Five Months! And nekkid

now that's my girl!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

(well she does have pants on, this is pre-bath) Even pre-bath she is cleaner than those first moments. It seems so long ago. She is a far cry from her chicken leg days and has moved on to full fledged hams. Not just any old hams but Christmas hams!

Blee is five months old today. Wow does time fly when you're having uhm fun? Lack of sleep? Lack of time? Feeding constantly? ding ding ding all of the above.

I love my chubby little peanut so much. The Gerber baby has nothing on her! Now to figure out a way to make money off my little cutie, pay for college! Or maybe a semester with how tuition is going. Even with us saving it is going to be so hard to pay for her school. These are the things we have to think about if we ever consider having another child. Especially since I really want to adopt a baby girl from India but that is very expensive.



The 365 Sketch group on Flickr is growing at a furious pace and I couldn't be happier to see so many people getting into it! I was already pretty motivated to draw daily but this group gives me that extra push I need on certain days. If you haven't joined because 365 just seems like too much for you I don't blame you. I also say that there is no pressure to actually live up to the group name. Whatever works. Lurking is fine by me too.

Speaking of not needing encouragement I have been manic/ hypo-manic these past few days. This is the second night in a row that I am not sleeping. I am supposed to go to bed at midnight but instead I filled half of a little legal pad with random sketches. I just couldn't stop until my hand started hurting. And here I am been done thirty minutes and I have yet to go to bed. I'm want to go to bed and I don't. Actually I don't want to go to bed but I know that I should. Despite my lack of sleep last night I did well today.

I swear I haven't had anything more than two cups of tea today and that is nothing for me. Also, that was this morning.

But we are meeting Jon's parents in New Haven Saturday afternoon and I really should try to bring myself back to earth. I have been having such a hard time communicating. I trip over my tongue and can't stay on topic to save my life. It sure beats being depressed but sometimes it can be quite scary. Especially the nervous ticks that come along with it. I get stuck in positions and still move constantly. It is hard to explain.

Stuck. Yeah. At the computer. I'm out of here for now.

Wish blee a happy almost half a year old birthday now! Thanks for stopping by.

xoxo
~marissa

Home

The house I grew up in
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

This is the house I grew up in just outside of Chicago from before I actually lived in it. Before I was born most likely. The paint is the wrong color, the bushes are too small and the walnut tree in front doesn't look to be quite the perfectly climbable size I remember it to be. But it is after the addition which I can see peeking out in the back.



And this is the deck my father built in the back yard filled with flowers. He added that when I was around ten and it was beautiful. Further in the back yard was a vegetable garden with things like corn, green beans and strawberries. And behind the garage grew a huge raspberry bush, I would come back with a huge bowl filled with berries every few days during the summer. And of course the sugar snap peas those are probably my fondest memory. So fresh that you do not want to cook them just shell them and shove them in your mouth as quickly as possible. Heck, eat the shell if you want. I would sit with my dad and we would shell them into a big bowl together and then fight over them. I was smaller so I should get less he would insist, I disagreed.

We moved away the summer before I entered Junior High, when everything was really going to hell. The new house was never home like this one I was just passing through it without getting attached. I remember for a couple of years after the move if we were remotely in the area I would beg my dad to swing by so I could see the house.

I'd really like to see it again someday. And I would love to own a cape cod style house of my own too. With a bigger kitchen please. And no garden, sorry but I would just end up killing it with my black thumb.

Hope all my readers in the United States that celebrate have a wonderful thanksgiving tomorrow. My inlaws are in town just like last year, except this year there is a special attraction! Last Thanksgiving I was pregnant with her but I wouldn't know that for nearly seven weeks.

Weekend Update

Cityscape Ginkgo Leaves ACEO
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Tonight blee turns four weeks old! She'll be a month in just a few days!

Jon's parents arrived Thursday night and his mother just about squealed with delight when she saw the little one. She is quite smitten with the (not so) wee one. She is the mother of two boys so having a little girl to coo over and dress up is something she really enjoys. In fact Alexandra is the first girl born into the Swinghammer family in fifty years.

They watched her on Friday while I prepared for the Open Studios and got orders together. They can't get enough of holding her and I am happy to get some help. Then they watched her most of yesterday while I was doing the Open Studios but brought her to see me once, and then Jon came alone with her once while they did the Sam Adams brewery tour. The event went very well and I more than made up what I put into it and it was actually less stressful than last year. Plus I got to see some people from last year and catch up with them. Blee is not the only new baby, but she is the freshest! It went so well that we decided to leave my table, chair and easel and do a half day there today. Really most of the buyers don't come out until after lunch, it is mostly browsing before that time. His parents are out touring Boston so why the heck not? We can either watch her at home and make no money or watch her their and make money. And by starting late we were able to get a decent amount of sleep. Mmmm nothing like sleeping in until 8:30!

During one of blee's visits to my setup our pediatrician actually stopped by my table and checked out my work. He didn't know I was an artist and I didn't know he lived in the area. He looked her over as she slept peacefully in her stroller and said she looked great. But we are still going to get a more official checkup next month.

I think this card sold yesterday, but I honestly am not sure and need to go through my stock tonight to make sure that everything that sold has been taken off of Etsy. As I suspected the magnets of all sizes were a big hit because they are a great impulse purchase, but I sold a good amount of art too. Combined with the significant wholesale order at a price that pleased both me and the buyer September has been a shockingly good month for me. And nearly all of the success snuck in at the end of the month. I'm trying to remember last year but I think it may have been very similar, though this summer June- August was much better than last summer.

Now my shop is feeling very empty, having under 100 items for the first time this year. I can't remember the last time I had so few items. Now I am really feeling the desire to make some new work. It could use some fresh pieces for sure! Not that my old work is bad but all the pieces using my latest designs (butterfly, dragonfly and pinecones) are all completely sold out.

Hope the weekend has been positive for everybody and that you are all enjoying nice weather like we are here in Boston. It really turned out to be a great weekend for the inlaws to visit. They leave tomorrow but will be back for Thanksgiving.

Compromise

promoing mommy
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Thanks for the support during my breakdown yesterday. I've come up with what I think will work as a compromise for this weekend. I've decided that I will only do one day of the art fair. It will have to be Saturday because if I skip that day and go for Sunday I would miss having a good spot secured for my table.

Plus Sunday is little blee's (first month) birthday! Weee!

I'd like to have her with me tomorrow as much as possible, but since she hates being in a sling and her head is still too floppy for the Baby Bjorn I'm not sure how much we will have her and how much we will let his parents watch her. Maybe I will put her in her carseat stroller and cover her with stickers of my art to get people's attention. Beat that!

Last night I was in bed before 9am and even though she was trouble early this morning I do feel better than I did yesterday. Getting things done seems possible. The amount I need to do seems more reasonable than overwhelming today.

Must Do

• Drop domestic package off at the post box down the street.
• Remove wholesale sales from Etsy to reserve them for the person in Hawaii because I know she won't be online again until late tonight.
• Fill and send two international orders (meaning I need to go or have Jon go to the PO, hence the delay)
• Put prices on my work
• Remove pieces that were bought for a wholesale order from my portfolio
• Make an AWAY aka don't buy from me Avatar and shop announcement for Etsy.
• Get table from basement and do a trial setup for tomorrow.

Extras

• finish carving block
• tear paper
• print (yeah right!)

----------------
Now playing: Mike Doughty - Sunkeneyed Girl
via FoxyTunes

I'm Tired

Tired - SPT
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

And I am not getting things done. Sleeping through the night is certainly not an option and that is to be expected. She actually does pretty well until around 5am when she is impossible to please. We really need to start going to bed earlier, but last night we had errands to run before Jon's parents arrived and got stuck in Red Sox traffic.

But not napping during the day when she sleeps, which is fairly often except for Monday which was hellish for me is just stupid on my part. But I have so much on my mind right now that I have a hard time relaxing and sleeping. Cleaning the house, the baby of course, art that I wish I was making, orders that I need to fill, dreading the stress of the JPOS this weekend and wondering if I should even do it or if I should just try and relax. But last year went so well and I did pay for my spot so it is hard to just stay home. So I am procrastinating just about everything right now.







I finished the clearing of the block and all that needs to be done now is the detail work. But my dreams of printing with it while the inlaws are here are all but dead at this point. I'm just too tired I just know I would mess it up and just wind up wasting paper and time.

I finally photographed more of the magnets and mirrors that I had made from print scraps and failures but I have no desire to put them up in my shop right now.

I'm feeling pretty frazzled and sad right now and just wish I could clear my mind while she naps so I could either rest or get one of my tasks done. I just popped some Advil so maybe my feet and back will stop hurting so much and I can do more than I have been.

Finally some Me Time!

Progress
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

The ultimate me time for me is working on art. And after a very difficult day yesterday where I got my first taste of baby blues I was able to have some of that much needed time today.

Blee went down for a nap around 10:30 and she is still sleeping. I used about an hour and a half of that time to work on carving this block that I hadn't been able to work on since August 21st and I think I made some significant progress. My goal was to get half of the negative space cleared out and I got a little more than that done. I haven't yet showered but who needs to shower when all you want to do is make art?

I realize that If I can get an hour or two in the next days I could actually get this block finished by the time my inlaws come at the end of next week and before the JP Open Studios. Having them around makes it much more likely that I will be able to take a couple of hours in my studio to print. And having new work for the Open Studios would be fantastic!

Now I will go shower. Oh wait, blee rises! Maybe later!

Hey, what happened to the weekend?

The bLee Nursery Begins
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

I hope everybody had a great weekend filled with beautiful weather like we had. We messed around the apartment on Saturday and went and saw Ratatouille yesterday afternoon. It was so good, I may have liked it even more than the last Brad Bird Pixar movie "The Incredibles". The theater was filled with kids that laughed hysterically at pretty much anything and I found that quite amusing. The previews were some of the worst I have ever seen, but I could unfortunately see how they could appeal to kids. It is insidious. I suggested that when we take blee to the movies we show up late enough that we miss the previews. But then we might struggle to find seats?

Not much art going on for me this past weekend. I fought with my Gocco machine trying to get it to work and failed miserably . Later today I am going to waddle down to the library so I can make a photocopy of my image and try getting a good burn using that as a master. If that doesn't work I don't know what I am going to do. A couple of people have suggested that my screens might be bad. If that is the case I am so ticked off I just want to get rid of it. I paid money for those screens and getting new ones that may or may not work is a huge hassle. And each time a screen fails to burn bulbs are wasted too. The thing just feels like a bottomless money pit at this point. I bought the supplies in February so I don't even know if I can get a refund at this point.

On Saturday we put together the crib and moved the changer/ dresser into the nursery. The room looks so sweet and I can't wait for it to be finished now! I didn't think we would ever have room but looking at the room cleared out with just the baby furniture in it I realized that a glider chair would fit. So many mom's have told me that having one of those is priceless. So we went out to get it. Jon will put it together for me tomorrow! mmmmmm comfy!

Our inlaws called us twice over the weekend while they were out baby shopping. My mother in law has really gotten into the whole idea of being a grandmother and just loves buying stuff for the baby. Not only is it very nice to not have to buy so much baby stuff, but I find it incredibly sweet seeing how excited she is! Since she doesn't live near us she does what she can to help us out and love the baby. They will be visiting, along with my brother in law and hopefully (crossing fingers) my dad and his family this Thanksgiving. I think all my inlaws have plane tickets and everything already, but of course my father is waiting until the last possible minute. I'm trying to be hopeful but at the same time I don't want to get my hopes up. Too bad because my little sister would get suck a kick out of a new baby and being an aunt. She'll be 8 by the time the baby is born. I don't care if my dad buys anything for the baby I just want them to come visit us.

At the very least it seems that blee is blessed with one very excited and loving set of grandparents!