finally feeling better.

okay, im better now! good thing because i missed blogging and making new things for my shop.

i made 3 new moleskines...i decided to go ahead and list these on etsy rather than the blog only. i do have some plans for blog friends only in the near-ish future, though! (probably around october...is that considered the near future? i think so.)

anyway, here they are- 3 new moleskines! if youre interested in any, click here. and if you dont have an etsy account, but youre still interested, send me an email to see if the one you want has been sold- if it hasnt, i'd be happy to take it out of my shop and send it to you! i accept paypal, the total cost is $8 which includes shipping.

this one is "leaves", printed with red and brown ink using a stamp that i carved a few months ago...

"apples"... i carved this apple stamp awhile ago- i think it was one of the first designs i did, there are a series of 3 different apples but this moleskine only features one of them.

aaand a pine tree one...lately i am in love with pine trees. i mean, i love all trees but pines are at the top of the list right now. the sun is printed with yellow and red ink, and shows through a hole in the cover.

heres the inside of the pine tree one...

alright, thats all for now!

so joe just watered our dead flower on the balcony and he over filled it...this resulted in a nasty water overflow, which spilled through the cracks of the balcony down to the balcony under ours, and all the water is sitting in their chair. so, since joe is a nice guy he ran downstairs and knocked on their door to let them know/apologize/etc. i guess the guy just opened the door, joe told him, and the guy was just like "oh. whatever." in a "why would i care, youre wasting my time" tone. this is just another reason why i cant stand most people. if somebody came and apologized to ME for something like that, i would be touched that they took the time to come do that, especially becuase they dont know me, ya know. now joe feels like an ass. oh well, some people just suck. i hope our plant container leaks all over that guys head.

sorry i've been gone! i'll be back soon...ive had the flu and then pink eye, but im almost better so come visit again tomorrow!

take care!

i told you i'd post them...here they are!

alright, they are finally finished so im posting them!

the lighting was horrible and theres no sun today, so the pictures are a little bit lacking, but you get the idea:

front of invite, envelope behind:
map:

close up: clockwise from left- first insert which shows the date; envelope; front of rsvp card (i didnt take any of the other side); and invitation info.

everything together, minus the map. the insert on the bottom right is the hotel information.

sorry about the recent lack of posts- ive been busy with the wedding stuff! not as busy as i should be though, i have to get back to that. have a good one! thanks for stopping!

t'was a goooood weekend.

hello everybody, im back! we had a good time.

so i said i would take pictures but we never went hiking like joe and i wanted to. we never get to do the "fun" things when we are with friends because they dont like the same things we do. usually joe and i like to take a long hike when we go camping, we do every time we go, but when we go with friends they just arent into that kind of thing. they arent into much, actually. they also dont understand why i get upset when they break branches off of living trees for marshmallow sticks...lets just say we dont have much in common. dont get me wrong, we get along and all, but they are joes friends from before he was with me, so im not the one who "picked" them as friends. they just kind of became friends since we all hang out on occasion.

anyway, the trip was a lot of fun. i got there at 11 am to get one of the last non-reservable sites! whew! then i set up camp which took a long time because it was SO hot and sticky and it was making me dizzy and weak. i went out to the camp store and bought some gatorade and dr. pepper and doritos, ate them, and then was good to go again. i set up the screen tent and the grill too, and then left to go buy firewood from a guy who has his own little stand. he's been selling since we first went up 3 years ago, and his tiny firewood stand has evolved to a large stand with fruits and veggies, pinwheels, bread, etc, and now they are so busy and his wife and son are involoved too. i really like supporting his gig, i talked to his wife and she was so friendly, and she seemed so thrilled that their "little stand" took off. now thats what they do full time, as their jobs, and they love it. we ended up buying about 12-15 bundles of wood over the weekend, and the guy usually recognizes us from past years. we ended up taking our friends there too, and one of them bought some blueberries, but couldnt help but wonder why they were $3- "what a rip off". this made me kind of upset because people dont appreciate other peoples hard work and dedication, and not only that- but most of you bloggers know who DIY really is all about and the passion that goes into it. its so difficult for me to hang out with these kinds of people- the traditional ones who ask "why dont you want to change your last name", "i should have just bought those berries at wal-mart", etc, because they just dont get it, nor do they want to. ooh welll. anyway, after the wood i went out and got stuff for burgers and then i returned to the campsite. joe and his friend had just arrived, it was around 7:30 i think. it was a long day but i had a good time. i took a long nap under a tree too, which was nice, because i cant do that at home since i live in an apartment and i dont feel safe just picking a random tree to sleep under.

that night we had a drunken good time (and wow, yeah i was drunk). camping and drinking just kind of go hand in hand i suppose, haha. i did some semi-stupid things while i was drinking- i ended up in the wrong campsite and ran around their tent and realized that i was lost. so i proceded to "quietly" yell "joe, im lost. haha, joe where are you because im LOST!" i dont know if the people at that site appreciated it, but they didnt get out of their tent, so thats good.

anyway, enough about the trip- when i got home, i saw that my "blustery day" journal made the front page of etsy! it really boosted my sales for a little while too! this made me so happy, perfect timing. well, almost perfect- i wish i had more journals to offer to people, but since i dont have much time to devote to them, ive been making little things here and there. i sold both of the moleskines that i had left too. i wasnt going to list them on etsy, but after i talked to a few people on there, i decided that i should. and they sold REALLY fast, too. which was great.

woooohhoooo blustery day journal! can you see it?? this made me so happy! thanks to snagit, i can remember this for a long time. okay okay, i know im a little out there when it comes to this sort of thing, but you know...

and a couple things i made today for the shop...only tags, so not all that wonderful, but i like tags so thats why i made 'em.okay, i need to sleep now. have a wonderful day! thanks for stopping by!

until next time.....

out of town...

hey guys! im going out of town in about 3 hours from now. its a 2.5 hour drive, and im cruising out there alone and yeah- im nervous. im not meant to drive on highways. ive gotten into too many little accidents (most not my fault) and something usually happens when we go on vacation. everything from being pulled over, to my timing belt going out (300+ miles away from home!...thanks for picking us up, mom...and thanks for driving all the way there and towing my car home on your weekend off, dad!...even though you dont read my blog, heh.). anyway, yeah- we've also been rear ended on vacation, flat tire, yadda yadda the list goes onnnn and on. and this has only been in the past 3 years, since ive been with joe. but im used to flat tires and being rear ended so i guess im "prepared". ANYWAY- the plan is that im going to drive up to the campground today for one of their non-reservable sites and keep my fingers crossed that one stays unreserved from the time i call them before i leave, until i get there. joe and his friend are coming up later on tonight. (and 2 more friends from michigan might come out too...i hope so!) in the meantime, i will set up camp and go on a beer run. or two- depending on how long it takes them to get there. HA, kidding. only one beer run. the place is called devil's lake state park, its in baraboo wisconsin. it is our all time FAVORITE place to go- hehe, we havent been anywhere else really so i guess thats not really too great of a statement, but we've gone about 5 or 6 times and its just awesome there. i will post pictures when i get home. perhaps this is a good time for a flickr account? i dont know, we'll see! my photo capturing capablities are almost non-existant....i mean, i can TAKE a picture. its just not a good sight. but there is a chance that i will get all the way there and they will tell me "sorry, we're booked". if THAT happens, i dont know what i will do. come home? i dont know, it depends. its about 20 miles away from wisconsin dells, so theres always SOMETHING to do. we'll see. i know what my MOM would do...she'd hit up the big casino there. maybe i will too. but probably not.

okay okay, enough of that! i will talk to you all soooooon. take care and have a great weekend!

pocketbooks

i just finished up a few new pocketbooks for my etsy shop. they didnt come along as quickly as i had hoped they would, but thats fine...just a lot of cutting paper...and cutting always takes longer than i want it to! and that is why i named my "business" operation paper cut. ha.

im afraid that my "favorites" post isnt going to come along until tomorrow or maybe even thursday. its a pretty hefty post, i have about 4 categories so far but i havent taken the time to actually put the links in yet, so im shooting for tomorrow night/thursday morning.

thanks to everybody who replied to my "tattoos" post. you guys are right, i really shouldnt feel like im compromising my body just because of this damn corporate job i work at. theres no way around it where i work at right now, although next month we are becoming a franchise, so we'll see what happens with that. im jut fed up with my workplace in general. i work as a waitress at chilis for those of you who dont know, and it really just plain sucks. there is no "gratuity added" on the bills which really can screw me over. (a lot of restaurants add it automatically if the party exceeds 8 people OR if the bill is over $100.) i dont get a paycheck. yeah, you heard me. my paychecks are void. when i lived and worked in illinois, at least i still got a paycheck from the chilis i worked for, but wisconsin laws are different. so i only rely on my tips for my income. i have to tip out 3% of my sales at the end of each shift. 1% to the busser, 1% to the bartender, and 1% to the QA who trays up our food and makes sure that everything is right on the order before sending it out. now, this is another thing that i REALLY get screwed on. say i have a party of 8 ghetto people, and their bill turns out to be $100. technically they SHOULD tip me $15-$20, depending on what standards you live by. well, these ghetto people leave me $5 and a "great job". so, since i just rang in 100 dollars worth of food, and i tip out 3%- guess what?! that leaves me with a wopping $2. oh yeah, and the people who dont tip AT ALL, and oh yes, many of these people exist, i basically have to pay for them to eat there. isnt that bullshit? yes. it is. it is also bullshit that if i am an opener or a closer, i either have to set up or take down everything, which takes anywhere from 30 minutes to and hour. and since i dont get a paycheck, doesnt that mean im working for free? yeah. it does. ugh i could go on. and on. but i wont. i know that i have to get a new job. anyway, sorry for the rant. im just fed up with the place. and if the wedding wasnt in 2.5 months i would have probably walked out by now.

tattoos.

so, i have wanted to get a few tattoos for quite some time now, but sadly corporate america is holding me back. i hate the fact that it is SO difficult to find a decent job if you have tattoos. i think this is ridiculous- i mean, as long as the tattoo isnt offensive then i dont see a problem with having them in the workplace. same goes for body piercings. how is okay to have your ears pierced but not your lip? ear piercings have ALWAYS freaked me out way more than lip, eyebrow, nose, etc- who determines whats "normal"???

anyway, ive been longing for some tattoos for awhile now, like i said. i want a few on my arms, most people say i'll regret it, but how can somebody regret carrying around beautiful art everywhere they go, hassle free? i think it would be great.

after the wedding i have plans to leave this waitressing job at chili's. i just cant stand it. i dont know WHAT im going to do instead, maybe i will just have to suck it up for awhile till i get my screenprinting going. i dont know yet.

anyway, what are your thoughts on tattoos? tattoos in the work place? i know most of you have one or two, im sure of it. maybe even 3 or 4. have you noticed a change in the way people treat you in public, if your tattoo can be seen by them? i noticed a HUGE change in the way people treated me when i dyed my hair red. everyone was so nice to me, so cheery and kind (im talking about strangers). i did not like having red hair, so i dyed it black (which is also what i had before the red) and i noticed a change in behavior real quick- its almost like they look down on me for having black hair. this hasnt been a problem since i transfered to a new chili's, i think its a demographics thing or whatever its called. but it bugged me so much at the time, and still does.

oh well its late and i should be sleeping. tomorrow i plan on posting some of my top favorite things, everything from blogs to artists. i hope that it turns out to be an inspirational post.

moleskine madness

here's a new one! i just sold "trees" so i had to post another one so you guys would have 2 to choose from again. so this one is titled "leaves". (i would say tree but thats too close to trees"). if you are interested in purchasing, its $8 whihc includes S&H and a couple gift tags. scroll down for more info on the moleskines! (i added this moleskine to the same post i made earlier, so its a long post, i will seperate it with a line or something so youre not confused. NOT that you would be...but i might be.********************************************************

wow, thank you for buying the moleskines! i just created another last night. i was going to post it last night but blogger is giving me problems again! so i now have a mozilla firefox browser (which is mega slow compared to my usual browser!) so we'll see if this mozilla thing works any better when it comes to getting my pictures on the blog.

the sun is rising right now, i can literally see it moving up into the sky. looks like the sun rises at 5:21 a.m...thats early!

joe and i went for a short walk last night. walks are one of my favorite things to do, but i dont think joe really likes them. anyway, while we were walking i saw a lamp post with a tree next to it and i really liked the way it looked, im thinking about making that my first screen print when i get my press set up after the wedding. maybe i will take a picture of it tonight. ooooh tonight joe is leaving me for the weekend to go to his friends house. uuugh i was going to go with and i had every intention on going but im staying home because the wedding invitations are more important to me. heh, looks like my family will get theirs...i wonder when his family will get theirs, since i dont think he relized that this is NOT a good weekend to leave town. im a little sour about this situation- the invitations really should be a bigger priority on his list but they arent! uugh. we'll see if i make his for him (ha, i know- thats terrible for me to say, but come ON now, if you want them done, then stay home!) arg....rant rant rant.

anyway, back to what i was talking about earlier- the new moleskine journal! i might end up adding another moleskine to this post later on rather than creating a new post for it, so if you visit again after reading this, this post may have changed.

ooookay here it is- this particular moleskine features 2 flower-type images. one shows through the hole in the cover and can be seen in full view when you open the book. drawn with india ink using rapidograph pens, 3.5"x5.5", $8 paypal to the first person who emails me (email address listed in last post). the title for this one is "grow". the payment of $8 includes S&H and a couple of gift tags!

inside view-

and another....

hey guess what- i have another moleskine for you guys! i just finished it so im posting it right away. i think i said i was going to post in groups of two, but i figured that since "trees" from the last post is still available, there would be 2 moleskines to offer total, which is fine for now i think. i might post another one later if i dont completely destroy the cover! (oh yes, this one had a friend that it was going to be posted with, but i really did a number on the cover. one of those "oh man, well...i'll just fix it....ooooh wow, okay well i guess i'll fix that part too....sooo yeah maybe im just making it worse...hm hm hmmm oohkay, i think i should stop trying to fix it now." its bad. so this one gets posted alone!

if youre just stopping by, read the last post for more details!

this moleskine is ALMOST just like the other 2, 3.5"x5.5", great fit for your purse or bag, lovely to draw and write in, yadda yadda. anyway, i say its almost like the others because it issss a little different. this one has a hole in the cover for the sun to peek through. and it has not one, but two illustrations! cattails on the inside and...some kind of plants....on the outside, drawn with india ink. the sun was made with yellow and red ink using a stamp that i handcarved. you'll see more of this style to come- not necessarily a sun, but the 2 ink color combo in one image, im kinda digging it- mainly because it was something i had never tried before and it actually turned out first time through, no test runs or anything!

if youre interested in purchasing ***SOLD to katie!***, be the first person to email me at erinscissorhands AT gmail DOT com, the cost is $8 (paypal) which includes shipping and a couple of tags. the title for this one is "sun".

and the inside......

moleskines

alright, the moment youve been waiting for since the last post.......new stuff!
im featuring 2 moleskines for now, more to come later on. anyway, they are the cahier style ones with 64 plain pages which includes 16 detachable pages. inner pocket in the back. AND its our favorite- kraft paper covers! okay, so maybe not YOUR favorite, but definitely mine! these 2 were illustrated by me, i used rapidograph pens/black india ink.
if these ones arent your style, the next set might be stamped. or covered in some great paper i have no other use for...oorrrr maybe even something else. we'll see. you can probably count on them being nature inspired, but i guess it depends on the day.
if you are interested in purchasing, send me an email at erinscissorhands AT gmail DOT com. the first one is titled "plants" ***PLANTS HAS BEEN SOLD! thanks so much shelby!*** and the second one is "trees"***trees has been sold!***. dimensions are: 3.5"x5.5", a great size!i accept paypal, each moleskine is $8.00 which includes S&H and a couple gift tags.

the tree one has a clothespin because i couldnt get it to lay flat when i was taking the picture.

in other news, i'll be posting pictures of our wedding progress/DIY projects next week, hopefully. its coming so fast! i think there are only 80 more days until THE day! yikes!

oh yeah, one more moleskine related thing...you should check out frenchtoastcake and also ninthwavedesigns for some awesome moleskine-ness.

i look forward to hearing from you guys, i check my comments and emails compulsively! not good, not good.