Archive for March, 2008

I know I’m at least six months behind the times, but would anyone like to be my friend on Twitter? I promise not to bore you with my chirping, except on days that end in “y.”

So I actually went *gasp* OUT this weekend. Yes, “out,” as in, the opposite of “in.” As in, T & I recently canceled our cable, so it was either stay home and mourn the loss of DVR or re-live my early 20’s and go on a good old-fashioned pub crawl. Danielle invited me to go with her and her friends to the Sea Dog for some late night live music and Jagermeister, and I gratefully accepted. Good times!

If I could write an open letter to Jagermeister, it would go something like, “Dear Jager, thank you for being so strangely tasty, for making my tummy all warm and fuzzy, and for not giving me a hangover. Love, Caro.”

And I think a night out on the town was just what this busy bee needed, because I came home to more custom orders, photos, and housework and I felt entirely prepared to tackle it all. I’m not entirely sure where Sunday went, but I know it was a good day because I am just now sitting down to a bowl of chocolate ice cream and I haven’t cried over the lack of DVR once!

It seems I am always behind the times when it comes to marketing for specific holidays and events, so today I’m making an attempt to get ahead! I’ve added a new custom doodle to the shop, in the form of personalized graduation prints.

Yes, that season they call “spring” is almost upon us, hard as that is to believe given the climate here… but one must have faith! Faith, and a very warm jacket. And a snow shovel… or possibly a snow plow.

Aww, screw it! I’m moving to Florida.

My agenda for the weekend originally included a trip north to visit the folks, but now my mum has the flu and is in no condition for visiting (hope you feel better soon, Mom!), so it appears I need a revised to-do list:

1. Product photography
2. More doodling
3. ???????
4. Profit!

Yep, that should do it!

(A quick reminder that the contest is still going… you have until Monday night to enter!)

I’ve been up to my neck in custom work lately, which is why I’ve been absent for the last couple days (also absent-minded, but that’s the typical state of affairs no matter what I’m working on). I don’t know if it was the Real Simple blog feature a few days ago or what, but Calobee Doodles has been overrun by custom requests. Not that I’m complaining… quite the opposite!

And today I found one of my photographs featured as an “Etsy Find” in the Storque! Yay! I’m having a good day, indeed.

T & I took a much-needed break last night to go out to dinner and a movie, as it’s been eons since we’ve done a “date night.” Of course, we didn’t bother to read any movie reviews before we selected our movie of choice for the evening. We stuck to the synopsis, which sounded good in theory… but was bad–very bad–in practice. Always read the reviews; always. It will save you the trauma of spending good money to watch a rotten tomato like Doomsday.

Wow. Just… wow. One minute you’re in the midst of a 28-Days-Later-esque scenario in London, and the next you’re thrown into a society of punk-ish anarchy in barricaded Scotland. Ten minutes later, you’re whisked away (by train, of course) to a distinctly medieval society ruled by a crazy mad scientist king, where you discover that the “cure” is not so much a cure, but a rather obvious matter of genetics. And then, oh, I don’t know, let’s throw in a gratuitous car chase! Just for the hell of it!

All the while I’m trying to figure out whether I’ve just missed something or if this is a “Choose Your Own Adventure” movie… where the plot can take a 180 degree turn at any minute! No cohesion necessary! And the cinematography, if you can even call it that… urgh. I actually had to close my eyes and cover my ears at one point to get my bearings. I wanted to be sick, but I don’t know if that was because of the jumpy transitions or the terrible acting. Quite possibly both.

But that’s par for the course for us. Tim and I have a bad habit of picking the absolute worst movies to see in the theater. If you told me I had a choice between a movie with substance, plot, and good acting and something horrible with Colin Farrel and bad dialog, I’d pick the latter nine times out of ten. I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess.

(This girl and her smug little cat is in the shop at Calobee Doodles!)

I didn’t actually start selling until the 31st of March or so, but as of the 22nd I’ve officially been with Etsy for a year. And what a year it’s been! I went from feeling like I’d probably never sell my work to making 1-2 sales per week. That may be small potatoes for most, but it’s a huge accomplishment for me.

I also picked up “doodling,” which was both an excellent business move AND a lot of fun! It’s opened the doors to doing custom work, which I really enjoy, and it’s more relaxed and low-key in comparison to my photography.

All in all, I give the last year’s business adventures an “A.” There have been bugs here and there, but ultimately, opening an Etsy shop has been a very fulfilling, rewarding experience.

And now for the best part: in honor of my Etsy-versary, I’m having another contest! Yay!

Here’s the nitty gritty:

• The prize is one print of your choice from any of my shops, up to a $20 value. Two small prints would be acceptable as well, as long as they total no more than $20 (not including shipping).
• Leave a comment on this blog entry and tell me which print(s) you want to win.
• The contest ends March 31st at 11:59 p.m. I will draw the winners on April 1st and contact the winner by e-mail.

(Please note that comments are turned off at Vox and Livejournal, so you’ll need to comment at the blog.sixhours.net address to qualify, and don’t forget to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win! This contest is open to U.S. and international readers alike!)

Good luck!

I’ve been a busy little bee this weekend. I’ve been working on more custom orders and just generally doodling away the day today!

This rather malicious doodle was inspired by the poor little chocolate bunny I gave Tim for Easter–he is already missing his ears. But I’m sure he’ll get his revenge, in the kind of nightmares that can only be had when one falls asleep after consuming something like half their body weight in chocolate.

Speaking of which, I’m pretty sure I’ve OD’ed on Easter candy, at least for this season. If I see another Cadbury Mini Egg, I might just barf.

Hoppy Easter, everyone!