Rachel Carlson

I have been wandering recently, reflecting, regrouping...

that is all.

more to come soon.

thank you for your notes, emails, calls, etc of concern. your support means so much to me.

 

tap, tap....is this thing on?

HUGE thanks to the emails/calls i've been getting.

YES, still alive.

YES, still here.

YES, still surviving.

YES, very BUSY.

i sincerely appreciate your love and support.

i'll shake a leg next week and get back to it.

best wishes for a lovely weekend ahead as we welcome APRIL??!!

 

a gentle reminder to myself.

to simply SOAR.

best wishes for a great week ahead.

Blogiversary??

 EDITED TO ADD: SANDY, YOU ARE THE WINNER FOR MY BLOGIVESARY. PLEASE SEND YOUR MAILING ADDY TO: rachel.carlson@gmail.com --CHEERS TO YOU!!

 

a photo i snapped at the recent antiques and collectibles show.

YES...blogiversary is a word, thanks to urban dictionary:

1.
	The yearly anniversary of someones web-log (blog) I celebrated my second blogiversary today.

OKAY, well not a super official word anyway....haha.

AND, thanks to Wiki, you can find the description of a so-called 'blog':

A blog via Wikipedia

it's march.

march 2012 to be exact.

SEVEN years ago this month, i started this little thing called 'blog'. SEVEN years, wow, that's a long time. a place to record and document my thoughts. whether anyone read them or not, whether they were interesting or not, i kept writing. in some form, i've been writing since 8th grade, i'm 43, you do the math.

i love to write. in fact, i'm in search of a typewriter like above (in working order) to get back to the old styple of writing. i had put my dream of writing a book away yet i'm in such a place both geographically and psychologically that i could have a lot of good material. additionally, i've experienced SO MUCH in the last five months since moving to portland. i document a lot through photos too. not sure which i like best. sure i've been published in magazines, idea books, etc for my art yet never for my words. oftentimes i wonder, am i good enough? do i have anything interesting to say that people might like to read? never fiction. it would truly need to be non-fiction as to leave a contribution behind. sure it's scary. yet you also must have life experiences to do such a thing. i have to raise my chin at this one tiny factor we call life experiences. then i surmise that HECK YEAH, i've lived many life expereinces, why couldn't i write some useful information on blank pages, find a publisher and get published.

i stopped listening to people that said, 'no way, that's not possible', 'you're not good enough', 'not experienced enough', etc. to heck with that! things ARE possible. and with what i've experienced in the last year or more i can wholeheartedly say: life IS too short. live in the NOW. shake a leg. get a move on already. DO the work.

back to 'blogging'. something i've been doing (like 10+ years ago) way before blogging became cool and trendy. some of you might recall my pumpkinprincess.com website (no longer active) where i was doing just that. an online documentation of life, things, photographs, etc. i missed that .com. even learned html code via 'html for dummies'.....i thought i wanted to be a code monkey at the time.

overtime we have all noticed that blogging has evolved. and then came social media, taking us away from our blogs and getting the information quicker. which in a way makes me sad yet something i know that will not go away. no human interaction, smart phones are taking over great conversation at the dinner table, at a party, etc. i'm a firm believer that it's up to YOU to decide how you get your information, how you decide to enjoy someone's company, or other. don't get me wrong either, it's great to have technology at our fingertips, my freelance work demands it. yet i also pay homage to writing letters to people still, sending them cards, putting my smart phone away at dinner with a friend or at a party, etc. it is what is. WRITE on!

that said, and IF you made it this far after the aforementioned nonsense, i'm having a BLOGIVERSARY giveawy this month. oh YES i am. you see, that's the privelage i get to on my own blog after all. to send some happiness out into the world. this drawing will be open until the end of MARCH and will be the 'featured post' at the top so if you are checking in with me still, make sure you look below this post so you don't miss anything. i'm sure i still have some readers out there after all.

leave a comment telling me who was the last person you sent a piece of 'just because' mail/card/etc to and who will be the next person you sent something to. harder than you thought huh? the idea after all is to put a stamp on something and send it out into the world. imagine the smile you can put on someone's face by doing this. i'm a person of that sort after all as i get smiles in the mail a lot these days. AND i'm grateful to every single one of those people that do that.

happy writing and happy rest of march!

cheers,

rachel

p.s. the giveaway will be of the 'handmade' variety, sure to please.

week in review.

 http://www.portlandneighborhood.com/portland-blog-03-10-2012.html

IN PHOTOS:

not even sure where to begin, so much time has gone by and so much has happened. i thought of going way back and catching up yet too much time has passed and it's old news already, etc.

this morning i received two emails that the photo above was the 'featured photo' for portlandneighborhood.com as well as 'featured album' for this photo series. that makes me happy. thanks again portlandneighborhood.com. it's making taking photos in a new city all the more rewarding.

portland saturday market is such a treat. even though i visited it almost 10 years ago, it has a different meaning to me since i know live in the same city and can visit it every weekend if i wanted to. the idea for me this year was to visit it first thing out of the gate for the season so that i could visit it as winter is exiting and spring and summer is entering. i will then go back during full on spring/summer/fall and photograph it again to see the progression from these photos. think time lapse if you will. i've always been fascinated by the weather, the seasons and like to see the difference in photographs during those times.

 

you can see the rest of the album on portlandneighborhood.com.

ADVANCDED SCREEN PRINTING:

i finally finished my advanced screen printing class at the make house. i had to go back for round 2 because of a few snafus. and let me tell you, having made a few snafus REALLY does make a difference in the learning process. mistakes are simply opportunities and you have to hold onto them and make them worthwhile when they do occur. so happy that i'm finally learning this as i've always been so set on getting it right the first time. i'm very lucky to be surrounded by amazing people that really help in those situations.

advanced screen printing NIGHT ONE:

nathan and rachel - you'll remember nathan from one of my 'friday features' - the make house.

you'll notice that these are all photos of the other student in my class, also named 'RACHEL' because i didn't really get to print the first night. the advanced class is ONLY two students plus nathan our instructor. the class size is TWO because it is so in-depth in teaching advanced screen printing. additionally we were doing more than one color. rachel did four, i did three. which of course translates to more screens to make and use.

the only picture i DID take for mine was this one. two of my three screens as i was about to burn the image on the screen. with that in mind, when doing 3 colors you also add 'registration marks' so that you are able to line up each screen during each color. almost like the measure twice cut once concept.

learn more about registration marks via Wikipedia

and let me tell you, i have a whole new respect for registration marks. this process alone can take a LOT of time to get it just right when doing more than one color. it's a little bit of knocking it in place here and knocking it in place there. for a 'getting it right' person like me, this can take a LONG time. i'm learning more patience this way too. WHEW.

that said, my first snafu came when we misaligned ONE of my screens and the registration marks were 2 1/4 inches off. nathan simply says, time to learn how to 'reclaim' your screen now. see where i'm going with this, mistakes translate to 'opportunities', just roll with me on this one. i REALLY was learning more than advanced screen printing. life lessons were also coming into play. sure i already knew how to load a screen with emulsion from my 'basics' class back in december. but NOW i was learning how to get the emulsion off of a screen to reclaim it and reshoot it, etc. YAY ME!!

that said, nathan simply said, you're on your own, you know how to reshoot the screen, heat it, wash it down, etc....get to it! the process takes about 40-45 minutes. 9 minutes to reshoot the screen on the light table, 30 minutes to dry and a few minutes to wash the screen for the image to show. nathan was upstairs helping the other rachel all this time. granted, i REALLY did appreciate doing this on.my.own hence the next lesson....as she hangs her head in shame. i failed to make sure that the image was heading the right direction, the reverse of what you are printing.....OOPS. i came back up the stairs super proud that i had just completed the entire process and was ready to load the screens in the mounts, etc when we set the revised screen down on the platen and BAM, it was BACKWARDS. i simply stepped away from the platen, turned around and shouted a series of......OKAY, we will just let your mind wonder what words i was shouting OUT LOUD.....nathan followed suit and did the same. he's a great team player that way. not making you feel the fool and shouting with you, etc. i felt defeated (if only for a FEW seconds) yet i also felt like i had learned the next lesson. YAY ME!! see how that works. mistakes become opportunities. the 'other' rachel was happily washing the paint off her screens in the other room and had no idea what was going on just that nathan and i had been SHOUTING in the other room. haha.

we threw in the towels/screens and called it a night.

two days ago i went back for a private round 2 one-on-one with nathan and made magic. it was awesome. nathan, nice guy that he is, reshot my screen for me and we just got to printing. having a one on one allows for more printing time too. lucky me. i brought in vintage sheet music (that i will use for mixed media canvasses), large kraft envelopes, a hoodie and even some canvas fabric to print on that i will make market totes, zippered pouches, etc out of.

ROUND 2 advanced screen printing:

my THREE screens loaded and ready to go.

flooding the screen. the screen must always stay flooded in between each color so that the paint doesn't dry up and so that the paint is ready to go. this too is also a technique that must be mastered. that's my hoodie on the platen there.

this was a test image on regular paper to see all the colors printed. you'll notice that i simply used the last sketch i did from my 1st class (also my blog logo) and with the help of my sweet peep wendy, added the umbrella in the background. it's simply in honor to say that i've left my umbrella behind. i am told that umbrellas are for TOURISTS here. point duly noted.

here is my image on envelopes and canvas fabric during drying time. i will be adding stamped text just below the line far left under the rain boots.

 my image drying on sheet music and my hoodie.

 

and a very cool image looking up into the screen. here you can see all 3 colors starting to build on the screen as you print more items as well as the tape that is used to cover up the registration marks and random pinholes so that the paint does not get pressed out onto what you're printing on. WHEW.

why YES, i will be adding screen printing to my resume. HA.

IN OTHER NEWS:

 

finally, i leave you with an image from sunset magazine. my sweet friend kate of sew po, also one of my 'friday features' made it into sunset, a HUGE honor to make it into this magazine. kate is also the person teaching me how to quilt, i'm SEW happy that she came into my life when she did. cheers to you kate!

thanks for letting me share and somewhat catch you up on things as i know some of you follow to make sure that i am doing well. that means a lot to me so thank you. one.day.at.a.time.

happy friday, happy weekend.

cheers,

rachel

 

I feel a blog post coming on.....

.....REALLY, I do.

OH, if you missed it, go to hulu.com and catch my THREE seconds of fame on last week's episode of Grimm, Episode 13. I told you I would be a blur in the 'background', best blur I've ever been and I'll take it, lol. i am holding a camera and taking photos of the crime scene. luckily I was flanked by the two main characters in the foreground.

 

you can find me at 2:46 - 2:49 but don't forget, DO NOT BLINK, or you'll miss it. this scene was edited a LOT but so worth to have THREE seconds.

enjoy!

HELLO March??!!

WOW.

is it really march. YIPES.

i can finally share my good news with all of you. i've been holding in it since late January. and that is NOT easy for someone like me. it all came to fruition at our recent 2012 CHA Winter Show. 

 

photo by lisa kettell - thank you sweety!

pictured above is me with joanna (creative director) and warren (ruby rock-it owners). we are seen here with two of THE sweetest women (on each end) from the east coast. they have lovingly adopted me into to the family.

that said, the announcement that is being sent out today to the U.S. market is this:

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Rachel Carlson to the position of Marketing Director USA for Ruby Rock-it Designs, BELLA! and Fundamentals Cardmaking. Rachel joined our company 6 months ago as a Communications and Social Media Manager. She has held various positions in the papercraft industry and is well known to many.

In this new position Rachel will be in charge of all marketing communications and activity in the USA. She will be responsible for researching and developing new market opportunities including various promotional programs with media and our sales team. She will manage the company Facebook and Blog and be the main point of contact in the USA for all product information and promotion.

i cannot tell you how lucky and how proud i am of this news. i have worked very hard, paid my dues and it has been rewarded. i'm so happy that someone thinks so much of me and trusts me to represent the entire U.S. market as well as other things. i am beside myself with gratitude.

as if that wasn't enough, we also merged all of our australian brands with our US brands making it one happy team. here is our new logo that also debuts today.

 

 

i announced this news over at the ruby rock-it blog at the same time today so there's a lot of buzz going on there too about all of the updates.

my work started the moment i returned from trade show and it has been going full steam ahead.

thanks for letting me share this part of my journey with you.

cheers,

rachel

p.s. today and tomorrow night i will be taking my advanced screen printing class at the make house, wonder if i can add that to my resume.

I picked up my paint brushes again.

 

 

i had a playdate on saturday with an industry creative. it's amazing how close i now live to industry creatives. i really am lucky. so i decided to paint AGAIN. i put my paint brushes down a long time ago. WELL, it feels like it at least. maybe it takes a very EPIC incident to occur for me to put down something i love. maybe it takes a series of events. it makes me sad when i do. maybe i shall share that with you one day. maybe i won't. make no mistake, i do love to paint. for long time readers of this blog, i know you know this. it was good to pick up those paint brushes on saturday. it really was.

 

this is a step-by-step view of the 8x8 canvas. it started with some vintage pattern paper with acrylic. and layer after layer it became something i really enjoyed doing. i makes me happy. i only allowed myself certain colors as if to pull myself out of the winter dread. or maybe that's all in my head too. whatever it is, i enjoyed the process. and right now that is the most important part for me.

 

thanks for letting me share.

in other news: on the mend finally. i had that 48hr bug that's going around. i really wish people would keep that to themselves, really i do. i don't have a doctor in a new city AND i don't have health insurance. so YES, i try to be very mindful of these variables.

stay tuned, i'm about to announce some really big news on march 1st. i know you've been waiting.

p.s. TOMORROW is LEAP DAY....what will you be doing with your EXTRA day in February??!!

cheers, rachel

happy birthday Kung Pao.

 

 

THIS boy is FOUR years old today. albeit, with a new adopted family, sincerely missing him so much. i know that his new family is taking really good care of him though.

so i leave you with a recycled blog post of when he took over my blog on one of his birthdays:

BLOGGED ON: February 22, 2010

happy birthday to me.

 

*here i am with snow on my chin - i love the snow*

hello attic readers.  shhhh, i took over my mommy's blog today.  because it's my birthday.  and of course it's all about me.  oh WAIT, it's about me all the time.

my name is kung pao but i've also been called:  coconut head, pao-pao, toe-head, malicious, the list is long.  it doesn't matter because i don't answer to any of those names anyway.  i think it makes mom mad.

i am TWO years old today.  mom is always talking about the 'terrible twos' but i think i've been living those since i was born.  i like to think i'm in charge because they say i'm an alpha, yet another name i don't answer to but i think i know the meaning.  just the other day i heard mom mumble something about freecycle.org and that if i don't behave, she's just sayin'.  i just laugh and continue to smile.  i know she doesn't mean it because she still gives me lots of lovin'.

 

my boy human takes me and my sis lomein to the dog park every day.  i love the dog park.  i like to think i'm in charge there too.  i have a lot of furry friends there.  some people think i'm a girl because my hair is long and it covers my parts.  it's my winter coat.  my dad quickly sticks up for me.  he's going to try to cut my hair today.  i think i'm going to try to hide, what do you think?

 

have a great week attic readers.  my mommy is very busy right now but will be back with some fun things later in the week, stay tuned.

lots of licks to you.

love, kung pao

 

the end of February is nearing and i must TAKE FLIGHT.

 

WOW.

the end of february is right around the corner.

my dear friend left yesterday and was caught in blizzard conditions in wyoming. so her trip home was delayed. i wish i could have held on to her visit a day longer. i miss her dearly. it was just the kind of visit i needed. a sense of 'home' maybe. grounded friendship. new insight. healing hearts.

and the beat goes on.

slowly but surely.

i must kick it into high gear as march it on it's way. MARCH, the month of when this house sit ends and i must find another house sit OR rental. i've added a few more resources to my searching and have been diligently looking for the next house sit since i returned from business travel. i cannot afford to rent quite yet so it will be very critical to work fast at finding a place to live, house sit or other. cross your fingers for me. i'm not quite ready to be homeless.

new and exciting updates in the pipeline yet i'm not allowed to announce just yet.

spring and summer are right around the corner here in portland, some of the best seasons i'm told.

the above photo was taken on a 2nd trip to cannon beach. my dear friend enjoyed this visit completely. i've lovingly dubbed it 'taking flight' - i think the bird knows that i must wear a cape. good thing too.

cheers to a great week ahead!

rachel