A Day At Disneyland

During our trip to Los Angeles for The Blogcademy, we treated ourselves to a day at Disneyland. When we got there, we had to park on the top level of the parking structure, which I've never had to do before, so we were a bit worried about the crowd. Unsurprisingly, spring break isn't the greatest time to visit, but it wasn't all that bad and we still got to do pretty much everything we wanted to do. I've taken so many pictures at Disneyland, I'm always trying to find new things to capture. It was a challenge since I have my favorite spots, but here are a few shots we took throughout the day.

As soon as we walked through the gates, we headed straight to Adventureland for some delicious Dole Whip. Breakfast of champions, right? We actually ended up going back for more later in the day, because c'mon, it's Dole Whip! When is the next time we'll be able to get more? I don't like to think about it.

Later in the day, we got to meet up with Gala, Kat, and Shauna for a little while, as they were in the park shooting with the Made U Look girls. The resulting photos haven't been shared yet but the teasers are outrageously gorgeous so I can't wait to see them! How fun would it be to do a Disneyland photo shoot?

I already wish we could go back! I miss having an annual pass so much! Boy, was I spoiled. Then again, when I had one they weren't five hundred dollars. Yikes!

Do you have any favorite things to do at Disneyland? Favorite places to eat?

Business Cards & Brooches

One of the first thoughts that popped into my head when I found out I'd be going to The Blogcademy was that I needed some new business cards to bring along. My last cards served me pretty well, but they were free, so they had a less than attractive logo and discount code on them, plus my style had changed a bit since then. I did a lot of research and gathered inspiration to figure out what I wanted my new cards to look like. I honed in particularly on cards handed out at Alt Summit because the attendants have some of the most creative and eye-popping business cards ever! That's when I decided I wanted to include some kind of gift to go along with the cards; something small, involving my artwork. In the end, I thought of making brooches out of shrinky dink plastic. It was a big undertaking, but so worth it!

I ordered my cards from Moo, and this time I was even happier about the results because of course, they had no watermarks. Plus I had unknowingly messed up about half of my cards during the last go-around (always make sure your white space doesn't have incredibly light grey random spots that totally ruin the whole picture!). With Moo, you can have as many different photo choices on the back of the card as you wish; I only chose about fifteen. Unfortunately I made the cards before I changed my site name, so they have all of the old information on them, but I'll be ordering again soon. Once I received my cards in the mail in record time, I bought supplies and got started on making brooches. I had never made anything with Shrinky Dinks before, so I read a lot of tutorials and watched a few videos beforehand. I absolutely loved the results! The only problem was that I had to draw and color each picture by hand. There are sheets that you can print on, but I thought they would look better and be more special hand-drawn. I made a lot, and my hand was pretty tired by the end.

I wanted to package my cards and brooches in glassine envelopes, but I ran out of time to order them because I made the brooches only a few days before the workshop. So I settled on tiny plastic bags and some really nifty striped paper clips from Staples. Though it was not my first choice, I loved the final look of the packaging because it had a very handmade quality and looked very much in line with my style.

For the headmistresses, I wanted to design an extra special pin. I ended up drawing the three of them with a tiny Blogcademy banner. The photo directly above is by Kat.

My cards and brooches were very well received at The Blogcademy, and I hope that I succeeded in making something memorable. In fact, Twinkie Chan just posted a few photos of herself wearing one of the Lily brooches, yippee! The bonus of creating the brooches is that I finally have a new product to offer in my Etsy shop! I've only sold prints and a zine since I opened, and I've been wanting to sell jewelry featuring my art, so this is a step in the right direction! I am still adding them to the shop so keep an eye out, but I will be selling brooches of my mermaid lady, desserts, the Bride of Frankenstein, Lily, and girl and boy pirates. Is there anything you'd like to see made into a brooch? Let me know, I'd love some new ideas! Also, the new Ahoy Miss Facebook page is up, so if you'd like to see some extras, be sure to like it!

On a different note, I want to say thank you so much to everyone for the love and comments we've been receiving about Sweeney. Our family is not the same without him, and we will always miss him, but it lifts our hearts to have so much kindness sent our way. Thank you!

The Blogcademy Experience

The blogger's paradise that is The Blogcademy cannot be done proper justice without a gazillion fabulous photos, so watch out! I've previously written about The Blogcademy in my scholarship application, but basically it's a two-day blogging workshop wherein Gala, Shauna, and Kat generously provide knowledge, inspiration, and a boatload of motivation. I was the lucky winner of the Los Angeles scholarship, and it has turned out to be the best thing I've ever won. I felt a bit like a kid getting ready to return to school, as I carefully packed a few key items for class. I brought along a notebook, pencil and pen, kitty hand mirror, the prerequisite animal ears, business cards (which I'll share in detail next week), striped straws in class colors, and my phone in its spiffy new cat cover. I was ready for anything! Well, to be honest I was quite nervous, but it was time to suck it up and put myself out there.

My heart was pounding, and that feeling of not knowing anyone (aside from the lovely Kat) was a little scary at first, but fortunately these blogger gals were of the friendly and sweet sort. I found a seat and prepared my brain to be filled to the max. The three headmistresses dove right into introductions, we all shared a little about ourselves, and then off we went, no time to waste! So many important topics were covered in detail; from "about pages" to creating great content, to scheduling and social media. Each of the three women has her own area of expertise, so it is a vast, eclectic collection of knowledge. It was not a lecture though, questions were encouraged and there were group discussions and activities as well (not of the ice-breaker, trust fall variety, which I was more than relieved to discover). In talking to other bloggers from a variety of different fields, you get a fresh perspective on what you're doing and what you could be doing. I was immediately inspired by talking to the two women in my group, as well as speaking with the headmistresses themselves. I started a list of changes I wanted to make and things I wanted to try. And this was all within the first hour or so! Instant motivation.

When we broke for lunch, Suzy Mae, Martina and I grabbed sushi and got to spend some quality time together. I love those girls! Before class started back up, in the grand tradition of bloggers, there was a whole lot of photo-taking. Then it was back to work. The information about social media was helpful for me because I had not been using those tools to their fullest, and I wanted to fix that. For one, the idea of creating a Facebook page for my little blog always seemed silly and unnecessary. Through listening to the headmistresses' experiences with Facebook, I realized that Facebook can be a very helpful thing for a blog, if not one of the most important social media accounts a blogger can have. I actually started working on a page for Ahoy Miss last night, and I'm very excited about using it! You can see it here and like it if you wish.

During one of our breaks, I gave Kat, Gala, and Shauna the puppets I made of them for my video. Gala even made a super cute Vine video with them! My business cards were also a hit because they came with an extra special little goodie, but more on that next time.

At the end of the first day, everyone received a report card for their blog. It was so nerve-wracking waiting to read my card, but I was relieved to see that the headmistresses were very pleased! They were impressed with my content and the cohesiveness of my aesthetic, which made me so proud. They also offered a few very good suggestions for elements I might add to make my blog even better, and I'm looking forward to implementing those changes very soon.

The first day of class was amazing, but the second day was even better! I felt like I'd found my groove, and the fantastic Twinkie Chan was there for day two! It was so wonderful to be able to be around someone I knew; as she said, it was kind of like camp. Plus, Jose got to stick around for the day and help out with the presentation slides. It was also Kat's birthday, and it was so great to be there with her to celebrate. I gave her a very-Blogcademy turquoise unicorn bank and a skull bracelet. Then it was time to get down to business, literally! The second day was mostly about the business side of blogging, which was very helpful because it was pretty much all new information to me. Shauna, Kat, and Gala all monetize their blogs in different ways, so they each had something different to say about it.

Another thing that made the day even more wonderful was the photo booth by Snapden. It was a really neat booth because they provided props, printed out two strips to keep, and emailed the photos as well. I wish I would've taken a few more, but I love the ones I did get to take! You can see them a little larger here. Jose and I hit up the booth after returning from grabbing lunch with Stephanie (Twinkie Chan) and her super cool guy, Hairy. It was so fun spending time with them!

I loved the next segment, about creating a cohesive brand, as that is something I always strive to do. At that point, I had taken so many notes, my pen ran out of ink, but luckily I had a backup pencil so I could continue taking pages and pages of notes! Later in the day, Rebecca Crumley of The Knot spoke to us about choosing the best imagery for our blogs. The next topic was networking, which was packed with great tips for making connections in a non-sleazy way. Image copyright was discussed, as well as tips on taking great photos, and even a bit about good apps to use. The day really flew by, and as class came to a close, I didn't want it to end!

There was time after class for chatting and photo-taking, some of us exchanged business cards, and we celebrated Kat's birthday with gin and tonics. As you can see, the headmistresses and Jose loved each other quite a lot! He was perfectly happy acting as go-fer for such a lovely group of ladies. We said our sad goodbyes, but fortunately Jose and I went out to have drinks later on with Kat, Shauna, Gala, Stephanie and Hairy. We had so much fun even though the service was less than amazing, and Jose captivated Shauna with his Michael Jackson stories. That guy and his sparkling conversation, hehe.

One of the greatest things about the whole experience was being able to meet ladies who share a passion for blogging, and as you might expect, they're fantastic people! I feel so lucky to have connected with a few awesome gals in particular (clockwise from top left): Suzy Mae, Paige, Martina, and Mary. But seriously, it was a huge pleasure meeting everyone; Natalie, Adriana, Patty, Sarah, Ting, and many others! I'm looking forward to following everyone's progress. A number of the girls are planning regular meet-ups in the future, and even though I don't live in Los Angeles, I definitely hope to be part of the gatherings whenever I'm in town.

Oh, and I haven't mentioned the awesome goodie bags! Each student received a custom LA Blogcademy tote filled with all sorts of nifty gifties. Coffee cozy: Twinkie Chan, wallet & nail strips & cards: IF Ladies, earrings: Saturday Sequins, glitter ears: Crown & Glory, mini pouch: basik 855, bow shoe clips: Head Full of Feathers, glitter bow: SewMaryAnn for Margravine, necklace: Moorea Seal, Love card: Mr. Yen

Our class photo! Look at Jose being all BAM in the front, and little old me, peeking out in the back leftish (the result of being the shortest tall person). That Jose is a go-getter.

I want to say a huge thank you to Kat, Shauna, and Gala for choosing me for the scholarship, and for their kindness and generosity that is ever-present. My time at The Blogcademy was beyond words. I can try to describe the whole experience, but I don't think I'd ever be able to truly capture the magic of it all in just the right way. No photos or text do it proper justice, it is really something that just needs to be experienced, so if you have been thinking about joining in on the world tour, I encourage you to take the leap and sign up. It's a two-day workshop, but the community that results from those two days continues to live on. We are all helping each other to learn, to grow, and to be our best selves. I'm officially inspired; I'm ready to take this thing to a new level!

The photo of me looking down in my starlette crown, Kat & Gala holding the puppets up, the photos of Suzy Mae, Paige, Martina, and Mary, and the class photo were all taken by Caroline Winata. There are LOTS more gorgeous photos here, plus I'll be posting more of my shots on my new Facebook page.

Missing Sweeney

I usually like to keep it very upbeat here, but sometimes life has other plans. During the weekend, we took Sweeney to the vet to have another operation, to put in a tube to drain fluid from an unknown source that was building up in his chest. He had the same operation in February, when we noticed his labored breathing. After the first round, he was okay for a while, but then it came back. So on Saturday we dropped him off to have the operation again, then we drove out of town to visit friends. On the way there, Jose got a call that Sweeney had passed away during surgery. We turned the car around and drove back home. It was a huge shock; we didn't get to say a proper goodbye because we thought we would be picking him up again on Monday.

We're heartbroken, and we wish that we could've done more, or been there with him when it happened. He was still young; he wasn't quite five years old. We first met him as a newborn kitten, and we've had him for pretty much his entire life. We even took him on our trip to Los Angeles earlier this month because he needed his medicine twice a day.

I wanted to do a little tribute for our kitty boy, even though it was so sad looking through all of our photos of him. I'm glad he's not suffering anymore, as he was already very sick last year with something totally unrelated, then developed the other problem. But it's still really difficult. I'm sure Lily doesn't really know what's going on, but he has been extra sweet for these past few days. Sweeney always used to groom Lily, and they'd sleep next to each other often. I know he's going to miss his big brother.

We love you and miss you so much already, Sweeney boy.