Summertime Lull

This blog entry is a part of the Blog Carnival for the EtsyBloggers Street Team.

Summer is notoriously slow for theatre. That said, we are able to do some prep work for the coming season and some maintenance that there wasn't time for while we're 'in season.' But we also spend a lot of time hanging out, drinking coffee, surfing the internet, and hiding from the folks in the Ivory Tower. I personally am lucky enough to have an office, so I plan on closing my door for a little while in the morning and then again in the afternoon so I can play with pliers. I'm hoping that the summertime lull will be a good time for me to continue building up my inventory as I prepare for ren faires! I was starting to think about the amount of goods I want to have in my booth. I plan on having a good selection of one of a kind items, some stuff that needs to be ordered (armor and clothing), as well as piles of production line kind of stuff. I thought that something like 100 Euro 4-1 bracelets would be a good start. This is the weave, but the pile o' pretty will not include the dangles:
I plan on making a variety of ring sizes as well different thickness; and also using a variety of metals. Hmmmm. . . maybe 100 won't be enough. . .

Also, with the slower summer season, Scott will be around a bit more often, too. Unfortunately for him, that means he's got to catch up on all of the house fixes he's been putting off.

"Real Life" is Bull: A Rant

This post is a part of the Etsy Bloggers Street Team Blog Carnival.

The theme is…BULL! Anything to do with bull: the animal bull, bullfights, just shooting the bull, the zodiac sign Taurus, something with the characteristics of a bull (stubbornness, strong will, strength) anything you think is bull, a bull market, the word bull and words that begin with bull as in bullies, bullseye, etc.

On Sunday night, I was bemoaning having to go into work the next morning and Scott said something to the effect of "welcome to real life" or something like that. Anyway, that got me to thinking. . . Why is it that "real life" consists of people having to go to a job they hate because they have to make a living? Yes, I realize that people need money to survive and that we haven't reached a utopia where we can barter and trade for what we need. However, does that mean that people have to waste away at a soulless job to justify their existence? I mean, think about it:

40 hours a week sitting behind a desk being bored to tears (my current predicament)
56 hours = 8 hours of sleep, 7 days a week
5 hours = 1 hour to get ready to go to said soulless job when it's only on 5 out of 7 days per week (sometimes it's more)
10 hours = 1 hour commute there and another back home
111 hours total. 111 HOURS out of a 168 hour week.

There are 168 hours in a week minus the 111 hours of "real life" bull leaves a total of 57 hours to do other non-bull stuff. When I'm lucky enough to have a full 48 hours off in a row, that leaves a total of 9 hours total for the other five days: approximately 1.8 hours each night. God forbid there are appointments, grocery shopping, cleaning, or other 'home business' that needs to be tended to.

I was lucky enough to have a job I loved for a full decade straight out of college. I was a stage manager for Broadway national tours, theatre in NY, regional theatre, a production manager at one of the busiest road houses in the country, and even did some business and industrial theatre. I always knew I was lucky to have a job that I loved and actually felt sorry for those that didn't. I couldn't fathom what it would be like to slave away at a job that I didn't love. Unfortunately, times have changed.

This is why I got so upset when Scott said "welcome to the real world" or whatever. Why does it have to be like this? I may sound naive saying this, but it is very upsetting to me.

This only makes me want even more to commit to my plan to start making chain maille for a living. I'm having problems figuring out how to do it with what little time I have left after the "real life" bull, though.

How do you do it? How are you reaching your dreams and living in the "real world" at the same time? How do you stay sane in a world where you might have to get by doing something that is not your passion?

Happy New Year! Huzzah!

*This entry is for the Etsy Bloggers Street Team weekly Carnival. This week it's hosted by AliciaMae.*

I hope everyone had a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.

Mine was relatively quiet. Things at work have been a bit busy, so when Scott and I were both home at the same time for Christmas Day, we totally just vegged out. It was nice.

What's in Store for Athena's Armoury in '08? And what was with the "huzzah" in the title of this entry?

I feel the winds of change stirring in my life. In a good way. I have been a successful theatre professional my whole life, however in recent years I've been feeling like I'm in a rut. I could not for the life of me figure out something else that I would rather be doing with my life. Scott kept saying to me, you should think about doing Ren Faires. And I kept thinking no, I could never do that. Until recently, it dawned on me: "Why the hell not?" It will allow me to continue to be involved in an extremely theatrical environment, I would be able to work for myself, making something I love, and (hopefully) have fun doing it. I've started researching how to get started and all that it involves so that I can start making some concrete plans. In general, I plan to start bulking up my inventory big time, so hopefully that means continuing to list regularly at Etsy. Now, I have to learn to speak with an accent and learn the Elizabethan language. . . and get a costume! Look out geekdom, here comes Athena's Armoury!

My Work Space, AKA My Dining Room Table

There are as many unique work spaces out there as there are unique artists who occupy them. Some use their kitchen/dining room table (like me), some their couch and coffee table, some a tray on their lap, some are even lucky enough to have a work bench or even a studio. I love getting a sneak peek into everyone's "studio." I know it's kind of voyeuristic, but I truly love to see how everyone works, get ideas for my own space (if I'm ever lucky enough), see their tools and materials.

For now, my work space is my dining room table. As many of you in a similar situation knows, sometimes you're lucky enough to be able to leave your materials and tools out and set up mid-project. Then there are those times that your boyfriend wants to have his friends over for a full day of gaming. Well, maybe not exactly that situation, but I think you get the idea. Mid-project or not, you have to clean everything up.

The above photo is of my kitchen table which in actuality is in my dining room, aka my work space. The plain wood table top you see is something that Scott (the boyfriend) built to give us a bigger table space: it's basically a piece of plywood that sits on top of the actual table with a frame so it doesn' t move; it also folds in half for storage. On the bottom left is Scott's Dremel tool which I have kind of pirated away from him to use with my Koil Kutter for cutting jump rings. You can see a batch of freshly cut rings as well as a strainer in which I rinse all of the lube off of them. My Craftsman pliers are out (this pic is obviously from before Scott gave me my beautiful Lindstroms) as well as some mandrels used for coiling. In the background, you can see my light box. This was not one of my more organized days, but then it's always difficult to stay organized in a temporary space.

Here's another shot of my work space. You can see in the background the storage cabinet that Scott and I share and a set of plastic drawers that contain some more jewelry making supplies; my tackle box with even more supplies and tools is on the floor between the two.

On top of the cabinet are two projects: one belonging to me and one belonging to Scott. The grey box laying down is his: it's a dice tower that he built from scratch with wood and felt. You throw dice in and it tumbles them up and then they come pouring out the bottom. It's really quite neat.

The other project is mine, of course: a work in progress coif. In this photo it looks kind of like a wig and I'm thinking of making more like this except in fun colors for all of those punk girls out there. Since this picture has been taken, I've finished it off and must admit, I've been slow to get pictures posted of her all done up.

Scott and I are in the process of trying to buy a house and if any of you have not been through that experience, imagine the most stressful time of your life and multiply it by a thousand. In any event, if all goes well, our new house will have three bedrooms. One of course is for us to sleep, and we were originally planning on having an office for us both in one and a guest bedroom in the other. Recently, we've been playing with a new idea that I think we've both fallen in love with: we're each going to get a room to do with as we please. If we decide to go this route, I'm going to have my own office/studio/workspace!! And then, of course, I'll have to add a new post with more pic's!

Florida Etsy Street Team is Being Organized!

I was reading through the Etsy Forums yesterday and saw a shout out to any Floridians in the Street Team Section. As we got to talking, we realized that there are currently street teams for Northern, Central, and Southern FL, but none of them really seem to be active. This led PaperScissorsArt to call for a chat last night to discuss how we would all like to go about organizing a Street Team that covers all of Florida. Check out Paper's Street Team Section post as well as her blog entry for an update on last night's chat and details if you're interested in taking part in the team. There's lots of great stuff planned already!

Personally, I'm very excited about this opportunity. I'm very much interested in being involved with the Etsy community as well as the opportunity to network, support, and get to know other Etsians around me. Plus, I'm in Clearwater, so it works out well!

I'm also a member of the fairly new Etsy Bloggers Street Team and am having a blast with that one, too. Check out the Etsy Bloggers Street Team Blog (of course we have one!) and the Etsy Bloggers Street Team Profile at Etsy if you're interested in joining that group. So far, we've had one group writing project (orange for Etsy) and are starting to do a weekly blog carnival with this week's writing project (subject: your studio/workspace).