yes!

i just wanted to share this link to neil gaiman's blog. because he and amanda palmer got MARRIED and i am ecstatic. jason webley officiated, which is awesome. i couldn't be happier for two people i don't know.

when it's so cold i feel lazy

winter term started today. all i had was my web design production class, and it was the usual first class of the term sort of reviewing of the syllabus and program guidelines and why we need to be good at web design. i never wanted to be a web designer and was too stupid to realize when i decided to become a graphic designer that being a web designer would consequently be included.

when i took my XHTML class it was just confusing and frustrating and hard. so i'm not totally stoked about this class. that said, i do like the instructor, and i do need to learn this stuff, so i am excited at the possibility of learning it in a way that is more meaningful and easier for me to understand. i will be thrilled if i actually end up understanding the subject matter. wish me luck.

today i made magazine page envelopes. loki first taught me to make them years ago when i was assisting her with the tail end of Bummers and Gummers. it was a mind-blowing concept at the time. i was so thrilled with the recycle-ed-ness of it, and the picture-filled-ness, and the anti-corporate, unbleached whateverness...it was awesomely revolutionary to me and i loved to sit in front of our ancient tellie with one of loki's strange video tapes popped into the VCR dismantling National Geographics and turning them into envelopes. old National Geographics are so awesome for so many different projects. i have quite a stash of them, and for that reason it's likely that a lot of my projects this year will involve them somehow.

i usually bust out the glue stick and glue shut my seams and end flaps, but this time i just used tape, which obviously isn't as neat, but is easier and less messy, especially when you can just say "honey, will you bring me my tape?" and never even leave the comfort of your fuzzy blanket on the couch with judge judy on the tellie reaming idiots new ones and generally shouting and seeming tough. i couldn't remember with precision where the glue stick might have got off to, so i settled for tape, since it meant i wouldn't have to get up. it's so cold right now, and that makes me lazy. it makes all my joints and my spine hurt, which makes me feel old, and wonder how crippled up i will be when i am ACTUALLY old. but i digress.

i didn't make particular sizes, again because of the laziness. the post office has gotten rather annoyingly tight about their envelope rules and they are supposed to be a certain size and shape and not be made of glossy magazines anymore. so if i wanted to make officially mailable ones, i would have had to get off my cold butt and google postal regulations, and that wasn't going to happen. so i just found pictures i liked, and then made envelopes that fit the pictures nicely. i can use these for little gift cards, or to hold random things like brads, or glitter, or coins.

my favorite one is the one with the crawdads where i left a little bit of the text and it says "some like it hot". i also really like the one with the students in labcoats going through people's garbage. the article, which was probably from the 80s judging by the photography, called them "garbologists", which amused me.

envelopes are seriously one of my favorite things. they are made of paper, which i love. and they hold other things, which is a trait that i love. and they are used to transport various types of missives, which is ANOTHER thing that i love. also, making them totally justifies time spent vegging on the couch watching t.v. (i might have to make some more tonight when the new bachelor and all new episode of castle are on. i just might.)

i also made 2 loaves of bread today (or at least started them, they are rising right now) and i made garlic bread to go with dinner with the left over bread from the last batch. even though it's rodney's night to cook. it's not one of my official resolutions, but i decided over winter break to go back to baking my own bread all of the time and have been doing it for almost a month now. it's pretty rad. warm, just-out bread is the best.

i am grateful for:

yeast

magazines

tape

scissors

crap t.v. shows

rad skirt

today i made a rad skirt. this picture sucks because vesta took it while jubal was running in and out of the frame yelling something and flinging things. because he wanted his picture taken and also because he could see how annoyed we were getting. the upside of it being blurry is that it doesn't matter that i didn't shave my legs. in the background you can see my dishwasher. oh how i love it.

so, this fabric. it's polyester. which normally i wouldn't make clothes out of, but occasionally it seems like a good idea. i'll be wearing this skirt over tights or leggings anyways. and the pattern can't be beat.

i got it from dad, who found it in great uncle bob's stuff. hoarded from the era of his first wife. a long time ago. and it smelled when i got it, sort of a musty odor that made me think i was going to have to toss it after all. but i worked some magic with a couple of long soakings in the washing machine that involved bac-out, vinegar, baking soda, and laundry soap. i have some more interesting polyester that i will probably make into another skirt, one less quick and simple and slouzy as this. maybe one with a zipper.

tomorrow i start back to school and i have to do a big in-town grocery shopping trip and i'm very curious how that will effect what i make. i know i won't be sewing it, that's for sure.

i am grateful for:

the art of weaving

technology

that bill gates spends a lot of money trying to eliminate carbon emissions

my i pod that martin gave me and is so totally rad

cee lo green's album, ladykiller

what i made today, setting things on fire, and sad girls.

today i made: 6 mixy-matchy napkins, as amy karol calls them. i didn't follow her recipe specifically, but a similar creation is featured in her book Bend the Rules Sewing. i had some scrap fabric and fat quarters, so i just folded one of the fatties over itself triangle-wise and cut off the excess, so i had a square. i folded over the edges and pressed, folded again and pressed and sewed.

we only use cloth napkins at our house and ours have gotten super crappy all of the sudden, so i've been meaning to make some new ones. now i have.

rodney and i had our last smokes this morning and tossed the rest into the woodstove. mine was empty, but his had a bunch still left in there, so i was pretty impressed. i just threw mine in for show. currently, i'm doing well, but feeling like it's dumb to quit smoking because smoking is so rad. however, it's important to me that i be as healthy as possible and model good health for the kids. so. still not smoking.

last night the girls went to their friend ronan's house to stay up late and celebrate the new year. rodney and i watched a bunch of t.v. and smoked a lot. a little after 7 the girls' dad called to let me know that dave, their aunt's husband, had died the morning before. dave was a lovely, awesome man and it was sad news to receive. i picked the girls up this afternoon and had to tell them when we got home. they are devastated. there was a long period of sitting on my bed trying to touch them both while they cried and were very still and hot and sad. they just saw him over christmas and they are suffering from the grief of losing dave, sadness for their aunt and how she will cope, and struggling with the idea of mortality. the reality that you can have christmas dinner with a man one day and the next week he is no longer living. dave was not particularly old, and so they are probably thinking about their mom and dad, and their grandparents, and themselves, and how suddenly and unexpectedly a life can change.

my love is going out to aunt L. today. i hope she has the support she needs. i hope she finds the strength to survive. i hope she can manage.

i am grateful for:

vesta

hazel

jubal

rodney

dad

resolve

resolve
Originally uploaded by hedgenettle

i don't normally make new year's resolutions. i prefer to just decide i want to do something and do it whenever i decide that. certain people i know constantly put things off "until new year's" and that's dumb. this year, however, i do have some resolutions. pretty big ones, i think.

the last year has been long, arduous, complicated, strenuous, satisfying, mind-blowing, fun, and generally successful at making me be happier to be alive than not. hopefully the new year will be all of those things and more. but all the "more" things should be rad.

here are my resolutions:

general fitness goals (work out more frequently and harder, eat more veg and less everything else, eat my smoothies at least 5 days a week, drink my tonic teas, don't eat candybars on a regular basis)

quit smoking. i really don't like this one. i love smoking. i love cigarettes. i love their boxes and smoke and shape. i love taking little time outs throughout the day to smoke. i love the social aspect of smoking during breaks at school. i pretty much love everything about smoking. except that it isn't good for me, and that if i keep doing it, so will my husband, and he smokes nasty chemical cigarettes, about a pack a day. i'm quitting smoking to support my health, to be a good role model for my kids, and to support and inspire my husband to quit smoking. in the coming days, when i want to smoke, i will take 3 deep breaths. i'll take as many 3 deep breaths as necessary until i can stand not smoking just then.

make certain to compliment and/or express my gratitude and admiration to my immediate family every single day. to really notice something lovely they've said or done or been and give thanks for it.

AND

make something every day. some little tiny piece of art or writing, or prepare a specially lovely meal, or take a very intentional photograph. every day. EVERY DAY. this is because i love making things. and i get busy in school making things for school, executing homework, etc. and then i get busy at home taking care of everyone and doing chores and vegging out with netflix...and i forget to just make things for myself, just because i love it. also, because i want my house to be cleaner and less cluttered and i will use this resolution as an opportunity to use all of that stuff i save because it would be just awesome for an art project (if i EVER got around to using those things for that purpose!)
also, i am really looking forward to how this goal changes my definition of "make something", and in seeing what it produces.

happy new year, everybody. i hope you are blessed.

i am grateful for:
my dad
the adobe creative suite
flexibility
honesty
expensive, well-made shoes

oops. i forgot to say. in an effort to hold myself accountable and keep motivated, i will be posting my daily creations to flickr, and probably, through flickr, to here. i look forward to sharing them with you.

the chrstmas list

the air is getting crisp, the leaves have fallen, jubal has a cough, and the woodstove is doing constant duty. this means it is getting close to christmas and we must celebrate by eating lovely meals with our families, singing carols, and drinking lots and lots of egg nog.

that also means it's time for one of my famous wish lists. i know you love me, but if you want to show me just how much by showering me with gifts, i won't complain. especially if it's one of these awesome treasures:

the main star of my wish list this year was a classic i pod, cleverly engraved...but my friend martin gave me his old i pod, and it is soooo lovely and sports 30GB of song-saving memory, so the classic would still be nice, but i'm pretty well set. that wittily engraved message still holds my desire, though. so.

not surprisingly nobody gave me the ultra-expensive macbook pro for my birthday, so, impractically, i've added it to my christmas list. i want the 15-incher with a 500GB hard drive and 8GB of RAM. a girl can dream.

i really, really would love something from the yellow owl workshop. i am especially in love with their stamp sets, especially the city and seascape sets. oh they are so lovely. yellow owl also sports some gorgeous correspondence sets, and i am fondest of the bicycle version. it's so delicious. if one were to give me one of these beautiful stamp sets, it would be sweet of them to include an awesome pad of sturdy, but lovely paper, such as this.

as you know, i love to read. i especially love to read about design, and there is an awesome little collection put together by stefan sagmeister and daniel nettle that would bring a lot of joy to my little designer heart. it's called things i have learned in my life so far. and it is rad.

because i love books so much, physical, awesome, paper books, you might be surprised to know that i really, really, really want a kindle. i know. i never thought i would say it either. but i do. i promise to never stop reading or buying real books, but i'd like to supplement them with this. and it reads to you. HONEY!!! it reads to me, so you don't have to. please note, that i want THE latest version (with 3G), for best contrast, least eyestrain, and best voices.

and a quick breakdown of books i want. books are always, always a good thing:

made you look by stefan sagmeister.

make it bigger by paula scher.

the three incestuous sisters: an illustrated novel by audrey niffenegger.

room by emma donoghue.

lost at sea by bryan lee o'malley

the scott pilgrim comics by bryan lee o'malley

dante's divine comedy: a graphic adaptation by seymour chwast (yes! THE seymour chwast!)

black hole by charles burns.

asterios polyp by david massucchelli.

ghost world by daniel clowes.

the book of genesis illustrated by r. crumb.

fun home: a family tragicomic by alison bechdel.

the walking dead by robert kirkman +.

sandman: dream hunters by neil gaiman and illustrated by p. craig russell. also anything in the sandman comic series.

sparkle and spin: a book about words by ann and paul rand.

paul rand: conversations with students by michael kroeger.

i know a lot of things by ann and paul rand.

thoughts on design by paul rand.

bryson's dictionary for writers and editors by bill bryson. (REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WANT THIS!)

to name a few.

let it never be said that i am hard to shop for.

merry merry.

i am grateful for:

paper

tape

rodney

smiles

saddle stitch staplers

for the application portfolio

one of our portfolio pieces for the application to the second year was the problem of designing a missing cat poster that is well-designed, creative, effective, and informative. it was more challenging than it might first sound, because incorporating creativity into what needs to be fairly mundane, while still communicating effectively can be tricky. i haven't printed a proof of this yet, but i'm hoping when i do it will not reveal that my choice of typeface equals poor legibility. this poster is 11 x 17. critiques welcome. encouraged, even. (FYI my cat is NOT really missing, but he is gorgeously photogenic, and will soon be famous, i'm sure.)