Sublet Sweet Sublet -- A peek inside my closet sanctuary

I've always loved forts, tents, and the like. That also includes converted crawlspaces, secret rooms, makeshift tents, and natural crawlspaces woven by vines and tree branches. It's been a little over 3 months since I've moved into my new space, and I took the liberty of converting half of my closet into a miniature sanctuary within a sanctuary. This is especially exciting as this is the first time I have a room to myself, and a door. I actually have a real room with walls and a door *squeeeee!* 

I love my new closet space, which I formally named the Cuddle Cubby. This is where I craft, read, write, and listen to music. While some small spaces totally freak me out, this space is mine--I created it, and it provides a sense of comfort. It almost feels like a security blanket--when I'm over the day, I have a place to retreat and be with my thoughts. It's incredibly therapeutic, because I'm often overwhelmed by my surroundings and lately I'm finding that I need a place to hide and recharge. I'm a homebody--and I am proud of it, because I have made this space my own. It is an extension of my personality, values, and hobbies. You can walk into my room and know that it belongs to me. My 'home' is basically a mix of a greenhouse, museum, and now, a room that I thought only existed in my dreams and on Pinterest. 

Pro-tip: String lights make any space dreamy.

Ahh, Sublet Sweet Sublet. 

Happy Holidays!

 Happy Holidays! This is the only tree I had this year, and I decorated them with my terrarium necklaces!

This year I made most of my gifts, and just like last year, I sold a ton of mini terrarium ornaments! Many thanks to my Mom, who actually orchestrated most of the sales while I was busy working and writing (If you're reading this Mumsy, I LOVE YOU).

  These little babies were no bigger than a golf ball, which makes them EXTRA cute, I like these flat-bottomed ornaments because you could also attach photos/business cards to the tops.

Coming soon: Quartz and Crystal Terrarium Necklaces!

Aside from gifts and ornaments, this is the first year I'll be establishing some of my own holiday traditions with friends. I'm pretty excited, at 25, I think it's a good time to establish my own, and it's a lot easier for me since most of my family lives in the Bay Area. I'm off to see my family and friends! Happy Holidays!!

DIY Terrarium Necklace Tutorial

The time has come: you can make your own little terrarium necklace, and it's pretty easy! This is my first tutorial, so if you still have questions, please feel free to e-mail me and I'll try to answer them as soon as possible. For those with visual impairments, I'm currently working on creating a PDF version of this, so once that's available I'll post it to my blog as well. 

Cacti/Terrarium Postcards

Now that I'm done with school, I thought I'd pull out some paintbrushes again and mess around with watercolors again. Earlier in the year I signed up for a watercolor course, but I ended up withdrawing from the class due to my hectic schedule (*sob*). I'm thinking of signing up for a class in August, so in the meantime I'll practice using YouTube videos and books.

 Cactus postcards

 Feathers and a deer antler

 Succulent terrariums! Right now my space doesn't get enough daylight to sustain succulent terrariums indoors, so I have to find another way to tend to my terrarium obsession.

All of these are being sent out this week, I hope my family likes them :)

Post-Grad Life: Napa and Santa Cruz

My first week post-grad has been an amazing one--I spent a day in Napa with my grad school cohort, painted some 'thank you' post cards for family members, slept in till 10am, and took a day trip to Santa Cruz. I've also been working out on a regular basis again! Hooray for self-care!

Some of our cohort (as well as respective partners) having fun in Napa, CA

My painted postcards (You can see more photos in this post).

I can't believe a year has passed since I spent a summer in Santa Cruz. As much as I love San Francisco, I can't help but return to a warm(er) place surrounded by forests and coastline. It's much quieter and slower than San Francisco, but hey, I'm okay with that for a couple of months. I started a garden last year and that was one of the most successful gardens I maintained. I like when the weather is on my side! I missed going to the tide pools, redwood forests, and riding my bike without fear of dying.

Gorgeous coastline off of HWY 1

Tide Pools

 Tide pools along the coast resemble underwater 'terrariums'! I love how the algae and seaweed resemble moss and lichen.

Nothing happened. My lungs are weak :(

Cool find of the day: I was trudging through a field and found this giant dandelion. I was immediately reminded of the humongous dandelions in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze (1991):

Comic Alliance

Well, that sums up my first week of post-grad life. Next week is dedicated to thesis revisions and job applications, but lots of fun in-between. I have plans for some tutorials that I'll post on this blog, and I have several garden projects that I'll share in the very near future.

Art Therapy: Nature Text

I'm feeling quite creative and crafty lately, so Sunday afternoon I went outside and made myself a new banner for my blog!  I'm not too savvy with Photoshop and graphic design software (I wish I was), so I made one using plants I found outside. I spent zero dollars. Well, actually I spent $1 on the Afterglow iPhone app (which is how I got the polaroid frame), but that's definitely less expensive than buying Adobe Photoshop. Hooray! I feel so crafty right now! I'm currently trying to figure out how to position my banner in the center of my blog, but I'll save that for another day.

Getting Crafty: Birthday Postcard

 Sometimes simple sketches morph into a bigger sketch, and in this case one small sketch morphed into a DIY birthday postcard for one of my friends.  I decided to use cats to spell out "Happy Birthday" after watching my cat Friskies rolling around on the rug. Not too bad for a birthday postcard, if I were to make another postcard I'd definitely use watercolor paints so the colors will be more clear on paper.