Snowmageddon 2014

Two inches of snow, one inch of ice, two billion people on the road at once. Thousands stranded, businesses and schools closed, cars wrecked, it looks like Walking Dead here in Atlanta.

The irony of Armageddon on TV this week is not lost on me.

I was among the fortunate few who made it home before too late last night, incident-free, with a short walk from my parked car, after the blunder made by the State of Georgia. One by one, family members reported safety and by the time my husband and I fell asleep after midnight, the last one was home safe. Coworkers and neighbors all kept tabs on each other, making sure everyone was safe, or home, or, at the very least, warm.

Not surprisingly, work was cancelled today.

It's amazing how captivity will waken the raging beast within. I woke up this morning after a restless night's sleep, full of dreams in which I had decided to become a pizza tosser in a new move my IT company had made in light of the circumstances, with that familiar, yet rarely-felt, itch. I needed to make something. The creative monster inside my gut was yawning, stretching, growling.

Of course, I had to fulfill my work duties, which included rerouting front-desk phone calls to my personal cell and answering e-mails in a timely manner. But fortunately, that doesn't seem to take up my whole day. In between phone calls from people who I could hardly understand and the occasional "Yes, I'm still working" e-mails, I pulled out some spare mugs and my trusty (most of the time) paint pens and went to work.

A little fox to keep you company.

This little guy came from the realization that, despite my training in "illustration" I had never made an illustrated mug. I loved sketching him out and I can't wait until the stores open back up and I can get more mugs with which I can make more little friends to sit with you at your desk.

I was getting ready to photograph this guy when I decided that, while I'm at it with the updating and the blogging and the stuff, it was the perfect opportunity to refresh the photos in the shop. I dug into my piles of goodies outside in the garage and found some colored chalk, a chalkboard, and a little red cardinal. Perfect.

Not only was I able to come up with something uniform, but it also turned out to be informative! I could change the board to say anything I wanted it to. Oh the power I felt! It meant less dependence on clever AND informative descriptions and more upfront information to catch your pretty little eyes! I had so much fun changing the words around, playing with a new lettering style, and snapping just the right angles.

The best part was the gratification that came from seeing my Etsy store as soon as I updated all of the photos on my listings. U N I F O R M . To me, they all look like parts of a whole, like they belong together now. Something, I realized, I had hoped I had been doing all along, but saw, by comparison, I had not. Nothing like a little refresher to something you're tired of looking at!

You can customize, I can customize, WE ALL CAN CUSTOMIZE!

Having a real stage for my mugs to stand on really made them feel a little more life-like to me. Like they were more than just a white mug with things on it. They are something special, something to be remarked upon, something to share.

I'm excited about the direction I'm heading in with this shop and the things I want to do with my time.

We have another day off tomorrow.

Who knows what is going to happen! (I do but I'm not telling you yet!! Gotta come back tomorrow and see for yourself!)

In the meantime, Michael and I are going to play some Banner Saga, watch some Princess Jellyfish, and listen to the sweet sleeping puppy snore loudly on the couch beside us.

Happy Snowmageddon!