So here goes:
1. Etsy. I have been trying to be as active as possible with my new Etsy shop, and so far it has been fun. I made three sales right away to people I know in real life, so although I am still waiting for my first "found through Etsy" sale I at least know people are interested. I have also met a bunch of swell people through the Etsian newbie team, which is there to help new sellers get connected. I also re-connected with my friend Laura who sells on Etsy and is an amazing artist.
2. Blog love! It is great that you all are following along with my life, I am super excited about that. I am not the best at blogging regularly, but I will try to do so more often. But not so often as to be obnoxious. I have also been featured on some blogs, so I should probably return the favor sometime with full-post features. For now though, I would like to highlight my friend Jihan who is a great blogger and lover of cute things. We worked at summer camp together, where we put the "ARRR!!!" in "ARRRts and crafts". She also has an Etsy shop and is part of the reason I finally motivated myself to get my shop together and start selling. She did a blog post about me which includes a picture I haven't seen in years, it is great!
I have also met another lover of cute and crafty things on Etsy, Jennasaurusfun. She makes all kinds of whimsical crocheted things, plus her name is awesome and she also featured me on her blog!
3. So I'm an AmeriCorps member, and I'm serving with a non-profit that does home repairs. We've spent a lot of time in the office recently, and I get pretty burned out when I spend the whole day doing meaningless work at a computer. I just don't care all that much about volunteer recruitment or sponsor packets, as it turns out. However, this past Wednesday and Thursday I got to do something which is right up my alley: build a house out of cardboard. I know, I know, that sounds weird. But I never realized until I graduated that I really enjoyed having assignments like "make a 3D miniature version of a room you spend a lot of time in, using only paper" and have that be my "job". When my boss asked me to take on this "art project" I jumped at the chance. It was a display for an event my organization had to be at, and although I wasn't there I have been told the house was a big success. It's going to be hard to go back to typing up boring things now, but for two days I was actually excited to go the office.
4. My Pittsburgh friends are the best! On Wednesday night we had our first weekly "Stitch and Bitch" which was exactly what it sounds like. Two of my roommates plus two other friends who knit and I sat around our living room making crafty things (I was working on a dinosaur) and talking about life. We also had cupcakes (gluten-free, with about as much frosting as cupcake) and ice cream. Next week we are hoping to have more people, as we have other friends who knit, crochet, and sew.
5. I got to see two of my current favorite music groups in concert on Tuesday. Not like one of those huge stadium concerts, but a small one. Pearl And The Beard has a new CD which I got to buy before the official release, plus I talked to one of the band members about the three-person sweater (this is a real thing!) which she knitted and which is featured on the new CD's album artwork. I also got to see Brad Yoder again, although I get to see him randomly in a non-musical context (he lives with some of my friends) it is always good to see him in concert.
6. Sending off some dinosaurs to my friend Jake, who commissioned them from me a while ago. I received payment for them today, so I will be sending them off on Monday. Since they haven't been featured online anywhere, here are some pictures:
Okay, so I got carried away and put up pictures of most of the things I have just mentioned which rock my world. I don't have any pictures of the cardboard house, but rest assured that whenever I do you will see them. I think that's all for now, hope this monster of a blog post didn't overwhelm you!
