"weekend" adulting

our "weekend" was busy - i say weekend with quotation marks because it happens during my hubby's scheduled days off, instead of the traditional saturday and sunday. we were SUCH adults and did lots of adult stuff. for example, we took my car in to have the brakes checked & serviced. we grocery shopped. we went to my 38 week doctor's appointment. we checked the mail. and i even dropped by the legal office and had some advance directive papers drawn up. super adult. i should wear a cape.

with our guess-timated due date just two weeks away, i've been fervently working away on preparing for this kiddo's arrival. according to our last appointment, it could be any day now - although we've heard that generally first time moms go a little longer, around 41 weeks. hubby was pretty thrilled with the news that the baby could come any second...and has proceeded to tell me to go into labor. now. right now. i love that he's so excited to meet our baby. and we are both incredibly anxious to FINALLY find out if we have a boy or a girl! i would post a recent pic or two, except that i don't have any new ones where i'm wearing something other than sweatpants. i'll try to get a good one before the big event.

memorial weekend

i know i'm a bit late on this, but that's okay. hubby, dad & i went for a hike up north over memorial weekend with the pups. the weather was gorgeous and i actually managed to get a sunburn. here's a couple pics of our little outing:

weekend & moving

how was everyone's weekend? mine was good - hubby & i went to a friend's house for a beer tasting. i found out that i don't like pilsners. ugh. and i tried a new recipe: lasagna cupcakes - mini lasagnas made in a cupcake tin & they were SO GOOD. i also made strawberry brown butter bettys for the first time, which were also delicious. i think i'll just start cooking everything in my cupcake pan.

i cleaned up my studio a bit and worked on a box for a client that is housing their custom made cake cutting set for their wedding. it turned out pretty darn nice. it's drying right now but once it's done i'll take some pictures. i'm also making a guest book & a couple of recipe boxes for them. pretty cool!

with the impending move approaching (which is still months & months away), i can't help but think of how much i will miss everything here. waves of sadness hit me as i try to file away detailed memories of mundane things, like the sights i see on my way to work or the changing of the seasons here in alaska. spring is here and the trees are just now getting ready to shift from fuzzy green on their limbs to a burst of green leaves. i'm not even gone yet & am already getting sad!! what's with that?? while i'm excited about the new possibilities that okinawa holds, i'm still allowing myself to be sad.

weekend

this past weekend, we actually managed to get a few things accomplished AND be social. usually it's one or the other. we had dinner with friends and both times were able to bring our pups along - which we appreciate a ton. because even when we aren't home for a bit, we still worry about them. plus, they had a couple opportunities to get out & meet new people & pups - always a ton of fun for them.

custom order: i carved up a linoleum block, making a smaller version of one of my heart card designs, and printed it over the weekend. i did a very small run, so i hand inked everything - but it did give me an opportunity to print letterpress & a lino block at the same time, which turned out well. i'll post some pics soon.

sunday night, vito snuck into the dining room and ate a pound of raw bread dough. he's eaten a lot of things over the past two years, so i didn't think much of it. but (thankfully) hubby looked up the consequences of eating raw bread dough and two major ones kept popping up: the dough will still rise in vito's tummy, causing bad pain (or worse) & a major possibility of alcohol poisoning. OMG. so we had him at pet emergency about 15 minutes after he ate the dough and they gave him something to make him throw up all the bad stuff. poor pup was a wreck for the next couple of days - he couldn't get comfortable all night & his tummy was making some awful noises. vito is back to normal now - playful & perky! we had a couple of scary days and are glad to have our sweet mischievous puppy back in action.

weekend & boots!

hello! hope everyone had a nice weekend...i was a busy bee...worked out, went to a meeting, worked at my friend's shop for a few hours, had dinner with friends & met their super cute puppy.

on friday afternoon, i received a phone call from a older gentleman who heard through the grapevine that i rebind books. i met with him later that evening to inspect the book and see if it was something i could fix. the book is an old Bible given to him by a friend that he's used for decades & the covers had fallen off. i took the job :) it was a pleasant surprise to hear that my book binding skills are making it out into the world by word of mouth.

on saturday, while waiting for our table to open up for dinner, hubby & i browsed in a few stores. and i found these:

source

i've been on the search for new dressy boots, since my old ones finally died. i had found some gift money that i had stored away a long time ago (when i was switching my stuff to a new wallet) and decided i had better get the boots! they're comfortable and make me about 3 inches taller which is awesome.

sunday was great - hubby & i relaxed all day together. even though we had a ton of stuff to do, we've been so busy lately that we needed to spend some time together. i wonder sometimes how we are able to add more activities to our already crazy schedules. how was your weekend?

new 'do

i started my weekend with a new hairdo:

before

after

*yay!*

weekend

our weekend was good - we did some christmas shopping & had fun picking out decorations for our first christmas together! we even bought our first tree! i'll post some pics once we are done decorating...

friday night, we ate dinner at a new(ish) restaurant called spenard roadhouse. i'm pretty safe when it comes to picking out new meals...i tend to choose the same thing all the time. i decided to branch out a little and have a risotto with beets & squash, drizzled in pesto...and OMG it was the most incredible thing i've ever eaten. the thought of eating beets used to make me cringe, but now, not so much. plus the meal was a pleasant pink color :)

after that we headed downtown to check out a new shop that my artwork is in, called grape expectations. they have a huge selection of wine & specialty beers. there was an art space towards the back of the store with products from a number of local artists, with a variety of different styles.

we were going to go see black swan (i even got my hubby to agree to see it)...and it isn't out in theaters in anchorage yet. of course. LAME. so we went home & spent quality time with the puppies. how was your weekend?

online classes

my online courses started officially on december 1st and i'm so excited about them! the first few days are an orientation period focused on how to upload assignments & use the whole system. one of the things i had to do was create a student profile to explain what my learning goals are for the program & some other little tidbits of information. i also had to list a quotation...and since i don't have a ton of quippy remarks just laying around, i did some searching and found this:

source

so true, chuck, sooo true.

i'm planning to stop by some shops downtown for the first friday art walk & see if i can talk hubby into going to a movie (i want to see black swan). what are you up to? have a great weekend!

busy busy!

whew what a weekend! i was up late last night finishing up a custom order and didn't get a chance to post. i'll be catching up on everyone's blogs, planning quite a few of my own posts and starting some custom orders that need to get done before Christmas! AH! also on the Tama Press list:

- figuring out some of wholesale pricing
- calling new shops about consignment orders
- printing some more cards
- posting items in the etsy shop

oh...and i get to start my graphic design classes tomorrow!

more to come....thanks for being patient :)

museum show prep

sorry for the lack of posting...i will try to get a couple things up, but if not, i'll be back next week. between preparing for the show (lots of goodies to show you!) and thanksgiving, it's been overwhelmingly crazy.

for the show...it's crafts weekend at the museum from friday to sunday at the anchorage museum of history and art! go here to read more about the show. hope to see you there!

pups

sooo over the weekend, we got another puppy!!

just kidding :) we're not quite that crazy.....yet.

for no apparent reason, the puppies turned up the cuteness this weekend. the majority of the weekend consisted of them looking like this:


hubby was cutting mia's nails (the thought of cutting their nails freaks me out) and accidentally cut one too short - and since her nails are black, it's really hard to see where the quick is - so it started bleeding & we didn't have any of that powder that's supposed to stop it quickly. i have to say, mia was a champ - she didn't cry & was really patient while we fixed her up. for as crazy as she can be sometimes, she is very tolerant when it comes to letting us check her out. we sat with her & bandaged it up, then put a little bootie on her foot so she wouldn't bite the dressing.



have you ever seen a dog walk with a bootie on? it's HILARIOUS! she adjusted quickly and was playing in no time. here's her looking pathetic:

business cards!

the new business cards are done drying & ready to cut!

what do you think? i'm really happy with how they turned out and am glad i printed on the extra cardstock i saved from previous cards. sooooo anyone out there want to order some custom letterpress cards from me? :)

i was busy printing the new holiday cards over the weekend and am SO happy with the results! once they are dry, i'll take some pictures to show you all.

i've also been working on making books and thought i had about 60 left to make...but i was wrong. it's more like 90. plus jewelry boxes & a couple of photo album box sets. i'm hoping to get all of the book covers glued this week so i can focus on printing and binding for the next two weeks...but that's a stretch. especially since i still have to go to my day job. but on the bright side, i get to drink more coffee!!

weekend plans

thanks for the advice & support yesterday :) i take comfort in knowing that other people feel this way sometimes too.

i got a few books made last night, with my little helper in tow:

she also worked hard at sniffing stuff around the studio, being unsure of my paper cutter, and keeping my feet warm under my work table.

and i have a busy weekend ahead...

- first friday art walk
- work at my friend's shop
- print new business cards (hopefully)
- make books
- prep some cards designs
- clean the house (because, frankly it's pretty bad)

and the big one....prepare for the arrival of fredrick, my macbook pro!!!!!! (yes i named it, in honor of the guy that helped me through the purchasing process with my newly acquired student discounts...)

or...i'll sit on my butt and watch tv. hrm.

what are you doing this weekend?

studio reorganization

i hope everyone's holiday weekend was fantastic! the long weekend flew by for us. we went on a long (16 mile) hike for a couple of days...but that'll be in tomorrow's post.

after weeks of procrastination, i finally got started on my studio reorganization! my wonderful hubby helped move all of the furniture in my studio and set up the awesome flat file he built for me! it isn't quite finished yet (we didn't paint it) but i was impatient and wanted to start using it.

i've started putting things in their new homes, and cleaning stuff out. we just received our recycling bin, so i'm separating the recyclables as i go...and wow there is a lot of stuff that can be recycled! makes me feel a lot better about getting rid of those tiny scraps of paper, knowing that they will be put to use.

i would show you a before pic of the studio, but quite frankly it was such a disaster, it's embarrassing. so i'll hold off until the renovations are complete :)

weekend

so before the weekend started, i had all these idea of what i was going to do...get laundry done, clean the kitchen, work on art, clean up my studio, organize my office, read a couple new books, blah blah blah...

i actually did clean...the house. a lot. like a LOT. did the dishes, unloaded, reloaded, ran the dishwasher, unloaded again, vacuumed upstairs & downstairs...and even the stairs themselves (which i hate because it's so awkward but, man, they were gross). scrubbed the spots off the stairs, wiped the walls of the stairwell down (random spills over the years), cleaned the shoe area, did tons of laundry. cleared out the clutter on our kitchen island & dining room table. switched out the shower curtain for the new awesome one we got for our wedding:

(notice the vito tail - he was helping)

and then i was exhausted. i used all of my cleaning energy on the rest of the house rather than my studio & office.

the dogs were helpful - they barked a lot at the vacuum cleaner, kept watch at the window for weirdos, hung out on the porch, and did this:


and since we've been making a lot of homemade ice cream lately, i treated myself to this:


we ran a bunch of errands on sunday - got some stuff for the house (picture frames, kitchen gadgets), picked up a birthday present for my mom, got a table for my flat file that hubby is building me, ate a snack:


and then we bought this:


and now, we will not be able to get anything else done. ever. good thing i cleaned the house first.

p.s. i now have a sudden urge to dye my hair blue (again), get my nose pierced (again), and get a tattoo. hmm.

weekend cooking!

our weekend was pretty productive again! i worked saturday morning at my friend's shop and then did art stuff for a while! i got one project done & made a lot of progress on another...i'll post some pictures later in the week - but since they are both gifts, i have to wait to discuss them, just in case the recipients happen to read my blog :)

the pups went out for a long run & swim at a new park & were so exhausted, they could barely keep their little eyes open. i caught them cuddling on the bed:


sunday, the hubby and i cooked up a storm! i think we used almost every new appliance we received as wedding gifts! since we had gotten so much bad news last week, my friend and i did some baking for our friend who just got out of the hospital & another friend that just had to put down her very sick dog. :( hubby made some cookie dough ice cream (yum) and made lots of tomato sauce & homemade meatballs. we ate very well!

we also got a new neighbor, who seems so pleasant! i gave her some muffins too :) also, vacuumed the house, did tons of laundry, and cleaned the bathroom. whew.

it's already been three weeks since our wedding! a wonderful three weeks....feels so much longer than that - like a dream.

how was your weekend?

puppies!

over the weekend, we also took the pups out for some fun! we took mia & vito out on long leads and hubby wore his fishing chest waders. vito already knew how to swim from last summer. we were unsure about mia so hubby walked out into the water with mia on her lead and gently persuaded her to follow him by holding her beloved frisbee. we learned that she's a natural :) so here's mia & vito and some new friends out at the lake having a blast:

weekend

how was everyone's weekend? hubby & i got a lot done around the house! we focused mostly on the kitchen & dining area, cleaning things up, putting away gifts (new plates! new appliances!!) there are still some things to unclutter, so i'll wait on posting pics of that stuff. here's our new wine rack though:


we also did some errands - groceries, target, lowe's...i bought some dirt (for the first time EVER) and some little succulents and planted them. i'm new to this whole plant thing - i've managed to keep a couple pet friendly plants alive for the last year & a half and decided to expand my little collection. we'll see what happens. wish me luck :)


oh we also made our first batch of ice cream (in our new ice cream maker) and it was AMAZING! (ben & jerry's recipe)

it was nice to hang around the house together for the first time since we've been home from the wedding. there's something very pleasant about puttering around as a married couple :)

G Street Artist Fair

*sorry for the lapse of posts...between the wedding planning and show preparations over the weekend, i've been having difficulty finding time to sleep, much less do anything else. i have posts lined up for the rest of this week, then i will take some time off until the beginning of august. thanks for your understanding and patience!*

over the weekend, i had my first outdoor show - G Street Artist Fair! it was held in downtown anchorage. the downtown partnership blocked off a chunk of G street and over 40 artists & vendors were selling their wares. the fair lasted for just one day and was something i wanted to try, it was a totally different venue than the other shows i've done & with different customers (tourists). unfortunately, the weather wasn't terribly cooperative - it was pretty chilly and sprinkled quite a bit. but at least there wasn't a total downpour & it wasn't raining sideways.

the downtown partnership (the group that organized the show) put up a tent for me. here's a couple pictures of my little booth:



i made quite a few new books (which i'll do a post on later) as well as a gun print that i made a small edition of as gifts. i wanted to see if there would be any interest in a print like this - it did get many looks. :)

it was good to get exposure...i made some new friends and my work will be in a new gallery (in august): Dos Manos!! the owners, stephanie & kara, had a booth behind me at the artist fair and we hit it off! go here to check out their website.

40 days...

the wedding is in 40 days. that's just a hair over a month. holy crap.

i'm going to have my makeup done on friday - my friend amber is giving me & my maid of honor a makeup lesson, so that'll be oober fun! amber is an amazing makeup artist and she has her own line of mineral cosmetics called cor cosmetics. i LOVE her makeup! check out her website here. will post pics later - maybe i'll do a before & after.

over the weekend, my MOH threw me a bridal shower and bachelorette party! SO much fun :) i don't have pics of the bridal shower (need to get them from a few people) and there is pictoral evidence of the bachelorette party....but i haven't decided if i'll post it or not. haha.

worked on some art stuff this weekend...and i know i keep promising the pics of the invitations. i actually bought some stuff to make a mini light box and wanted to try taking the invitation pictures in that. we'll see. but i will work on it.

bfff & i also had engagement pictures taken last week by our friend, who did an amazing job!! we got a sneak peek of 4 pictures and get to see the rest today. i can't wait!

so how was everyone else's weekend?