Friday Fashion: Artsy Professional

I had the walkthrough for my first jewelry show two weeks ago.  The email said to dress professionally, and honestly this dress is the most professional thing I actually own, so that's what I wore.

dress and cardigan: thrifted, boots: Urban Outfitters, necklace: made by me

Aside from accidentally getting off the bus at Broadway and Pine Street instead of Broadway and Pine Street E (or vice versa, I don't remember) and having to walk about 30 blocks further than necessary, the walkthrough went great.  It really helped me stop worrying about the show because now I know just what to expect.

Pictures of Me Photodump-ish Post

Sometimes when I'm bored or procrastinating or in a sad mood I take random silly photos of myself. Here are some of them from lately.

My mom bought me a new printer since my old one stopped working, and the box was so huge that I knew I would fit in it.  So then I did.  Because obviously.

being the mad hatter

procrastinating plus Photoshop equals this

The Stress Monster

Or maybe the stress mountain.  Because I like monsters.  I like mountains too, but they don't make sense in this analogy.  When I get stressed, which has been happening a lot lately, I deal with it by not dealing with it.  And before I realize it there's a giant mountain of stress that has accumulated while I was pretending none of it existed.  But it's hard to ignore a mountain when it falls on you.  Because there was an earthquake or something, I don't know.  Mountains don't go away when I ignore them and I know this from past experience.  And yet I still try.  Because not dealing with stress is maybe slightly less stressful than dealing with it.

Right now there is a giant stress mountain looming over me.  There's my first art show, illness, lack of motivation, waiting for my new phone to arrive because it needs to be here before the show!, more social anxiety than you can shake a stick at (not that shaking a stick at it would help or that's what I would be doing), a trip to see my parents for almost a whole month (which will hopefully help to melt some of the stress instead of adding more; apparently the mountain is capable of melting, but it's not made of ice cream or I would just eat it), finding an apartment, finding a job, and deciding whether I will or will not be going back to school in the fall (I'm still waiting to hear back about financial aid and also to see if I stop having seizures again).  So there's a giant stress mountain and instead of acknowledging it, I'm facing it.  I'm not really sure what to do now but I think this is a good first step.

Tree and Crystal Sketch

I had this really cool dream a few weeks ago where I was in a forest but all of the trees were crystals instead of trees.  There were geodes scattered on the ground instead of foliage.  I want to draw this scene at some point, but first I had to practice drawing crystals and trees.  I never could draw trees, but I kind of like this one.

Big News and You're all Invited!

You guys!  YOU GUYS!!!  A lady from this indie arts show happened to come across my shop on Etsy and invited me to be a featured artist at the next show!  I'm super excited! (if you can't tell from the massive amount of exclamation points I'm using in this post)  I only have a few weeks to get ready, since I'll be going home for most of June to see my brother!  He'll be home on leave for a month and I haven't seen him in two years.  And after that he'll be stationed in the U.S.!  So many good things!

So the point is that if you are in Seattle on June 22nd you should come to the art show.  There will be a fashion show, live music, and lots of talented artists.  Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here.  And it's cocktail attire so it's also a fun reason to get all dressed up.  I have this lace dress I bought a year ago and haven't worn because it's fancy and I didn't have a reason to wear it yet, and I'm excited that I finally get to wear it.  Here is the Facebook event invite thing for the art show.  I hope that some of you come.  It should be super fun!


If you are unable to attend but would still like to be supportive, you can donate a ticket! Purchase a ticket online and I’ll give it to someone who can’t afford one but would love to go.

Business Card Inspiration

This week is small business week, so I'm sharing some great business card designs from some fantastic small businesses.

1. Imps and Monsters: some of the coolest monster paintings ever, and he just wrote a comic book!

2. Emma SanCartier Illustrations: fantastical art prints and cards, Odd Fauna: beastly art and toys

3. Kendra Binney: surreal art panels, prints, and jewelry

4. Careful it Bites: fluffy and adorable plushies, some of mythical creatures

5. Snash Jewelry: amazing metal jewelry

6. Sown Designs: fine leather wallets and clutches

7. Jillian Nickell: quirky and detailed posters and art prints

8. Field Day Wearables: comfy and cool conscious clothing

9. The Society of National Industry: cool pyramid light garlands, art, zines, and more

10. Lolide: some of my favorite sculptural metal jewelry

11. Wanderlust and Wildhearts: bohemian clothing, jewelry, and accessories

Gluten-Free Food Review 2

It's been over a year since my last round-up and review of gluten-free foods I've discovered.  Here are some of my favorite finds.  There is one affiliate link in this post.  I have no affiliation with Safeway; that's just the store I usually shop at so most of these items are from there.  These are all items that I purchased myself.  If you are a brand and would like to send me a gluten-free item to review, feel free to contact me.

Muffins:

These muffins are so good!  They're moist and taste just like you would want a blueberry muffin to.  I got these at Safeway.  I'm not sure if this brand has shown up at Safeways nationwide, but it is in most Seattle Safeway locations.

Granola:

KIND is the best granola I have tried.  I don't buy granola very often, but every once in a while I'll buy some and use it sparingly on yogurt with fruit or jam. They also make really good (but expensive) granola bars.

This is the flavor of granola I got.  If you buy through this Amazon seller, you can subscribe to monthly delivery and save money.  I bought mine for about $6 in a grocery store (Metropolitan Market in Seattle), and this is $14.34 for a 3-pack, plus whatever for shipping.

Pizza:

I love Udi's three cheese pizza.  It's the best gluten-free pizza I've had, that I haven't had to make myself.  You can find it in the frozen pizza section of many stores, including Safeway.

Soup:

Progresso has a few gluten-free varieties.  Not all of their soups are gluten-free, so make sure you read the ingredients.  My favorite flavors are New England Clam Chowder, Chicken Corn Chowder, and Split Pea Soup.

Ice Cream:

I was delighted when I discovered that one of my favorite flavors of ice cream from before my diagnosis is gluten-free!  It's Haagen-Dazs White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, pictured above.  Other gluten-free flavors of ice cream that I love are Safeway brand Mint Chocolate Chip, Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia, and Ben and Jerry's Hazed and Confused Core (which has half chocolate ice cream, half hazelnut ice cream, and a chocolate-hazelnut core).  The Hazed and Confused is so good that I have only been able to buy it twice and every other time I've looked it's been sold out.

Bread:

I don't usually buy bread.  I usually just go without or use corn tortillas.  But sometimes I want a grilled cheese sandwich or a BLT, and when I do this is my go-to bread.

Chips and Crackers:

Juanita's tortilla chips are the best tasting and the cheapest gluten-free tortilla chips.  They are even the brand of choice of three of my non-gluten-free friends.  Nabisco started making Rice Thins crackers a few months ago, or at least they arrived locally a few months ago.  I love these crackers but I will eat an entire box in one sitting, which is fine when they're less than $3 a box.  White Cheddar is my favorite flavor, but they also come in Original, Sea Salt and Pepper, and Sweet Barbecue.

Many flavors of Lay's potato chips are also gluten-free, including Cheesy Garlic Bread and Cheddar Sour Cream.

Frozen Dinners:

I love EVOL brand frozen dinners.  They are a little bit expensive but worth it, in my opinion.  My favorite kind is the Fire-Grilled Steak.

So that's what I've found lately.  Is there anything gluten-free that you've loved and would recommend to me?  Tell me in the comments.

Window Shopping: Amazon

This post contains affiliate links.  I will receive a commission if you order through these links.  These are all items that I really want though, from two brands I want to share with you.

J. TOMSON sells so many cute items, most in a variety of styles and colors.  These are the ones that I really want.



If I had infinite money, I would get the cardigan and peplum top in at least two other colors.

Allegra K sells super cute clothing too and I want most of their dresses.  These are the ones I like the most.



The weather has been warmer here lately so I've been wearing more dresses and skirts.  I don't have many casual dresses though, so I've been wearing the same three over and over.  First world problems, right?

Two for Tuesday: Aaanouk and Goshdarnknit

Two for Tuesday is a post series where I'll be sharing two great Etsy shops and two of my favorite items from each one.  Click the image to go to the product on Etsy.

The first shop this week was a pretty easy choice.  I adore raw stone jewelry and this shop is full of it.  The shop is Aaanouk and these are two of my favorite items from it.

The oxidized metal looks amazing with the light blue stone.

These are such a pretty color that I wish I could wear stud earrings.

The second shop is one that I've liked for awhile.  Goshdarnknit sells some really cool original art and notebooks.  I really like all of the people ones but I chose my two favorite non-people ones to share here.

I love the pretty shade of blue on this one and the cool design.

These sunflowers are super detailed and very pretty.

It's pretty obvious from my favorites this week that I'm really ready for spring, and luckily for me we've been having some lovely spring weather in Seattle lately.

Smiley Spider Doodle and a Smiley Spider Photo

I saw this picture of a smiling spider and then I made a doodled version of it, in my own art style.

original photo by Thomas Shahan; someone edited it and turned the frown upside down

And here's my doodle.

I've been doing pretty well on all of my goals except for doodling/sketching once a week, so I'm going to try to do it more often.  Feel free to remind me if I don't share any doodles for awhile.

Also, N asked me if the 5-year-old I babysit drew this guy.  Ouch.

Friday Fashion: Black and Blue

 

cardigan: thrifted, Lucky brand,  shirt: Qwertee, jeans: Forever 21, boots: Urban Outfitters

The fashion rules say that you shouldn't mix black and blue (and brown! What am I doing?!) but I don't follow the fashion rules.  This shirt is one of my favorites and I wear it at least once every other week.  I've worn it in a lot of outfit posts and it will probably appear in a lot more.  I love this cardigan, not only because it's my only lighter weight long-sleeved cardigan but also because it's got a really cool blue leopard print on it that I can't find anywhere else.  Weirdly, I can't remember which thrift store I got it from but it's definitely thrifted.

Room Tour: My Handmade Shelf

I made this wood shelf in one of my many wood shop classes in high school.  Fun fact: I love using power tools.  I finally put it up in my room and loaded it up with a tiny part of my increasing collection of handmade jewelry and jewelry displays.  I made all of the jewelry in this photo except for the earrings on the picture frame display.  The simple instructions for making this picture frame display can be found at the end of this post.  The necklace on the left will hopefully be heading to a local shop soon.  The jewelry display on the right was a thrift store find and the teacup and blue deer were scored at yard sales.  The deer was originally a bright brass color that didn't work for me, so I painted it with nail polish, Wet 'n' Wild in 218A I Need a Refresh-Mint.  I love how it turned out and it's such a unique ring/bracelet holder.

I have more room tour pictures to share with you in the coming weeks.  I've lived in this room for almost two years now, so I thought it was about time I showed it to you guys.