up and running!

Guess who just opened their first Etsy shop?
THIS GUY.  GIRL.  YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

Visit the Nodyl's Noodles Shop on Etsy!

tasks at hand.

This morning as I arrived into work and settled in with my cup of coffee and giant jug of water, I started thinking about my tasks at hand for the day.  No, not work tasks, silly. Relatively speaking, I've been here long enough to know what I have to do during the day. Which is to act busy. BUSY!mustgotocopierMAKECOPIES!! MORE COPIES NEEDED ALWAYS.sobusyWHY?.PHONECALLS! notimetotalktoyou. TOOBUSY! GAWD!

The tasks that I speak of are actually the ones that I accomplish after work. You know... did I make plans for tonight with anyone? Did I pack my gym clothes? Jeez! Did I remember to shave for said gym visit? Is there enough chicken in the fridge for me to make a sammich after work? How about two sammiches?  (no, yes, yes, Yes, YES.)

I forget what my point was. Oh, right.  There was no point.  I just wanted to use MS Paint today.

so that's how you do it?

I think I may have finally learned how to take a picture with my digital camera.  I learned how to adjust the settings, and I started taking pictures of... well, everything. I hope they keep getting better, I'm so close to posting my bags on Etsy!

6 years.

I've been at my job for six years today. SIX. YEARS. Say whaaaaaaaaaaa...?

It's not a total shock. I think. Maybe it is. I've been expecting this day to come for awhile... but not really expecting. Confused yet? I am. To commemorate this lackluster momentous day, I posted a little blurb on FB stating: "I made it to 6 years at this same job. Exciting, yet very depressing at the same time." My cousin replied: "either way you look at it, it's an accomplishment in and of itself. now, go buy yourself a present. xo" (Believe me, I'll be buying myself a present in the form of an ice cream sandwich after the gym tonight. Again, exiting and yet very depressing.)

And a former teacher-slash-wise woman-slash-mentor of the ages said this: "Try going to the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore the end of February. Talk to some of the artists. They are making a living doing what you love. Tick tock!! Life is short. Start to show your work in a gallery. Isaac would be proud."

Touché, touché, touché. Kick in the pants received, and greatly appreciated. I immediately booked a hotel room, purchased a three day pass to the event, and requested a 1/2 day of work that Friday. I'll have my business cards by then, my Etsy site up and running, and plenty of samples to bring with me. I think it's high-time I start taking bigger risks to achieve my goals.  Let's do this.

craft night!

On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to host 3 very crafty girls for an evening filled with fun, food, wine and art.  Which are some of my most favorite things, if you don't mind me sayin'!  Some lovely items were crafted, and good times were had by all.  All in all, a very successful night!

I actually did some prep-work for our art-rendezvous on Tuesday night, since my goal was to make 10 wine bags that I could put on my Etsy site. I thought it would be so much easier to iron, cut and pin all of the bags together before our gathering, since I tend to overtake the space that I'm working in. Plus, I like to sing Erasure  whilst cutting fabric, and it's slightly less embarrassing to do that alone.  It's also slightly more embarrassing to admit that.  But I did what I set out to accomplish, and by Wednesday I was ready to assemble!

6 years of paint, plaster, latex and paper.  ...done?

detail of upper right corner

During our crafting session, I sewed and completed all 10 bags which I am thrilled about!  But, that's not all.  After drinking copious amounts of wine and stuffing myself full of tiny little hot dogs and pretzels (insert omnom here), I whipped out the ol' painting I've been casually working on for the past 6 or so years.  ... I think... I'm actually done.  For the moment, here's what it looks like. I love where this painting is at right now.  My goal is to find a place in the house where I can hang it up.  I haven't had a 'hanging-worthy' painting in quite sometime.  SCORE!

adventures in wonderland.

 Lou and I took an impromptu exploratory journey around some neighboring towns this past Saturday.  It was amazingly refreshing to get out of the grind of being placing and doing things... weekends always fill up so fast on that stuff.  We winged it and let our instincts direct us on where to go and what to do.  In Narberth, we found a lovely shop called Sweet Mabel, skipped around the train station, and found a cute little pastry place for a mid-morning nosh.  Next, we went hiking in (or near) Smedley near Swarthmore College.  In our attempts to find the college campus, we ran into a local Community Arts Center which unfortunately was closed, but we saw some awesome stuff on the grounds of the center!  I can't wait to go back and check out the gallery!  Then, we were off to the town of Swarthmore, where we explored the campus, and I put on an extra 2 lbs. by eating a bacon egg n' cheese sammy covered in hot sauce on a poppy bagel at a local cafe.  OMNOMNOM.  We closed the adventure by stopping at Produce Junction.  Loading up on veggies is always a nice way to complete the day, don't you think?

 

do more.

Lot's of fun things are happening, including this!
My first informational artist/biznaaaaz card!  How exciting! Look at all of the exclamation points I'm using so far!  Lou and I went on an adventure this weekend (which I'll detail in the next post...) and two women that I met admired my tie purse.  After speaking with them, both asked "Do you have a contact card?"

Ugh, my heart sank!  My reply? "Ah, no!  I've been meaning to make them for so long.  One day I'll just have to do it."

I FINALLY DID IT!  I like the quirky design. More importantly, I think it incorporates all of the important information that I'd like to share with everyone, including my blog and my new Etsy Shop, which I started setting up yesterday!  I don't have any items uploaded in the shop yet because I want to make sure I get all of my wording correct and I definitely want to take better pictures of the items.  The ones I have now are a little blurry and not-so-professional looking.

Things are moving along nicely in Nodylville if you ask me!  I'm following the quote I have on my new little necklace charm.  DO MORE.

bueller? anyone?

I feel the urge to craft today. Or at least do something, DAMNIT.

I've been feeling very blah lately.  Much of that feeling comes from being sick.  I'm on my 11th day of not feeling 100%, and now instead of it taking a toll on my physical well being, it's taking a toll on my mental well being. At first I was all like, "Nah, I'm OK!  It's just a cold, it'll pass! Life is good!"  Now I'm all like "I want to do something, but I'm still sitting on the couch moping about my lack of actually doing anything. What should I do?".  It's a vicious crappy cycle, based solely on my inability to GET THE F&*$ UP AND DO SOMETHING. Plus I keep having coughing fits which annoy the shit out of anyone I'm around. So I'm better off doing something by myself, or at least that's what my head is telling me.

The thing is, I want to do a bunch of things: Go out to get a beer with real people, sew more rows of the quilt, cook a delicious meal, exercise, socialize.  BE PRODUCTIVE.  But who wants a fogged-head, coughing, snotty mess hanging around them? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before?.... sorry, I got carried away in the Bueller moment.

So tonight, my plans are to hit up hot yoga at 6:15 (<--check!).  Cook a nice soup out of all the awesome produce I've gotten from Produce Junction (<--check!).  Do something crafty (<--check!).  And for chrissake, make actual plans for tomorrow night (<--friggin check!).

(updates in bold!)

the netti disaster

Last week I was discussing the netti pot with my sister.  There's been a lot of talk surrounding the ol' netti pot lately, especially with that brain eating amoeba down in Louisiana.  I'm pretty sure my brain would welcome the challenge of some lame-ass amoeba.  I'm from Philadelphia.  There's so many chemicals in this water, I'm surprised I haven't magically transform into a Marvel Comic character. Anywho, here's an excerpt from our email correspondence.  (<-- doesn't that word sound official?  I feel like I'm on CNN or something.)

Me: I was thinking before that I had strep symptoms (feverish with the sore throat).... turns out it was just hot snot dripping down my throat.  It has since coagulated and formed a party in my sinuses.  FOR SHAME.  I'd use my netti pot, but I'm afraid of brain eating bacteria.  What is this world coming to?!

Sister:  Jill, you absolutely crack me up!!!  I can’t take that Netti pot thing.  I think I would accidentally drown myself.  “Young woman dies from drowning herself with Netti pot.”  Haha.Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I want Dayquil.  I’m working from home today, which always makes me feel a little bit better with a cold. 

Me: PS, did you see the headlines in the Trentonian today?  Check it out.  So sad.

 This is what happens when you Print Screen, Ctrl+V, and MS Paint.  You get an email like this.

glüvs: sicky pants, part duex.

There's only one benefit to not feeling well.  Actually... there are two: Unlimited amounts of ginger ale, and craft projects that take minimal amounts of effort.  Every winter, I stock up on gloves (pronounced glüvs) because I seem to frequently misplace them.  On Friday, I almost threw my pair of glüvs in the garbage at work.  I blame this on being discombobulated, thanks to the never ending cold/flu I'm enduring.

Yesterday I decided that it was finally time to tailor the stock of glüvs that I have.  Why, you may ask, do I have to tailor glüvs?  Because, person that is asking the question, I only have 9 fingers.  But, you probably already know me, so you already knew that.  Here's how I fix the glüvs.  

modeling whilst sickypants.  bright lights and lipstick do wonders.

completed project! all 36 digits seem happy.

First, I turn the left glüv inside out.  I sew a straight line from the index finger down to the base of the glüv, basically cutting off the thumb.  This gets rid of the pesky extra digit.  Next, I try the glüv on (inside out) and use a fabric safe pen to mark where my fingers hit on each digit.  I sew a contoured line to the shape of my finger on each digit of the glüv, and snip off the extra fabric.  I turn it right side out, and TA-DA! Custom pair of glüvs!!  It's super easy, and I love having glüvs that fit properly.  You may wonder why I don't just wear mittens to conveniently hide that fact that I have a small physical anomaly?  I have two answers.  1: Mittens make my hands sweaty.  2: Why should I?

sicky pants projects.

Since Tuesday, I've been battling the dreaded post-New Years cold.  You know, the one where friends ask you to sample their different beers, and you nonchalantly comply.  I tried to pretend that I was winning the battle with the cold on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday through Saturday, my body was all like NO.  Yesterday, in between taking naps and drinking tea, I completed a little craft project. 

Back story! Since Lou and I have started traveling, we've always manage to pick up different coffees from wherever we go.  About a year ago, I framed the collection of bags in picture frames that I got from Ikea.  You know, those ones that you get 3 for like a dollar and they're name is Jguurgnsflarvun. I sanded and stained them, inserted the trimmed bags and hung them up on the wall underneath the shelf Lou made.  It looked OK, but the stain was way lighter than the shelf.  It just bothered me.  Flash forward to Saturday!

I gave the frames a facelift by gluing the extra mosaic tiles from the back splash onto them.  It took awhile (since my mind was drifting here and there, and I frequently got uncomfortable and took more Tylenol Severe Cold and Flu), but by the time I was finished, we had a brand new set of frames!  Cost: NOTHING!  That's the best part!

Yes, there's a Starbucks in there. I traveled down the street to get it.