More than Sands

Some beautiful artistic ability to inspire you this weekend.

Welcome to the Studio!

I've been hard at work getting my studio/bonus room back in order so I actually feel inclined to use it. Not that it was ever really IN order to begin with since we haven't lived in our house for very long. I WISH WISH WISH I had taken a "before" photo because the "after" photo just does not do it any justice.
Welcome to my studio! I'm in the process of splitting the room in two so that half the room can be my studio and the other half can be a sitting area/movie room since we don't want our TV in the living room downstairs. The giant khaki tarp is just that...a tarp! For painting. On the right is my little collage table where I make all the collage bottles. And then the rest is just storage, storage, and more storage. But it's alllll ART storage. So you see before you endless creative possibilities. I know, it gives me chills too. :P
I'm getting one more wire shelf like the one on the right and am going to put it on the left to create the illusion of a split in the room. I will put another picture up once the whole project is done. But it's going to be pretty sweet. :) The idea of paint is settling itself in my mind as well. My husband is in "rent" mode meaning he doesn't want to paint. But he is so used to moving every year or so. So the idea of being somewhere longer is unthinkable. So...paint is on the horizon! It's going to be super kick-ass once it's done. I promise.
ALMOST done with the other collage bottles. Did another coat last night. One more to go!

Collage Bottle No. 82!

Finally! I finished a collage bottle. I was actually good and accomplished stuff this weekend. I have three more on the way that are still in the process of being sealed but this one is all ready and in my Etsy Store! It features browns and blue hues and to-die-for animal prints for all! I really dig it and I hope you do too.

How I Love Letters

I received my first letter from my deployed husband today. We've talked on the phone and emailed...but it was my first REAL PAPER HAND WRITTEN letter from him. And it felt awesome to see his handwriting again.
My ingenious mother (because she really is ingenious) came up with the most awesome idea/project for the Deployment Chain. After making it, I thought "I love this! I don't want to just throw it away when it's over!" So I was trying to think of something to do with the pieces of paper. My mom suggested saving the pieces of paper and putting the date on each one! Then I could make a collage box to keep all our letters in and cover it with all the days I waited for him to come home. I really dig that idea. So...that's what I'm gunna do. Deal.

Just When I Thought I Blogged Enough

So...to clear up any confusion that may occur when trying to pronounce my blog name "Pretty Much LiQi Designs," here's the story behind it. I grew up overseas in China. Yeah, different! It was honestly an amazing experience and I treasure all my memories from being over there. It still feels like I just moved a few weeks ago and I consider where I lived in China to be my hometown to this day. I always will.
In China, you don't "translate" your English name into Chinese because it can't literally translate. Most foreigners (meaning anyone that's not Chinese) either have a name chosen for them by a teacher or friend or they have a name made up that SOUNDS like their English name...but may not actually have any meaning at all. For example, Mark would be Ma Ke. When spoken, it does sound like Mark but I'm not sure if it means anything at all.
Being one to go for sentiment and meaning, I wanted a REAL name. Something that MEANT something. For the first few years we lived there, Chinese people struggled to pronounce my English name and finally, at the age of 8, I was given my Chinese name. Ironically it was given to me by a man I barely knew...and to this day I feel its meaning relates to me better than my English name ever has. I always have found it interesting that someone who knew me so little gave me a name that fit me so well. LiQi is my Chinese given name and it is pronounced "Lee Chee." So don't feel silly if you've been saying "Lee Quee" Designs all this time because that's a common mistake. Being a culture that marvels at beauty, my name literally means "Unique Beauty." Although I like to say it means "Pretty Weird" because technically it can be translated that way. "Pretty Weird" made me think of "Pretty Much," a term I use often. So the "Pretty" works double fold. And there you have my blog/etsy shop name.
I have always been one to do things different or my own way. And the word "Qi's" meaning really encompasses that idea for me in who I am. So I can't think of how a better name could have been chosen for me.

A Very Pink Blog

IT IS FINISHED! I must say...this Deployment Chain was definitely more time consuming than expected. However, I gotta be realistic. We're talking about 7 months worth of tiny strips of paper stuck together with tiny strips of hand-cut tape. Yeah...and here I was thinking it would be a one night project. More like 4 or 5. But never the less, it is finished. I WANTED to get a picture of it all in a big pile but it tended to get tangled and I was afraid if I let it down from its haven up high (my kittens are dying to join in the fun), it would never go up again...because of tiny claws and teeth. So without further ado, here is my lovely Deployment Chain:
August! September! October! November! December! January! February!I didn't realize until afterward that I kept my favorite paper designs for November (my birthday month) and February ( the month John will most likely return to me). :)
In other news...I bought some amazingly awesome robot postcards from the most amazing Etsy seller: Crumpettimecomics. Check out his shop here. I received them in the mail yesterday and was struck silly with how awesome they are. My guest room is robot themed (you know you're jealous) and I wanted to frame them and hang them up. I framed them last night and they're friggin great. Now just to hang them. I can't wait to see what else Crumpettimecomics comes out with because I love his work! Talking to him lead him to tell me that he liked MY work as well...which was so encouraging to hear as I have neglected my Etsy shop SO much, it's embarrassing. It made me feel better that someone had actually looked and I feel a new PUSH of confidence to start playing around in the art room upstairs. Now if only it wasn't a battle field. Gotta remedy that pronto.

So Long, My Darling

I apologize for the silence. But I do have an excuse! A good one. My husband just deployed this past week (I can't believe it's already been a week) and so with that comes lots of challenges and just...newness. It's not all bad and crying. In fact, after he left I didn't cry until Monday. And it was over something rather silly. I have to say I've held it together really well and I actually feel very good. I miss him to pieces...but I figure being depressed isn't going to help anything, is it? I've gotten to talk to him on the phone randomly and have gotten a few emails. In the meantime, I've kept myself very busy with friends. So much so that my poor house has been neglected. I tried to catch up on that this weekend and today...felt crummy last night and this morning so I called in sick. Later in the afternoon I didn't feel as bad so I got to work cleaning. Might as well be productive in some way or another, right?
Anyway...long story short...I've been very busy. But I want to create something! Even if it isn't anything to put in my poor Etsy store. My "studio" as it were is a complete war zone upstairs so I think that will be my next area of cleaning so I feel inclined to actually USE it. What a thought.
For now...I'm off to create a Deployment Chain! You know...like those paper chains you make to countdown for Christmas or a Birthday? This one is for a Deployment! I want to use different colored paper for each month so that when you finish a month, you're very aware of it! I'll post how it turns out. ;)