I Have an Artist Alley Table????

Hello, my dearest readers. :)
   How are you? I know I ask you that all the time, but I truly want to know. I hope you're doing well and that you've taken some time to enjoy life a little bit.
   As for me, I've been busy. Very. Busy.
   I've been catching up on my Mabel sweater orders, I've been playing piano, I've been trying to prepare my mind for another year of school. But this last week has been completely bonkers. Why? Well, if you've read the title or saw my little announcement on Pinterest, then you'll know...
   I HAVE AN ARTIST ALLEY TABLE AT A LITTLE LOCAL CONVENTION!!!!!
   And I have been preparing maniacally ever since I found out last Monday.
   Like, I've had to order prints. I've decided to stick with just 4x6 prints this time around, since all the other sizes are a bit too expensive and I'm running a little low on cash, hahaaaa.
   I've been making homemade stickers. Which took a bit of figuring out at first, but now they're loads of fun.
   I've been trying to finish this final Mabel sweater. Which I succeeded in doing tonight, haHA!
   I've been buying and making things for my table. Like a tablecloth, signs, stands, boxes for prints and stickers, all that stuff.
   I've been  printing business cards. Which took FOREVER, but I'm done with them, thank goodness.
   I've been frantically drawing and painting in an attempt to have more originals and prints to sell.
   I'VE BEEN INSANELY BUSY.
   AND I ONLY HAVE ONE WEEK TO FINISH GETTING READY.
   SO I AM ALSO GOING A LITTLE INSANE.
   Not to mention that I am suuuuuuppppper nervous about the whole thing, and hoping that I can make a bit of money, at least enough to pay for what I've put into this.
   But I've also been suuuuper excited. BECAUSE I AM GOING TO HAVE AN ARTIST ALLEY TABLE, WHICH IS LIKE SO COOL. Granted, the con is itty bitty teeny tiny, but this is such a great opportunity, and I'm hoping to meet some other artists, and gaaaah, it's gonna be so much fun!
   So yes. This isn't much of a post, but I just wanted to let you all know about what's been going on in my life. And if it wasn't for this, then there wouldn't have been a post at all. So there's that too.
   I'm hoping to make a vlog kind of thing going over how I prepared for the whole thing and how it went and all that, so keep an eye open on my youtube for that sometime next week. And whatever doesn't sell at con (which us probably going to be most of the things, ahha :') ), I will have up on my Etsy for a discounted rate, so keep your eyes open for thaaaaat...
   And yeah. That's it. That's all I have to say. I have to go and cut out stickers and edit a video and package a sweater and paint and draw another picture. So goodbye, my frens, and I'll see you on the flipside!

MR
 

Into the Woods

Hello, my dear friends. :)

  I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day. Whilst you were having fun lighting off fireworks and barbecuing hamburgers, I hope you took some time to think about our country. I hope you took some time to think about how great it is, but to also think about how deeply in need we are. Most importantly, I hope you took some time to pray. Because oh my, do we need it, as I'm sure you are aware.

Our camp from a distance

   What did you do to celebrate the holiday? This year, my family and I decided to take a camping trip up a river not too far from where we live. We decided to go the week before the 4th, so that we could avoid the crazy holiday traffic. Which was both a good and bad idea. 

   It was good because it worked. 

   It was bad because it was so. Stinking. Hot. 

I wasn't too overjoyed at the prospect of camping, I must admit. I like to get outdoors and go up in the mountains, and I like the concept of camping out in the woods, sleeping under the stars, etc. But it's everything else that deters me. Everything else, as in, I hate not having my own space/room to sleep in. I don't know, there's just something about sharing my sleeping space with someone else that really freaks me out? Is that just me? I also enjoy being clean, and when you're out in the woods for a week with no running water available.... I'm sure you can put the pieces together. Not to mention there's the constant thoughts going through my mind of everything that could go wrong and how far away from civilization we are which also means that we are far away from a hospital if something were to happen, yadda yadda ya, you get the point. 

   But there are a few things I do like about camping. One of which is that it forces me to actually go outside and enjoy some of God's beautiful creation. I love being able to go and breathe some fresh air, open up my mind a bit. I love being able to spend some time with my family, making new memories, creating new inside jokes. (*Fondly remembers a certain "passing babies" joke that will always make me laugh*). I love being able to set aside some time to draw and read a LOT. I like to take pretty pictures, I like to take walks, I like to relax, I love to look at the shining beauty of the stars at night. So yes, there are plenty of things about camping that I do enjoy.  

I was hoping to get a lot more work done on this camping trip than I did. But, as previously mentioned, it was just too dang hot. The thought of picking up my yarn and actually making something was too much for my poor sun-baked brain to handle. So instead I drew a lot...

Although, I didn't draw quite as much as I would have liked. Though I always feel like I could do more, so that isn't anything new.

          

I took plenty of pictures too. I really liked the one directly below of the sun and the river and the trees. It was so pretty, and I'm glad I could capture it.

                                                                

I also drank an unholy amount of coffee, but again, nothing new there, since I do that on a very regular basis.

Due to the warm weather, I did a lot of swimming. Well, I mostly put my feet in the water a lot and read, but it was still nice.

This is a terrible picture, but there were a ton of animals that came down by our camp to get water. There was one night where a herd of about 13 elk with little tiny babies came down in the meadow. I got it on film, so that was neat. :)

I did a lot of thinking and writing on this trip too. Which, yet again, isn't anything new for me, but getting out in the woods away from everything can be a good way to sort through some stuff. Which is why I think this picture to the left might be one of my favorites. Last year in the area we were at, there were some pretty big wildfires. Nothing to damage the woods too severely, just enough so that you could actually see three feet in front of you in the trees, haha. We were camped really close to the river, but about 200 yards or so away from our camp were two big trees that provided some shade in an otherwise shade-less meadow. I went over there a few times, and was met with this view. Now, I'm the kind of person that will find analogy and symbolism in everything. Don't question my abilities, because I genuinely can and do. And the instant I saw this, it got me thinking. Isn't life a lot like this? Part of it can be beautiful and full of like, flourishing and happy. And the other part can be dead and twisted, burnt and broken. When you look at them separately, one is obviously more desirable than the other. But together, it creates a contrast that is startlingly beautiful, something that you wouldn't have if you took either side away. Both parts of life are there for a reason. Sometimes we just need to take a step back and realize that the dark parts make everything a little more beautiful.

So yes. I hope you enjoyed that bit of analyzing of the day and this blog post. Do any of you have a love/hate relationship with camping like I do? I'll be back next week (hopefully) with another blog post, so see you then.

Have a wonderful week, dear readers.
MR

Botanical Buddies

Hello dear readers. :)
   I hope you've had a wonderful week. I hope someone was kind to you, and that you were kind to someone else. I hope that you're enjoying your week and that you're looking forward to the next one and the exciting opportunities it will bring.
    This week I thought I'd blog about some of my "botanical buddies", as the title suggests. In the past few months, I've really gotten into houseplants. I feel like they can really brighten a space up, and there's just something about nurturing something and watching it grow that makes me feel so happy. But due to my current living situation, I didn't really know how a houseplant would fare. And by current living situation, I mean I live in my parent's basement and I have a itty-bitty teeny-tiny window that doesn't even provide enough sunlight to keep my whole room lit.
   But my grandma was moving from her old house and wanted to get rid of (what I believe, though I'm not sure. I'm not a plant specialist, okay?) is a ficus plant. So I accepted it. And took the plunge.
   Sounds dramatic, but it really just means that I bought some plants.

Aren't they purty? 

So let's talk about these little guys. Remember that post I did awhile back about flowers and playing in the rain and coffee? The one where I showed you my one teeny-tiny shamrock growing?? Remember that one??? Well, this is how they're doing! I'm actually really surprised and quite impressed that they're doing this well with me as a caretaker. :P

And here we have the succulent from WalMart that has no name. Seriously, I have no idea what kind of succulent this is. It had no label or anything. But it's doing great, so... *shrugs*. I really love this one, though. It such pretty. If you any of you all know what this is, feel free to let me know.

Hello, my supposed-ficus.  Is this a ficus?? I don't know. It's not really vine-y, soooo.... I have no idea. Again, if you know, let me know! Please. :)

Oh, dis one is maybe my best plant fren. It sits by my desk and keeps me company, It's so pretty and it's growing well, in spite of the nearly complete lack of sunshine it receives this far from my tiny window. I believe it's a pink vein fittonia. And I. Love. It. 

And finally, a bit of an extra. I picked some sweet pea flowers the other day, so they're also keeping me company. They are also very pretty. :)















That is the extent of my collection at the moment. I have some supplies that I want to use to make a moss terrarium, but I have no clue how to make one of those. One day soon that will happen.
   Hope you enjoyed this post. Do you have any plants? Do you also live in the basement? Do you have any tips for growing moss terrariums? What the heck are all of these plants called? Feel free to comment and share your advice/knowledge. Thanks for reading, my frens. See you next time.

MR

The Piano Guys... LIVE!!!

Hey, hey, hey, look who's late!!!!
It's me!!!! I'm late again!!! What a shock!! I mean really!!!

Yeah, back again with no excuse aside from I just wasn't really feelin' the blog post I had written. But I shall continue on with it and hopefully have it up by this Friday.
   Ah gee, I hope you all are doing well. Hope your week was great and that this one is going alright too. And if not, my advice to you is to just keep going and try to focus on the good. Try making something, try drawing something, try writing something. Keep going, my friend. :)
   So yes, as the title might have revealed, I did something very special this week with my dad. We went and saw The Piano guys live!!!! And let me just say. It was... Awesome.
   Steven and Jon were amazing. Man, they just put their heart into it and it went spectacular!! I took a lot of pictures, so prepare yourself for this photo dump.

Here's the arena before the concert. Dad and I got there about 1 hr 45 min early, so we had plenty of time to get in, find our seat, get some merch.

The stage before the concert

And so it begins! 

I think it was right about here when something quite startling happened. We were seated about 5 seats from the stairs. There are three people seated right next to the stairs, which also means that I didn't have to sit next to a stranger, thank the Lord. :) But so, about three songs into the concert. We're sitting there listening to the music and already having a good time. You should be able to see in the next few pictures that there isn't much of a guardrail between the seats and what must be about a 10-12 foot drop off to the next row of seats. And this lady. This poor lady slips on the stairs and falls backwards into the people sitting by the stairs. Thank goodness they caught her so she didn't go flying off into oblivion. :P She was alright, a little shaken up. But yeah, that was quite the fright of the night! 

The played Five Secrets, which was awesome and beautiful, and probably one of my favorites of the night. And one of the coolest parts of it was that they had one of the local youth orchestras come out and play some of the symphony part!!

"Through a Father's Eyes"

And here's the arena during intermission. According to Steven and Jon, there were about 4,500 people.

Another shot that shows more of the back of the room, and also the head of the man who was sitting in front of us. 

Steven's solo

Jon's solo

Ah, here was another interesting part! Jon actually broke one of the piano strings! A member of the crew had to come out and cut it off. 

They played the Amazing Grace and Fight Song mashup for their last song, which was another one of my favorites. And there were live bagpipes, which was so cool!!!

And for an encore, all of the guys came out and played "What Makes You Beautiful". I really wanted to record the standing ovation, because it was awesome. But I was too busy clapping to record. :P

And finally, here's my merch. I got a sweet sticker that I'm planning on putting in my new sketchbook when I get it. And also a t-shirt that was actually for 2015's tour, but I was too cheap to spend $5 more. :P

And so ends my awesome night. There were actually a lot more songs, but I tried to take a picture of every one of them, but I didn't want to take up too much of your time, heehee. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you soon.

MR

Little Bits and Beautiful Things

Hello, dearest readers! 

   I hope this post finds you well and happy, living life to its fullest. :)

   I must confess. I kind of forgot that tomorrow (today, if you're reading this the day I post it) was Friday, AKA my post day. I mean, I knew it was Friday, but I forgot that I needed to write a blog post. And I had no ideas.

   But I fortunately came up with something to write about that wouldn't require more time than I currently have. Which is about an hour, maybe less. 

   I haven't done a favorites post in awhile, a post where I tell you about some of my favorite books or movies or music, etc.,etc. So I thought that I would do one of those. Instead of choosing just one of those topics, I thought I would choose from each of them and pick one or two of my favorites from each topic that I've recently discovered/read/bought/whatever from the last few months. I'm going to take from quite a few topics, but I'm going to keep my descriptions and things relatively short, because I know that I can really get to rambling. :P

   So let's get started. 

   Art

There is no way I could ever choose a favorite from the massive amount of art I've encountered over the last few months. But I did make an art print purchase that I am incredibly in love with.

   The picture s horrible and doesn't even do it justice, but it's so gorgeous! I really want to try and buy an art print every month, so maybe I'll make a bit of a compilation post down the road...

Clothing

I buy a lot of clothes all of the time. Like, a lot. Very, very frequently. And it's all stuff I love. But I think this shirt takes the ticket.

I just.... It's so perfect for me, I can't even tell you. 

Books

I must confess once again. I haven't been reading a lot lately. For awhile it was because I was writing ALL THE TIME, and then it was because I was crocheting ALL THE TIME. And then I didn't really have an excuse. And so I started doing it again, and I realized how desperately missed it. 

   Now let me tell you. This book. THIS BOOK. There was something about it that I just loved! It was just spectacular! So you should totally go read it too! It's The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver.

 Quotes

I don't think I can narrow this down, because I am constantly finding new ones. So I'll just give you a few of the ones that I've recently found that I really and love and can relate to.

I could literally post hundreds of quotes, but I shan't because this was supposed to be a somewhat short post. 

Show

I'M PRETTY SURE THAT WE ARE ALL AWARE THAT MY FAVORITE SHOW AT THE MOMENT IS GRAVITY FALLS, SO NO MORE NEEDS TO BE SAID, UNLESS YOU STILL HAVEN'T WATCHED IT, BECAUSE NOW I NEED TO TELL YOU TO GO WATCH IT AGAIN, BECAUSE IT'S THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD AND YOU ARE TOTALLY MISSING OUT. 

And now we're done. 

Music I've listened to

I have found a lot of AMAZING WONDERFUL SPECTACULAR new music these past few months, but a day or so ago I made a surprising musical discovery. 

I actually found some music from the 60-90's era that I enjoy. More specifically, I found one song. 

But it's really good, and since I don't particularly like anything from that era that I've ever heard, this is quite an amazing thing for me. It's "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel and I love it. A lot. So here it is. 

Seriously, it's amazing!!! I'm totally going to go and listen to more of their music and download this song, and yeah, you get the picture.

Music I've played

I don't usually talk much about that fact that I play the piano. But I do. And I really love it! 

And let me tell you. 

I love this song. So. Much. SO MUCH. It's so lovely and I just.... Gah! 

But yes. It's called "Poem" by Zdenko Fibich. And it is lovely. 

And there we have it, the end of this favorites post! Thanks for sticking with me to the end, hehheh. What are some of your favorite things from the past few months? And would you like to see more of these types of things in the future, or would you rather something else? 

   Again, thank you so much for reading this and I'll see you next time, dear reader. :)

MR

Yarn Stash Favorites

Heyloo, wonderful people!

   Here I am, kind of a bit late, BUT I HAVE AN EXCUSE!! I needed my camera for this post, but I kept draining the battery because I'm in the process of filming my art video for Monday, so I didn't have a chance to get pictures until tonight!! So there!
   Now before I get started, I have a few things to share with you...

   1. These pretty flowers

Aren't they pretty? They're sitting on my brand new and totally wonderful drawer set that makes me feel so organized, I can't even tell you. 

We went on a little fun adventure to one of our local parks to a.) get out of the house and b.) so I could pick these flowers. It ended up pouring on us after I had picked all of these and the brakes on my brother's bike also ended up breaking (or should I say BRAKEing, hehheh), and then we ended up going to Walmart and getting munchies for dinner (along with some watercolor paintbrushes and yarn for me) and also the movie In the Heart of the Sea. So, it was a pretty fun evening. :D 

 
   2. Update on my prayer request
So, the sweet girl from my church with cancer was supposed to have surgery today/yesterday/this last Friday to get rid of the cancerous lumps in her face. But due to some complications, they had to move the surgery to Monday. I'm not sure what those complications are, but I just wanted to share that with you all. Thank you so much to those of you who have been praying, and I will be sure to keep you updated. And also, I haven't shared her name with you all yet, because I'm not entirely sure if her parents are alright with that. So for now just keep praying for her anonymously! :D

   3. I'm applying for.... A JOB?!??!?!??!?
Guuuyyysssss, okay! So, aside from being an artist/writer my dream job is to be a librarian. And my local library is hiring!!! And I'm applying!!! And I've never had a job before so I am extremely nervous and also very excited?!?!!! So yeah! I'm planning on maybe taking in my application tomorrow, if my mom is willing to take me, heehee. I just wanted to share that with you all, because it will be a major-huge new and awesome step in my life and I'm pretty excited and very scared, but that's how I feel about most things in life, so it's pretty normal. :P

   4. New watercolor stuff!!
I got some Daler and Rowney watercolors, a Strathmore watercolor sketchbook, and some new paintbrushes and I am so excited!! I've really enjoyed doing watercolor, and this step-up has got me so pumped, I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU!!

   But, how are you? Enjoying springtime? Getting outdoors and breathing in the fresh air? Or are you locked in your room whittling away at whatever it is you happen to be whittling away at? 

   I must admit, I'm actually a bit of both. I try to go outside in the evening and draw/crochet/read, but otherwise I mostly stay inside. I JUST REALLY MISS WINTER, OKAY??

   So yes. Here I am, inside, blogging. 

   This week I decided to delve into my yarn-y side a bit. As you probably know by now, I crochet  A LOT. I enjoy making things, making my own patterns, hoarding yarn, yadda-yadda, you've heard all of this before. I've done a few posts on some of my crochet patterns and such, but I've never actually spoken very much about my extensive yarn collection/hoarding issue. I seriously have tons of yarn that I always want to use but never do because I usually get stuck making the same things over and over again for orders. Not that I'm AT ALL complaining about said orders, but the yarn hoard beckons me constantly and I must constantly tell it to wait. I shall get to it one day!!
   For now, I thought I would share some of my favorites with you all and tell you what I would like to do with them. However, before I do that, I need to kind of explain to you how I have my yarn organized.

   I have two organize-y things and a basket. The organize-y thing on the left is an open metal rack that holds all of my blue and green yarn, because I have a TON of blue yarn and just enough room to put my green yarn there. The other organize-y thing is a drawer set that holds the rest of my yarn as follows: scrap yarn/felt/materiel in the two small top drawers, whites/grays/blacks/browns in the third drawer, pinks and purples in the fourth drawer, and yellows/oranges/reds on the bottom. And that basket just has a bunch of crochet-y junk. So basically, I will pretty much just be choosing yarn from each of those color choices from the drawers. I don't know if that makes sense, but hopefully the post kind of explains itself.

So here we go!

Favorite grey/black/white yarn

This right here. This multi-colored stuff is my favorite from the first drawer. It's quite soft and the colors are just so pretty and I just love it! There isn't much of it though, which is very sad. :( But I think that there should be enough to make some wristlets/fingerless gloves, and I also happen to think that would be the perfect match for this yarn. :)

Favorite Brown yarn

I included this one because I quite like it, even though it's technically from the same drawer as the above yarn. But it's this wooly, thin, gray-ish brown yarn (thus the reason for the question mark in the label) that I really love! Again, there isn't enough to make much out of it, but I'm thinking some kind of a beanie would be fun, even if I had to use more than one color to complete it. 

Favorite pink yarn

Another multi-color one!! This one has some browns and grays with the pink, and I love the color combination. I think it would make a nice cuddly scarf, even though (again) there isnt' really much of it. Maybe some cuddly pink and grey mittens instead?

Favorite purple yarn

Aggghhhh, this one!! It's this really lovely rich, satiny purple yarn that is so soft you guys. I mean, incredibly soft!! And it's just so lovely!!!!!! I think with this one I'd have to make some kind of a neckerchief/scarf. Once again, there isn't much of it so it'd have to be something pretty small.

Favorite red/orange/yellow yarn

I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not really sure if this yarn belongs in this section, because it pretty much has every color. But it's mainly yellow/orange, so we'll roll with it. So, I'd originally bought this yarn to make this TOTALLY ADORABLE CROCODILE STITCH BABY HOOD. I mean, so cute and fantastical, I had to make it. I keep thinking that I want to use it for something for me, but I think I'm going to stick with its original purpose. Because that hood is just too cute, dang it. 

Favorite green yarn

   I reeeaallllly love this one!! It's this pretty sport weight yarn, and I actually have enough to really make something with it I think! I'm leaning towards some kind of a hooded scarf kind of thing?? It's just the perfect color, and it's so soft too. :D 

Favorite blue yarn

   So first of all. Blue is my favorite color. I love it. It's gorgeous. And second, this picture does not do the yarn justice. It's this lovely mint/teal color that reminds me instantly of sea foam and the ocean and aaaggghhhh, I really love this yarn! And I'm not really sure what I want to do with it. I want to make something that reminds me of the ocean with it. Maybe I'll pair it with some white and gray and make a cardigan of some kind? I don't know. We shall see, one day. 

And we have finally reached the end of this unnecessarily long post! I hope you enjoyed reading my crazed ramblings and taking a peek into my yarn collection. I'd like to make a post on each of the things I end up making with this yarn, so keep an eye open for that. It probably won't happen for a good long while, but *shrugs*. Who knows? ;)

Have a wonderful week, and I'll see you next time!

MR

P.S. Yup, I changed my blog background again. I think I'm content with this one, so it shouldn't change for awhile, hehheh.