Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and Black Friday

To start things off, here is the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on video if you've missed it (like me):

For Thanksgiving, my family ended up having much more to do than we expected a month prior to the day. My middle sister visited with her boyfriend for breakfast at our place, we headed over to my best friend's house for lunch, and then went over to my aunt and uncle's condo for dessert.

As for Black Friday, it wasn't anywhere near as Thanksgiving, but I still did some shopping.

Picked these up at my nearby thrift store. A few pairs of knee length socks, some tights, and covers for my boots.

I also got all the essentials for my own Christmas tree. I was planning on getting a 4 ft - 5 ft tree, but I got a 6 ft one that was at a great deal for $27. And here is the tree all decorated up.

Other news? You might have noticed I haven't made any projects related to Christmas. I personally am focusing on more personal projects and getting gifts ready before the big day. I'm thinking I'll work on holiday themed ideas at the beginning of 2017 so I'm prepared ahead of time.

One last thing to mention is that I plan to buy a microphone and headphone set so I can actually get to work on video blogs. I'm excited to get started on that when I can.

Welp, got to get back to art projects! Will write again soon.

- Alanna

Been over a month since I last updated

Hey, everyone. Apologies for being out of touch with social media. I've been meaning to organize my schedule better so I can make the most out of the time I have available. This includes the courses I'm taking on Alison along with Codecademy, staying caught up on Duolingo while still working on my designs.

I've been recently getting over a sore throat this week. Luckily, I am almost completely recovered from it thanks to some cough drops. I've also been using peppermint tea and aromatherapy to help as well.

On the plus side, I've been working out more consistently thanks to the weight room for my apartment.

The recreation room really helps keep you motivated.

I've also been busy putting together some textures to liven up my designs. Here are some of them I've made. I'll upload them to deviantART when I get the first batch of them completed

And to celebrate the upcoming fall, I recently sketched out a drawing that'll be made into an illustration for products in my art shops.

In other news, I'm still trying to organize my room, and I'm planning to do some shopping soon with fall rapidly approaching. I'm especially excited for fall because this will be my first year without going back to school for fall. I'll admit, I do miss the feeling you get when you're in an academic setting, but at the same time it's a huge relief not having to juggle classes and work. I think it'll be much easier to appreciate every aspect of the holidays from putting together a costume for Halloween, to preparing for guests for Thanksgiving, to shopping for the family for Christmas, and celebrating with the family on New Year's Eve. All that includes working in retail leading up to each holiday. Am I going to work for a bachelor's in graphic design when I have the time and money? Maybe. But on the other hand, a bachelor's isn't particularly necessary with graphic design when it is really the portfolio and internship is essential.

That's all I have for now. I hope this is the last time I suddenly drop this blog I've been trying to update semi-regularly.

- Alanna

Moving Things Forward

Hey, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. There have been several things I've been meaning to do before Christmas, but there is always next year, so I'll work on those in secret so there ready when the time comes around.

I spent Christmas at home with my family, and my friend's family came over too which was nice. Here is a picture of what I got.

(One of the family's cats Benny snuck her way into this photo)

The picture includes:

• Chocolate and lots of other candy
• A bag of loose leaf tea
• A tea leaf holder that's shaped like a manatee.
• A coffee warmer
• Small tubes to hold shampoo, conditioner, etc. for travel
• Bamboo pencils
• A jar for pencils and brushes
• Buddhist meditation flags
• Chibi Stitch plushie
• Betty Boop pajamas
• Underwear
• A scarf
• And a kettlebell weight

For New Year's Eve, I flew out to spend time with my dad for a few days. First day was mostly watching TV, second day was a lazy day, and third day we did a little shopping.


In addition to being in Pennsylvania for New Year's, I got to meet my dad's dog Sassy! Here's a picture of the lovable little cutie right here:

I've also set up another art shop on Cupick! I'm going to spend my time for now playing catch-up until all my designs are on there. I've had an Etsy account for a long time too (before all of my other shops) that I want to get properly set-up.

And because the new semester started, I've been working on some class designs, which I'll the process to in another post fairly soon.

See ya then!

- Alanna

Holidays Are a Wonderful Time... And a Busy Time

Hello, everyone! I haven't been the most active on this blog, but I figured the best I can do is give an update. The holidays tend to always be a busy time for me. I'm finishing my classes this semester, my job requires me to work more hours because of more customers, and I'm of course busy getting my Christmas designs together.

Luckily I've finished almost all of my Christmas shopping a couple days ago (I might even be completely done, though I'm not entirely sure). I just need to get my Christmas stuff in gift bags, and send some of them to a friend of mine up in Northern Minnesota.

I am also making a personal goal to get the area around my bed clean so I don't end up in a chaotic mess that I can't properly store any gifts I've received away.

In addition to my digital designs, I've been wanting to start on a couple types of crafts. First is creating these ornaments made out of wrapping paper and balls of yarn. The second idea is using boxes I've received for my Seacret skin care products and making decorative boxes out of them by using ribbons and paint.

Other than that, I've been wanting to take the time to watch various Christmas specials for a list I am planning to put together for this blog. I have also been meaning to catch up on numerous cartoons. Lucky for me, most of them are currently on hiatus, which makes things easier and helps pass the time.

The following cartoons include:

• Steven Universe
• Gravity Falls
• Star vs. The Forces of Evil
• We Bare Bears (Just got hooked onto it)
• Bob's Burgers
• Rick and Morty
• Over The Garden Wall
• Possibly others I forgot at the moment

I need to still watch season 19 of South Park too.

Hope you're all having a nice December!

- Alanna

I Turned 22 Yesterday

Hey, everyone! Just checking in to let you know that the internet is back at my house officially. Actually it was for about a week now. I've just been dealing with the crash and burn of getting for the holidays at work, finishing assignments at the end of the semester, and putting together designs to sell for Black Friday.

Speaking of designs, here are some I've managed to put together.

They're available to purchase as various products on my art shops listed below.

Society6 / Paintcollar / Redbubble / ArtsAdd / MySoti

In addition to designs, I'm also selling skin care products through Seacret. There's going to be a huge Black Friday sale for what I'm selling so be on the lookout! Here is my online shop if you are interested.

Now I need to get ready for a 7 1/2 hour shift starting at 9:00 tomorrow. Yay...

- Alanna