Which layout is nicer?

Monet's Garden patchwork layout #1
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I've washed, ironed, and cut squares out of my chosen fabrics and now I just need to choose a layout. I'm calling it my Monet's Garden patchwork pillow because the palette reminds me of Water Lilies (The Clouds) by Monet. The first layout is random, the second one has the darker squares forming a border. So which do you think is better (see poll in sidebar)? I'm totally torn at the moment.


Monet's Garden patchwork layout #2
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

A card for the morbid romantic?

skulls in love
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

Some dear and unusual friends recently got married and as they have rather non-traditional tastes (their wedding cake was black and red and decorated with skulls), I decided that a shiny white wedding card wasn't going to really be quite right. So in order to make them a special card, I carved a new stamp... a skull with hearts for eye sockets.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and I hope the card made them smile. I now, however, have a stamp that isn't quite in my usual style. I'm debating whether or not I should make some similar cards for my shop or if it really was for an audience of two. So here's the question ... would YOU buy a card with a skull that only has eyes for love? You'll find the poll in the sidebar.

Cube Unit 540: Office supplies and Pictures

(Part 3 in a series)

Through the kind offices (heh.) of a car-enabled friend, i was able to visit
Home Depot and IKEA all in one evening.

My shopping list was:
3 plants (a bamboo, a fern, and something else) from home depot
little cherry blossom lamp from ikea
fira tabletop drawers from ikea
plant holders/saucers as necessary from ikea
basket from ikea

I found just about everything I was looking for, though IKEA was out of the basket that I had in mind. Choosing plants was more tricky than I expected. Not only because home depot employees seem to avoid the plant area like the plague. We ended up commandeering one of the rolling ladders and fetching down the fern ourselves. The potted bamboo they had was rather ugly. Instead, I just bought 3 individual stalks. At home, I tied them together with some jute twine and potted it up myself with some dollar store river pebbles and a pot from IKEA. In retrospect, the third plant I chose wasn't really ideal for where I intended it to go. I wanted something for my shelf and I think I should have chosen an ivy, but I got some other leafy upright plant. I think I will place it by my cupboard instead.

While I've taken a couple things to work (the bamboo and small lamp), transporting the larger items (especially the fern) is not going to be very feasible on the busy morning metro, so I may have to take a taxi.

I still need to select which pictures I want printed and get that done. So here's the potentially fun part of this post. Which of these pictures should I choose? Please vote in the poll in the sidebar!

For the 3 pictures along the back of my cube:
a) 3 b&w (mixed)

3 b&w
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

b) 3 colour (pagodas)

3 pagodas
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

c) 3 colour (stones)

3 stones
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

For the one picture under my shelf (obviously not to duplicate one of the above set):
d)

pagoda d
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

e)

pagoda e
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

f)

pagoda f
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

g)

pagoda g
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

Quilt design decisions

quilt squares on the floor
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

After the amount of time it took to do the first quilt layout, I really wasn't sure that I wanted to do it all over again. But the sewing will be a much bigger enterprise, so I metaphorically rolled up my sleeves and did a different layout. It's still an overall random appearance since I have 38 different fabrics, but the blocks of 16 have different "themes". I did an "animals and fruit" one, several "stripes and geometrics", lots of blue variations, some pink squares, etc. Thankfully, it turned out to be much faster to lay out this way. I took lots of pictures and now I can compare them.

Artistically Random

Theme Blocks

I've made a poll in case any of you dear readers have a preference.

What do you read?

Great-Grandmother's Cookbook
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

When I was a kid, I always had my nose in a book. As a teenager, I devoured shelves of YA fantasy. My favourite author was, and still is, Diana Wynne Jones. In university, I borrowed my roommate's extensive collection of Terry Pratchett novels (all that had been published up to that point) for escapist reading during exam time (the more stressed I got, the more Discworld books that I read). Now, a lot of my time seeps away to reading blogs and doing other things on my computer and I don't read as much as I used to.

Every now and then, I still go on reading binges where I stay up late to finish reading "just the next chapter". But I have also been known to stretch out for weeks slowly limping through a book that I'm just not that into. I have trouble NOT finishing a book. It's like I want to give it the benefit of the doubt until the very end. Or sometimes that I am curious about the story, even if I don't like it that much. This is happening to me currently with Catcher in the Rye. I never had to read it in school and I hear so many pop-culture references to it that I wanted to read it and understand. All I've gotten so far is a bit confused as to why it ended up as a "school book". I find the main character whiny and annoyingly immature and I loathe the writing style. Maybe I missed the age-window where I would have liked it, but I doubt it. It's become my "waiting room" book. I read it when I am essentially a captive audience and have nothing better to do. I can't wait to finish it and get on with some of the other "I should have read this" books on my shelf like 1984, Wuthering Heights, Dune, and Pride and Prejudice. I sure hope that I enjoy some of them more than this one. You can see what I've read so far this year at my LibraryThing account.

On this note, I've posted a new poll asking about what you like to read. You can find it in the sidebar as always. I'm definitely more a fiction gal than non-fiction. Fiction (particularly fantasy) captures and inspires my imagination in a way that non-fiction doesn't usually. My non-fiction books mainly fall into two categories: food/cooking and art. Post a comment if you have a favourite author that you'd like to share.

Cupcake Mystery

Chocolate cupcake
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I've been meaning to mention the pink/yellow poll results for awhile. I was quite surprised because the number of views of the yellow and pink cupcake cards in my etsy shop suggest the reverse preference to the poll results. The pink has consistently had double the views and yet the vote was unanimous for yellow. It's a cupcake mystery!

In any case, this means it's time for a new poll soon. I'll post one as soon as I come up with a good (or sufficiently silly) question.

Pick a colour

angel card
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I was busy with some custom orders and other things, so I never mentioned that I created a new poll. You can interpret the question however you please. If you think you're being especially creative in your interpretation, do leave me a comment!

When do you send cards?

Orange butterfly on bamboo
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
It's time for a new poll... and this one is all about when you usually send cards. The most common events that I send cards for are birthdays, Christmas/winter solstice, and thank you notes. I think the latter has rather gone out of fashion. It's particularly important for me since my family lives far away so my presents usually come by mail. A thank you note both acknowledges receipt and lets the givers know that I appreciated their thoughtfulness. I always have a stash of blank non-occasion-specific cards for sending thank you notes. I don't like the cards to be too big, since if I want to write a letter, I will do so on paper. This is one reason that I chose to make 4.25x5.5" cards. They're just right for a short little note to accompany your thanks, birthday greetings, or whatever.

Please take the poll in the sidebar and leave me a comment with any other occasions that you give cards (e.g. anniversary, valentine's day, other winter holiday, get well soon, just to say "thinking of you", etc).

Which 6 orchids do you prefer?

Orchid set
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I'm working on selecting photos for my first photograph cards. You can see my prototype photo card, which I made yesterday. The actual ones will use the deckled (ragged edge) cardstock that I used for some of my stamped cards.

What I want to know from you, dear reader, is which of the above orchid pictures would you like to see on a card and what type of set would you like. Please take the poll in the sidebar and select 1 type of set and up to 6 of your favourite orchid pictures.

The last poll showed a "watering can" as the clear favourite for a new stamped design. I wonder if that's because we're all ready for spring and summer gardening. I know that's why the idea occurred to me. I'll be sure to post the design when it's ready.

Dreaming up new ideas

I'm working on some new card design ideas. I've added a poll to the left column of the blog with some of the things I'm considering. Please pick your favourites!

I am thinking about getting some linocut materials as I'm interested to see how this compares to the rubber stamps. It does require figuring out how you print linocuts without a press. This may involve mounting the linoleum on something like a block of wood, but I've also seen a tutorial showing people using the press method without a press. I'll have to experiment to determine which way gives the best results.