Some Things Michaela Made

This is going to be my last post on Yellow Bicycle Blog. Because, if you haven't read, I'm indecisive. I get bored easily. And I want it to match my personal website. At the time, I was sketching out one that focused on my animation & film & video work, thus Yellow Bicycle Films. But now I want to show much more than that. And I want it to be open. Just, ya know, some things I made. So head on over to my new blog:

some things michaela made

There will be a new post tomorrow, but for now, I embedded all my old posts on there. It's not completely set up yet (I lost a lot of time yesterday being stranded on a friends porch during a thunderstorm/tornado deal--not gonna lie, it was awesome) but it's enough to get you started.

Now I gotta go sew some penguins. I'll be adding more items to my Etsy shop tomorrow!

Things That Did Not Happen Today

• laundry
• sewing pocket friends
• finishing up this new blog of mine
• resting my knees

Because I decided to go sit on a friend's porch and eat popcorn. Then it started raining. Then thunderstorming. Then there were tornado sirens. So we got pizza and beer and waited for it to calm down.

So I could theoretically sew up some pocket friends before sleeping, but I'm exhausted, and I would much rather leave that for tomorrow.

Four weeks until Nicholas comes to Cleveland.

Don't Read This If You're About To Go To Bed And Would Prefer Not To Have Terrible Nightmares

Nicholas and I are on very different schedules. He works at 7am or something ridiculously early. I work at noon. He likes to go to bed at 10:30. I like to go to bed at (ideally 1:30 but realistically) 2:45. And since we live so far away, we try to talk to each other as much as we can. Which means about a half hour or so around 9:42pm every night. Then I call him to say good night and he mumbles a couple incoherent statements. And in the morning, he calls me to say good morning at some ungodly hour.

So today, when Nicholas called me and I did my best to be less than comatose, I didn't expect anything other than the usual "[greeting] [weather update] [plan for the day] [sweet sentiment of sorts]." But today he was especially excited. I'm talking, I-almost-got-out-of-bed-instead-of-going-back-to-sleep excited (almost). What did he have to tell me that was so exciting?

[Stop here if you really don't want nightmares.]

Today started like any normal day. He got ready for work. He put his boots on. He ate breakfast. Twenty minutes later, he leaves and stops at the gas station at the end of his street. While pumping gas, he feels something in his shoe.

[I'm warning you to stop. I will not be held responsible from consequential insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder.]

He figures it's a pebble or something moving around. I know. A pebble. But when you find out what it was, you'll see why this is so astounding. So he doesn't think much of it, and continues pumping gas. Then he feels it again. He figures, Hey, I've got time. So he unties his boot, and as soon as he removes it...

[THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!]

A freaking COCKROACH flies out!

How you can put a shoe on without feeling a cockroach in it is beyond me. (His excuse is that they were steel toed boots.)

Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow

What I accomplished today:

• Worked at the library
• Embroidered some wonderful characters
• Worked on my Etsy (besides just making things for it)
• Read parts of really awesome craft books
• Worked in my sketchbook
• Realized that my poor little bicycle desperately needs new break pads
• Worked on this new blog of mine
• Photographed some of my embroidery work
• Worked on my personal website
• Talked to Nicholas
• Worked on advertising my Etsy shop
• Roasted marshmallows over my kitchen stove
• Worked.

What I better get done tomorrow:

• Wake up at a decent time
• Get some cereal
• Sew some Pocket Friends
• Work at the Library
• Do LAUNDRY!!!
• Finish up stuff for my new blog

What I need to get done Thursday:

• Launch my new blog
• Photograph Pocket Friends

So that Friday I can:

• Update my shop
• Work at the library
• Possibly roast marshmallows over a real fire

Goodbye Bonnie & Clyde

This morning I found out my Bonnie & Clyde pocket friends were featured on this awesome Etsy Treasury list! I still haven't had any sales, but I just put items in my shop on Friday, so things will take time. But I'm especially excited about this treasury because I love Bonnie & Clyde! In high school, I wrote a [20 page] research paper about the duo and their transformation from criminals to pop culture icons and romanticized legends. I actually enjoyed the entire process of writing that paper. Especially reading through websites about them that featured banjo MIDI music in the background. Ha! But I think it's fascinating that I was interested in that kind of thing because now a lot of my work concerns the transformation from individual to character. So if you're a big fan of Bonnie & Clyde, too, then head on over to my shop and buy the pocket pack!

In other news, I'm incredibly indecisive. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before. Like the last time I switched my blog from Lovelier Thoughts to Yellow Bicycle Films.  So in case you haven't figured it out, I'm planning on switching to a different blog. I'll embed all of my old posts, of course, and include a redirect link from this site. I'm really hoping this will be the last time I do this. When I switched to Yellow Bicycle Films, I was planning on making a website for Yellow Bicycle Films, rather than Michaela Lynch (since I was bitter that MichaelaLynch.com was taken). But since then, I've decided that a) I don't really want to make a living doing animation and video, and b) SomeThingsMichaelaMade.com is totally available. I would rather make a living making things, or being an art director or event stylist or window display designer (basically make things aesthetically consistent and absolutely marvelous), and use my hard earned cash to fund my animation projects, which I would then submit to film festivals. And of course continue to make other art, too. I figured if I switched to Some Things Michaela Made, it's completely open and there would be no expectations. Not just video. Not just collage. Not just embroidery. Anything. And I think I need that right now. So get ready for a switch. I'll try to make it easy on you. But it's probably coming later this week. Sorry for any confusion!

#thisbetterbethelasttimeiswitchblogs

Golden Cat Studios!

You'd think the semester wasn't over based on the amount of work I've been doing. Well, and if you exclude the fact that I get plenty of sleep every night. Last week was insane. It was filled with making awards, making blogs, making pocket friends, making t-shirt designs, making bonfires, and finally putting my Etsy shop up!

golden cat studios on Etsy!

I've been wanting to get one up for months (like 7), but I'm always so busy. So since it's summer, I have plenty of time to make things, and I have been doing plenty of that. I'm hoping that my shop eventually catches on, because I would love some extra [tuition] money.

Right now, I have some pocket friends, custom embroidery portraits, and blog design packages in my shop, but I'll be adding more shortly. I also set up a blog for Golden Cat Studios, where you can even suggest ideas for pocket friends. Check it out here.

And because I wasn't busy enough... Yesterday was the Pop Up Pearl street fair in Old Brooklyn from noon (or 9:15 when we got there) til 7, where my friend Debbie & I handed out [absurd] awards all day. So while scoping out recipients, we walked up and down the street all day. And of course it was the first beautiful day in Cleveland in a long time, so we both ended up with some color.

After handing out awards, we caught some of Teenage Grandpa's performance (great band name, right?), then headed over to the Hessler Street Fair, because it's been awhile since we've seen hundreds of hippies in one concentrated area. It was wonderful. We ate funnel cake and kettle corn and looked around for awhile.

And then, because we hadn't done enough yet, we went to East Coast Custard for a delicious summer treat. There was also a bonfire, but I decided I was in the mood for sleep.

I'm hoping to start posting more regularly on here now that I've taken care of a lot of things. Let's also shoot for a regular sleep schedule. It's harder than it sounds.

Turning Heads

So school ended, and while I planned on either hibernating or just being comatose, that has not been the case. Which I'm totally ok with. I've been working on developing a consistent sleep schedule (sleeping every night!), and making something great every day. So after BFAs finished, this was my first big project.

At commencement each year, there's apparently a musical interlude. But this year, the plans fell through, and they didn't have a performer. So it was suggested they use a sound piece created by a CIA freshman with noisemakers his class made out of old card catalog cards. But they couldn't just play an mp3...so they asked me to make a video! I had a very short amount of time to work on it, and it had to be during my shift at the library (so I'd get paid!). So I spent 20 hours on it total. (I am totally efficient.)

At first they asked for a slideshow of pictures, showing the class with their noisemakers and other events that took place in the library. But the kind of slideshows I prefer are analog. So I used that as an aesthetic starting point and went from there.

Sidenote: animating those heads has been on my To Do list for over almost 2 years.

So here's the finished piece!