new ventures in the distance?

a few years ago, i started making jewelry and selling it with my friends. the only problem was, it took me something like a year to get the hang of it and make professional quality pieces, and then there was just too much competition on etsy for jewelry. i had good prices and (i think) a good product, but it was just too darn hard to make any money at it.

for a while now, ive been wanting to get into a business thats a little more unique; where my product can get noticed because theres less of us selling it, and hopefully my style can stand out. i want to draw and paint custom portraits for sale on etsy. i havent really started working on this yet, its just an idea so far. im a fine art major, and i would love to make a little money off my talents on the side before i graduate and look for a full time job.

here are some of my human and animal portraits. some ive done recently, some a few years ago. any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated. <3

the flamingo i painted just a couple days ago as a thank you gift for a friend. the blue tropical bird i drew yesterday because i had the day off. :] tell me what you think! do you think i can make any money off commissioned pieces on etsy?

culture: animal sounds edition

i thought this was cute. you know how in the US we refer to cats and saying "MEOW" and dogs as saying "WOOF WOOF?" Well in Korea, if you say meow or woof when referring to animals, they won't know what you're talking about. Its "Yooung Yooung" and "Mong Mong," DUH! :-P

if anyone knows how to re-size videos so im not chopping off the right side.. let me know :)

Fun with my friends

In my last post, I named my 4 goals to accomplish by the end of the year. Goal #4 was to spend more time with my friends. Kinda funny how these things work out.. Last night my good friend Kyla invited me out to dinner. Then today I went to the Farmer's Market with my friend James. Then my BFF Amber was free today, so we went jogging together. (Which I hope is the first of many workouts together. If I had a Goal #5, it would be to be more active.) I only got photos at the farmer's market, and only a few turned out. *they have a little petting zoo in the back* But I'll share those few photos. :)

warm and fuzzies

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in case you couldnt tell, i LOVE LOVE LOVE animals. like more than anything. so i was pretty proud of these little guys, that i made for the fair. i only sold the doe and the hedgehog. i think im gunna keep the raccoon for myself too. :} hes just too cute.. some of them i made and said, "omg this ones kinda ugly.." but after i painted them, i thought they were so pathetic they were adorable.. well, here they are!

rain rain, seriously, GO AWAY!

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ive been working my butt off the past 3 months or so, and spending every dime i made on this street fair (supplies, table clothes, etc.) and the whole thing was a bust.. it rained all day, until about 4, leaving about 1 hour of real business. i spent $85 on the booth rental, and made $130, so i made $45. not counting the hundreds of dollars ive spent on supplies... anyway, i hate to be negative. im not mad about all this, im just a little let down. i was really looking forward to a successful day at the street fair.. oh well. ill try again in october. im not a quitter when its something i love.



you can see, the front of our tables are SOAKED. i had to move everything up about 3 feet for the first few hours of the fair.








we were so desperate, by 4:00 we were selling our soap and candles for buy one get one free- just to sell something. that would be two bars of soap for $3... yeah. and two candles for $6ish.


but like i said, im an optimist, soo im not TOO broken up about the whole thing. not the end of the world.

in other news, the boy in the booth next to me was extremely cute. i think ive seen him at the buddhist temple. hes thai, and i dont know anything about him, except that hes a very very handsome boy. i didnt talk to him, although i kinda wanted to. i just dont really have the confidence. i say stupid things to people who im NOT smitten with, soo yeah i can only imagine what dumb crap id say. plus, i like being single and free right now- i dont want the hassle of romance and heartbreak. *i know, i know, thats no kind of attitude* aanyway, my point is, cute boy. i like him.

busy busy

wow what a day. or past couple days i should say. this is what happened:

• i made sun tea
• planted irises that a coworker gave me
• did a lot of laundry and hung it out on the line
• got a little sun burnt
• made cookies
• bought a cd - One Star Story
• watched Who's Line is it Anyway from 1999 with Stephen Colbert on it
• played with my cats out in the yard
• and painted these CUTE little owls!! i REALLY like these. look forward to seeing them in my shop soon.

today's favorite animal : QAUIL!

ok, so i have a handful of animals that im partial to, but i love them all so much. every once in a whie, ill be reminded of a random animal and just fall in love with it. today's favorite: quail. look at him! look how cute he is! :-D AAHH!! soooo cute!

needless to say, dick cheney and i are not friends.

honk honk! :)

these are my new friends. i like to feed them kashi tlc cheese-its. they live at my school and they are ADORABLE!! i love them. i want one.