The Sorting Hat

Posted: January 20, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Book of Sand, Romgi the Enigma | 5 Comments

I can’t be the only one who does this, right?

Jarom and I love to play Sorting Hat – which is, to figure out which Hogwarts house our friends and family would be sorted into. It’s best if you make an initial sorting when you first meet someone and then revisit your guess once you’ve gotten to know them better.

Recently I started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to Evan at bedtime. June was jealous so I’m also reading it to her, separately. Today I’m working on a crochet project while I watch the first Harry Potter movie.

My own assessment of myself is that I’d be in Ravenclaw. On days when I feel blah, I tell Jarom I’d definitely be in Hufflepuff, but he says I’m clever enough to be Ravenclaw. And good company there with Luna, right?

Where do you put yourself? Do you agree that I’d be Ravenclaw?

This week

Posted: January 10, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Weekly World News | Leave a comment

Here’s a summary of this week’s highlights:

  • This actually happened last week after I posted: I broke my toe. It hurt a lot.
  • I rearranged our living room so there’s a cozy corner for me to huddle in and be a hermit. With a book. Perfection!
  • I read two books, The Edwardian Lady (about Edith Holden, the author/illustrator of the gorgeous book The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady) and Say You’re One of Them, a collection of short stories. Depressing short stories.
  • The baby announcements got finished. And after I blogged about closing my Etsy shop, I went ahead and reopened it…
  • Remember the cheesecake I made? Opinion reversed. I would absolutely make it again, I’d just do it a day or two ahead of time. After the cheesecake had been in the fridge overnight it was divine.
  • We had dinner with a friend from high school. It was delicious and entertaining and so nice to be out of the house, having a conversation with grownups.
  • One morning June woke up with her hair all matted and tangled. I told her it looked crazy, and Evan jumped in, “Well, June, I think your hair is beautiful.” He’s such a nice brother (sometimes)!
  • Ender got a bath and a haircut. He smells amazing.

Why I closed my Etsy shop

Posted: January 9, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Bridge to Terabithia | 2 Comments

Painting wasn’t fun.

Also, I’m still (maybe always will be?) in that beginner-ish stage where nothing comes out looking like I wanted it to, and is instead many levels below the amount of awesome I imagined. So I felt dumb trying to ask people to give me money for what I viewed as mediocre work.

I designed Christmas cards for a friend. I finished up a baby keepsake I’d been meaning to do for another friend. I’m in the process of doing baby announcements for my newest nephew.

These projects have all been gifts. I don’t want to charge people – especially friends and family! – for amateur stuff.

I haven’t looked at Etsy in months; when I do, it’s so disheartening to see work I consider to be inferior even to my designs. And perhaps more disheartening to see work I adore and can only dream of doing.

But.

I have a few ideas.

Most of the quotes I’ve designed in the past for use in my shop are not in a style I actually like. It’s what I’m capable of, but I’d never put it up in my house. To be fair, part of that is because I don’t typically like quotes on my walls. Even with that said, though, designing stuff that I dislike and that I perceive as being mediocre quality was just not fun. Kind of miserable, in fact. So I’ve been browsing Etsy and Pinterest again to get a feel for what I would be willing to frame and display in my house. And maybe I’ll start trying something like that.

I also really enjoy, in theory, doing custom announcements and invitations. The problem there is figuring out what’s a fair price for my time. And finding customers who are willing to pay that. And then working with clients in a professional manner – I’d much rather say, “Here’s a sketch of a layout. What do you think?” than create multiple polished samples to present as options. Psh. So much work.

Maybe once I finish my reading challenges, I’ll open up shop again.

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