May 2017

S M T W T F S
 1 23456
78910 111213
1415 1617181920
21222324252627
28293031   

Custom Text

Beltane Ramble

May. 2nd, 2017 11:49 am
pt_tangles: (Aunt Jet)
 A few things to get out of my brain before they are lost:

• I started writing a new blog. Well, an old blog renewed. dreacros.wordpress.com - don't know why. I just did. Maybe because I didn't want everything linked to a pseudonym that I'm not sure about keeping. Maybe when I let acrossett.com expire, I'll buy one for the new blog. Maybe I'll just let it be.

• Less social media time. I haven't been taking the mental health breaks that have been suggested over and over, and I'm worn out on hate and anger and incredulity. I want to spend the growing season revelling in the beauty of nature instead of sitting helpless while a foreign country's​ heartless regime destroys it and everything else that is beautiful in life. I need rest. I am going to take it. And I am not going to apologize for it.

• More books. There are hundreds of classics that I have never read. Summer is for reading. There will be reading.

• Feri. I have signed up for Vee's class this summer. Re-reading Evolutionary Witchcraft as well, and finally working through the lessons. It's powerful stuff. Stuff that's needed.

• Also, old tv shows with coffee. This is my self care. It helps me remember what it was like before the rise of the regime.

• Poetry. I'm going to add more to my life. Reading, writing, finding. 

The sun is shining. I'm going to go out and soak some up.
Tags:
 Been a bit bored today.  I sketched an idea for an Aquarius painting, and I've written 3 blog articles.  Which got me to wondering if I should be putting my stuff out there a little more again.  My blog has its followers, but I know I could be reaching more folks.  Witches&Pagans magazine accepts articles and artwork (and pays), and I know that there is always Witchvox.

Does anyone go to WV anymore?  I know I haven't been there in a long time, but there seemed to be no shortage of articles.  There is an awful lot of 'How I Became a Witch/Fluffy/Not Fluffy/Etc' articles, which is just stupidly boring.  How many conversion stories can you really read before it just all blurs together?  Yeah, yeah, Christianity wasn't for you; you read a book and it changed your life.  Yawn.

Read more... )
 So, I think I've narrowed my Rrrrticle down to two choices.  Either an exploration of my "Realm" (aka Land of the Phae) or a stream of consciousness exercise entitled "Randomness".  

Read more... )
 So, I just finished up P.  I have Q started (I started it before I'd finished N, just never got around to finishing it).  R, S and T and then I will be all caught up.  My summer was pretty good, thanks :)  How have all of you been?

I have an idea for what I want to write about for S, but I'm finding myself a little stumped on R.  I'd love to do another short story or maybe do an image for one of them, but I'm not really sure what.  T, maybe trees or totemism or travelling.  

I'm also gonna get back to doing the Witchy Wednesday meme, when I remember.  It's really important to me that I embody the 'Blogginh Without Obligation' tag that I have on all of my public blogs now.  Somehow it helps me to keep things in perspective.  Just that little graphic and the pledge not to beat myself up if I don't blog every day or even every week.

I also got a comment encouraging me to go back to working on my Wheel of the Year section as well.  And snooping around my blog, I found that I could pretty easily get a handful of book review posts up pretty quick as well.  Time to start scheduling again so that I don't have to worry about things getting done on time ;)

I've recently finished the line art for my Halloween painting.  I have a great idea for one to do for November as well.  The November one involves snow impressions  - which is another area that I've never really explored before.  I love trying new techniques.  It makes me feel like I am really moving forward rather than catching up on rusty old skills.  I think I may call the November one something like 'A Thousand Words' or '50,000 Words' in honor of NaNo.

What would be really fun is to team up with someone who planned to write and have them use one of my paintings as the base for their NaNo submission.  That would require getting my snow painting finished before November, which wouldn't be impossible. Hmmm, anyone wanna do NaNo but don't have an idea yet?  If I get no takers, I may advertise that idea on my blog.

That's about all that's new and interesting with me.  Time to turn Gobbles the turkey into the sink to finish thawing before he goes in the brine for tomorrow.

Am in LOVE

May. 28th, 2012 07:25 pm
pt_tangles: (Summer)
 with my DeviantArt account.  There is a lot less to distract when I can just not care about the numbers ... stupid imaginary blog pressure.  It's what I miss about LJ in its prime.  Community enough so that what you say gets read, but not so open that you have to try and gather followers ... lousy social media {grumble, grumble}.

I feel like I'm moving into a much more artistic phase right now.  Reading Charles de Lint always ignites my muse.  I love the stories of how the fae fit into the modern world, and the descriptions just scream at me to be put to canvas.  This time I have time to do it.  Gonna be trying a couple new techniques - after I get my base skills back into shape again, that is.

Very exciting summer ahead, I think :D
Tags:

Am in LOVE

May. 28th, 2012 05:41 pm
pt_tangles: (Summer)
 with my DeviantArt account.  There is a lot less to distract when I can just not care about the numbers ... stupid imaginary blog pressure.  It's what I miss about LJ in its prime.  Community enough so that what you say gets read, but not so open that you have to try and gather followers ... lousy social media {grumble, grumble}.

I feel like I'm moving into a much more artistic phase right now.  Reading Charles de Lint always ignites my muse.  I love the stories of how the fae fit into the modern world, and the descriptions just scream at me to be put to canvas.  This time I have time to do it.  Gonna be trying a couple new techniques - after I get my base skills back into shape again, that is.

Very excited summer ahead, I think :D
 Well, not all.  Let's say LOTS of the things.

So, the cold snap is over ... for now.  Temperatures outside are finally on the plus side of the thermometer.  Yay!  

Also, we found a house.  Again yay!  I am tempted to gush over it, but we haven't signed the lease yet, and we don't have the keys, so I'm feeling a bit superstitious about the whole thing.  I'll gush when keys are in hand.  Suffice to say that it's a 2 bedroom bungalow built in the 20s. And even though we will be the last tenants before the owner tears it down in favour of building something bigger and brand new, I intend to make sure this little blue house feels lots of love in it's last years :)

I haven't been as careful as I should since I've been here, diet-wise.  A house full of gluten is a minefield for me, since everything in my kitchen is safe for me to eat (unless it's DW's bread, which is easy to spot because it's the only white bread).  And because I haven't been careful I got one hell of a head cold (crappy immune system, plus -40 weather, plus dry as desert climate).  I'm feeling a bit better now, but I hadn't been that sick since before I went gluten free.  It sucked.  I only hope that I didn't pass it on to the baby.

I've been inspired by the cold and dry to start making my own hand creams and lip balms.  If they turn out, I'll put them up for sale on my etsy store.  After some thorough product testing, of course. I'll be looking for volunteers as soon as we are moved in, set up and I have my first batch finished ;)

I also dug out my old BOS file from my back-up hard drive.  I need to go through it and make something cohesive and useful.  Maybe a PDF.  I have Acrobat trial for another month or so.  We'll see how I go about learning to work with it.  It may turn out to be a beloved program like PS.

I also found my old website files.  And the files for Wickets.  That made me smile.  Even though it didn't really work out.  I liked working on it, and I learned a lot about BB coding and whatnot.  I have been thinking a lot lately about updating my blog from 'school enforced business idea' to something more easy, personal, more me, but had been having trouble coming up with an identity for it.  I've been doing a lot of reviving lately, maybe Wickets deserves another incarnation as well.

I have a new computer.  It's just a little netbook, but it's portable and lets me surf or get things done while the baby is asleep in my lap.  I don't have PS on it because it isn't powerful enough to run it, so I have been making use of Picnik and it's pre-google-absorption special.  It's pretty awesome for an online photo editor.  I hope that G+ doesn't change too much. 
The rules:
1. Take a picture of yourself right now.
2. Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair...just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.




Wanna look like a Model? )

In other news, I have decided to put some of images up on DeviantArt - anyone who is interested can find me at http://phaetalon.deviantart.com/

--Phae

What the hell is wrong with me?  I am all excited about getting back into drawing and art after so many years - I have school starting soon, and my new jewelry line for the fall, and what am I thinking of?  Writing.  Again.  Finishing my novel.  Starting new stories.

I would like to think that this is just part of my new 'finish what you've started' trend, but I think I may even end up in Nano this year.  My mind is a constant bubble of new ideas and projects to start.  I have even started carrying around a notebook to keep track of just ideas.  Sketches, and short descriptions (jewelry, t-shirt surgery/sewing ideas, writing ideas, painting ideas, comic book ideas, graphic BOS ideas) so that I don't forget anything.  It is filling up fast.

I need to win the lottery so that I will actually have time to create all of these things.  That or just accept that I am crazy and move on.  Gah!

--Phae
So, we are back from our mini-vacation, and if it is possible, I am even more exhausted now than before. We had fun, and visited friends we haven't seen in far too long (I finally got to meet my best friend's second baby - what a cutie!). But, I still feel like I need some time off. I need a break ... a change.

We are looking at moving (not sure where yet), and keeping our options open so far as jobs go. I can't imagine that it will be easy for me to get a job with pink hair (and I'm not willing to give it up when I am roughly 2 years from being my own boss). I am going to try and get my butt in gear on some side projects.

I am making a made-to-order jewelry line that I hope should bring in some extra money. I found a great new line of beads and chains and pendants that I can mix with my re-emerging art projects. The line is called 'Lost and Found', and it has a dark/romantic/victorian feel to it. I also have a couple of ideas to widen the selection to appeal to more people. I will probably start with taking orders through my blog, and we'll see where it goes from there.

I've got a bunch of other art projects in mind, and I have started sewing and knitting again. I have this need to 'finish' things. It's a weird feeling, since I am usually all about new projects and ideas. I guess my muse has switched tracks to help me clean up a bit of the clutter around my apartment.



That is about all I can think of right now. I should go and make myself somethng to eat. DW is at work this weekend, so it is just me and the little bottomless pits that disguise themselves kitties. I might actually finish my sweater this weekend.

I'll try and get some of the pics of our vacation up this weekend too.

--Phae