Where Did January Go?

Design, Miscellaneous

It’s already over a month into the new year! I can’t believe how quickly that has gone for me. On the good side, I’ve gotten to do a lot of fun things, see a lot of great people, and accomplish a lot of work. On the bad side, the constant busy-ness was starting to take its toll, and I’ve noticed myself wasting a lot of my free time by doing mindless things that really don’t need to be accomplished…such as completing multiple puzzles in my new puzzle app! (A creative endeavor would have been time better spent…but I guess I now have digital puzzles to show off to anyone who cares…except that after you complete the puzzle, it just turns into a regular picture, so it’s not super impressive.)

So what did I do in January? Let’s start with work. My supervisor took a trip to Atlanta to train on our variable data/imposing software for a week. While he was gone, the workload decided to pick up, so I spent multiple nights working late. Great for the overtime, but sad for doing anything other than eating and going straight to bed each night. After he returned, it didn’t let up! Finally this week, things have started to slow down. Which is good, since we just hired a new person, and I have been helping to train him. We also have to rearrange the office, which will require some computer shut-off time. Not great to do when you are psycho-busy!

And now, onto work #2! Fight in a Box is crazily preparing for the Kickstarter launch of our game, End of the Line, for February 15, 2016. The instruction booklet is reviewer-ready, postcards and banners have been made, and the Kickstarter graphics are currently in-process. I have a few more card designs to put together, and then we should be ready for launch. So exciting! And scary!

I am also preparing for Con of the North, which is February 12th – 14th. This will be my first convention, and I have to teach two of our games. My test teaching didn’t go so well, so I’m hoping to get things a little more organized so people actually enjoy the game, and don’t leave more confused than they started! (Ok, my teaching probably wasn’t that bad, but it felt like it was!)

And now the best part: Social Time!!! I had two fun Peace Coffee adventures, courtesy of Nick. He got me a Kalita Wave and all the accessories for it for the holidays. Since pour over coffee makers are more of a science than just throw the beans in and let it go, he also got me a Peace Coffee class on brewing coffee at home. It was very informative and helpful! My pour overs are nothing I would subject my friends to yet, but they have gotten considerably better than my first horrible cup! (Nick will agree, since he has bravely been my guinea pig!) Nick and I also went on a roastery tour at Peace. We both left wishing we could work there! It’s such a great company, with such a great story. If you have a chance, I definitely recommend the tour. It’s $5, and they give you a coupon for a free drink afterwards, which, depending on what you get, pays for itself!

We also decided to host a themed party! Sadly for our guests, it ended up being on one of the coldest days in January, but like true friends, they braved the cold. The theme was taken from the 90s movie, House Party 2, and we had a Pajama Jammy Jam! We tried to replicate a sleepover. Everyone wore pajamas, we had hot chocolate, cheap pizza, a cake bar, makeovers, manicures, movies, video games, board games, MASH, and fortune tellers. It was so much fun, and it helped provide a needed break from the craziness!

Along the same line, it was Girls’ Christmas! One weekend a year, three of my close friends and I get together for some girl time. We ate a lot, knit some scarves, saw a play, and socialized. With all of us not living in close proximity anymore and being busy people, it’s nice to get together and catch up. And laugh so much that your cheeks hurt the next day!

And the final bit of socialization in January was that one of my friends got remarried and asked me to be in the wedding, which I was very honored by. I got to be on his side and dress with the guys. Having been in multiple weddings, it was interesting to be on the other side of things. There was not much getting ready to be had, and there was much more downtime than being on the bride’s side (based on previous weddings I have been in). I don’t get to see my friend as much as I used to. So it was nice to see him interact with his kids and see what a good Dad he is, and what a good match he and his wife are! Congratulations to them!

Amazingly, Nick and I were also able to get some quality time together in all of that mess! Although the month was busy, it was good, and I have a lot of great memories.

This photo is leg warmers that I have started to knit. If I keep knitting at my current pace, I may have them ready for next winter!

End of the Line

Design

The big project that I have been working on lately for Fight in a Box is End of the Line. It’s a game about Post-Apocalyptic Family Survival. Basically, you are playing as a family who is trying to survive life after the apocalypse. In this world, people are trying to create some sort of order amidst the chaos. So they have created lines that you wait in for water, ammo, food, fuel, and a black market. (Yes. In a post-apocalyptic world, you would be friendly and wait your turn in line for the black market!) You line your family up, create laws, collect goods, fend yourself against attacks and do what you need to do to survive. The winner is the last family standing. Hopefully you will be an entire family standing, but more often than not, it ends up being a family member or two who survive. It’s a great game, and I highly recommend it. Of course I am a bit biased…

Lately I have been working on the instruction manual. It’s gotten quite an overhaul from my original idea, which was just a simplistic black and white design. But I think it’s a change for the better. The minimalist in me is sad to see the old design go away, but this design is much grittier and captures the concept much better.

I thought I would share a few pages today. Please note that this is not the final design. We are still in progress, and although I think we are close, the final design will probably be at least a little bit different.

Sleep Cuff

Miscellaneous

Nick has a FitBit One, and it came with a cuff that you put on at night to track your sleep. It’s made out of some stretchy sort of fabric that velcro will stick to, so the cuff is a one-size-fits-all. Unfortunately, after much use, the velcro is starting to not stick as well, and the cuff is falling off while he sleeps. So he asked me to come up with an idea for a new one.

Before I barely even got started thinking up new ideas, he asked if I could use one of his old dress shirt cuffs. Perfect! Only a few modifications were necessary, and it was ready for use.

First, I cut a slit through one layer of fabric. I then had to hand sew the opening, so it wouldn’t fray. Then I stitched a line so that the FitBit wouldn’t slide down to the bottom of the cuff and make it a pain to fish out every morning. I could have stopped there, but I thought it would be nice to have a flap on it, just in case it shifts around during the night and works its way out of the cuff. For that part, I took the bottom of the old shirt, cut it to fit, and sewed it on. For extra-fanciness, I added a snap! (This was my least favorite part about the sewing. I don’t think I’ve ever sewn a snap before, and it was quite a challenge to get it to stay in place while I hand-stitched around it.) And now, while he sleeps, he looks like he’s wearing a stripper cuff!

Nick’s only complaint is that his old cuff has a mesh covering, so he can see the display on the FitBit. I could have made a little window, but it would require the device being in the exact position, in order to read it. And I worked on this as a surprise while he was out, wearing the FitBit, so I didn’t have it nearby for measurements. Maybe that’s an idea for sleep cuff 2.0.

I really liked re-using something that was going to waste, but I could see where this would be much easier to make from scratch. If I had gone that route, I could have used my machine to sew the FitBit opening, since I wouldn’t have had to worry about accidentally going through the back of the cuff. I also could have planned in the flap so that it wouldn’t have to have been sewn in, just folded over and sewn. But now I will have a plan for the next one…after I use the cuff from the other sleeve!

I’m Still Alive!

Design, Miscellaneous, Photography

I know you were questioning it, since I’ve been quiet for awhile. But I’m still here!

So much has happened since my trip to New York. So here are the highlights:

I got a new sewing machine! Yea! After taking sewing classes, I realized that there were some things that I didn’t really like about my old sewing machine, so I thought it was time to get a sewing machine that had all the features that I wanted. And believe it or not, there have been sales going on lately! I haven’t had a chance to put together a project with it yet, so I’ll write a post about that after I’ve used it a little more. But it’s computerized…Scary!

I am now a Partner at Fight in a Box: http://www.fightinabox.com/2015/10/fiab-kickstarter-update/! Since we are planning to do our first Kickstarter on February 15, 2016, things have been a little hectic here. Most of the artwork for the game is done. We are just tweaking things, and I’m working on the instruction book now. I’ll post that when I have it a bit more finalized.

I got a new prime lens for my camera! The photos you see were taken with the new lens. I love how the focal point is so clear with this lens, and the background is so blurry. It’s great! And it’s a 1.8 f-stop, so it can take photos in lower lighting than my other two lenses, which is fantastic, since I suck at using flash. Although, there is a potential that I will be photographing my cousin’s wedding next year, and in case it is a rainy or cold day, I should be prepared to photograph indoors…with my dreaded flash!

That’s just some of what I’ve been working on lately. I have other things that are in the works, but not yet ready for public viewing. So there are more posts to come…I promise!

Manhattan!

Miscellaneous

For my birthday, Nick sent me and my best friend, Sakura, to Manhattan, New York! Hooray!

Why New York? Well, Nick had asked me where I would want to go in the continental U.S. if I could choose anywhere (he did exclude San Francisco, Sioux Falls, and Louisville, just to be random). I’ve never been to the upper east coast, and New York seemed like a place you need to experience at least once in a lifetime. So that’s where I chose.

It was a good time! We saw a bunch of touristy sites and ate a lot of food. Sadly, we really needed more time there to eat. We pretty much saw everything we wanted to see, but we were not able to eat everything we wanted to eat. So sad! No Japanese bakery or crepes!

I was really surprised by how friendly the people were. I guess I was expecting the New York based on stereotypes that I see on TV, but the people we came across were all friendly. And genuinely friendly too!

I don’t like most of the pictures that I took on the trip, which is sad. A lot of times, I was too lazy to pull my regular camera out of the bag to snap a photo or two. So I relied on my phone, which is not the newest or the best, so it does not have a great camera on it. And the worst part is that I know better! I was really excited for my night-time Brooklyn Bridge photos, but they did not turn out well. Sad! That ought to teach me!

Overall, the trip was really fun and inspiring as well. I couldn’t wait to get home and start new art or sewing projects based on the things I’d seen. Sadly, traveling, plans, and a hearty amount of overtime have stopped me from getting started. But I have made notes of things I want to do, and at some point in the future, I should have time, right?