Since my dad and stepmom love me so much, they gave me a nicely sized gift card to Barnes and Noble for Christmas! I wasted no time heading over to the craft section, and these are two excellent books that I purchased:

 Here we’ve got Altered Art by Terry Taylor, a book with great instructions on how to make altered art, especially if you have never attempted it before. Not to mention it has beautiful galleries of different works from all kinds of artists. Then we have Creating Handmade Books by Alisa Golden, which is a pretty good book I suppose, if you’ve never tried to make your own book before. But it has a lot of projects where I’m like, “Why would I ever want to make that?” Still fun I suppose!

Wow. I’m just going to pretend like I didn’t notice my unnecessarily long absence. Just know that I go to one of the best Computer Science programs in the country (in the US, that is), so I just ask for your forgiveness!

 A new product has been added to the etsy shop! Nothing innovative or anything, just fun. As short as it is, this is it for today’s post. Best to you all!

I’ve just realized that I am shamefully un-eloquent.

Dear Alice,

Remember that time you were running through the checkerboard countryside with the Queen? I can’t recall if it was the Red Queen or the White Queen. I think it was the Red Queen, but in any case, it sounded like quite the journey. Having to run just to keep in place but having to run twice as fast to actually get somewhere. Trying to keep up with something that moves at such an unattainable pace, all the brooks and hedges passing you by; you probably couldn’t even tell they were brooks and hedges if you didn’t know better.

But that Queen just kept pushing you along and insisting that you keep up.

And that’s exactly how life feels sometimes, very often actually. It just keeps pushing you, insisting that you keep up, in somewhat of a relentless and annoying manner.

But all I want to do is enjoy life, take it at my own pace. However fast or slow that may be. I mean, at school I have all these deadlines to make for assignments and stuff, and I spend all my time studying (or wasting time unproductively), and it just seems like I never get time to enjoy life. And I don’t think that’s very fair. Life is just pushing me along, but I won’t take it! I am determined to find some time for myself in all this crazyness that is life. I don’t want to get thirty years down the road and realize that I regret a million things because I never stopped to think.

Maybe you should tell the Red Queen that she needs to stop and think.

And tell the White Queen to stop pretending like she’s psychic.

So I know I haven’t posted in forever, and I’m starting to feel guilty! School is such a time-sucker though, and it doesn’t help that I join, like, every activity and organization that can “fit” into my schedule. Seriously. Someone take the pen from me, I need to stopping signing up for things.

So yes. Today is the big day. First football game of the season, and it’s going to be a BLAST. Tech VS Notre Dame, and I think it’s the first sold out game we’ve had in awhile. Everyone had a hard time getting tickets because the Athletic Association is dumb and needs to re-evaluate its system. I think every student should be guaranteed a ticket. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to get a ticket! ESPN is here on campus, they’ve been setting up since Wednesday. It’s so exciting!

But yes. I’ve got some new project swimming around in my head, and I can’t wait to get a break in my studies to create them. I’m dying for a break. This weekend is a long weekend as there is no school on Monday, so maybe I’ll get a break! Doubt it though. But you have to make time to waste time, right?

Oh, check out this totally cool site!!! It’s called Draw Ball, and, well, it’s kinda hard to explain, but basically you’re given a certain amount of ink per day and you and the rest of the world contribute to one ball of drawings. It’s way cool. Try it out, and check out the hall of fame!

Well, I’m back on campus. Classes start on Monday at 9am. Good ‘ole Physics II which is supposed to be one of the worst classes at GaTech. All my friends started arriving yesterday, so it’s just been non-stop reunioning. And unpacking. I still have a little unpacking to do, only a couple of boxes, but they’re still just glaring at me in the corner. Ew.

So I’m still learning about the Indie craft business. Looks like I managed to create ONE product that people like, which is a good start, however I need to figure out what’s wrong with my other products. My guess is that they’re just not original enough. So I’m working on it, when I have the time. I wish I had more time, I really do, I always seem to sell more when I have more time. ^^

I can’t find my camera right now, as it’s packed away in one of the aforementioned boxes, or I would take pictures and post about what kind of crafty stuff I’ve been up to. So sadly this post will have to be a no-picture post, but I’ll give you a fun link to go visit:

Seamripper: too much cute to handle!

I just LOVE this shop called My Little Odd Forest. Every once in awhile I go there to get inspiration, because everything this girl makes comes out sweet and so buyable. I wish I could buy her store out…well, not everything, but maybe these things plus a few others:

This Chirpy Bird Coaster Pair is sooooo cute. I don’t use coasters, but if I did, I would definitely buy these.

This Miss Ladybird Pocket Mirror is just…ingenious. I love it.

A Sandy Owl Ribbon Clutch. Who doesn’t need one of these? It’s got owls for heaven’s sake!

Kitty Luvs Fish Brooch. HA. I just like that fish!

This is what I want right? I’m doing what I love…aren’t I? I have everything I could ever want, and I’m so thankful for it…but sometimes I think having nothing would be so much easier. There would be nothing to sacrafice and nothing to lose.

I’m on a roll, HA. Only recently have I been spending time trying to shape up my Etsy shop and actually sell some stuff. It seems that better pictures really are the key. Right now, this has been my most popular item:

  I had my first customer last week, who happened to be my first REPEAT customer, and TWO THREE FOUR other people since then! This is so exciting!!! Woot for four five six orders!Go get one for yourself before they’re sold out!

Through all my searching and wandering and finding, I’ve noticed that a popular subject to blog about among arts-and-crafters is cats. Well I like art, and I like cats, and when you mix the two together…it’s just a great thing. So naturally I was drawn to the artist Louis Wain.

A couple weeks ago, we learned about Louis Wain in my psychology class. We were learning about schizophrenics and (heaven knows why, I go to an engineering school) my professor randomly decided we should study the effects of schizophrenics and art. He proceeded to show pieces from the collection of Louis Wain, an artist famous for drawing and painting cats. He didn’t develop schizophrenia until later in life.

During the earlier years of his life, Wain drew cats in human-like scenes and portrayed them as having human-like qualities, essentially creating a whole “cat world” for himself.

        Towards the end of his life, Wain painted pictures of just the cats themselves, using jagged, colorful lines and fanciful patterns radiating from his subjects. The habits are common to artists with schizophrenia.And that’s that! Very interesting, no?

Image credits to:
lambiek.net
Catland: The Art of Louis Wain

For more and in depth information, visit:
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