THE END (of the year) IS NIGH!

Not quite sure where all that time went, to be honest, but it means I'm inching ever closer to a mobile upgrade... iPhone 4, you will be mine! (Sorry, Android... I wished so much for you to be an equal for Apple, but it is not meant to be.)

Time for various updates!

NaNoWriMo -
As I thought, I didn't finish. But not too bummed out... I've got research material from the library, and plan to take my time on it and let it develop. Will eventually come up with a working title and continue with monthly progress updates here.

Foxes & Chickens -
I've got the card backs designed, as well as the Fox and Chicken cards (though I might now make each illustration different). I was able to playtest a bit with a group of friends at our Thanksgiving gathering last weekend. We didn't play with all roles (just 2 foxes, 5 chickens, the Little Chick, and the Farmer), but I think it went quite well. The only sticking point was the constant joke that not only were the foxes in chicken suits, the farmer wore a giant chicken suit as well. Might need to adjust rules/instructions to make it clear that the chickens would recognize the farmer as a member of the farm, and therefore not question his being there. (This would also be the case for other non-chicken farmyard characters: the ducks, the turkey, the rooster, and the farmer's dog).
Sadly, this won't be done in time for Christmas, but hey, there's Valentine's Day and Easter coming up... and it would be a nice birthday gift.

Etsy Store -
I haven't put up any new products yet because it's been a busy few weeks... more busy that I thought! However, with the bank holidays for Christmas coming up, I should be able to get at least a few things up, including some valentines! I've been wanting to make valentines for ages, but never remembered until February started. NOT THIS YEAR! They'll be geeky and science/math themed.

I've decided to relearn calculus (and finally get the hang of my mathmatical nemesis: matrices) and teach myself about physics (as I was quite silly and didn't take it in high school). Currently reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything (after having it recommended to me numerous times over the years*) and loving it. I've also got a new project in my head, which will be a fantastic outlet for my love of illustration/design, science/math, skepticism and critical thinking. Don't want to say much though, as I tend to zip between projects like no tomorrow. So we'll see! I should be able to say more come the new year.

I still want to finish my Bible reading project... just need to find it again, as I haven't seen it since we moved house.

I'll update again on Sunday, with recommendations for good educational books, films, and programming that I've come across recently. For now though, lunch hour is over and I've got to get back to work.


*The first glowing recommendation being from my neurobiology professor in college. This was during the short period I decided to double major in art and psychology, but then realized I'd take an extra two years to graduate.

NaNoWriMo and Upcoming Etsy plans

Hello, boys and girls. I just realized that I haven't updated since October! Here's the skinny:

1) NaNoWriMo
I'm still chugging along, but it has become abundantly clear that I am most likely not going to finish those 50,000 words by November 30th. But that's okay. I've already written more than I have in my life, and I'm still going to finish this novel I'm working on... it just might take until the end of December. I'm actually pretty excited about it. It's changed quite drastically since I started.

2) Look out for new products in my Etsy store in the coming week or so... just in time for Christmas!
Yep, I'm buckling down and getting some more products made and put up, including more drawings, paintings, some plushies and...

3) Foxes and Chickens - a Werewolf/Mafia variant
I'm making a kid-friendly Werewolf varient called Foxes and Chickens... all about the chickens trying to detect the foxes in chicken costumes and chasing them off of the farm. I'm currently working on the illustrations and have sorted out what I'd like to do with packaging. Just have to finalize the drawings this weekend and send everything off to get printed. I think it's going to look fantastic.

I'll post the design for the back of the cards as soon as it's complete.

Taking Care of Business

It's been almost a month since I've updated. Crazy how when you go from unemployed to working full time you spend much less time blogging and tweeting than you used to! I need to work on that.

The super secret project is plodding along. I've finally forced myself to complete a concrete summary/strip-by-strip outline of the story, because bits keep evolving in my head, and if I just let it go on I will never finish this. Most of the summary is complete; I'm just fidding with how things will go during the climax, as there are many threads to tie in and I might need a short flashback to lead up to it (and I'm not sure how to integrate that yet without disturbing the flow of the narrative). I'm also looking at comic books and artists I enjoy in order to nail down the overall look. I have some ideas (and all the characters but one are nailed down), but I'll need to experiment a bit before I find what fits. Normally my style is fairly static, but I would love to put much more energy into my lines and images, like Dave McKean, Craig Thompson, and a few others I can't quite remember off the top of my head.

Michael and I ended up watching a show about Picasso on BBC1 last night, and it was amazing and inspiring. His paintings are another reason I want to try to capture more emotion and energy in my work. I also now have a really strong desire to paint again, on large canvases; maybe even try oils. And learning that Picasso worked in so many varied mediums (more than I knew he had) makes me worry less about the fact that I like to create so many different kinds of things. It made me want to work with fimo clay again, too, and get my Etsy store back up and running with new products. I'll be working towards that over the next few weeks.

We're heading off to a wedding in Glasgow next weekend (volcanic ash permitting). It'll be my first trip to Scotland! Yay! And I met a good chunk of people that are going to be there this past weekend at a housewarming party, so I won't feel as awkward as I could have. This is good.

The weekend after the wedding, we're having a party of our own for Eurovision! It's my first one ever. I still don't quite get it, but it seems like good, awful fun. There will also be much Rock Band and SingStar and crazy board games and (of course) Doctor Who. Because we're all nerds.

So that's how things are going at the moment. I've got to go, as my lunch hour is ending, but I'll be sure to post about the trip up for the wedding.

Christmas Caricature Commission

I meant to post this in January, but I forgot! I did a couple of caricature commissions for a friend last December. They were Christmas presents for his dad and his brother. I think they turned out great (and so did my friend and his relatives).

Click on an image to see a larger version

The brother's, I think, was the most fun. It was a take on the Army of darkness movie poster. Here's a side by side:

Click to see a slightly larger version

His brother works on a golf course (and loves golf), rides mountain bikes, has a cute little daughter, and apparently is a fully-licensed chainsaw operator. It was my friend that suggested the Army of Darkness poster theme in his original email, and I just ran with it.

I'd love to do more of these. My only hangup was that printing costs were quite a bit higher than I was expecting. There's no Kinko's (FedEx Office, whatever they're calling themselves now) equivalent here, so all the printing places have a base startup cost, even if you're just printing a couple of pages (which I was not told about when I got a quote). I may just try to go through photo printing places, as they're less expensive, probably have better paper options, and I know a few people who have used such services for art prints before (and they turned out lovely).

*   *   *

In other news, the job search continues. It feels a bit futile sometimes. I keep looking though, and sending out my CV.

I'm going to work on getting a portfolio website set up, and get more stuff up on Etsy. I was on a roll with that, and then it all got held up by the move last month. Then I went all gotta-get-a-job crazy, and when I do that it seems to zap my creative juices. It's like my brain can only focus on one thing at a time. I really need to work on that. 

I want to get back into doing illustration and paintings. I'd love to do freelance work, but other than registering for websites that require a large yearly or monthly fee, I don't know how to go about it. If any freelance illustrators happen to stumble upon this... do you have any advice?

I've also thought about offering my services as a caricaturist for local kids' parties and all that, but I'm not sure how to go about it yet. It requires more research.

Health, weight loss, oh, and arty stuff too.

Let's talk about the art stuff first. I've been working on a buffer for a webcomic I want to launch in February. That's really where I've been lately and why I haven't blogged much. I'm about half way to my goal of halving two months completed, which I'm happy with. I'm in the middle of a painting for the Etsy shop at the moment, involving Goldilocks and the Three Bears. And I've started playing around with some fimo, so there will be magnets up in the shop soonish as well.

But that's not really what I wanted to post about. After my appointment with the doctor today, it has become abundantly clear that I need to do something about my weight. I'd already started eating a bit healthier, but I need to go a step further. I'm only about 10 pounds shy of what I weighed at my heaviest (though it may be more than that, as I'm taking it from the only time I remember looking at a scale when I was that big), and that scares the shit out of me. I knew I'd put on weight since I moved here (partially owing to a few bouts of depression), but I didn't realize just how bad the situation had gotten.

I've had enough, and finding out how much I weighed (plus the doc really sort of sticking it to me this morning) was the last straw.

So begins my current venture into a healthier lifestyle. I have a "lifestyle" appointment with a nurse next week, as suggested by the doc, about nutrition and exercise and the like. We'll see how that goes. In the mean time, I'm eating more healthy foods and smaller portions.

Local farmer's market, Christmas shopping, and feeling dreadful

On Friday, the last day of term, Michael got an unexpected snow day. We went down to the local farmer's market (which was scaled back a bit due to the snow). It was a bit of a treat! We bought fresh eggs, three different types of sausage (some which we had for dinner that night with some mash), two types of cheese (some with black pepper and some with mustard, which will go great with some sausages), Christmas chutney (I've never had chutney before), an elderberry and sloe drink that's like a squash (for the Americans: you dilute a bit in water to drink it), as well as some honey fudge that was lovely. I can't wait to see what they have next month!

We both started feeling a bit ill on that night, but went down to the pub with Michael's coworkers anyway. We had an okay time, but ended up ducking out after just a few drinks. The next day, we didn't feel much better. Michael was feeling especially rough. But we somehow insanely braved the crowds in town to pick up our Christmas presents for each other. Not really a surprising Christmas this year, as I didn't have my own money to spend since I'm still working on getting the shop off of the ground. In fact, all my presents from Michael (per my request) were art supplies to make more stuff for the shop! But keeping busy with that the past few weeks has really made me happy.

That night, though, I experienced the worst bout of insomnia I've had since I've been here. I was up until about 6:30 in the morning. I ended up watching the Hollyoaks Omnibus just because it was on. I used to be on medication for it before I came over, but my doctor here wanted to get me off of it. And I wanted that too... so I decided to try Nytol (as it's herbal) and chamomile tea and the like. None of it works. I have an appointment with a doctor tomorrow anyway (for other ongoing problems), so I'm planning to bring it up and see if I can get something so that I can avoid nights like last night.

Today we were both still feeling terrible. I made Michael go back to bed for a bit, since he was sleepy and needed it. As for me... well, once I'm up, I'm up. I don't nap unless I'm seriously ill, and this flu thing isn't that bad at the moment. I wish I could say I'd gotten some work done, but mostly it's just been TV and a little bit of gaming. I feel like a bit of a failure in that regard, but oh well.

Tomorrow will be more productive, if just out of necessity. I have the aforementioned doctor appointment, I need to run down to the post office to sign for a package (and get a Thank You card for my aunt who sent us a big box of food from back home), as well as finally get some painting done. I need to start pushing myself a bit more, and making myself work even when I feel like crap.

Time for bed soon, as it's a little after midnight. Here's hoping I'll be able to fall asleep and not end up back here on the couch in a couple hours...

SNOOOOOOOOOOOW!!

This morning, I saw snow falling for the first time in years. Every other time I've actually seen snow fall, I've been in a car, and it was hard to see. So watching it fall outside my living room window this morning (even though it was just a small flurry), was a wee bit magical. Growing up in the central valley of California and then moving to San Diego, I really didn't get the chance to experience snow all that much. Snow was something you visited, after it was already on the ground.

So yes, I was very excited today. And I found out that it does look just like it does in the movies. I always wondered about that. A bit silly, really, but there you go.

I've finished the ghosty trio, and it's up in the Etsy shop.

I've got the initial sketching done for a posh giraffe triptych, and I'm really looking forward to painting it. I've also found out about Amigurumi, which are little crocheted stuffed toys! I have some extra yarn, and I know how to crochet a bit more than I know how to knit (not to mention the fact that I've crocheted in a spiral several times before), so I'm going to give it a go.

I've just about finished our Christmas/Holiday e-card for friends and family. Instead of drawing something, I took a photo of the lights stung up on the High street. I'll be sure to post it here when it gets closer to Christmas day.

Speaking of Christmas, I got to play the middleman in a Secret Santa delivery thanks to a purchase from my store... which was awesome. It completely made my day, and made it actually feel like Christmas. I love wrapping things and helping spread a bit of cheer. Makes me feel all warm inside.

Projects and other things

I was able to start knitting again recently, which makes me happy. I couldn't for a while because I had tennis elbow. I'm still just learning, but I'm doing surprisingly well! I'm making a scarf just to practice doing different types of stitches. Next I want to try my hand at making little knitted stuffed toys.

I'm working on a ghosty painting trio now, and this will be my first attempt at embroidery on paper... I really hope it goes well, because I think it could look awesome! I'll post pictures when I'm done.

I also put up a new painting trio on Etsy... mermaids! Check it out at the shop.

I'm actually really jazzed about doing some work. It's still not perfect, but I know it'll get a bit better once I get enough stuff in the shop to legitimize spending some money on advertising. And once we move next month, I'll have a lot more space to work in. Things are looking up!

Two new products in the Esty shop: trios of mini paintings!

Today I've put up two sets of three mini paintings in my Etsy shop. One set is hairy monsters, and the other is robots. Check out the listings here!

Etsy shop is LIVE!

Granted, I've just got a few of prints up at the moment, but I'll be adding new items over the coming weeks.

Check it out here!

Nearly two months later...

I'm still alive. It's been a rough couple of months for me, and that's the main reason I didn't post anything at first. And then It had just been so long that it felt awkward. But fuck it, I still want to do this, and I've managed to (mostly) pull myself out of the major depressive funk I was in.

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to get used to living in a new country. It still is, actually. Just because our language is (mostly) similar, doesn't mean our cultures are. I'm beginning to feel a lot more comfortable and at home here, though.

It was a bit strange celebrating Thanksgiving when (practically) no one else was. We did have turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and rolls. I also made a couple of pumpkin pies, one for us and one for Michael to take into work. It was a big hit! Many people (including Michael) had never even tried it before.

I'm still unemployed, but I recently received my National Insurance Number (the equivalent of a Social Security Number in the States) in the mail and that should help a lot. Thankfully, I was able to do a couple of commission pieces for a friend of ours for some extra money. I'll post them up after Christmas passes, as they're gifts and I don't want any chance of spoiling the surprise.

I've also got an Etsy storefront set up, so in the next day or two I'll list the prints I have leftover from last year's Alternative Press Expo. I also want to put up some original artwork, commissions, and other handmade goodies; maybe even some baked goods*. Hopefully that will help out a bit. I want to treat that as my full time job for now. I'll be sure to throw the link up when I've put up those listings.

I also want this blog to be part of that job. Instead of just focusing on being an American in the UK, I also want to post artwork and other unrelated things. More of a catch-all. So the name has been changed from Yankee Stephoodle to Oodles by Stephoodle**.

That's all for now, I suppose. Tomorrow I've got to get those commissions printed up, or at least sent to the printers to be picked up on Tuesday. I also need to run to the library, because one of my books is overdue (oops). If I get a chance, I'll post the wintry coloring pages I drew for Michael's third year class.


*I WILL make maple bacon fudge, so help me. And if it's good, I will sell it occasionally.
**Which also happens to be the name of my Etsy store. :)