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. 

Succulent Saturday's Gardening Project

Happy Succulent Saturday~

Once in a while I'm asked to help out with a succulent project, and this 2-week project was definitely a fun one! Some folks asked me to pretty up their front driveway, so I got another chance to get creative! Take a look at this beautiful bounty:

I got most of these succulents from Home Depot and Sloat Gardens. I should note that this is the first time I got more than one succulent from Home Depot. I haven't had much luck with large Gardening Centers like Lowes and Home Depot, in fact, prior to this project I actively avoided Home Depot's Gardening Center because I only seemed to find sickly, wilted, gummy, or leggy succulents. This time, maybe out of sheer luck or they found a better way to take care of their plants, I lucked out. These babies actually look very healthy and plump:

As a general rule of thumb, I examine each plant to make sure there is no browning/molding, leggy stems, and gummy leaves. I'm sort of surprised that I found some nice succulents, I'll be sure to provide updates on how they look in a couple of weeks after being potted. 

So here are the finished pots, keep in mind that it isn't going to look 100% quite yet. There is a lot of room between plants, so in a couple of months I hope to see these pots overflowing with succulents!

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!!

New Ventures: Hayes Valley Open Air Market

Last Sunday I informally participated in the Hayes Valley Urban Air Market. While I was not initially expecting to sign up for local craft/maker fairs and markets, Lauren of Mitsymoto Designs graciously invited me to set up a little shop at her booth/table. I took the offer, seeing that it could offer some exposure and I got some great business feedback from her and a few others. I had a great time, although it was definitely exhausting! The most exciting part of these types of events is meeting other crafters, makers, and artists who love doing what they do. I enjoy meeting amazing folks who are in fashion, jewelry, floral design, and art, and I love hearing about the various ways people make a living, whether it's a side gig or a full-time business. Anyhow, I'm so happy that I got to attend this local event. It was so hard not to shop, but I did end up with these amazing earrings:

From Mitsymoto Designs. Aren't they fabulous?!

Once I got home, I thought a lot about my blog and my side hustle. I thought a lot about what Terrarium Therapy is. Is it a business? Is it just a blog? WHAT EXACTLY IS IT?  I've come to realize that I just like making things. I just love creating. I like sharing what I make or see. Every time I think of myself as a business, I sort of cringe. I worry I won't enjoy the process of creating something, I worry that I'll focus too much on making profit than actually creating for the sake of creating. Plus, I really don't enjoy pricing the stuff I make. I really don't. I definitely don't overcharge my items, and when folks have suggested I up my prices, I struggle with that because I'm not a business. For me, my necklaces and arrangements are a side-job--a hustle--to fund new projects. As most creators and hobbyists know, hobbies and crafting are not cheap endeavors. 

As for my blog, this has been a nonacademic space for me to post about my life outside of grad school. This blog has sort of been an online photo album for me to track all of my adventures and projects. I briefly considered trying to expand my blog, but I remember making blogs in the past and then abandoning them once I felt that my blog posts no longer represented my interests. This was partly because I kept envisioning the kind of blog I thought others would want to see. So while the recent posts have been somewhat about my side hustle, the terrarium necklaces, I'm going back to posting about my adventures, projects, and mushroom hunts.

Coming up this week: I am making Shrinky Dinks! Stay tuned :)

My Etsy Shop is Now Open!

 Remember back in July when I talked about opening an Etsy shop? Well, that idea turned into a reality this month! Thanks to Rodolfo, who helped me photograph all of my goods, I finally listed most of my items online! As I mentioned before, I've been making succulent/tillandsia terrariums for a little over 3 years now, mostly selling locally through word of mouth. I'm hoping that through this shop, I can unload some of my inventory and make a little money to invest in more plant and art projects. Check out some of the items I listed below :)

 Teeny Tiny Terrarium Earrings

 

Air Plant Terrarium Necklace

 Tiny Terrarium Necklaces

Ocean Terrarium Necklaces

These are just some of the items listed, I'll be adding more next week so be sure to check out Terrarium Therapy on Etsy! As I mentioned before, next week I'm going to list a contest/giveaway so you have the opportunity to win one of these necklaces!

These are a few of my favorite things...Mushroom Donut

Today is a good day because I finally my mushroom donut painting! I started this several months ago and left it on my shelf half-finished. I guess today was the day for finishing off art projects. 

Mission accomplished!

Big News!

I wish I had a drum roll here...but whatever, I'm just going to say it: I'm opening up an Etsy shop for some of my terrariums, prints, and terrarium necklaces! 

It's been a long time coming...I've been making terrariums for about 3 years now, mostly selling locally through word of mouth, but I think I'm ready to get a little more official. I'm hoping that through this shop, I can unload some of my inventory and make a little money to invest in more projects. Won't you please support my hustle? To make it even more official and fun for you, I'm going to be hosting some giveaways later in August! Right now my plan is to have my Etsy shop launched by mid-August, so stay tuned for updates! 

Plant Lady Life and Projects

I'm a little late in posting these, but here are the remaining succulent plantings that I made a few weeks ago: 

As I mentioned in my earlier post, June has been a wonderful month for projects, and here are some of the projects I've been working on...

 Crystal/mineral terrarium necklaces! I've been trying out new creative ideas with terrarium necklaces, so I wired some amethyst and sodalite minerals to the corks so they stay in place while worn. Also, check out my basic terrarium necklace tutorial here!

I got this cool "crystal" cactus growing kit at Green Apple Bookstore and here are the results:

I love the way this crystal cactus looks, but unfortunately it isn't so solid. The crystals break off so easily that half of it fell apart when I moved it to my desk. BLEH. Well, it was beautiful while it lasted--I think I'm going to stick to real cacti from now on.

June's Succulent Planting Party (Continued)

So last week I started what I thought was going to be a one-day project...and it didn't happen that way. I decided to continue the planting this week, armed with shovels, pebbles, succulent dishes, and a bottle of champagne. Can I just say, that this week's planting activities were way more awesome than last week?!

Most of my succulents have outgrown their original pots so I'm planning to plant them all together in a larger dish. Some of my cuttings and plants are too small, so I'm going to plant them in cute little pots.

 I love the variety of colors succulents have--some are frosty blue with lavender tips while others have beautiful shades of reds and pinks. A lot of succulents actually turn pink in the sun (that is if they don't burn, so be careful!)

 I often don't know what to do with the extremely tiny cuttings, but this time I was prepared--I went out and bought these teeny tiny 2-inch pots and clustered the little cuttings all together:

Here are the two I did so far. Aren't they cute?! I have a couple more plantings to finish from yesterday, but today's rain sort of shooed me back inside, so I'm going to have to continue this later on in the week. More plantings are coming soon, I promise!

Summer Life: Creative Energy is All Around!

I get so active in the evenings, while everyone else is winding down, I have all of this energy that I need to use before I sleep. Last night I worked on my watercolor project and some illustrations.

Let it be known: I have been watching too many shows on Netflix, particularly Adventure Time  and Doctor Who:

Lumpy Space Princess

Succulent-Propagating Dalek

There, it's out. I am a Whovian. I love Doctor Who and I love succulents so what better way that to pair the two together?

I love not having a schedule right now, I think I might have found my ideal sleep time too! Lately my mind has been going crazy with ideas and thoughts in the late evening, from 10pm and on. Normally I try to go to sleep, but it's difficult because I have so much on my mind. So now I've been sleeping in until 10 and just begin my work later on in the day. It's a little strange, because I noticed this change within the last year. Is this something that happens with age?

So I've found my most creative spurts occur in the late evening, and I like it! I've been doing some more painting, and I'm also starting some new projects. I gathered all of my old succulents (even the ones I left in my parent's backyard) and decided I'm going to have a succulent planting party today:

Most of these succulents were left in my parent's backyard with the intention of returning to them, but I ended up forgetting. But that's the amazing thing about succulents--unlike vegetables or flowers, they tend to thrive on neglect (and I'm good at giving them that) and still look pretty amazing. Most of them just need to be pruned and replanted, so that's today's task.

Tiny hens and chicks that need to be cleaned up a bit

This succulent planting party is actually taking longer than I expected, so I plan on continuing this planting project next week. Stay tuned for updates!

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.