just simply a girl

This, That, and the Other

2009-02-25T19:38:00.011-05:00

Okay, so I wanted to share a few things that I've been up to recently (or not so recently....hmm). First off! I had my first paying gig for a graphic design job. Yeah, so it wasn't a huge deal, and I only got paid a little bit, BUT I've never been paid for it before! It was a banner for Tiffany's new Etsy shop, Spindelirium. She had something else, but it didn't quite work, so someone recommended me to her. And voila! My first paying gig was born! She makes handspun yarn and wanted something warm and cozy for her banner. So here's what I did for her:

Also, I realized I haven't posted any pics from my very first portrait photoshoot yet! Sarah Fox was SOOO kind in letting me use her camera. We switched on and off all day and she took a bunch of pics of me too. Here are some a couple I've uploaded to Deviantart so far:

Isn't she just a gorgeous girl?! If you click on the images you can see them larger if you'd like. After doing this photoshoot I realized how much I could seriously get into portraits. I took so many of her, it's ridiculous. I'll share more another day. I had a blast editing them too!

For an example, if you look at a side by side of the top one, you can see the immediate difference, but if you click on it for the larger version, you can see just how much has really been edited. Were you envious of her beautifully flawless skin? No one has that complexion. No one, but photoshop is a wonderful thing!

Or look at this one that I did of April when I was in Miami. The original was ok, but I gave her a hand makeover, and got rid of that speaker in the background. Again, you can look at the closeup to really see the difference.

And then, for a bit of a different effect and a more stylized look, I edited it further.

This is the one that I uploaded to DA. Speaking of DA, I just found this screencap that I forgot I saved. It's really funny! I went to look at my messages, and it always tells you when someone saved something to their favorites and whatnot. Well, look at when this person saved it! Behold the amazing time traveling abilities of DeviantArt!

And while I'm at it, since I'm just uploading a million pics in this post...Might as well finally show off my handiwork on the Oh I Love That! blog. It used to be white and boring, and I did a complete makeover. Complete with new colors, background, banner, navigation bar at the top, clickable & savable buttons, and other good stuff. It took me about a week to get done, and I learned a lot in the process. I'm so grateful for CSS! SOO much better than html. Still, I had all kinds of bugs. Things would work in EI but not in Mozilla, and visa versa. A few times I thought I was going to pull my hair out!

But it all worked out in the end. I tried to see if we had a screencap of the old blog, but all I found was a really tiny one. So I just made another tiny one of our new one, so you can see the difference at a glance.

I'm going to be redoing this blog too in the near future. I would like to be able to add the follower widget to this one, but I'm still deciding how I would like this one to look. I'll get to it eventually!

Wow! Holy humungo post Batman! Time to put this baby to bed before I sit here and write a novel.

Of Art and Life, and Other Musings....

2009-02-17T21:10:00.005-05:00

Ok, here is some long over due and promised artwork of mine. I really got into photomanipulation a while ago, and although I still like it, I've been way too invovled in other ventures (or adventures! however you choose to look at it) to do more.

I'll just share a few. Here's the first one I ever did. It was really just an experiment more than anything, but I still like it. It's called Twilight Ballet.

And this one is called Life is Precious. It's my favorite manipulation. :)

Well, there you have it. Manipulations in all their manipulated goodness. I really love photoshop. Maybe someday I'll be able to buy a newer copy than 7. It's really outdated now, but hey, it's better than nothing!

Ok, so anyone who really knows me knows I'm not the neatest person in the world (possibly a serious understatement), but that I would like to be more organized. Even now, here I am blogging, when I should be cleaning up. I'm still going to, after I blog, but it feels like a daunting task at the moment. See, I don't just want to put the laundry away and do new laundry, I want to do a complete overhaul of the "things" in my life. Since I have such a hard time organizing, and staying organized, I know I just need less STUFF.

The problem with that however, is that when I start going through things I say, "no....but....I could use this someday!" Or, "but...but.....I really like this!" (even though I never use it) Or sometimes it's something that is still good, but no one else may want it (i.e. bath and body products...perchance partly used...or sometimes not). What would I do with them? Just throw them away? How wasteful.... Everyone and their brother gave me bath and body products for every Christmas and birthday for a few years. Now I have this huge collection of stuff I'll never use up until I'm 80.

So much of my things are like that. Stuff I just really don't know what to do with, but may be difficult for one reason or another to get rid of. Why oh why must I be a packrat? I already gave up a lot when I moved, because it just wasn't possible. I mostly took just clothes, some books, and my craft stuff. But still.....I'm feeling crowded. (Part of that may have something to do with the fact that I live in a room that was full when I got there, and it's about as big as some people's closets.)

I think it would be a good philosophy to live like I may need to move, and fit most of my things into a few suitcases if I had to. And whatever I don't use on a normal every day basis needs to be in some kind of organized storage, instead of disorganized chaos. You don't have to worry about straightening up your things if you don't have a lot of "things" to begin with.

So I'm going to try and get rid of a bunch of clothes. Clothes I haven't worn in a while, or things I just really don't need anymore. And everything else is going to go on those storage hangers. You know, the kind that you can load like normal clothes, but then collapses. I think those would be perfect for my closet, and a lot easier to use than the couple of verticle ones I already have. Then I'm going to go through all my paperwork and really file it, like it's supposed to be filed. Not just strewn here and there and everywhere. I have a filing box for them all, I just haven't used it like I should. So I have a lot of paperwork to go through and figure out.

Then I need to organize all my craft and business stuff. If I'm going to start up this business, I should at least be organized when I do it, so it makes my life easier.

Ok, well this post is getting ridiculously long, so I guess you just get the "art and life" part. "Other musings" will have to wait. Oh and I'm sure you'll be waiting, with bated breath.....

Random Song Quote

So Goodbye 　　
Those bittersweet memories once so lovely 　　
So Goodbye, I'm gone 　　
So Goodbye 　　
Those pretty stary eyes once just for me 　　
So Goodbye, I'm gone...

So Goodbye, by Sogyumo Acacia Band

Of Life, Drama, and a Treadmill

2009-02-13T00:06:00.002-05:00

Well, after a good long while of being relatively lazy, I'm trying to get back into exercising on a regular basis. I'm back on my trusty treadmill doing at least an hour every single day except Sunday. My motivation should be because I want to be fit and healthy. Of course, that's not enough motivation for me at the moment.

So I'm giving myself an extra push. I haven't watched my beloved Asian dramas in a while now. So I've decided to watch them while I'm on the treadmill. I can get my hour in, and watch some great drama too! It's the extra motivator I need, since I get really addicted to the shows. Now I have to be on the treadmill to watch them, so the first thing I think about when I get home from work is jumping on that sucker to play my next episode.

Right now I am watching the uber popular "Boys Over Flowers", the Korean version. It's still airing in Korea, and I am enjoying it. I really loved the Japanese version, and this one doesn't disappoint. So hopefully I'll keep at it and get myself in the shape I want to be in. If I lost 10 pounds, I'd be an ecstatic 123. I think that would be a good weight for my height and frame. I just need to keep using my weights while I run for my arms too, because that's where I have the hardest time getting toned. I'll hopefully be updating as I go.

Here's a video I found on Youtube from the show. It uses the soundtrack and doesn't give away too much (if by some chance, you're worried about spoilers).

p.s. If you're wondering why I haven't updated about my screenprinting, it's because I haven't bought my supplies yet. I know I said I was going to, but having less money now....parting with it is hard. Plus! I got a surprise trip down to Miami to see my bestest gal pal April and surprise her for her baby shower. It was amazing, but I also spent some money for the shower and the trip. I'll add the pics from that trip to the "More things I need to blog about but haven't" list.

Man! I need to get busy!

2009-01-20T22:06:00.004-05:00

Ok, I have not posted here for SOOOOO long! So many things to update, and I didn't even do all the updates I promised last time! I will blog about my photomanips sometime, I promise. For now, I have a new design for my shop. I'll be starting up soon. I have one more payment on my credit card and then I'm officially out of credit card debt for good! I thought I'd be able to save some more before I start up, but the economy being what it is, my hours were cut. (oh noes!) So now I really need to start up soon to get money coming in (i hope).

Without further ado, my design:

I drew them completely on my new tablet that I got for my birthday! I was so excited to get this thing. This is my first finished drawing done on my tablet. Also, I borrowed the pic from phippsart because it was just about the only picture I could find on the whole internet that had a clean back of a girl's shirt. Go check his shop out, it's great. :)

I'm really hoping that once I start up, I can pay all my bills of course, but also save up for a good camera. I've got my sites set on a Canon XSi 12.2 megapixel. It'll take a while, but it'll be so worth it. My friend Sarah let me borrow her camera the other week, and I got seriously spoiled. I'll share those pics another time. Now I know I REALLY want one, and I can't wait until I can afford it.

Also, on a side note. I got bangs! I haven't had bangs in forever. Not since I was like 12. I had semi-sideswept bangs when I got my hair cut last september, but they grew out way too fast. I asked the girl who owns the hair salon in my office building if i could make an appointment to just have those cut, and she did it for me, right there! In about 30 seconds flat I had brand new bangs. She didn't even charge me! What a sweetie! I still wanted to give her a tip though, cause it was just so nice of her. I snapped a quick pic of them for you all to see. Here they are, in all their side-swept glory:

Sorry for the crummy pic taken in my bathroom with my crummy camera, but...that's whatcha get I guess. Someday when I can afford that new camera, you'll get high quality cheesy pics taken in the bathroom...in 12.2 megapixels! :P

Supply List

2008-12-30T23:07:00.015-05:00

Ok, so I'm finally getting ready to start up my shop. I don't have a set date, but in the near future. I'll be buying my supplies very soon. So here's most of what I have on the list so far. I still have a few things to add to the list, but this is most of it. Almost everything except for the screen cleaner is from SilkScreeningSupplies.com.

So here is the print press on sale for just under $140. I can't wait to get this puppy.

Here's the light stand I'll use to burn my screens, for $45.

Here are my screens, or at least a pic of one. I'm getting some 156 and 110 mesh in a pretty large size. For between $18-21 each.

Here's my handy dandy squeegie. I'm getting a big 16 inch one for $16.

Here's the presensitized waterbased ink safe emulsion. I'm getting a quart for about $30.

And this loverly scoop coater is newly on sale for $14!

The ever important light safe bulb for 3 whole dollars.

Loverly waterbased ink, I'm getting in high opacity white and black for about $18 each. In Quarts, so they should last me quite a long time.

Fabulous ink goopy scoopy thingymabob for stirring, scooping, cleaning up extra ink, all kinds of good things, for only $1.60.

Super cool heat gun for curing my fabuloso waterbased ink. About $30.

A nice big bottle of blockout, in case tiny holes appear in the screens while you're printing.

Concentrated emulsion remover for $12-ish. Good for if I want to reclaim a screen or fix a problem....the latter will most likely happen. I hope I get the burning times right for the emulsion, and the coating the right consistancy. But just in case I don't do it perfectly every time, I need this stuff!

Cool stuff that will help me clean my screens without leaving the screen greasy, harming emulsion, or taking up tape.

Which reminds me, things I still have to put on my list.... packing tape to protect the edges of the screen from ink, shipping supplies (bags, business cards, other misc stuff I can't reveal here. You just have to buy something if you want to find out what I mail with my packages.), big piece of glass for burning the screens, apron for protecting my clothes, stuff for organizing my workspace (hangers, calander, organizers for inks and chemicals, etc), and a few other things. This of course includes none of the clothing I still have to buy once I get going.

I am going to start really small, and build from there. Let's see how it goes!!

I made the Front Page!

2008-12-23T20:51:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I'm so excited! I recently got back into making treasuries. I've done a couple in the past week or so, but before that I hadn't made one in over a year. So I made this little Octopus one on a whim in the Poster Sketch section on Etsy. Then I saw the Treasuries were opening up, so I made it. And I woke up on Monday to see that it was on the Front Page!!! I was so happy. So here's a screencap of my lil treasury on Etsy's front page:

New Song

2008-12-20T14:40:00.003-05:00

So I put this new song up on the side bar, and I love it. I just had to share. :) I think I must be posting this song everywhere. But I'm just all about it right now. So you have to enjoy it everywhere. :)

wow, I've been bad!

2008-12-01T21:37:00.008-05:00

I've been so bad! I have neglected this blog so much...sad... I keep thinking of things I need to blog about, and then I don't take the time to do it. Now I'm REALLY behind!

What have I been up to? OODLES!!! I need to make several posts to get everyone up to speed. I have a list of all the supplies I'll be buying for screenprinting. I have all the new photoshoppy stuff I've been doing (I'm so into photomanips now!). I have new photos I've taken, new shows I'm watching, all kinds of things!

For now I'll update with some pictures I took yesterday. It snowed, so I took some pictures of the berries on the trees, but I also took pictures of a little surprise I put in our fridge. My sharpie really really wanted to come out and play. :P

And on a less silly and ridiculous note, the outdoor pics:

Meh, that's it for now. I don't feel like putting up more. I just realized I'll have to watermark all of these, just in case. Not that any of you would steal them, but you never know.

More later!

Seoul Train

2008-09-14T22:43:00.005-04:00

My first finished bag. Do you know what it is? Can you tell? If you're Korean you'll know almost straight away, if you're not, I'll just tell you. It's a map of the subway system in Seoul. The big black line through the middle is the Han river.

I'm calling this design "Seoul Train". Is it completely dorky of me to want to giggle when I say that? I may end up putting this, or at least part of it, on a shirt and putting "Seoul Train" on the back or something. Or just the map....haven't decided. I know I want it on a bag though.

I think it's cool, urban, and I want one in steel blue with white print, or army green, ooh or gray. I hope other people like my designs as much as I like making them. We'll see once I get it up and running I guess. For now, enjoy the sneak peeks!

Random Song Quote of the Day

Oh hear I am falling,
Oh why am I falling,
Take me to where I belong.

I'm standing here falling,
Before you I'm falling,
If it weren't for your wings I'd be gone."

Falling by Kate Rusby

KDrama Love: Hong Gil Dong

2008-09-03T21:03:00.005-04:00

I absolutely love Korean drama, and I recently finished Hong Gil Dong. It's a story that takes place in the distant past of Korea and Hong Gil Dong becomes a Robin Hood of sorts. It's been called a "fusion" drama, because it's not exactly your ordinary historical drama. It uses a lot of modern elements of culture and sometimes technology.

It's also unusual because the writers are able to blend hysterical comedy, great action, tender romance, and tragedy all together, without it feeling strained or fake. Sometimes all of those things in the same episode. And they pull it off so well. That kind of amazes me.

I love so many things about this drama. It's definitely worth the watch. So enjoy the fan made music video someone put together, to give you a tiny taste of the show.

p.s. You can find this show on mysoju (I love the quality and the subs, but apparently some of them aren't working quite right), crunchyroll (the quality isn't as good, neither are the subs, but they have full working episodes up until the second to last one) or on aznv.tv/en (you need winamp and you need to know how to play soft subs)

First Finished Design

2008-08-30T09:36:00.004-04:00

Ok! Here is my very first finished design! It was the very first one I started when I was thinking about starting a clothing shop. I kept looking for a cameo shirt on Etsy, and I couldn't find one, not like what I wanted. So I decided to make it myself. Thus, the idea for Just Simply a Girl was born! Now when I first envisioned this, it was white on a navy hoodie, but I couldn't find a picture of what I was thinking of, so I used a pic of this baby blue hoodie. It's not my own, I borrowed it from SpikebySandy. I hope she doesn't mind.

I'm working on a lot of different things, and I'm getting really excited to see it start coming together.

Shop Banner

2008-08-28T22:14:00.006-04:00

Here it is! My new shop banner! Actually, I made it a little while ago, and I just got around to making a post about it. I used brushes that I found from RedHeadStock on DeviantArt to make it, and I'm simply in love love LOVE with it. I think I need to start making some of my own brushes to use too. I'm so happy with my banner, and it makes me even more excited to get my shop up and running. Still working on designs...some for right away, and some for later sections that I will add to it.

At first I would like to have items for women, but eventually I'd like to add a "Just Simply a Guy" section, and a "Just Simply a Kid" section. I know in the kid section I will have cartoony renditions of my monkeys from my Child of Hope shop. Those little guys actually do have a story behind them, but I've never done anything with it. At least I could draw them and make some cute shirts with the characters. That's the plan at least. First, I need to concentrate on actually cranking out some of the designs I have in the works. Oh yeah....then there's the actual screen printing....wish me luck on that! (pretty sure I'll need all I can get!)

Check back soon for some updates on the designs I have made so far.

Random Song Quote of the Day

Fall away to the sound of my heart to your beat
Melancholy and cool, kind of bittersweet
Love on repeat

In My Head by Anna Nalick

New Shop!

2008-08-03T14:10:00.002-04:00

So I have a new shop now! It's all bare and empty, but it's on Etsy just waiting to be filled with products. Finding the right name took forever. I was really set on a name, but someone else had signed up for the same account name, and then never used it. I just hate it when things like that happen. I couldn't think of anything else I liked, but then it just hit me to use my blog title.

So without further ado, my new shop is Just Simply a Girl. I think it fits, since my products are going to be tailored for women. Now I just have to get to screenprinting!

New Picture!

2008-07-29T20:49:00.005-04:00

So I've done it! I updated my blog picture at the top. I made a whole post about it on Oh I Love That. The image below is what the old title used to look like. It was a bit too messy and busy for me. I like this better. the images are more my style, and I put the title of my blog at the top, which I really like. Photoshop really is an ingenious invention. Now I can get down to business with my blog and start posting away!

Random Song Quote

Now I've traveled across the ocean, with the same shoes just longer hair.
I still carry that picture in my wallet, from the photo booth, yeah it's still there....

Across the Ocean by Azure Ray

Revamp!

2008-07-19T23:30:00.005-04:00

Alright! My blog has been revamped! Now, a very neglected little diary will hopefully turn into something I'd actually let people read. I've redone everything too! I took a template and changed a LOT of it to suite me.

I'm still going to be editing the picture to something more me. I don't know if I'm going to give it a total overhaul, or just tweak it some. I just recently got Photoshop, so we'll see what I can do with it.

In the meantime, enjoy the new awesomeness of my blog!

Coming Soon!

My journey through the wonderful world of screen printing....well hopefully that is....

Lotsa love for Korean things and Asian drama (come on, admit it, you know you love it too...and if you don't know what it is, omg go watch it! Right now!)

Also other fun little tidbits from my life, just to mix things up a bit.

ENJOY!

Gotta Love Engrish

2008-03-31T22:16:00.017-04:00

Engrish.com is such a marvelous site. I absolutely love going there whenever I need a good laugh. It's called Engrish because it is english found in other countries, but it's not quite right. Most of it is Japanese, and since they have a hard time saying our "L" sound, it comes out Engrish. They get our language horribly wrong, but they still insist on slapping it on everything in sight. Clothing, signs, food, everything. Also, sometimes just reading the captions is enough to put you into fits of giggles.....Here are some of my latest favs....

Personally I'm not too sure I'd want to use this stuff to clean anything, despite it's magical brightness powers....lol

The caption on this one reads, "How much for a protestant?"

Wow....generic brands are kind of scary... It looks so innocent, but don't turn your back, or it might send you to eternal damnation with what I would guess to be a poisoned baguette.

I guess we all missed these huge international hits over here in the states. I mean, who could forget good ole Grafield 2 or the always timeless Fart and the Furious?

So glad I wasn't staying there during the apparent mass suicide...maybe they should have made a union or something, if things were so bad...lol

Caption reads, "Um...excuse me waiter, my chicken tastes like mouse" hahaha...love it.

wow....no words...just...wow...lol It could only be worse if it was actually on a senior citizen.

This one is my favorite...just all time favorite. I thought I was going to collapse a lung laughing so hard. The title was, "mmmm tachos..." and the caption read, "I guess the only way they could sell Mud Crap Pizza is if they put it next to White Pumpkin Pizza" hahahaha....that's the best...

So there's a nice sampling of a little site that makes me laugh even thinking about some of that crazy Engrish. Enjoy!

Random Song Quote

I wanna hold you high and steal your pain. Because I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel light when you’re gone away.

Broken by Seether featuring Amy Lee

Things that I love...

2008-01-22T23:29:00.000-05:00

Someone recently made a list of things he loves, and asked others to do the same, so it got me thinking....what are the things I love?
Not in any particular order:

1. Music - listening to it, singing it, breathing it. I can't live without it

2. My friends and family - without them I wouldn't make it

3. Vanilla ice cream with magic shell chocolate and melted peanut butter - it sends me to another world

4. Tea - especially this chinese jasmine pearl tea....it smells amazing.

5. Pools - seriously, ever since I was little. I LOVE the water. not entirely fond of lakes though,
seaweed and anything I can't see to the bottom of kind of creep me out.

6. Falling snow - but not just any snow, it has to be the really warm stuff, the gigantic flakes that fall so softly. It's the most romantic stuff on earth, next to rain.

7. Stationery - there's something about writing a letter on beautiful paper and sending it out in a matching envelope. It's special.

8. Cartoons - I am a big kid, and I love cartoons and kids movies. The old Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain...man nothing beats those. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, yeah love that show too.

9. Rolling hills and/or mountains - they seriously take my breath away. I've always lived in a very flat place, and big green rolling hills make my heart swell.

10. Comfortable clothes - I'm all for dressing up and being girly, but man I love my comfy clothes like nobody's business. Especially if they're really soft. I have this thing for soft clothing.

11. My lap top - good ole lappy

12. Almost anything Korean - I'm learning the language (slowly but surely), kimchi rocks my socks (even though the smell is also reminiscent of socks, lol), love korean television, movies, music (I am a bonafide kdrama addict), and darn it all if I won't find an excuse to wear a hanbok sometime in my life. Wouldn't that be funny, little white girl with blue eyes and red hair walking around in a hanbok. Oh well, one of these days I will do it.

13. Children - used to be a preschool teacher, and I just love kids. I can't help it, nuturing is justsomething that's been engraved in my bones.

14. Comfort food - I have a working theory that almost anything is made better by adding at least 1 of the following to it (not necessarily together, could be just one of these) Cheese, Bacon, Gravy, or Chocolate. Granted, usually if cheese is good with it, bacon will be too. There is hardly a food out there that is not made better by one of these items.

15. Travel- I must see the world. This is not an option.

I know I have more in me, but I am so tired I can't think anymore. I'll update this more later, when my brain cells have rested.