Feeling better than ever

I'm feeling much better...a bit nervous that I have Lymes, but ignoring that little thought for now.

Two new stores are now carrying Manic Trout...

Anomaly Design Shop in Milwaukee, WI and
Hawk and The Butterfly in Chicago, IL

If you are in either area, stop in and give these ladies some support!

I have a bunch of new designs ready to photo and post, but as always I would rather gather a big pile and do it at once, I know its tough to think about the fall when its not even summer, but the I have been working with fall colors and am getting started on designs for the cooler months already...and a I have a new line of bling rings!

I have also been working on my painting project, I have decided not to show any of it until its done, but I am so far very happy with the results, yay!

Just wanted to post a little update...more soon...

Home Sick

I am not a napper. I basically go and go and go until I collapse, usually that collapse coincides with getting sick. So here I am, home sick. I woke up yesterday feeling off, and half way through an afternoon at my moms by the pool it really hit, I went home and napped for most of the evening and today attempted to be at the restaurant, but realizing that I should be kind and not get others sick, I came home. I am starting to feel a bit better, my appetite is back and I have stopped sleeping for hours at random times of day. Hopefully I will wake up with it all behind me.
Yesterday before the illness took over...

Its that time again...

I have been preparing for The Sampler this week, although I forgot Monday was a holiday so I will have to pay a fortune to get it to California by Thursday, but other then that I have been right on schedule with my preparations. This month I am sending in 20 pairs of earrings for the editorial sampler as well and I am spending the afternoon putting them together.


I am exhausted from this week end, very busy at work and my allergies are still annoying me, although I did realize that the sleepiness form the allergies is nothing compared to what the allergy meds were doing to me, I felt as though I were under water all the time, it was horrible. I do have one more night before this weekend is over...not sure if I will be standing around or chaotically busy yet.

I do plan on spending the afternoon tomorrow with Gilly and Thea at my moms, taking advantage of the pool and hanging with the fam, I will most likely spend most of that time working on my new project...not revealing anything yet, but I have finally started working on a painting idea I have been wanting to do for a long time, and so far I love it!

Also, the custom necklace I made last week went over wonderfully, yay!

Recent Musings...

I wrote a little piece this week for an ad for Manic Trout, and I thought I would share it here...

When visiting my grand mother as a young girl, I would always go to my favorite antiques shop where she would have me choose my favorite piece that she would buy for me as a gift to remember my trip by. I was always drawn to the jewelry and fell in love with the many fabulous elements of vintage jewelry; the look and heft of aged brass and tarnished silver, the bright colors and bold statements of resin and lucite, the sparkle and weight of vintage crystals and most of all the very unique pieces I would stumble across every now and again that were like nothing I had seen before. Most of all, I just loved knowing I was wearing something that only a few others possessed.

In prep school I began to collect broken vintage jewelry and recreate pieces that combined a medley of my favorite elements and mixing them with pieces from new materials that explored the wild color combinations I could come up with. By the time I was in art school I was selling my creations in a store near campus and to my friends and dorm mates.

It was not until a few years later after I had been collecting odds and ends from flea markets, antiques shops and bead stores that I realized I was amassing a huge amount of supplies and that I should consider perhaps making more then the occasional piece to match my outfit or to give my friends as gifts. I had boxes of bits and baubles including buttons, brass chain, beads, yarn, lucite, gemstones, glass, crystals, shells, flowers and charms and I needed to justify continuing to gather, there was no way I was stopping now!

Manic Trout is the result of combining the new and old, the sought after and the collected elements that I have stumbled upon in my travels, creating new combinations of color and texture and matching up the unexpected to create unique looks that will make you feel special when you slip them on and always make you stand out in the crowd!

I miss hobbies...

A sweet design I tried out for myself.

The only problem with working as much as I do is that the bar has replaced free time, I have very little time for family, friends, parties, going out, hanging out, exercise, hobbies...all the fun things in life. I try to fit in as much of these as I can...and I manage to squeeze most of it in, but hobbies have no room in my life right now.
For my friend Sheryl on her birthday that I gave her with big stack of books.

I miss embroidery, I loved it, its like painting with thread, and the colors, oh the colors! I also love to needlepoint and between the two I have made everything from labeled laundry bags to pillows to hankies. I even liked to create and draw the patterns, and I have never been much to draw. I actually used to embroider hankies as part of Manic Trout, but that went away when I re structured (which was a very good thing) I at least could still embroider and call it work.
A wedding gift for my mom and stepfather...they had matching hankies.
One day I will have time to hang out and embroider...until that day I can look at the past designs I have done and miss them. Although it did make me realize that all of my hankies are embroidered with my no longer married name...doh! I was so excited to finally have three initials, I think it was the only reason I hyphenated to begin with, I never used the name...but I finally could embroidered a triptych.
A custom order, this was for a landscape architect...so I went with a floral structure motif.

I actually like to embroider gifts more than for my self...which many of these pictures were.
For my little sister Thea.

I would say its a lost art, but Jenny Hart has made embroidery hip again with her work and Sublime Stitching her awesome company. I have been in awe of her for years already, but that awe increased last week when I received the latest issue of Juxtapoz and read a great article all about Ms. Hart, made me like her even more.
My little Faye on a hankie

Brain Storming: Cities to Consider

Albuquerque
Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Boston
Boulder
Brooklyn
Charlottesville
Chicago
Dallas
Des Moines
Denver
Houston
Kansas City
LA
Madison
Minneapolis/St.Paul
Nashville
Nashua/Portsmouth
New York City
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
Pittsburg
Phoenix/Scottsdale
Portland (ME)
Portland (OR)
Providence
Raleigh/Durham
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Fe
Seattle
St Louis
Washington DC

To be edited down...

Custom Necklace Take 1

I love custom designs, I like being given a mission and then seeing how well I can get my design to match the clients vision. * I like them sometimes, not all the time...I am not encouraging this * Any way, I received a request for a birthday gift for an 8 year old girl...her name is Jade, she likes pink, silver and her birthstone is peridot. She rides horses, has lost some jewelry in the past so a "strong clasp" has been requested. Jade enjoys chokers and charms and her style is a bid on the funky side. Here is take #1 for Jade.

I show her mom tomorrow night, we'll see if it passes the test...I'll keep you posted.

Food obsession of the month...

I get really a few foods at a time, and basically eat the same thing everyday repeatedly...perhaps not the healthiest way to eat, but we have our weird quirks. I have been very into Frosted Mini Wheats for a while now...I did manage to reduce my intake quite a bit, I will not admit to how much I was eating before...but now I am only eating one bowl a day.

The addiction...ahem...obsession that I have recently returned too is Crystallized Ginger and I LOVE it! I am trying to stop eating candy again...and I know that there is still sugar involved, but the ginger is better then smarties, runts, spree, sour gummies worms and the other sugar loves of my life...but its a start!

Where to turn for fluff sitcoms?

I don't watch TV. I don't have cable. I do however love movies and buy them weekly and I also to buy my favorite sitcoms on dvd and play them at night on my computer while working in my studio. Currently I have season 6 of Will & Grace playing. So I have one issue with not watching tv...what do I turn to next? I have no idea what I will want to buy next, as I have not watched tv on a regular basis in 5 years. I would have no idea about movies either if it were not for magazines and what amazon.com recommends according to my past purchases. If you feel you would like to recommend...I have Friends, Sex In The City, Will & Grace, Ellen and Mad About You. Where shall I go next?

mmmmmmmm paint...

I love to paint. Its my true passion, and very hard for me to show to people (I realize this will make it really difficult to succeed as a painter), the few times I have had shows have turned into disasters...and I had an emotional shut down with painting for awhile. Well I have been painting again recently and have bought the supplies to put together a large collection of large pieces this summer...although first I have a place to paint canvases this large...but I have some leads...although then I have to store them...

I actually have one of my largest paintings stapled to the wall of my bedroom...I just ripped it off the stretches and grabbed the staple gun. I got the idea from an older painter that lives near me and has had great success with his heart... I figure if he can do it with his much more "valuable" pieces, then so can I! I gave my mom my largest painting ever or Mother's Day this year, as she has always loved it and had her eye on it for years...well I suggested that she too just rip it off the stretchers and attach it right to the wall, stud finder issue resolved! *Hi Mom!*

So back on track here...I am now working on a new series, well rather revisiting one I started last year and so far they are pretty small...but soon they will grow! Anyhow...I discovered yesterday my new favorite paint color...ooooh so exciting I know, but this year I have developed a rather intense attraction to two particular paints...expect them to pop up often...

Here they are in all their glory (image they are made of pigment and not light...

Old Holland Oil Scheveningen Red Light

and...

Old Holland Oil Indian Yellow-Orange Lake Extra

I heart Apple.

I am currently using my third Apple, and I will never buy any other computer. I just had to take a moment and rave about how much I adore the Apple company and each of my computers...two which rest in peace, we can add two ipods to the list too. As I mentioned last week, I ahem, splashed a glass of water on my wireless keyboard and caused it to short out...major meltdown over that one! Well Apple was very understanding and sent me a brand new one and prepaid shipping to return it, so I just had to pop the old keyboard into the box and voila my world was right again. So now I am happily typing away...la ti da for me...and my apple...I will admit I have begun shopping for my next computer though...next January I think I am going to purchase a new machine, and I may switch over to a laptop. I have always bought the biggest, fastest, toughest macs I could have built, mainly so that if I chose to put my cgr degree to use I would be all set to go, but honestly though, I no longer even have copies or Maya or lightwave, and I doubt I will all of a sudden get the urge to create 3d animations at this point...yeah, with all that free time I've got. I have been weighing the pros and cons, and the mac book pros are looking pretty snazzy and almost keeping up with the towers. I can still keep my cinema flat screen on the desk to use at home and honestly I am so afraid to travel because I fear of falling behind with Manic Trout that I need to make MT more mobil. I also really want to move sooner then later, and the whole process will go smother with a portable workstation right now...especially if I'll end up with a studio outside of my home.

April showers brought May flowers and allergies galore!

I have enjoying watching nature turn from a brown, muddy mess to a lush green paradise recently...especially my yard, my English landlady is an excellent gardener and every day a new plant or tree is blooming in the yard...I was thrilled to see that the lilacs have begun too, although not well enough for their close up yet...

The only downside is that allergies are also here. I am walking around like a zombie, they do exhaust me so.

Goodbyes and good buys...

Ok....so I should never start with a pun, but I can't help myself today. I have sad news. Purple Pink and Orange is closing its virtual doors in 2 short weeks. The up side is that the lovely Amy has marked items down up to 40%. So you can take advantage of this sad day and buy some wonderful goodies by fabulous artists at awesome prices. Go forth my lovlies and shop your hearts out!

The bad, the good and I returned the ugly....

I had a bad day yesterday. My wireless keyboard shorted out and stopped working. I became hysterical. Fortunately I had bought the extended warranty, so a new one will arrive shortly and I just have to pack up the old one and send it back to apple. In the mean time, Tyler has been kind enough to loan me another so I stopped having panic attacks about not being able to use my computer.

The day greatly improved however when I came home from and found my Fire Mountain order had arrived two days early! There of coarse is the part where I realize that I ordered 16 colors of Swarovski crystals in the wrong size...and a few items I was curious about were not my style...but other then the 24 items I am returning, I was in heaven...and I already ordered the crystals in the right size...so I can proceed as planned with my new earrings...do not fret.

Date Night at the Drive-In!

When was the last time you went to a Drive-In? Well we have a few good ones around here, the old school kind with the posts still on the lawn and the little concession hut in the middle. Tyler and I went to the Overlook and saw the first line up of the season tonight...it was after we ran some grocery errands so we had munchies a plenty to snack on too. Mondays as it turns are are "Cheap Night"...two movies for $5 an adult! First it was Blades of Glory and we had intended to leave after it was over, but such a great time was being had that we stayed for the double feature Distubia, which scared the crap out of me...but I survived and actually enjoyed being freaked out! Hopefully I can make many more Monday night showings this summer!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

As I manage the bar of an upscale Mexican restaurant as my "day job" right now, I have been busier than normal recently trying to juggle two full time jobs...well much of the reason has been in preparation for today...its Cinco de Mayo! Personally I cannot wait for tonight to be over...in the bar world there are certain holidays that are referred to as rooky nights...usually there is excessive drinking for no reason other then the day on the calendar and it always gets messy. New Years Eve, St. Patrick’s Day...basically any holiday that revolves around getting drunk. In general the bar is getting busier though, which means my nights there are longer and I am finding it increasingly difficult to manage to give myself 100 percent to two different places. Hopefully this will be my last Cinco de Mayo bartending during my brief return to the bar word....until then, I really love being able to have a job where I can meet so many people and socialize while at work!

May Flowers

The flood in April did some good; the flowers blooming outside are magnificent! I shot a few blooming trees after my walk with Faye this afternoon. My energy level is about equal with mud right now, I had two incredibly long nights at the restaurant and am beat...I have to drag myself around to get any thing done today...


I have some jewelry projects I am working on, I should put hangers on paintings and stretch some canvases...perhaps do a bit of on line work...I really don't feel like doing any of it though. I was hoping the walk would perk me up, but no.


Perhaps this is my bodies way of telling me I need to take an afternoon off...