Pulp Sushi

Year End 2010

 
It's that time for another year-end post.   Last year's post was a bit of a downer. I was still temping and terrified about my debts, my heart issues and not having medical insurance. It was a rather dark place that I don't wish to revisit.   2010 has been a better year, I found a job, got caught up with my bills, had open-heart surgery which was able to fix my problem and I continue to be on the up and up.   I have my moments of doubt, but overall I have a lot to be thankful for.

On the Etsy front it has been a little slow but it did pick up later in the year and I hope I can continue that in 2011.  It was nice to get into a store and art gallery as an alternative to just selling myself. I hope I can get in to more and sell more offline. I have definitely grown as a business person and learned a lot through all of my obsessive blog reads.

Watching the Hudson Valley Etsy team grow was nice too. I hope we can do more things together in the new year.  I'm planning to host our first meeting of the year at my place. :)  It was hard leaving the {NewNew} but I'm glad I was able to find another group of talented folks where everyone is big on helping and supporting one another.

As far as my new year's resolutions go, I'll keep it simple:

Wear more dresses
I'm lazy and don't want to put much thought into my outfits ok? :) Plus no one at my job wears dresses and I'm liking business casual items less and less. Especially work pants, yuck!

Contribute to more charities
This is pretty self-explanatory. No matter how little you may think you have, there's always going to be someone who needs more. I think about it a lot and "mean" to give.  So now it's time to put up or shut up.

Read more period books
Ok so this is something that started in 2010 and I'm still fascinated by reading novels from another time. I guess I'm giving Chick-Lit books a long break but I'll still throw in a Wrestler biography into the mix, yeah.

Purge my closet
I am pretty sure there are things in there I have not worn in all of 2010. I need to revisit these items and if I'm not diggin' it, it's to the drop box they go!

And lastly... don't keep people in my life who do not appreciate my friendship and make more dinner plans with the people who do. =) *Sigh* I'm glad I got this out publicly.

So whether you're glad to see this year end or you can look back fondly, I want to wish everyone a happy, safe and healthy 2011!

Garden & Snow

What do you do when you're snowed in? Maybe do a little online shopping. Latest necklace added today, Girl in the Garden. Yes the name is from a line in Shaun of the Dead, it has a nice ring to it. :)

(The pretty overlay is from Puglypixel)

So yeah, about that snow, thankfully my office was closed today anyway as part of the Christmas holiday so I wasn't planning on going anywhere.  Even if I wanted to, we can't because we're kind of snowed in.

I took some pictures when sun was peeking out.  The snow has stopped falling early this morning but it's very windy so it's blowing what has fallen everywhere.  It is suppose to warm up later this week so by New Year's Eve, most of this will all be melted.  But for now, I'm staying in my robe and PJs!

Christmas at the crib

IMG_2718
Originally uploaded by Marilyn P. Sushi

The other day I uploaded a bunch of photos to my Flickr. I took pictures of the various Christmas decorations I have around the apartment. Some are sweet, some are a bit "out there" but it is all a reflection of my boyfriend and I and our quirky interest. The Simpsons, Star Wars, Charlie Brown, other cuteness.  You can view the rest of the Flickr set by clicking *here*.  I don't know if I will be updating again before the big day so I'll just wish everyone who celebrates a very Merry Christmas!

New This Week...

Back to Monday again! Even though it was my Birthday weekend, I still worked on the shop adding more items, like this necklace:

I also added a couple more Big Rose Rings.  I especially love the black one.  I think I may ask my boyfriend to make one for me.  Did you not know that he makes the flower and cupcakes rings? Oh yes! I am too timid to mix the liquid plastic and do the painting myself.  I give him the idea and colors I would like used and he hammers them out.  More to come soon!

At my job there is a bookcase where people can leave unwanted books for others to pick up. Recently I noticed A Great and Terrible Beauty and from reading the back cover, I decided to pick it up. Never heard of this book, never heard of Libby Bray either, but I immediately got into this story. Victorian, suspense, fantasy - love it! I am even more excited to find out it is the first book of a trilogy *eep!*. I think this was a movie too, don't know, don't care. I can be so out of the loop sometimes. I am almost finished with this book, I hope I can grab the other two on Bookins.

Birthday Sale

Alright everyone, this Sunday is my birthday but I'm giving YOU a gift. Get 20% off your purchase from the Etsy shop today through Sunday night. Just enter the coupon code "bday2010" during checkout. Have a great weekend!

Craftacular Recap

Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I was so very exhausted after Sunday that I needed a day just to take off from work and sleep in late.  And I have no photos to share either, just one I took of my booth shortly before they started to let people in.

It turned out to be a pretty good day. Very long and exhausting, I think I hit the wall around 5:30 pm. At the end of the day I did my tally and compared my numbers to the show last year and this year I actually did a little better. Overall, 2010 was not the greatest year in selling in person but this show made up for it. This is a fun show to do because a lot of people go and I get to catch up with friends I don't get to see too often anymore. I got to the venue an hour before doors but there were people already standing on line waiting in the rain to get in. Those goodie bags that Bust Magazine give out must be filled with great stuff!

This Sunday!

UPDATE 12/8/2010

My booth has been moved to number 82.  You can still refer to the map below and see that 82 is just down the aisle from where I was originally suppose to be.

Here's the flier for the awesome show I'm doing this coming Sunday, Bust Magazine's Holiday Craftacular. You can check out the list of the vendors who will be there. 

When I say it's a big show, I'm not kidding and this is only the 1st floor. This year they added a second floor for additional vendors, wow! I will be at booth 97 82, pretty easy to find. I'll be close to some other vendor friends Nordea's Soaperie & RockLove Jewelry.

I'm going to be pretty busy every night this week getting ready with the exception of tonight. I'm going bowling with my coworkers as part of our department holiday party. I'm not very good at bowling but it should be fun.  So there will not be any new items added to the shop this week. I will be closing shop on Saturday and will reopen by the middle of next week.

Pretty Gift Wrap Tutorial

One of my favorite sites to window shop, Decorative Country Living, has posted a How To Wrap Gifts Stylishly tutorial.  Pretty pretty!

 
 
How sweet! Definitely should be applied for gifts going to adults.  I don't think little kids can appreciate quality and work going into gift wrapping like this, they just wanna get to the goods!

 

Seasons Greetings

Sure e-cards are quick and easy, but I still love getting cards in the mail.  I hang them on my shelf in the livingroom.  It's great to still see artists coming up with some fantastic designs for their cards.  They might have sold on Etsy by now but I still wanted to share them. :)

Silhouette Holiday Card from The Fabled Needle

 

Candy Cane Train from The Black Apple

 

Warmest Wishes from Gramkin Paper Studio...who wants hot chocolate???

 

Warm & Cozy Holiday from Cutiepie Company

 

Dot. holiday card from Stacey Winters