Quick Update.

So we moved, and the new house is amazing even though we have found a lot of quirks and odd little details, but that is just how it is with lived in houses. We still love it. I took a few "before" pictures of my craft room, and if I ever feel that I reach an "after" point I'll take some pictures of that too and write a post with them. The room is a little smaller than my old one, but I think that is a good thing. Things in this room so far are closer, and I don't feel so microscopic when I'm sitting in it alone.

At first I was set on lime green walls, but after much thought (irregardless of my husband's 'No! I don't want that ugly color in this house!' comments) I decided on grey. It won't be painted for some time, but when we do get around to painting the color won't be too dark as to affect my jewelry photo shoots in a negative way, and it has way more personality than dirty white walls. White walls are so boring and uninspired.

It's moving time.

We are due to move at the end of the week, and we have barely packed. We aren't panicking yet, but I'm sure that's going to change when it comes to our days off from work and have to scramble to get everything packed, moved, and cleaned. My husband says to focus on my craft room, and he will get the rest of the house. Okay!

I was browsing through this crafty storage blog, and I'm looking forward to my new room and how it's going to be once everything is unpacked and organized. I foresee painted walls, mounted shelves, cute containers and jars, and tons more to always keep me motivated to create something new. Maybe one day my room will look as amazing as some of the rooms featured on that blog.

Do you have any pictures of your craft/work space? I'd love to see them. Please feel free to leave a link in the comments.

Thank you for reading.

Greens to Go - Health in a Bottle or Glass

Can you get 6 servings of fruit and vegetables a day in one 16 ounce bottle of water or glass? This product says so.

I went shopping the other day at Costco and found this interesting product. It's made with real organic fruits and vegetables and uses a natural sweetener - Stevia. It comes in little pouches that you can put in your purse or lunch box, and all you need to do is dump it in a bottle of water and shake it up. (or put it in a glass and stir it)

As I type I'm drinking my first glass of this stuff. I love the color green, but not this kind of green. It doesn't look so great, but the flavor is pretty decent. If you check out some of the reviews on Amazon, the "aftertaste" is the Stevia sweetener. It takes a little getting used to, but it's so much healthier than sugar. I'm still waiting to hear what my picky husband thinks of it, and I'm going to stick with drinking this every day for awhile to see if I feel an overall "improvement" in myself.

I see it coming in handy in the afternoon at work. I always crave flavor instead of just water, and with this I get both.

I do not work for the company that makes this product. I just wanted to share what I found to help out my readers in case they are looking for an easy way to consume healthier foods.

Thanks so much for reading.

A Must See Film: Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead

After browsing my Netflix instant cue for something new to watch this film caught my eye. I thought it would be a nice background movie to watch while I played around on the computer.

Well shortly after clicking "play" I was hooked and just watched the entire thing.

FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe's personal mission to regain his health while traveling across America, juicer in tow, and inspiring others to do the same.

Source: Amazon.com

But it's a lot more interesting than that. There is Joe who makes this major change in his life and "cures" his illness enough so he does not have any more outbreaks and can stop taking his medication. Then along his journey he meets an obese man that is desperate for help. In the end they lost so much weight and looked so much healthier.

And it all started with a juice fast.

This film is very inspirational, and it makes you think about your health and how it is all in your hands. No matter how far you have let yourself go there is still hope for a long and healthy life.

You can watch this movie on Netflix or Amazon.

Stumbled Upon a Great Author

If you haven't yet heard of The Mortal Instruments or The Infernal Devices series yet you need to go check them out now!

I can't remember where I first heard about Cassandra Clare and her books, but I'm thankful to whomever it was that led me to her enchanting stories.

The Mortal Instruments series is about shadowhunters and nephilim, and an ordinary girl that soon discovers that the world she lived in is nothing like it seems. If I had to compare it to other stories or movies currently out in the world, I'd say it was a mix between Harry Potter and The Sword of Truth but not quite as epic. I have only read the first three books in this series as of yet, but they are so gripping and entertaining. I love them.

There is going to be a movie soon to, and I've read over the Internet that it's supposed to be the next Twilight and Harry Potter craze.

The Infernal Devices is fairly new; the second book is due in December 2011. It's a gripping adventure that includes magic and downworlders: warlocks, vampires, and other supernaturals. December feels so far away, but it will definitely be worth the wait.

For more information about these book series you can visit the author's website:
http://cassie-claire.com/cms/home

Thanks for reading! I hope I've inspired someone to also stumble upon these great books.

Time is Unreal.

My online presence has been lacking. Long story short I've had some personal health issues to deal with as well as my husband and I are in the process of buying our first home.

I've had so many hopes and dreams I wanted to accomplish this year with __1337 Art. I do still hope to achieve some of them, but I have to take things slow and work around our moving schedule and settling.

What I will continue to do is add new items to my Etsy, Artfire, and Zibbet shops and hopefully in time before the holidays I want to have my personal website up and running so my customers can shop directly from the site.

I will update again when I'm ready to spend an afternoon adding new items to my shops. You can also follow me on Facebook to get instant access to new listings as they are posted.

Life is too short to hope and dream but not take enough action to make these things a reality.

Goal this year.

I am kind of thrilled with myself. My main goal this year is to successfully sell in 7 different online shop/venues. I just spent countless minutes, maybe even hours going through some of my inventory and sorting/organizing it. I think I'm really going to reach as well as surpass this goal. After looking at my older pieces and my newer ones I'm getting so excited to create and make things work.

I have so much to photograph and list. Yay 2011! <3

Where Products are Shipped

Ever wonder how your order from 1337 Art is prepared and packaged?

This is (ideally) how my shipping area is supposed to look. I took this picture after I first set it up, and after I played over there it got messy and temperamental when I tried to keep it "clean."

I'm currently moving it across the room so I can use this shelf to hoard my beads for easier access. My work tables are in front of that white drawer. Think upside "L" shape.

Once it is all set up (again) and personalized I will post another picture. Maybe if I keep posting pictures it will inspire my office / studio area to clean itself? And again, when the whole room is redone I'll post those pictures as well.

Thank you so much for reading!

A Vampire Book Worth Reading!

As an early Christmas gift my hubby gave me a signed copy of this newish book "Risen" by Krystal Lawrence.

Yes, it is a vampire book, but it's not the Twilight vampires, nor is it Anne Rice's vampires. Krystal Lawrence has created her own un-living, reacting vampire in this suspense thriller (with a dash of horror!) I wasn't sure at first what I thought about this vampire, but by the end of the book all I could think was "Well done!"

It was a pleasure to read. The characters and their situations are so real - you don't often get that in a book. A real page turner.

You can purchase the book here. I really really hope there's a sequel.

The author, Krystal Lawrence, lives in the Pacific Northwest and is writing her second book. Her website is as follows:

www.darksidestories.com

Poll: Are You Bothered When an Artist Redirects You to an Off Site Venue to Purchase Their Artwork?

I previously conducted a survey entitled, "Does it turn you off when you visit an artist's website, and you have to purchase their products off site at a venue such as Etsy or Ebay?"

The general consensus of 43 participants voted that it did not bother them at all. 28 participants admitted that it does bother them. Below are a few comments that were left in regards to this topic:

"To be honest, I've never had the opportunity. I can see how it would turn one off since it's a detriment to convenience, since you're going to -another- site and all, but I also can understand why they do it."

"While it definitely seems more professional if the artist has their work for sale on their own page, I can also understand from a seller's perspective that the type of website needed for that sort of process is not only more expensive but much much harder to code. Honestly, if anything, it just makes the artist seem a little less professional, but being a human and not a business isn't always a bad thing."

"Well, i don't like it when you have to buy their products on Ebay, but places like Etsy are fine. but it is easier and convenient when you can buy their products on their website, and very easy just with PayPal and all that business, but there's no problem with just a few more clicks to go to another website "

"It doesn't bother me because they usually live a ways away from me, and that's their method of getting their product to you. I mean, at least you know for a fact that you're going to get what you ordered because artists are broke and they want to spread their creations! I myself plan on getting an Etsy eventually. "

"It irritates me because i don't have accounts with Ebay or Etsy and i don't really want to set one up to buy one product =/"

To read the entire list of comments please follow the link below:
http://1337-art.deviantart.com/journal/poll/1408755/

Thank you so much for reading. I hope this helps out the independent artists out there that are troubled with directing customers off site to another venue to purchase their artwork.

<3
Christina