Knits and Notions

Last day of Halloween Giveaway!

2010-10-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of giveaway's from Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween. One of today giveaways is a FABULOUS goody bag from Salem MA! Here is the URL if the link doesn't work.

http://www.confessionsofapagansoccermom.com/2008/10/giveaway-from-october-farm.html

Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween

2010-10-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

16th Day!

Beautiful doll from Goddess Dolls!!! Must see! In case the link doesn't work here is the URL:

http://www.confessionsofapagansoccermom.com/2008/10/giveaway-from-dancing-goddess-dolls.html

Another halloween giveaway

2009-10-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

This one is from on of the people doing a giveaway today with Mrs. B. It's fora free handpainted halloween pendant. Such great artwork you really should check it out!!!

18th Day of Halloween

2009-10-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Sooooo disappointed that I completely missed entering one of Mrs. B's giveaways yesterday. Everything is always great but I was especially unhappy I didn't get a chance to enter for the bag 'o goodies from Salem :(. Here are Mrs. B's great giveaways today. Remember click ALL the links, you never know where you might find a hidden giveaway!

A year's subscription (6 issues) to The Essential Herbal magazine!

A hand painted young witch pendant

Halloween hair sticks with the most adorable pumpkins!

Don't forget to click on all the guest blogger and other pumpkiny links...never know where you will find a hidden giveaway @ Mrs. B's!

16th Day of Halloween

2009-10-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

More Mrs. B's giveaways!! I have got to boogy because a winner for today's giveaways will be chosen at 9 PM! So here they are:

Charoite stone pendant

Miniature sparkle skull Ouija board and crystal ball set

Beautiful 8x10 inch print

Halloween Tea Ball

10th day of Halloween!

2009-10-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot about Mrs. B's FABULOUS 31 days of Halloween giveaway! Today is day 10 and there are about 6 giveaways today alone. You have until 10 pm EST to enter! Here are the giveaways for today:

Samhain and All Hallows Eve Soap

Zombie foot soap

Caught in a web reversible apron

Hand woven table runner

Mad Monster Party DVD

Kitchen Witch print

Day 11

2009-06-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

I've lost that lovin feelin! I've reached my apex. Even though my hair hasn't looked 1/10th as bad as I anticipated it would considering shampoo has not touched my hair for 11 days, I'm tired of being uber self conscious about my hair. I'm tired of putting my hands in my hair and it not feeling like my hair. My hair has always been soft. Now it feels coarser, heavier, the underside of my hair always seems greasy and stringy, while the top feels and looks dry.

Now I'm not running off with the first shampoo I see. I am still committed to not using shampoos with SLS, and conditioners with silicone in them. I bought some Burt's Bees shampoo and conditioner today, as well as some Giovanni leave in treatment (which is an organic product). I do wish they made refills in different packaging so I didn't have to keep buying plastic bottles.

I did learn a lot about natural hair care, alternative products, and curly hair care. So it's not a complete loss. I've come out a little wiser, and probably won't go back to being an every day shampooer.

So ends the great No 'Poo experiment!

Day 9

2009-06-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

No pics today, just too busy to take them. Today was another WO day. I think my hair is really going through the transitional period now. Amazingly I seem to be weathering it pretty well, and my hair seems to be weathering it well too. Today was my 3rd day in a row doing a water only wash. I knew there was NO WAY I was wearing my hair down today. I let it air dry then tried the corn starch trick I've heard much about on no 'poo sites. I've used powder on my hair before, but the corn starch is really amazing. I used a make up brush, put it in the corn starch tapping off the excess, made a part in my hair and put the corn starch down the part. I continued making parts in my hair and corn starching. Since my hair is light you couldn't really see it unless it went on too heavy, then I would just work it with my fingers. Really, I'm amazed again. I put my hair up in a pony tail and it looked good. I was going to my parents house, running errands, and going to a party at Chuck E Cheese. At no time did I feel self conscious about my hair. Normally, if I went one day without using shampoo my hair, I was all squicked out about it.

I mentioned to my mother last weekend that I was trying this no 'poo thing. I mentioned to her again today, saying that it had been 9 days since shampoo touched my hair. She looked surprised. I take that as a good sign. I could have said that and she could have said "yeah...it looks it".

Tomorrow is a Dr. Bronner's and vinegar rinse day...Yay! I admit I am really looking forward to the latheryness of the Dr. Bronners!

Day 8

2009-06-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well I have made it one full week!! Honestly when I started this I was determined, but really didn't even know if I was going to make it past a few days.

So I left off on Day 6. Ick..that was a bad hair day! VERY Bad. I still think Dr. Bronner's castile soap is the best thing EVER!! After I rushed to wash with the castile soap on Wednesday night I read that I probably should have followed with a vinegar rinse. So Thursday morning I washed with water only and followed with a vinegar water rinse. If I didn't explain before, the vinegar rinse is kind of like a conditioner. It helps with detangling, and the acidity restores your hair's PH after using an alkaline wash (baking soda, etc, including the castile soap apparently). So yesterday's hair was pretty good. Good enough to be worn down all day.

Today was another water only day. This is first time I have gone two days using water only. The trick when using water only is to massage/scrub the scalp well with your fingers. I also read and seem to be finding a hot water wash and a cold water rinse work very well. I wore my hair down until about lunch time, then I felt I needed to put it up in a pony tail. I took it down later to take pics, and it looked pretty good...better than it did when I put it up.

Tomorrow I am planning on water only again, and some Dr. Bronner's on Sunday morning. Tomorrow will probably be an all day ponytail day.

On to the pics:

Day 6 after Dr. Bronner wash

Day 6 also after Dr. Bronner wash
Day 8 - 2nd day of water only washes
Day 8 also

Day 6 - part 2

2009-06-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU DR. BRONNER!!!! My hair feels much cleaner, but still No 'Pooish. As I first said the purpose of No 'Poo is to bring the natural oils which were stripped away by chemically shampoo back to your hair and let it do it's thing. After using the Dr. Bronner's my hair definitely feels like No 'Poo hair, but No 'Poo hair I can live with...not the POO POO hair I had earlier today!

Day 6 - part 1

2009-06-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

I have never felt more disgusting. As I said yesterday, after my BS/WV wash/rinse yesterday I was feeling pretty grungy. Today was WO, I didn't immediately put my hair up in a ponytail. I waited and waited and WAITED for it to dry. After almost 4 hours of feeling like I had wet hair I realized it felt wet because it was just GRUNGY. Again..it didn't look anywhere near as bad as it felt...on my head..on my hands when I touched it. The more I thought about my hair throughout the day, the more my head itched.

I had to do something. All I could do at work was pony it up. Still, it wasn't feeling funky at the roots or hairline like I assumed it would, it was the underlayers of my hair. They just felt coated. I decided to go to Stop and Shop after work. Yes I am still committed doin no 'poo...but I had to try something else. Everything I 've read about this method said it is trial and error and everyone is different. Stop and Shop has a little section of organic hair/body care products. I knew Burts Bees make 98.3%(somewhere around there ) natural shampoo, with no SLS's. While I was there I saw Dr. Bronner's castile soap. It is 100% natural and I have seen some No 'Pooers who use it. They had the bottles but the dilution was like 2 tsp or tbl to 2 gallons of water! I didn't want to under dilute it to use on my hair. Thankfully they had a bar of Dr. Bronners castile soap(with lavender!).

Castile soap is a type of soap made exclusively from vegetable oil rather than animal fat or synthetic substances. The purists feel it should be made from olive oil but there's a wide variety of castile variants that use oil from plants such as coconut and jojoba. The simple nature of the soap means a lesser enviromental impact due to reduced waste stream during manufacture and also faster biodegradability. Yeah um...I put more oil on my hair. It's saponified oil(means it is made into soap) so hopefully that will make a difference.

The first thing I did when I got home while AJ was doing his homework was jump in the shower and wash my head with that soap. LATHERY LATHERY LATHERY!!! I was in lather heaven. I probably should have followed with a WV rinse, cause after the lather ecstasy, my hair no feel so good. Right now it is up in a towel, and I have to go get dinner ready. I will update later about the state of the hair under the towel.....

day 5

2009-06-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

I know. I haven't posted. I got a lovely summer cold and feel crappy. Which is not making me feel any better about my hair. It's hot, it's humid, I'm sweaty, with a stuffy red sore chapped nose, coughing. I feel completely gross and just want to feel better. Right now all I want to do is jump in the shower and scrub what I perceive as every speck of grime off. So of course that means I just want to put some bubbly lathery shampoo in my hair.

Well...after my little rant I just went and washed my face with some cool water and lemongrass soap and feel a smidgey better. Let's see - day 5. Today was a BS wash/WV rinse. Today was the first day doing the BS/WV that my hair felt oiley once it dried. Surprisingly it wasn't oiley around my roots/hairline where I thought it would be/where it would normally get oiley. This was in the back of my head. Maybe I didn't get enoug BS wash in that area to get rid of the oil. Maybe I'm doing the BS washes too frequently and making the detox worse. After I got hotter and sweatier through the day I put my hair up in a ponytail. Perhaps I need to spread the BS washes out. I'll start going to every two days now. So that means tomorrow, and thursday will be WO(and probably ponytail days!). I'm getting ready to break out the cornstarch. Though leaving the house with my hair still wet makes that a bit difficult. I may have to break down and shower at night to try out cornstarch in the AM.

I promised pics so here they are:Day 1

Day1

Day 5

Day 5

day 2

2009-05-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

Today was a WO (water only) day. Once my hair dried it felt a little greasy. Mostly like my hair would feel the first day of not washing, definitely not the second day! It looked good, and felt ok, until I was out and about and started getting hot and sweaty, I just felt better putting it in a pony tail.

I'm looking forward the BS/WV (baking soda/white vinegar) tomorrow. This better work...I went to Costco today and bought 12 pounds of baking soda!!

The great no 'poo experiment - day 1

2009-05-29T09:29:00.001-07:00

For anyone who doesn't know what this means, don't get too freaked out by the term "no 'poo". What it means is no shampoo...not whatever else might have popped into your head!

I read about the no 'poo method of hair care quite a while ago. While I was intrigued by the idea, I wasn't ready to commit to it. Within the last six months I have been consciously making an effort to go green little by little. I've found that baking soda cleans like a dream!! Especially sinks and bathtubs. Vinegar mixed with water really does work great for cleaning windows and mirrors. I also spray vinegar on my baking soda scrubbing paste in my sinks/tub to make my own "scrubbing bubbles" bathroom cleaner. Of course, once I'm done cleaning my house it smells like one big sub sammich. I have the makings for home made laundry detergent, I'm just waiting til the stuff I have runs out to make it and try it out. In addition to these items being greener, it's also cheaper. Win win situation!

Ok..so back to no 'poo. It means just what I said. No shampoo. The reasoning is, shampoos can contain harsh and possibly harmful chemicals. Furthermore, these chemicals strip the natural oils from your scalp. In turn, your body catches up by increasing oil production. The theory behind no 'poo - stop shampooing and your scalp will return to its natural balance. (oh and I will save money by not buying shampoo).

I've read up on this quite a bit in the past few days. Mostly about other people's experience going no 'poo. Some people experience an "adjustment period" where your scalp is still over producing oil, and thus the hair can look greasy and feel funky. After your body adjusts, your hair will go back normal, and in every testimonial I read from people who made it through, their hair looks, feels, and even smells better than when they were using shampoo. However, many do not make it out of that adjustment period, and quite frankly I don't know if I will either.

Now there are a few different ways of going no 'poo. One is just that...stop...cold turkey. Water only rinses. Sorry, can't do that one. I need to put something on my hair at some point besides plain water! I think water only would work as a surface clean for a few days, but at some point something needs to give a better cleaning. Another method is using conditioner. For some reason I guess conditioner is less harmful than shampoo? ::::shrug::::. Not doing that one either. The one I have seen the most about is baking soda and vinegar. I've chosen this way to go because I KNOW if I went cold turkey I'd make it about 2 days absolute tops. My hair would be greasy, I'd hate it, and I wouldn't want to go out in public. My plan with the baking soda and vinegar route is to ease into it so I can hopefully lessen the severity of the adjustment period.

This is a very individualized routine. Some people only do the baking soda/vinegar rinse once a week, some every 2 or 3 days. I'm starting out with one day baking soda/vinegar, one day water only. I'm planning on trying that for a week and seeing how my hair handles it. If that is good, then I will go to one day baking soda/vinegar two days water only. I'll keep going from there. Apparently there is a lot of trial and error. I expect to end up doing the baking soda/vinegar every 2 0r 3 days.

The baking soda and vinegar method is this. First you clean your hair (especially the scalp) with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of baking soda to 8 ounces of warm water. Massage the scalp with that mixture, leave it on for a minute or two, rinse well. Then with a mixture of 1 tablespoon vinegar to 8 ounces of water rinse your hair (mostly the ends). Rinse that out. Now everything I read says to use apple cider vinegar. I am using white vinegar, and in an effort to not personally smell like a sub sammich I added a drop (maybe two) of essential oil to it. All I have at the moment is rose, or patchouli. While I'd prefer the patchouli, I know a great many people hate it. Plus I didn't want to risk having greasy hair that also smelled like dirt, so I went with the rose. Happily my hair smells like a bouquet of flours instead of the #12 sub. LOL

So, after the long novel, today is day one - baking soda and vinegar rinse. My hair looks fine...feels soft, and as I said before, smells like roses! Normally, had I just not washed my hair today, I would be squirming because it would be starting to get greasy. So far...no greasiness.

I will be using my blog to keep track of my great no 'poo experiment daily(sorry to my facebook people...I hooked my blogger account to facebook and don't know how to unhook it). I am planning on my posts being 1) considerably shorter than this one 2) containing pics of my hair's "journey". We'll see how long I stick to the second one. It will be very difficult for me to post a bad hair day pic. I'll post the day one pic later.

Believe me, I am completely miserable when I feel my hair is dirty. I'm probably one of the last people anyone who knows me well would think would do this. I shampoo my hair every day, which really doesn't bode well for me sailing through the adjustment period. If I can lessen the ill effects of the adjustment period (which can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a couple of months!) I truly believe my hair will be happier and healthier for going no 'poo.

Wish me luck!

My bucket list

2009-02-26T05:39:00.000-08:00

My Bucket List
Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not, then send it to your friends (including me).

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, do the list and tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish. If you don't see the Tag people in the upper right hand corner you are in the wrong place.

Things you have done during your lifetime:

( X) Gone on a blind date
() Skipped school
(X) Watched someone die
(X)gone to florida
(X) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
(X) Been to Florida
( ) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
() Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
(X) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
(X ) Sung Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch.
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.
(X) Made prank phone calls
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
() Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain-naked
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
() Been deep sea fishing
( ) Driven across the United States
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
( ) Gone snowmobiling
( ) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(x) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(X) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
( ) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
() Ridden on a motorcycle
() Been horse back riding (I'm assuming pony rides as a kid don't count)
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
(X) Gone apple picking
(X) Been to Disneyland and/or Disney World
( ) Truly believe in the power of prayer
() Been in a rain forest
() Seen whales in the ocean
(X ) Been to Niagara Falls
( ) Ridden on an elephant
(X) Been to the circus
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
(x) Saw and heard a glacier calf (is this a typo or some kind of magical ice cow<~~~I like the magical ice cow idea! A glacier calf is when a small (or large) part of a glacier falls off into the water)
( ) Been spinnaker flying
( ) Been water-skiing
(X ) Been snow-skiing or snowboarding
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
() Swam in the Mediterranean
() Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
() Been to a NBA game
( ) Performed on Broadway, at Carnegie Hall, or at Lincoln Center

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-10T16:05:00.001-08:00

Dyson Love!!

Thank you Momdot!!

I can't believe it

2008-11-30T09:09:00.000-08:00

I posted a while back about entering Momdot's "Christmas of Dreams" giveaway. I read all the other entries for the contest and they brought tears to my eyes because everyone was so deserving. I couldn't even begin to fathom how the admins were going to decide who's entry to pick as the winner.

Well, they officially named the winner(s) today. I was the grand prize winner!!!!!!! For the past two days I knew there was a good possibility that I would win. The admins had emailed me asking IF I won (which they weren't saying I had or not), would I be willing to give the baby items back and given to others who entered the contest who needed those. I thought that was a great idea, as I had intended to donate them, but had no one in particular in mind.

I'm still shocked that I won. I have a million things to do here before heading to my neighbor's house for dinner, but I am glued to this computer. I keep checking...thinking I read it wrong, thinking maybe I am dreaming again and I'll wake up and it won't be me. (yes I have been dreaming about it over the last two nights). I'm so grateful to everyone at Momdot!

Thanks also to Kim @ The Little Black Box for posting about the giveaway on the Black Box Review blog.

Some new things

2008-11-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

I've listed a couple new things this week, and have more that just need finishing touches to list. I'm hoping to get that done this week so I can participate in next week's SNS sale. Wait...I can't do next weeks SNS, I'm not going to be home. Ok...well maybe black friday weekend's SNS sale. That's ok...more time to get some things listed.

Per my post last week about doing more needle felted items, I'd like to introduce you to Kola!
Kola is a cute little guy who always has a friendly wave and a big toothy grin for you. I'm not sure where he is from, but I'm relatively sure he is not from this planet. Aside from being hot pink and having curly hair, he seems to bear a slight resemblance to ET. Much like the movie character he resembles, one night he went and drank too much beer. That's how he ended up with a smiley face tattoo on his right butt cheek.

Kola needs someone to look after him, to keep him from making any more rash drunken night tattoo decisions (a well thought out tattoo would be fine), and just an all around good friend!

Kola is needle felted from 100% wool. He measures about 5 inches high and 5 inches wide.

Kola is not recommended for small children as the wool could be a choking hazard (that and his penchant for beer).

Click here for more pictures of Kola (including the butt tattoo!).

Dear son:

2008-11-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

No, I did not know there were hearts on the toilet paper.

No, that is not why I bought it. I didn't know the hearts were on there until now.

No I did not put them on there.

Really, I didn't put them on there. I did not come home and emboss the toilet paper with hearts. They were that way when I bought them.

No, I did not know there were hearts on there when I bought the toilet paper.

Yes, it has hearts on it because we love each other.

No I did not put them on there for that reason, I did not put them there at all.

No I did not buy the toilet paper with hearts on it because we love each other. I bought it because it is made from recycled paper and it was cheaper than the Seventh Generation TP.

NO I DID NOT KNOW IT HAD HEARTS ON IT WHEN I BOUGHT IT!!!

Please....please stop...we have the same conversation every time you use the bathroom. It has surpassed cute and amusing and is now starting to grate on my nerves.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

I love you (but that is still not the reason I bought toilet paper with hearts on it)

Mommy

Christmas of Dreams Giveaway!. A Must see!

2008-11-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Momdot is doing a wonderful Christmas of Dreams giveaway this month. The drawing will be on November 28th. Here is the information about this giveaway from their site:

"On November 28th, MomDot will be pulling ONE winner to win prizes from all of these amazing sponsors to help you celebrate a Christmas of Dreams at your house this year. You must have your entries in no later then the evening of Nov 26th. This is NOT the blog party, this is completely different (we have a big month!)

There are a few requirements:
1) You MUST be a blogger. I have made this requirement because this year we are celebrating the blogger. Our site is about the blogging community and this is our way of rewarding one lucky blogger with a huge win. If you are not a blogger, your entry will not be considered. Go make a free blog if you have to to enter!

2) You must post about the Christmas of Dreams on your blog and include all the sponsor links (to give back and toss linky love to all the wonderful prizes that are being generously donated), while also linking back to momdot. Just cut and paste our list to make it easy.

Additionally, we want you to pick out your top 5 favorite sponsors and let us know your favorite things on their site. This ensures that you check out all the great stuff they have to offer, we always have to give back to the sponsors! And you may find something you really like for your christmas shopping!

3) Please carry a momdot banner or link on your blogroll

Sponsors are (and subject to be adding more as the month goes on):

Dyson
BabyPop
The Shrunks
Soda Club
Kadi Prescott
Uncommonly Cute
Lollipop Book Club
Kuster
Silly Monkeez
LA Plates
Natitys Design
Little Black Box
Koshas
Kidz Sunglasses
jaC Jewelry
Appledonia
LeapFrog
Mutsy
Kushies
Huddy Buddy
Mimsi-Bags
BottleWise
Lets Go Strolling
DaBib
Sassy Baby
Baby Legs
Scentsy
FeeFiFoto
Randi100
Organic Blankees
Shi Shu Style
Georgie Tees

After that, we simply want you to answer this one question in OUR comments."

Wow...so many great sponsors. My top five items are:

Dyson - Dyson Ball
Little Black Box - woohoo...I'm always up for a Little Black Box!
jaC Jewelry - I love the "Sparkly Swarovski Crystal and Sterling Silver Earrings" - http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11774578
Leap Frog - I think AJ would love the Tag Reading System
Organic Blankees - The couch blanket. A great looking snuggle blanket for a cold winters night!

Black Friday Bonanza!

2008-11-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

The Little Black Box is hosting a Black Friday Bonanza from November 28 - 30th. Here is some info from their blog:

"During our special event the participants are offering sales such as 50% off or free shipping or even buy one get one! Many are having special contests and door prizes. It's going to be a blast and every single sale is a door buster type sale! Believe me when I say that you won't be able to resist this sale. "

Be sure to check it out. I know I will be. I'd rather be home drinking my coffee checking out some good sales than to be out fighting the crowds, and standing in long lines!

Jekyll and Hyde

2008-11-11T05:55:00.001-08:00

I worked like a mad person knitting and crocheting things for my shops. I listed them and was a bit dismayed to find they don't have many views. It suddenly dawned on me that it is my needle felting that gets the views and sells. I have sold eight items between my Etsy and Shophandmade.com shops. Six of those eight were needle felted items.

Needle felting is my whimsy. Sometimes I start a project with one thing in mind, and it becomes something completely different. There are times when I just pull out some wool and start felting and see where I go. My whimsy sells better than my practical, probably because that is when I am most creative. I guess it shows.

However, many times when I start creating something, the practical tries to overpower the creative side. For example, as I was working on Joseph (that is him there to the right), I almost scrapped him because his shell didn't look like a real turtle shell, and I had set out to make a turtle. Actually I set out to make a frog, but it was soon apparent twas not a frog shape I was making. Once I finished Joseph I absolutely fell in love with him (so did someone else and he found a great home!).

Creative/Whimsical v. Practical. That is the Jekyll and Hyde in me. I'm just not sure which is Jekyll and which is Hyde.

Fantasy LBB part II

2008-11-10T05:53:00.001-08:00

I was planning on posting more this weekend,but the time just got away from me. I'd better get moving cause once my LBB arrives the fantasy game will be over(since I got my tracking info on Saturday it should be here soon!)

Let's see..where was I? Oh yeah:

C&S Embroidery and Gifts: The custom embroidered pillow cases look great! I also love the Baby Embroidered Burps but since my son is no longer a baby I don't need them :(

Wyrding Studios: Seriously beautiful jewelry. Picking a favorite is extremely difficult....no..picking one favorite is near impossible. After looking at all the available options, I am absolutely in love with the tarot pendants! Here is just one example - Strength . The artwork, and wire wrapping are both beautiful!

Simply Sentimental: More cute stationery I would hate to give away. My pick from this shop is the Peace on Earth handmade greeting card. My holiday cards are usually the ones that say Peace on the front, and have a pic of a dove, or the earth or something to that effect.

The Soap Seduction: Mmmmmm....soap (done in my best Homer Simpson voice). Before I stared selling on Etsy I had never considered handmade soap. Now, after getting a few samples in the LBB I am a convert! While many scents sound wonderful, I still wish for smellovision (or smelloputer in this case) I really do like to smell the soaps before I commit to a whole bar, which is why I am loving this Go Soap . You can choose 6 different scents, and they are all contained in a little ice cube tray looking container. Great idea!

QueenVanna Creations: So many cute things! I think the perptual calendars are my favorite though. Very pretty designs!

Kunkel Baby: When I was looking through this shop last week this bib was the hands down winner for me: Give Peace a Chance bib. All of the items in the shop are super cute. For me anything with peace, peace symbols, etc is a clear winner!

Unfortunately, I can't get through any more of these today. I really should have started this earlier/worked on it over the weekend.

Who needs fantasy football

2008-11-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

When you can play.......Fantasy Little Black Box...though once you pick your "team" the game is over(and with any luck my LBB will have arrived!!).

Since I am such a fan(atic) of the box, and the indie businesses that supply lots of lovely goodies, I wanted to do something. As I was looking in the "who's in the box" page on LBB's website I go to each person's shop and think what I would love to see in the box from their shop. I realize that the samples for the box are not going to be full sized/high ticket items. But a girl can dream. The guys I work with play fantasy football....so why can't I play "Fantasy Little Black Box"!!!

Here are my first picks from "who's in the box" for November (in order they are listed on the LBB website):

Chunky Butt Candle Company: Bath Cream in tangerine lemongrass scent. It looks absolutely heavenly, I'm on a lemongrass kick right now, and love citrus anything!

Zo-Be Designs: I've never been much of a stationery person. I think my family has voted me "most likely to not buy a card for any occasion". However, since I started getting the little black box, I'm loving the handmade cards! Of course, they are all so pretty I don't want to give them away! I love love these ribbon Christmas Cards.

Jelene: EEEEE...Frankenstein candy corn stuffies!!! I (obviously)love candy corn, and was thinking of doing a Frankenstein one myself...these are adorable!

JaC Jewelry: This was a tough one...I want most of the stuff in the shop. I got earrings from JaC Jewelry in a previous box and I LOVE them. I wear them all the time. I pick these beautiful Swarovski crystal earrings for my fantasy LBB.

SBS Teas: Yummm...tea..my sister got me in to brewing teas. Before that the only tea I had was Lipton's tea bags. I love Rooibos tea, and this Chocolate Raspberry Rooibos sounds right up my alley.

Kreations by Kathie: Candles and bath products and tarts oh my! One of my favorite things is my tart warmer. The melt packs would be great! Even with my choice of 10 different scents I would have a hard time with the scent selection available!

That's all for today....more tomorrow!

On one hand I am happy and hopeful...............

2008-11-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

......on the other hand I am really sad and disappointed, and now really pissed off!!!

The happy and hopeful: I am glad Obama won. The thought of McCain and Palin in the White House scared the crap out of me. I was in tears last night when I heard he won, and continued as I watched the celebrations, and his speech. He is a wonderful speaker and really made me hopeful for the future of the country. Here's hoping he can follow through with his ideas.

On Etsy's message boards members from other countries were thanking us...crying with us...so happy Obama was elected. They seemed to look at the U.S. in a new light, one which had been at least 8 years absent. More hope.

The historical significance of this win really hits home with me. Seeing Jesse Jackson crying his eyes out made me think how amazing this must be to him, and others involved in the civil rights movement, how if you stop and think about it, should be to everyone (I know everyone doesn't think it is so fantastic). In the 1960's the thought of a black president of the United States was beyond absurd...something that wasn't in the realm of possibilities. To see that come to fruition.......I don't have the words. I don't think it is just a "win" for the African-American community, I think it is a win for us all. A testament to the progress toward equality for all. Equality for all...which brings me to:

The sad and disappointed side of me. I have been keeping an eye on something going on in California that I've heard a great deal about. Proposition 8. For anyone who doesn't know it is a propostion up for the vote that would amend California's constitution which would proclaim that marriage is legal only between a man and a woman. Thus banning gay marriages.
Sadly, at this time it appears that Proposition 8 will pass. What that means for the couples who married when California's highest court upheld the legality for gay marriages, I do not know. What made me more sad and disappointed was there were other states voting on similar things. Here is a link:

Results

A summary on the results of the gay rights issues from states other than Cali:

1. Arizona - yes to ban on gay marriages
2. Arkansas - yes to banning gay couples from adopting children
3. Florida - yes to ban on gay marriages

Which brings me to:

The really pissed off!!! As a rule I usually don't talk politics. My father always said "You should never discuss religion or politics. Those type of conversations never end well".

Well, I was really upset to read the above mentioned things, so I said something at my office. One co-worker wasn't pleased to hear those things. The other.....the other made my blood boil! He said in regard to the ban on gay couples adopting in Arkansas, "well if it is two gay guys and they adopted a girl it might be okay. She'd be safe because they wouldn't be attracted to her. If it was boy it could be dangerous for the child because they would be interested in him 'that way'.
OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just saw RED RED!!!!! I managed to utter something in a not so nice tone of "Well they (the hypothetical gay couple in question) are not attracted to little boys either!" . After realizing I was less than thrilled with what he said he muttered "oh well...I shouldn't say that......'judge not lest ye be judged thus saith the Lord'"

That level of ignorance astounds me, and makes me so incredibly sad. I can't even write any thing else. There are a million things swirling in my mind, I just need to go out for a walk to clear my head.

More winter wear goodness!

2008-11-01T07:25:00.001-07:00

I'm on a roll. I listed another scarf this morning. My ruffled spiral scarf. Here is the listing with more pictures http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16809257

Traditional scarves take me FOREVER to knit. So I figured I'd make the ruffley one because I always think "Yahoo!! only 10ish rows of knitting to make this one!". Then....I remember. it is 10 rows of ever increasing ENDLESS knitting. It starts with a semi-reasonable number of stitches being cast on, but soon, very soon, they double. Then the doubled number doubles! Then the doubled squared number doubles!!!! I think I ended up with 800 stitches on a too short circular needle. I only had a 24 inch needle and thought it would be sufficient. Man...I barely survived the last row before the bind off. I can't even tell you how long it takes to knit one 800 stitch row....freaking forever is what it felt like.

However, I really like the finished product. I have another one of these to list. It is a skinnier longer version of this scarf in an apple green cashmere blend yarn.

I'm thinking of making more....maybe in crochet this time to spare myself the uber packed circluar needle problem.

As I promised

2008-10-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the goodies from my little black box!

You can view individual photos and my comments on them on my flickr pages.

I have now spent WAY more hours taking pics, uploading pics, commenting on pics than I should have.

Time to go off and play with my loot!

Finally!!!

2008-10-30T19:02:00.001-07:00

S7300958
Originally uploaded by violetmoonfairy2002

I listed one of the new items I made to my Etsy shop! This is a neck warmer/cowl made from handspun Corriedale wool. Ohhh..it is so yummy I almost don't want to part with it. However, I have enough scarves, cowls etc. and I don't need one more.

Here is the listing in my shop with more photos:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16773479

I took advantage of being home during the day today and took pictures. I really need to buy decent lighting for my lightbox. Daylight is what works now, and I don't usual get to see much daylight when I am home. In addition to this I took pics of a hat, and two ruffley scarves. Done but not photographed are two sets of face scrubbies and a kool aid dyed mobius cowl. My first crochted items yay!!!

Tomorrow I will post photos of my Little Black box goodies! Stay tuned!

It's here!!!!

2008-10-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Yay! My Little Blace Box is here! Thankfully I was home when the mailman came so I didn't have to wait until after 5:00 to see if it came! I just ripped through it, now I'm going through and looking at and really appreciating everything. Photos and more later!

Productivity

2008-10-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

Finally!!! For most of October I was in an unproductive mode so nothing was getting listed in my shop...now I'm spending so much time making things I'm not listing anything in my shop.

Oh...I got my first custom request! Someone saw Vlad on Vixen's blog and wanted a vampire candy corn dude too! Yay! Thanks to Mrs. B for running the Halloween giveaway and to Vixen for blogging about her adventures with Vlad.

I just love waiting for packages to come in the mail! My little black box should be delivered any second now. I think my head may explode from the built up ancipation! Also, I ordered some trial size creamy lemongrass facial soap with tea tree and rosemary oil from Yapps Cottage Decor. I am going to add them as freebies with the purchase a set of face scrubbies. Though, I think I am stealing one of the trial size bars for myself!

There I go with the rampant exclamation point usage again.

I'm home at the moment with a "sick" kid. I use the " " because while medically he is sick (ear infection in both ears and pink eye), he is not feeling sick at all. He is just as chipper and active as any other day. Thankfully, the pink eyes were evident last night. I'm so glad we found out today he was sick and not tomorrow. Since he hasn't had a fever(and hopefully won't get one :::knock on wood:::::), and I can get two doses of antibiotics and eye drops in him today, he is free to go to school tomorrow and do all the cool Halloween stuff! Oh man...missing Halloween would have been such a disappointment for him.

I brought work home with me so I could get something accomplished today...so off I go!

When when when?!?!?!

2008-10-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

Will my little black box arrive? I was spoiled the first time I got one last month. I ordered it on a Friday, and I had it by Monday. Don't get me wrong..I'm not complaining it isn't here yet. I'm sure Kim is innundated with orders. Last month I was completely AMAZED I got it so soon after ordering. I'm like a kid at Christmas..I can't wait for it to get here!!!!

I've been trying to come up with ideas of samples to send in for the little black box. I want to have a good number of them done before I contact Kim about getting in one of the boxes. I really wanted a variety of samples to reflect the different things I do. My shop says "specializing in needle felted, knitted, and crocheted items". Thus, I wanted to send samples of each of those things. There would be one sample per LBB, you may get a crochet item, a needle felted item, or a knitted item.

Crocheted face scrubbies were an obvious choice. I'm working on some to list in my shop, so instead of making five (the number I put in a set of scrubbies), I'm making six and keeping the extra ones for the LBB.

At first I was struggling with what needle felted items to send. obviously it would have to be something small, cute, and useful. At this point I am thinking of some type of pin or hair accessory (clips, ponytail holders, etc).

Now I am stuck on knitted items. Again, it has to be something small, cute, and useful. I am not a super fast knitter, and am in awe of people who can churn out scarves. Hmm...I need to give this some thought. Whatever I send as a sample, I need to make to put in my shop as well.

Any ideas for a small useful knitted item??

I'm easily amused part II

2008-10-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

Yes..oh yes I am easily amused. If you have never checked out the Cake Wrecks blog it is must!

Here is one post I read today that made me laugh out loud:

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/10/run-for-your-lives.html

So excited!

2008-10-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

First, I ordered my Little Black Box today. Last time I ordered on a Friday and had it by Monday. I can't wait to see what is in there!

Second, it is almost Samhain. This is my time of year! I love the cool crisp air, and just the feel of the season. I am a Samhain girl!

Third, it is the week before Halloween. While it is cool to see how excited my son is to dress up and go trick or treating, that is not what excites me the most about this upcoming week. It is the horror movie bonanza that is going to start tonight! Tonight, tonight, it's coming tonight! Heee...I sound like the father from a Christmas Story when talking about when his major award will arrive.

Hmmm...completely random and unrelated thoughts: I use exclamation points, " ", and ( ), entirely too much when I write. Also, I think bonanza is becoming a favorite word. I've used it twice today, and I seem to recall using it a lot lately.

It's almost time.....

2008-10-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

...for October's Little Black Box They go on sale on tomorrow!! I can't wait to order one again. I meant to do a blog review of my LBB items last month, but I never got to it. I did post pics and comments for last month's box on my Flickr page.

If you were thinking of getting a LBB (or sending samples to be in one), but weren't sure of the type of things to expect, this should give you an idea what might be in the box. I paid ....I think it was 25ish dollars including shipping for the box, and got about 18 - 19 cool treasures! It's very exciting to open the box because you just don't know what you are going to find. Also, you can go to The Little Black Box website, click on who's in the box and you will see the vendors who have sent in samples, complete with links to their shops.

I can't wait to order, and show off the great handmade things I got!

Shophandmade.com

2008-10-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

The old addage "don't put all your eggs in one basket" keeps coming to my mind. I listed some of my stitch markers on shophandmade.com about a month ago, but really haven't done any promoting of the site. I see ads for them all the time on MySpace.

I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, but I don't want to spread myself too thin either. I mean let's face it I've neglected my Etsy shop over the last month or two. So I guess I've just neglected my shophandmade.com shop more!

If you are looking for handmade, remember Etsy isn't the only game in town. You can also try Shophandmade.com, Handmadefuzion.com(I'll promote them even though they rejected me!), Lollishops(not open yet). I know there are other's out there, I'm just can't remember what they are at the moment.

Vlad's happy home

2008-10-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

As I posted in the past, one of my little friends , Vlad, was part of a Halloween blog giveaway. He was featured on October 7th , and shipped off to the lucky winner on October 8th.

Today, after looking at the latest giveaway items I saw that Vlad's new companion, Vixen, had posted a blog about Vlad's adventures with her. You can find her post about Vlad at Vixen's Den. I'm so happy he found a home with someone who loves him! Also, be sure to check out Vixen's etsy shop . She makes really cute aprons!

I really didn't feel like blogging today. But I couldn't resist when I read Vlad's adventures. I was going to be blog lazy because I've caught a cold and I'm feeling kind of blah. I've been taking Cold-EEze, and I think I feel a little better today than yesterday. Definitely a bit less rundown than I did anyway. When I was at the store yesterday I also bought a ton of OJ, and oranges to help things along.

I'm trying to knock this thing out so I can go visit my mom again at the hospital/rehab facility. Uh....not REHAB rehab....physical rehab. She had hip replacement surgery on Friday. I saw her on Saturday (I felt fine and had no idea this cold was going to hit) . She was just not herself. Which I suppose is to be expected. She was very grumpy (for her), she said everything she ate tasted horrible (expect bananas), and she looked kind of pale. I think she is also worried about the fact that she can't flex her foot on the leg she had the hip replacement done. The doctor kind of indicated to her that she should be able to do that. My sister told me that Mom's blood pressure went very low Saturday evening, and they gave her a pint of blood. As of last night the report was she looks better, and her blood pressure is back up in the normal range. However, she still has no appetite and nothing tastes good. They finally got her out of bed at about 2:30 Saturday afternoon. Her doctor was pitching a fit Saturday morning that she was still in bed. He told the nurses she should have been out of bed on Friday afternoon! I'm going to give her a call in a little bit to find out how she is feeling today.

Oh...and on Saturday I also had my first Chuck E Cheese experience. I'd been fighting it for a long time. AJ keeps asking me to go and I always say "someday". Well...since he has his reward chart at school he gets to pick a special activity for the week if he meets his goal. His choice last week was the movies, if one was playing the he wanted to see. His back-up choice (in case of no movies to see) was Chuck E Cheese. I prayed hard that a kid's movie would be out that he wanted to see. No such luck! It wasn't as bad as I thought. Mostly because the one we went to doesn't have a huge climbing apparatus, and no ball pit! Ball pits gross me out. We got $10 worth of tokens (40), and played lots of games. I didn't think we were ever going to get through those 40 tokens! For the 149 tickets we got from playing the games he got: two bath fizzies, a rubbery blue ant, an orange plastic spider, and a plastic top. $10 worth of tokens for 25 cents worth of crap! He was really happy with what he got though. When I told my sister I thought I'd never get rid of all the tokens she said "well you could have saved them for next time". To which I said "well that means I'd have to go back!". I'm sure I will have to go again eventually, I just didn't want to have the tokens there burning a hole in AJ's pocket!

ok...so I'm easily amused

2008-10-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here are two little things I found immensely funny that I saw on the internet in the last couple of days.

First, I was looking at a crochet site and saw a scarf. I wanted to see if I identified the stitch correctly, so I went click on the "download pattern" link. This is what was written in parenthesis after the "download" link:

(this will download a pdf of the copyrighted pattern, NOT the actual item shown)

I'm still looking for the site to download the actual scarf, though I'm afraid the yarn may muck up my hard drive.

The next gem I found today when looking at the myspace page of someone who sent me a message. I usually get a chuckle out of these messages and pages, and this one didn't let me down!

"I would love to meet a woman that will be my best friend and my wife, a life partner that will be compactible with me."

I literally had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from busting out laughing in the middle of the office.

I'm guilty....

2008-10-16T06:32:00.000-07:00

...of blog neglect :(

I've been teaching myself to crochet, and as with any new craft I pick up, I've become obsessed. I have several new things to list in my shop, but need to take pics. I knitted two scarves, a neckwarmer made from handspun corriedale wool, and a hat. I need a model for these (except the hat I need to buy a head for that..LOL) I was going to enlist my niece one day, for an outdoor photo shoot, but she left before I could take the pics.

I tend to be a bit of a yarn snob and like to work only with natural fibers (maybe a small bit of added man made). However, I realize that not all people can wear wool, and cotton doesn't exude warm wintery goodness to me. So one of my scarves, and the hat are made from acrylic, an interesting looking and soft acrylic, but acrylic none-the-less.

Hopefully, now that mercury is no longer in retrograde I can get out of this slump I've been in and get cranking.

Handmade for charity

2008-10-10T07:17:00.001-07:00

I got this message about a benefit dinner for a friend of a friend:

"Hi everyone.On December 7, 2008 my family along with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) will be hosting a Pasta Night in my mother's name.My mother battled diabetes for 28 years and passed away from it on Sept 15, 2008.100% of the proceeds will go to ADA.We are looking for donations to this event. Any donation, be it monetary, food, or gifts and gift certificates for raffles will be appreciated.All who donate will be listed with their kind donation in our program."

I immediately e-mailed the friend who sent this to me, and told her I would like to put together a basket for the raffle. This idea is still in the planning stage. I am waiting to hear back about a due date for the items. Obviously, if they need something in the next couple of weeks I don't think it is feasible, if I have a month or so I could swing it.

The basket will be a bath and body/pamper yourself theme. My plan is to knit up some cotton wash cloths and smaller face scrubbies. I also want to include some other handmade B&B items from other etsians. Some of the handmade things I would like to include in the basket are:

Soap
Wooden soap "dish"
Lotion
Bath Salts
Bath bomb
Lip balm
candle
Sprays (I've seen some aromatherapy body sprays on etsy)
Oh..and some candy!

I was thinking that I would get a sampling of these items from a number of different etsians. That way the basket would be filled with a variety of offerings from etsians, rather than a slew of items from one or two shops. I was going to request additional business card be sent with the products so I could put them with each product, and keep one for myself (I like to keep the cards of people I have dealt with so I can remember who I have "done business" with and will frequent their shops again). Making this basket seems like a win-win situation, first and foremost it is for a good cause. Second, if even on a smaller scale it gets the name of Etsians out there to people who might otherwise never have heard of us.

Not sure how to write this section, since I'm not good at asking for help. I am planning on buying the items myself. However, I am far from independently wealthy and was hoping some people might be willing to donate a small item or two. I figure the more attractive and full I can make the basket, the more money it will garner in the raffle.

As I indicated before, none of this is a go yet since I don't know when they would need the basket. I'm just putting the feelers out there for anyone willing to help out. So if you would like to donate something please email me at: lisa@knitsandnotions.com . I can't check that mail from my office so if you need a quick response please convo me at knitsandnotions.etsy.com .

If you have any questions or would like verification of the event , I have info on the location so you could check on it if you would like.

Thanks so much for your help!

Slacker

2008-10-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

That's what I feel like I have been when it comes to my Etsy. I'm still caught in my funk of not being able to complete anything. Well......that isn't exactly accurate. I have finished a neck warmer from my own handspun yarn, and two "curlie Q" skarves, the felted bag I have been working is almost done and just needs some handles (and needs to be felted), I also started a needle felted pin last night. So far it is just a white circle, I'm trying to figure out what to put on it. I was going to take pics of my scarves/neckwarmer this past weekend, but my model ran out on me! Ok..the less dramatic answer is my niece had to go home and do homework.

The days pass, and the holidays are getting closer and closer, but I'm not getting more and more stock in the store. I can't wait until Mercury is no longer in retrograde. I swear I have been majorly feeling the effects of it. October 15th can't get here soon enough.

I'm hoping that is all it is, though I'm sure my slump also has to do with stress from my son's issues at school. He has long had "classic" ADD signs. Based on the fact that his dad had ADD (as a child and an adult), I'm pretty much 100% sure AJ has it too. I haven't taken him to the doctor to get a definitive answer yet, because I don't want medication to be in the realm of consideration at this point. I'm working on changing over our diets to more natural/organic, cutting out articial colors as much as possible, cutting down on sugar, etc. I also found an herbal supplement geared to kids (and adults) that is supposed to help with ADD symptoms. We are also working with reward charts at home and school.

My son's main issues are impulse control, or lack thereof, and a little hyperactivity. The lack of impulse control is worse than the hyperness. My concern at this point has to do with social issues - other kids tend to "step back " from him and not make close friendships with him. I'm hoping the diet change, supplements and behavior mod. at home and school help.

As much as I don't want to put him on medication, if the above actions do not alleviate his symptoms I will consider medication as a last resort. If it is a difference between being unmedicated and seriously struggling(and possibly failing) socially and academically, or on medication and making friends, being someone the other kids want to be around, and doing well academically, I think I might have to give medication a shot, which would be a REALLY hard decision for me. I'm trying not to have to cross that bridge, and trying to keep positive thoughts that we won't have to cross that bridge.

Blog Giveaway

2008-10-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well not mine but Mrs. B of "Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom" has started her 31 Days of Halloween giveaway. From now (well October 1st actually...sorry I'm late), Mrs. B is giving away 1 - 3 handmade items each day donated by lots of talented crafters and artisans.

The drawings are done randomly every night, so you will know by the next day if you won anything. You can enter every day. One winning item per person per day limit! So cool! Today my "Vlad the Vampire Candy Corn" is one of the giveaways.

To enter just follow the directions on the blog post of the item you want to try and win. For some it is as easy as posting a comment, other entries may be more involved. Each post give the instructions for entering that giveaway. Please make sure if you are entering by posting a comment that you leave your email address if you don't have a blog.

Rainy Sundays are followed by.......

2008-09-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Sick Mondays?

My happy camping monkey is now camped out on the sofa in a different way. He went to school today and before noon had two visits to the school nurse because he said his ear hurt. The second time his temp was over 100, and he was crying because it hurt. So I called his doc, and picked him up.

His appointment isn't until 2:45 and right now, my kid that never stops...NEVER naps is sacked out asleep on the sofa. No, I'm not the mom who usually documents her sick kid via photos...but he looks so sweet sleeping there with his hands under his head I couldn't resist. Sweet but feeling yucky. Poor bubs :(

Rainy sundays

2008-09-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

What to do on a rainy Sunday while Mom is trying to get some housework and laundry done? How bout some living room camping!?!

A few kitchen chairs, blanket and a sheet transform our living room into a tent in the wilderness. What do you pack for a living room camping trip. Well...let's see..AJ ran around the house collecting some huggable companions, musical instruments, a couple of books, various other toys, a flash light, a hat, his sleeping bag, and a heavy jacket in case of cool weather.

I'm a little afraid to see everything that is in there now. For a long while he kept coming out for "one more thing".

Now he wants to go camping for real. Boy will he be surprised when we do. For that camping there will be no brownies cooking away in the oven as he camps, no soft carpet to lay on, no endless supply of toys to just get "one more" of.

Did you know?

2008-09-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

That the tinman was once a real man?

I had never read "The Wizard of Oz". I've only seen the movie. I happen to have a copy of the book, and I started reading it to AJ the other night. We do one chapter a night. So far he likes it.
Last night we got to chapter 5 where Dorothy and Scarecrow meet the tin man. It has been a while since I've seen the movie, but I don't recall them relaying the story of exactly how the tin man became the tin man, and lost his heart. The movie is quite different from the book (as usually happens), but I really think I would remember this! As I was reading it I just kept thinking, "what am I reading to my son?!? He's gonna have nightmares!"

In Chapter 5 the tin man tells Dorothy and Scarecrow his story(my paraphrasing):

The tin man was born the son of a woodsman. He also became a woodsman, and when his father died, he lived with his mother and took care of her until she died. At that time he decided that he should marry and have a family. He found this pretty little (goes without saying I suppose) munchkin chick that he liked, and they fell in love. She said she would marry him when he was able to provide a home for them( ::::cough:::::gold digger!!!:::::cough::::). Unfortunately, she lived with a grumpy old lady who didn't want the pretty munchkin chick to marry the woodsman. So, the old lady went to the wicked witch of the East and asked her help in stopping the marriage.

One day the tin man was out chopping wood. When his axe came down, it cut off his leg! Surely, that was the end of his plans to marry, as he couldn't be a woodsman with only one leg. He loved the munchkin chick so much that he went to the tinsmith and had a leg made.
This pissed off the wicked witch of the East. So, when the tin man went out to chop down more trees.....yup...he cut his other leg off. Back to the tinsmith for another leg. More cutting trees, and he cuts him arm off. So of course he gets a tin arm. Do you think he gets the hint? NO! He goes back and his other arm gets cut off, so a second tin arm is in his future. Now the witch is really pissed off. Next time ole tin limbs goes out to cut trees.......he cuts his friggin head off! Yep....he gets a tin head.

Still he is bent on being able to make a home for him and the munchkin chick that he loves so much. So, he goes about his woodcutting business. This time when the ax falls it cuts his torso right in half. That is how he lost his heart. He had a tin body made, but because he lost his heart, he no longer cared about marrying the pretty munchkin girl. He wants a heart from Oz so he can once again care about finding the girl he loved and marry her.

It's a toss up. Is the tinman's story one about the power of love...or about the excellent health care coverage the woodsman union must have?

So...did you know the tinman's gory story?

We have a date...

2008-09-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

I almost titled this "I have a date", but that sounds like something totally different than what it is. Don't get me wrong...I'd like to say "I have a date!", but I'm beginning to think I am still thought of as "the widow lady" (my co-worker's wife refers to me as this). That is a story for another time.

Back to the subject at hand. "The Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom" blog is having a special October event called "Mrs. B.'s 31 Days of Halloween". The blog can be found at: http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/

One of my items(that cute guy to your right), "Vlad the Vampire Candy Corn Dude" is one of the giveaways you can win. Vlad will be featured on Tuesday, October 7th.

I'm a stalker!

2008-09-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

I ordered business cards from overnightprints.com over the weekend. I checked the status last night and shipping info had been sent to UPS. My normal M.O. when I am waiting for something to arrive that is trackable, is for me to stalk my package. If I know the package is out for delivery I will obsessively check the tracking site to find out where it is...was it delivered? When is it supposed to be delivered? Is it getting closer? Just put a freaking GPS on it soI know my package's EXACT location at any possible moment!

Well, I am getting a little figety here are work because I didn't email myself my tracking info for my business cards so I haven't been able to stalk my order. I can't access my knitsandnotions.com mail here at work. I tried the webmail version, then I remembered the logon was some random numbers that were assigned to me that I have no chance in Hades of remembering. I tried going to overnightprints.com to access my order information. I first thought SCORE!! All I need to give them is my e-mail address associated with the order, and they will give me my order number. It doesn't QUITE work that way. When I submit my e-mail address overnightprints.com e-mails the order information to me.....at the e-mail address associated with my order.....that I can't access here from my office ::::::::sigh::::::::::: The only good thing is they are being delivered to my office not my home, so at least I'm not sitting here hoping they will be there when I get home, only to be disappointed when I get there.

Since I can't stalk my cards I will just have to gaze at a picture of them:

This is a low resolution copy. Please ignore the dotted lines and the little colored boxes in the upper lefthand corner. When I was designing them online, I knowingly didn't put my etsy store URL, but now I am wondering if I did myself a disservice. If you go to my website I do have my etsy mini on there, and if I am including them in a package to a customer, they obviously know I'm on etsy. Perhaps for cards that are purely promotional (left on bulletin boards, handed out) I could do a sticker for the back with a promotional discount and include my etsy address. At least I would know if my cards were generating any business.

I feel so official!

2008-09-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

I've been dabbling with business card designs and trying to make a uniform look for the graphics on my etsy banner, and my business cards. I kept thinking, "one day I'll buy knitsandnotions.com so I can put that on my cards". That was a pretty silly idea, I'm going to spend all this time and money designing and printing business cards just so I can change them? So.......I got the domain this weekend.

Check it out! www.knitsandnotions.com

Of course I had to get the site up right away, that's just me. But it will be a work in progress. Since I am working on a shoe string budget - believe me shoe strings don't buy much - I am trying to get myself out there as best I can on that shoe string. With the hopes that some day I can build and not be so shoe string.

I've seen many posts from people in the Etsy forums about "need to make money fast, I can't pay my bills" and the like. It gets me thinking......I want to build this into a successful business, but I want to do it smart and not overextend myself to the point that trying to get this business off the ground puts me in financial ruin. Successful in my mind does not mean I expect this to be a full-time job someday, and fully support us. Sure that would be nice, and I will work it as that as the goal. Success to me is making things I enjoy making, selling them to people who enjoy having what I make, and maybe making a little profit. Sure a lot of profit would be nice...again, that is how I will work it, but I can also be realistic about it.

Front page!

2008-09-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! My mini pumpkins were in a treasury that made the front page yesterday! I haven't really been promoting or finishing anything for new listings lately so no sales, but being on the front page was just as exciting as a sale! Ok....enough with the exclamation points.

I've heard so much about not putting all your eggs in one basket, but mine all there there in the Etsy basket. I would love to churn out some items, and list in other venues/craft fairs, but the things I am working on right now are taking some time. I am working on some felted bags, but the knitting portion takes me so much longer than it takes to make a needle felted piece. Plus I plan on lining them, and have no sewing machine so all that hand sewing will be quite laborious. Luckily I am pretty adept at handsewing. The holidays are coming and I'm trying to create some gift items/holiday themed items. Now if I can just stop spinning long enough to work on other things, or spin enough to make something from the yarn I've spun.

Long term thinking is what is needed now. It is too late for me to get into any craft fairs this fall. I've been thinking short term and just trying to do enough to stock my shop on etsy. What I need to do it really push and get out as much as a can, so when craft fairs come up next year I will be ready with stock.

7 years ago....

2008-09-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

The first thing I remember about that day was the sky. It was a remarkable shade of blue, so clear and crisp. It was shaping up to be an amazingly beautiful day, or so I thought. I had just dropped my husband(then fiance) off at his job at a framing store at the mall, and continued on my short drive to my office. As always I tuned the radio to 95.5 WPLJ in New York.

As I drove, they were talking about something that had just occurred in the city. Apparently, there was a terrible accident and a plane flew into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. They were speculating that it was probably a small private plane, and perhaps the pilot had some medical emergency which caused him/her to crash. They were trying to make sense of something that just didn't. I was anxious to get to the office so I could turn the TV on and we could see what was going on. As I pulled into my parking space I thought, "how does someone accidently fly a plane into the World Trade Center?". The gut reaction that immediately followed would turn out to be chillingly accurate. It was very simply "You don't".

When I got into the office my co-workers already had the TV on and I saw the scene they were describing on the radio. I thought of the people in that building. I wondered how they would get out, and the WTC bombing in 1993 kept entering my mind.

We all stood watching for a few minutes, and then we saw something. One of my co-workers said "hey that plane is a little close isn't it?". She barely got the words out as we watched in horror as the second plane plunged into the other tower of the World Trade Center. Any possible thoughts of an accident were gone. In that instant my thought of "you don't", rang in my head. I called my husband and told him what was going on. Then I called my parents who were on vacation, told my mother what had happened, and told her to turn on the TV.

Much of the rest of my time in the office that day is a blur. We were glued to the TV, and we watched in disbelief as the buildings burned. The news broke of the crash at the Pentagon, and of other hijacked planes. We cried out of fear of what would be next, and out of grief for people who's lives had been lost.

I'll never forget the sound that came over the TV after a while. At first I thought something else had been attacked. It took only seconds to realize the sound was one of the towers crumbling to the ground. It was non stop, the horror and grief just kept coming. After the first tower fell, we waited, knowing the other tower would meet the same fate. We hoped and prayed that people in the remaining tower could get out before it too collapsed. We watched the other tower fall, and heard of the crash of Flight 93.

A little before noon my boss told us to go home for the day. The mall my husband worked at was closing so I got him, and we tried to reach people we knew who lived in NY. We went home and watched the events of the day over and over, and cried for those lost.

Seven years later, and I can put myself back there like it was yesterday. Last night I was looking at pictures and videos of the attacks and aftermath, and cried like I did the day it happened. I cried for the people who were there, who lost their lives, and who lost loved ones. I cried for all of us who watched this horror unfold before our eyes. I cried for that "something" we all lost that day.

Vacation

2008-09-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

I was on vacation from my full-time job for the last week. The thought was I would be able to do lots of Etsy related work in that time. Well that was a joke. I got way less Etsying done. Less promoting, less creating...aka..no sales. I'm ok with it though, it was a true vacation.

I finally bought a little utility shelf to organize all my crafty supplies, started projects, and finished items that are in my shop. Here is a pic of my little crafty corner. My yarn stash has gotten much smaller. I had a big plastic tote of acrylic yarns that I sold at a garage sale. Admittedly, I am somewhat of a yarn snob. I definitely prefer natural fibers, wool, cotton, soy, alpaca. I would really like to try some bamboo, and hemp yarn. I'm not completely opposed to working with acrylic, I just tend to only use it when it is blended with natural fibers. I was planning to start knitting some cold weather gear for my shop, but wanted use more interesting, "rustic" looking yarn (aka..expensive). I started thinking of a cost effective way to acheive the look I'm going for, yet be able to price the items in a reasonable range. Which brings me to my new obsession.................spinning.

Right now it is just drop spindle spinning. The thick and thin texture is just what I was looking for, I also really like knitting with single ply yarns. I call this colorway cinnamon twist. I'm running out of the "cinnamon", hopefully I'll have enough yarn to make something.

Of course now that I have the spinning bug, I really want a wheel....just so happens my folks have this one I am hoping to be able to put into action.

As far as pricing goes, I understand that time spent spinning should be factored into the price. I have a hard time with labor costs. I do factor a little in, but, I honestly enjoy the process of spinning, knitting, felting, etc. It occupies my hands and keeps me out of trouble..LOL. As a result I don't really put much of an hourly wage factor in with my work.

I guess as of today I am back from my Esty vacation. I've updated my blog and several of my other networking sites. Now to get back to creating.

Contest

2008-08-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Last night I listed one new items to my shop. In keeping with the quickly approaching Fall season I felted another little pumpkin. This time a 1 1/2 inch tall Jack 'O Lantern.

I have donated one of my items from my shop for a blog contest which is taking place in October. You can find the contest details at: http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/ . Mrs. B has a great blog! I especially like the "Where the Hell is Tanner" posts. Drop by and visit her blog. There are lots of other great artists who have donated items as well.

While I've been on a felting tangent lately, since cooler weather is right around the corner i picked up my knitting needles again to make some cool weather gear. Right now a cowl made from an acrylic/alpaca blend yarn is in the works. I will be doing a number of different cowls, and probably some hats.

Also in the works (aka in my brain) are plans for some felted purses. When I think of Fall and Winter accessories I think wool felted bags.

Randomonium

2008-08-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop. http://www.knitsandnotions.etsy.com (shameless plug). I don't know if I technicially consider it a sale, but I am offering free shipping on all purchases made before Tuesday, September 2nd. Free shipping ANYWHERE...WORLDWIDE!

No new items for the shop. I spent the whole weekend fiddling around with pictures. Well..not the WHOLE weekend, but any time I spent doing Etsy related things was spent fiddling with pictures. I didn't get the halogen lamps for the lightbox yet. Maybe down the road a bit. For now, I will just work with late day natural light on the sun porch. That obviously isn't going to work for me for too long as the days are getting shorter.

I'm starting to get a little project overwhelmed. There are so many things I want to do, but when sit down to do something, I can't get into it because I'm thinking of other projects. Is that akin to thinking about someone else when you are with your significant other? I suppose as long as I don't call my needle felted items knitting by mistake the needle felted items will never know! LOL

I need to post a picture of the one eyed one horned flying purple people eater I made for AJ. I keep telling him to get his mitts off of the stuff I make for Etsy, and I felt bad. Since that is his new favorite song, I figured he'd get a kick out of it. He loved it and took it to school to show everyone since the whole class is crazy for that song.

AJ starts kindergarten next Thursday. We've been out getting school supplies. He got a new backpack and lunchbox...Spiderman of course. A drink thermos and some folders. For these he chose Cars...he does love Lightning McQueen. He was clueless when I told him I had to get him a big shirt to use as a smock. He had no idea what that was. At his school now they do their artwork with no smocks. Needless to say, many of his shirts are permanently adorned with paint.

Well...I really need to get back to work. I'm only here 4 days this week, then off all next week. OMG..that almost sounds like a vacation! Cept....we aren't going anywhere. Perhaps some day trips...I'll have to do something with him or we will drive each other crazy. Pent up AJ energy is NOT a good thing!

Light box

2008-08-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

The light box was finished today!! Here it is all set up:

So....the lights on either side didn't work so well. First one lamp didn't work when I plugged it in. So back to Walmart I go! I tried it with the one light, but the light was yellow..not the bright white I was looking for. I was thinking brighter bulbs...something. My place get some natural like, but not as much as I was looking for. Then is occurred to me...........you have a sun porch dummy! So off I went and put the light box on the dryer and opened the blinds...TADA!!! Nice white clean light. It was getting late in the day, and the sun was starting to head toward the other side of the house, but I think the box worked well. I like the box because it is like a little mini studio that I can put props, or have a clean white background. No more floral sofa print showing up in my pics. As I said the day was getting late so I did brighten the pics with Gimp. Here is a sample of the pics before photo box..and after:

Unmotivated

2008-08-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I started work on another needle felted ACEO. Not sure what it is going to end up looking like. It is definitely abstract. It will be what it will be. Unfortunately, I was so tired last night I was falling asleep while working on it. NOT a good idea considering those sharp needles! So I put it down and headed off to bed. Well no, first I checked the computer and started reading and incredible blog. Incredible courage, strength, and love: http://www.punkrockmommy.org/ Have your tissues handy if you are going to read it. I would definitely suggest reading it in date order, starting with the 2007 entries.

My light box is coming along. I got the parchment paper on two of the three windows, then I ran out of Duck tape. Note: Duck tape does NOT stick to parchment paper. However, it seems to be working somehow(i.e. the parchment paper is not falling off).

No work will be getting done tonight either. Mommy is going out! I get to do this maybe once a month, just get out for some mommy time.

How exciting!

2008-08-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

Feeling antsy again because I didn't make anything new to list in my shop. Not to say I didn't create anything. I did, but I gave it to my son. I felt bad that I keep making things and telling him "don't touch that...please put it back with the other things for my shop". Especially since he really likes the felted things I make. So last night I sat down to make something felted for him.

A little back story on why I made what I did for him. My son is 5 (at this point he would correct me and tell you he is 5 1/2). He starts kindergarten in a few weeks, but for now is at summer camp where he went for pre-school. Last week at camp they were learning about different instruments, and they had a little concert for the parents on Friday with home made instruments. The grand finale was the class' favorite song, one they play everyday and just go crazy for...."One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater". That explained a lot as my son is always singing it at home..in the car...etc. Soooooooooo....I guess you have figured out by now what I made for my son last night. Yep...a pink elephant!!!...Nah...I'm just kidding. Of course I made a one eyed one horned flying purple people eater. Once I finished it I left it on his pillow so he would see it when he woke up. He was so excited, he had to take it to school with him for an impromtu show and tell. Normally, I wouldn't let him, but since the whole class is crazy for the purple people eater, I said ok. I will take a picture of AJ and his Purple People eater and post it here.

Oh...in all the Purple People eater frenzy I almost forgot! I was featured in another Treasury!! This was my second time, and both have occurred within one week! I'm especially excited about this one because it was an ACEO treasury. The ACEO I have listed was the first one I have ever made! Here is a link to the treasury: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=22502

My first ACEO

2008-08-20T05:26:00.001-07:00

After finishing all the work I could do on my photo box last night, I finished up my first ACEO. It is wool felted and I call it Fall Sunset . I posted it to Etsy right away. It has gotten a few hits and one heart without much promotion.

I really enjoyed working on it...I think I may do another one. Things seem to go in cycles with me. I create something new to me, and then do more of the same type of item. Then I move on to something else...and make a few of that type. I'll take that as a positive thing. It means I have a good selection of items, as opposed to meaning I have project ADD!

2008-08-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

Wow..two blogs in one day!

As I said I was going to start my photobox tonight. Luckily I moved recently. Ok...it was May....not so recent. Anyway, I happened to have a good sized cardboard box from the move that I could use to make the photo box. As you can see all the cutting is done. I decided not to cut the bottom out completely. The instructions (from the link in my last post) indicated it would be a good idea to cut the bottom out so you could put the box over something (i.e. a flower or something else not moveable). I don't need that flexibility, I will only be putting things in it. Plus having the bottom in makes it a bit sturdier I would imagine.

Since I have no tape other than scotch tape here, the sides will have to wait until I get to the store for some Duck Tape!! That'll fix anything! The original instructions call for tissue paper as the light filter, but I have seen other DIY photo boxes that called for wax paper on the sides. I'm planning on using the wax paper, or parchment paper. Tissue paper sounds too delicate to me.

Front view:

Something different

2008-08-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

Nothing new to list on Etsy today. I want to start on some needle felted tapestries. Since I haven't "painted" with wool before I decided to start small to see what I could do, and I started a wool felted ACEO. It's not so bad, just a bit of a learning curve, and perhaps smaller is not less intimidating than a large piece. It may be moreso. Of course I am a perfectionist so I keep working with it ad-nauseum to get it just right. Though, what artist doesn't pour everything they have into a piece? I got to a point last night where I was almost done with it, but I had to put it down and clear my head. I should finish it tonight.

Funny....when I joined Etsy, I did it to (hopefully), make some extra money by churning out things I thought people would want to buy. It has turned in to much more than that now. Yes I create things to list them and hopefully sell, but it has become much more than that. This has become my creative outlet. Whereas, initially I considered myself a seller, I am now starting to look at myself as an artist. I'm still not entirely comfortable with that description, but I'm getting there.

In looking at all the amazing listings on Etsy, I've come to realize my pictures need a lot of work. The photos many people have are just stunning, and really showcase their work wonderfully. I found this great DIY photo box project, and I'm planning on working on it tonight and re-doing my photos. Here is a link to the instructions for making your own photobox:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html

New items..

2008-08-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

I've listed a few new needle felted items since I last posted. I am getting much better at not impaling my fingers with my felting needles. MAN does that smart.

This weekend marks my first forray into the world of Waldorf inspired dolls. Good for me because I have never been adept at creating faces. I guess I am just intimidated by creating faces. When I've tried to draw them in the past it hasn't worked out.
I'd like to make some larger animals (bunnies, bears, etc), first I really need to get some more roving. I have a pound of white corriedale roving so I'm good with white for while. Perhaps a white bunny is in order.

Silver Sun Alpacas was nice enough to send me some samples of their roving. OMG..absolutely heavenly. I've used it as the hair for my two Waldorf dolls. So soft and lovely!! Definitely check them out!!

My second attempt at knittng and felting a dresser "tray" didn't go so well either. It is a shallow bowl shape as I intended, but it came out floppier than I would have liked. I thought the bulky yarn would felt up sturdy enough, but I guess I need to try it double stranded.

You can find these items and more at Knits and Notions

Sale #2!!

2008-08-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

Another sale of a needle felted item! Yes, Joseph has found a home!! He will be moving up to Canada, and his trip will start today. More and more I'm thinking the needle felting is what I need to concentrate on. Of course last night I was a slacker and didn't make anything. So now I am feeling antsy because I have nothing new to list today.

I have what I think is a tremendous idea for a project, which started when an item I was making that went awry. I was trying to make a knitted and felted tray..well..... upon completion it's a knitted and felted flat square. As I was looking at it and the way it was knitted, I thought it kind of looked like a frame around the edge. Doing a felted painting is something I have been wanting to try. My thought was perhaps my already felted piece can work as the canvas. The ideas starting firing in my brain..colors...what would be painting be? As I walked in my bedroom I looked at the wall and saw a print I have hanging up....Van Gogh's Starry Night. Wow..my "canvas" is navy blue. The colors in that painting would be perfect for my canvas. I need to get some more roving, and I'm going to attempt a needle felted version of Starry Night. If I can pull it off I think it will be amazing.

Tonight my son and I are going to the local 4-H fair. I LOVE going and seeing all the animals (even when I didn't have a kid I used to go). I am especially excited to see and pet the Alpacas. They have the cutest little faces!! Perhaps I should sneak in some shears and get me some Alpaca roving! After that I need to get to work on items to list.

Been busy

2008-08-12T07:23:00.001-07:00

Found my niche? That remains to be seen. I have one Etsy sale now, and it was my felted beads. Needle felting may or may not be my niche, but it is something I really enjoy doing. Here are some of my latest Etsy listings (some needle felt, some not):

My niche?

2008-08-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

As I said in previous blogs I've kind of been looking for my Etsy niche. I just finished an item tonight and I am absolutely in LOVE with him. His name is Joseph and he is a little needle felted turtle. Actually he is called Joseph the technicolor turtle. I forgot how much I love needle felting. I started this project with something different in mind, but as I was felting it just became a turtle. I forgot how freeing it is to felt with no pattern. To just create as you go along. :::sigh::: bliss!

New today

2008-08-05T06:19:00.001-07:00

I listed some new stitch markers today. Cute Milifiore glass bead markers. As I make them I just want to keep them for myself!

I've been doing TONS of promoting (during my work hours...bad bad), and I'm feeling a little torn between creating and promoting. If I don't promote, the chances of selling decreases. If I don't create, I won't have any new itmes to list to keep people interested. I'm also looking for THAT item. That hook. Something different, creative, unusual...MUST HAVE.

One thing I must do is remain balanced. I can't let the etsy business...or pursuit of the etsy business to take over my life. Once I don't enjoy creating things....there is no business. That sort of happened to me last night. I was knitting some face scrubbies and kept frogging them because I just wasn't into it. So I started felting a little funky turtle, all the while my mind consumed with..can I sell this? Must be careful not to lose the joy of creating. I must say I REALLY loved making the glass bead stitch markers.

New today- Face Scrubbies!

2008-08-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Lovely soft face scrubbies are new in my Etsy shop today:

Knits and Notions Etsy Shop

I LOVE these!!

2008-08-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

I just made about 4 sets of stitch markers. They are very cute (if I do say so myself!) Here are the first ones listed:

Knits and Notions stitch markers(set 1)

The search for inventory continues

2008-08-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

I finished a couple of items for my shop last night. They are part of a set and I'm running out of yarn. I think I have some variegated yarn that will work with the solid color I've been using. I'm just having project ADD. I'm working on one thing and thinking of the next.

I see that Michaels is having a sale this weekend (I think it is this weekend). I may need to go and stock up on some beads and findings. Maybe some more cotton yarn. I'm trying to work through what I have in my stash, but I'm really itching to use some more eco-friendly yarns..a hemp cotton blend is what is on my mind now...organic cotton too.

Busy weekend coming up, I don't know how much I will get done tomorrow workwise. I actually have 3 BBQs to go to. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to get to them all and have to tell a friend I can't go to their LuQ. I'll defintely be carrying some projects with me to work on if I can. Tonight I need to bake cookies for one picnic, and work on some projects.

My Etsy journey begins

2008-08-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

I set up my Etsy shop on a whim a couple of weeks ago. Now I really want to make a go at this. I'm not looking to quit my job and do this full time, but a little extra money would be nice. Of course I set up the shop and really didn't have anything to fill it with. Now that I've got some items there my mind is a whir thinking of things to make. My knitting mind is designing while I work at my 9-5 job.So now it is off to get working on my inventory!