WelshGrl2

.i'm in the garden.

A new collection of Secret Garden inspired journals are up in my shop, and my favorite one has already sold!  That's uber-exciting.

.an unexpected and unhelpful assistant.

I'm busy getting everything together for a humungo etsy shop update later this afternoon, but I wanted to stop and share a photo I took of this new little assistant that trotted by my house, looking for work this morning.

She is very fluffy, quite dirty, and quite unhelpful.  Unless you count trying to step into product photos and treading her cute little dirty paws precariously close to my carefully created journals helpful.  I don't.  She was quite sweet so I'd like to be friends with her outside the workplace, but I think that a working relationship is out of the question right now.

I wonder if she will still be hanging around when I get back home. 

Any suggestions as to what I should name my vagabond "helper"?

* Note * Her eyes do not look as terrifying in real life as they do in this picture.

.feet.

.rock family tree.

While watching Lay Gaga perform in the finale of Dancing With the Stars last night, I decided that sometime back in the 80's David Bowie and cartoon rocker Jem probably had a wild night together that resulted in a highly stylish and rock-talented love baby.

Lady Gaga is that baby.  Go ahead, prove me wrong. I dare you.

Bowie

Jem

Lady Gaga

.design supports story.

I remember watching the audio commentary for Little Women a few years ago and someone, probably director Gillian Armstrong, said that she didn't understand how directors could start making a movie without knowing what the opening credits would look like.  She said something about how it implied that they didn't know the core meanings of whatever movies that were making.  It's been awhile since I heard her commentary, so I am probably paraphrasing with a bias that serves my own purposes, but whatever.  I'm getting to a point, I promise.

Lately, I have been fascinated with DVD menus.  Not only do I think that they are visually inspiring, but I think that, when deployed properly, they can do a great deal to communicate the message of the enclosed video(s) within seconds.

Take the menu for the Gavin and Stacey DVD menu, for example.

It's a very simple, but charming set up, just like the show.  The focus is on the images of the characters, just like the show is focused on the characters.  The black background, simple title font, and clean menu format are like the set, costumes, and any other "extra" in the show.  They are there to serve a purpose, not to show off and detract from the core of the show.

I like to take this "design supports story" approach to my scrapbook albums.  I get it from my mother.  And Ali Edwards. 

Wouldn't it be great to make a sort of "table of contents" page for a scrapbook album with this kind of design in mind?  And let it's design help communicate the story(ies) coming in the next pages?

I've decided to make a table of contents page for my Ashley and Me Album.  It will be modeled after the Gavin and Stacey Special Features menu (pictured above).  Each bullet point will be titled after the periods in our relationship, and there will be coordinating divider tabs through out the album.  

And, sorry, but I have to point out how pretty I think this menu is too:

But maybe that's just me and my guiltiest pleasure. : )

101 in 1001

I am taking the 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days Challenge.  Yippee! 

(Skip to the bottom of this list for an explanation as to why I am doing this.  I wrote that piece around Jan 1, 2009)

In addition to completing this list, I promise to blog about each of these items as I complete them (and in the process of completing them, in some cases).

Start Date: January 1, 2009.
End Date: September 29, 2011.

Crafty and Such
1.    Knit a blanket.
2.    Learn to crochet.
3.    Finish knitting purple socks.
4.    Start and keep current an "Ashley and Me" album.
5.    Publish a knitting pattern.
6.    Complete at least two embroidery projects.
7.    Learn jewelry making skills (make three pieces of jewelry as proof). (1, 2, 3).
8.    Get all scrapbooks up to date.  Use Ali Edward's Life Artist Philosophies to keep it fun, effective, and simple.  (More details on all the tasks that this project entails will come).
9.    Complete an online photography challenge.
10.   Make three mixed CDs.  One themed, two autobiographical. (1, 2, 3)
11.   Become friends with my Nikon.  Or get a new, fancy camera.
12.   Investigate joining or starting an art group.
13.   Keep an art journal.
14.   Burn Christmas in Wales DVD.
15.   Go to three craft fairs. (1, 2, 3).
16.   Do three fun photo shoots with friends. (1, 2, 3).
17.   Make a cover for my iphone.
18.   Make a cover for my camera.
19.   Knit a sweater or shirt-like garment and wear it.
20.   Take three truly beautiful photos that I am proud of.  (1, 2, 3).
21.   Alter a t-shirt.
22.   Learn at least 4 new Photoshop skills. (1, 2, 3, 4).
23.   Have pea-cost lined with a fun fabric, and attach new buttons.
24.   Find/make/buy the perfect handbag.

Home
1.    Move out.
2.    Live in a loft/granny unit/studio type place.
3.    Decorate it with goods that I/others have handmade.
4.    Hang a gold frame over the peep-hole (a la Friends).
5.    Organize and back up all digital photos.
6.    Locate, organize, and protect all tangible memorabilia (photos, journals, etc.).  Make them accessible (in case I am inspired to scrapbook them).
7.    Make prints of Stacey's wedding pictures.  Give back her negatives.
8.    Use only environmentally friendly cleaning products (when I have my own place again).
9.    Adorn my bed with new and handmade bedding.
10.   Attach a wall decal to a colorfully painted wall.
11.   Purge many of my books.
12.   Organize closet, dresser, jewelry, and accessories for convenience and beauty.
13.   Back up all music and other important documents on computer.

Travel/Experience
1.    Go back to the UK (again).
2.    Visit Nicolette on the East Coast (In the fall).
3.    See/play in snow.
4.    Experience Christmas in Wales with Mom and Ashley's family.
5.    Go to/host an elaborate costume/Halloween party.
6.    Visit 4 different places of worship for their particular weekly services. (1,2,3,4)
7.    Stay up all night.  Watch the sunrise.  Maybe drive out to the beach to do so (With Ashley).
8.    Visit the South. 
9.    Go on a hike in a new place.
10.   Make plans for all New Years, Halloween, and 4th of July's within the 1001 days parameter.
11.   Get over my issues and play Monopoly.  Enjoy it, whether I win or not!
12.   Visit Scotland.
13.   Go to the beach.
14.   Ride a motorcycle (as a passenger).
15.   Build a fort out of pillows/blankets, etc.  Spend a day in it reading, watching movies, playing, etc.  Sleep in it.  Involve Ashley, or Nicolette in the adventure.


Love/Family/People
1.    Have Ashley's family meet mine.
2.    Collect (and properly archive/organize) family stories from Dad.
3.    Collect (and properly archive/organize) family stories from Mom.
4.    Collect (and properly archive/organize) family stories from Stacey.
5.    Collect (and properly archive/organize) family stories from Grandma M.
6.    Collect (and properly archive/organize) family stories from Grandpa M.
7.    Collect (and properly archive/organize) family stories from Grandma G.
8.    Collect (and properly archive/organize) family stories from Grandpa G.
9.    See my Seattle cousins (namely M, C, B, and D) once a year.
10.   Make 2 new (good) friends.
11.   Give a friend a unique, and true compliment.
12.   Go out with my friends 3 times even when I don't feel like it. (1, 2, 3)
13.   Stand up for myself.
14.   Stand up for someone else.
15.   Experience something magical with someone.
16.   Follow my heart instead of my head.  (Once, and in a big-ish way).
17.   Move forward with Ashley.
18.   Find, and re-connect with Hebe.

Work
1.    Participate in NaBloPoMo.
2.    Get a domain name.
3.    Make business cards.
4.    Make gifts for Etsy purchases.
5.    Complete all my current online presence goals (secret for now!).
6.    Make a list of my professional strengths.  Keep current.

Read/Watch/Listen
1.    Watch The Godfather Movies. (1, 2, 3)
2.    Read a Neil Gaiman Book.
3.    Complete the 2009 YA Fiction Reading Challenge. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
4.    Watch (several episodes) of a retro TV show that is important in understanding American culture.
5.    Watch (several episodes) of a British TV show that is important in understanding British culture.
6.    Watch a Bollywood movie (that I have not seen).
7.    Watch a French movie (that I have not seen).
8.    Watch a Spanish movie (that I have not seen).
9.    Watch a Scandinavian movie (that I have not seen).
10.   Watch an Italian movie (that I have not seen).
11.   Continue my vampire education by watching Dracula and Nosforatu.
12.   Read an Emily the Strange book.
13.   Familiarize myself with classical music by researching 5 different artists and listening to their 2-3 (ea.) major works. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Financial
1.    Get out of credit card debt.
2.    Stick to a budget (entire 1,001 days!)
3.    Build a $___+ savings account.  (Sorry, not gonna tell ya for privacy's sake!)
4.    Go a whole day without buying anything three times (1, 2, 3).

Etc.
1.    Remain between 120-125 lbs.
2.    Get a henna tattoo.
3.    Keep a daily (and very brief) diary for 2009.  One sentence or a few bullet points for the day is all I need to do.  Use shiny pink diary the Evans gave me for Christmas. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 months)
4.    Write emails to 3 bloggers I admire.
5.    Make a list of 100 things that make me happy. (0/100)
6.    Do something crazy and fun to my hair.
7.    Write an intelligent, researched article or essay and post it on my blog.
8.    Give myself permission to alter a maximum of 5 of my 101 goals if life changes and the goals as stated are no longer relevant. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).  Substitute this goal with a new one if I don't need to use it.

.departure scheduled.

Last night, my mom and I booked a flight to London.

The last time, the only other time, she went to London it was to spend Christmas with me while I studied abroad in Swansea.  During that visit we tripped on cobblestones, walked around the bare streets of Bath on Christmas morning, and fell asleep before midnight on New Years Eve.  I also moaned about how I forgot my mobile phone back in my dorm room, thus thwarting my plans to send a certain ginger boy a flirty kiss text at midnight.

This time, my mom and I will fly out together. We will run around London, scale castles in Edinburgh, and drink lots of tea and eat even more chocolate.  And also, my mom will meet Ashley's parents. 

Apparently, this is a big deal.  At first I was simply excited, but now everyone else is so nervous that I am nervous too.  I think maybe they know something that I don't.  Like, maybe his family is secretly a clan of vampires, and my mom and I are actually werewolves?  Or they are Montegues and we are Capulets?  I'll make sure to tell Ashley not to engage in a double suicide ahead of time, no matter how dead I look when I get off the plane.  And I'll make sure to bring my plushie stake on the plane, in case he looks uber-dead (and hungry) when I arrive.  Hopefully, customs won't confiscate it.

You should always be prepared when you travel abroad.

.in which i become a mutant.

Movies are my muse right now.

Over the weekend, I saw Wolverine.  Gambit made my creative heart go pitter-patter, and not just because of his pretty, pretty face, but because of his pretty, pretty powers.

Leiv Schrieber inspired me by the way he physically manifested the animalistic character he played.

All weekend I have been telling anyone who will listen: "I think Hugh Jackman really loves playing Wolverine.  It shows through in his performance."  To see the love of a character and the love an art through his performance is beyond inspiring to me.

Have you seen Wolverine yet?

(i used to write stuff like this in my journal when i was in high school)

Sometimes I can fly my soul out to times past.  Flash like a lightening jet times ten, and for a billionth of a second that feels like three, I am at an important time in my life that has already happened. 

Lately, I have been going to a tea cafe that I visited in Camden on a rainy day early last September.  I drank light herbal tea that made me have to pee and discovered a song called Falling Airplanes by Darren Hanlon.  The people working there told me the name of the song, and I was surprised they were so friendly.  They had all seen Darren Halon in concert together.

This could be how someone first thought of time travel.

all you people think i am a vampire (and so do i)

It's been raining for the past three days, which is odd considering it is May and I live in California.  I love the rain, so its not a problem for me.  I think cozy, rainy days are inspiring, and sunny days are harsh.  Lots of people think I am crazy.

Last night I stayed up until 130 am making things for a huge etsy shop update I have planned for next week.  The nearer I get towards the end of the day, the more creative I feel.  Something inside me wakes up just before dusk.  Everyone else around me is winding down, and I am finally waking up.

The more days that pass where I don't have to acknowledge my alarm clock when it goes off in the morning, the longer I sleep in.  And the later I stay up, making things into the wee hours like the shoemakers elves.  Pretty soon, I might forgo the alarm clock all together. 

Waking up in the morning is an impossible task for me.  No matter how much I tell myself the night before that I will wake up at an adult-like hour, it never seems important once that hour finally rolls around.  Sometimes I wonder if this is how addicts feel.

In summation: Jaime is addicted to the night and shuns sunny weather.

Conclusion: Jaime is secretly a vampire.