A lovely weekend

Happy Monday folks! I am enjoying the postal holiday because although I am working today I did not have to get any packages ready to ship. On one hand I am VERY happy to have orders to ship, but it is sure nice to get a little break!

If you have not entered to win a tee shirt of your choice from my shop, you can enter here:

http://christiecottage.blogspot.com/2010/10/win-it-wednesday-new-giveaway.html

Saturday we woke to an unfamiliar noise. It was the last day of the international balloon fiesta and there were hot air balloons flying right over our house! Autumn was so excited watching them fly right over us!

(autumn with daddy's keys)

my Dad babysat Autumn on Saturday and Adam and I both did something very unusual. Other than packaging and a trip to the post office, We didn't work. We spent the WHOLE day together. It was really fun. I actually felt a little guilty about not working with all of the deadlines I have coming up.

(autumn and adam looking at a lizard the cats brought in)

We biked around town and went to the Rio Grande arts and crafts fair. Part of the reason we went was because we wanted to scope out the scene and see if it would be a good fit for us, and obviously the other reason we went was to see some awesome artisans. I didn't feel like my items fit in there at all, although because my tees are SO different from anything at the fair they may do well, you just never know. The fair seemed geared towards an older crowd. I think Adams knives would be a good fit but I don't know if he really has the inventory for it. we bought some really yummy honey comb and also some homemade pasta, and almost bought a print from one of the artists. Later that evening we went out to dinner with or friends bill and rocketpants.

(a new screen I burned, this is a scan of the drawing on photocopy mode)

Sunday I made up for not working on Saturday by seriously busting ass. I Got 4 more damas dresses from just being cut out to being almost ready for fitting and I plan to contact my former co- worker to tell her she can bring the girls over this weekend. I sure hope there are no major issues with fit! I also got to sewing the wedding dress I am making for my good friend Missl Command as a wedding preasent. It is going to look really awesome, I can tell already. I will share pictures of these projects and talk about them in greater detail later this week. I also got a ton of printing done, and this morning I have been printing like a madwoman.

(one of the "presents" the cats brought in)

It is finally becoming noticeable that it is fall, and the evenings are starting to get very cool like they should in the dessert. I really love fall in New Mexico, the crisp air perfumed by roasting green chili is something that I look forward to every year, but this year I am really excited, because I know pretty soon our cats wont be bringing in lizards, birds, katydids, and mice any more.

A NEW YEAR PART ONE: Looking back

I feel like this year should really begin with the birth of Autumn, even though technically she was born in November of 2008.

Autumn, Minutes old

Autumn Ringia was born, November 14Th 2008 via Cesarean at about 8:00 am after 17 hours of labor. the Cesarean was necessary because she was not positioned correctly.

uncle Nick, Aunt Erica and little Autumn (about 4 weeks old)

I learned a lot this year from Autumn. Most importantly I learned that things don't turn out as planned SURPRISINGLY often, especially as a parent. Some of my plans, failed due to perseverance, and possibly exhaustion-like using cloth diapers. Others failed because not everyone can do them-like breastfeeding- which was a long, determined, exhausting experience that left me feeling heartbroken, useless and defeated. I still have never had the energy to record my thoughts and emotions regarding breastfeeding, but may soon.

Captain Furious ( Autumn 4 weeks old)

8 weeks after Autumn was born I started skating with Rose City Rollers in Portland. It was nice to get out, and get a lot of exercise.

silhouettes of roller girls

I Decided not to return to work because daycare cost almost as much as I would get paid, but It was hard on me to spend all day at home with a baby-as wonderful as she is- and skating didn't help with that. Adam was traveling a lot for that job and it was depressing.


Autumn and I at the rose garden in Portland

In February I opened our etsy store. I had no goals or expectations and found the community to be an addicting and welcomed reprieve from my life as a stay at home mother, wife and derby girl. I was also surprised that things sold without a huge amount of effort from me.

Arm warmers were out top seller in our etsy store this year

I can't remember much about March or April. I found myself too stressed out by skating with Rose City to really want to stick around, and at some point I quit because I couldn't attend many practices and I didn't want to subject myself to unnecessary stress when I felt like I was already at my wits end at home with a baby, and often left alone during the work week while Adam was doing surveys in other states.


Autumn and Daddy

In may Adam and I moved back to Albuquerque! I am so happy to be back home. I started skating with duke city derby again which makes me very happy! I also started working for my dad which really helped me break up my day and feel more productive and less trapped. I get to take Autumn to work with me so it works out very well, and the extra money is very nice. Adam did NOT have a job when we left Portland, but before we moved in to a house he had secured a position as Natural Resources Manager for the pueblo of Laguna! Everything seemed to come together so smoothly. I am sure my mother would say " it was meant to be".

Adam seems to enjoy his job, and I enjoy working part time for my dad. It is very nice that autumn gets to see my dad so often, I think it is good for both of them, and it is nice for me to get out of the house.

Autumn Thinks that dinner looks good!

At the end of last year's travel season Duke City Derby lost Kamikaze Kim, which has been very difficult for me and many other skaters. Kim moved to Seattle, and I am sure they are very happy to have her. Kim is an amazing skater and an amazing person, and I miss her very much. She had changed a little in the year that I was in Portland- but then I suppose, so had I- and some major changes had happened in her life that would surely effect anyone.

At the end of the season Killer Queen and I were elected as the new travel team captains. We have some very big (even though they were actually really small) shoes to fill as Kim's predecessors. I think that in some ways we are doing pretty well, but a lot of people are very sad that Kim is gone and seem to be taking it out on us, and the rest of the team. We may lose some very good skaters, which would be disappointing. A few other skaters have also really stepped up, and been very helpful, and I am very thankful to them.

Adam and I

Our First Christmas on etsy was very lucrative. I did not have any real sales goals when we opened our shop but I was really surprised by how many sales we did make, and how little effort it took. YES, it is a lot of work, but without doing craft shows, art shows, or promoting ourselves locally we were able to make enough sales to buy ALL of our Christmas presents with pay pal money from etsy sales.

I guess that leaves us about where we are now, Many things unresolved as is always the case in a new year, and a few things changed forever, so completely that It is hard to remember what life was like before.



Autumn at the Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor Michigan

My art room is finally unpacked!

Sooo... you may have seen my Before pictures. If you didn't then this probably doesn't seem like a great accomplishment. It is not as nice as some beautiful craft rooms I have seen, but I really love it- and I am so grateful to have a whole room... especially since I kinda need it...


This is my dress form with a work in progress on it. I got the form at the last thursday market in portland and it didn't have a base so adam made this one for me. It is great but I really need to be able to turn it. I am trying to decide what to do to make the bottom cohesive. Behind it I have a metal shelving unit filled with supplies. I have block printing
supplies, lots of watercolor and acrylic painting stuff, jewelry findings, a whole tub of sweaters I have already felted but not decided what to do with yet, a tub of lace and sewing findings, a tub of needle felting supplies, and a tub of clothing that I plan to upcycle... someday.


Then I have my sewing/drawing table, file cabinet, and a little metal rack with the billions of prismacolor markers I got when I was at FIDM and the few that I acquired since (really HOW many shades of each color do you REALLY need when you have been taught to blend colors... I DO need some new blending markers though.) , a few reference books, and my FAVORITE several past issues of Vouge Collections. I have an easel in the other corner, but I am not ready to share that painting (sorry).


And then there are the closets... They look messy but I know what is going on. Adam, my dear husband made me the shelves for the fabric.

Just appreciating what I dont have...

As I rode my bike in to work this morning, even though I have a nasty cold, It felt SO good. I also think it is fun. I really love that we only have one car, and that I practically never have to drive it. I like looking back and waving to my grinning baby girl, who I tow in a little red bike cart behind me.

I also like biking to work, and occasionally other places because it means that if Roller derby practice is rained out- or I can't go for some other reason- I don't feel gross because I didn't get any exercise that day. I do still feel kind of yucky if I miss more than one day of skating.

I really stopped driving because I HATE driving. I can appreciate all of the other benefits- the non selfish ones like reduced pollution and traffic congestion- that come with alternative modes of transportation. I am also glad that Albuquerque is not too big, so getting around on a bike sometimes is pretty easy.

Unpacking is hard.

We have been in our new house for a little over a month now- and there is still SO MUCH unpacking to do. All of the important things are done so it is really easy to push off what is left for another day... the problem is that the things that are not unpacked yet are all of the good things... art needs to be hung, and my sewing/art/craft room needs to be organized desperately.

This is the current state of my art room. The worst part is that since I have needed to get things from there it is an even bigger disaster!

Adam has started to make some progess in his shop though! this weekend he made and organized this work bench!



Saddly, it is pretty unlikely that I will get my room more organized before the close of august. Fortunately that is because I will be doing something I love-playing roller derby!

I have already been fortunate enough to play in three bouts since I have been here. On monday I returned to Albuquerque from Tucson, where my team- The Munecas Muertas- played the Saddle Tramps. The Tucson Saddle Tramps have long been a personal favorite team, but it still nice to win a game! I felt really good about this game. It was the first time since Autumns birtrh that I have felt like I was playing effectively. It made me sad to see some dramma about strategy conflicts unfold on the bench. Also, I had to walk away from some critisism, because in the middle of a game it was not going to help.

I hope to get some pictures soon.

Next weekend I will be in Taos for a home game, and then we will be in portland to play the Wheels of Justice.

Wow, That is cute!

Adam Found this little guy outside the front door! adorable!

Getting to Know Portland

It has been harder for me to adjust to Portland than it was for me to adjust when I moved to Los Angeles, or Savannah. I am not sure what is different about Portland, but I know Adam is having a harder time adjusting to Portland than the other places he has moved also.

I can’t say that it was especially easy to adapt to L.A. or Savannah, and I am even pretty sure the only place I have ever REALLY liked living is my home town, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I can’t help missing the wide open spaces and the clear sunny skies of the desert southwest. I love Albuquerque’s laid back attitude and cheap rent. I miss hiking in the foothills, climbing, and eating New Mexican food… which is not the same as Mexican food. I miss my old roller derby league. There are benefits to my current league, and I am adjusting, but I spent nearly 3 years playing with those Duke City girls. We were never as organized, productive, or polished as my current league… but we had a lot of fun practicing Vag. Assists, pretending to be polite ladies, and I occasionally I would come home after spending the night at my (then) boyfriends house ( now we are married) to find out that there had been a derby cuddle club meeting on my bed..!?!

There are things I DON’T LIKE about Portland. I don’t like the weather. I don’t like having other people pump my gas. I don’t like how overly regulated EVRYTHING seems to be. There have been more blatantly unpleasant people here than anywhere I have ever lived, my husband Adam agrees… and Adam has lived in New York City. We have also managed to offend a lot of people without intending to or really even understanding WHAT we did that bothered them. Of course we have met lots of awesome people too; it is just a very strange trend that we have noticed. We are also now living with our new 4 month old baby, so it may be the exhaustion and added edginess of having a new baby that has caused that strangeness. I also know that there are a ton of fun things to do here that we have not tried to do because we have a baby.

Have you ever had trouble adjusting to a new place???

First Post...

So, the first post, I suppose, is an excellent opportunity to tell you a little bit about ourselves. When Broken down to the simplest of terms "We" are a family. My husband and I make cool things, and we sell them on esty. I just had a baby girl in November. Her name is Autumn and she is growing fast! She is only 4 months old and she already weighs 18 lbs 6 oz!

My Husband Adam is a wildlife biologist. He also makes beautiful jewelry and hand forges knives. I have an AA in Fashion design from FIDM in Los Angeles, but am now an artist and stay at home mom. I paint, sew, needle felt... and lots of other miscellaneous crafts. I also play Roller Derby. I started playing in November of 2005 for Duke City Derby. I love talking derby... so I will save that for another post.

Adam and I recently moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Portland, Or- and it has been a little bit of a culture shock for both of us. I grew up in Albuquerque, and while I spent a little time in Los Angeles, Ca and in Savannah, Ga I cant help missing the wide open spaces and vivid sunsets of the desert southwest.