• artsy fartsy,  domesticity,  house stuff!,  Shop Talk

    Back Home Again

    new-office-of-2022-2

    And just like that, I moved my office back home again.  I know what you are thinking. You saw this coming a mile away…

    It was an incredibly difficult decision that I went back and forth over for MONTHS. I hemmed and hawed every day. Some days I loved the separation of home and work and the blessed peace and quiet of the office, other days I missed my bright sunny room, the proximity to all my many boxes of craft supplies in Diagon Alley, all my happy sunny photoshoot spots, my plants, my animals…my family. I wish I could just keep both but then the expense. I can’t stand spending money on something I’m not using every day.

    driving-the-office-crap-home

    So I packed everything up in my car and two loads later everything was back at home.

    a-place-for-everything-and

    It seems overwhelming, right? Not to me. Clutter like this is a joy to me. I LOVE organizing a new space. I see this as a challenge that I can conquer in a day. Bring it on! I sing. I know I should hire myself out to do this for others but nobody ever wants to really hire me. Plus there is a lot of psychology that has to go into sorting and when it comes to someone else it’s almost like doing hours and hours of therapy. I know this because I’ve spent my entire life doing this with my mom. My stuff: no sweat! Other people’s stuff… well, it depends on how attached you are. If you are ready to be ruthless then I am your girl. Call me.

    everything-in-its-place

    It took some time but bit by bit I found a place for everything and everything found its place. Lots of envelopes got donated and my new toaster and printer found new homes.

    new-office-of-2022-1

    I have to say I’m really happy with the new space. I’ve figured myself out: I just need change. Every six months I need to rearrange or up and move, get a new hobby or try a new work-out. I just crave change. It envigorates me and helps me feel like I’m making progress. I can’t stand feeling stuck. I’m sure there’s a lot more to unpack there mentally but for now I’m sticking with actual physical unpacking.

    new-office-of-2022-3

    Besides the hot weather of this room (that is very sunny, bright, and unbearably hot in the summer) one of the things I was trying to escape when I moved to an outside office was how my homelife edged into my professional life. That is still going to be my biggest challenge. When I’m home I like to tinker. I like to clean, I like to garden and I like to make things. I love having a sewing room next to my office and a painting studio in between. I can slide my rolly chair from one project to the other with ease. It’s super fun but it’s also not so great for focusing on work projects. I can spend my whole day organizing the kitchen, baking bread, driving the kids around, and never touch a drop of work if I’m not careful.

    My plants missed me. My garden has been terribly neglected, my kitchen too. The dogs are super happy to have a playmate back home again. I can get more walks in… it’s just going to be nice but also difficult.

    headphones-yes

    We’ll just have to see. I did talk to the office manager and they will welcome me back anytime. We’ll see if I can make it till summer.

  • do me a favor,  Shop Talk

    Help me make a calendar!

    SAJ-2022-calendar-cover

    Okay, die hard SAJ fans (all four of you), I need some opinions. I’m finally trying to make a real calendar out of my banner illustrations. Not the usual edges of illustration around boxes as a free printable (like I’ve done in the past) but full 8×10 illustrations imported into calendar program (like shutterfly but cheaper) so I don’t have to manually typeset number by number of each month. (It’s a lot of work and as you know I make a ton of mistakes!)

    I’m not sure it’s a good idea because I want to have this printed and I’d love to recoup my costs by selling it BUT I’m not sure anybody is going to want a calendar that is so personalized. SAJ and her two teenagers and boyfriend aren’t exactly in demand as characters. But I have all these illustrations and I want to make something out of them. I need your thoughts. I am also working on a SueBea (based off my mom) calendar as well and I think that might be more marketable but what if I made a calendar out of these images… what do you think?

    SAJ-January

    I do like this one (above) and I think it works.

    SAJ-February

    I like this one (above) too.

    SAJ-March

    I love this one (above).

    SAJ-April

    And I like this one (above).

    SAJ-May

    I don’t love this one (above). It looks like I phoned it in but it is funny. Maybe I need to make the dogs show up more.

    SAJ-May2

    I do like this one too (above).

    SAJ-July

    I don’t like this one (above). I love flowers but the smile is too simplistic. I should draw a better face.

    SAJ-August

    I like this one but it’s pretty personalized. I don’t know, I guess everyone needs to read books about how to be kind to themselves… it could work.

    SAJ-September

    This one I dont’ like. I like the flowers but it’s too personal to us and our trip to New York. Will people wearing masks still be relevant next September? I hope not.

    SAJ-November

    I made this one today (above) and I love it! I think it could work for anyone.

    SAJ-December

    Eeck. Don’t love this one, though I remember loving it when I made it. I need to make a new December banner anyway so maybe I’ll come up with something new for this one.

    What do you think? Should I keep working on this or maybe just print one for myself and go back to the old freebie formatting?

     

    Thanks you guys