It’s not Monday, but it still seems far from Friday.
Tuesday.
It doesn’t blow my hair back with force, but it is full of opportunity for finding treats, teas, and treasures. My favorite new Tuesday ritual is to make a mood/inspiration board to inspire myself for the rest of the week~
Go on and make a cup of TUESDAY TEA while you look for inspiring mood board photos~
xx
I’m enjoying shakily drawing again and enjoying the sunshine~ I’m hoping that you are too! xx
It’s been quite a long while that I’ve been on this journey of self acceptance. Long ago there was an anonymous submission area on my blog and I got the sweetest message from a reader who said, “I wish you would be yourself and embrace it instead of hiding behind _____.”
I did hide. I hid behind my mom as a child, I hid behind Ben (my first love) as a teen/young adult, and I even hid behind Audrey Kitching and some other friends I did design for (I wasn’t as codependent with them) online and played with offline. I gave Audrey my illustrations and original artwork, I sent her inspirations daily, I blogged for her, I designed for her. We were close then, but I was always in the shadows. She would sometimes copy other designs from other artists and I didn’t want to promote any of my work because I was afraid if I took credit for my Tokyolux cats, designs, and pop art that it would be assumed I was taking credit for ALL of the copies as well.
That often happens to people who were traumatized in their youth. I was happy to create amazing things that everyone loved as long as I got to be in the background and no one really knew me.
When going through divorce or trauma it’s easy to do whatever you can to forget your memories and the pain. Embarrassingly enough, I imploded and “acted a fool.” I even pushed a lot of those friends in that community away back then. I met them all one last time at a Sanrio VIP party right near the end of my shadow self life. I was tired of being in the box I allowed myself to be placed in and I just freaked out and ran away.
I closed my store and I stopped updating my website. I fell off the online world to hide from it and isolated myself.
Now I’m 35 and I feel like I’ve been starting all over the last few years. I started traveling again and participating in shows in LA and NYC again (prior to the CORONAVIRUS of course). I started reconnecting with my old friends again. Like actually connecting. As myself.
I also started, 3 years ago, doing work for myself and I’m learning how to be comfortable promoting ME and MY WORK. IT’S HARD. It’s hard everyday. I often slink away and still struggle with quieting myself because I’m afraid. I’m afraid of what you will think of me or what you will say if I’m not who you expect or want me to be…
… but I’m done with that! I’m pushing myself harder each day to be MYSELF for ME. Not anyone else. I’m set on not becoming anything for anyone else. Except of course a loving mom who encourages her daughters to be powerful and NEVER stifle theirselves for ANYONE.
Thanks for coming along. I hope you brought snacks. xx
For those who don’t know, my life mascot and furry soul mate, Hobbes, passed away in early June. He was 17. It was completely heart shattering. I felt closer to him than anyone, having him near me for 17 years, a constant in my life and losing him was very tough.
I allowed myself time to mourn and fall apart for several days and then began to pick myself up the following. In the midst of this was my daughter’s birthday and other activities so to be a good mother I took maybe one to two days to completely grieve (alone) and nothing else.. the next few days I maintained a positive outlook for our children before they arrived back home.
The days following that we began to speak about whether we would want another pet and if it would be a dog or a cat.. David was eventually open that he would want another cat because his bond with Hobbes turned him into a full blown cat person. We waited until we could have a family meeting about the passing of Hobbes and if we would want another pet. We looked online the next whole night for babies to adopt and found a little Manx which looked like a relative of Hobbes. We adopted the next weekend and David named him Calvin in honor of his big brother. It took him maybe one eve before he was completely obsessed with David and I. He is crazy, kittenish and hyper half the time while snuggly, cuddly and a nap lover the other half. He is officially our new baby boy.
So what is it about cats that steal our hearts and soothe our souls? We all know petting our cats helps us relax and feel comforted like no one else, unconditional love and admiration for every pat, but did you know they can also detect your feelings and even medical emergencies such as seizures? That they lower blood pressure and instill a feeling of safety and security?
I’ve read about quite a few cats detecting seizures on the web these days and I know my own cat always knew when I was upset or sad as he would meow to me and lay on me for hours if needed. I read up about this and scientists don’t really understand much about it other than the cats are able to detect biochemical scents. Many cats even alert family if an owner is beginning to have a seizure. Did you know cat purrs encourage the mending of broken bones? Cats have also been known to wake and alert families of house fires while they sleep. Yes, cats can save lives AND improve your health and happiness. In fact, read 8 Benefits of Being a Cat Owner by Mental Floss.
So recently a rad clothing store by the name of Rose Wholesale with inexpensive wholesale prices asked me if I would review or model a few of their clothes. I of course said I’d be willing to give them a look if they could pick out something they thought was fitting to me (their stock size is ENORMOUS and I got lost in eyecandyland). They sent me a galaxy mini dress and a gradient cotton candy, fuzzy sweater. I love both items and have worn them at least a dozen times with no issues, wear or tear. The products, although inexpensive, hold up well in the wash and during normal activities (I still haven’t worn them during a marathon swim and will not be doing so because I am not a marathon swimmer!). I would highly recommend their shop to anyone looking for some unique and special items to cute-ify their wardrobe this spring at a very affordable price. My Mistereducated even has a sweater from there (several years old!) and will be doing a review from a man’s point of view as well.
All in all I’d have to say they have a great selection for both male and female and no matter what your style is you can find something to wet your tastebuds! I’m also wearing contacts by Pinky Paradise whom I will be reviewing next by vlog and my accessories are by Sanrio and my partner in crime’s brand, Sugar Junkie, whom we will be doing a feature on in the coming weeks! Stay tuned and stay cute this spring whether you marathon swim or sit and read your favorite book under a cherry tree!
If you have a company or product you think we would love, apply to be reviewed.
So I’ve been sketching so much more since I began living with the man of my dreams and realizing life can be comforting in transition, fear, sadness, happiness, ecstasy, extreme business, security, and overwhelming tasks lists. Sometimes those sketches are finally turned into illustrations by yours truly and other times they are filed, colored by the kiddies or lost and tossed. This one made it through to the other side. I was feeling very dark when I sketched this but also very excited about the future, thus she is split into two. Even more curious I died my hair half and half following this drawing. The dark vs cute seems to be a constant theme in my brain.
I’ve also updated my SHOP a bit and fallen in love with some old and new friends also using storenvy.
I’ve also got my digital life getting back on track with the welcome of a new computer to the office, my new lovely laptop (little MacBook Pro) which was a gift from Mistereducated. It is so happy to both work with me and snuggle in my still-in-the-plastic Lamb case that was gifted to me years ago. Such a princess of a laptop. She runs runs runs and keeps my eyes happy with a screen that is so decadent and color rich like a Japanese candy store. AH! I was so behind.
Also many more blog goodies are coming along.. I was forced by slight-OCD to organize my Gmail via Imap in Mac’s Mail app (if you need any help with this I have ultimate tips as I ripped quite a few hairs out in frustration). I had (no joke) a bit over 100,000 mails that needed to be organized into folders so I could have an empty inbox and get on track. I was living like a computer file hoarder. Mister even got me an external hard drive because like a hoarder I put off organizing my files and deleting un-needed files for so long and now every file I’ve ever cherished (except for that time in the 90s when my old PC crashed and lost all my files) is organized and neat on the hard drive. Such a relief! Everything is smooth sailing on candy seas. So alas, I have not forgotten about or misplaced your emails! After my crazy roller coaster ride and life restart I am still getting important items in order but I am now pretty much on top of a cotton candy cloud ready to welcome you for chats, cats and tea. I never forgot about you, I was only lost in the forest for awhile.
Also — I got a pink 3ds for a bit of fun in the meantime and mainly for Animal Crossing because it has always been my favorite game next to Maniac Mansion. If you’d like to be friends just leave your friend code. Mine is: 0662 4261 5265
See you in digital wonderland! XX
I recently had some new business cards printed. It’s been quite a while. I had a box of cards left with a wrong number from 7+ years ago and another box of cards that were simply for design AND not as clean as I’d like. I wanted a new card to promote myself AND mainly Miseducated. I had been featuring many businesses lately and finding new affiliates yet my card did not portray the importance of this whimsical land. Thus, my new cards were born promoting our beloved blog on the front and myself on the back which is really just more Miseducated brand. I’m VERY pleased with them and a lot of other recent orders for my store materials so I had to write a little post honoring their service in case there are others looking for a place to print.
I’m sure if you are a professional of any sort online then you’ve heard of VistaPrint before while scrolling amongst the tons of searches for print companies and inexpensive business cards. I first learned about them many years ago when a friend ordered their free business cards, found out I can completely customize my order in every way and have been hooked since. I use them for most, if not all, of my professionally printed business materials and I have never been disappointed. I have in fact ordered the wrong item before and they fixed it immediately. I have had a slight error in the past and I received the correct item free of charge in a flash. I also prefer MOO cards but with the inexpensive quality and quantity that VistaPrint offers I most often turn to them for basic business printed materials. I highly recommend VistaPrint to all of my art and design friends and have heard very similar reviews. My boyfriend uses them, my best friends use them. If you’re looking for something done right and affordable this is where you go. And here’s a few VistaPrint coupon codes for even better print deals.
If you’re interested in ordering materials from VistaPrint or another print company but need an affective and original design for yourself or your brand do not hesitate to ask me. I’m always open to discussing new projects with readers and helping you out in any way that I am able to.
Why hello! Here’s some photos of me being a dork and messing around with the hookah. I love lemonade flavored shisha! Yum! It inspires me to set up mini-photoshoots filled with nonsense.
A lot of things are changing… Things at Miseducated and personal things. They’re all exciting changes though, don’t worry. In a few months I’ll have more news for you; right now everything’s really cloudy.
Keep writing/drawing is the best advice I’ve ever recieved. That’s a lot of what I’ve been doing. Working and writing and playing with Colette. She’s so hilarious and she keeps me on my feet. Actually she makes it quite hard to focus on work most of the time. I have to get better at delegating time!
Today we had our first finger painting session. How exciting! Colette figured out right away how to put your finger in the paint and then to put it on the paper. She must have had a lot of fun because it wasn’t very long after this that she decided to take a nap. You would think I’d get a lot of work done while she’s asleep but it always just makes me so bored that I want to take a nap with her. Haha!
Do you have any questions that you don’t feel like asking on formspring? Just email us or reply to this post. I’m always happy to help in any way that I can. We’ve also finally been catching up on emails so if you’ve already sent one you’ll soon be getting a reply!
Today we did our photoshoot and it went very well. I must say I feel bad for Jamie getting stuck with me as a model, though. In every single photo I’m leering from the sun and have my chin in the double position. Ahh! How embarrassing! I’ll be sure to show you her shoot when she uploads it.
We’re already planning a new one and I can’t wait. This was so much fun.
If you’re looking for where to buy the goodies in these shots head on over to Sugar Junkie and our shop.
Hair and Makeup: Pajamie
Stylist: Amber Renée
Photographer: Amber Renée
Accessories: Sugar Junkie and Miseducated
Clothing: Miseducated
I’ve been working like crazy lately and unable to respond to many of your messages but I am getting them and I will catch up eventually. Everything’s changing from winter to spring now and it’s caused quite an overload of work. I understand wanting to start anew and get new collections out, whew so much to do and so little time to blog!
Speaking of collections I’m collaborating with one of my dearest friends, Chelsea of Paper*Cakes on a new project that will be out soon~
I miss the days when I could sit and produce several visual blog posts in no time. I feel like all of that drive has to be focused on Colette and work right now and I just cannot find that same inspiration for blogging. That explains all the rambling diary posts.
Did I tell you my schedule totally changed? We all have to get up before dawn now due to my husbands new job. I’m still trying to get motivated in the early morning but so far I’ve just been sketching, working and chugging lots of tea and vanilla coffee. I’ll get the hang of this!
Miseducated is also going through some changes.. I’ve been reorganizing and there’s much more to go so stay tuned.