I thought I'd post feed back just in case anyone's interested.

I should probably make it a habit to ask for feedback from sellers so that others will know I'm worth dealing with.
Anyway, here it is.

I sold my first piece on etsy last week. ^-^ I'm so excited. I've already packaged it up and decorated the envelope and am writing up a thank you letter before I send it off. The item in question was one of my My Little Pony kandi bracelets. I'm sorry to have to part with it, but that was pretty much the whole point of the etsy shop. I'm looking forward to making more items.

I've been making kandi/rave jewelry (or beaded bracelets if you prefer) since about September. They did really well at Anime Weekend Atlanta and I've been trying to figure out different techniques for making them so that I can do more complex things and designs other than diagonals and rainbow cuffs. It's one of the few things that I've found to be really relaxing lately.

Last week a friend and I went out to Atlantic Station to hang out for a few hours before attending a manga lecture that was being held by the SCAD Atlanta (Atlanta campus for Savanna College of Art and Design) Two manga artists who work under a single pen name were giving a lecture and sort of giving an insight to the creation process. Aside from numbers, I didn't learn much that I didn't already know, but it was nice to see their process and to know that mine was identical, so I'm doing it right. *thumbs up* Making comics/manga isn't necessarily a career aspiration, but it is something that I've been into for a long time. The friend I went with on the other hand does want to be a manga artist.

However, with the American market the way it is, it's more feasible to self publish. I actually did that for a time. And to be quite honest, I need to finish those stories. Anyway.

That was pretty much it. We went out, had a good time and then I came back home. She let me have her copy of Animal Crossing since she said she wasn't a fan of the game and I'm borrowing her ARCHOS which is like a DVR that lets you record from the internet. She loaded it up with things for me to watch, and that's what I've been doing for the past couple of days. I've been trying to de-stress even though I feel like I should be doing something school related, even if it's reviewing my Spanish so I can get ahead. ARGH.

I never posted my post AWA journal.  Mostly because I got sidetracked and partially because I got sick.  Big surprise huh?
Well, I fully withdrew this time for the semester.  I tried to see if they would work with me, but that didn't go so well and I didn't feel comfortable attending classes.  I couldn't concentrate very well, but if there was a way for me to finish at home or with more time, I would have taken it so I wouldn't be behind.

( This seems to have turned into a complaint blog )

On a lighter note though,  I got a package in the mail that I had been waiting on.  I'm a member of the mlp arena and a customizer was kind enough to send me a couple of ponies in exchange for artwork.  They're really really nice and I also got a little packet of candy.  Yum.

I can't believe that it's next week.

I want to come and post this really neat blog entry.  But I should be finishing things, so I won't.  Instead. 

AWA is in 11 days as of midnight and I'm still working on stuff.  I've been organzizing my studio and schoool is never over it seems.   More things to come later.

I thought that would be a fun title.  It's something my bf always says and it's rather fitting for today as I had a late lunch (5:30) and didn't realize just how much pepper I put in the fish when I cooked last night. And then I was going to have dirty rice which is also kind of spicy.  But I couldn't do it.  So I failed at lunch.
U_U  And if you're wondering, dirty rice is a rice that has ground beef in it and certain seasonings in it.   I don't know what they are because I don't have my mom's recipe.  I used one of those mix boxes and made mine without the meat.

As for what I've been up to...well, my book is finished.  I'll be selling it as soon as I set up a web page for it.  Likely this is going to be after Anime Weekend Atlanta.  I wanted to let the people who will see me in person have a first crack at it.  I've published it through lulu.com and have been working on it for the past few days.  I wanted to have a larger book (it's only 39 pages) but as it turned out, the format that I was using was about $35 as a base price and I didn't feel right charging people $45 + for a book with sketches and black and white(greyscale) artwork.  So instead, you'll have the opportunity for a $15 book.

Also, I started work on a painting.  I haven't really been painting much of anything lately so it's nice to get back to it.  It's nice to have something that I can just put myself into fully without thinking about anything else.  I find that I don't often have that.

My bf's birthday is on Thursday and I get paid on Friday.  hmm, what to get him.

Well, I checked my other grade yesterday when I got to work and iti was an A as well.  ^-^  I've got all A's this summer!


I'm quite happy about it, my GPA went up a little bit, but it's still not a 4.0.  Not terribly far from it though.  I've got a 3.77 institutional and 3.67 for HOPE purposes.  I can't help wondering why the HOPE average is always lower though....

So I'm at work right now and gonig over things that need to be updated.  I've been working on an art book as well.  I really don't want to self publish it in the way that I was going to do my other book (I'm making a give away book for AWA with info in it, but I'm also taking ads for it so that I can go ahead and get the needed funding for publishing the non give away book if that makes sense.

Basically, I'm looking at it as being guaranteed advertising for those who decide to take part in it because my experience at conventions and pretty much anywhere is that if it's free, it's going to get picked up.  So, I'm offering ad space. 

$10 for half a page and $20 for a full page.  The back cover will be $30 and the inside back cover will be $25.
I accept paypal payments and your ad should be at least 300 dpi in jpg, tif or gif format.

I'll take ads out for:

• bands
• artists
• crafters
• indie publications
• conventions
• fan groups/organizations
• galleries
• livejournal communities
• lolita fashion designers
• cosplay makers and seamstresses

The only rule for this is it can't be a hateful or religious thing that you want to post and since this book is free, I'm pretty sure that parents may pick it up for their kids or something, but I'm gearing it for 15+.  I may decide to do another one for  "after hours" that will be noted as being adult.

On the Lolita front, no new items as of yet because I can't afford anything.  U_U  It sucks, because the summer months are the lean months for me financially which is why I was working and in school since I don't live with my brother anymore who after having me pay the full amount of the rent for 9 months, is basically forced to be responsible for three.  However, since I had some difficulties with AT&T ealier this summer that caused my bank to shut down my accounts and force stop checks I had to pay those off.
-Basically they never installed my net service in the new place despite asking me if I wanted it, so I had to check a bank statement and logged in on dial up which was my only alternative.  The bank, assuming that someone was trying to hack my account because the connection wasn't the high speed connection I usually used, shut down EVERYTHING and that screwed me up.

It's more than a  little frustrating because I've been forced to accept help for paying for the basics like...food...and a pair of pants to wear to work since my other ones wore out.  >..> (The bit of money that I made this summer went to make sure that the rent was paid) I hate it because I don't like needing to ask people for anything and if I do ever have to get money, I prefer that I can offer it in exchange for something like when I take on commissions. 

....I can't help wondering why my eyes have been hurting so much.  >...>

I'm sitting at the computer working on some art for Anime Weekend Atlanta and because I haven't really had much time to do anything like this for a while and with the con being so close, I decided to stay up.

So I went to the cupboard for some tea.  I wasn't quite sure what I wanted but I had at least one box of tea that I had yet to try and since it was new, I figured why not.  So I put it on.  It's Celestial Seasonings Morning Thunder and is probably one of the only blends with caffeine in it as well as something called black mate which is an herb. 
After trying this tea, I have come to a few conclusions;
1.  This is just as bad as coffee
2. It has a incredibly "mature" taste to it. -tastes like something an old person would drink
3.  I don't think I'll be having this again anytime soon and while I hate to be wasteful, I'm going to throw out the pot as I can't think of anyone I could give this to.
4. I don't yet feel any more alert than I was before.

For those wondering...it's like a mushroom and old bacon.  Or something....I honestly barely remember what bacon tastes like I've actually weaned myself off of it and it makes me kind of sick now.

....*reaches for a slice of veg pizza to get this taste out of her mouth*

And, on another note, I finished summer school with 2 A's so far and I'm waiting on my third grade.  I'm out of school for two weeks and then it's back into the swing of things for fall.  Until then, it's art, art, art.

Yay, now I can pay my net bill . 
I'm looking to sell or trade (preferably sell) a white Meta OP.   It's a darling dress and looks awesome on my sisters and my friend who all tried it on thinking that they might like to buy it, but not me.  And so I offer it to another.  It's a white  meta lucky pack OP.  It's fully shirred at the top so I think it would be nice for anyone with a bust of maybe 45" or less.  Mine's 53"

Meanwhile, I have Sailor Moon items and my little pony for sale as well as books.  lots and lots of books.
Pictures coming soon

Wow, ok, so it's been a little over a month since my last post, but it really doesn't feel like it.  School has been pretty hectic and work has been keeping me busy.  Unfortunately, not well financed though.  >..>
Everything I get now goes to bills and rent which is just the way life is, so I can't complain.  I just wish I were making a little more so it wouldn't be such a struggle to make sure things are done on time, but it's better than not having a job at all.

I'm just really annoyed at having to put off bills and deciding what should get paid first and who should be called about making payment arrangements.  >..>  And so I am open for commissions because I need to supplement what I make working on campus.


Additionally on a lighter note, I'm going to take photos of my limited lolita wardrobe (4 skirts, a jumper, and 2 shirts) for the closet meme on egl.  I'm also thinking of doing some berry artwork for the other theme.  I'm starting to wonder if the mods of lalolitas would consider themes to promote more posting.  I suddenly have a few idea.  

But I've posted on gothicsugar_art as well today with a few things that I was working on during the seummer wile at work.  I've been drawing quite a bit with hopes of having some new things for Anime Weekend Atlanta to include a Lolita themed artbook and a Lolita themed poetry book, but it will all depend on finances as to if it actually gets printed.

>..< 

Well, I never posted an update. >...> And since long updates are long, I'm going to try to make mulitple updates today or during the week to get everything in.

I did get the place.  It's a cute little yellow duplex at the end up a street in a neighborhood with a bunch of kids on my street and old people on the other.  Loud kids...

But at any rate, I live right in front of some woods that come right up to the place and surround the neighborhood.  It's kind of cool because I've seen deer and hawks since I've been here and not kind of cool because of the kids who can be noisy and the fact that there is a river around here.  I love bodies of water, don't get me wrong...it's just that on certain days, there is a bad smell because this particular river is polluted.  U_U  But most of the time it's great around here.

The fact that it's so hot outside means that there aren't a lot of kids around though.  I don't dislike children, but I do dislike destruction.  Apparently they were banging on the door.  I was sitting in the computer room/studio with my boyfriend and there was this banging noise.  He goes to check and there's a group of kids peeling down the street with one of them pointing and screaming "they did it!"

That was hilarious.  But yeah...nice place, pretty...interesting neighborhood.

Meanwhile, I've been working and going to classes this summer in an effort to offset the costs of moving, covering bills, and hopefully being able to buy furniture.  I had some super comfortable , omg I have to climb out of this couch furniture, but I sold it to my brother (from whom I'm still awaiting payment) because he ...isn't the cleanest knife in the drawer and I wanted to make sure that the place I am in now started clean and stayed clean.  Here the worst that I have to deal with is studio clutter.  And I like it that way.

But I'm unfortunately not doing too well financially at the moment.  I've got rent covered for next month and will be scraping by with my bills for a while and have a bit of food for the time being. ( I got screwed over too.  )
I'm really looking forward to December.  It will be the first true break that I get from school and work all year.  I have however been drawing a a lot while at work and waiting for my ride to pick me up, so my sketchbook has been steadily filling up.  I'm going to work on finishing up what's in there for AWA.

Well, there isn't very much going on with me right now.  Meaning as of this moment.  Generally, I'm still waiting to hear word about the place that I've applied for.  I've also been confirmed for Anime Weekend Atlanta.  (Back in March) and have secured everything necessary to attend, but am still working on things for my table.

I'm playing around with differnt ideas for display set ups.  Last year I did the crate thing.  I didn't mind it too terribly, however, it was rather large and cumbersome.  Even though I will have help loading and unloading things, I'd prefer something that's not so bulky.  I'm thinking of those stacking magazine racks or something. 

Anyway, I did just get a necklace from a work friend.  She was telling me about something that she bought that didn't quite suite her and when she looked at it, she thought of me since it had crosses and crests and general pseudo punk things.  It's actually quite nice.

Well, I'm working on paper two of three from the to do list that I posted.  I'm hoping to finish by late tonight so that I can start typing the paper from my notes and outline on Friday.  I'm not sure if it's really going to work out that way though.

As far as the housing thing goes, I've already done everything I need to do regarding that and at this point I'm just waiting on confirmation.  I've gone to the same apartment complex and been around in circles trying to get them to give me an answer and let me know whether or not they would actually work with me based on the amount of money that I have to work with.  One person says yes, one says no.  So I've been limited to one place.  And I met with the agent about that yesterday and gave up all of the necessary paper work and fees for application so I wait.

Meanwhile, I've been working on some site exclusive content.  I've been in a drawing mood lately which sucks when you have things to do for school and aren't the best person at proper time management due to procrastination and apathy.  But I kind of feel like things are going a bit more smoothly for me in some ways and not in others.

For instance; I am saving up for a new bed.  My current one (an old futon that my aunt gave me) is letting itself become known as a true death trap.  I've been thinking seriously of just sleeping on the couch downstairs because of the sheer amount of pain that I've started feeling over the last couple of weeks from sleeping on that thing as it's starting to affect my daily life.  I had to run an errand at work the other day which just required me to walk down to another part of campus.  It's a seven minute walk both ways for 14 in total.  Plus whatever time I spend inside the building.  But I was in so much pain that I was having difficulty walking and I felt as though I might vomit.  Let's toss in some back spasms and leg cramps for good measure and you'll see what I was dealing with.  So that is high on my agenda.  Along with glasses, and a washer/dryer.  Obviously not in that order.

( Blind you say? )

Thus I am selling off items. 

This then will kill two birds with one stone so to speak as I really need to downsize my amount of items (Sailor Moon Collection) since I can't take a lot with me when I move and there's nowhere to put it now as it is.  So I figured if I can't display it properly, I shouldn't keep it.  I see no point in paying money for things that are just going to sit in boxes.   I do intend to keep a few things because I like vintage toys and stickers and things (hence my My Little Pony collection) but I don't think I need to have so much that it just sits in bins.  It's a bit of a waste.
So you can head over to serasell or to flickr.com/photos/gothicsugar/sets to see what I have available if you like Sailor Moon.  I'm going to be adding a few more things.

Also, if you're interested in buying; do me a favor.  Please read carefully over the descriptions and take advantage of the flickr feature that allows you to scroll over the picture to see additional notes.  I've been getting asked questions for information that was already posted because people are not reading what was placed there.  It's not that difficult.  I don't really see the point in taking the time to learn how to read if you don't intend to do it.

However, for the sake of argument, I don't update here much like I said I would.  >..>  So this counts as my being productive. 
Otherwise, I need to;

• finish critical paper : 2of 3 finished
• clean up this sty of a room
• sort laundry
• call about housing
• sort out my meager possessions to pack
• photograph and list things for etsy
• update art site
• finish sketchbooks and mail them out : 1 of 2 finished
• mail off bills. 

Apparently, I will be getting published in the school's magazine again, only this time, a poster I did for last semester's 2-D design and color theory class will be posted in it.  My professor asked if he could hold onto it for a show, so I said sure.  He's supposed to be letting us all know when the show is, but I'm still waiting.  I may have to call him or send him a text if I don't find CG and ask her first.
I forwent submitting poetry this time around.  I mean, I'm not saying I won't, but it's not likely after the way they asked me whether or not I wanted my work edited only to do it anyway.

But right now, I'm sitting next to a stack of books and notebooks because I have a paper due on Wednesday and I need to get a move on it.  I've got the outline, but I don't have the content in mind.  To be honest, what I really need is some peace and quiet sans distractions.  I have my articles that I need to read already for the secondary sources, but I've gotten to the point where I find it hard to read my articles online.  It's mostly because I seem to have a shorter attention span when dealing with websites these days and words on screen than I used to.  I often find myself forcing my eyes across the page numerous times to actually see and read what I'm looking at because I've gotten into the habit of skimming.  That and I get fidgety as well.
( Quick rant ) 

Regarding lolita, I have placed a few orders since my last lolita posts and will hopefully be making a picture post to thelalolitas community.  I've bought a white skirt and blouse, as well as a recent purchase which should arrive soon which will include an ITS red cape and a jumper dress which I've been wanting for a while.

I intend to buy a couple more red items and would like some purple items as well because I would like to have a sort of mix and match wardrobe.  I have a couple of things that are not really multipurpose.

There are things that I want to say about today, but I'll reserve them for another time. In the meantime....

You are a dog

Or maybe you are a mosquito, you certainly can't be human. The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 21.1kHz

Find out which ultrasonic ringtones you can hear!

Haha! I'm in my 20's :P. Apparently, I'm not supposed to be able to hear that.

Well, it's that time of year again. 
I'm currently sitting behind the front desk in an all but deserted building save for those of us who work here.  There's beeen a bit of a drop in the temperature, so it's like 20 F out and the heat's not completely on in here.  But it wasn't too terrible when I first got here because it was blazing in my house. 

I haven't really done any decorating yet.  And Christmas is in three days.  Why?  Is is it because I have lost the commericial driven spirit of Christmas?  Am I apathetic?  Nope.  Just haven't had the time really.  After finals, I wanted to wind down and work on some presents for family and friends, but I remembered that I've been working on some sketchbooks for some time and the people who've commissioned me have been extrememely patient especially considering that they commissioned me in July.  They basically waited for an entire semester and I sent them scans every few weeks.  So I'm including picture bonuses.  I've already asked if they wanted them, one said sure the other said it wasn't necessary, but I always include bonuses with my commissions anyway so I'm doing some.  The way I see it is that people don't really have to buy my stuff, so I like to make it special to encourage repeat buyers.

But I'm doing a couple fo pictures for friends as Christmas gifts as well.  I've got a book at work with me so I'm doing drawings while I sit here wondering how people can in good conscience accept money for being bored all day and goofing off on the internet.

I've finally gotten started working on the homepage for a fundraiser that I'll be doing in order to raise money for my education costs.  By this I mean loan payments, grad school tuition, book fees, and things that people don't realize are incurred as expenses.  It's called millionsketchproject.com and will be going up within a few days after Christmas if I can control my level of laziness.  >..<

IMVU and stuff
On a side note, I've likely been caught up into something.  I hadn't been on IMVU for a while and I mean like over a year and a friend was all like, ooh, let's log on.  So I wasn't doing anything finals being over and all, so I'm like ok.  She wanted to introduce me to a guy friend of hers that she's known for a while.  She kept saying that the two of us were really really similar in personality.  I of course was quite skeptical and wasn't at all eager, especially since she wanted me to be on the phone with said person as well.  I'm not a phone talker, though over the past few years I have been known to sit on the phone with friends for hours at a time listening to them and talking.  Strange. 
In addition to this, another friend of mine had been speaking with him and during one of our conversations while I was talking she just burst out with an it's so true and started laughing.  I was rather taken aback, but then she explained herself.  A curt uh huh was my response.

Add to this that she wanted to know if I would go with her when she flew out this summer to visit him since she doesn't care fo fly by herself and our other friend couldn't make it because she's saving for her wedding.  Hmmm.

But I logged on this past weekend and we started talking and I have to admit that she was right and we are eerily similar.  I suspected for some time that she (the first friend) might have been doing this for her entertainment because during one of our conversations as she was laughing at the similarity in our voice tones.  (Apparently, I'm a sarcastic little thing delivering quips in a deadpan monotone with the occassional light inflection.  ...yeah.)  Anywyay, I must admit, it was weird to say the least..  Since then, we've been talking quite a lot.  Mostly we ask each other random questions just to see how similar the answers are.  It's fun and creepy at the same time, but not so disturbing that I've stopped talking to him. 

School
I finished up the semester with all A's and I have broken a vow due to necessity.  I will be taking three English classes at once next semester because I need to get some stuff out of the way as far as my requirements go.  I'm doing American Colonial and Federalism because no one knows when American Romanticism is being offered.  >..>  I'll be taking 17th century Literature, and Modern British Literature.  And I'm taking Spanish 1001.  I wanted to take Realism and Naturalism, but my advisor said I pretty much satisfied my post 1850 requirement and so the Romanticism would have been pre1850.  But what is, is what is.
I will be taking classes in the summer as well to kind of speed things along.  I wanted to do the study abroad as well, but I won't be doing it this year because I haven't got my stamina up yet.  -I've also been lax taking my iron and am starting back up again with that, because I have to take it as I was told. 
But as far as the whole stamina thing.  I walked to the bus last week and really felt terrible.  I thought I was doing better, but I guess I was wrong about that, so I'm putting the study abroad trip off till 2010.  U.U  Meanwhile when the new semester starts I'll likely workout mornings (I just plan on doing the treadmills and bikes for a whie.) and attend class in the afternoon.  Should be interesting.

It's pre-finals week here and I'm in the cafeteria thingy.  I could be in class, but we don't really have to be there so I thought I'd take the time to get something to eat in the new dining hall.  It's ok in here I guess.    The food tastes like it did before, but with a shiny new price tag.  $8 gets all you care to eat.
But I only really came in here because I was dizzy which means go eat something! in body talk.  (I don't eat much which I know is a bad thing, but I'm not often hungry unless I've been busy.  So I ate a burger and fries.  yum.  (quick and simple, nothing compared to GSU, but for CSU it's decent and instead of paying $8, I bought a ten meal plan for $50 which will make each meal $5.  So I've got nine left if I bother to take the time to show up here or have that kind of time to eat between now and April.

But I have to go, class starts in 20 minutes and I need to pack up my stuff.
-I'm making a poster and drawing it digitally.  Part of it is getting on my nerves.