Forget about regrets...

I have to admit: I regret 2012. I didn't really make much of anything other than a few things and work for class. I didn't really talk to friends much or made many friends in real life. I probably even chased a few friends away because of how I was this past year. All I can say about this year is that I changed jobs at least 3 times, and one of them that ended almost involved the labor board for bad payroll practices. It was not a fun year.

Forget about regrets. Focus on the things that remain true to be you. That is what I will be doing for 2013.

It is time to actually do something about the lack of creating and ideas flowing. Enough is enough. Enough time passed by already. I am sick and tired of this rut. To start, I got a kickass boss for Christmas so I can focus more on art and less on work. Going from a food artist (late 2011) to a professional cook (present) in a kitchen by the way is a lot harder than it sounds, and while we professional cooks have to make our food look and taste like art (and make it look easy and clean while we do it) there is no way you can compare our cooking techniques to a home cook/artist techniques. I learned a lot in the professional kitchen environment and hopefully that will translate to more interesting art in the future.

2013 will be full of interesting art. I don't know what it looks like, but it will not be a blank page.

Some of my projects already lined up are:

- Blythe a Day: at least 365 pictures of my Blythes doing various things and dressing in various clothes that I make.
- New clay is coming in the mail from Japan. Can't wait for that to be here!
- I will be working much more intensely on Betty Candy, my dolly fashion project. I am taking more classes in fashion this upcoming year, so it would be more appropriate for me to work on it there instead of posting it on Live Mini. Betty Candy is actually my real obsession since I started making miniatures but it had been on the back burner for some reason.
- Taking little 3-4 day trips here and there throughout the US throughout the year, and finally going to see my dear friends and relatives in Hong Kong, the first time in 9 years.

That is all I know. Everything else will be on a "as I go" phase.

So thank you for sticking by so far. Watch here and see what minis come out of the woodworks. :)

To an early holiday season

Hello everyone!



The Betty doll is back with a message for this year:

This is probably the last post of this year for Live Mini. This year has been crazy, with me switching careers and going back to school and everything in between. I recently switched where I worked again, so that is like 3 job changes within this year alone. I am happy for to watch many of my friends grow this year through their own artistic pursuits and even having children. I had grown in my own way, but not in miniature foods, that is for sure.

I will be continuing to work on Betty Candy for the remaining of the year if anyone is interested in reading about my doll fashions and sewing experiments.

With that, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year! Thank you for your kind comments and visits and I hope to see you next year!

Another new friend

Hello everyone!

So in between sewing classes and work my husband got me a new friend!



This is a picture of my girls Darlene, my Unoa Sist 1.5 I had since 2006 and Angelica my new Unoa Lusis 1.5 in the new Fresh skin. She is adorable! I cannot believe I had to wait 6 years to get another new girl, but now I finally have another Unoa. ^.^

I have many pictures of the Darlene and Victoria on my Flickr. Now I just have to make clothes for them...

Win one of Coltpixy's snails!

Hello everyone!

I am blogging here to share a dear friend of mine's contest. Her name is Star and she makes the most wonderful unique snails with different personalities. I met her through Artfire and Plurk and she is one of my dear friends online that encourages me to keep going even as the going gets tough.

If you are interested in winning a fortune telling snail, please go to her website here: http://coltpixy.com/2012/10/100th-snail-giveaway.html

I have stuff to blog about my recent activities but I will wait for now.

Finally! A WIP Wednesday!

Hello everyone!



As I sit in front of my laptop next to the sewing machine I realized I am finally making something!



This has been such a while that I find myself stumped. So I went to my co-worker's baby shower yesterday. I gave her one of my rose rings that I had that just happened to be blue. She loved it. Well, when she showed it off (I was wearing the yellow one in the picture) the bar lady at work liked it so much she ordered 2 from me right on the spot. That is pretty cool! So now I have 3 rings to make, and this rose here is one of the 3.


Another WIP is my Unoa Ronon. She has a name now. Her name is Charlene and she is a spunky gal. I am sewing a bunch of stuff for my class now. Dolly clothes is the agenda on the labs. I cannot wait to finish all the pieces!

So that is it for now. Other than working a ton of hours making actual food I am making some progress of making art. Please let me keep this up! I need some art time.

New girl

Hello everyone!



I haven't gotten a new doll in a new time, so when one finally arrives I am super psyched!



This is one of the latest creations of my favorite BJD master Gentaro Atari: an Unoa Ronon. I think the journey with her started in March until now. She is customized by the previous owner GothicKDM of Den of Angels. I think she is stunning and will go well with my Unoa sist Darline (and my future dolly horde).

Now that she is here, I am waiting for the wigs to arrive and time to make her something cute. I can't think of a name yet, but I am sure one will come sometimes. Until then, I am just going to enjoy her company.

Housekeeping

Hello everyone!

It has been quite a while since I have posted, mainly because my work is keeping me busy. Today I do not work until late so I took some opportunity to take pictures of my housekeeping. Now no one likes to do housekeeping so I consider what I have done to be an accomplishment!





I am so proud of my strawberry harvests this year! It is almost mid September and I am still getting strawberries! It is weird because these strawberry plants grow underneath a giant lemon tree (so not full sun) and it is fall and there are still berries! They are still blooming so there are still more berries to pick!



Now I get kind of bad at taking care of my plants at times. There are strawberries to pick but sometimes they go bad because I am too busy to pick them.



________________________________________

As for my studio, it is about time I do something about it! I am taking a class right now so I need the garage to be usable so I can do my homework. Now if I have more time...



This is actually a pretty good start in my book. On this shelf here here is all the craft books I own. I sold a bunch last year (can't believe it is a year already!) but there are always more in boxes or in other shelves. I think this is the first time in a while they are all back together.

... sigh the rest looks like this:





Too bad no one can help me there. This is my own fault. If I clean it up though there would be a lot of surface for me to work on.

________________________________________

So this is my progress of things so far. I am glad I can get this bit of housekeeping done. Off to work I go! I hope to keep this momentum up. Eventually then I can have my entire place clean like before and work in it. Go me!