Mai Autumn

looking back on 2010 (or should i say, looking forward to 2011)

boy, this was one long and somewhat rough year. i have to say, now that i'm thinking about it, i'm pretty glad it's coming to an end. it's had to be one of the hardest years of my life. there are too many personal and heart-wrenching things to get into here, but, deep down, i know that things are going to get better in 2011. i'm looking forward to better health for everyone i know (including my furry family member!) and hopefully less chaos, more happiness. 

this year has at least taught me that i am capable of handling a lot more than i thought and that i am stronger for that.

i leave you with a quote:

"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us." - Marcel Proust

 

the man who hated christmas

i woke up this morning sniffly and groggy - confirming my icky feeling yesterday, that i was indeed, sick. thankfully, i had packed up the last of the cut off date orders last night, to be picked up this morning. i love usps for their pick up service. it is my savior in these bitterly cold months when i don't want to leave the house. 

after realizing my sick, my boyfriend, (who was sick for the past few days himself, and is now better) cheerily hands me an article that he thought i might also enjoy. it was actually a story, and i was a little curious. after reading it in its entirety, i realized, it was surprisingly just what i needed to read to put me in the christmas spirit. it wasn't your typical christmas-ey story, but more like something to remind me that we all share memories, and... i dunno... it was perfect for me.

i happen to be one of those people who kind of dislike all the hubbub of christmas. i think it's a bit forced a lot of the time, and some of the things we put ourselves through are a little unnecessary. when it all comes down to the big day though, i do feel a little something special when i'm with my family, sharing stories and just being together. if you read the story yourself, you'll see why i felt a connection, and maybe, if you're anything like me, you'll feel christmas-ey too. you can find the article here: The Man Who Hated Christmas

you'll see that i also obviously loved the fact that the man in the story is an artist. i always enjoy reading about other artists' lives and habits - i feel like it gives me a glimpse of my future in a way. or maybe it gives me a glimpse of how other people might see me. always interesting. artists are strange characters. and i've never been able to figure out if that's a result of the art or the other way around. questions, questions.

alright, well, i should go relax or something. i'm not used to doing that after the crazy busy month i've had, but i'm gonna try. gotta get better for santa! ...okay... let's not go that far ; )

i wish it were sunday

this is where i wish i could stay right now.. but i have lots of last minute orders to pack up. i feel a bit of a flu coming. if it would snow, i know it wouldn't take the chill away, by any means, but at least it wouldn't look so gray outside my window right now...

at least i have my tea to keep me warm.

memories - amsterdam

after playing around with the image in the last post, i got inspired to play with some of my older images. in 2008, i took a little journey to amsterdam with my painting class in college. there were some amazing sights to be seen. i think i like these photos in the neat-o ways i've edited them. what do you think?

they're all available over in my shop, too.

i miss europe! ... ok weird note... listening to wqxr (classical radio - yes, i am a snob)... the radio announcer is talking about rotterdam. two of those photos were taken in rotterdam! creeepyyy

new blog, new day

 

since 2011 is approaching fast, and i feel like i can finally breathe after all those orders (!) i've been planning some plans for my miniature empire (as i'd like to think of it). i should be taking a break and decking the halls or whatever - but i'm just itchin' with ideas lately and need to get them outta me now! :)

first thing's first - i needed a blog that could do more for me. so... i decided to get my stuff together and start a blog over on typepad. now, i love my tumblr, don't get me wrong... but it just couldn't provide the meat and potatoes of blogging that i so desperately craved. i want comments that work correctly. i want to talk to you guys. i want to be able to post more than one photo at a time! i want... organization, date/time tracking, trackbacks, feedback, syndication, seo, and above all... the ability to be as pretty as i can be (via blog, at least!) 

if you are familiar with the fey handmade blog, i have been making some changes there, as well. i really want to turn it into what i imagined the fey handmade shop to turn out like. if you're also familiar with the shop, then you may have noticed there is hardly anything in it these days. well, i have some news.. and since i know you have to be a fan of my goings on, since you actually cared enough to read this post, i will share it with you. fey handmade will no longer be a shop for lovely, handmade finds... well, not necessarily at least. i would like to think it will soon become a place for lovely, handmade finds, and my designs/art and what-not will be a little side note there. are you confused yet? good. because i am definitely these days. really, what it comes down to, is the fact that i just couldn't get the whole structure of the shop to function properly - there were so SO many insanely ridiculous shipping problems and issues with designers keeping me in the know about their current prices/stock levels/availability/existence as a whole, that i just couldn't keep up any more. sure, i had some wonderful designers who were always on top of things and always able to keep me in the know about their products and where-abouts, but there were an equal number that just... well... i'll save it for my rambling angry diary entries. just know this - it was a pain in the behind and i'm done with it. there, i said it. yes, people thought it was amazing and beautiful.. but i know in my heart that it wasn't serving its purpose. the goal was not to just bring together a bunch of pretty things. i wanted to make shopping handmade easier! i discovered that is not such an easy feat. 

alright now, having said all that, onto the new! since i still think handmade is a wonderful thing, and i want to shout it from the rooftops! the fey handmade blog is going to help me do just that. i'm planning to post tons and tons more useful, pretty finds on there. i envision it to become a little gathering spot for... well... you guessed it! lovely, handmade finds! at the same time, i have to make sure i stay true to myself, and that's why i'm starting this blog. i love to read artists' and business owners' blogs. they inspire me. keep me going. and also make me realize - i'm not doing anything wrong. and i want to be as myself as i can be on here (well, at least without offending anyone or sounding like an alcoholic)(but i do love a good glass of wine). i hope to post a lot about my work, my life, my studio (which i will soon be moving into a whole room just for me! woohoo!) and hopefully get into some great conversations with all of you! 

i'm glad to be doing this and i'm glad you're here to share in this journey of my life as a creative business owner. here's to a fantastic new year!

onward!