P.S. I Made This

Dear crafty friends and fellow diy-ers, why have you kept P.S. I Made This a secret from me for so long?

I discovered this wonderfully inspiring and simple chic blog/blogger only this week after clicking on an archive link of the always sweet Pommes Frites. At the time, I only scanned over a few posts on psimt and moved on to the next interwebs rotation item (probably checking Facebook again, knowing me). When perusing books at lunch today, I came across the book form of psimt and on a whim decided to flip through it and buy it. I can't put into words how excited I am to test out some of the featured crafts. Perhaps the fact that I've already sifted through all of the blog's posts best conveys this?

Lately, I feel I've been lacking in the inspiration and brain stimulation departments. So, I'm hoping this book will give me the extra cranial kick I need. When I'm done with it (and if I'm feeling ambitious), I might just post a book review on here. At first glance, I can say that what I like about this blog/book over other crafting spaces and publications is:

1. The majority of the pieces are modern and inspired by high fashion and classic pieces. For each craft, psimt creates and features an inspiration page (like the one above) to show this. Not only is it cohesive pairing and visually striking, it's added inspiration.

2. The methods used to create are very simple. Little to no sewing for most of the crafts, even for clothing. For someone like me who wants to love sewing so badly but has never progressed past the learning curve and thus dreads it like most people dread filing and accounting/budgeting, this is awesome.

3. I actually want to use/wear the finished products. Number one pet peeve about many crafting ideas I see out there is that they lack taste. There is a point at which kitschy becomes ugly and when you can't pass off using sticks and wood found outdoors as shabby chic decor. Psimt does not fall into this category.

I can't wait to start reading and crafting. Hopefully, I'll soon be posting about how well my creative juices are flowing. Til then...

Action Jackson out.

New Month, New News

After having one of the best Wednesdays of my recollection yesterday (which included stuffing my face with delicious sushi at Kyoto Happy Hour, playing with puppies, and catching a Dropkick Murphys show), I am in a fantastic mood today! It's great getting a weekend high in the middle of the week slump. Note to self: do that more often. I'm also in a great mood because of all the exciting news for DGAJ.

For starters, last Saturday, I took a new batch of jewelry over to Pangaea. They are officially open at their new location at 2210 S 1st St, which makes them neighbors with fabulous Austin shops like Secret Oktober and End of an Ear. I also have some new bling over at Parts and Labour that is lookin mighty spiffy and is as ready to brave the SXSW crowds as I am. Anyone know of good shows goin on? I'm taking vacation days on the Thursday and Friday of the music week, but I have yet to thumb through the Chronicle.

I have to contain my excitement about this next bit of news because I was (and am) completely surprised and flattered when Austin's own The Cupcake Bar asked me to participate in their Cupcake and Wine Sip and Shop Event. As you guys know, I love cupcakes and all things cupcakery. I mean, come on. How many people do you know who love cupcakes so much that they display jewelry in cupcake stands? Soigne Boutique and Austin's House Wine will also be participating in this hotsy totsy shopping event. So, mark your calendars! Wednesday March 24th from 4:30-7:30pm is when the fun will be goin on.

That's all the new news for DGAJ. As for me? I'm catching Alice in Wonderland this weekend, and I couldn't be more excited! Here's to hoping my post can keep everyone sidetracked at work in the meantime.

Action Jackson out.

Help! I've fallen down the rabbit hole and I can't get up!

So today is one of those days where I think I'll have to make a mandatory demand of myself to go home and take a nap (or at the very least, lie/lay down in bed). I have been doing a mass online craft/ indie and freelance designer site hunt because I feel like I need to be more immersed in all the goings on of the craft world. I think I may have overdone it a little. Oops! Now, I am just totally overwhelmed by all the new things I'm finding out about and feel like I should be revamping and scrapping some of my stuff.

On the one hand, finding out about lots of stuff like Bust Magazine (where have I been that I haven't found out about this already btw?) is awesome amazing. On the other other hand, scoping out lots of other artists' works makes me really doubt my jewelry and its originality. On top of that, I feel like I should re-do all the photos I have of my work to get better quality pics with less shadows, etc. However, I don't really have the money to cough up a chunk of change for a light box or any fancy pants photography equipment. That task is just daunting enough in itself because I hate taking pictures. It's probably one of my least favorite regular tasks for maintaining my Etsy site and business in general. All this online hunting also makes me feel like I'll never be able to get the word out to people about my jewelry. I've contemplated just giving away a lot of jewelry for free to my friends in hopes that it would make me get a fresh start, but that would be a huge waste of money. I think I also kinda hate having to think about the business side of things for selling my jewelry when I just want to purely pursue the art aspect. *le sigh* Enough about that though!

I've added a few things onto the blog- a few new sites to share with y'all as well as a few DGAJ press spots (hopefully there will be more to add to this in the future!). Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated anyhow! I'm sure this is just one of my spells where I'm convinced that everything I make is unoriginal/not all that great in the first place and that I'll be over it in a few days. Hope everyone's looking forward to the weekend!

Action Jackson out.