Sunday, July 30, 2006

& this is why...

the description for a daisy:

"You are just a sweet person. When a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, you are happy to offer yours with a box of tissues as well. Once in awhile, you wish you could be a little more dramatic but then sensibility sets back in and you know that you are perfect the way you are."

:) see that? "perfect!" how lovely!! (tee hee!)

but of course i am!


I am a
Daisy


What Flower
Are You?


thrifty goodness! (& other thoughts of course)

since the camera debacle (see previous) i have nothing to actually visually show you; however, i've been doing some major thrifting lately! mostly to clothe my wardrobe when i go back out west. i seem to have better thrifting luck out here. i have always loved to go thrift store shopping - i was that jr high and high school girl that liked to actually look different from everyone else; not the same. i was that crazy girl that tried to sew a lot of her clothes too - thus some kinda odd clothing choices, but you would not mix me up with those popular girls, oh no! i had my fair share of girlfriends that were "in" the popular crowd, because we all played soccer together; but give me my vintage thrifted clothes any day rather than all that esprit, guess, tretorns, gitano crap (am i dating myself yet?!)

especially now that i've seen "the corporation" twice (if you have not seen this, you must watch it!), i watched it quite awhile ago, i have been utterly convicted to avoid all those big box shops as much as i possibly can. not that i shopped at the gap and old navy and whatnot a lot before, because i'd much rather wear something vintage or thrifted/recycled or all cute and hip and sewn up by an indie designer, however; i have ceased to support those businesses AT ALL - and i've even found myself 'preaching' to my other girlfriends about avoiding them, $12.99 sale or not!!! i absolutely cannot justify anything made by those companies that is coming out of el salvador, and pakistan, and china. nope. not gonna do it anymore. so let me tell you this - what i will do, is buy those things at thrift stores (because they are recycled and i did not buy them first) and there is such an *overabundance* of clothing and merchandise at thrift stores; it's almost (well, not almost, it is!) appalling to buy all your things new. (well let me rephrase, hello, i like new, clean panties and bras just like the rest of us!)

i have purchased over the last few weeks, garments from the gap, j crew, free people, h&m, forever 21, american eagle, levi's, keds, lee, deisel, victoria's secret (jammie pants folks), luella, lucky brand, and many, many cute-as-can-be vintage shirts and skirts and other great goodies (fabric! trim! baby clothes for the girlfriends!) at our local thrift stores. nothing more than $6.50 a piece - nothing! most are in the couple dollar range...now, i'll have lots of weeding to do out of my own closet when i get back to SF, but ya know what? i'll put them out in my hallway and someone will scoop them up and they will be recycled again - and i love that. so peeps, go shop those thrift stores and do a little boycotting! help the planet! help those underpaid workers! be a responsible citizen! (speech done now!)

today i am on my way up to my grandparents (now my parents) cabin. it's about 2 hours away and on a lake; nothing fancy schmancy - it's a down and dirty cabin with a wood stove for heating; although there are flushable toilets! just for the day - we'll take my nephew and let my parents doggies run crazy and if we are lucky, pick ticks off of us when we get back! (ugh) but, with no camera, i'm not going to be able to show you the pretty view off the point or the turtles sunning themselves or the fishing pier at the bottom of our little hill - or the rad old old old cemetary that used to scare the bejeezus out of us when we took our midnight ghostie walks when we were little! but maybe you can just visualize it all on your own!

have a great sunday yourselves and i hope to have some sort of recording device soon to show some of my world again. (maybe i'll try to get my parents camera, but lord knows, i don't know how to work it!)

xxx.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

AND NOW...

(evil face, evil face) the mister just washed and DRIED a load of laundry with a BLACK INK PEN in there which EXPLODED onto at least 4 of my shirts - black spots *everywhere* -- any tips on how to get any of that ever?????

wahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

birdie peek-a-boos

so here are a couple more peeks for ya. i've got about 20 more of these little birdie-bye's here to get posting up on the ole sprout studio site.

beep beep, be-beep-beep: & here is the latest news in:

one - it looks like we aren't going to have this update done until next week. ::sigh:: the mister is going back to SF all weekend for a quick shoot and he doesn't have loads of time right now to be correcting and sizing my photos. (besides the fact we just spent an hour and a half fixing up some real nice photos for ads i'm going to be in this coming fall/winter holiday season - eeep! yes i did say "holiday" in july)...

and two - it looks like my crappy camera that someone picked up for me (found) that i was starting to use for some of this blogging (read: the good pics are with the mister's camera, the bad pics are with my piece of doo-doo camera)...well, it looks like it just bit the dust after the mister put someone else's card into it..."system error 10" when i open it up. ::double sigh::

i'm going now...i'm a mopey moped. and i even had a coupla thrifty scores to share; but not now with no dang camera...poo.

good luck birds - peek pocket

fav lady good luck bird


fav lady good luck bird, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

ms. star belly good luck bird

rainbow good luck birdie


rainbow good luck birdie, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

more peeks...

the business of taking photos...some of the goodies...i'll post up some good luck birds tomorrow...just some sneaks though!

more photo business


more photo business, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

business of photographing


business of photographing, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

luster daisy ring


luster daisy ring, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

danger will ring


danger will ring, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

boomerang bracelet


boomerang bracelet, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

happy times bracelet


happy times bracelet, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

owl screech


owl screech, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

yellow yell


yellow yell, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

where does the time go?!

each day flies past and i never get near as much done on my darn list as i'd like to. maybe because like yesterday, i spent half the day reading "the devil wears prada" - now lest you think i seriously read drivel-ey stuff like that all the time, i'm also reading a book by mark helprin, "freddy and fredericka", and i just finished "the history of love" -- a little bit more of a mind expanding experience. but sometimes fluff summer reading has to be on the agenda! the mind truly gets to relax; and with an iced tea and some snackies by your side -- that is the kind of relaxation i'm talking about.

we *still* haven't downloaded the new product pictures. i have to rely on that lovely man of mine to help me and he's been super sooooper busy...so...i can only nag so much! patience *is* a virtue...(that's my little mantra a lot in life!) he's been teaching at a university this summer and will be in the fall as well, out here in virginia (which means yes, if you deduced that we'll be separated for about 5 months, you are right - but we just aren't talking or thinking about that too much now...shhh...i'll be mopey soon enough).

we watched "ammores perros" (i might not have spelled that right) -- last night and can i just tell you, i was not that impressed; i was super frustrated watching it and ultimately, rather depressed. now, many people recommended this movie and it received lots of accolades...so...what exactly did i miss? normally, art/independant films are mostly what i watch, but this one just did not do it for me...

i also drug out my gocco yesterday that i bought from a friend and realized there were really no directions with it; thus prompting a meandering search over the internet for good directions. i belong to a yahoo site for gocco fans but, i'm such a visual learner that i need directions that i can see, not read. so i'm trying to dig up the readymade issue #12 which is supposed to have good visual pictures in it. as soon as i do that, then i'm off experimenting with gocco world!

the agenda today looks like this: make and drink yummy tea. maybe have a coddled egg and an english muffin. check mail, check blogs, check stat counter - drop off the mister to teach and hit a coupla thrift stores. make some sort of yummy dinner (veggie pizza with not too much cheese or tofu tacos with fresh black bean and tomato salsa...hmmm...) and then try to get down to business with the sprout studio site. we'll see how it goes!

have a great day!

xxx.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

how much for that girlie in the window?

self portrait saturday. via reflection.

we shot loads of stuff today; just in before the rain is supposed to come! birdies, necklaces, bracelets, rings, hairpins, o my!
expect a nice sprout studio update forthcoming in the next coupla days; we gotta do color correcting and tweaking first - then posting and description writing. do folks that not own a small business have any idea how much work goes into updating? at least for us it is; maybe we are super meticulous. i've seen sites that are *not* housing meticulous owners behind them for sure...however, there are some sites that rock out and i know they spend lots of time making their site look gooooood.

which, tangent time, makes me crazy when i hear sniveling comments about how expensive handmade goods are. these people have utterly no concept of the time, energy, and effort put lovingly forth into most handmade items. so once again peeps, support those indie companies! (steps off mini soapbox to go make garden tomato sandwich - yum.) (feeling somewhat better; probiotices and calcium carbonate in the mix trying to level the intestine playing field...we'll see how it goes)

xxx.

self portrait in window


self portrait in window, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

portrait in window


portrait in window, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

Friday, July 21, 2006

some more sneaky peekies

these are some of the goodies that my professional photographer, the mister, is going to photograph for me tomorrow. if all goes well, i'll have some new goodies posting this coming week. long overdue, i know!

but to hold you over until then...sprout studio goodies are coming, promise!

sneaky peekies of the snail


sneaky peekies of the snail, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

bracelet sneaks


bracelet sneaks, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

hair pins & necklace peeks


hair pins & necklace peeks, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

necklace eggs


necklace eggs, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

for a little giggle...

...on your friday afternoon:

lucha workshop blog

;)

& i actually went out into the big wide world today and headed to the post office! hoorah!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

things that are making me feel better/get better...

*cutest little flowers from my friend patty (out of her yard!)
*my summer bike came back painted; with a bell, safety lamp, and red spoke decorations
*all the comments from you sweetest gals wishing me better health! -- ya'll have no idea how lovely those wishes were making me feel; thank you so very much. the online community can be so amazing!
*emailed information on my stinky ibs from some of you (thank you lb!)
*this post i love from mati rose's blog about living life...
*my antibiotics!
*my momma sending me health articles from dr. weil on the importance of acidopholus/probiotics while taking antibiotics (the mr. got them, i'm taking them, thanks momma!)
*i got all my packages together despite feeling not so up to par still. (yes, followed by a hug nappie) (does codeine wig anyone else out - it makes me feel crazy loopy...)
*being able to sit on the pier last night and watch the sunset, the baby heron's feed, the muskrat's do their muskrat thang, and seeing the jellies again; this time floating back out with the tide.
*watching a big ole lady spider, whom we affectionately named mirabella, spin an entire web last night; amazing.
*having the luxury of sleeping in until 10am knowing i don't need to be anywhere or do anything but heal myself. that is so comforting to know.

so thank you to everyone for helping me get better!

xxx.

(& c from maine - those are my fave flip flops *evah*! i love those reefs - good to hear from you - email me sometime soon. i want to hear more about your house!)

bike, painted & returned


bike, painted & returned, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

get well flowers


get well flowers, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

flowers from patty mc-mc


flowers from patty mc-mc, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

road to raleigh through ER patient update.

so i travel on down to raleigh, n.c. to do the rock & shop market...all is well, we do some back roads - see cool backroad visuals (ie: devil dog dungaree signage). we are suckers for back roads. love em. will always drive them granted there is time and we aren't doing the coast to coast scramble in 3 days drive (believe me, we've done that several times). make it into raleigh to my uncle and aunt's - & are greeted by the bosco doggie - amazing rescue dog that was tied to a post, attacked by 8 (yes, 8) other dogs and ripped to shreds. people brought him in to the vet to put him to sleep and this amazing vet operated for hours and days and here we have mr. bosco. the sweetest, most amazing tank of a dog - scars and all hanging out with my uncle and aunt. they have 2 other dogs too that are their "kiddo's" - another amazing rescue boxer that is just the sweetest dumpling of a pup, tater and then the matriarch of the family, plum. very cool that they have them. anyways, onto the next day and thus, the beginning of my downfall into sickdom.

i wake up on saturday ready to do the market and eat my banana and oatmeal and then start to feel sicky. now, i have recently been diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) - sometimes i think this is way too much info for anyone to want to know while reading a blog so i haven't shared this on here. well, now i'm gonna. sorry if it is tmi but...here ya go. it affects my business and while this is my semi-quasi business and personal blog - here ya have it. so i start to get sick (as in in the bathroom a whole bunch - sorry...) and i crawl into bed with lots of immodium. i gather at this point when i start to get sick i self perpetuate this and get stressed that i'm getting sick...and then get more sick b/c stress excacerbates it...i'm definitely in need of some techniques to calm myself down b/c i hate how i feel when i get like this. and it lays me out for a good part of the day normally. so i'm in bed, and worried about the show and maybe not doing the show and worry worry worry, stress stress stress, i feel like poo. so, god bless that man, my husband goes and does the whole show for me. sets up, sells, breaks down, the whole nine yards. (my uncle went and helped out too for a while.) so i didn't get to meet up with and of the richmond crew that was there, or my friends charles and ileana with india*romeo. now i'm feeling mopey and we decide to head back to virginia that night since we don't have a/c in the bus and god knows we seem to be having a heat wave in most of the country.

bringing me to sunday. still feeling off but not terrible - so i decide to continue with plans to meet up with a friend at a bbq she is having and my parents go with me. start to feel worse mid day. really start to feel bad by the evening. go home to parents and crash hard core for 2 hours of sleep with the bad stomach crampies and nausea. ick. my momma takes me home after trying to take care of me (your always a momma even to your 32 yr. old daughter eh?!) and i fall into bed and continue to feel like total sh*!. my mister comes home with maalox and i down that and crash out. i still have an earache from that cold i told you about 2 weeks ago - so still can't hear, ear hurts, belly hurts, intestines hurt, chest hurts from coughing, nose hurts from blowing...you get the picture. bad news bears baby. monday i wake up, more immodium, trying not to cry, off to the ER the mister takes me. spend allllllllllllllllllllllllllll day in the ER. people that came in after me are going before me. i still feel like crying. i'm trying to slump over in a chair b/c there is no where to lay down. sad pitiful jenifer. they finally call me in and i give them my spiel - so i get an antibiotic and the 'keep fluids in me' lecture and some codeine for the cough. but nothing for the IBS. it's a hot potato - no one knows how to deal with this. anyways, home i go. crash again and now it's tuesday. still in bubble land and cannot hear but at least my belly is starting to feel better; enough so that i can actually lay here and post in my blog. so that was a long story no? so my postings might be a little errant this week as i'll be in and out of the land of the living! hope everyone else is fairing better than moi.

xxx.

ER patient


ER patient, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

the scary sicky bedside


the scary sicky bedside, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

bosco boy


bosco boy, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

devil dog bosco


devil dog bosco, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

d.d. dungarees


d.d. dungarees, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

road to raleigh


road to raleigh, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

Friday, July 14, 2006

new business cards! hoorah!

i've been working with a really good friend of mine who is a fabulous designer to get new business cards and logos and banners and what not so i can have a more clean, cohesive, recognizable id system. so here is the first round of business: new cards for me!! i think i love them!! now these were printed on a little home computer and we'll have them sent out professionally, but what do you guys think? good right? great right?!

hoorah!!!

also, i'll be down in ole carolina for the rock and shop market this weekend and probably won't post in the next day or two! wish me luck at the show!

xxx.

sprout studio biz card


sprout studio biz card, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

sprout studio back biz card


sprout studio back biz card, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

sprout studio front biz card


sprout studio front biz card, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

sneak peeks; good luck birdies...

am getting ready to start shooting new products for the site. here's some of the first sneaky peekies. i'm going to have little ceramic good luck birdies up there soon! lots of other stuff too, but just a little teaser for ya! i don't think i'll get them all posted before my show this weekend down in raleigh, but maybe i'll have some more teasers for you before i leave for the weekend.

another thrift run today with a friend; no scores for me - but my girlfriend has 2 kiddos and scored major cute clothing for them - and that's always fun too!

birdie line up 2


birdie line up 2, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

sneak peeks 2


sneak peeks 2, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

sneak peeks


sneak peeks, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

birdie line up


birdie line up, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

forgot to add again...

skirt by twospace & cuff (again) by fluffy co & lovely shirt by wendy of orange button...yay for indies! go support them!!

me & the smith girlies


me & the smith girlies, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

the gang here in norfolk, all our friends from when we went to school here, decided to do this revolving house project deal where they all pitch in on each other's projects and get them done! we were included, however, we don't live here and thus, have no house projects! so we went to eat popsicles and hang out with the kiddos and do some kung fu fighting with the broomsticks instead...! what a better time to be had! (& i didn't have to scrape nary a paint chip from anything!)

Monday, July 10, 2006

thrift run...

i did okay on this run. fancy pants and all! i think i'm going to cut the birds out of that fabric and applique them onto sweatshirts...and the trims...? i'm not sure yet, but can you even believe the cuteness of that whale ribbon? ack! i love it! (even though the photo is a tad blurry, you can still see how adorable it is n'est pas?) when i get goodies like these, it's all i can do to not run right back out and scour these local cities out here for more more more!! so when i get back to sf town i'll have loads to play around with!

on the agenda for today: finish my new business cards! maybe i'll post the mock up later if we get there!

still not feeling so hot, but i threw down the gauntlet yesterday and went to the drug store for nasal spray, nighttime theraflu, daytime sudafed, more tissues, more cough drops and advil. i'm tired of this. i want to better now! and even though i hate how those drugs make me feel and i normally avoid them as much as i can, i have to hear! and i'm living in a fish bowl...so on the drugs i go...

more later...

xxx.

more thrift score


more thrift score, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

blurry detail


blurry detail, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

detail


detail, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

thrift score


thrift score, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

fancy pants


fancy pants, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

me & the jellies

i was hanging out on the dock last night, and all these jelly fish were coming in with the tide. i thought it so odd b/c we are on a little finger of the elizabeth river - yes, part of the chesapeake bay that leads to the great ole atlantic, but for whatever reason i never thought the water brackish enough to support the jellies coming in. anyways, they were beautiful and ethereal and they kept floating and dancing around kissing the surface of the water for air; and i was rather mesmerized. so here they are.

and yes, i know the photos are overexposed; i'm a crafty artsy girl, i never claimed to be a world class photographer!

jellies


jellies, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

me & the jellies


me & the jellies, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

toes & jellies


toes & jellies, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

ghosty jellyfish


ghosty jellyfish, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

from another friend's blog...i decided to play...

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.

You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage.

In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.


what a bunch of contradictions eh?!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

so hear i sit.

with my joint comfort tea and my ginger tea and my bottle of aspirin and theraflu and tissues and echinacea cough drops and emergenC and vitamin c and i feel like poop. boo hoo. today was supposed to be a thrift store shopping and new sewing machine shopping for my mom day - & i can't hear and my nose is running and my eyes are all hot and tired and i'm sweaty and i'm frustrated - because i was also trying to get my new cute and very rad sprout studio business cards designed all pretty by my rad designer friend and then we pretty much decided to chuck everything we were thinking and start from scratch. so now i don't know if i'll even *have* business cards for the rock and shop market that i'm in on july 15th...and that's horrible. that's like grandiose faux pas extrordinaire - to not have business cards. hello, do you wish to succeed in your business? oh, no? then just don't bring any business cards, look like a novice and incredibly doofy. arggh...at least i'll get some packages together to ship out to all my lovely and cute customers who keep buying treats off the site when there isn't much there! another arghh...we were supposed to photo shoot late today and NOW...

...& it's raining out... ;(

sniffles all around...

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

wandering around norfolk photos

going about our runs and bits and bobs of the day...a coupla pics for you to see what's around...

xxx.

wanderings * toes


wanderings * toes, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

wanderings * quotes


wanderings * quotes, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

wanderings * peas & carrots


wanderings * peas & carrots, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

wanderings * strong bud


wanderings * strong bud, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.