Now for Sale Online!

The stuffed animals are now up for sale on etsy.com.

www.katydidcrafts.etsy.com

Blue Bunny has already gone! In less than 14 hours since he was listed. I'm quite happy about that. The next challenge is going to be making sure that I'm consistently making new little guys to put online.

And I'm finally sending out three stuffed animals to my pal Lauren who requested them a couple of months ago. Since her twins are due in just weeks, I'm sneaking them in just in time! I'll put up pictures of them once she receives them just so that more samples are on view.

Swallows

Finally worked out the kinks for a new pattern for some swallows. The plan is to figure out how to construct a mobile to hang them from. And then to sell the suckers.

Sleeve is finally healed up.

After about 9 months, I finally got my half-sleeve finished a few weeks ago. It's all healed up nicely and I've got some good pictures to post up of it. For those interested, the initial design was drawn up by pal Jen O'Brien after I was inspired by one of her paintings and then adapted by tattooer Clay McKay at Anonymous Tattoo. Ron had the idea of adding in the key badge and skeleton key and I'm stoked on how they came out. Clay did a phenomenal job and I would recommend him highly to anyone. It definitely helps me feel less homesick for autumn in New England.

artwork

I'm trying to be better at remembering to post what I'm up to - even when it feels like I'm not up to all that much. Given my work schedule lately, there hasn't been much going on that's of any particular consequence. Still the past two weeks have included some crafting of new stuffed animals (photos to be posted at some point), a lucky find of a sale on felt at Joann's Fabrics, reading Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow (high-quality historical fiction for our current favorite era), watching Stranger than Fiction and falling in love with both Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhall's characters, and finishing up my tattoo (again photo's forthcoming).

Had my tattoo appointment yesterday and while I'm totally ecstatic about how beautiful it came out in the end, I must admit to wondering why the heck I ever started in on this piece. Particularly at the point at which I was getting my elbow pit done, I thought that this was the dumbest endeavor I've taken yet. That said, once it's healed I'm sure I'll start thinking about the next one.

If you're anywhere near Boston this Saturday night, make sure that you go and see Ron's art opening. It's titled "In Between the Devil and Deep Blue Sea" and is filled with fantastic spit-shaded watercolors that echo traditional themes. It's from 5-7pm at Bodega. You'll have to find your own way to Bodega since it's not advertised, but once there you'll be in for a major treat - both in artwork and in shopping. Plus spend money and you'll be supporting both my boyfriend and an old, dear friend who co-owns the store.

Finding time

Oh life has been so busy lately. It's hard to find time to get much of anything done. I've taken on a short-term contract with the historical society to finish up an archival processing project. It's actually a pretty fun project but it does mean having to give up my Saturdays for 3 months and working 6 days a week. I'm happy to keep my archival work current though. Additionally, I've developed a new hobby of the dreaded "diet and exercise". It's actually been a really positive experience, but oh my gosh, it takes up a surprising amount of time.

Anyhow, this is a pony that I made a couple of weeks ago for pal Andrea's very belated birthday gift. Now that she's received it, I can put it up for everyone else to see. The exciting news on the craft front is that I also recieved my first commission! My old friend Lauren is going to a baby shower and has requested an oliphant. I'll make a few samples so that she can choose who she likes best and then it also leaves me with several more samples to show or sell. I'll post as they are finished.

Film Review: Grindhouse

On Wednesday night I headed out with some friends to see an advanced screening of Grindhouse. There was little benefit to seeing an advanced screening since we got hassled by security people to put our cellphones with cameras in the car (what the hell they think my cell phone is going to capture is beyond me) and they had a security guy in the front watching people during the movie through night vision goggles to ensure that nobody was trying to record the movie. Nobody I was with got any free goodies to really make it worth it. I suppose we did get to see the movie for free which is pretty great.

Anyhow...for those that haven't heard, Grindhouse is a double-feature that echoes the campy, B movies made in the 1970s and shown at small, independent theaters (aka Grindhouses). Robert Rodriguez directs "Planet Terror" and Quentin Tarantino "Death Proof", and in addition several other directors provided faux trailers for the intermission. "Planet Terror" was fantastic. Totally ridiculous, loose plot about a virus that give people open soars and melting flesh and the craving to eat other people's brains and the small group of people that seem to be immune to it. Featuring Rose McGowan as a go-go dancer who dreams of being a stand-up comedian are dashed when zombies eat her leg but is redeemed when her boyfriend is able to attach a machine gun to her stump, the film is just outrageous enough to laugh through all the blood and guts.

Following it, however, is "Death Proof". Somehow the movie just falls short of really paying tribute to the exploitation genre. Kurt Russell is actually pretty great as the villain who kills girls with his death-proof stunt car, but the movie drags on for way too long. Tarantino spends too much time developing the characters of his victims, actually making me long for their death rather than rooting for them to live. I think that I would've liked it a lot better if the movie had ended just after his first killing spree but instead it just dragged on and on. That said, the ending car chase and final ending were fun.

In the middle were some absolutely hilarious trailers for movies which I kind of long to be made - "Machete" in particular was fantastic. "Thanksgiving" was a bit too disturbing with the final scenes crossing my line of distastfulness, but I can see that it at least falls within the genre that they were trying to celebrate.

All in all, a fun set to sit through. There's just something great about not expecting a movie to change your life and having it happily meet that expectation.

Spring has sprung...and I've been enjoying it rather than writing in my blog.

Alright so it's been ages since I posted anything on here. I do have an excuse other than shear laziness. We've had a series of house guests for the past four weeks. I was so busy enjoying their company that I just haven't focused on getting much else done. Lots has happened and probably too much to go on about on here. Highlights included visiting Scary Mary with my brother (possible future post?), trip to Jekyll Island with Dot, Lenny's busted lip and arm and my mom and I reinvigorating our porch with lots of new flowers and plants.

The photos were taken during a couple of day trips during Dorothy's visit. The first photo was taken at Bonaventure Cemetery and is of the gravesite next to the more famous site of Little Gracie. Ron and I seem to head out to Bonaventure somewhat regularly to go exploring - it's what Ron calls our "Goth Date". But a few weeks ago it was unbelievably pretty with the camellia and azalea blossoms out. The second photo is of the DuBignon colonial plantation house on Jekyll Island and the last one is of the Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island. Dot and I headed down to Jekyll for a day to rent bikes and ride around the island. It's unbelievably pretty. At the turn of the 20th Century it was a private island used for the Jekyll Club - a group of millionaires who built a hotel and private homes and used it for getaways. Plus it's the perfect place to ride bikes because bike trails go around the whole island and there's very little car traffic anyhow.