blog: headed home for the holidays!

Hello my dears!! Happy Saturday~ I come to you from a gently snowy Seattle. It's been a while since the snowy photo up above, so I'm very happy to have some flurries outside again--oh, wait, it's rain again. It's sleet. We'll see how this develops lolol. 

I wanted to write and let y'all know that I am headed home to Texas tomorrow for Christmas!! This December has been so extremely difficult, for obvious reasons (I thought I was prepared for the pain this holiday season was going to bring, but it has still blindsided me), so I'm looking forward to visiting my family. My sister just told me she booked a ~Christmas brunch~ for me, her, and my mom for Wednesday, and it looks like it's gonna be a very cute darling time hehe. 

I also wanted to do a little photo dump! And maybe tell you what's been going on in my world for the past little while.

My college friend Alec (left) came up to visit!! I haven't seen him in like 3 years!! Seth (right) is another college friend, and he's actually the reason I moved up to Seattle in the first place :D He suggested it to me when I was going through my post-grad existential crisis, and I'm so grateful for it. So I got to spend last week catching up with my two dear friends and it was a really lovely time!! Friends are good.

Pepper has adopted a new habit of sleeping with me under the covers -- she'll nestle in and rest her head on my shoulder, and fall asleep like that. I'll wake up at 5am to tend to Sophie causing mayhem (she likes to mess with stuff on my nightstand when she thinks it's breakfast time), and Pepper will still be sleeping on my shoulder ToT

And they are posted in the carousel for easy perusal, and for CLOSE-UP viewing, but here is a little collage of some cute catto pics because the cats have been such a huge source of joy for me over the last two months. My little void anchors.

That wide-angle photo of Pepper is maybe one of my favorite photos of all time. She looks comically perfect. Also, the cats have really been enjoying sleeping on the radiators as it's gotten quite frosty up here!!

I also got to make the menu board signs for a local cafe's winter drink menu, and I'm so happy with how they turned out. The Christmas specials are a little too spaced out, but done is better than perfect is what I've been repeating to myself lol

I'm really really happy especially with the lettering !! It's very readable but also extremely cute. :3

I've also been busy making lots of stuff too-- I, like any ADHD maker, have a WIP graveyard where I have so many in-progress works (I have finished 3/4 of the Christmas presents I'll need for my trip back to Texas, the last one I'm gonna try and finish on the plane). I don't wanna post all of them cause SECRETS but!! Here is a cute little floral bookmark I made for one of my friends, this dope as hell floral lace crochet scarf that I made for my best friend (it looks really complicated and impressive, but if you're a confident beginner crocheter, I think you could absolutely make this!), and these cute little fingerless mitts!! That I have been wearing every day lately, I need to make another pair. They're so practical!

I bought some really really beautiful hand-dyed yarn to knit myself a pair of hand warmers using this pattern, but knitting is still a bit slow for me so I whipped up these crochet ones first. I'm also kinda scared of the magic loop technique, but the only way to learn is to practice!! So!!

Also! I rearranged my studio -- I decided to get rid of my toaster oven (the cafe downstairs has one, and I'm good friends with all the baristas so they'd let me use it no problem, as long as it's a slow day) and my little tea station (as I'm not using it like I thought I would -- I think it would be different if my studio had a sink hookup), and instead I made a little packing station! So this is now where all my Patreon stickers live, and it's a designated spot for either me or Marian to sit and pack, and it keeps my big table in the middle of the space free for art makin'. 

Also it's so dark so early now, I hate that I have to use my overhead lights :(

Anywho, that's all I have for you right now! My plane leaves tomorrow afternoon so today consists of packing and cleaning and tying up any major loose ends before I depart. I shipped out the last of the current open orders from the secret shop (at least ones placed up until yesterday, 12/16). I'll be recording my monthly podcast while I'm down in Houston, as well as uploading my sketchbook tour so keep an eye out for that. I'm also working on some end of the year goodies for y'all ;o) And all the monthly art mail will be sent out either when I return, or right at the beginning of the new year. 

OH YEAH I almost forgot! I'm not sure if I've announced this here yet, but I'll be understudying for Sense & Sensibility at Village Theatre in the spring!! Rehearsals start Jan 3rd, and I'll be busy busy busy through that month, and then I'll be on call all of February and March in case I need to go on for any shows. So January might be a wee bit quiet, but I'm hoping to maybe make a cute little behind-the-scenes/day-in-the-life vlog or two.

I hope you're doing well -- sending so much love your way, and I hope your end of 2022 is filled with good things and good people. <333 Happy holidays!!!

Love,
Chey xxx