Oh Hai, I've been MIA

Why hello there blog......
I've missed you have you missed me?

Life has, as it will, unexpectedly thrown me many a curve balls over this past year. It was been a little over one year that I have now held my position as the Gallery Manager and Organizational Administrator for the Ohio Art League.  It has had many trials and tribulations and I want to stick by my guns by not put anything negative on my blog. Hence not posting lately, not necessarily because of the job and work but everything in life has been a big ball of stress and angst but also light in unexpected areas.  It has been undoubtedly hard to focus.

My yarn store dreams are once again at a standstill. I have it all set up I just need my business account with the hubby and the space. I'm almost so prepared that I am scared to jump in. Also I am finding that I would like to be a bit more financially independent when I move onto this venture so I am content to sit another 6-8 months with a paying steady job to get majority of my debt paid off from silly things like store credit cards and low $200-1500 credit cards that I don't really need and should learn to live without.

All is well in the world of Torn Angel. I have been busy with custom orders, lot's of bridal work and working closely with the lovely new group that is Columbus Alternative Fashion Mob. Below are two of my favorite creations for that show.

 

Working on fashion things again has gotten my brain and fingers itching to also have the yarn store as a studio space. I have 1,001 ideas but no time or space to create them. I know I have the talent to make a living off of it, I just need to be kinder to myself and believe in myself more.

My biggest accomplishment since last I wrote was completing my level one shorts testing for my Muay Thai gym.  It was an amazing and humbling experience. I don't think I've ever worked that hard or trained so much for anything before in my life.  It was 11 full, non-stop minutes of physical intensity that felt like my lungs were on fire and I could barely stand. Clenches, boxing, kicks and just for fun I had jumping kicks to added as my extra special contribution to pain. A friend told me afterwards they felt like they were watching Mortal Kombat and repeatedly pressing for the jumping kick because I just kept going for a near 2 mins on jumping roundhouses. 

TOTALLY WORTH IT!

I can now consider myself a true student of Kru Hope Vitellas. Having this outlet has been the best thing I have done in a long time for myself. I have lost weight, been in amazing shape and the people at the gym are nothing but loving positive energy that helps me great through some of the tougher days I've had this year. My friend Laura also joined the gym with me and nicknamed me for Rainbow Dash from My Little Ponies.

REPRESENT!

Finally for this post I also hosted a Korean Indie Rock Band during their first US tour! It was great to hang out with some Koren natives and practice a bit of my broken Korean with them. We actually communicated very well considering how terrible my speaking is.

The band is called Love X Stereo and they are AMAZING. I got them a last minute hook up at Kobo Live with the help of my buddy Jacob Wooten and the fast thinking of Wolf Starr. Amazing fellows to work with for anything local and community. Anyways back to the band!

 

Love X Stereo is anything BUT the usual kpop. They are a indie rock electronica band and I love their sound and feel. My favorite two tracks are Soul City and Lose to Win.  It was so random but isn't that how the best things always happen? My friend Vinh had become friends with them and asked me to host them and find a spot for them to play. Now I have 5 new fantastic friends across the sea. It's always cool when you meet people that you see as "celebrity" and they are totally down to earth and cool and enjoy playing video games as much as you do. I can't wait till they visit again next year on their next tour!

Check out their new Album GLOW and help support another form of independent artists!

This is all I've got for now. Things are looking better and brighter.  Even with the yarn store on hold I am still checking out and doing as much research as I can by visiting other yarn stores and sampling new yarns and companies.

Cheers!

It's all in the advertising

The hardest thing about being independent in every way shape and form is advertising myself in my opinion.  I'm not the kind of person who likes to toot their own horn and shout from the mountains about my design abilities.   I struggle to even do a resume because I feel weird listing all my good accomplishments and rewards even though that is what you are supposed to do.

I've found the best way for me to get over this is by donating items to other blogs, and charities and let them speak for me.   It is also a clever way to get rid of inventory that just for whatever reason isn't moving.

Such as this Shawl.  Nothing wrong with it very simply design made from cotton/linen blend on my knitting machine.  It had hearts on etsy but alas I have been sitting on it for over a year now.

At least someone loved it enough to give it a home and plug about me on their Blog!

"Whitz World of Beauty"

Aside from that I've also Donated to the "Available Light Theatre" and "Fuse Factory".  It's all a work in progress so I gotta keep doing it.  Eventually it will all pay off.

Sauntering to the Finish

Unfortunately until I find my gorilla tripod half body shots are all you are getting for a bit. My full sized tripod is annoying and so is my camera. I can't wait to get a digital SLR.

I have an interview this week for a part time gig at Macy's. The reality kids is that it is VERY difficult to be an independent designer with no financial backing. Everything is paid by the piece and usually I don't make any money back because they are so extravagant they can't be sold. Also I live in Ohio........ not exactly the best fashion market. It is improving with all the boutiques but still a long shot from Chicago or NYC or even LA.

The necklace below is what I had been waiting to get in Chicago since I could not find it anywhere here in Ohio. It is from forever 21 and it was recently previewed in Lucky magazine. It was the last one left and one of the strands was broken. At first the register was going to give me a discount and then she snapped off the broken pearl and tried to fix it. Not giving me any discount and entirely offsetting the necklace. I was pissed but what can you do when it is already dirt cheap at $12.80. As soon as I came home I promptly took this out of my suitcase and fixed it properly. I had swiped the broken pearl piece from the counter before she swept it off.

I've also found my perfect Lady Vengeance eyeshadow! I'd been on the hunt for something just right since I saw the movie years ago. Most of the reds are too tame and don't give that great pop but now that MAC has "Brash and Bold" I can complete this. I wore it very tamed down in my first photo mixed in with "Milk" to the right. I know a lot of good MUA's will snuff their heads to MAC but I have a loyalty to them and I've used them long enough before and after the change of company hands to know what works for me. It is a little silly how much more work it takes to get things right but I just deal with it. Plus for the money it still is cheaper then what I would really want to play with. There is a newish makeup line I have been drying to try by "Doe Deere". She has these amazingly playful pigments, glitter and now coming out Lipstick line. She is one of the few bloggers that I check on everyday.