does anyone actually work 9-5?

once dana wrote me this really funny (yet sad) email about how no one ACTUALLY ever works 9-5 and i have to say that it has never been truer than the past few weeks of my life. someday i hope to work at a place where the morning doesn't have to start at 8am...that would be SOOO nice.

however, the moneys are off to NEW YORK CITY in 2 days so i am starting to get super excited!!! if i don't have time to do laundry and pack, i'll just buy all new everything there...right?

time off from work in a fun place = makes me REALLY happy :)

felted owls

my friend melissa over at ends & picks is super multi-talented and on friday taught me how to needle felt. IT'S CRAZINESS!!! but i love it...despite the fact i've already stabbed myself how many times.

so far i can only create spherical shapes, so i made these three alien-esque snowmen owls. the one on the right was my first attempt...you will notice his right eye (our left) is approximately 30% LARGER than his other eye, oops. the left-most guy went home with my cousin kim, and the middle one was given a funny flyaway toupee to adorn his little head.

birds in eyepatches

my friend elisa A! sent me this really cute card site from the website little otsu (their about us is interesting--and explains what "otsu" actually means too) and from browsing the artists of the cards i then went to kate sutton's website and LOVE IT!!! the home page literally has a bird in an eyepatch--how cute is that??? i went to her blog and have learned that she does a lot of the renegade craft fair posters and artwork too so no wonder her style seems so familiarly great.
OKAY. (imagine time has passed since you read the 1st paragraph and this one, so then the abruptness of the "okay" would make more sense) not only is everything she draw insanely cute--but i just took the time to go through her sketchbook and think that maybe someday her sketches and my sketches could be friends...???

her super cute sketch:


my [hopefully you will agree] cute sketch:

(thanks for the scan dana! i would have posted one of my monster doodles instead (as these are actually bunnies) but they are all living on post-its scattered throughout peoples' cubes at work :)

one lucky helen

i saw this post today on design*sponge--a sneak peek into the lovely home of helen dardik and i can only HOPE that someday my house will be as fun, happy, comfortable and well-designed as hers! every room looks inviting and cheerful--and still organized and clean! how does she do it and still have time to create such great artwork??? i went to her blog and it's really cute too so you will have to check it out. here are some examples of her fun prints:

baby isaac

many happy congratulations to sara and brian--bff dana is ECSTATICALLY a new aunt as of this past weekend!!! i can't wait to see more pictures. do babies know how excited people get for their arrival? maybe that's why he came early--he was ready for the love.

project tote bag...done!

I HAVE FINISHED PROJECT TOTE BAG FOR CRAFT SWAP BETA!!! there were no huge issues so i am VERY happy it was easier than i expected. since i am really tired from sewing nearly all day, here is 1 [exceedingly dim] photo for you...that's it for now.

project tote bag

yesterday i buckled down and finally worked all evening on my tote bag for craft swap beta. i'm excited to report that i finished the lining--i'm nearly halfway done! i had to re-size the interior pocket as the original one became the size of an business card after all my folding, but i'm happy with the way it is now. you can actually fit a cell phone AND other stuff like an ipod or your bus pass. here are some pics so you can see work-in-progress.