random thoughts.

Hey ladies & gents!

I've been sans internet for 2 days and finally got back online. I have no idea what the problem was, but I actually had to call the cable company and set up an appointment to get it fixed. The cable guy said that out of 100%, my connection was running at about 2%. He was surprised I was getting any cable channels, also. Man, catching up on a billion e-mails is NOT fun. Today was supposed to be my relaxing day.

Sans internet/my favorite tv channels, I went to Borders and bought David Sedaris' latest book, cleaned my apartment and organized my new fabric into my bins. I also made ::gasp!:: a new pillow for my shop! I will post it later, I have to get a custom order listing posted first.

I also bought sculpey and started thinking up ideas for magnets and such, so stoked.

Someone said something interesting yesterday. She said something about being self-supporting, and I'd never thought of that before. Sure, in the monetary sense, I'm self-supporting, and my etsy shop is self-supporting. But I had an epiphany of sorts. Sometimes I go through these periods where I don't make anything, and I fall into this terrible rut. When I'm not productive, I feel like garbage, a terrible downward spiral.

So July? Is all about being self-supporting. I'm going to be as creative as I want to be, make things, sketch, design, and support the artist inside me. I'm very excited by this idea, and a little nervous!

Oh, and if you've ever wondered what I listen to while making things?
Today's playlist includes: Young Love, Maroon 5, Metro Station, Rilo Kiley, and later this evening? Some Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald.

Yup. Oh, and I had half a toasted bagel w/ peanut butter on it & orange juice for breakfast, and am eating the other half for lunch.

There, the innerworkings of Taina on a Saturday afternoon.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Things to come...

So I've been out of the etsy-creating loop for a while now and I'm officially raring to go again! I have a 3 day weekend (Fri-Sun) packed with obligations (of the good kind) but I am definitely squeezing some sewing into the schedule.

I have to finally add the snaps to the 12-18 month dress so I can post it, and if the new fabric I ordered comes, I will be making some snazzy fun pillows for my shop.

Below are the fabric patterns I purchased from Catylouquilts





I am so stoked! I also am hoping to make a significant dent in the giant rubbermaid containers I have filled with all sorts of fabric next week. w00t.

Look out Etsy! Taina's coming back with lots of fun stuff in new prints!

<3 Always,
--Taina

windows

Here's my latest item photographed in my new window spot:


(click photo for more info)

A few months ago I blogged about my kitchen windowsil and all the plants I was trying to grow. Well, the seeds never grew past tiny seedlings that would die a few days later. All those basil, oregano and cherry tomato seeds! oh well.

This past Saturday, my parents asked if I wanted to ride with them to Home Depot in NJ to pick out flats to plant in front of their apartment building. They do this every year, they pick a ton of annuals in a couple colors and plant away! I was too busy eyeing the cherry tomato plants to remember what they picked this year. I bought two very strong cherry tomato plants after much "ooohing" and "ahhing." One of the plants I picked already has 5 tiny green cherry tomatoes on it! So exciting.

This past week, as I adjusted to meds, I found myself wanting to tend to my little kitchen and livingroom window gardens. I bought larger pots with saucers, cleaned the windowsil and window and went to work repotting my aloe, cherry tomatoes and a few other things. I used the soil from the seeds I'd tried desperately to grow and failed and mixed it with some organic fertilizer and soil. I then found a better pot on Friday for the aloe and once again repotted, as I pulled the soil out from one pot into the other, I found lots of little seedlings growing! Now, they are too small to tell what they are but I carefully put them in a tiny pot. Maybe my basil or oregano will grow afterall!

Yesterday, Dorian, Becky & I went to the Bronx Zoo. Afterwards we stopped on the Upper West Side to run some errands and somehow I ended up buying organic basil in a pot.

My kitchen windowsil now has...cherry tomatos, arugula, basil, echinacea and aloe. As well as some kind of tiny palm and some other thing I lost the tag for. lol.

Now, the problem is that my bedroom is the one with sunlight for the majority of the day. This is an issue as I use my bedroom window to take photos of my etsy items. I found another window that has great light in the morning and took some photos, didn't even have to adjust them for brightness!

So now I get to move all my "full sun" plants. I have to wait until my roommate moves out next week. Our apartment is currently a giant mess of boxes and paperwork and I don't want to disturb anything.

Photos will come soon, my camera is currently full of photos of the Zoo that I need to upload.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Etsy Hunting...

I've mentioned before that I have a penpal. She recently found my blog, so I can't write too much about my handmade purchases to send her until they are already in the mail. Otherwise, there's no surprise!

TheSeaWithin and I have very similar taste in stationery. Every time I think I've found something fun to send her, two days later I am receiving something from her on the same postcard. I think it's hilarious.

She lives 3000 miles away, we've never met, we lead pretty different lives and somehow we both have Yoshitomo Nara postcard sets, Jill Bliss' Native Flowers stationery and most recently I received a postcard from her of similar nature to the notecard I was in the process of sending her. (Except I can't for the life of me figure out what I did with the envelope!)

So far the things I have purchased from Etsy are not things that she has. The robot notecard a while back? That went over nicely.



I've been eyeing BoyGirlParty's notecards for a while now and lo and behold, I receive a postcard with BoyGirlParty's artwork on it! So I quickly snatched up the notecard set on etsy. They are different images than the ones TheSeaWithin purchased.

The notecards came on Monday and I immediately wrote one out and sent it.

BoyGirlParty was a great shop to purchase from. Her cards arrived very quickly and carefully packaged. The artwork is fun and beautiful and the cardstock is professional. I highly suggest purchasing from her.

I am currently trying to decide if I should go back to sleep and cancel on dinner with a dear friend or try to force myself to get up, shower, dress and head out. It's a cold rainy day and on top of that, my meds are causing me to be nauseous with no appetite. Doesn't make for a fun dinner date w/ a good friend.

I really want to sew. I keep looking at my fabric and my sewing machine and back again. I just can't focus for that long.

I hope these side effects subside soon!

<3 Always,
--Taina

An etsy shop review...

It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood, so this entry will be short, as I want to go out and enjoy the sun with my friend Olivia.



I think I mentioned in my last post that I'd ordered some cards from Creative Apples to send to my etsy penpal. Creative Apples sells note cards with her gorgeous photography on them as well as the photos in other sizes.

The image colors in her robot cards are probably best described as reminiscent, the angles that the photos are taken at remind me of how a child would see the image. They're slightly quirky and quite crisp images.



And of course, the cupcake card I purchased? Made me lick my lips, seriously. It was Cupcake Week on the Martha show this past week, so this card came just in time. Again, the composition and colors are incredible. A perfect birthday or celebratory card!

The package of my two cards was so beautifully presented when I opened the padded envelope, the cards were tied together with a gorgeous Spring-time ribbon, and another of Creative Apples' cards was enclosed as a thank you note, totally personalized. The cards were shipped immediately, with much care. It will be hard to part with these two, I will definitely be back to the shop for more.

I think one of the things that draws me to purchase as much on Etsy as possible is the connection to the creator. I like the handwritten 'thank you' notes, the care towards the packaging, the messages when items are shipped. It's just an awesome experience every time. Very personal, and I LOVE receiving things other than bills in the mail.

I sold a handknit bonnet I made last week, my first item going to Korea! I keep meaning to print out a small world map so I can pin each country and state I've shipped to. Among those countries are: Canada, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Australia, China, Thailand and New Zealand. And now Korea!


(Click photos for more info)

Above is my first April item that I've posted, I think I am especially drawn to the fabric because the grey reflects those terribly rainy days of early Spring, and the blue flowers and birds are of things to look forward to.

As always, you can click the images for more info!

Happy Saturday, folks! And check my shop next week, as I am adding some very new items to my store! More on that later!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Inspiration, Part I

I called out of work today. Sick. Truthfully? I STILL have a migraine, a day later. Behind my eyes. Yesterday was pretty miserable. I sat in front of my sewing machine and didn't do ANYTHING. So frustrating. I was just afraid I'd start sewing and make a huge mess.

Today my vision is almost completely back and the pain is subsiding, but I just needed another day to relax. My workplace is NOT fun when I'm not feeling 100%. I also got everything done on Thursday that I needed to do today, so I'm not feeling too guilty about not being there today.

PaperMenagerie wrote about her inspiration in her blog today. She's got some incredible cards that I've been eyeing for quite some time. I'm not sure if my Etsy penpal reads this, so I can't tell you which ones I plan to buy until after I've sent them. PaperMenagerie's blog on Inspiration has prompted me to do the same.

I wear mostly black clothing, I'm a New Yorker, as much as I hate stereotypes, my extended family jokes that they know when the New Yorkers have arrived at the family reunion because we're like a dark cloud. I have always liked colorful accents. Today? I have turquoise glass earrings on. They're about 2-2.5" long. I should have taken a photo of them. Sorry! I also have an amethyst bracelet and a red jade bracelet that never come off. No, my accents rarely match.

When I was at SVA getting my degree in illustration, I became known for my "weird sense of color." I guess it's not normal to see different colors in an orange bag or a cherry woodgrain, I always thought it was. It was a good thing, my peers and my instructors thought it was great (and probably a little cooky).

I haven't done anything with my BFA, I actually want to go back to school but for childhood education. I occasionally pull out my soft pastels and do a portrait. The last one was of Lady Day:



It was from a black and white photo.

I love putting colors where they normally wouldn't be. I think that's why I get so excited by a bright blue or hot pink fabric on the inside of a makeup bag. It really is a thrill everytime I open a bag up.

A great example is the pink bird coin purse I made a couple days ago. It's one of my favorite fabrics to work with because it's got the bright red, the maroon and the hot pink, so it's fun to match the zipper, felt tips and lining up with the print.

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So I guess my inspiration comes partly from the rainbow. I have a solar-powered rainbow maker that is currently creating dozens of dancing rainbows along my walls, floor and ceiling. I bought it from MoMA:



*As usual, click photos for more info.

Stay tuned for the rest of my inspiration.

<3 Always,
--Taina