Friday, January 30, 2009

Good things come to those who wait...


I listed two new Valentine cards the other day. Still trying to figure out the ins and outs of my Nikon though because now my shots feel cold and I'm just not happy with them, but they're better than nothing, I suppose! New backdrop though! Trying to add a bit of pizzazzz... Yes, that's right. I said pizazz. :P I got my first sale today though! So exciting! 




I've been feeling kind of blue lately and that's why I didn't feel like posting a blog the other day. So today I resorted back to the things that always make me laugh no matter what and oddly enough, clips from Flight of the Conchords usually do me the trick. If you can't laugh after watching this, you aren't human: 




Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Ushering in the Year of the Ox



We celebrated Chinese New Year the other night. It is officially the Year of the Ox, which actually happens to be my Chinese Zodiac sign, believe it or not. I'm not usually the superstitious type, but due to my mother's unwavering attention to all things Zodiac when it comes to "reading" people... I do come back to it every once and awhile. 

Its hard not to read your own horoscope and think to yourself "Oh man... alot of this can really apply to me." I guess there are aspects of the Ox that I do find very applicable to my personality. I am stubborn at times, and I worry incessantly about stuff that I'm not familiar with. I'm introverted, speak very little, and I do believe that things come only through a steady pace of hard work. Coincidence? Probably.

My family is predominantly Vietnamese, and yes, Vietnamese celebrate Chinese New Year as well. My grandfather on my dad's side is Chinese though. So I guess I am one fourth Chinese? My mother was calling family last night to tell them Happy New Year and she told me that my grandpa said I shouldn't worry so much. I rarely speak with my grandfather (mainly because of a language barrier) but he never fails to puzzle me with how well he pinpoints people's weaknesses. For awhile now, I've been incredibly worrisome for a number of reasons, however, I never really disclosed this to my grandfather at any time. I mean, the man is half way across the globe. How would he know that I'm worried? I'm pretty certain the man has mystical psychic powers. :P


Its Worth a Million Happy Birthdays



Sunday, January 25, 2009

Lavender kittens and birthday girls...















Hello all! The other day I went to a small birthday party for my old friend Sarah. She turns 23 this month, which only reminded me that I will also be turning 23 this upcoming February. For her present, I thought I'd dish out one of my handmade journals. Despite the time consuming process and paper cuts, I'm usually thrilled with making coptic-stitch blank journals. I personalized this set for Sarah who happens to like lavender and kitty cats. :) I also threw in some cute notecards.






My favorite part is actually the binding. Its just not a book until you bind it all, and its all of a sudden a THING that can be used. XD I learned coptic stitching on youtube actually. There's tons of great video tutorials. I could spend all day watching them.

On an entirely different note: govango is finally on Twitter! Yup. My username is govango so feel free to add me on there for even more updating awesomeness.


Thursday, January 22, 2009

Prints galore!


So many awesome prints, so little time. Today I wanted to highlight a favorite etsy seller jenniferladd that I came across on flickr the other day. Her purses are absolutely gorgeous! If I could have one of each, I totally would. I tend to gravitate towards the casual purses that can tag along with me no matter what the occasion, and these are totally it. 

Besides making wonderful purses, she also makes these absolutely adorable baby booties. HOW CUTE ARE THOSE? Don't they make you want to have a baby? XD I adore her use of bold, colorful japanese fabrics in all of her products. Great stuff. 

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

One funky fresh panda

Today I listed my first printable stationery set! I'm totally excited. I wanted to do something kind of whimsical and I finally found a use for that little doodle I drew a few weeks back. Very very thrilled with how this came out.

The set includes a flat card, folded card, gift tags, bookmarks, and a letterhead. I can't wait to design another set. :) I am debating whether I should include the option of pre-printed stationery sets. I feel like that can only get more expensive for the customer and in these days, I assume people would want to cut costs as much as possible. I don't know. I'm still weighing the pros and cons between selling pre-printed vs print-your-own. What do you guys think?



My friend Bradley also created a Facebook group for my GOVANGO etsy site! Just search GOVANGO in the groups section if you want to add me! :)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

History in the Making


Dictator Panda

[ CLICK IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW ]


In actuality, I overslept this morning and missed the darn inauguration live so I had to go find streaming video online to see it. Not as epic, but I did laugh at the beginning when they both flubbed the inaugural oath. :P I don't blame them, I can only imagine how nerveracking that would be.

Anyway, we have a brand new president today! How refreshing. :)

Monday, January 19, 2009

Quit Playing Games

Comic Strip

[ CLICK IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW ]

Swirling lines and swirling prices






Inspiration for today comes from a great illustrator and artist that I came across a few years back. I love to check on my favorite artist sites to see how their work is evolving. This comes from an artist named Lucy McLauchlan. I love street art and she clearly has traces of it in her work. Great use of line and weight and movement throughout her pieces. 

In etsy news, I decided to lower my prices for my printable Valentine cards. Instead of $4 they are now $2.50. I am also open to selling Pre-Printed cards of my designs for those who cannot print my printable files. For printed cards, I will sell batches of 2 for $5 with $2 shipping to the US only. Hopefully everyone will be happy over that. :)


Sunday, January 18, 2009

Cute food stuffs and buttons galore


I made a cupcake keychain today as you can see. I do have a major weakness for anything that has pastries and cakes on it. Its kind of an obsession. I don't think guys really understand why girls love things that have cupcakes, cookies, and ice cream cones on them. Or really anything that is food-related, you know? Its like the chocolate thing I guess. They don't understand what these foods do to us. Its like... indescribable how important these things are to women. :P  

Anyway, the keychain will be on etsy tomorrow for anyone who just absolutely adores it. 
 



I also made this amazing bracelet! I'm REALLY debating on whether I want to add it to my etsy or not. Its reaaallly hard to decide because I've fallen madly in love with it. Its an entirely new design that just came to me when I was staring at my pile of unused buttons. I kept thinking "I NEED TO USE THESE SOMEHOW! I HAVE TO!" Its so cute. It goes well with alot of my outfits... Oh forget it, its mine. XD Nobody can have it. I'm sorry. lol

Friday, January 16, 2009

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Cards, sewing, and needle-related accidents...


Today I made a bunch of Valentines Day-themed cards. It was alot of fun. Unfortunately, I had a bit of trouble with my camera today. It kept giving me really low-lit images even though I was in a pretty well-lit room with ample light from a nearby window. I really need to get better at using my Nikon d80. Such a confusing little machine compared to a point and click camera that I was so used to before I got it. :P Technology is never always on your side I guess...



Besides cards, I was itching to make a pencil case! I'm so happy with the way it came out. Its just soooo daaarn cuuute that I can barely let myself list it on Etsy. Its made of felt, of course. And buttons! I need to use more buttons in my work. I think they lend a bit of charm.   

Unfortunately, during the making of this pencil case, I actually sat on a needle. Yes. my butt was a temporary pin cushion for like the 16th time now. So I got very fed up and made myself a pin cushion for all my needles to sit on. Its like a small pillow. I tried to look for a small doll that I didn't really care for and pretend that its my ex-boyfriend or somebody that I really dislike... something I could use for a pin-cushion/voodoo doll (kill two birds with one stone, I say!). But also, this pillow cushion will do. 



Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Inspiration and Technology




















Today I came across these wonderful works by a woman that uses paper to sculpt typographic illustrations. I found them all so mesmerizing that I absolutely couldn't resist infecting more people with her work. Its so beautiful and whimsical! Her name is Yulia. I think the most I could ever do with paper is give myself a pretty bad paper cut. XD

In other news, I am proudly at the half way mark on my savings to buy a drawing tablet! I've never had one or used one before but considering the stuff I do, it would only make sense that I invest in one now. Plus, they're just so darn cool. The one I am planning to get is a Wacom Intuos3 6 x 8 drawing tablet. Of course, if I had all the money in the world I'd much rather blow it all on the mother of all digital drawing tablets, the Wacom Cintiq.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Productivity is a hard thing to produce


Helloooo, new blog that nobody reads except for me. 

Today wasn't too productive. I have the horrible habit of just letting the day slip by without even noticing it until its already 6 o clock and the sun is going down. I freak out quite a bit since nowadays the sun seems to go down earlier and earlier. I used to have my own nightowl tendencies where I'd be the most productive during the weeeeee hours of the night but now I think that I just use that time to goof off even more. :P 
 
I mostly doodled today. I'm hoping this might turn into some kind of pattern I can use for stationery later on. Either that or fall into the heap of forgotten doodles in the corner of my room. I dunno. I feel as though I have the start of many interesting ideas but then they seem to fade into nothing after I work on them. Amazing how that happens. 

My plan for the new year was to be productive too, but 12 days in I'm not feeling TOO confident in that. :P I honestly don't know how productive people do it. Do they just wake up and start working right away? Do they eat? Do they take potty breaks? Do they ever daydream or find themselves wondering things like why New York City is called the Big Apple? Do they ever stop to go wikipedia something? Because that's what I do. Because I'm HUMAN, damnit. PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE ARE ROBOTS!

Okay so maybe I'm a little over-reacting, but seriously. Some people are just like a force to be reckoned with. Some of college companions were those types of people. Constantly working... constantly being TOTALLY AWESOMER THAN EVERYONE. What's up with that? Thanks alot for raising the bar to an absolutely impossible level. I'm a short girl. I can't jump that high. 


DSC_5706

I spent the weekend with the bf and he bought me these wonderful books by Aranzi Aronzo. LOVE THESE GUYS. I love the characters. I aspire to create funny cartoons like them. None of them have to make any sense and that's exactly the way I like to jive. But I may try my hand making every single character. They are just too darn adorable to give up. Wonderfully cute and senseless.

 
DSC_5708

We also picked up some wonderful fabric scraps at Hobby Lobby (YES, the Great Lobby of Hobbies!!!) I think if I just had a collection of cool fabric scraps, I could die happy. Just roll up my dead body in all that fabric and I'm good to go. Seriously, I think fabric designers have the greatest job ever. A technicolored, pattern-happy job. 

What else did I do today besides actually work on anything? Made mini apple pies. Yeah, that's right. MINI APPLE PIES. Their size does not match the greatness of their tasty flaky goodness.

DSC_5712

Sunday, January 11, 2009

So I caved in and got a blog...


Blogging isn't anything new to me, of course. I have another personal blog on livejournal dedicated to just... all things life-oriented and I've had that blog for years. I decided to make this one to showcase the small projects I've been so avidly working on lately, predominately for my etsy web shop, as well as anything else I feel I should share alongside my work. Hopefully, I'll feel more compelled to make more weird stuff later on! 

Anyway, here's two items I listed today on my shop: