Prospero Año Nuevo, tumblebums!

Today was my last day of work at the stables.  2013 is going to be all about living as frugally as possible on the few pennies I have saved up, and trying to grow my teeny Etsy business.  More about that in my Year In Review post tomorrow.

I shall not have the energy to stay up till midnight with y’all — given that you’re in the same time zone, that is — but I shall wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR in my absence.  Have a drink or light a sparkler for me.

Good night!  I love you all.  *kisses*

A Kludge of Updates

My body wants me to think it’s getting sick, but it’s clearly mistaken.  I don’t have the time.

I’m alive, but only marginally.  My weekend was ten kinds of insane.  I am now, officially, the weekend stablehand for eight horses, including my beloved Grumpy Old Gelding and my equally beloved Spooky (she who drives me insane at shows because she insists upon being a Very Loud Mammal, but whom I cannot fault, because she is the most affectionate horse I know and will pass up food for hugs).  Of course, alongside the darlings there is also the three-year old colt who hasn’t quite figured out how not to step on the monkey, and the mare who has no understanding of personal space and just so happens to be larger than Grumps.

In future I’ll be biking to and from the stables (almost two hours round trip) until I figure out whether I want to rent the spare suite.  I spent the weekend there for ease of training, and when I wasn’t covered in kittens — not as fun as it sounds, as they were trying to eat my book, biting me, succeeding at eating my book, climbing up my legs and sitting on my shoulders when I’m trying to cook — I was sleeping in the tower.  Which, graveyard of dead flies aside, was pretty awesome.  I felt just exactly like Rapunzel when I woke up and all I could see from the cod-medieval windows was the lightening sky.  I had to stand up to see the tops of the trees.  No one lives in that area of the house, so it smelled exactly like a Victorian parlour that hasn’t been aired out since the butler died.  But it’s ROUND and has an honest to god crystal chandelier on the ceiling, so I wasn’t upset.  Not the room I’ll be renting if I move in, but hey.  Sleeping in a tower.  How often do you get to do that?

I’m still working on They Called Me Pallas, here and there.  As far as NaNoWriMo is concerned, I’m still A) enough in love with the project to stop with the poetry and novelize it, and B) convinced that prose would do better justice to the project.  This morning I was working on ret-conning some geological history for the setting, part of my commitment to spend this week worldbuilding — when I’m not helping my ex-boss pack up all the books in the shop.

The last few years have been a haze of procrastination and laziness, but the whole time, I wished that I could just sit in an armchair and read and never exert effort again.  I didn’t have enough to keep my brain busy, and my health suffered for it.  Now that I scarcely have five minutes to myself, I’m deliriously happy.  Funny old world, isn’t it?

Oh, and I shaved my head.

*flees to school*

*confetti!* Ladies and gentlebeings, I would like to introduce you to both the Lazy Afternoon Tarot, which is available as of this moment, as well as the new Anchorite Studios storefront on Etsy. Thank you all for your patience and support during this hectic time — it means the world. I’m off to hyperventilate in a corner for a while!
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*confetti!*

Ladies and gentlebeings, I would like to introduce you to both the Lazy Afternoon Tarot, which is available as of this moment, as well as the new Anchorite Studios storefront on Etsy.

Thank you all for your patience and support during this hectic time — it means the world.

I’m off to hyperventilate in a corner for a while!

I sure did pick the wrong sport to start in the summer.

Riding enormous sweaty mammal bareback = yummy.  You should have seen the hysterical bum-print I left on his back.  His fur was still curling and sticking up an hour later.

Also today I found out that my Grumpy Old Man is even older and more justified about his grumpiness than I previously thought — we figured he was in his mid-twenties but going by his teeth he’s actually OVER THIRTY which is ridiculous.  Which makes today’s prancing and mischief seem miraculous in retrospect.  Grumpy still knows how to bum-wiggle.

Anyway.  Am recovering from encounter with enormous sweaty mammal.  Blek.

But!  I can’t be grumpy about the heat, even when I have to be out in it, because PRIDE DAY is on Sunday!  I have plans involving costumes and festival-wandering and a lunch out for Ladyfriend and I, if we can survive the sky lasers.

In other news, am putting off business stuff like a total scrub, but hopefully next week will involve 100% less sickness and ridiculous family drama and I will have the shop fully operational.  Wish me luck!

Have a good evening, my darlings.

*FLAILS*

PAYPAL FINALLY VERIFIED MY ACCOUNT!

After three weeks of self-inflicted confusion and incorrect numbers and playing Telephone with the bank, I can now officially recieve payments through my business account.

I still have yet to recieve the decks, finish the Lazy Afternoon bags (the Math ones are done), pack all the decks, finish the Etsy storefront, and put up the sale pages.  But that’s next week.

Now, celebration!

Today was PRODUCTIVITY CENTRAL.

I got my banking done, resubmitted my account to Paypal, cut and folded and sewed FIFTY-SIX tarot bags, picked up stones for a project, went to the library, bought ribbon, and even managed to fit in high tea with a friend who happened to be running errands at the same time as me.

The weekend involves some research/writing work, and administrative stuff with the storefront, and finishing the studio logo, and making FIFTY-EIGHT MORE BAGS.

Can you tell which items I’m most proud and/or despairing about?

Time for gaming and tea.

Holy fudge, my fabric is going to be here TODAY!

I ordered that crap at, like, 2pm yesterday.  From the states.

I’ll be paying the price for speed, since the Fat Quarter Shop uses UPS and I’ve never not been horribly taxed by customs by them (USPS, no problem, FedEx, no problem, UPS I’ve probably given upwards of $400 over the last few years).

Which may or may not mean today is going to involve crazy running around to get ribbons and better purple thread and also go to the bank to find out why Paypal declared my business account invalid.

Self employment: masochism 101.

GUESS WHAT’S HEEEE-EEERE! The proof copy of the Lazy Afternoon deck, that’s what! I started this deck four years ago as a speed-art project, and after two years of work, it laid dormant for another two years until conditions were right for me to sell it. What’s more, I was able to pull some financial strings, and not only will the Lazy Afternoon and the Mathematics Tarot be available in a month or less, they’ll be available directly from me, by way of Etsy!  No messing about with The Game Crafter — as wonderful as they are for mass production, they aren’t the best for individual purchases, and I’m both amazed and blessed that I’ll be able to make bulk orders and do my own selling. Each deck will be available in a regular edition, which will be shipped in a handmade bag themed to match the deck, as well as a limited edition set, the contents of which are currently a work in progress and a bit of a secret. In the meantime, I’m working frantically to get back to my schoolwork after three weeks spent on business affairs, and I’ve already begun work on a new painted deck, handpainted sets of runes, more necklaces, and above all, getting the Etsy shop set up. Everything is exciting!
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GUESS WHAT’S HEEEE-EEERE!

The proof copy of the Lazy Afternoon deck, that’s what!

I started this deck four years ago as a speed-art project, and after two years of work, it laid dormant for another two years until conditions were right for me to sell it.

What’s more, I was able to pull some financial strings, and not only will the Lazy Afternoon and the Mathematics Tarot be available in a month or less, they’ll be available directly from me, by way of Etsy!  No messing about with The Game Crafter — as wonderful as they are for mass production, they aren’t the best for individual purchases, and I’m both amazed and blessed that I’ll be able to make bulk orders and do my own selling.

Each deck will be available in a regular edition, which will be shipped in a handmade bag themed to match the deck, as well as a limited edition set, the contents of which are currently a work in progress and a bit of a secret.

In the meantime, I’m working frantically to get back to my schoolwork after three weeks spent on business affairs, and I’ve already begun work on a new painted deck, handpainted sets of runes, more necklaces, and above all, getting the Etsy shop set up.

Everything is exciting!

Huh.

Two days after moving everything into the new office, my wireless connection decided to die, once and for all, instead of just threatening to like it has been for months. 

Which effectively renders my entire office setup useless until I can afford and acquire a 75 foot ethernet cable. 

I’m writing this from my father’s computer, which gives me the crawling horrors, since in order to use it I must have the largest room in the house at my back.  Neurotic Alamaris does not do well with enormous open spaces behind her.

In the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t come anywhere near the sort of catastrophic business and household related disasters we have nightmares about, but nevertheless, it still blows dead bears.  Especially since I sold over two hundred books today just to make enough money to pay my bills, and couldn’t be more broke if I tried.

Given the lack of doors in the rest of the household and my mother’s inability to understand “quiet homework time” even when faced with absurdly convoluted death threats, I don’t even think math is on the table for the next week or two.  So far the plan is to rage, swear, curse, yell, and then make jewelry for three days without sleeping.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go read about the history of homosexual representation in Muslim art and grump for the rest of the evening.

Business meeting went really well!

And I mailed off a trade-package with a lovely lady from the forums.  Her deck was worth a little more than mine so I offered to even things up with a handmade necklace, which she was really excited about.  It made me smile!

And now I’m going to hop on my bike and ride for an hour to get to A’s place so I can hang out with Grouchy Old Man pony and harrass the stablehand.

Today: it is awesome.

Today is a work day, but it is not a Math Day.

I had a Sign.  (Also mostly because I don’t feel well enough to go to tutoring.)

Today is a Work On The Gallimaufry Deck Day and also jewelry and other businessy things.

Depending on how it goes, I may or may not have some thumbnails up later, and possibly jewelry photos, and also maybe something pagan-blogging related.

I had a big personal epiphany this morning so I’m still sort of working through that.  Brain is mildly stunned.  In a good way.  It was a nice sort of epiphany.

I’m off.  Sketching ahoy.

You know what feels really weird?

When I hung out with someone I hadn’t seen in a long time, I used to say “Nothing much, just school, still” when they asked me what I was doing.  And frankly, it embarassed me.  Kids younger than me were off at university and getting on with their lives, and I was sitting in my room still trying to graduate.  I hated my life, and my lack of things to do, and my constant procrastination because I didn’t know how to say no.

Today, when I saw an old friend and caught up, I ran out of steam before I ran out of things to say.  Tarot decks being published!  Jewelry being made!  Math going well!  Accounting on Wednesday!  Business name registration!  My sister got into the navy!

It was so utterly, unbearably refreshing I wanted to cry.

I love my life.