if you can't decide, get one of everything!

as you may know, i LOVE to do online shopping at atSeoul.com. they have cute clothes, stationary, housewares, and toys. i was recently on the site looking to purchase washi tape, but i couldn't decide which ones to get! they're kind of expensive, at roughly $3-$10 a roll, so i needed to choose wisely. or so i thought. until i saw theeeese sampler packs!

i bought the pack of solids

and the pack of fabric paterns.

arent they fun??

they come in 27 sticker sheets of pre-cut tape pieces and circles. and they're $8 for all the sheets plus a convenient (and cute) tin to store them in.  they're coming from korea so it may be like 2 weeks until i get these bad boys in my mailbox, but when i do, oh boy! :D i'm so excited, seriously.

pretty little thing

isnt this just lovely?

dress from persephone vintage on etsy

busy busy busy

If you've been reading my blog for a long time, you may remember me mentioning a house I was hoping and praying I would be able to move into. And you may remember the loan being rejected by the bank due to the house's rundown state.

Well, I have some news.

IT'S MINE!

I'm beyond excited. And also kind of stressed... Christmas is a stressful time anyway, but this Christmas is going to be crazy hectic. Moving day is in 9 days. NINE DAYS! I'm not ready. Not sure that I'll BE ready by then. But I'll try. It's not just the packing, but this new house needs a lot of work. We're actually going to be moving in with a lot of repairs still to be done. I'm working full time until school starts again, and every day after work I've been going to work on the house. My best friend and my boyfriend helped a lot the other day with ripping out the old filthy carpet and prying up the tack strips. Over the weekend we'll be laying new flooring. Right now I'm on the painting stage. I don't have time to paint the whole house right now, but I wanted to get a few things done. I'm painting my room my favorite color- light grey. (I prefer the British spelling 'grey' over the American 'gray' for some reason. I'm weird like that.) 

 My room is almost done now. Just needs one more go-around with the roller. I'll share more pictures after I move in and make it pretty. ;)

One of my many many tedious projects- taking the staples out of the stairs- taking it from carpet to bare wood. Extremely time consuming. But I do it happily. I feel like it's kind of like a craft project. Instead of saying, "Look I made this little thingamabob," I'm saying, "Look I made this house awesome!" Kind of the same idea, right?

I did a great deal of Christmas shopping today. I went to the mall. It was a tad bit insane. But I did get quite a lot of my shopping done. And one tiny thing for myself.. 0:)

PS Michelle, I think you'll like it. ;)

So yeah, that's my update, in case anyone wants to know. :) I haven't been home to even clean my room in like 3 weeks. I'm juggling work, fixing up my new house, moving out of my current house, Christmas, and making time to see my best friend and my boyfriend. Things are crazy right now, but hopefully everything settles down in the next few weeks and I can relax and enjoy how awesome life is. <3

diaries to die for

a few days ago i mentioned the website atseoul.com, the site where i bought a pink korean/english label maker. *can not wait for that to come in the mail!!!* what really made me fall for this website was the adorable collection of diaries. they're cute on the outside, but even cuter on the inside. they fill all the pages with cutesy little words and pictures, and set up the photos with unrealistic but painfully beautiful props. *yeah right, like i would ever have a full and exciting schedule. like i would ever randomly lay out a pencil, a sticker, and a leaf next to my diary at a coffee shop. i dont even GO to coffee shops, and if i did, i think i'd be way to self conscious to bring my dairy there.*

anyway, my point is, i look at these photos, and say, "It's so beautiful! I want that life!" and so i buy the diary. and life is the same. except now i have a diary.

advertising. don't you love it?

i don't mean to be a negative nancy. :-P i'm just kind of poking fun at reality. it's how i roll.
look how pretty these are, and tell me you're not inspired to change your lifestyle. ;)

all pics via atseoul.com

gorgeous right? *swoon* some of these diaries are so clever too. i saw one that had a little place on the corner of the pages where is has little pictures of a cloud, a sun, a snowflake, etc. and you circle the one for the weather that day. so cute. and it had a little pair of dots for eyes and a little nose, and you either drew in a smile or a frown, depending on how your day was going. or a frown and arched eyebrows, if your day was particularly bad. hehe. :-P is anyone else drooling over these diaries or an i the only one? :]

September Spending

Ok, so a month ago I posted about how I was going to stop unnessesary spending through the month of September. I had wanted to save my money, and stop cluttering up my room. Well.. .. September's over and I bought myself a present! ^^

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It's a label maker that prints both English and Korean words! AMAZING! And it's pink! I had to have it! :] 

It's from my new favorite shopping site, AtSeoul.com. They sell all kinds of cute stationary and accessories. Such a cute place. Check it out!

Honesly though, I think I did a pretty good job on my September spending. The only unnessesary things I bought this months were: autumn spice votice candles, black and clear nail polish, 3 camis tops. I'm not counting art supplies or the optical mouse I bought, because I feel that that's an investment. I'm studying to be a fine artist with a concentration in illustration, so art supplies are kind of important. 

And I bought thing for other people; For my dad's birthday, I bought him an apple tree to plant at our new house, and my friend moved away to go to Ohio State University, so I got her a OSU hoodie and had all our friends sign it with farewell wishes. And I bought food.. A crap ton of food.

All in all though, I think I did a pretty good job with saving. I can't wait to get my new label maker!!! I'm gunna label e v e r y t h i n g . <3

old stock

I'm planning on putting a lot of my older jewelry stock up for a clearance sale soon in my etsy shop. I feel like I have a ton of stuff just sitting around, not selling. I want to clear it out and hopefully, HOPEFULLY, get some new stuff up in my shop here shortly. So look forward to reduced prices on some cool and pretty things. :) And look forward to fresh and exciting changes.

: just to name a few ;)     Sometime this weekend will be the big markdown day.

September 5th

So I guess fall is really here. I miss summer. But a part of me is looking forward to the new adventures that autumn holds.

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My sister and brother came over today with their kids for a little labor day BBQ. It was fun to spend a little time with my immediate family. Extended family get togethers usually aren't as much fun..

This is my oldest niece, Jocelyn. Everyone comments on how much she looks like her good ol Aunt Angie. ;) I had a ton of fun today teaching her some  Korean words. She liked 'milk' (oo yoo), 'pretty' (yeppo), and 'poop' (Dong). Although I think that last one might be a profanity. . . Oh well. :]

I painted these corn hold boards for my brother-in-law, Matt, about 4 years ago. He's a big Jimmy Buffet fan. I never got around to taking pics of them when I first painted them, so I was glad he brought them over today so I could get a few shots. 

I bought a nice mouse today for my laptop. Hopefully this will make it easier to work with programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I really want to get back into my old graphic design and illustrating stuff. If anyone needs any design work done, let me know! I could use a little practice. :]

Here's a little sneak peak at what I got for my friend. Her birthday party/ going away party is next weekend. I'll share more about this later. ;)

And the running total of money spent for the months of September is $75. That is $25 gasoline, $25 gift for friend, and $25 mouse. I haven't bought anything frivolous in a whole week! Aren't you proud of me? ;) And I feel like I have the will power to keep this going. 

I got an "intention bracelet" in the mail yesterday from Melissa of Oh My Darling (far right). Seeing it helps remind me to Spread the Love to others. And I love the fact that I've made real friends from having this blog. Something about knowing people in another part of the country feels really special to me. I've never had out of state friends before, unless it was someone who moved away, and I lost touch with them because of it.

The heart bracelet is from my good friend, Alyssa, as a Spread the Love week gift. And the Silly bands are from my nephew. They're shaped like a helicopter, a submarine, a dolphin, and a Jeep. And a beach umbrella from my niece.

I spent some time with a new friend today. This is one thing from my 4 Simple Goals list. Not this is something I can check off, but rather it's an ongoing activity. That is to spend less time alone in my room, and more time with my friends. My new friend gave me these books to help me learn Korean. I think they're for preschoolers. But that's perfect for me! :) 

Happy weekend. Love.

i'm sick. i have affluenza.

No, not influenza. I have affluenza. Defined as : affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.

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I have too much stuff. Too many clothes, too many craft supplies, too much jewelry, too much junk.  My room is looking cluttered and my closet is so stuffed. And my wallet - is - empty.

I'm giving myself a challenge. The whole month of September, I'm not going to buy any more stuff.
No more clothes.
No more trinkets.
No more candles.
No more whatever.

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I mean, I'm sure there will still be things that I'll need to get, like toiletries and whatnot. And if a friend invites me out I can't turn 'em down. But I need to be frugal.


I want to save up to go to Korea. 

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Kind of a silly goal, I think, being that I'm too scared to drive to the mall by myself, but for some reason, I'm so in love with Korea, I think I'll have the courage to actually do it. Like when I was in 8th grade and my dad and I went to Minnesota. At the time I was soo obsessed with Minnesota (because Josh Hartnett lived there.. yeah. .. .). We got a hotel room with a view of a parking lot and the roof of some restaurant. But I opened up those curtains and was so overwhelmed with joy. I was in Minnesota!! And the parking lot/roof view was breathtaking to me. <3

Yeah, I think Korea's gunna be like that.

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So for the next month, I'm going to confess everything I buy. Judge me harshly.

Not gunna lie though, this t-shirt from threadless makes me want to break this vow right now!  lol!

 HA! .. ooh goodness. :-P

Spread the Love Week- Day Two

Spread the Love Week has been a lot of fun so far. Last night I made these little cards to pass out. I wanted to spread the word about Spread the Love. If anyone would like to have these cards to pass out, email me and I will send you the PDF file. (angiemayhandmade [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Last night I had the idea to make little bracelets and stamp "I LOVE YOU" on them. (inspired by these wish ribbons) But instead I decided to make my own stamp. I had bought a stamping block and carving tool a while back for Elsie's Style School, but I never got around to using them. Well today I finally did. I think I can count this as something on my goals list, too.

It reads, "Serang heyo," my favorite Korean phrase. It means I love you, and it was the first thing i learned to say/read/write in Korean.

I made a bunch of ribbon bracelets. Aren't they cute? I made a trip to Jo Ann Fabrics today to pick up fabric paint, and while I was there, I saw this cute little egg whisk. My mom had mentioned she wanted to get a whisk, but she doesn't like to spend money, so she hasn't gotten one. At first I passed it up, thinking, "If she really wants it, she can buy it herself," and started walking on. Then I stopped dead in my tracks and remembered what this week is all about.

My mom's gunna have the cutest, happiest, most cheerfuly rainbow whisk ever. I hope she smiles every time she makes eggs. Oh, and after I checked out, I gave the cashier one of the cards I made, and told her about Spread the Love Week. Which was awkward for me cause I'm super shy. :] But I did it anyway. Is anyone else out there taking part in Spread the Love week? Let me know all about it!

Serang heyo. <3