31 things before 31 - An update

You see that list waaaay over there on the right, well I thought i'd give you guys an update before 2012 draws to a close. Also, birthday numero 31 is a mere 6 months away. Scary....I think its more scary than 30!

- Taste frogs legs
- Run a half marathon (I havn't ran it...yet, but I've just signed up for one, it takes place 2 weeks before I hit 31!)
- Learn Calligraphy (I had a set in my hands the other day, and then....I didn't buy it! WHY!)
- Complete a SLR photography course (Enquires made people!)
- Make a pinhole camera
- Climb a mountain
- Learn to drive
- Buy a car
- Save a large sum of money (This commences in January, just call me grown up!)
- Graduate from my MA! (tick!)
- Have a solo exhibition
- Get a manicure
- Get some dance lessons
- Try an early morning swim
- Bikram yoga - give it a go!
- Bake an awesome chocolate cake
- Have afternoon tea
- Volunteer at a charity shop
- Revamp my website & Etsy shop (A big 2013 goal....BIG!)
- 7 day detox anyone?
- Take a solo weekend trip
- Enroll in a Spanish for beginners course
- Volunteer in an art gallery (Not so much an art gallery, but Limerick Craft & Design!)
- Wear wellies because its raining not because I'm at a festival
- Go to Glastonbury! (Tickets sold out and I missed out! Boo!)
- Have a picnic
- Set up a LuckyRainbow newsletter
- Learn code...for web design don't ya know!
- Ride a motorcycle
- Visit the zoo
- Wear more red lipstick (Of all the news things, I have embraced this one, I'm wearing every shade available!)

.....and breathe, there's alot to cram in over the next 6 months!

Getting my 2013 calender groove on!

I sure do love me a calender or 10! Along with collecting and hoarding notebooks of all shapes and sizes, I do the same with calenders, often purchasing them and forgetting I have them, but if anything I think they're pretty items to own and often I find myself saving the graphics to use a cute posters for around the house. Here I've completed an Etsy calender round up of my favourites to date. One in particular, I love, will use and will be buying...lets say its very me!

// 1

 // 2

 // 3

 // 4

 // 5

 // 6

 // 7 & // 8

 // 9

 // 10

 // 11

 // 12  & // 13

Finally, this last little beauty (numero 13) is my cup of tea people! Simple, effective and a variety of markers are welcome. (As if I needed any excuse to buy anymore stationary). It's one of those no frills, means business calenders. If you want to schedule getting some work done, this is the one for you and has it happens, me too! I had better get ordering.

Crafting makes me happy!

 via here

 

The absence of late has been down to the above - I've been happily crafting (and still working the day job) so that I can steadily supply the Limerick Craft & Design shop in town, which by the way is going wonderful! Not only do I enjoy working there...(I use the term 'working' very lightly), I enjoy spending time there, chatting to the lovely customers who are happy to see a new shop open which supports the local, arranging displays, ensuring everyones items are looking their best...who knew dusting could be so fun and of course selling and knowing that 100% of the sale goes to the artist / designer who created it in the first instance. That my friends, is an oh so warm and fuzzy feeling.

 

I particulary love when I sell an item that I know someone has worked hard on, or when an item(s) sells which belongs to an artist who works at their chosen disicpline / craft as a full time occupation. For me, this further cements their position as an artist, their work is valued, appreciated and will be admired by others in the future. I like the idea that someone has purchased my items with someone special in mind, a friend, a family member or a loved one. It's even nicer when I explain how the shop and the concept of a co-operative works. This intrigues customers even more, their eyes light up at the thought that people are working voluntarily in order to open, run and close the shop. It is also a very much, welcomed idea. Welcomed by the fact, that people are happy to see (and support) those trying to do something for the good of the city, community and for themselves.

 

With all sales, you can see people taking the time to select something special that only they will know will be appreciated by those receiving it or indeed, by themselves. The high standard and variety of stock in the shop attracts a range of customers. Young children are attracted to the funky jewellery made by Nice Day Designs, those with an eye for detail, drool over the handmade clocks made by Betty Octopus and those with a keen eye for fashion spend an age trying on the handmade colourful knits by Aine. Its interesting to watch how people shop in this creative space and also nice to see how amazed they are at the talent on display. I love turning up for my shift on a Saturday and seeing new stock in the shop and you can imagine, I've already bought at least five items in my head. Some of which will be sitting under the Christmas tree this year for others to enjoy in 2013.

 

I have nothing but good vibes for this shop. After the hard work, hours of time and negotiations and delibrations put in by the founding committee members, it deserves to be nothing short of a success and a new vibrant space where snippets of completed creativity can flourish, be displayed, enjoyed and of course, sold!

 

If you find yourself in Limerick, this Saturday, December 15th (and sure why wouldn't ya, Limerick is only fabulous!) - pop on down to Sarsfield Street for the Christmas Fair. There will be mulled cider and minced pies!! Who can say no to that!

 

Some snippets below: (taken on my iPhone)

 

 

 

 

 

Photo share / Life lately

A little post about this little guy who was found wandering around my workplace last Thursday evening. We have affectionately named him Steve after a member of staff and he has been staying with me three nights now.

He is friendly, really friendly actually, likes getting his belly rubbed, sleeps through the night and is pretty much house trained. He's nothing but happy to see me when I arrive home from work and himself and the boy have become firm friends.

However as much as we would love to take him in to our home, he demands alot of attention and would benefit more from living in a family home with a big grassy back garden to run around in. I currently have lots of posters around the neighbourhood and he'll be appearing in the local paper this week in an effort to source his original owners.

We do suspect that he may have been dumped though which makes me sad. He's not a bad dog, he's a great dog and when we do find him a home, it will be only the best for this little fella!

Positive Quotes

via here

Not so much positive, but funny....and captures my mood every now and then.

Limerick Craft & Design Shop

So last Saturday saw me spend my very first day working at the Limerick Craft and Design Shop and guess what...I loved it! I loved working with Erica from Oh Sew Pretty, the support and good luck wishes from the general public and selling beautiful, handmade items for many of the artists who have their work for sale there.You cannot but, get a warm fuzzy feeling when you sell something handmade and more importantly from a local Limerick based artist, its a 100% addictive feeling!

The standard of items for sale is very high and the committee team of six members have done an amazing job over the last ten months negotiating with all the decision makers in the city to get the very best out of the space. So many hard working people have donated many, many unpaid hours and their determination shows in the standard of the work for sale, the beautiful visual display and the overall feel of the shop in general. Such is the standard, I've already purchased what feels like a million things in my head. I want everything and I want it now!

LuckyRainbowDesigns gets it's own stand!

I'm also pleased to say that LuckyRainbowDesigns has a small corner of the shop and I'm so grateful to the team for sourcing a lovely card stand for my items and assisting in selling them too. Its a great feeling to know that someone likes your pieces of work enough to spend a few euros on them and if anything it has spurred me on over the weekend to make even more stock!

I've set myself a huge challenge of making a rather large range of Christmas stock and packs of Christmas card sets. They are of course more pricey than your average set of cards but as always with anything handmade, consider the time and effort put into each item and you'll soon see that they are worth it. I would actually suggest that you adopt this attitude when you're browsing in the shop, however as always, I have found that many artists have under priced some of their items. They are super talented and skilled and the efforts should be priced accordingly, however many can be reluctant to do so in the event it turns away a potential buyer. Handmade means your getting a quality piece of work that someone has lovingly created. Its an investment for you or someone special who appreciates original or unique pieces of work, so lets embrace it!

If you find yourself in lovely Limerick, pop on down to Sarsfield Street just off O'Connell Street and say hello. The bunch of friendly volunteers would love to see you. The shop is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

Today I heart....

Today I heart so many wonderful, yummy and inspiring things! I literally want everything on this list and I especially want to make all the delicious and comforting foods while wearing all the fabulous clothes, boots, jewellery and all while making crafty things.

These beautiful boots and this overall look in general. I was never really a boots, tights and dress gal but recently this has been changing. - via here

This oh so cute tutorial for making a Christmas card. I'm excited to try this out this weekend and add my own alternative twist to it! - via here

Some comfort and sweet food to enjoy while its cold outside while curled on the sofa with a blanket!

via here

This 'Dorothy' inspired print just 'cas - via here

This simple, but super pretty handmade wreath. It would like perfect on your door for Christmas, or anywhere in your home.

 via here

 

This delicate bow necklace, so simple and so sweet - via here

 

This snuggly scarf - perfect for this time of year - via here

A hearty stew - full of goodness - via here

and finally...this nifty table runner. It speaks to me! - via here

On being fickle..

via here

I get bored easily and I also get distracted easily. I change my mind on a regular basis and every few weeks I have a new life plan, goal or mini project in my head or on the go. Now that my MA is complete, I'm eagerly searching out the next big project, but after a few weeks, there's a danger I'll get bored again and want to try something else. I my friends, am one of those fun fickle people. (Fun fact; I only recently found out what fickle meant). I seek out distraction all the time, I think laterally and creatively and like to work on multiple small projects at a time rather than on one big, long time consuming project and I tend not to like working with a brief. I need the space (and crafty tools!) to play, work on and tease out ideas and also, most importantly the time and freedom to change them if necessary. So as well as being fickle, I clearly don't like rules either! ( I sound like the worlds greatest employee, don't I?)

A fine example of me demonstrating how I get bored easily is evident in my over flowing craft room. I'm always looking for new stock and quickly push aside previously purchased stock as it doesn't inspire like it once did. I have oodles of paper, I mean loads and loads and I'm really never stuck for anything. So I've decided that I have to look inside this room as being a room full of money...everything in there has cost me something and its time it started earning for itself. I've told myself that I'm not allowed to buy anymore craft stock until 2013 (ok, ok I know its only 2 months away...but..) and instead, I've to get reacquainted with all my previously purchased paper. Lets call them old friends, shall we? Lets be all thrifty with these old friends and let them fulfill their crafty potential and make fabulous cards darling!

In life in general ('cas you know this list extends out of the craft room) I also have a mini fickle list of things I want to 'try', 'change for good' or' amend'. 

On the "try" list is the following;

Photography Skills 

I have a fancy-smancy camera, it's time I learned a bit more about it and how to use it, properly...like a grown up!

Embroidery 

Lets make like cute little grannies and get our embroidery groove on! No seriously, I'd love to learn a bit more about this technique and give it a whirl.

Sewing 

I have a fancy-smancy sewing machine (I have alot of fancy-smancy things) and, well....I can't work it!   Someone help - please! It shouldn't just sit there....mind you it does look pretty sitting there, but it needs to be set free.

On the 'amend' list;

The LuckyRainbowDesigns website and this very blog 

I'm seriously considering hiring someone for this 'cas try as I may, I just cant get the 'look' I'm looking for. If you're a graphic / web designer and you're bloody good, well I might be calling you!

Amend the craft space. Its asking for a new lick of paint, oh and lots of new Ikea furniture too. I really want this baby! 

On the 'change for good' list

Ah the old firm favourite, get fitter, healthier and er...slimmer! (Don't we all want this?) 

Even though I'm an ultimate list setter, I don't see too much harm in this. Sure, I don't get everything done, but when you have a mind like mine, the odd list or two (read ten!) keeps me on track for at least part of the day anyway.

Any of you fellow fickle people out there have some ideas for being less er...fickle? (I just like saying / writing the word fickle!)

Graduation!

Yea for Graduation, I'm now Rebecca, Master of the Universe!!...(kinda.)

Friday saw me don my glad rags and graduation robes and trot on down to the Limerick School of Art & Design with the boy and mum to celebrate two years of hard work and getting that piece of paper. For the first time ever, Graduation was held within the art college, normally its held over in L.I.T, the main institute and I know the last time I was there, I was like "Why are we here, we didn't go here, we didn't have classes here!" - So I was thrilled when it was announced that we would get to celebrate within the grounds of the actual place where we studied and worked oh.so.hard and seeing as I have hardly any photographs from my undergraduate years (this was the era before digital cameras were on the scene....yes, I'm a dinosaur!), it was nice to get some images to confirm / prove that yes indeed, I once was a student in this place at this time.

MA complete....sure I might as well give a PhD a whirl (maybe...kinda.....lets just say I'm looking into it!)

Positive Quotes

via here

As winter approaches and the nights get longer ( I seriously need one of those alarm clocks that gradually light up the room, cas I dunno about you guys, but I'm finding it impossible to get up on these dark mornings!) its nice to remember that you can bring light....(not that big ole thing they call the sun!)

Pumpkin Carving

 

This time of the year is by far, my favourite time of the year. The weather becomes a bit cooler and the colours and textures associated with Autumn is sensation overload. I can't simply walk past a bunch of fallen leaves, oh no, they are asking to be kicked around the place! They want to be kicked around the place, it's their destiny!

 

Also its the time of year for pumpkin carving. Back in the 80's, early 90's in Ireland, the local supermarket (Remember Super Crazy Prices anyone?) didn't stock pumpkins and so we carved turnips or potatoes (I know, potatoes - could I get any more sterotypical Irish?) and sat the finished product in our windows to scare away ghosts and ghouls. By their nature, turnips are hard to carve so the helpful hand of a parent was always required. They were also much smaller, so in comparison to their pumpkin counterparts, they didn't make a scary impact.

 

However, times have changed now and Halloween has become crazy popular and also very 'american-ised'. (I mean that in a good way!). In the weeks leading up to Halloween, the shops are stocked with costumes and all the decorations a haunted house could possibly want. Everyone (adults included) talks about what they'll be for Halloween and many of my arty friends go all out and I mean all out in their attempt to create a one of a kind costume. Just take a look at Ruth for example!

 

This year for Halloween pumpkin carving, I took it a step further and arranged a pumpkin carving class for interested student residents where I work. I had no idea how popular it would be with nearly 70 students wanting to sign up. I had to cap the class at 30 as I had a small space reserved for the class, but at least when it rolls around again next year, I can reserve a bigger space and accomodate more students.

 

The majority of students who signed up had never carved a pumpkin before and were pretty excited about the prospect. For them, Halloween isnt celebrated (these students hail from Italy, Spain and South Korea) and before they carved anything, they really wanted to know "Why do you guys do this!?" Each student in the group got a free pumpkin, carving equipment and templates if they wern't a dab hand at drawing free hand.

 

The class went really smooth. No one managed to cut any fingers off, even though I did have the First Aid box on stand by...just incase. The results were fantastic and the best part, we took them outside on a dark evening, lit them and took some great photographs. A highly enjoyable evening, I'll be running this again next year, no hesitation!