.another 6 months.

hello lovelies!
it seems that another 6 months has flown by!

i am back down to working one job now, doing some massage and creating on the side.  i handmade, bought locally or re-homed most of the gifts we gave this christmas, my garden did so ridiculously well that i could not even keep up with the tomatoes!  let see . . . i traveled a bit - went to thailand, back east for a visit, down to southern oregon to see family . . . mostly we've had non-stop visitors since moving in to our new place last May.  it's been fun being NE PDX's most hospitable bed and breakfast.  i am also now the proud co-captain of my roller derby team, the Heartless Heathers for the 2013 season.  we are about to have our season opener in a few weeks - and i am so proud of how hard we have all been working this pre-season!

so, this was a big HAPPY NEW YEAR jumble update . . .

i will close by plugging a few facebook pages i've started.  the first is Bird on Wire Handmade (which i may just change to TJLoves).  here you can find my lovelies as i create them until i get that etsy shop.

the second is Hudson TShirts. a place where you can become a fan of our alaskan malamute Hudson and the  tshirts that bear his face.  hudson tees were a creation between myself and my dear collaborator, the fantastic textile designer and superhuman whitney. . . the first printing of shirts were a fundraiser for the man-friend and i to raise gas money to move back to the PNW . . . now tees are being printed so that hudson can leave his "print" on the world for years and years to come.

lastly, i've updated a few of the mixed media bars on the side ...  more on that to come.

for now i leave you with a few photos of my life since i last posted:

 strawberry rhubarb jam with rhubarb from my front yard

 an example of how my tomato plants took over the plot- they actually got much worse than this

 the man-friend and i celebrating our 8 yr wedding anniversary in sun river, oregon

 my 31st birthday float trip down the sandy river.  photo by corinne krogh

 climbing with friends at smith rock in central oregon

 at the top of the angles' rest hike in the columbia river gorge with my sisters in sept

 at the highest elevation a person can hike to without technical climbing gear on mt hood oregon, with my leaguemate Roller Eclipse

 my travel companions at the loi krathong festival in chiang mai, thailand this november

an example of what you can get when you shop from hudson tshirts

 my boy in his christmas sweater

the heartless heathers celebrating their win against seattle's hometeam the sockit wenches last month

i've missed you all!  what have you been up to in my absence?

.heathers por vida!.

well, our first bout of the season is over!  we didn't win, but i think we did do a great job as a team!  it was the first bout as a heather for 6 of the girls on the team and we were missing more than a few key players.  by the end of the bout, we had adjusted to the guns and rollers strategy and had started to play "our game."  it was great for learning how we work together and what we need to work on for future bouts.  having only been a heather for 3 weeks, it was an honor to be rostered for this bout and i can't wait to keep skating with my team and watch us grow!!

bout footage can be seen, here
and photos can be seen here

it was soooooo good to have most of my family there (mom, dad, 5 of my 6 sisters, husband, roommate, brother-in-law) and many friends!  it was the first time for just about all of them to see me play and i was so happy to have them there supporting me!

even the "church ladies" came, wearing their pearls.

{photo courtesty of michelle}

heartless heathers 2012 team huddle

{photo credit}

last but not least, our team song (with my fave youtube video of viking kittens!!!)

.heartless.

to prep for our season opener, we had a "formal scrimmage" last night.

for this, i got crafty!

since i was just drafted a few weeks ago, i don't have my uniform yet.  also, since my last team's colors were green and pink (instead of blue, like my new team), i had to make some changes in my roller derby wardrobe.

and . . . voila!!  bella constrictor's new scrimmage-worthy shirt and helmet (never mind the very crooked "h")

the shirt is just a simple workout top with built-in sports bra that i ironed letters on to.

the helmet was my same triple 8 helmet from the river rat years . . . i just added my new number (H155) and the heartless heathers' trademark heart (using paint pens).  on the other side, i think i'm going to put the same heart . . . but with a snake wrapped around it!  aaaaawwwww yeeaaahhhhhh!

tonight, i'm going to see my sister TC who just got back from Mozambique!  She was there over christmastime, so it's time to give her presents!  i LOOOVE christmas and giving gifts!  i made her some pretty awesome stuff!

xoxoxo!

.new team new hair.

bella constrictor has been drafted! 

if you remember, i formally skated for providence roller derby with my hometeam the sakonnet river roller rats and the b-travel team the killah bees.  now that i have moved back to portland oregon, i've been skating for the rose city rollers as "fresh meat" until they had a draft.  so . . . on dec 29th, i was officially drated as part of the heartless heathers!!!!

our first game will be the january 21st season opener at the memorial coliseum vs the guns n rollers!!   you can  buy tickets from me!!

our next event is our anti-valentine's day party/fundraiser after the feb 18th bouth.  djs, dancing, drinks, etc.  get there.

----------

also . . . . in honor of 2012 being MY YEAR . . . i cut my hairs.  well, my friend arwen over at dorkasaurus cut my hairs.  

and. 

i.

love.

it!!!

it's asymmetrical and awesome.

next step . . . hair dye.

.prd championship bout!.

yes that's me holding the trophy like a glock.

.two victories.

quick update on PRD derby news from miss bella constrictor

my home team, the sakonnet river roller rats, won our bout on Oct 2nd against the mob squad which means we go on to play the old money honeys in the home team championship game next month!photo by temple frazier


also, the B team, the Killah Bees just won our final bout of the season against CT's yankee brutals on the 16th of this month. this left us UNDEFEATED!!! what a great feeling!
photo courtesy of the Phury

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now to go get my NEW CAR inspected so i can legally drive it in the state of RI.

.killah bees!.

packing up and getting ready to drive to PA for my first ever away game with providence roller derby's killah bees! we play tomorrow night. the all-star team (the riveters) also play dutchland and H.A.R.D. this weekend.

i've done laundry, ironed my name/numbers on my new bees shirts, started packing, bought a TON of snacks, loaded music on my new phone . . . now i need to finish laundry, clean all my gear, boil my new mouth guard and finish packing.

and make sure i don't pee my pants!

now let's go kick some butt!

.a list of good things.

so, the arcade fire show was AWESOME. i took some photos and video, to be posted soon!

my friend derek's photo was published on page 44 of this issue of eastern surf magazine. check it out! (the photo is also currently the main photo on his webpage). derek took my sister's wedding photos last year . . . they are so beautiful!

miss chelsae has put a photo of li'l old ME on her crafty crafty webpage the utopian collection! check out her goodies (and my booty in my purple plaid bikini. whoops!) and support a fellow crafter.

check out my friend jyll's art blog, her sickfeet website and her etsy site! all very cool.

LAST: we WON our bout!!! the robots beat the zombies by 1 point! final score: 61 to 60. a good time was had by all. :)
photo of me playing the position of pivot, taken by the man-friend. :)

.robots vs zombies

this weekend we (the providence roller derby ) are having a fun bout during the indie arts fest! we made two fake teams for this exhibition bout . . . robots vs zombies . . . it will be the ultimate battle for the fate of humanity.

no big deal.

plus i just made a stencil and spray painted my team uniform! do you like it?

come check it out!

.bout photos.

the flier from our first bout, made by PRD's art team

so here are some photos from our bout a few weeks ago (all photos courtesy of greg easton, more can be seen here.) The teams were the Sakonnet River Rats (my team! in green and pink!) Vs the Old Money Honeys (the ones in tennis skirts, polo shirts and pearls). You can see me in the above pictures, I'm the one in the hot pink helmet.

WE WON!!! It was a very close game, nail biting and such and the crowd LOVED IT. I had a blast and learned a ton (it was my first official game)!


above is a photo of the whole league, announcers, honeys, rats, refs and the Mob Squad (our other home team).

Below is a photo of our beloved announcers, diamond dan and the rev al . . . it seems they are beating up our local superhero civitron. yes he is a real life superhero.

and here is our mascot, the cheese!!! we love her!

so, there's some photos from the bout!

sorry for not posting more . . . I've been suuuuper busy this week! our rommates both moved out and new ones moved in, one of them graduated so there were celebrations to be had, the garden is in full swing, we went STRAWBERRY picking and have been canning and freezing out the ears!, we've been spring cleaning and working and the man-friend just got a summer job. he started this morning!

anyway, i have photos of a lot of our activities and will be posting them up here for you all to enjoy!

what have you been up to?

.my first bout.

it's tonight!! i'm only mildly freaking out.

.i'm a derbytaunt!.

bella constrictor is being presented to the public TONIGHT!!!!


i've been baking for the bakesale like a mad woman. mmmmm vegan banana bread . . .

.radio.

{image credit: ellie leonardsmith}

Shelby Bruisin' (pictured above) and i (Bella Constrictor) will be on the Umass Dartmouth radio station WUMD 89.3 fm today to talk about the Providence Roller Derby starting at 3 (I think until 4?)


click here to listen!

Cheer us on!!

.ROLLER DERBY NAME CHOSEN!.

introducing one of Providence Roller Derby's newest roller girls:



BELLA CONSTRICTOR #8U4 dinner!!!!


very pleased to meet you.