Photo Bomb

Time is flying.
This is my most frequent complaint. This way that my perception of time continues to increase in speed over time.
I don't think there's any way to keep it from happening. But, I can continue to enjoy all those minutes like I have been recently. Here's a photo post to say "What's up?".

This is Jobin. He's called Baby right now but he will be coming home with me after the holidays to live at his new warm forever home. He's one of the five lab cats we have been fostering for the past few years at work. With an impending move coming early next year, we're all slowly taking these guys home. Jobin was the first who came to hang out with us, and he's awesome.

 

Babies on the couch by the christmas tree. Scenes like this are why I love to put our tree up right after Thanksgiving. 

Fall trees, they're turning to winter now. Gainesville stays pretty green all year around, but there is a delightful mix of trees here in North Florida. Some of which burn orange and yellow and red until they fall and blow away.

GLAM was a total blast this year. I wish I had the forethought to take more photos that day but I'm happy to say it was because I was so busy! There were shoppers lined up around the building for our opening and I met so many wonderful local art lovers. Our community so fully embraces the entrepreneur and it's wonderful to have been included among such talented peers. I definitely intend to dedicate a post to the sweet sweet stuff I grabbed either by purchase or trade.

Tomorrow we drive down to Sarasota to work at the Atomic Holiday Bazaar on Saturday and spend some much needed time with family and friends. Early is staying at Camp Gabe and Jenn with her buddy Foster. I'm hoping to eat my favorite food, make new friends, see old favorites, and sprint through this final stretch.
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Weekend FTW

I posted this photo of new copper hoop earrings on my facebook page last Thursday night and by Friday afternoon they were sold to my friend in Jacksonville.

Now that's a good sign!

I didn't quite work as much as I planned (aka every day) this past weekend but when Monday came I looked back and felt great. Actually, I felt great Sunday night after getting to bed at 1045, realizing that I accomplished everything I set out to do including taking a nap. It was shorter than I wanted, but it was a nap dammit. A good one.

I got home early from work on Friday and started running a computer clean-up protocol that was desperately needed. I still have a couple steps to finish but our home computer is already working so much better. Saturday morning in fact, Collin was able to stream some live soccer and he said it probably wouldn't have been possible had I not cleaned off so much junk the night before. Friday night I also went to dinner with Laura and Cindy for ladies night at The Top. Can I just ask why everyone is getting rid of their damn portobello sandwiches? It's my go-to favorite thing on so many menus and I am having to switch it up constantly now. Come on. I will say I like the addition of fried pickles to the appetizer selections. Always good. Always. I saw Jay working, said hi, and got us some stiffer drinks than usual to start off the night because Collin was super amazing and offered to drive us and pick us up. The benefits of having a husband spending the night in watching soccer and a friend behind the bar. So, instead of enameling when I got home I just hung out with Collin and we went to bed early.
Saturday we lazed around in bed as long as possible before I got up and went out to work. I also wanted to go to the mall and see if I could find a few things for the both of us. Our closets are sad. Well, my closet is sad and his selection of work shirts is small. Anyway I walked around forever and came home with 3 v-neck t-shirts in various colors and patterns. I am so typical. Someday, I will buy something else, I swear. I also drove out to Fresh Market to get a few pumpkins because they were half the price there as any other grocery store in town. Then I stopped in to Publix for my weekly trip. While I was out, Collin kept watching football (not soccer) and cleaned the house. Did I mention how awesome my husband is? He swept and mopped the house, cleaned the stovetop, cleaned the bathroom, and washed our sheets. BAM! By the time I got home I was exhausted and just really really wanted to take that nap. Too bad our friend Jon was headed over to watch the Bama/LSU game that felt like it was lasting forever. By the time it ended, I couldn't justify a nap so I made dinner and hung out at home with Collin until I could go to sleep early.
Sunday I woke up late, after 12 hours of glorious sleep. I made us a quick breakfast while we puttered around and then I made cookies (half of which I burned) to take over to Laura's house for pumpkin carving and snacks. I carved Jack Skellington into mine. Collin carved Lionel Richie. Good times, happy pumpkins. I just hope they won't rot before Halloween like they did last year. With daytime temps in the high 80's all week, I have little hope. Finally I came home and took a nap. No really, we walked in the door and I took off my shoes and got into bed. We were expecting Gabe and Jenn for dinner and TV watching at 5, and it was 4pm. I had well over half an hour for some delicious daytime sleeping and that's just what I did. Then I got up, made another quick dinner and had fun with our friends until about 7. Then I started enameling, popping in and out of the living room to hang out here and there. I managed to fire 8 pieces even while hanging out. Not as many as I hoped for the whole weekend but some is always better than none.
Satisfied.

Next weekend is The Fest so my brother and many friends will be in town rocking out. I won't see them much but plan on being brunch hostess to all - come cure your hangover with my bacon. After the cooking, back to more enameling work. This time, I mean it. But I won't be too sad if I get less done than my lofty goals planned.
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Busy Lady

Lots of time spent on Love, Lindsey Kaye this week so far. I am getting more and more excited for the shows coming up!
I even spent some time on the computer last night finally making a new banner and avatar for my Etsy shop and re-opening it back from vacation mode. And I thought I would have it back and running at the end of August. Hah!

Sunday and Monday evenings I spent working at the kiln. Somehow I managed to fire more than 20 pieces in just two sessions of a couple hours each. Enameling is not a quick process, but I'm getting more efficient. I think my design and craft are getting cleaner too; something I've striven for in this medium.

Check out the slick lighting on that necklace, eh? I invested a little money in a simple lightbox and lamp set I found (surprisingly) on ThinkGeek.com. Lucky absolutely destroyed the homemade version I rigged up with a cardboard box and tissue paper. It did it's job for a while but wasn't really what I needed anyway. This one folds down into a neat little tiny pack, including the lights. I think I might stop in at Michael's craft store sometime this weekend to get a few more background patterns, too. I have lots of paper but so much is just too busy for a project like this. Better saved for handmade cards and goodies.

More to come soon; I have tiny hearts, blossom necklaces, copper hoop earrings, sterling pendants, and a menagerie of animals still to do. I'm happy that our social life is still full but much more quiet. Prioritizing this time to work has energized me for more!
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Keeping Up

If I have learned one thing about myself as an adult, it's that things are rarely as bad as they seem before you actually get started.
As a child, I hated imperfection. A general term, but one nonetheless that could encompass whatever I thought was 'wrong' with something. Perfect to me meant arriving somewhere on time, dressed appropriately and prepared. If I was going to be late to dance class, I would rather just skip it. If I could get there on time but wasn't prepared or dressed (or whatever) properly, again I'd rather not go at all. My fears were in the faces of those who would notice. Notice that something had messed up the plan somewhere along the line and that I couldn't keep up with what I felt were my responsibilities. Fast forward to college and it continued. Woke up late for class; a 'normal' person might throw on sweat pants, forgo the makeup and get there a few minutes late because what mattered was getting there for the lesson. I, would curl into a ball and imagine the hundreds of faces watching me slink to the back of the room as I interrupted the lecture with my crazy ponytail attempt to cover up bedhead.
Therapy for my OCD helped me transition through these feelings to the place I am now. I might not arrive exactly on time and I might not look perfect, but I can find a comfortable medium for myself. I'm no longer paralyzed by a fear of 'imperfection' like I once was. Today I know it's never all-or-nothing. Rarely are there cases where it would be best for me to just stay home instead of being a few minutes late. I am thankful to have had the help I did in understanding this.

Sometimes I look back and can't believe how much more a relaxed person I am now than I was just over 5 years ago.

Recently I have started planning out the work I'll need to do in order to build my inventory for GLAM and Atomic Holiday Bazaar. All lumped together it's incredibly overwhelming. When I break it down though, I can see there is a reasonable amount of work but that it's not impossible.
Not so impossible seeming that I feel like I should just quit, like I should just not waste my time starting because I won't be able to finish everything as 'perfectly' as I want.
All I have to do is work at it, slowly, and enough will get done so that I feel accomplished. So that I will feel competent and that I have put forth enough energy.

Last week I did enamel on Monday night like I swore to myself I would. I finished 5 small teardrop pendants and they're ready for assembly once I drill the metal flowers. This Monday, I let myself off the hook because I wanted to relax with Collin on our anniversary. Tuesday we wanted to take Early on a long walk so that we could wear her out before trying to endure the hell that is clipping her nails. Last night we were dog-sitting for a friend and I didn't think that I could concentrate and maneuver around two big happy dogs while working. Tonight is my favorite TV night. One night after another of potential work gone because I am not prioritizing what I need to. Or, what I tell myself I should be prioritizing.

I'm rambling, and thinking 'out loud' here about all of this. But I feel that with everything I've learned about myself, I should be able to relax and allow myself to not have guilt over choosing other 'work' or even play over this work I have weighing on me. Then again, once I allow myself the luxury of not worrying about getting this done I feel anxious all over about not keeping up.

Lame.
What I really need to remind myself is that last year I had from now to the middle of November to fire and assemble and order all my supplies for GLAM. And I needed to conceptualize and execute my entire setup and branding and pricing.
If I can do that and be well-received and successful. I can do this too. I know the shows are a little bigger, but the work is faster and I am better now at what I do.
I can do this.
I just have to get myself to.
'Good enough' is good enough, and I will never accomplish everything I want to in a day. Things take time and when it's all done I will look back and think, "that work wasn't as bad as it seemed".
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Two Years

Happy Anniversary to my love.

Sunday, Collin and I packed up the car and drove a little while outside Gainesville to Cellon Oak Park. The weather was incredible (much like two years ago) and we had a quiet picnic in an open field, shaded by a century oak.

It was everything I could have wanted to celebrate another year. Delicious snacks, a killer wedding cake replay, and a big soft blanket in peaceful solitude.

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goal fail

So I said I was going to enamel on Saturday, right?
Well I lied.
Apparently.

I did not, in fact, do anything related to enameling on Saturday. Instead I hosted Collin's out of town friend staying with us for the football game after he arrived earlier than I anticipated. When I also realized that the football game would not be on TV I should have decided to stay home and work while listening to it on the radio.
What I did instead was go to a friends house to attempt watching it online through her TV. Too bad we found out after we were all there and the potluck had started that it was not online at all.
So we hung out and ate snacks and chicken legs listening to it on the radio.

I had fun, but if I'm ever going to get this work done, I'm going to have to start declining some invitations from friends eventually.
Sunday didn't happen either after waking up at nearly 11AM, cleaning the house, getting dinner started in the slow cooker, getting a surprise phone call from a friend passing through town who wanted to meet for a late lunch, and then hosting Gabe and Jenn (and Foster pup) for dinner and DVR'd TV premiers.
This weekend was full. And I really needed that early bedtime I gave myself yesterday.

SO!
Tonight, Monday night.
September 27th, 2010.

I will enamel several pieces. Start to finish.
Because I already made plans for Tuesday to hang out and watch an interesting DVD
with Adriane while Collin is out kicking around a soccer ball with his buddies. We went out for ladies night Friday night at The Warehouse and got to talking about religion/creation. A while ago my lovely friend Anna invited me to see a Christian astrophysicist speak about his thoughts on evolution and creation. It was a really interesting discussion and she then secretly went and bought the DVD for sale at the end of the event. I'm pretty sure it will lean towards the intelligent design side of the argument, but I have always felt bad about failing to watch it for so long. Tuesday sounds like a great night for it, especially because when talking it sounds like something that aligns greatly with what Adriane believes. She is in grad school for architecture (serious business) so I told her that I would always love to hang out and watch TV or a DVD while she's doing sketches or models. A lot of work for most people in school requires serious concentration, but thankfully a lot of hers can be done while casually hangin', but now that we're not all in school, it's harder to feel comfortable doing work if the other person has none to do. It will make for a great time for me to sit and finish the pieces I'll be doing tonight.
I've planned an easy dinner and everything!
GOALS. Aren't they great?
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Avoidance

I am reminded when I come to blog that I have been consistently avoiding all things enameling for most of this summer.

"It's too hot to fire the kiln."
"I still have to move in and finish the house for the party."
"I don't have time to build my work desk yet so I can't set anything up."
"It's too hard to move everything around when we have guests who will stay for football weekends when we need to put the bed down."
"I don't wanna."

But then I look at this and remind myself that it's not so hard to just get started and in one night or so have something gorgeous in my hands.

Something that hopefully others will think is gorgeous come December at the holiday craft shows I have already signed up for and paid the required fees to enter.


Mostly I'm putting off what I perceive as an overwhelming amount of work. I'm intimidated by all the talent I consistently see around me at these shows and the fact that you actually have to pay to get into them this time around which makes me think that my items and display have to be even better this year. I can, in reality, break it down so that it's a reasonable amount of work spread out over the next two months but damn. Just getting that first fire going has been rough. I am constantly putting off doing anything related. I'd rather cook dinner, bake bread, strategize supercoupon shopping trips, or catch up on the TV shows I missed from the night before. I was also supposed to have cable in the new guest room/work room and I don't. So I'm pouting.

Last weekend I made progress though and rearranged the guest room so that I can fit the big 6' folding table in there as a work space while I wait on creating whatever custom desk fits better in the room. It doesn't have to be pretty to be functional. All I really need is a desk, an outlet, and easy access to my stuff. Three things I now have.

This Saturday I will fire a good handful of pieces. Maybe a dozen? I don't think that's too ambitious. Then, Sunday morning when I'm re-watching the Gator game after I make breakfast for us and our guest (home games mean guests) I'll even assemble them into actual jewelry. Yep. It's a plan.
Now to stick to it.
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