Busy Me

Its been a very long week, a few deadlines had to be met and a few big meetings were attended. I also had a bunch of day job things going on and quite honestly I am whooped. I am realizing that I am gearing up for an insanely busy fall and I'm excited, scared, nervous...you get the idea. I hope to have a whole slew of new items online for Monday, although if the restaurant is super busy all week end, I may not get everything done, but I'll do my best. Ok, I just wanted to check in so you knew I was still alive.

Like A Feather Earirngs...3 new colors!

I have just added three new colors of the Like A Feather Earrings , yay! See, sometimes I can get my act together and post new items early...don't get all used to it, I said sometimes...

Earrings Galore...coming soon

So I have a thing for pink...you may have figured this out by now...well I have been hording pink vintage Japanese lucite beads recently and have made piles of very pretty earrings which are all set to go up on Manic Trout. The best part is that they are little and go with anything and everything, especially Manic Trout necklaces...which honestly take a lot of attention and are hard to compliment sometimes. There are also some new fancy dusters and three new colors of the Like A Feather earrings. I may post these a few at a time, instead in one big update, as to not overwhelm myself in the next few super busy weeks, I'll let you know here when they go up.

Where has the time gone?

I have not posted since Thursday?!? Its been a very busy week end, my sisters graduation went well and I finally got The Sampler package mailed out, I was all on top of my game and running ahead of schedule until I started packaging. I had no idea it would take SO much time to get 200 pairs of earrings onto cards and into cello bags! Much longer then the magnets, but live and learn, right? 200 lucky Sampler subscribers will receive something different from Manic Trout this month, it was too humid to set the bottle caps, so I made little earrings with assorted glass beads...we'll see how they go over, perhaps I'll do them again.

I have basically been busy all weekend, accomplishing the little odds and ends of both life and small business. Sometimes you just get swept up with it all. I made some new jewelry, including a very Gillian ring that I made for her birthday, you can see it above. She is a golden girl and I have made much of my gold jewelry because of her, in fact if you ever want a gold ring instead of silver, I have the wire, so just give a hollar. I started a new painting too, which was about time as I think it’s been over a month since I painted anything. I dream of one day having a studio assistant who stretches my canvases and cleans my brushes making it easier to just set up and go. For those of you not in the know, right after I graduated from art school, I was hired by a week-ender artist to do just this part time. I was there for over three years and as he owns a large and very successful gallery in Manhattan I was able to pick up some great tips on prepping for shows and keeping an inventory of your work from him. Sadly, he became too busy to paint very often and I decided to give a go at making jewelry and painting the focus on Manic Trout and end all the web design, which meant that managing a bar full time would provide the much needed investment money, so I left. Anyway, I have always laughed that I would know I made it as a painter when I could hire one of me.

OK I rambled on and on again...my mom mentioned that I have a tendency to do that while blogging and that it gets a bit overwhelming...so not that I will stop, but it has made me all self conscious of doing it. Speaking of my mom, she expressed interest in the two movies I am obsessed with at the moment, Fur and Marie Antoinette, but I never mentioned if they were on DVD yet or where she could find them...so I thought I would share that in case any one wants to watch either movie, and you should, because they rock! Both films are from 2006, so really its old news, but hey, I'm a busy girl and just got them a few weeks ago.

oh and Manic we will be...

So I have been having an overload of inspiration today...and at the same time, I am trying to get so many "have to's" done that I am beside myself with how much I have to do...usually at these times I get really inspired over other projects…and as I have been overloading myself with greatness there is little surprise that I am itching to create.

There are two movies I have been waiting to come out for a few years since I first heard they were in the works...the first "Fur" is an imaginary tale about Diane Arbus. My first book that I was ever obsessed over was a book of Diane Arbus photos that my parents had in the very early 80's. This book made me love her work, photography in general and the fact that if I had the books, I could jump into that world whenever I wanted too. oh yeah, and made me realize that there were famous women artists too. So years later, I took the book with me to collage and later still it became the opening piece to an art book collection of mine that won the Syracuse University Book Collection Award which included $500, a press conference about my collection and caused the library to purchase half of the books on my list. So as you can see, Diane Arbus has influenced me in a few ways...and I was thrilled to hear that Stephen Shainberg was the director as I LOVE the movie Secretary.

The other is “Marie Antoinette”, the recent Sophia Coppola film...I have a thing for Marie Antoinette, a slight obsession in high school even. I went to a very creative boarding school and was highly involved in many of the arts there. To make a long story short, I never acted in any plays...I was the head light tech...but when we went to rent the costumes for a play one season I saw this Marie Antoinette get up and I had to rent it...and well as I was the only one it fit, I wrote a bit part into the play where I could appear in the full costume…including a tall wig and powdered face...then my senior year, there was this big paper the whole class has to write and it was judged for a big prize...it was focused on one subject, and had to do with one of our classes in some way...you know the type...25 pages, lots of research...so I wrote mine for AP Euro on Versailles, the architecture, the clothes, the greatness of all the extravagance of design…well I came in second…and only because the winner had tied two classes into her paper, so no one else stood a chance.

As you may imagine, I have been watching these movies, both highly visual, while in my studio (fur is on right now)...and getting all sorts of inspired...in addition to my usual inspirations which are flourishing in my mind right now...50's clothes and culture...especially in new york city recently (due to some books I have been reading), bugs and fresh flowers...oh how the list goes on…

I leave you with some sneak peaks of pendants I am testing out and the piles of jewelry I have ready to post the first Monday in September. I want to be more involved in the entire piece of jewelry…the glass bubbles have hand drawn words and pictures underneath and the glass squares have flowers I picked from the garden pressed between them. I wanted earrings that went with my necklaces, and they had to be studs, because thats what I like...a bit of color by the face that does fight for dominance with a necklace.

Enjoying the last of summer...

A very cold and rainy day last Friday made me realize that summer is fleeting, fall is coming and I am going to be very busy. So this past week end and early week I have been actually hanging out with some good friends and taking a bit of time to enjoy the weather, the long days and the fact that’s its August. I have also had quite a bit of sales and have been at my jewelry desk much of the time I am in my studio. I am working on a few new ideas right now too. One involves a bit of drawing, which I almost never do anymore, so I am super excited about how those are going! Some favorite classics will be added to as well at some point this fall, Safety Pin Cuffs, Bottle Caps, and Fancy Duster Earrings are some I have been working on. Speaking of earrings, I have a whole line of vintage Lucite stud earrings coming; they complement the necklaces extremely well, yay! All this talk of what I am working on has me itching to keep going, so ta!

A preview of the fall...

Its a cold, dreary, rainy day here...I am catching up on desk work and darting over to my jewelry desk to try and work on things every few minutes, although its one of those days that just begs to be a computer day...and an what can books can I get a good deal on used at Amazon.com day. Those days happen when I have really good weeks bar tending, its my "if you have to suffer by working your day job over 40 hours a week and then spend all the rest of your time on Manic Trout, at least you can afford to buy used books online as a treat" shopping therapy. Is it sad that buying books for $1 is spoiling myself? Well I do get to buy art and jewelry supplies all the time guilt free, so who am I to complain?

So anyway, here I sit, not really doing much of anything, and there is so much to do...at least I'm doing what I really wanted to do, and that was lie in bed all day as its the perfect weather for that too...

Waiting for supplies...

Why is it that I always seem to NEED to work on something that I am waiting on supplies for? I think it must be a psychological issue...oh well, add one more onto the already full plate. Every time I hear the leaves rustle outside my door I think its my friendly UPS man, but no...just leaves. Well I guess there other things I can be doing...I really just am super excited about this shipment...ok...moving on.

So I cannot for the life of me manage to post on Tuesdays, I have to be at the restaurant at 2pm to meet with all of my vendors and order copious amounts of beer, wine and liquor and I am usually finishing up my weekly inventory report before I leave, so I never seem to get around to posting...it irks me...I always plan on it and then I always run out of time...again, things I cannot control...

I have to work this Thursday. I am bummed. I do however have next Friday off, my sister is graduating form the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) and it’s her birthday, so I took off from work, which I NEVER do, so you know I must love her dearly. There is a big dinner after the ceremony and a big group of our family is going, I went to the dinner after she received her associates degree, so I would think the dinner for the bachelors program would be even better...I'm quite excited!

Ok, I need to pretend to wok now...so much to do and I actually have some time...

New Paintings on Manic Trout!

I updated Manic Trout today, as its Manic Monday...which means basically that I have so much too do for those days that I'm all spastic! So I have updated some little things...like the press page for July.

I am excited that there is a new section for the painting style I have begun to explore, oil paintings which are embellished with embroidery. I am rather keen on this method and am having a wonderful time!

I have also added 6 new paintings to the oils page, most of which you have seen here on the blog.

Manic Trout in the NY Daily News!

Yesterday afternoon I received an order and the buyer wrote that she found me through the NY Daily News...I knew that I was expected to appear, but I had no idea when, and I though it was meant to be on a Thursday...so at the Mobil station where the lovely lad on duty was going through papers in the back trying to find Thursdays', I thought I'd look though the Sunday edition, and there it was!! The Solange Fantastic Voyage Necklace in all its octopus glory!

One day until the August Manic Monday drawing!

I am so lucky this month that the first Monday of the month is on the 6th, buying me almost a whole extra week to prepare!

SO if you wish to be entered in the monthly drawing, or if you just want to feel special, sign up today for the newsletter!

Hot Child in the Country

OK...I'm whining...its soooo hot out..and humid, ugh. All I want to do is sit in the bedroom where I have ac, but alas, as noted yesterday, the down time is slipping away and I have a lot to do. I went my moms today to swim and try to escape the heat for an hour or so, but the second I got out of the water I was all sorts of hot again...but it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

I am trying to work on new samples for my favorite Sampler as its so humid I cannot get the resin to set properly, I figured now was the time to evolve a bit. I'm getting deja vu, I think I may have shared this already...

I also finalized the design for custom necklaces I am doing for a bridal party, so I need to make the other two of those, oh and some earrings...

Which reminds me that I never mailed that wholesale order out this afternoon, but I did get a chance to meet with my sisters friend and give her the custom necklace I made for her last night. Look at me go!

Down time...where have you gone?

Every time I have a bit of down (read: slow) time with Manic Trout or at the restaurant I tell myself to take advantage of it and get ahead...so I have had two weeks of steady slowness and even though I did catch up on some reading and did some very much needed bonding with friends, I did not prepare for the busy time ahead. My head was spinning with how much I had going on today, and all I could think was...well, other then I cannot wait to quit my day job, was...was I could have done some of this last week when I had so little to do! Ah, live and learn, or just realize that no matter what I know I should do, I am motivated by pressure and stress and completely loose all motivation when times are slow and busy I am not.