on some kimono and kanzashi stuff for myself and for a few clients. Hope to make plenty more of the stuff this time around, I've been drafting out some concepts for a new collection. I even snatched up a nice ro silk momiji bolt that will be turned into a hikizuri.

9) Did not get into RCIA this year. My friend, Ant has attempted to contact the local parish several times but got no response. I even went down there by myself to find the office closed. By his last attempt, it was already too late. :/ Oh well, just need to make more in-person visits.

10) Need to better organize my shtuff - take care of things right away, not at the last minute. Trying not to pile so much work on my plate.

11) And last, but not least, is to try not to overwork myself and relax more. I really need to get back to doing more personal artwork and try to venture out of this boring town. I could kill for a vacation right about now, or at the very least, a nice day at a spa.


What's your New Year's resolution?