If you spend enough time driving about rural parts of the Eastern United States, you’ll notice these colorful patterned squares adoring barns, houses, sheds, gardens, and more. Called “barn quilts,” they’re painted wooden or metal signs meant to look like a fabric quilt block. The history of barn quilts is not fully clear, but it seems they were brought over to the States from European settlers. There also seems to be some tales of them having a role in Civil War and Underground Railroad times, where quilts were used as a method of signaling information about the house. And to this day, they’re still used, helping create a visual landmark for an area, passing on a family symbol, as part of tourism in barn quilt trail, and sometimes just as pleasant decoration.

Whoo. The site is back up and running. It was absolute chaos with Bluehost losing my site data and then needing to re-post everything from my backups. Definitely gonna switch hosting services in three years from now when my current plan ends… BUT, now that things are mostly back in order, I can get back to posting.

Today I want to share with you my little Valentine’s Day craft for Alex! I was on Pinterest when I saw a wedding invitation in the style of a secret agent spy letter. It reminded me a lot of those “solve the murder” puzzle boxes that put you in the shoes of a detective. I really loved the idea and came up with the idea to put together a Valentine’s puzzle. He must solve each clue to spell out the words to the question (“BE MINE?”).

This year, I spent about a month of my summer on the East Coast to work with my professor at the marine labs over in Woods Hole. Given its proximity to Boston, I was able to spend a lot of time with my partner, including celebrating our one year anniversary together (♡ yay!). I posted here the scrapbook I made as a gift, but his gift to me was just as, if not even more special. For ages, I’ve wanted to give glassblowing a try. It’s one of those art forms that really capture my heart, and the technique involved is so unique. And it’s no surprise to those around me that I love it, heck, back a little before the pandemic, my dad and I binge-watched a glass blowing competition show, only further fueling my desire to attempt it. So as an anniversary present, Alex surprised me by taking us glassblowing. Talk about heart melting like sand in the glassblowing furnace!

What happens when you can’t give gifts like normal people? You make them like a goofy person, of course! I don’t really know where I was going with that. I just want to share a sorta ridiculous present I put a lot of time, supplies, and effort into, with hopes of sharing the joy and maybe inspiration.

So, I needed to figure out a gift for Alex for our 1 year anniversary, but came across the challenge of having a grad school budget despite wanting a gift that really dazzled. I figured putting together a photo album was a great idea, but that didn’t feel like enough. I could design it to look professional on Shutterfly? I could paint the cover like I did here for my 2021 photo challenge? Hmmmm, maybe… But then it hit me– make a pop-up book. Have I ever made a pop-up book before, such that this would be a natural consideration? Nope. But as I’ve seen before with myself, I have a craftsy background and the queer audacity that I can make anything I put my mind to (and make a Pinterest board for). I rounded up ideas, made a lot of messes, and, what ended up being a few months later, I had my final project.

For the last few years, I’ve given myself small art challenges to keep my creative juices flowing, and, in all honesty, to give me a semi-physical and conclusive product to show and feel satisfied with. Back in 2021, I decided to use an old film camera style app to record my year as though I had a disposable camera in my pocket. When the year was up, I printed them out and put them into an album I decorated to be my yearbook (you can read about it here for part 1 and part 2). I was really content with the outcome and find it fun to show to friends who are into that sort of thing, not to mention it is much nicer to reminisce with a book than just on your phone or computer. For 2022, I tried (and failed) at keeping up with a 365 day photo challenge, where as the name suggests, I would take and post one photo a day. Now with 2023 coming up, I wanted to make my final decision for the new year.

While at the conference I attended in late June/July, I met someone quite kind and fascinating, and although being over 1000+ miles away, we’ve managed to keep in contact. We recently decided to each send each other a little package, and it’s gotten me thinking of how I could put together something thoughtful without spending too much, nor being “extra,” as I can tend to get at times. While I pull out all the stops with my winter holiday/Christmas greetings, from hand-painted cards with perfumes and wax seals to perfectly wrapped presents with intricate bows, I haven’t had the chance to make any sort of true snail mail since the days of my old art business as a kid. I’d like to say that the cutesy art YouTubers and Pinterest boards of product packaging ideas have given me a penchant for well-curated and/or well-dressed parcels, and although back then the styles were quite brash with pinks and anything Sanario, the care put into what was really stood out. For this post, I want to share my end of the little snail mail bargain, and hopefully I can update when I hear how the receiver likes it.

In the last part, I rambled a bit about my thoughts on how society treats photography nowadays, but I want to switch gears to the little project I gave myself for 2021. To recap, in late 2020 I downloaded a HUJI camera app on my phone and have been taking pictures of things that make me happy or that I don’t want to forget since. I decided that starting with January 2021, I’d make a faux old-fashioned yearbook for just myself.

Tattoos: poking ink into the dermal layer of your skin into aesthetically pleasing designs in hopes they stay there long-term. Such a strange concept as they do not directly affect our survival, yet still are found as an art form all around the world, past, present, and probably future. Their significance can be as simple as “I like this drawing and want it on me” to having deep religious and cultural meaning. In some places, such as Japan, they have negative connotations, such as tying you to gangs and other nefarious activity. In others, it demonstrates your rank in society, such as in some Polynesian cultures. For myself, personally, I find them a form of self-expression and art. It is not that I simply love every tattoo; I’ve seen some quite hideous ones or even ones in places that lead me to believe one’s life choices may be a bit skewed. Overall, though, I appreciate them and have wanted to both adorn myself with them and do the same for others. I still remember being in the limo on the way to prom and looking up with my friend what it takes to become a tattoo artist, a job I secretly still wish to have. Later, in university, I told myself that if I got into medical school, I’d get a tattoo as a form of celebration. What I’m trying to say is that this is something I’ve considered for a long time, and now that I will be starting graduate school, I decided I’ll actually go through with it.