Alexis Lampley's Blog, page 15
April 14, 2017
The Stack: March 2017
Oops. Way behind in posting this. Seems this whole month has been like this. We are behind on everything except shipping out our boxes. But my poor blog has taken a hit on the priorities list lately. I still love it, but perhaps since I read so few books these days it feels less... immediate? Either way, I've put off a couple reviews that I will get to very soon because I'm finally getting my act together. {For now anyway}.Crown of Midnight Sarah J Maas
Reread {okay re-listen} to actually write down quotes I like in order to possibly use some for the Maas box. Surprisingly few stood out in this one.
Heir of Fire Sarah J Maas
This one is still one I feel shifts the series for me into something I am really invested in. I think this is due to Manon. Lots of quotes noted here.
A Court of Thorns and Roses Sarah J Maas
Review to come!
Travesty Carrie Thomas
Review to come!
April 10, 2017
Maddie Moo Toddler Book Review: The Big Adventures of Tiny Hous
Written by: Susan Schaefer Bernardo
Illustrated by: Courtenay Fletcher
We recieved this book in exchange for an honest review.
The first time we read through this, Madeline was really into it for about three pages and then she was off to do other things. But the second time, she read through the whole thing with me. It has a slight Cars vibe, which is great for her age, and when we cut back on reading the longer paragraphs and just summarized what was going on, she hung with me and pointed at things on the pages and named them as we went.
The story has a great little message about how a home can be so many different things including the kind that can move around. It was such a unique angle for a story, and I think a really good one. Especially for kids who don't have what you might consider a traditional home.
Illustrated by: Courtenay Fletcher
We recieved this book in exchange for an honest review.
The first time we read through this, Madeline was really into it for about three pages and then she was off to do other things. But the second time, she read through the whole thing with me. It has a slight Cars vibe, which is great for her age, and when we cut back on reading the longer paragraphs and just summarized what was going on, she hung with me and pointed at things on the pages and named them as we went.The story has a great little message about how a home can be so many different things including the kind that can move around. It was such a unique angle for a story, and I think a really good one. Especially for kids who don't have what you might consider a traditional home.
March 22, 2017
Week 11: Breathing Room and Big Plans
Well, after my semi-meltdown on my last update, I made some lists and some plans, and for the days since, things have been strangely calm despite how busy I still am. It's a wonder what taking the time to really plan and get your head in the right space will actually do to save you time in the long run. Still not saving enough time to read regularly. But I'm finding my way through four books simultaneously this month. Doing my best to finally finish Crooked Kingdom. I'm savoring the hell out of it, apparently. I also started The book pictured which is already so fascinating and is so much like the book about Introverts, Quiet, which spoke straight to my soul, that I know this is gonna do the same. I'm also reading an ebook I was sent a few months back a little each night when I rock Mads to sleep as it's on my phone. That has been nice. I used to read actual books but she's so big now that I can't use both hands for a real book and hold her at the same time. So this is a great compromise. And I'm listening to the Silmarillion on audiobook thanks to a generous follower who gifted me the files. I am loving it so far.Oh. And I have an addiction to washi tape now. Oops.
On the BUSINESS OWNER front:
This month I am creating two boxes worth of designs. Granted, one box has less stuff, but still. If not for my taking two hours during a design night to assign an item to design each day until the end of the month, I would not be able to keep up. That's one thing that is tough for me compared to other subscription boxes. I design everything the whole month people are ordering. Most companies order two or three months in advance and actually sell out. I design until the end of the month and order the appropriate number based on subscribers on the first of the month. I live on the deadline. I had always planned to get ahead about a month, but the workload was so overwhelming, and we grew so quickly, that I have yet to do it. I am starting to shift, though. Now that my husband has taken over the customer service, I'm able to focus on designs and collaboration plans and not worry about the little stuff that piles up and hinders my work time {like canceling for someone or checking to see if their address did in fact get changed and things like that}. Another thing that will help is that I am starting to bring in other artists! I have been looking forward to this for months. We are only now getting big enough that we can finally afford it. By doing this, I end up having to design less items. I still sometimes take days to do one piece, but at least there's more leeway for this now, and I maybe won't sacrifice so many hours of sleep. And I get to show off other hand letterers and artists that I love! It's a win-win.
On the AUTHOR front:
The Onyx Vial Nerdy Post book box is selling beyond my expectations and I am so grateful for everyone who has taken a chance on it. I hope my book and the artwork is not a disappointment to anyone. It's amazing how much more soul-baring sharing my book with people is than my artwork. I mean, I put myself out there every month with my lettering, but I feel like I'm recommending my favorite movie to someone who I don't really know their interests well enough to know if they'll like it so I just sit there anxiously watching them watch the movie and feeling personally responsible for every emotion that flits across their face. I know that sounds a little silly but I can't help it. My husband and I went to see Beauty and the Beast on Monday, for example, and though I enjoyed it, I was half on the edge of my seat worried that he wouldn't like it because of all the signing, even though he was just as excited to see it as I was and I didn't drag him there at all. If he hadn't loved it, I would have felt like it was my fault {lol}. LUCKILY he gave it a 10/10 so after the movie I was able to finally not be stressed about it. So now I want to see it again.
Anyway! I have part of a secret project {there's a contract and everything. This is legit} due at the end of this month, and thankfully I have a downtime week at the start of every month because this is the time I spent writing for this project. It meant less reading time. Again. But it will be so worth it. It's a really fun project and I like to think, if I do it right, it's going to sell really well. I think people will be really excited about it. I know I am!
The other thing I am starting to do is to create index cards of scenes that I have in mind for book 2 so I can get the kinks in my plot hammered out and then, on my off weeks, write write write. I already know the title of book 2 and the cover design is forming itself rapidly in my head, so I need to get the words on the page. And soon!
On the MOM & WIFE front:
Yesterday was our 8th Wedding Anniversary. We have been through a lot together and never in all that time have I ever doubted that he and I are the perfect puzzle pieces. We really do complete each other. Nowhere is that more obvious in our teamwork on Nerdy Post. I am so grateful for all that he does for me, even if sometimes I wanna throw a shoe at him because he's so annoying. We are making plans to do more things together, as a couple and as a family, now that it's getting lighter later and I am feeling less stressed each day to get work done. In fact, he even suggested a Monday Movie day where we go get pizza and see a movie every Monday. I told him we would run out of movies, but I still love the idea. I think one day soon we will have to sneak Mads out of school early and take her to the trampoline park and go eat lunch and just have a fun day where we don't worry about work or look at our phones and we just enjoy the kid being little and us taking advantage of the fact that we are our own bosses and can make our own schedules. After all, what's the point of finally working for yourself if you can't reap those rewards?
On the BOOKSTAGRAM front:
The algorithm is depressing. Instagram has done a lot of things right. There are some really cool new features that are soooo useful. But I think it has failed us in the most essential way: we are no longer rewarded for our work. Growth used to be organic. We gained and lost followers organically. The problem now is that the algorithm has taken that away on the gaining side, but not on the losing side. So we are losing steadily, as always, but we have to work five times harder to gain even a fraction of what we were before. That. Or maybe my pictures just suck suddenly and my child is no longer cute enough and I'm no longer interesting enough. BUT I'm not that stupid or believe in myself so little as to think that's true. So. It is a failure on IG's part. Anyway. To combat this, and the subsequent feeling of despondency toward posting and pouring creativity into photos, I have created a list of photos to take each week in the hopes that this will help. We'll see if it works. I need to take more advantage of the drafts feature. That would help, too.
March 21, 2017
Maddie Moo Toddler Book Review: Baby Lit Books!
Doing things a little differently this week, and reviewing the entire collection of Baby Lit books rather than just an individual book.
We got our first Baby Lit during my baby shower, and I quickly discovered that there were so many more that I, I mean Madeline, absolutely needed. So I asked my mom for the set of them for Madeline's first Christmas and she delivered!
These books are not only gorgeous, but they are such great baby-friendly summations of the classics that they're really fun to read when you know the plot of the original. Even when you don't, they make really fun little books and something different from your average baby book. My very favorite is probably Jabberwocky {nonsense primer}, because it's really funny to read out loud with all its silly words. I also really like A Midsummer Night's Dream {fairy primer} and The Odyssey {monster primer}. Madeline seems to gravitate toward Alice in Wonderland {color primer} and Pride and Prejudice {counting primer}, the latter probably because it's the closest to her little hands when she climbs the chair to reach them. I couldn't bring myself to put them in rotation with the rest of the baby books so they live on a higher shelf all their own. I highly recommend all of these books! They are totally worth it.March 13, 2017
Week... Something: This Turned Into A Baring of My Soul
I've been actively putting off my weekly Ramblings. I'm annoyed at myself about it. After typing out all this below, I think the reason I was putting it off is because talking about this past month and a half makes me realize and have to admit the ugly truth about myself. That's not what these set out to be. But here we are:
I work too much. I overworked myself last month, as I always do, putting family, chores, IG and self-care on the back burner. And, as I always do, I spent the first part of this month feeling aimless, unproductive, semi-self-loathing, a little bit depressed, a little bit free and fun and silly, a little bit selfish, a little bit like I am making up for being a crappy mom the other part of the month by soaking in the moments with the kid and putting everything else off... in other words I have no balance. Whatsoever.
I am hoping that Hubs, who quit his job just the other day to help me full time with this business {terrifying. I was going to talk all about it but that's really all I feel like saying today}, is going to be able to help me with this balance. Already, his taking over the customer service side has been a godsend. But I still have a ways to go. I have far too much on my plate already for the next two months and then it should, finally, smooth out. But it's daunting to know that I very well might feel the same way I feel now and during my busy times for the next two months.
This is what I was originally typing before I realized this had turned into something else and I changed the beginning. Hopefully, through the chaos of my thoughts, you can see what I'm struggling with. Just know, no matter how I'm feeling currently, deep down I love what I do and I am so grateful, truly, for everything I have and everyone. I love my job and my life. This is where I want to be. I just need to be... better at managing it all.
•••
I keep putting off this blog. I think it has to do with always forgetting to take the pictures over the weekend {similar problems with the Maddie reviews. I think to do them about an hour after she gets dropped off at school} and when I do actually want to do it all, it's midnight and the lighting sucks. But also it may have to do with just my general feeling toward life these days. I think I might only be productive when deadlines are hot on my tail. I'm either aimless and unproductive, or pushing myself so hard I don't enjoy IG or my family much at all because everything is simply time taken away from working. That's so nice of me. Wow. I sound like a terrible person. But it's true. Everything just takes away from time I could be working. Unless it's the first week of the month. In which case...
I felt absolutely useless this whole first week of March. I wasn't. At all. But I felt like it. I got my hallway decorated with family photos finally. It took all day. It looks pretty but I didn't edit the photos I took and send them to myself for this post so you'll just have to imagine. I got the entire inventory complete {with my mom's help} of all our past boxes, so those are just a couple steps away from being ready to go live on our new website. I worked on a project I'm under contract for that someday I'll get to share about. I launched the book box for my paperback which I should probably explain on a different post, so for now will just say visit www.nerdypost.com to find out more. And the house actually got clean for a whole day before it went to crap again {thanks Madeline, and my lazy self}. But I just have zero drive this week. It ALWAYS happens this way. I bust my ass for three weeks straight and then struggle to find motivation to do anything after the ordering is over and before the items arrive to pack up. It's a weird way to live. Probably not a healthy way to live. I'm trying to change it. But it's a tough cycle to break. I feel best when I'm busting my ass, because I feel such purpose coursing through me. My creativity gets to flowing and something about creating so much content so often has opened something up inside of me and I just can't stop. I act on every damn creative impulse I have, wanting to expand to this or that, and my husband is encouraging it. Which is great. Except my body needs more sleep. And better food. And physical activity. I'm still at my heaviest from having Madeline and then diving into this business. I don't want to diet, because I feel diets never work, I'm just so tired of sitting so much of my day designing. I don't feel healthy. I eat so poorly but I'm a picky eater and I don't have time to actually cook myself meals so I will grab a couple handfuls of chips or animal crackers or whatever is on hand and go back to working. Usually it's carbs because they don't go bad as fast and I haven't made an actual trip to the grocery store in months. MONTHS. I try and switch my much-needed caffeine intake to tea rather than Diet Coke because some days I feel like my insides are just rotting from how much I drink of it {today is one of those days. I feel disgusting}, but the tea takes forever to prepare compared to just grabbing a diet coke and I drink it so fast. Tea takes as long as cooking myself lunch or making a sandwich and I don't even do that, so it's tough, even though I feel it is a very viable replacement otherwise. {Wish I liked coffee but I hate even the smell of it so that's out}.
Wow this is turning into an actual ramble. Anyway, all this to say, I need to make time to be human. And take care of this body and mind {which are needed for being a mom and creating the artwork and photos and content that I create for my followers and subscribers} that I'm pushing soooo hard. There are weeks I get 4 hours of sleep a night, because I work all day, hang with my family for a few hours and then work until I can't stay awake any longer before I get up to take Madeline to school and do it all again. I'm about to head into that cycle now. I'm scared. Its going to be rough. I want to succeed in every aspect of my life but right now I feel like I'm failing at all of them. I've got to get my shit together.
Maybe by next week I'll have it all figured out. I'm going to spend tonight working out a plan. Maybe a super rigorous schedule that I can follow without thinking will help. I always seem to do better with a schedule. Okay. I have a plan. To make a plan.
Wish me luck!
And send a maid. And a chef. Thanks.
I work too much. I overworked myself last month, as I always do, putting family, chores, IG and self-care on the back burner. And, as I always do, I spent the first part of this month feeling aimless, unproductive, semi-self-loathing, a little bit depressed, a little bit free and fun and silly, a little bit selfish, a little bit like I am making up for being a crappy mom the other part of the month by soaking in the moments with the kid and putting everything else off... in other words I have no balance. Whatsoever.
I am hoping that Hubs, who quit his job just the other day to help me full time with this business {terrifying. I was going to talk all about it but that's really all I feel like saying today}, is going to be able to help me with this balance. Already, his taking over the customer service side has been a godsend. But I still have a ways to go. I have far too much on my plate already for the next two months and then it should, finally, smooth out. But it's daunting to know that I very well might feel the same way I feel now and during my busy times for the next two months.
This is what I was originally typing before I realized this had turned into something else and I changed the beginning. Hopefully, through the chaos of my thoughts, you can see what I'm struggling with. Just know, no matter how I'm feeling currently, deep down I love what I do and I am so grateful, truly, for everything I have and everyone. I love my job and my life. This is where I want to be. I just need to be... better at managing it all.
•••
I keep putting off this blog. I think it has to do with always forgetting to take the pictures over the weekend {similar problems with the Maddie reviews. I think to do them about an hour after she gets dropped off at school} and when I do actually want to do it all, it's midnight and the lighting sucks. But also it may have to do with just my general feeling toward life these days. I think I might only be productive when deadlines are hot on my tail. I'm either aimless and unproductive, or pushing myself so hard I don't enjoy IG or my family much at all because everything is simply time taken away from working. That's so nice of me. Wow. I sound like a terrible person. But it's true. Everything just takes away from time I could be working. Unless it's the first week of the month. In which case...
I felt absolutely useless this whole first week of March. I wasn't. At all. But I felt like it. I got my hallway decorated with family photos finally. It took all day. It looks pretty but I didn't edit the photos I took and send them to myself for this post so you'll just have to imagine. I got the entire inventory complete {with my mom's help} of all our past boxes, so those are just a couple steps away from being ready to go live on our new website. I worked on a project I'm under contract for that someday I'll get to share about. I launched the book box for my paperback which I should probably explain on a different post, so for now will just say visit www.nerdypost.com to find out more. And the house actually got clean for a whole day before it went to crap again {thanks Madeline, and my lazy self}. But I just have zero drive this week. It ALWAYS happens this way. I bust my ass for three weeks straight and then struggle to find motivation to do anything after the ordering is over and before the items arrive to pack up. It's a weird way to live. Probably not a healthy way to live. I'm trying to change it. But it's a tough cycle to break. I feel best when I'm busting my ass, because I feel such purpose coursing through me. My creativity gets to flowing and something about creating so much content so often has opened something up inside of me and I just can't stop. I act on every damn creative impulse I have, wanting to expand to this or that, and my husband is encouraging it. Which is great. Except my body needs more sleep. And better food. And physical activity. I'm still at my heaviest from having Madeline and then diving into this business. I don't want to diet, because I feel diets never work, I'm just so tired of sitting so much of my day designing. I don't feel healthy. I eat so poorly but I'm a picky eater and I don't have time to actually cook myself meals so I will grab a couple handfuls of chips or animal crackers or whatever is on hand and go back to working. Usually it's carbs because they don't go bad as fast and I haven't made an actual trip to the grocery store in months. MONTHS. I try and switch my much-needed caffeine intake to tea rather than Diet Coke because some days I feel like my insides are just rotting from how much I drink of it {today is one of those days. I feel disgusting}, but the tea takes forever to prepare compared to just grabbing a diet coke and I drink it so fast. Tea takes as long as cooking myself lunch or making a sandwich and I don't even do that, so it's tough, even though I feel it is a very viable replacement otherwise. {Wish I liked coffee but I hate even the smell of it so that's out}.
Wow this is turning into an actual ramble. Anyway, all this to say, I need to make time to be human. And take care of this body and mind {which are needed for being a mom and creating the artwork and photos and content that I create for my followers and subscribers} that I'm pushing soooo hard. There are weeks I get 4 hours of sleep a night, because I work all day, hang with my family for a few hours and then work until I can't stay awake any longer before I get up to take Madeline to school and do it all again. I'm about to head into that cycle now. I'm scared. Its going to be rough. I want to succeed in every aspect of my life but right now I feel like I'm failing at all of them. I've got to get my shit together.
Maybe by next week I'll have it all figured out. I'm going to spend tonight working out a plan. Maybe a super rigorous schedule that I can follow without thinking will help. I always seem to do better with a schedule. Okay. I have a plan. To make a plan.
Wish me luck!
And send a maid. And a chef. Thanks.
March 8, 2017
Siúil, a Rún; The Girl from the Other Side
by: NAGABE
Once upon a time... In a land far away, there were two kingdoms: the Outside, where twisted beasts roamed that could curse with a touch, and the Inside, where humans lived in safety and peace. The girl and the beast should never have met, but when they do, a quiet fairytale begins.
This is a story of two people--one human, one inhuman--who linger in the lazy twilight that separates night from day. {cover copy}
I was in the bookstore the other day and thought, "I should really take a dip into the manga world because I feel like I would love it." So I found this book which was recommended by the end cap at the Barnes and Noble as a good place to dive in. What the end cap didn't tell me was that this was not an established series with tons of stories for me to devour. It was a brand new one. And now I'm in love with this story and waiting on this cliffhanger for EVER so I can find out what happens next. The cover copy says it's a quiet fairytale and I think that is such a perfect way to describe this. At first it feels like you're glimpsing a day in the life kind of situation and before you know it, you are so invested in these characters. It's a little sad and a little hopeful and overall beautifully done and I seriously can't wait. They need to hurry up and sell me the next one.
Usually I highlight favorite quotes here, but as it was more the pictures and the mood of the story that stuck with me, I'll just say: get this book. It's lovely.
Once upon a time... In a land far away, there were two kingdoms: the Outside, where twisted beasts roamed that could curse with a touch, and the Inside, where humans lived in safety and peace. The girl and the beast should never have met, but when they do, a quiet fairytale begins.This is a story of two people--one human, one inhuman--who linger in the lazy twilight that separates night from day. {cover copy}
I was in the bookstore the other day and thought, "I should really take a dip into the manga world because I feel like I would love it." So I found this book which was recommended by the end cap at the Barnes and Noble as a good place to dive in. What the end cap didn't tell me was that this was not an established series with tons of stories for me to devour. It was a brand new one. And now I'm in love with this story and waiting on this cliffhanger for EVER so I can find out what happens next. The cover copy says it's a quiet fairytale and I think that is such a perfect way to describe this. At first it feels like you're glimpsing a day in the life kind of situation and before you know it, you are so invested in these characters. It's a little sad and a little hopeful and overall beautifully done and I seriously can't wait. They need to hurry up and sell me the next one.
Usually I highlight favorite quotes here, but as it was more the pictures and the mood of the story that stuck with me, I'll just say: get this book. It's lovely.
March 7, 2017
The Stack: February 2017
A little behind on this one, as I'm still recovering from the chaos that was my February. But that will be discussed in more detail on my next Ramblings post, which I've been putting off because I always get a little... unmotivated at the start of the month. Hazards of working insane hours for two weeks straight. Anyway, here are the books I read this month. And by read, I mostly mean had read to me by an older gentleman with a delightful accent. Thanks, Audible. There's one I actually read myself, which I'm proud of. But there were a lot of pictures so I knew I could read it decently quick.Hyperbole and a Half Allie BroshReview coming. Eventually. I dropped the ball. I suck. I'm sorry. In the meantime, know I laughed a LOT.
The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien
I haven't actually read these since right after college, so it was so great to be back in this world. I loved it even more this time around.
The Two Towers J.R.R. Tolkien
I think because I watched the movies before I read the books (I know, I know) I'm always surprised by how much happens in this one.
Return of the King J.R.R. Tolkien
I just really love this series. It's so good.
February 21, 2017
Week 7: Lost Without My Planner, ADD, and Bribing My Child With Candy For Bookstagram
I'm back! Ramblings took a hit these past few weeks because of our very lovely vacation. Not only did the time taken away from Nerdy Post cause a pile-up of design work {which I ended up being exactly the number of days we spent away behind on}, it also set off a chain reaction of poor planning on my part and a loss of direction that lasted until now. Really.
Don't read my notes too close. Disney box spoilers! Also a
hint as to what is coming for themes and other parts of our box.I struggle with ADD. Before I got pregnant with Madeline, I took Adderall every day for close to ten years. It was tough to be without it, but over the course of the pregnancy and another nine months of breast-feeding, I figured out how to manage myself somewhat. I have found quite recently that taking an hour or so at the start of each week, no matter how busy I am, to plan and fill in my week in my Happy Planner makes a considerable difference in how much I am affected by my ADD the rest of the week. Having something I can refer to if I'm feeling aimless will immediately set me back on the track of "must-create!" and off the "what-the-hell-was-I-doing-all-day?" train wreck. But for one reason or another, I let myself slip and half-assed my Happy Planner routine for these past two weeks. Despite getting boxes shipped out and rooms cleaned, I paid the price. I have felt aimless, I have finished fewer projects, and the weirdest part... I remember less about what I did each day. It's very unsettling.
Eating lunch while designing on my iPad,
preparing files on my computer, looking
over my book proof, listening to an audio-
book and planning out my week in my
Happy Planner. Also looking weird the
way I'm sitting in that maxi skirt. oops
On the BUSINESS OWNER front:
I had help this month from start to finish, which was both lovely and unfamiliar. So unfamiliar that I really didn't even know what to do with myself when we had an entire extra day. I should have started designing for the next box, but I don't think that I did. I wish I could remember what I did, but that was more than a week ago so don't remember... oh wait. No, it was only a week ago. Wow. {That whole ADD/ No Planner thing, see?} OH! I know what I was doing...
On the AUTHOR front:
My proof copy came in a day earlier than I expected! I was really hoping to shed a tear of happiness and triumph when I opened it. In fact, that's exactly the scenario I pictured for myself. But I know myself better than that, and deep down I knew what I would really do: take it in and enjoy it for about five seconds before combing over it meticulously, looking for errors or things that didn't print the way they appeared on the computer screen. Self-publishing is hard work. It's also patient work. Because getting your files reviewed takes an entire day. Waiting for your proof to arrive to check those files in print form takes over a week, and making changes when you have as much going on as I do takes another five days. Only to have to start that process entirely over to see if the changes you made will work out right. Which is where I am now. Five days away from holding the potentially final copy of my book. I have SO many ideas in the works for the publicizing of the paperback release, including a special Nerdy Post box with a signed copy and other exclusively illustrated/lettered pieces, and all I need is the proper proof copy to take photos of. Which won't be here till Friday. So I wait. Anxiously. Good thing I have a billion other things to take up my time or the wait would be painfully slow.
On the MOM & WIFE front:
I have actually managed to almost completely clean up my studio/ Madeline's playroom and my office, and I hope to be able to show them off in next week's Ramblings. But that will require me to print all of our pictures of Madeline that we want to hang in our hallway, and then hang them all in our hallway. But with twelve Nerdy Post designs to do and only a week left to do them, it's not looking good for that. So this might be something I tackle once everything is ordered next week.
In the meantime, as I write this at 12am, I'm trying not to be a crappy wife and make a bunch of noise in the living room to purposely wake my husband {who is asleep on the couch, which is where I work best because binge-watching Netflix or DVDs keeps me awake longer} because it's dark in here and I need the light if I'm going to be able to work until 3 or 4am, which I really have to do this week. So he needs to go sleep in our bed. Like, right now. *goes to poke him till he wakes up*
My favorite picture I've taken of her. Ah, the power of bribery.Also, I have discovered that Madeline, though stubborn, listens to reasoning quite well, and responds to bribes better than expected. It started when I was trying to get her to pose in a scarf in front of my Harry Potter collection shelves. Scarves are one of her no-nos. She refuses to wear them. But we got one as a sort of collab/gift and I needed to make this picture happen. But she wouldn't stop screwing with my shelf of Honeydukes candy. She was especially enamored by the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. So I saw an opportunity and I took it. "Madeline," I said, grabbing her shoulders and looking her in the eyes. "Do you want to eat these?" I held up the beans. "Yes!" She told me. "Okay," I said. "Then I need you to put this scarf on for me and stand right there. If you do that, then I will give you a bean*, okay?" I wrapped the scarf lightly around her neck and stood her in front of the bookshelf. "Yes!" she said. "Just do this for me and I'll give you a bean!" And it worked. She not only posed for me, she improvised {remember, she's not even two yet} by picking up props and actually saying cheese when I told her to. Yey for bribery!!
*I bit the beans in half so she wouldn't choke. Don't panic.
Evidence of my bribery in an outtake.
Fun fact: that bean tastes like toothpaste.This leads me to my last section... BOOKSTAGRAM:
I figured this bribing with jelly beans {she liked them all the same btw. No accounting for taste when you're a toddler, apparently. Vomit jelly beans are just as delicious as green apple ones} was a one-time thing. But my child is stubborn. And so am I. And once I get my mind set on a picture, I will find a way to make it happen. I am very determined. So she can tell me no and run out of the room with my props, but the moment I say "Do you want a jelly bean?" I've got her hooked. I even got her to lay down voluntarily while hyper and wear something on her head all for the exact shot I wanted to take. All with the power of the jelly bean. So, yeah. I'm that mom now.
As for pictures that don't require the cooperation of a toddler, I am getting so close to being able to implement my somewhat-schedule for photos and be super organized about bookstagram. It's crazy how much my creativity relies on my house being clean and my life being organized. It's a wonder I have been able to create any photos these past 19 months. I am feeling very hopeful about the future of my bookstagram. I'm looking forward to what I have in store for everyone.
Don't read my notes too close. Disney box spoilers! Also ahint as to what is coming for themes and other parts of our box.I struggle with ADD. Before I got pregnant with Madeline, I took Adderall every day for close to ten years. It was tough to be without it, but over the course of the pregnancy and another nine months of breast-feeding, I figured out how to manage myself somewhat. I have found quite recently that taking an hour or so at the start of each week, no matter how busy I am, to plan and fill in my week in my Happy Planner makes a considerable difference in how much I am affected by my ADD the rest of the week. Having something I can refer to if I'm feeling aimless will immediately set me back on the track of "must-create!" and off the "what-the-hell-was-I-doing-all-day?" train wreck. But for one reason or another, I let myself slip and half-assed my Happy Planner routine for these past two weeks. Despite getting boxes shipped out and rooms cleaned, I paid the price. I have felt aimless, I have finished fewer projects, and the weirdest part... I remember less about what I did each day. It's very unsettling.
Eating lunch while designing on my iPad,preparing files on my computer, looking
over my book proof, listening to an audio-
book and planning out my week in my
Happy Planner. Also looking weird the
way I'm sitting in that maxi skirt. oops
On the BUSINESS OWNER front:
I had help this month from start to finish, which was both lovely and unfamiliar. So unfamiliar that I really didn't even know what to do with myself when we had an entire extra day. I should have started designing for the next box, but I don't think that I did. I wish I could remember what I did, but that was more than a week ago so don't remember... oh wait. No, it was only a week ago. Wow. {That whole ADD/ No Planner thing, see?} OH! I know what I was doing...
On the AUTHOR front:
My proof copy came in a day earlier than I expected! I was really hoping to shed a tear of happiness and triumph when I opened it. In fact, that's exactly the scenario I pictured for myself. But I know myself better than that, and deep down I knew what I would really do: take it in and enjoy it for about five seconds before combing over it meticulously, looking for errors or things that didn't print the way they appeared on the computer screen. Self-publishing is hard work. It's also patient work. Because getting your files reviewed takes an entire day. Waiting for your proof to arrive to check those files in print form takes over a week, and making changes when you have as much going on as I do takes another five days. Only to have to start that process entirely over to see if the changes you made will work out right. Which is where I am now. Five days away from holding the potentially final copy of my book. I have SO many ideas in the works for the publicizing of the paperback release, including a special Nerdy Post box with a signed copy and other exclusively illustrated/lettered pieces, and all I need is the proper proof copy to take photos of. Which won't be here till Friday. So I wait. Anxiously. Good thing I have a billion other things to take up my time or the wait would be painfully slow.
On the MOM & WIFE front:
I have actually managed to almost completely clean up my studio/ Madeline's playroom and my office, and I hope to be able to show them off in next week's Ramblings. But that will require me to print all of our pictures of Madeline that we want to hang in our hallway, and then hang them all in our hallway. But with twelve Nerdy Post designs to do and only a week left to do them, it's not looking good for that. So this might be something I tackle once everything is ordered next week.
In the meantime, as I write this at 12am, I'm trying not to be a crappy wife and make a bunch of noise in the living room to purposely wake my husband {who is asleep on the couch, which is where I work best because binge-watching Netflix or DVDs keeps me awake longer} because it's dark in here and I need the light if I'm going to be able to work until 3 or 4am, which I really have to do this week. So he needs to go sleep in our bed. Like, right now. *goes to poke him till he wakes up*
My favorite picture I've taken of her. Ah, the power of bribery.Also, I have discovered that Madeline, though stubborn, listens to reasoning quite well, and responds to bribes better than expected. It started when I was trying to get her to pose in a scarf in front of my Harry Potter collection shelves. Scarves are one of her no-nos. She refuses to wear them. But we got one as a sort of collab/gift and I needed to make this picture happen. But she wouldn't stop screwing with my shelf of Honeydukes candy. She was especially enamored by the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. So I saw an opportunity and I took it. "Madeline," I said, grabbing her shoulders and looking her in the eyes. "Do you want to eat these?" I held up the beans. "Yes!" She told me. "Okay," I said. "Then I need you to put this scarf on for me and stand right there. If you do that, then I will give you a bean*, okay?" I wrapped the scarf lightly around her neck and stood her in front of the bookshelf. "Yes!" she said. "Just do this for me and I'll give you a bean!" And it worked. She not only posed for me, she improvised {remember, she's not even two yet} by picking up props and actually saying cheese when I told her to. Yey for bribery!!*I bit the beans in half so she wouldn't choke. Don't panic.
Evidence of my bribery in an outtake. Fun fact: that bean tastes like toothpaste.This leads me to my last section... BOOKSTAGRAM:
I figured this bribing with jelly beans {she liked them all the same btw. No accounting for taste when you're a toddler, apparently. Vomit jelly beans are just as delicious as green apple ones} was a one-time thing. But my child is stubborn. And so am I. And once I get my mind set on a picture, I will find a way to make it happen. I am very determined. So she can tell me no and run out of the room with my props, but the moment I say "Do you want a jelly bean?" I've got her hooked. I even got her to lay down voluntarily while hyper and wear something on her head all for the exact shot I wanted to take. All with the power of the jelly bean. So, yeah. I'm that mom now.
As for pictures that don't require the cooperation of a toddler, I am getting so close to being able to implement my somewhat-schedule for photos and be super organized about bookstagram. It's crazy how much my creativity relies on my house being clean and my life being organized. It's a wonder I have been able to create any photos these past 19 months. I am feeling very hopeful about the future of my bookstagram. I'm looking forward to what I have in store for everyone.
February 13, 2017
Maddie Moo Toddler Book Review: Good Night, Baby Animals You've Had a Busy Day
Written by: Karen B. Winnick
Illustrated by: Laura Watkins
Here are SIX brand-new stories about BABY ANIMALS in the wilds--just right for BEDTIME reading! {cover copy}
Baby Book Reviews are back,
y'all! But my baby isn't really a baby anymore, so we have stepped her up to toddler book reviews! Same style, different title for the kid. She still can't help out much in these reviews, but it won't be long before I'll just be dictating her words to you.
This week, we have a book given to us for an honest review.
I think this is a great book for Madeline's age. She's almost 20 months, and her animal game is strong. She loves pointing at animals, naming animals, reading about animals, making animal noises, etc. So stories about baby animals doing things is 100% approved by her.
The images are lovely and the stories are actually quite informative while still simple and fun. The only thing I have noticed so far is that if I don't shorten the words I read per each page, she loses interest. There's some repeating of what the animals are doing {for example tiger tails swish swish swish} so I simply cut out those extras and she seems to do well with that. Perhaps as she grows I will be able to add back in the extraneous words, because I think it will be fun for her to play along and make the noises too. For now, though, shorter is better.
Illustrated by: Laura Watkins
Here are SIX brand-new stories about BABY ANIMALS in the wilds--just right for BEDTIME reading! {cover copy}
Baby Book Reviews are back,y'all! But my baby isn't really a baby anymore, so we have stepped her up to toddler book reviews! Same style, different title for the kid. She still can't help out much in these reviews, but it won't be long before I'll just be dictating her words to you.
This week, we have a book given to us for an honest review.
I think this is a great book for Madeline's age. She's almost 20 months, and her animal game is strong. She loves pointing at animals, naming animals, reading about animals, making animal noises, etc. So stories about baby animals doing things is 100% approved by her.
The images are lovely and the stories are actually quite informative while still simple and fun. The only thing I have noticed so far is that if I don't shorten the words I read per each page, she loses interest. There's some repeating of what the animals are doing {for example tiger tails swish swish swish} so I simply cut out those extras and she seems to do well with that. Perhaps as she grows I will be able to add back in the extraneous words, because I think it will be fun for her to play along and make the noises too. For now, though, shorter is better.
Maddie Moo Toddler Book Review
Written by: Karen B. Winnick
Illustrated by: Laura Watkins
Here are SIX brand-new stories about BABY ANIMALS in the wilds--just right for BEDTIME reading! {cover copy}
Baby Book Reviews are back,
y'all! But my baby isn't really a baby anymore, so we have stepped her up to toddler book reviews! Same style, different title for the kid. She still can't help out much in these reviews, but it won't be long before I'll just be dictating her words to you.
This week, we have a book given to us for an honest review.
I think this is a great book for Madeline's age. She's almost 20 months, and her animal game is strong. She loves pointing at animals, naming animals, reading about animals, making animal noises, etc. So stories about baby animals doing things is 100% approved by her.
The images are lovely and the stories are actually quite informative while still simple and fun. The only thing I have noticed so far is that if I don't shorten the words I read per each page, she loses interest. There's some repeating of what the animals are doing {for example tiger tails swish swish swish} so I simply cut out those extras and she seems to do well with that. Perhaps as she grows I will be able to add back in the extraneous words, because I think it will be fun for her to play along and make the noises too. For now, though, shorter is better.
Illustrated by: Laura Watkins
Here are SIX brand-new stories about BABY ANIMALS in the wilds--just right for BEDTIME reading! {cover copy}
Baby Book Reviews are back,y'all! But my baby isn't really a baby anymore, so we have stepped her up to toddler book reviews! Same style, different title for the kid. She still can't help out much in these reviews, but it won't be long before I'll just be dictating her words to you.
This week, we have a book given to us for an honest review.
I think this is a great book for Madeline's age. She's almost 20 months, and her animal game is strong. She loves pointing at animals, naming animals, reading about animals, making animal noises, etc. So stories about baby animals doing things is 100% approved by her.
The images are lovely and the stories are actually quite informative while still simple and fun. The only thing I have noticed so far is that if I don't shorten the words I read per each page, she loses interest. There's some repeating of what the animals are doing {for example tiger tails swish swish swish} so I simply cut out those extras and she seems to do well with that. Perhaps as she grows I will be able to add back in the extraneous words, because I think it will be fun for her to play along and make the noises too. For now, though, shorter is better.
