Organic Stills

Daily Dose Of Deuce

2010-04-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

After looking over my blog, and truthfully neglecting it for a couple months, I figured out what the problem was! I started this blog to share my photography and crafting efforts. However, there were times when I just didn't feel like I have enough to say about stuff I make. At the same time, I didn't want to put a bunch of random crap on here as I felt like that wasn't being true to the theme of my blog. Maybe it's a personal "thing" that's kind of weird and I can't explain, but it's true.

So, I have started a new blog - "Daily Dose Of Deuce" - which will house all my insane ramblings. I definitely have enough opinions on things in general that I can share them with you all. It'll be a little crafty, full of random opinions and tidbits of information that hopefully you'll find interesting. I'm not sure if I'm going to be letting this blog lay to rest completely or not, but my new blog will be a bit of a fresh start. 2010 has definitely been the year of a fresh start in several aspects of my life and this is just another one to add to that list. Please check it out - I hope you'll enjoy it!

How time flies

2010-02-25T21:07:00.000-08:00

Suddenly it's the end of February already and I'm not 100% sure how that happened. Update on the husband would be that he's feeling pretty fine and had a relatively quick recovery. He hated being on the pain meds as they made him feel zombie-like, but at least let him sleep. Once he was off those, everything went nice and smoothly. The cat on the other hand seems to have got rid of his tapeworm, is back to eating normally and...the best part...has finally caught on to the fact that we don't like being woken up 30+ minutes before the alarm! He will now happily snooze at the end of the bed and when the alarm goes off, he's ready for breakfast.

In more crafty news, I have been making a decision on what to do with my online shop. I very much like selling my wares but with the sample knitting taking up so much of my time, I don't feel like I've had much time to dedicate to maintaining my Etsy store. I think I've reached a decision to let all my listings expire for now and to take my time on a complete revamp. I want to add new things from my photographic portfolio and really want to come up with a good game plan for inventory - knit, crochet, woven or otherwise. I'd also like to dedicate more time to knitwear design. I've been finding myself sketching a lot recently (which is fun considering half the time I'm only capable of drawing stick people). Next thing is to figure out how to get those designs onto paper and into your hands.

Once I've decided exactly how to handle everything, I'll put up more info, but don't be surprised if all the destashing that I'm planning this year ends up being a store full of stuff later on!

Well, this should be fun

2010-02-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

Today is the beginning of what will be a very busy week. This morning, the cat had a vet appointment to get his final round of shots and a general check up. Husband calls me to inform me that he has tape worms (gross) but no evidence of fleas (which is usually how tape worms come about in felines). The doc treated him and all should be well in a couple of days. However, I now have to switch out the litter tray, clean all the bed linens, and keep an eye on his behind (literally) over the next few days to make sure everything looks good. The appeal of checking the cat poop for worm remains is far from appealing, but that's love I suppose. As a side note, the doctor was impressed that he was such a good boy while in the exam room. She also confirmed that he is teething, which explains why he'll so lovingly bite everything in reach.Tomorrow, husband is having a septoplasty to fix his deviated septum/wonderfully congested nasal passages. The poor guy has had chronic sinusitis for a long time, and with his allergies, things get pretty miserable. Over the weekend, we were dog-sitting for a friend and turns out that I'm highly allergic to Boxer's, cute as they may be. I was in the apartment for an hour trying to get some knitting done when next thing I know, I'm sneezing up a storm and have lost all ability to breath normally. The worst part being that I ended up with the sinus pressure behind my eye balls complete with an itching nasal passage that made me want to stick a toothpick up there to scratch! All the times I never understood how bad it felt when my husband was having a bad sinus day. I had the problem for 3 hours and it was already driving me crazy. So, here's hoping his surgery goes smoothly tomorrow and that he will have a good recovery without too much discomfort. I'm already trying to figure out what meals I can make this week that will be easy for him to eat with who knows what packed in his nose post surgery!

This week is all about my two boys - the small one and the bigger (slightly) less furry one! Wishing both of you a speedy recovery.

Long overdue

2010-01-26T17:12:00.001-08:00

I am feeling like a total slacker right now when it comes to blogging. It seems like I've been on the go since before the holidays and things really haven't slowed down that much.

In the crafty world, more of my knit samples have been popping up on the Plymouth Yarn website, which is proving to be something I'm increasingly proud of. The sample knitting has been quite time consuming as essentially, it is my second job, but I've been very happy with it and seeing the end result really gives me the encouragement to carry on. If you see these in your local yarn store, perhaps you'll think of me!In the meantime, my parents have been out visiting from England. They got some crazy snow out there before they left, and then came out here to some highly uncharacteristic Southern California storms. Considering it's 70 degrees and sunny most of the time, Californians are really quite useless when heavy storms hit, meaning we've spent quite a good amount of time sequestered in the house while the rest of the country probably points, laughs, and says we're all "weak" at our inability to handle weather changes! I am lucky that my parents visit often enough that they don't need to go see the sights, which have mostly been encompassed by a layer of fog, mist and rain.

Around the house, while trying to stay dry, we've also been lucky to have our little Deuce kitty to entertain us. He's quite the character and based on the number of toys around the house, anybody would think we've got a toddler living with us. Given that he's coming up on 5 months old and will play with anything put in front of him, we practically do! I have pages and pages of stories that I could share and may have to start the Daily Deuce. For now, enjoy his attempts at DJing - just like his father.

A year in review

2009-12-31T13:12:00.001-08:00

As 2009 comes to a close, I thought I should look back over the goals that I'd set for myself in January and see what I've accomplished.

- Try dying yarn with Kool-aid (perhaps move on to roving if that works out ok) Check!
- Do the cross stitch pattern that I bought (see picture) Psuedo check (I started it but it's got a long way to go for sure)
- Figure out if I really do want to buy that darn weaving loom! Check!
- Finish the sweater that I've been working on for a year now that's been hiding...crazy cable patterns lead to long time knitting! Total fail on this one. It hasn't come out of the bag all year.
- Sew the curtains for our bedroom Check!
- Learn to sew zippers properly Admittedly, I haven't done as much sewing this year as I was planning. Going to have to push this one to 2010.
- Go on a couple of field trips with my camera (definitely need some new portfolio shots) Also a fail. Will need to work on this one too.
- Thrift more yarn (I had fun with my first sweater so will try to find more!) Check!
- Attempt to felt something in the washer Fail. I've got a couple things knit up to do this to at least.
- Write down a couple more of my knitting/crochet patterns. I have them in my head but not yet on paper. Well, I managed the Harpa socks on this and have 2 sweater patterns in the works for next year.

My plan for 2010 is basically one gigantic stash bust - yarn, fiber, jewelry supplies, etc. It occurs to me that if I ever plan on putting a child in our second bedroom, I should probably make some room. :)

2009 was a difficult year in various ways, especially with my husband being laid off and then losing mine (although I was instantly rehired so more fortunate than I can truly express). Having said that, I feel that I also accomplished a lot. I would say my biggest accomplishment this year is probably my health. I wasn't an unhealthy person before but on my 30th birthday in May, I decided to kick my own ass into shape and end this year having lost about 5% body fat, around 7 inches in total measurement and one pant size smaller. I still have a way to go with that but I'm in fighting shape so to speak and I foresee a lot of time in the swimming pool for next year as well.

So, whatever dreams you may have for the upcoming year, I wish you all the best in achieving your goals. It's a wonderful thing to wish, but remember you're the only one that can make your wishes come true.

Sample knits are up!

2009-12-22T16:27:00.001-08:00

I was just sent pictures from the sample knitting that I've been working on diligently, with designer Vanessa Ewing for Plymouth Yarns, and I'm excited to share them! There are several other knits that I've done but the patterns aren't finalized and in production yet, so no go with sharing those yet. However, I'll be sure to provide all the info once I have it so that you can buy the patterns if you want too.

This one is the very first sample knit that I did for Plymouth - a hat/mitten set in Trabajos del Peru yarn. The yarn is yummy and reminds me a little bit of Manos for those that are interested. The colors are great too and I would put this on my suggested yarn list for sure.

This other pattern is a mother/daughter sweater set that just looks so cute together! The yarn is Jeannee DK (cotton/acrylic blend) and also very nice to work with - super soft. The biggest problem I had with this pattern was time! I had both sweaters knit in a month, which was tough going considering the yarn weight. It just might be my biggest achievement in the world of serious speed knitting...the kind that gives you small callouses on your pinky fingers!

I've got 3 more things in the works right now so there'll be lots coming too.

Kitteh obsessed

2009-12-18T16:55:00.001-08:00

Adopting Deuce might have made me realize my potential as a future parent to an actual child. I might become one of those "cat people" who talks about what accomplishments their cat managed that day. In a strange way, it's not dissimilar to the parents I know that don't blink an eye when discussing how many times their baby has pooped that day. (I should like to let you all know that my kitten has been successfully litter trained in less than 72 hours and even covers up his business ok?)

The last couple of days, we've had a very quick introduction to Deuce's personality. Even funnier is the new side of my husband that seems to have popped out - starting with the post it note stuck to the bathroom mirror with instructions on how much kitty medicine to put in his food, and how long to stick the food in the microwave. The kitten on the other hand has stopped hiding behind toilets/books/vases/boxes and is now happily sleeping/playing/running in the upstairs hallway.

Last night we were both playing with him and left the room for a moment when he started up the little squeaking that he does. I pretended like I wasn't hearing it and went to the computer while my husband continued making his famous teriyaki bowls for dinner. Next thing you know, the squeaking has stopped and I turn to wonder why when suddenly a little ball of fur is seen jumping the hallway barricade and landing (rather ungracefully because he hasn't quite figured out hardwood flooring yet) in the living room. Little smart ass. Having said that, when I put him back in his designated area, there was no attempt to replicate his escape. As a reward, husband dutifully let him into the living room today so he could explore space #2 of his new home where he promptly discovered his reflection in a mirror and has apparently been engaged in ninja kitteh activity, pouncing at his own reflection, ever since.

Since he tried to lick me to death this morning before I left for work (the cat, not the husband), I've actually been sitting here wondering what the cat's been doing today and looking forward to going home just those few minutes quicker so we can play with the balled up paper and I can trim his claws. I've fallen madly in love with the ball of fluff and I get it - this just might be my first foray into motherhood!

What the Deuce?

2009-12-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

December/January is always a crazy time in our household. In the space of 3 weeks we have Hanukkah, wedding anniversary, Christmas, New Year's, then my husband's birthday. It gets a little whacky and the hunt for the perfect gifts for the husband in particular can get a little stressful. This year, in that he's unemployed, we decided not to go crazy on the gift exchanges and when contemplating anniversary gifts for each other, we decided that we should add to our family and adopt a kitteh!

Being the prepared parents that we are, we did a trip to Target last weekend and bought food, litter, bowls etc. Then Tuesday on my lunch break, took a trip over to the local shelter where they had lots of little kittens as well as older cats. Husband always claimed to not be much of a cat person (something to do with cats lacking personality....ha!) Having said that, when we walked into the cattery at the shelter, he spotted one in the litter who was later to come home with us. He had an identical twin brother in there with him but his brother was a little too much to handle - lots of tail chasing, hopping around on his hind legs and smacking the other kittens to try and get them to react. Our little guy just sat there looking at him with the contemptuous "what the hell are you doing dude?" look on his face. We tried looking for markings to distinguish them from each other and found none - it was all in the personality with these two. As much as I would have loved to take both, there was also some concern that we'd come home to find the more boisterous one swinging from a ceiling fan or 5 feet up the bedroom drapes.

His name is Deuce in honor of being our second anniversary cat. He's about 3 months old and the sweetest little bundle of joy. Husband picked him up from the vet yesterday and brought him home where he cowered in the corner of his crate for several hours before coming out and cowering behind the toilet (which is where he was when I came home). I can't blame him after what must have been an incredibly traumatizing 24 hours - being separated from the litter, traveling to the vet, losing his manhood, then waking up and not knowing where he (or his balls) are. A little love and cuddles helped though and by later last night he was exploring the staircase and finding new spots to hide in the bookcase.

Husband seems to be adapting well, leaving me a post-it note on the bathroom mirror this morning with instructions on how to heat up his food with his post-op antibiotics into it. I have a feeling his "I'm not really a cat person" days have come to an end after catching him late last night playing with the cat and a balled-up piece of paper. I had a very proud parent moment this morning when I discovered he used the litter tray last night while we were asleep and I caught him cleaning his paws too.The one thing we do need to teach Deuce is how to retract his claws. He's got a tendency to get stuck on clothing/carpeting because he can't figure out how to pull his claws out! He also doesn't know why he can't pick up his toy when he's standing on the other side of it with his back paws. He's a smart one though and I'm quite sure he'll figure it out! ;)

Baby, it's cold outside

2009-12-09T09:42:00.001-08:00

The fact is that people in Southern California are total weaklings when it comes to cold weather.

When I lived in England, I would walk from the train station to my school (about a mile) every morning in frosty weather, skidding around on mulchy leaves and potentially getting drenched by a soccer mom's Land Rover after a badly timed puddle splash. All of this in a thin button down shirt and my blazer. More than once I ended up on my ass having slid on black ice somewhere on the paving - one time in particular coming to memory because my walkman fell out of my pocket and busted into about 4 different pieces which flew all over the street.

Now, that obviously still isn't anywhere near as bad as being in Cleveland or somewhere similarly freezing. I had a 2 hour layover in Cleveland during January several years ago and recall everything being covered in at least a foot of snow.

In Los Angeles, people are liable to freak out about the weather when it ducks below 60 degrees but even at 40 degrees outside, it's quite likely you will spot one sorry person wearing flip flops. I will admit that I have somewhat become a person that doesn't know how to handle the cold weather on account of having left all of my big fuzzy sweaters in England after I moved. My limited amounts of cold weather clothing have been leaving me somewhat stumped over the last few days as we've hit temperatures of freezing.

Yesterday, I was standing outside with some co-workers complaining about having a cold neck. It then occurred to me that I am an idiot. I KNIT! Why on earth would I not have anything around to wrap myself in?! It seems that I am extremely good at knitting for others and assuming that living in Los Angeles means that I will never really have a need for big warm wooly accessories to heat up my freezing bones. So, last night I whipped up a rather simplistic cowl to throw around my neck. It's now my mission to make 3 or 4 more in different colors over the next 2 weeks so that I can wear them before the weather warms up again!

Thanksgiving fun

2009-12-01T10:04:00.001-08:00

I'm finally getting back into the swing of things post Thanksgiving. We took a little trip out to Las Vegas to visit with the in-laws and got to see my nephew, who is growing ridiculously quickly. He's getting chatty and while a lot of it sounds like a foreign language, the occasional word or phrase makes it through very clearly. I loved it when he was putting away his toys before bed and said "I'm a big boy". All four of us in the room heard it and agreed wholeheartedly!

I wish I could see him more often and the beauty of the holiday season being that I will get to over the next month. :)

Score!

2009-11-19T14:49:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite lunch time activities when I'm bored is to go wander around the local thrift shop. I've found some decent deals there - the occasional cone of mystery yarn, a nice sweater to unravel, and of course lots of books! Today, I made the ultimate score though.

As I walked over to the section where they tend to put bags of assorted things, I spotted yarn...then I got closer...and then I realized that there were about 8 or 9 huge bags of yarn. I must have looked like a crazy person because I started pulling down all the bags and looking at each bag to figure out what kinds of yarn were in there and in what colors. Some had rug yarn, not great for my uses, but I narrowed it down to 5 bags that I just HAD to have (so much for destashing). Usually I expect to score some vintage looking acrylic at the thrift store but these bags had yarn marked as 100% wool, 100% cotton, and one has yarn that's 80/20 wool/nylon already wound into balls. Did somebody say socks? Lots of them? There's also a ton of hanks in natural colors - white, cream, grey and light beige - that are perfect for dyeing. :)

I estimate that I ended up with probably 100 balls or yarn in some form or another, for the ridiculously bargain price of $30! I cannot wait to get them out of my car and sort through them. In the meantime, I took some fuzzy pics with my camera phone because I was too excited to actually wait until I had my camera in my possession! Here are the bags taking up the majority of the back seat in my car. I really hope my husband doesn't kill me for this one!
What was your greatest thrift store find?

Hybernating projects

2009-11-16T17:07:00.000-08:00

When it comes to knitting and crochet (ok, maybe just crafts in general), I have a certain attention deficit problem. So called WIPs (works in progress) tend to become strewn about the house. Then there's the things that I've already made that I tuck away in need of photography to sell, donation, craftster.org swapping etc. that I forget about. That is exactly what happened to some freeform crochet collar/scarflet things that I made last year. So, while I'm rummaging around in my craft room yesterday, I came upon some of these and actually did something about photographing and posting in the appropriate places.

For sale in my Etsy shop - Victorian Rose Collar.
A green and cream crochet collar with scallop detail and 2 different kinds of yarn for texture.
There's other things hidden in that room, I know it! More pictures to come as I find them I'm sure. :)

A little weekend home decor fun

2009-11-09T15:26:00.001-08:00

This past weekend, husband and I finally had some time to play around with the house. We went on a field trip Saturday to downtown L.A. where you can buy just about anything on the cheap. We're talking $1/yard fabric stores, discount apparel, shoes, bedding, and...the reason for our visit...rugs! We have been getting tired of the relentless collection of dust under the dining room table and decided that a new rug was totally the way to go.

The trip was very successful, but also very entertaining. Firstly we found a $5 parking structure where we handed the attendant a fresh $20 from the ATM. Turns out, as we were paying for the rug a little later on, he had actually handed us back 2 $5 bills and 10 $1 bills as change. Free parking? OK. Taking a walk through to find a rug shop, husband kept giving me a "no, we cannot stop for (socks/tank tops/shoes/buttons/trims/fabric)" look and hustled my easily distracted self onward. We get to a rug shop and find 4 or 5 designs that we like and want to pick between. The prices were already fantastic, but then husband starts with the "ok, we're going to check another shop and come back" game, where the guy promptly gives us an additional 20% discount. We got a 5"x8" rug for $80 out the door - although husband now had to carry the rug 3 blocks BACK through the melee of shops while trying to keep me from wandering off in an "ooh, shiny" kind of way.

So, new rug in place, we also got started with putting up some artwork around the house. I know we've been there for a year already and have very little hung on the walls, but we've also been very particular about putting things in the "perfect" place given that we're going to be living here for a while (it's a renting not owning thing I guess). The advantages of being a photographer I suppose is the never-ending supply of prints to put up around the place...the disadvantages being choosing which ones to frame and hang. A couple of the larger wedding photo prints are now hanging in the corridor just outside our bedroom, a fantastic photo of the Santa Barbara courthouse in our bedroom, and a set of 4 abstract foliage prints in the downstairs bathroom.

It's amazing how happy these few additions make me as they've given a little more personality to those areas and makes me realize that the simple things are the best.

Halloween costume recap

2009-11-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

While it's somewhat unbelievable that Halloween has already come and gone, I will say it was a fun one. We had a couple of different parties to attend and outside of attempting to navigate crazy traffic through ~~Hollyweird~~ Hollywood, it was smooth sailing!

I was determined to get the husband into a costume again this year, especially after last year's success dressing him up as a moose. Really, the secret is to make him wear something as comfortable and close to his every day clothing as posssible - so that rules out silly hats, masks, anything that may cause overheating or involves facepaint. You get the idea. While we were trying a new and rather yummy pizza place (thank you yelp.com!) a week ago, we had jokingly suggested that swine flu would be a rather appropriate costume and went about our plans to be "team pig".
Saturday daytime, I had assigned husband the task of coming up with our team names while I disappeared off to get iron-on supplies for the letters I had been cutting out of felt. In the meantime, he dutifully turned down an offer from his friend to watch college football so he could stay home and help me prepare the costumes. I was somewhat in shock - was he actually getting into this?! A few hours of cutting and ironing later though, we were all ready to go, dubbed "Porkchop" (me) and "Wilbur" (him). Our pig emblems even had googly eyes...which I think should be a requirement for team emblems in general (I mean, imagine your favorite sports team with them on display!).All in all, the costume was a big hit and we even got a chuckle from a passing cop on a bicycle. Who knows what we'll come up with next year but I can't be happier that I've converted my non-costume-wearing husband and he's not going to be getting out of it again!

P.S. If you have been affected by swine flu, my heart truly does go out to you and no offense was meant by this costume. I hope our googly eyed pigs could bring a smile to your face.

Well, now that all of that is done!

2009-10-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

It's been one rough ride the last couple of weeks. Let me preface all this by backing up a month to the black Thursday in my office where in one foul swoop, 40 employees were laid off (approx 25-30% of the division's workforce). With hubby being presently unemployed, I spent that entire day with a pained, barfy expression on my face because I couldn't even imagine what the hell I'd do if both of us were unemployed. When I didn't get the dreaded "come to M's office" phone call that day, I mourned the loss of my friends and dealt a little bit with "survivor guilt" before breathing a sigh of relief and thanking whomever it was that saved my job.

So, scooting forward to a week ago, my boss walks into my office and sits down. This in itself starts ringing the alarm bells because he just never comes into my office. Then he says "I'm just going to say everything so let me finish before you respond". (Which is one of those strange relationship break-up phrases that I somehow associate with "It's not you, it's me..."We've grown apart..."Stop cyber stalking me or I have to get a restraining order...") He then proceeds to inform me that my position has been eliminated, but they have found me a job at one of the other divisions of the company - effective immediately but with a short period for transition. He then suggests that I go speak with HR and all I can think to say to him is "OK, when I'm done eating my sandwich". Ok. Yeah.

Anyway, I am now the proud holder of some kind of world record for getting laid off and rehired again. I'm contemplating writing a little letter to Mr. Guinness to ask him if that world record has already been set and whether my time is competitive.

Back on the design train!

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

I've been itching to design my first non-accessory knit wearable for a while and life just hasn't given me much of a chance recently. This week, I was wandering around the shops looking for a birthday gift for my mother - a notoriously impossible feat - and noticed that there were some super cute knitwear cardis out there this season. So, there's me standing in the middle of the store rifling through racks of awesome knits and next thing you know I'm completely distracted and instead of shopping for my mom, I'm standing there with my camera phone taking photographs of the sweaters. Talk about a sudden rush of inspiration!

So, yesterday on my lunch break, I sat here and thought about what yarn I have that I can get started with and drawing out potential cable designs, checking sizing and writing down notes for construction. It was irritating me that I'd actually have to wait and get home to cast on my design. I know there are some designers that can sketch a design and write out full instructions without knitting the item itself, but I'm not one of them. I have to knit it up myself - which means I'm simultaneously test knitting, sample knitting, tweaking and get something to wear at the end of it!

Well, the project is well underway and all I can tell you is that it's a cardi...with a cable design. You'll have to wait and see for the rest!

My first woven

2009-10-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am proud to present my very first woven! I haven't had as much time to play with my new craft as I'd like, but I've got one scarf-type-thing done and another warp on the loom ready to go.

The hardest part of weaving for me so far has definitely been warping the loom. I chose to use some recycled yarn that I dyed with Kool Aid for both the warp and the weft. I decided to try the direct warping method and, seeing as I don't yet have a warping clamp, I used my husband's gargoyle piggy bank (named Leroy) to wind the yarn around. I will say that it was hard work and I broke out in a nice sweat from crawling around on the floor! I've concluded that some clamps from Home Depot will make the entire process much easier - including the fact that the heddle has a habit of falling off the heddle block when I move the yarn through it too quickly.

The actual weaving itself went pretty smoothly, outside of the handful of tension issues and having slightly messy selvedges. I'm very proud of my first attempt though. The end result is a little stiff for a scarf but I'm thinking that it can be made into a nice bag instead.
I should note that for the second attempt at warping, I got smart and brought the loom downstairs to the kitchen where I used the kitchen table and a chair to wind the yarn around. Having it all at a regular height and not having to wrangle yarn to stay behind the ears of a gargoyle definitely helped! I also scored a cone of fingering weight yarn at the local thrift store for $1 to use. I haven't decided what to use for the weft that, but that will be shared later.

From way back when!

2009-09-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

While I was going through some things on my computer today, I found some photos of the first few things that I made when I first learned to crochet. These were all crocheted for our charity group at work.

From Stitch' N' Bitch

From the Lion Brand website, I think!

I got this pattern from somewhere and added my own color flair.

My first attempt at treble crochet.

It's amazing how far I've come with my fiber crafts in the last few years....crochet being my gateway drug so to speak!

OK, so it's a little crafty

2009-09-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

I have been absolutely horrible about posting my crafty endeavors recently so I am making a promise that I will take pictures of the work in progress on my loom this evening! I'm making what is a mostly straight scarf-type-thing using some of the yarn I recycled and dyed with Kool Aid a while back. I'm quite happy with it so far although been playing with tension and neat edges etc. I also spent an hour in the library yesterday reading through some books on rigid heddle weaving to make sure I was on the right track. My husband was very patient as I explained to him how it all worked and what the difference was between the warp and the weft. I'm convinced he secretly wants to try it. ;)

As a bit of fun this morning, I found a website where you can squirrelize your photos. Now, what on earth is that about? Here is the original article, and here is my wedding photo - complete with squirrel.
Ridiculous I know, but it's still making me giggle. You too can add a squirrel on this site. Enjoy!

I am a big nerd

2009-09-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

It has to be said that one of the reasons I enjoy Facebook is on account of some of the silly games that can be played on their interface. The most recent one to catch my attention is "Restaurant City", which has apparently become quite the popular game. The basic theme being that you build a restaurant (very Sims style) and you can hire your friends to work for you, collect ingredients to make dishes, even grow ingredients in the little plot just outside the restaurant. Here's my little restaurant right now. The most intriguing thing about this game to me is the fact that there's a nice open bathroom for the little visiting avatars to pee in (left side of the picture). My husband has been harrassing me to put a sink in there for days, not that it's a game requirement, but definitely makes me feel better about the situation. I think I'm planning on changing the flooring soon, but haven't decided what to do yet.

So, if you're on Facebook and want to befriend me within this game, leave a comment here telling me how to find you. You each get a free ingredient for visiting each other, plus it's an extra person to trade ingredients with!

Looming on the horizon

2009-09-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

Literally! Since I got my little potholder loom, the concept of weaving beautiful scarves, dishtowels, bags etc. has been at the forefront of my crafting brain. Hubby still hasn't found a job yet so funds are limited but I took a look at my PayPal account and decided that I do have a little bit of money to spend on a used loom. Today, I finally knuckled down and found a 20" vintage rigid heddle loom for $35 that with any luck will be here in the middle of next week! I took a trip to the library on my lunch break and flipped through the basics of all 3 weaving books they had on the shelves. I'm really anxious to get started on this - can you tell?

There's only one person I know that used to weave, and she happens to be in my office. When she told her loom (one of the crazy professional $3000 ones), she put a ton of weaving yarns in a box for the knitting group at work in the hope that somebody may be able to use it in the future. Well, as soon as the loom arrives, that box of weaving yarn will be mine to play with, practice and become a weaving master! :)

Fire season once again

2009-08-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

Until I moved up to Los Angeles nearly a decade ago, I didn't really understand that there was such thing as a "fire season" in Southern Cali. I remember searching for renter's insurance circa 2002 and scoffing at the fact we couldn't get it in the area we were living in as it's a brush fire zone. It wasn't until the Barham/Griffith Park fires in 2007 that it became a reality to me as I watched it unfold in close-up. I never thought I would be one to chase down a brush fire with my camera in hand, looking to document the sheer awe that it inspires, but if I were able to do it safely, I realize that I would.

Once again, this year in California, there are several fires burning right now. Smog and ash, mixed with record temperatures, are all making the L.A. basin look like (what some of us have started referring to as) the "armpit of hell". I snapped a quick shot outside my building on the way into work @ 8:30 this morning and you can see how that nickname makes sense, despite being several miles away from the nearest fire.Here's hoping everybody stays safe.

Knitting for hire

2009-08-25T14:46:00.001-07:00

One of the reasons that I've been so quiet on here recently is my recent second-career is a knitter for hire. When I started creating my own knit designs, I would knit up the samples for photos myself and try to come up with creative ways of taking pictures of my own feet (although my husband did an excellent job with my last sock pics). It didn't really occur to me until I saw a posting for somebody needing a sample knitter that designers didn't always knit up their own stuff.

In the last few months, I've become involved in a couple of sample knitting projects - one for an independent publication, and also for a larger yarn company. They send me the yarn and the pattern, I knit it up and send it back. While that sounds ridiculously easy, I've discovered that there's a lot more to it. If you happen across an opportunity to knit for hire, here's a few things to keep in mind.

- You are providing the final image. Generally, when you're working from a pattern you have a photo to give you a general idea of what the item is supposed to look like. My first sample knitting project, I kept on looking for that photo to give me guidelines...and then I'd realize that I was knitting the photo. The whole knitting "blind" thing is a total trip and leads to nerves that you will accidentally create a knitwear Quasimodo of sorts.
- You have to pay a lot of attention to what the designer may have missed or miscalculated. They haven't necessarily knit up the piece, or it may not have been tech edited yet. Sometimes the math doesn't add up, or they forgot to put in a step. If you're not sure, ask! I'd rather stop knitting for a couple hours and wait for confirmation than have to rip back something later. The designer is relying on you to help them release the best pattern possible.
- You're on a deadline. I'm a serious offender when it comes to half knit items hanging around the house in a variety of bags. Sometimes I lose interest, sometimes I forget about it completely. Either way, there is no "I'll get to that later" when it comes to sample knitting. If they need it for a photo shoot on whatever date, you have to get it there on time!
- You don't get to keep it. You may have to put aside personal projects for a while (see aforementioned point, I'm good at that anyway) to get the samples done and no matter how much you love whatever it is you just made, you have to send it away never to be seen again. OK, well I should say that it will be seen again when the pattern is released, and then there will be the pride and excitement that accompanies that.
- You may develop callouses on your pinkie finger. That's just a fact that I had to share seeing as my right hand is currently sporting one.

I realize that doesn't all sound super fun but I have had several knitters say to me since I started doing this "that sounds like a blast" and don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying it. There's always the other side of the coin though and sample knitting is a serious business that does take a good amount of dedication. On the upside, it's a great opportunity to try out and discover new yarns that you may not have come across before! Of the 3 things I've knit up, there's 2 yarns that I would definitely use again (will post more once the patterns are released) and one that I loved in the hank but really didn't enjoy knitting with. If nothing else, I'm getting the aspirations to be a designer that can have others knit up my visions when I grow up!

One snip and it's gone...Round II

2009-08-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Way back in the day, I blogged about my mente e, Jeanette, chopping off her exceedingly long tresses and donating them to Locks Of Love. My own hair has been getting really long recently. Not as long as Jeanette's was prior to getting the chop, but the consistent comments from people to the effect of "wow, your hair is getting really long" were becoming more and more frequent. So, I went online to check out my options for where to possibly donate my hair. I found that Pantene Beautiful Lengths works with the American Cancer Society to make wigs for cancer victims, then there's Locks Of Love who assist kids with alopecia in getting wigs, and also Wigs For Kids (although they needed 12" of hair minimum, which was just a little too much for me). I actually really wanted to donate to the Beautiful Lengths program, but they cannot take hair that's had permanent dye in it - and although I've only dyed my hair the once, in a somewhat successful attempt to dye the grey, it was a permanent dye and hence put me out of the running for that one.

Anyway, research - check. Time to measure my hair. I had my handy husband take the tape measure to it and assure me that there was indeed 10" of hair to spare, although that would take it to my chin which is a place my hair hasn't been since I was about 5 years old. Originally, the decision was to wait another month or so and let it grow an inch, then lop it off. The problem is that once the decision was in my head to do it, there wasn't any waiting! I'm a pretty patient person, but sometimes you just gotta run with it...and off I ran to the salon, ponytail appropriately marking the spot and ready to go.
After she evened out my rather lop-sided "post-ponytail-chopping" do, it was probably an inch or so shorter than I was expecting and I was sitting there, staring at the length of hair sitting at her station but no longer attached to my head. It's now been 2 weeks and I'm still not 100% used to the lack of hair covering the back of my neck, the fact I don't need to tie it back to get into the shower, or the fact I need to put a little product in it to get it to behave (rather than the quick brushing that it used to get). I've had some people tell me that I look older and more sophisticated, while others have informed me that I look even younger - as if I didn't already get carded for everything. Either way, I'm enjoying playing with my new hair and even if I decide I want it long again, it will grow back! That's an opportunity not granted to the kids with alopecia that need these wigs.

So You Think You Can Dance?

2009-08-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

I am a not so secret lover of the show "So You Think You Can Dance". I've been watching since about half way through Season 1 and I'm totally addicted. This has way surpassed my addiction to Top Model, but probably because the dancers on this show have TALENT.

I was a ballet dancer for 12 years through the Royal Academy Of Dance in the UK, and also did tap dancing for a few years in among that as well. My claim to fame being presented a silver tap dancing certificate by Errol "I Believe In Miracles" Brown of Hot Chocolate. I've done the excruciatingly painful ballet en pointe, had my picture taken for the local paper in my leotard (which still haunts me to this day), and found out that it takes approximately 230 bobby pins and 2 cans of hairspray to get my hair sufficiently up in a bun for examinations. Essentially, I understand the dedication that it takes to dance. Even with all that though, I can't get close to the standard of brilliant that I see with the dancers on this show.

Last night, I was honored to go to the finale taping for Season 5. My office is responsible for a lot of the music licensing that ends up on that show (including the song for my favorite dance of the season above) so my co-worker pulled a few strings and managed to get me tickets. I was giddy all week at the prospect of seeing the action live and I certainly wasn't disappointed. What's even better is that given it was the finale, they performed some of the best dances from the entire season and the top 20 finalists did group numbers together. It was like buying a best-of compilation CD!
I manage to snap this pic with my little Blackberry camera right after the winner was announced and they released the confetti (which also prompted me to feel really sorry for the cleaning crew)! I'm really happy that the win went to Jeanine last night. She's an amazing dancer - fiery, fun and classy all at the same time. Rock on girl!

Ugly...but oh so cute!

2009-07-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

I just have to take a moment to share one of the most intriguing shows on TV. If you have never had the opportunity to catch it, keep an eye out for the World's Ugliest Dog Competition - aired on Animal Planet. (You can actually use that link to go vote on your favorite ugly dog.)

The first time I caught wind of this contest while flipping through the channels a couple of years ago, I was compelled to watch and my then boyfriend (now husband) walked into the room to see a Chinese Crested with no fur and a tongue hanging sideways out of a very toothless mouth displayed proudly on his new 50" flat screen TV. The first thing to come to mind when seeing such a sight is to exclaim "that is NOT a dog!" However, the bizarrely ugly animals that are included in this show are also bizarrely cute and quite inspiring in their fugliness (not a word I'm sure, but it should be). Outside of their looks though, it's really quite heartwarming to hear the stories of how many of these dogs were rescued and are now so dearly loved by their owners - I believe one of the stories involved the animal shelter actually paying the guy to take the dog home with him.

Any competition where the animal can actually receive additional "personality" points for peeing on a judge is my kind of show. It proves that you don't have to be gorgeous to be a champion!

Free Knit Pattern - Harpa Socks

2009-07-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

HARPA SOCKS
by Natalie Jacobs

The Harpa sea shell is a natural beauty, with gentle lines and curves. The shell's ornamental ribbing is suggestive of the strings on a harp, hence it's name. Capture it's essence with these lace ankle socks. These are a cuff down sock pattern incorporating a pretty lace pattern for the instep, with some added ribbing interest on the heel. The yarn for this pattern is from indie yarnie Squoosh Fiberarts, in the "Shell" colorway - a perfect fit for this design.

Yarn: Sublime: Fingering by Squoosh Fiberarts (http://squoosh.etsy.com)
[420 yards (384 m); Superwash Merino Wool]
Other Materials: Set of 5 DPNs (2.5mm/1.5 US), Stitch marker (if desired), Tapestry needle
Gauge: 8 stitches / 10 rows = 1 inch in stockinette

Note: The lace pattern will make the sock seem narrow until it is placed on the foot, which will open up the lace and expand the sock!

Zig Zag Lace (instep):
Row 1 and all odd rows: p2, *k2, p2* repeat
Rows 2, 4, and 6: p2, *yo, k2tog, p2* repeat
Rows 8, 10, and 12: p2, *sl1, k1, psso, yo, p2* repeat

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cuff:
Cast on 60 stitches and divide evenly between 4 needles (15 stitches on each needle). Join in the round being careful not to twist. Place stitch marker to indicate the beginning of the round, if desired.

1. Work k2, p2 ribbing for 6 rows

Note: This design is for an ankle sock. If you wish to make a longer sock, do additional rows of ribbing until the cuff is the desired length.

Heel Flap:
Work next 30 stitches all onto one needle for the heel flap in Braided Rib. The remaining 30 stitches are not used and will later become the instep of the sock.

2. With RS facing - Sl1, k1, p2, *skip first stitch, second stitch ktbl keeping stitch on left needle, k skipped stitch, slide both stitches off left needle, p2*, [repeat from * to * 6 times] k2
3. With WS facing - Sl1, p1, k2, *skip first stitch, second stitch p keeping stitch on left needle, then p skipped stitch, slide both stitches off left needle, k2*, [repeat from * to * 6 times] p2
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until heel flap is 20 rows (or is approx 2 inches long), then repeat step 2 once more to end with a RS row

Note: If you wish to accomodate a larger instep, do additional repeats to create a longer heel flap. You will then need to pick up additional stitches for the gusset and add more decrease rounds later.

Turn Heel:
5. With WS facing - Sl1, P16, P2tog, P1 turn
6. Sl1, K5, K2tog, K1 turn
7. Sl1, P6, P2tog, P1 turn
8. Sl1, K7, K2tog, K1 turn
9. Sl1, P8, P2tog, P1 turn
10. Sl1, K9, K2tog, K1 turn
11. Sl1, P10, P2tog, P1 turn
12. Sl1, K11, K2tog, K1 turn
13. Sl1, P12, P2tog, P1 turn
14. Sl1, K13, K2tog, K1 turn
15. Sl1, P14, P2tog, P1 turn
16. Sl1, K15, K2tog, K1

There should be 18 stitches left on the heel needle.

Gusset:
Needles 1, 2, 3 & 4 will now be designated.

17. Needle 1 - Using needle holding the heel stitches, pick up and knit one stitch in each loop along the heel flap, and an extra stitch in the space between the heel flap and the instep (11 stitches picked up total)
18. Needles 2 & 3 - Work across instep (30 stitches) with Row 1 of Zig Zag Lace pattern
19. Needle 4 - Using spare needle, pick up and knit an extra stitch in the space between the heel and the rest of the sock, and one stitch in each loop along the other side of the heel flap (11 stitches total). Knit across first 9 stitches of the heel flap

The center of the heel will now be the beginning of the round. Place stitch marker if desired.

Decreases:
20. Knit to last 3 stitches of Needle 1, K2tog, K1; Needles 2 & 3, continue with Zig Zag Lace pattern stitch across instep; Needle 4, K1, SSK, knit to end (2 stitches decreased)
21. Knit one round with no decreases, continuing with pattern stitch across instep

Repeat steps 20 & 21 until there are 60 stitches total (30 across bottom of sock, 30 across instep).

Body Of Sock:
22. Continue knitting all stitches for the bottom of sock each round (stockinette), but using the Zig Zag Lace stitch for the 30 stitches on the top of the sock until sock is about 2 inches shorter than desired length. End on row 6 or 12 of the pattern stitch

Toe Decreases:
23. Knit to last 3 stitches of Needle 1, K2tog, K1; Needle 2, K1, SSK, work across by knitting the knit stitches and purling the purl stitches to create 2x2 ribbing until the last 3 stitches of Needle 3, K2tog, K1; Needle 4, K1, SSK, knit to end (4 stitches decreased)
24. Knit one round with no decreases maintaining the ribbing across the instep stitches

Repeat steps 23 & 24 until there are 20 stitches remaining. Move the stitches from the top of the sock onto one needle (10 stitches) and from the bottom onto one needle (10 stitches). Weave in with kitchener stitch or other preferred method for finishing sock toe. Weave in all ends.

© 2009 Natalie Jacobs
Pattern is for personal, non-commercial use only. You may not make items originating from this pattern for profit without prior consent from the designer. For any questions regarding the terms of use, please contact the designer at organicstills@gmail.com.

Thanks to my test knitters who helped me make sure that the pattern is clear and easy to read!

Jenn (http://woolverine.wordpress.com/)
Christine (Christine07 on Ravelry)
Michele (maprice on Ravelry)

Behold the belly!

2009-07-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

It still stuns me to realize that I am at the age where my friends are actively discussing pro-creating. Indeed, what would have been considered sordid TMI details a couple of years ago are now discussed no differently from talking about which new recipe we want to try for dinner.

One of my closest friends is due to give birth next month and I am thrilled to be a pseudo-auntie to her unborn. From the moment she said she and her husband were considering getting started with increasing their family size, I just knew she was going to be one of those happy pregnant women who just make it look so damn easy. None of that throwing up, hot flash, pickle craving business. Sure enough, she's 6 weeks out and is still happily tottering along in her heels, albeit more tired than usual, while proudly announcing that her baby is "the size of a pineapple". Of the pregnant women I've known, few have shared her perpetual pregnant glee...and I can only hope that I make it look that easy when I'm in the same position!Anyway, I was thrilled when she asked me to take her belly pics. I've never done maternity shots before, but was excited to oblige. In addition to the required B&W shots, I suggested we take pictures in the park seeing as she grew up in the Northern California wine country and it seemed fitting that she should be frolicking outside.

They're supposed to be a surprise for her husband's birthday this month so I went to her house fully prepared to be ninja-like. Camera bag was hidden in the car, his offer to drive us over to the coffee shop (where we were supposedly going to spend the next hour or so yapping incessantly about female stuff) politely declined, and we were in the process of devising a plan to get him out of the house later in the day to do nude photos in the baby's room (figuring that a naked pregnant lady at the park might raise a few eyebrows). His announcement that he was going to Best Buy to get a DVD player was like a gift from above as we left the house, waited until he had turned the corner in his car, and then ran back to the house to get the indoor photos done in the short window of opportunity offered to us!

We then scurried off to the park and an hour or so later, innocently returned to admire his choice of electronics. I can't wait to see his face when he realizes what we were up to, but for now I have her permission to share these with you.

I actually did it! Meet the website.

2009-07-08T09:49:00.001-07:00

Several years ago I purchased the domain http://organicstills.com and had some seriously gung-ho ideas about getting my photography portfolio online. With my rather rudimentary html skills, I put up something that vaguely resembled a rather simplistic portfolio web design...and then it sat there for a year or so...and then it ground to a resounding halt. A halt that was costing me an annual domain/hosting fee that I wasn't doing anything with.

For a while, I had a fantastic idea to make my own ecommerce portion of the site to sell my wares - photography, crafts, yarns, and whatnot. I spent a few days getting all active with positioning the paypal "buy now" button all over the place and realized that I basically had no content management for my items at all and that was just not going to work.

A few months ago, my friend Charlie (a college student that we bribed with a home cooked meal) came over to help me with some web programming for my husband's music site. He introduced me to the CMS (Content Management System) powered by Wordpress. "But Wordpress is a blog", I told him. "We don't want something that looks like a blog". He gave me the basic rundown on PHP, SQL, and a bunch of other three letter concepts that really meant WTF to me at the time. Then said "you're smart so I know you'll figure it out" and left me to my own devices. After days of crying, banging my head against a wall, and staring blankly at the computer screen; I ended up with this. I can't even describe how proud I was to launch that site, but with all my new found web design powers, my attention turned back to mine.

Yes, I want my website to be so many things but after working on my husband's site for so long, I realized I just had to focus on what I wanted my own website to be in this moment. I decided on a photography portfolio, found the template, found the photos and off I went.
So, I have a ton of content to still be added, but it's a damn fine start and boy am I proud! One day yes, you'll be able to shop on it, and who knows what else. For now though, Organic Stills finally has a big girl website that I am happy to share with you all!

July already?

2009-07-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Looking at my calendar on my office wall today, I'm realizing that it's already July. When the hell did that happen I wonder? This year has been somewhat of a whirlwind so far and doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. The irony is that it's 100 degrees outside and I've spent most of the day so far working on Christmas albums.

The fact is that in order to get Christmas albums into stores at the appropriate time we have to start working on them as early as March. Yes, March. By the time Christmas actually rolls around, I'm ready to tell Rudolph where he can stick his White Christmas. Indeed, come December, I'm hunched over and Grinch-like and ready to kill at the first few bars of "Feliz Navidad" (which just may by my most hated Christmas song of all!) It's not that I hate Christmas songs. I just hate Christmas songs when I'm working on them in the middle of spring and through the summer when I would much rather be contemplating sticking my toes in the pool.

So, I shall lament the rest of my office day before the long weekend, surrounded by holiday cheer of the non-July 4th variety.

A sneak preview

2009-06-25T09:20:00.001-07:00

Since moving from England to California 12 years ago, one thing I have discovered is that I do not like wearing shoes. Apart from anything my feet are a seriously peculiar shape. We're not talking a parallelogram or anything, but they're short, wide and have a high instep. To put it simply, shoe shopping is a nightmare for me and sometimes I think that wearing the shoe BOX might be easier than wearing the shoe that's in it.

Of course, in the last couple of years since knitting regularly, I have discovered the beauty of knitting socks. They're small, fun and perfect as a portable project. The thing is that I really don't feel like I'm getting enough benefit from many of the beautiful sock patterns out there because I just don't wear socks that much and when I do, they're generally ankle socks anyway. This meant I just had to design a sock pattern to fit my Golden State style!

This is only a preliminary photo as these are currently having some yarn dyed up for them by an indie yarnie, and also being test knit to make sure that my pattern makes sense. I'm really excited about this pattern though and based on the response I received on Ravelry, they're already generating some interest! So, meet Harpa...The pattern will be available for free on this blog in 2-3 weeks will hopefully grace the footsies of many ankle-sock-loving knitters among us!

My design mojo is strong right now and although I'm not 100% done with this one, I'm already itching to get started on something new. Any suggestions on what pattern you'd like to see from me next?

Fiber Friday

2009-06-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

A little yarny goodness to take you into the weekend!

This one was dyed up last weekend and is now listed in my Etsy shop. With all the June gloom that I've been seeing, when I was creating this yarn, I wanted something fun, fruity and ready for summer...the result was Mai Tai! It's a hand dyed yarn, recycled from a beige Gap sweater. The plies were respun on my spindle to bring out the best in this yarn. It's 130 yards of worsted weight delight!I also dyed up something a little more representative of June gloom, recycled from the same sweater, although I'm keeping this one for myself. ;)

At the suggestion of Etsy!

2009-06-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

I was contacted today by Etsy admin, Vanessa, who is doing a feature on weddings in the Storque tomorrow. Given that wedding season is about to hit us full force, why not?! Well, she was looking for photographers on Etsy that also shoot weddings to feature in this article and is planning on using one of my photos. She also asked me if I'd be willing to set up a wedding photography package in my Etsy store. A completely unique and different idea, but who am I to argue when given permission by admin! So, here it is...my Etsy listing for a wedding photography package by yours truly. =)

That went quickly...

2009-06-16T11:03:00.001-07:00

...the last week, I mean. It's amazing how everything seems to go by so fast these days!

It's been a crazy week in general. Last Thursday, my husband became another victim of the economy and was laid off from his job. We were fortunate that we hadn't really felt the effects of the dwindling economy as much up until now and while he's not worried, it's a little unsettling for sure. On the upside, seeing as he's currently acting "house husband", he's promised to clean both the kitchen floor and the bathroom in the next couple of days. If I'm really lucky he'll be cooking dinner more too (which is always good because he's really a very good cook!)

Over the weekend, I was able to participate in the community yard sale that our building was having. I made a strangely satisfying $30, which was enough to buy us lunch on Sunday, and had the double advantage of clearing out some of the clutter that I am so good at collecting!
I also did my first maternity photo shoot with my friend, who is due in August. I'm working hard to build my portfolio right now and get it web-ready, and I've found that I really enjoy this type of shoot. I do wish the sun had come out for a little while, but overall was really happy with how the photos turns out. While we certainly did the semi-nude wistful shots, I've known Paige for a long time and we definitely needed to get out and take shots in a fun and playful space...after all, that's what she is about! So, we took a trip over to a local playground and captured some really goofy moments with the mom-to-be.

As for my website, I've spent a long time thinking about what direction to take it in. I've gone back and forth repeatedly, and also ended up sidetracked by needing to work on my husband's music site (http://4scoreentertainment.com). Anyway, I've concluded that it's portfolio first, shop second. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can handle the first part in getting my portfolio up online within the next month. The shop will eventually be active there, but will have to wait for now. In the meantime, I've dyed up some new recycled yarns that I will be putting in both Etsy and Artfire shops.

So, feeling like I'm already half way into this week already, onward I go...

An il"loom"inating past time

2009-06-09T15:42:00.001-07:00

As part of a swap I'm involved with on craftster - sort of an ongoing thing - I claimed a potholder loom to play with. You may remember these from when you were a kid - square with a bunch of pegs to weave between? I know I don't remember having them in England when I was a child, but I've been intrigued by weaving for a while so I figured this was a great way to play around and see how much I'd want to really get into it!

The loom came with a ton of nylon loops, which to me seem completely pointless because it's not like you can put hot things on top of nylon anyway (assuming of course you're going with the original intent of the loom for making potholders). I found a couple of videos on youtube, to get me started and spent the next 20 minutes of my lunch break weaving squares with some vintage wool tapestry yarn in my possession. The resulting woven piece is actually very pleasing and I'm happy with my first attempts at weaving! I don't think I'll be using these first couple of squares for potholders though - more likely to keep weaving a few more squares and then sew them together into something like a bag or pillow. I think that weaving in general has a slightly higher start-up cost than most of the other crafts that I do and I know eventually I would love to make beautiful scarves, pillows, afghans etc. but I may have to work my way up.

Friday Night Knitting Club

2009-06-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

I was very excited to pick up a copy of "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs at a thrift store a while back. I'd heard about this book but knew very little about it and decided it was totally worth the dollar to read (but then I don't know what books aren't?!) I finally finished reading it last night - after all, there's no better cold remedy than a hot bath and a good book.

The story is based around Georgia Walker, a single mother who runs a successful yarn shop while raising her pre-teen daughter. A knitting club forms at her shop and the group of women become a support group for each other as they deal with what life has to throw at them.

As an avid yarn fanatic, I loved the concept of a solid story built around a yarn shop in the first place. I enjoyed the characters that are presented in this book - they all have their flaws and even the characters that weren't my favorite in the beginning had thoroughly grown on me by the end. The way the author integrates knitting techniques with representations of life is done very cleverly and the last few chapters of the book really did leave me crying in the bathtub! It may not be the best novel ever written but it was certainly an enjoyable read.

One of the things that this book really had me thinking about is the bond that can form between people who may hardly know each other but have a commonality due to something such as knitting. I think about the websites craftster.org, or ravelry.com, where relative strangers from different sides of the world with a common interest learn so much about each other that a bond forms between them. I've seen many occasions when someone will come into the forums on one of those sites to ask for advice, or seek support, from these "strangers" and reading this book really reflected that for me.

I hear here's a movie in the works but no information released just yet. It'll be interesting to find out more! Has anybody else read this and what did you think?

A sickie's lament

2009-06-02T10:08:00.001-07:00

I'm convinced that every year there is a 2 month period where life carries you away to a place where free time is a distant memory and every moment is filled with something that has to be done, as quickly and efficiently as possible. I've already gone through a round of birthdays (beginning with my own) and heading rapidly into the realm of weddings and baby showers. Somewhere in the midst of it all, I'm attempting to knit up a sample sock for a publication while finalizing the oattern designs of my own and have 2 potential photo shoots to schedule. Of course, what's the worst thing, but also the most likely thing, to happen at a time like this? I got sick.

The good news is that it's not swine flu. Instead, I have a rather irritating cold that is probably a result of being "run down" with things that I've been doing over the last week. I don't even have anybody to blame seeing as the only person I know that's sick is my sister-in-law who several hundred miles away in Vegas and I haven't seen her since our visit almost 3 weeks ago. That would just be a really long gestation period.

So, while I sit here typing, only being able to hear out of my left ear, from behind the confines of my mostly closed office door (for the purposes of letting people know that I am here, but not going to cough on them), I am wondering if I have the strength to make it through a full day at work. I am contemplating how long I can make these 4 cough drops last and whether it's possible to patent some kind of portable steam shower for the purposes of days like today. I'm thinking that the couch at home is sounding good, swaddled in a large blanket with a vat of chicken noodle soup, alternating between knitting and snoozing.

I'm looking forward to a few days from now when my head is no longer in a fog, breathing doesn't involve the accompanying raspy rattle from my chest, and I don't need 4 pillows to keep me at an appropriate angle in bed (so I don't wake up everybody in a 2 mile radius with my rather uncharacteristic snoring).

Been slacking!

2009-05-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

I will admit that I have been slacking when it comes to my Etsy shops. I've been managing to pop in once and again to renew a listing, but even though I have a variety of vintage items at home waiting to be photographed, and a ton of yarns that just need to be washed and listed, it's been tough to find the time to get around to it. The new fitness regimen that I'm on has definitely been taking up a lot of my time, as well as assisting the husband with his new website. Learning PHP, SQL, CSS, and a variety of other three letter acronyms is quite time consuming!

This weekend, I managed to give a couple of the yarns a bath - one handspun and one recycled yarn that I re-plied - so I will definitely have to photograph them as soon as they're done drying. I renamed my yarn section in my shop Knitnats, which I think will be my yarn moniker.On the vintage side, I photographed some depression glass, this pretty pressed glass vase, and a gorgeous George Buckett lithograph ready for listing. I've actually had a hard time deciding if I want to keep the litho for my own kids...but I don't have any yet so I'm going to see if it sells first! I think it would be a pretty addition to any nursery.

It's good to feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. After all, I wouldn't want my shops and my blog to feel neglected.

Confessions of an earring addict

2009-05-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've really come to terms over the last few years with the fact that earrings really are my jewelry of choice. I enjoy necklaces but invariably strangle myself at some point during the day, which takes away from the whole appeal. I do wear the occasional bracelet but they're not an every day thing for me - not the most comfortable accessory while I'm clacking away on the keyboard at work - so I tend to reserve them for evenings out and weddings. Ever since getting married, I've also neglected most of the rings I own in favor of proudly displaying my wedding and engagement bands. The beauty of earrings are that they can be anything from ridiculously wild and playful to demure and understated...and once they're in your ears you can forget about them but know that they are keeping you well adorned in the simplest of ways.

I recently signed up for an earring swap on Craftster, seeing as my earring collection needed a little rejuvenation. Over the last year, I managed to lose one of each of the earrings from two of my favorite pairs. This was definitely a good time to replenish with some new favorites and maybe take the opportunity to dig around in my box of beads and findings for some new inspiration.

I'm still waiting on the rest of the earrings from my swap partners but I was really happy to get back into the swing of things with this pair made from shells and wooden beads. I made some for one of my partners but loved them so much I wanted a pair for myself.

I also took this opportunity to bust out my wigjig and make some swirly wire bits. I'm still using the wire that came with it, which I'm finding to be very easy to bend but entirely too fragile for my liking. However, I was still very happy with my first attempt and have offered them up for another swap on Craftster. I'm going to have to pick up some heavier wire at the store and go to down with squiggly earring designs! The possibilities really are endless so what kind of designs would you like to see?

I was hacked

2009-05-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to find out that the Organic Stills e-mail account had been hacked and somebody had sent an e-mail to everybody on my contact list asking for money. Thankfully, most people are pretty familiar with this type of cheap tactic that scammers are currently using and don't actually send money their way.

So, here's how it worked for me. At first I just couldn't log into my gmail account (which this blog is also attached to I should add). I went to hit the "reset password" button and was told that the link needed was sent to my yahoo account. The problem being that I don't have a yahoo account. Obviously when they hacked me, they had changed the alternate address provided. I had to fill out the Google form giving them all the information I could possible think of to verify that it's me. An hour later, Google sends me an e-mail telling me that they've looked into it and verify that I can now go back in and reset my settings, which I do. I find myself looking at the e-mails they sent in my sent mail folder, as well as the alternate e-mail address they registered so that I couldn't reset my password. I'm currently looking into notifying the appropriate authorities with all of this information.

My biggest concern of course was the impression that would be left upon the various people on my contacts list receiving an e-mail like that from me. I can only hope they are understanding. I've updated my security settings on every account I can think of right now and I am considering myself incredibly fortunate that they only had access to my account for a very short period of time and there appears to have been no intent other than trying the trust of my clients, friends and family members. I will of course be closely monitoring the situation until I can consider myself to be all clear.

I'd totally forgotten about this!

2009-05-04T16:10:00.001-07:00

A while back, a certain Vickie Howell (who has hand-held me through much of the process of learning to knit courtesy of Knitty Gritty) was looking for crafters to send her information on themselves and their craft for a new project she was working on. I very randomly thought it sounded like fun and sent along my bio with a little picture of myself. Time went by and I somewhat forgot I'd even submitted my info...until this morning. I went to check out Vickie's new site - Craft Corps - and found someone very familiar staring back at me!Check out the comments of the post below this one and you'll see a little comment from Vickie letting me know that I am being featured. I'm truly excited and honored given that the site only just launched. Anyway, if you haven't already, I encourage you to send your info in to the site so that your story can also be told!

Finally finished!

2009-04-29T22:57:00.001-07:00

I have a small issue with my knitting projects. I seem to have a habit of getting 85-95% done with them, then they disappear into the "almost done" vortex. Usually it's a question of sewing up some seams, sewing on a button, weaving in the ends. Ok, there's theme here. Apparently I don't love the sewing part. I don't know if that's a great excuse for letting a project sit in my closet for 3 months before being "finalized" enough to wear!

Last night, while rummaging through my closet, I came across the minisweater (pattern by Stephanie Japel) that I started making sometime in December or early January. It was literally done except for some ends to weave and a button for the front...which took me about 90 seconds to take care of. I was proudly able to wear it into work today, seeing as the So Cal weather is bright, sunny, but not too hot.

Anyway, here it is. 3 weeks to knit, 3 months to finish, but I love it. I also understand now why everybody loves Malabrigo - it is buttery soft to work with and wonderful to wear. My husband was happy to take these photos (probably because I essentially asked him to photograph my chest) although his opinion on the cardi itself is "I like it, but where's the rest of it?" He cannot for the life of him understand the concept of a shrug/bolero/anything missing the bottom half. Good thing I'm not making him wear it. Personally, I'm really glad this knit piece got a happy ending!

That thing they call adulthood

2009-04-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

A week from today I will be turning 30. In the lead up to this "milestone" birthday, it's definitely given me reason to reflect upon the last decade of my life - where I've come from, where I'm going to, and other random musings.

I was really inspired to share my thoughts after going to get my lunch yesterday. I'd been busy moving offices at work and after hauling boxes about for 4 hours I was starving and somewhat grouchy. I apparently picked the exact time that the local high school let out to go get my lunch and when I saw the dozens of teenagers milling about, crowding the space I was in and generally being teenagers, I found myself thinking "why the hell are you not still in school?"

I have been having this kind of thought a lot more recently as I am apparently being launched kicking and screaming into the realization that yes, I am what they call an adult. In my own head, I am still a juvenile in so many ways. I still think it would be funny to take someone's office chair and hide it in one of the elevators in our building. I still think it's funny to play pranks on my co-workers, laugh at fart jokes, whine when I can't have ice cream...and I can't imagine not doing these things. Perhaps that's the true definition of being "youthful" - a brat on the inside but masquerading as an adult?

I don't remember taking the test for this! There's no class or lecture telling you how to handle it and it still surprises me a little bit that I could be considered responsible, mature, ok to ride without training wheels. I am firmly entrenched in the world of FHA, 401K, IRA, HOAs and other things with strange acronyms. I willingly took on a mortgage, discovered that Home Depot is my friend (or perhaps I just spend way too much time there), and actually get excited enough about plumbing products that I blog about them. When I get together with my friends, we sit and talk extensively about things you're not supposed to - like politics and religion. My girlfriends and I share a common state of marital bliss and spend much of our time discussing ovulation and which baby names our former selves would have made fun of. When did I start sounding like a potential parent? How can I even be considering when would be a good time to start having kids when I am a kid myself?

It's only when I look back over my last decade that I realize how far I've come and how much I've learned. Sure, I've made a ton of mistakes along the way but that's how we learn isn't it? I have learned that even if you are technically an adult, your parents will always think of you as their little kid...but no matter how old you get, when you get yourself in trouble, your parents may well still be the first people you call for help. I learned that I really am capable of so much and living on my own taught me that. I've learned that when you've crashed cars and been in car crashes, AAA membership is a wonderful wonderful thing. I've learned that there will always be people that you leave behind or lose track of in each stage of your life. As sad as that may be, treasure those that you carry with you. There are also those that you feel that have wronged you. I've learned that it's possible to move on and forgive. I've learned that when the doctor tells you that your body will "change" after the age of about 28, she's not lying. I've learned there is nothing wrong with acting like a kid - I'd rather have smile wrinkles than frowny ones. I've learned that instinct is an incredibly powerful thing and you should listen to it. I've learned that some jokes are timeless...as is some music (even if Salt'n Pepa's "Push It" is now 22 years old and you just can't figure out how the hell that happened). I've learned that the stranger that once told me "you're too young to die but never too young to rock" knew exactly what he was talking about.

I've learned.

Vintage Village

2009-04-22T09:41:00.001-07:00

A little while after opening my vintage shop on Etsy, I found out about the Vintage Village website. This is a site set up for vintage artists to share their wares and make a group effort to promote vintage goods. It also has a sister site - Vintage Rising - which is designed to promote items created from reclaimed vintage items.

If you're looking for a place to find some really cool vintage pieces, or somewhere to promote your vintage shop, I definitely suggest you take a minute to check it out! Here's my little photo slideshow that I made this morning. You can just click on any picture to take it to the description page. I'm hoping to get some time soon to photograph more of my vintage stash to put up in my store.

Find more photos like this on The Vintage Village

My other plan right now is to upcycle some of the many many notecards, postcards and other paper ephemera that I've been finding. Most of it is vintage but there are some bits and bobs that I can't really date. Either way, there's lot of cute things can be made I'm sure. So, question is - what would you want to buy that's made from upcycled vintage cards (i.e. notepads, collage art etc.)? I would love your opinions.

Hat Attack!

2009-04-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Back in December, you may remember I participated in a vendor fair that just didn't go all too well for me. I came back from that with a massive inventory of stuff, all neatly tucked away in a Rubbermaid container...all forgotten and neglected until now.

I was inspired last week to really get a grip on my craft supplies, figure out what I have, what I needed to do with it and so on. I finally unpacked the storage bin and took a look back through the things I made, and decided it's time to start listing. I had to borrow a mannequin head for photos because, as my husband pointed out, most hats look like mushroom caps on me. It's true, I think I look like the mushroom dude from Mario Cart (I don't even know what his name is...but that's me).

Anyway, here's a sampling of what I have just listed in my store, and there is more to come! I also have some collars and scarflets to list as soon as I can. I've been finding fun names for them too, which has probably been spurred by all the recent talk of pregnancy by my close friends, who are frantically deciding names for their offspring. I'm not quite there yet myself with the baby thing, but that's not saying I can't find cool names online to name products right?

This green and white one is named Olwen, after the Welsh patroness of springtime, while the purple beanie is named Sverra, which is Nordic for "swirl"!

And in other news...a plumbing extravaganza

2009-04-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

The beauty of home-ownership is learning new ways to deal with the bizarre "issues" that rear their ugly heads around the home.

Last weekend, it was a visit to Home Depot (where I feel like I am at home these days) to buy some plumbing epoxy. When I think epoxy, I of course go to the craft epoxy for jewelry molds and that type of thing. Turns out there's an awesome epoxy you can get to completely seal the space between two pipes where the original seal has miraculously evaporated and water is leaking into the under-sink cabinet and in a lovely stream across the bathroom floor. It hardens like steel with in 20 minutes and the sink has been functional ever since. (I should also take the opportunity to apologize to my husband for even thinking that he may have awoken in the middle of the night and peed on the floor, which honestly is the first thought I had when I first happened across the leak on the floor that bleary eyed morning...)

This weekend, it was a visit to Home Depot for something to clear the clog in the kitchen sink. What was even more frustrating is that this particular clog happened a few months ago and it cost a $60 plumber visit for him to wiggle around a drain snake for, maybe, 5 minutes. Well, we found our new little plumbing miracle - "Plumb-away" - a fancy aerosol drain opener with a zesty lemon after-scent. It took one rather awesome "puff" of air into the drain and it's been running clear ever since! It was only $16 for the starter kit, which comes with an 8 use canister, and worth ever penny as far as I can tell. You do have to plug the overflow drain well or a bunch of unwanted drain goop could come flying out due to the force of the compressed air. I suggest making it a two person job - one to properly block the overflow drain, one to release the air from the canister. I'm not usually one to blog about fascinating plumbing issues, but I feel like this product would give Billy Mays something to yell about.

And now back to our regularly scheduled crafting...

Nom Nom Nom

2009-04-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, as we were eating dinner, I realized that I was having my monthly craving for apple crisp. I'm never quite sure what inspires this craving but it happens about as frequently as my craving for Indian food (which I know is a deep seeded British craving of sorts). The problem with the apple crisp thing is that there just isn't anywhere near our house that serves it and serves it well. So, outside of driving 20 miles round trip to BJs, I usually have to settle for Denny's. So, as the husband and I wandered off on our Friday night Denny's dessert date, we decided it was about time that one of us learned how to cook apple crisp because, even though it makes the cravings subside a little, Denny's apple crisp is a little disappointing to me every time.

Now, I should explain that the husband gets a little nervous when I try to bake sweet items (no problem whatsoever with savory baking I should add). I've had a long history of buggering up my baking - from the square cupcakes I once brought to a pot luck at work, to the cinnamon brick (I mean loaf) that I was supposed to be making for a bake sale, to the time when I made a pie with a ready made pie crust...and forgot to bake the crust. I do have my occasional moment of brilliance with a box of Duncan Hines, but outside of that, I kind of suck. Having chosen between 2 completely idiot proof apple crisp recipes, I confidently went off to the store to buy ingredients with the warning from my husband "If you mess this one up, I swear I will not let you bake ever again!"

I would just like to say that I totally aced it. I might even be able to move on from an easy recipe to an "intermediate" one - if I'm lucky and the wind is blowing in the right direction. What's even better is that we managed to get 3 nights of dessert out of one dish of the stuff and it even tastes really good cold. I already put a note on the fridge to buy some caramel next time I'm at the store because it's definitely the one thing I was missing that's needed for next month's apple crisp adventures.

The success of the apple crisp of course led to the next culinary test - French Onion Soup. Both myself and husband love this soup. If we're at a restaurant where we think they'll make it well, that's what we're ordering. The first time I took him to Paris, that's what he had to get. Again, went on a search for recipes and came up with several that I pulled ideas from, but mostly followed this one.

My primary concern with this whole thing is how much Gruyere cheese costs. $10 for a half lb!! Is this stuff gold crusted or something? It hurt just a little bit to put it in the shopping cart given my crazy budget for grocery shopping. (I would like to give a big shout out to Big Lots for providing me with awesome ramekins on the cheap...helped balance the pain of the cheese).

So, the fact is that this is not a hard soup to make, as long as you are patient. I did start off with the husband finding me in tears in the kitchen, but that's what chopping 6 onions at once will do for you. Once the caramelizing of the onions is done, the rest is simple and the broiling of the cheese is definitely the most satisfying thing I've done in a while. We have enough broth and cheese to have a couple more nights with this particular soupy appetizer and we're going to enjoy the hell out of it!

Panorama stitching - not as hard as it seems

2009-04-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

While I was in Miami last week, we had the pleasure of going to an event on a rooftop on Lincoln Road in South Beach. The very first thing that struck me coming out of the elevator was "ooh, great panorama!" Of course, I had to bust out my new camera, turn on the on-screen grid lines and give a panorama shot a go. Thanks of course to some nifty online software, it's actually pretty easy to create a fun panoramic photo slideshow. Here is my view over SoBe Miami!

I think it worked out pretty well and in terms of stitching the 7 shots together, this looks quite seamless, thanks to the help of the free online program offered at MagToo.com. The only downside of the site is that it's not Firefox compatible yet so you'd most likely need to use IE. On the upside, if you're like me and hate having to become a member of every site that you use, you can skip the sign-up and just get the code to embed this slideshow. It's also linked in to blogger, myspace, facebook etc so you can upload/embed straight off the MagToo site.

I'm looking for some software to download that will actually let me create a panoramic image that can later be printed. Will have to provide an update on how that goes!

Back from vacation!

2009-04-02T11:58:00.001-07:00

I'm finally back from my trip to Miami and getting back into the swing of things - the grocery store trip last night being a good part of this seeing as it's helpful to have food in the fridge! I think the hardest part of being on vacation is trying to figure out what happened while you were gone. The good news is that I got a couple of Etsy orders (one from each store, yay!) and nothing exploded in the house. =)
Well, South Beach was a blast and if you ever have a chance to go out there, check out the Cuban restaurant - Puerto Sagua - on 7th Avenue/Collins. Best Cuban food ever. From the second we booked our flights, I was craving a visit to that restaurant (which we found on our trip to Miami last year), and wasn't disappointed.

While we primarily made the trip for the music side of things - Winter Music Conference - we got to do a lot of fun beachy stuff too, including going on a 5-hour boat cruise around the bay with an open bar and DJ on the boat. I've definitely browned a little (although I was a good girl and used sunscreen), and now I'm back home it's nice to have retained a little of the vacation glow.

One of the funniest things about the trip has to be sitting in the park on our last day out there. We're across from the beach and sitting in the grassy area because our beach towels were already packed. Now, in Los Angeles, I'm used to the crazy squirrels, perhaps the occasional possum at night, but I would never expect to look over and see a 2ft long iguana wandering through the park! The husband pointed him out to me and it totally freaked me out until I realized it was pretty cool and should take some pictures. Meet Vernon, your local park iguana! I'll admit that I spent the rest of the time we were in the park being a little paranoid that some other lizard type thing was going to crawl up my leg or fall out of an overhead branch. I'm just not used to things of that size cruising past without a care in the world!

Anyway, trying to get back into the swing of things and have a million things I need to do for my Etsy shops, plus house cleaning, getting back to the gym etc. I also started planning my 30th birthday (May 1) pub crawl in my head last night. Great vacation, but nice to be home.

Sewin' It Up

2009-03-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

It's true that once you own a house there's always something to be doing. When we first moved in, we looked at the vertical blinds in the bedroom and knew that eventually they would have to go. Apart from anything; there was one slat missing and, even though it was toward the side, there was always that chance that the neighbor would get just the right angle and be able to see my nakey butt running between the closet and the bathroom. Husband finally agreed with me on a fabric choice (he picked it because it's dark and manly, I picked it because it looks like chocolate) and the choice to do a double curtain so that we can let the light in by opening the darker set. Of course, that also meant wrangling 2 extra 7ft curtain panels...always fun for somebody who is 5'3.5" on a "tall" day. I've been meaning to post this picture all week, seeing as they were actually completed and hung last weekend, but I've been slacking. All I have to do now is take care of the drapery weights at the bottom - but my nakey butt sure is happy to no longer be running the risk of unwarranted exposure.So, my other sewing project that I wanted to accomplish this week is a shirt for my Miami/South Beach vacation (we leave in 3 days!) Since we went on the new house/bathroom remodel/vacation budget, I've been really good about not buying much for myself in terms of clothing and all that. However, I figure that going on vacation to a beachy place requires some new clothing. The problem I've been having though is some serious disappointment in the fashion that's in stores right now.

Firstly, what's up with the denim right now? It seems like everywhere has either skinny leg or flare. I have short legs so skinny leg jeans make my legs look like carrots, while flared jeans make me look like I'm wearing an oversized lampshade below the knees. This did mean I was able to find some boot cut (which is what I wanted in the first place) on clearance, so I guess I'll consider myself lucky on that one. On the top side of things, I seem to be finding a lot of neon colors. Perhaps if I pair a bright orange shirt with some skinny leg jeans, I could be mistaken for a radioactive carrot.

Don't get me wrong, I did find a couple of cute outfits, but resigned myself to sewing a new shirt with some of the fabric that I always seem to be stashing and not using quickly enough. Well, here it is...and you may have noticed it's not so much a shirt as a dress. I swear I used the pattern correctly but how it ended up 6" longer than I anticipated is beyond me. Yes, I could shorten it, but I actually like it as a dress so I'm saying to hell with it and keeping it as is!

Truly brilliant

2009-03-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

I've always been proud to be Welsh. My dad was born and raised in Cardiff, which is pretty close to the English border, and I almost went to university there - but ended up in So Cal instead (totally not the same, I understand).

At the end of our sophomore year of high school, we got to go on a week trip to Brecon Beacons, where I spent a week rock climbing, mountain biking (literally), splunking, canoeing and watching my classmates shamelessly flirt with the instructors. That's what happens when you put forty 16-year old females in a confined space with 6 pretty hot 20-something males. My dad was highly amused when I returned with a Welsh accent. (Note: Mark Salter, I will always remember you for playing football with me and sharing your bag of crisps while watching my classmates get shot down by your co-workers. Oh yeah, and for catching me from falling off that one cliff overhang.)

Anyway, some folks think of Wales and associate it with mountains, castles and sheep. Well, there would be a lot of all of those there. What is fantastic is taking those elements and turning them into something that may well put [whatever small village in Wales they are from] on the map. This just lit up my morning...literally...and I have never been more proud of my heritage!

Etsy mini tutorial!

2009-03-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

I am constantly seeing posts in the forums on Etsy from people who are a little confused as to how they can add their Etsy mini to their blogspot. So, here's a little tutorial that I wanted to share.

Step 1: Locate your Etsy mini. by clicking on "Your Etsy" at the top of the page. The link to your Etsy mini is on the lower left column of the page.
Step 2: When the Etsy mini page comes up, you can now choose to show "items from my shop" and decide between thumbnails or gallery. I personally like thumbnails as it isn't too big. Then decide on how many columns and rows you want it to show. I chose 2 columns, 4 rows for this demonstration.
Step 3: At the bottom of the Etsy mini page, you will see two boxes with a bunch of html type blurb. The first box has the javascript version, which is what you would use for blogger. Keep this page open in your browser, we'll be coming back to it in a minute.
Step 4: In another window, open up your blogspot. Click on the "layout" tab to get to the page where you can change how your blogspot looks. Most people probably have a 2 column blogspot. Mine is three columns and for this example I will be adding the Etsy mini to the left column of my blog by clicking on the "Add A Gadget" button. As you can see, that same button exists on the right hand column if I wanted to add it there instead.Step 5: Once you click on the "Add A Gadget" link, a new window will open up that looks like the one below. Scroll down to locate the gadget that says "HTML/Javascript" then click on the + sign for that gadget.Step 6: Now you've clicked on that, you will be taken to the screen where you can edit that gadget. Where it says "title", that will be the title that will appear on your blog above your Etsy mini. You can title it whatever you'd like, or you can even leave it blank if you want. I've called mine "Shop Organic Stills". Now you need to copy and paste the html that Etsy generated for you. Click back over to your Etsy mini page and copy all the text in the javascript version box (click in the box, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C). Click back over to the gadget box in blogger and paste that right into the "content" box (Ctrl+V). Then remember to hit the save button!

Step 7: You will now be back at your layout page for your blogger. You should now be able to see the gadget that you have added. You can click and drag it to anywhere that you want it to show on your blog. Once that is done, hit the save button on the top right again to lock it into place. You can now view your blog and there it is for all to enjoy!I hope this helps any of you that have been confused! If you have more than one Etsy shop, then just repeat these steps for your other shop and you can have more than one Etsy mini on your blog (check out my left sidebar for an example).

Yard sale fun

2009-03-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to stock up on items for my new vintage store and with the husband out and about playing paintball with his old friends from high school, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to hit up some Sunday morning yard sales! I've never actually dropped by a yard sale before but did my due diligence and checked out what was on Craigslist, then mapped out the ones that were close to each other. It's pretty amazing how many yard sales you can find within a 2 mile radius.

It has to be said, I didn't find all that much that was worthwhile but did find a gorgeous wooden photo box (similar to this one). I've been looking for the right receptacle for photos that can be displayed in the living room and this will be perfect. I also came across a gorgeous little vintage Wedgewood trinket box, which I have now listed in my Etsy store. It's got a small fracture in it, but is beautiful nonetheless. Completely random fact is that Josiah Wedgewood was Charles Darwin's grandfather. That's some evolutionary ceramics for you right there!

I know that our HOA is discussing holding a community yard sale in our courtyard (there's only 10 units so it would be manageable) and I'm getting excited about the prospect. We got rid of a ton of things when we moved in 6 months ago, but that's not to say there isn't still a bunch of things to pass on to others via some yard sale fun.

Fridayitis

2009-03-06T16:08:00.001-08:00

more animals

Blast from the past

2009-03-03T14:31:00.001-08:00

It's official, my new vintage Etsy store is open. I wasn't really planning on opening a second Etsy store (I know, one is hard enough to keep track of sometimes!) but I had a major find last week with a whole batch of vintage sewing patterns that I was able to purchase. I knew that it wouldn't work to just put them in with the rest of the Organic Stills stuff, so my husband says to me "well, just open a vintage store then". That's how Yores was born! Yes, the name is a delightfully dorky double-entendre, but I should hope you expect nothing less of me.

It has to be said, I am somewhat in love with this dress/camisole pattern. It's definitely got a classic summer style. I'm sad that I missed out on buying the fabulously retro jumpsuit pattern, but I will try to be quicker off the mark next time around.

The whole vintage shop thing has got me really excited in general and I spent the weekend rummaging around for additional things to list in my new shop along with the sewing patterns. So far I've found some pretty housewares that I'll be sharing with the world as soon as I can get the research done to date the pieces I've got. I'm no Jonty from BBC's Cash In The Attic but if any of those adorable Cash In The Attic boys want to come over and help me out, I certainly wouldn't complain!

An ode to the creme egg

2009-02-27T10:46:00.001-08:00

Growing up in England, I was completely spoiled by the choice of Cadbury's chocolate available to me. I even went on a school trip way back when to the factory where you end up in a room filled with the stuff at wholesale prices. That's right, a dream for a 16 year old with a chocolate fetish. After moving to California though, it was somewhat distressing to me for a while that I couldn't get it out here because there's something about Hersheys that just isn't the same. Interestingly enough, Hersheys picked up the license for Cadbury's in the U.S. now. This means that I can pick up a limited selection, usually at CVS Pharmacy (of all places). I'm much happier about that, but I do lament over the Creme Egg situation.

In the UK, you can get Creme Eggs any time of year. The delicious chocolate shell with the gooey sugary mix of mystery filling. You bite off the top, suck out the insides and still have the rest of the chocolate shell to eat for dessert. I would like to know why can I only get them at Easter?! I don't recall small print on Creme Eggs saying they should only be on offer if there's the possibility that the Easter bunny delivered them. Further to that, why is it that the American Creme Eggs are smaller? They're under license to Hersheys out here, but in a land where everything is bigger, you decide to shrink the eggs and then restrict how often I get to eat them? I shake my fist at you.

Speaking of Easter eggs in general, the Brits seem so much better about making big old chocolate eggs that have the tasty chocolate shell but are also filled with candy on the inside. These eggs exist for almost every brand of chocolate that I can think of back home - eggs filled with jelly beans, eggs filled with M&Ms, and so on. Out here, there is something not quite as fun about the hollow chocolate bunny. You bite off his ears and there is no surprise awaiting you on the inside. It's sad, but true.

I know that a world exists where my beloved Creme Eggs can be bought and savored year round. For now, I will try to see the silver lining and be happy that I can get them at all. Well, now you know how I like mine, the question is....how do you eat yours?

Spent all weekend getting funky

2009-02-23T18:05:00.001-08:00

I was inspired to try out some things with Photoshop this weekend while my husband was busy producing music in the basement. To the dulcet tones of his bass speaker, I decided that it was a good time to play with some of my photos.

It has to be said that I've always been somewhat resistent to messing with my photos much. I take a lot of time to compose my shots so that they don't need to be post-produced. However, I am realizing that post-production definitely has its place when done correctly. I'm pretty happy with my efforts and of course have to share them with you here!

I tried out a Lom o effect on this picture. Lomography has characteristics including high color saturation and vignettes. Next up was this picture of the Old Mission Santa Barbara. My brother lives up in Santa Barbara which is a wonderfully peaceful town and I visited on a quiet weekday when there weren't too many visitors. Just walking around the mission, there is such history there that I decided to add some age to this photograph.
Finally, I've thousands of wedding photographs that I've been meaning to organize from the wedding shoots I've done over the last few years. This is one of my favorite photographs. I love capturing the quiet moments. In this case, the bride was waiting for her family to gather for formal shots and was looking at her chuppah, which was covered in the most beautiful flower garlands. I added a little warmth and soft lighting to the natural dusk lighting that the original photo was taken in. Now I've had a chance to learn some new things about Photoshop, I'm really looking forward to going through my photos and finding new pictures to tweak. I'd love to hear opinions on what you are seeing here!

Won't be quitting my day job

2009-02-20T15:31:00.001-08:00

As promised, I am now going to reveal the data from my analysis of the Quit Your Day Job (QYDJ) feature on the Etsy blog. I think there are some really interesting observations in all of this, the most important being that I probably enjoy making spreadsheets in Excel too much. You should note that I was also somewhat of a math geek in high school so I'm going to explain some of my statistical points to you along the way.

My disclaimer...
- I love my day job. I've been working here for coming on 8 years and I've met some of my best friends here. I've watched romance bloom between co-workers, learned to knit, been to a lot of concerts, and eaten way too much in this office. There is no way I'd give it up anytime soon (unless you want to offer me a couple million dollars and a free vacation to Italy).
- The reason I decided to do this study was not out of jealousy or snarkiness to the artists featured by Etsy in the QYDJ series. If they have been able to find themselves a career doing what they love, then I am all for it. This really was spurred by my own curiosity.

The basics...
- The sample size for this was 36 sellers, each of which were featured in the QYDJ series. I'm going to keep this vague when it comes to identifying individual sellers.
- The numbers I crunched are entirely based on what is currently available in their Etsy shops. We can't see the price of sold items or anything like that, so what I did was take a weighted average of all the items currently in their store. (If you're wondering what the hell a weighted average is, see footnote). I then multiplied this by the number of sales they have to come up with a gross income estimate.
- Based on the number of sales and the gross income estimate, I deducted the cost of listing each item ($0.20), the 3.5% Etsy fees from the sale prices, the Paypal transaction fees ($0.30), and the lowest Paypal merchant fee of 1.9% per transaction.
- To obtain an average monthly income, I figured out how many months the seller was on Etsy, and averaged their gross income by that number of months.

My assumptions (because there's absolutely no way I could find this stuff out)...
- I can only assume that each item had a listing price of $0.20. It's just not possible to take the cost of relisting into consideration here. As I said, I can only make observations based on the information readily available to me.
- The averages are based on the items in the shop on the day that I ran the numbers. It's definitely possible that the shop has increased or decreased their prices since opening.
- The income I'm noting is gross income. I can't make estimates of materials, taxes or other overhead the seller might have to account for.
- The monthly average gross income is based on the number of months since the seller joined Etsy. It's possible that they were a buyer only prior to opening shop.
- All income is based on USD. There were some sellers who were not US based.
- I do not take into consideration whether any of these sellers have a shop outside of Etsy. This is based entirely on Etsy sales.

Now for the fun stuff...

The lowest average selling price was $3.45, with the highest being $515.89. I should note that I'm pretty sure the high was an anomaly because their median selling price was $220 and that seemed more likely. (My statistics teacher would be proud of me for remembering that even with statistical outliers, consistency is a good thing!) The average selling price for this sample of shops was $52.45. I have heard a lot about handmade work being devalued and complaints that many prices on Etsy are just too low. This gives me comfort to know that higher priced goods really do sell!

As for how many sales these sellers have had? The range was 209 sales to 10,373, with the average being 2215 sales. To put this in perspective, I went ahead and looked up the top seller on Etsy, who has a whopping 42,600 sales. Now, that definitely sounds like a full time job, but they weren't interviewed for the Storque, so I digress.

The 36 sellers included in my study have an average of 26 months on Etsy and (this leads me to the part you probably wish I'd mentioned 3 paragraphs ago) - an average monthly gross income of $2,238.27 (after Etsy and Paypal fees). That doesn't sound too bad, until you realize that only 13 of the 36 included in this were even making over $2000/month and there were a couple of sellers who seriously skewed the numbers upward (2 in particular making upward of $7K a month and I give them a round of applause for having both an awesome product and a solid business). The most interesting thing for me was that one of the featured sellers had an average monthly income of only $155.38.

My conclusion...
It seems to me that if the mythbusters had something to say about whether it's possible to quit your day job and make a living on Etsy, it would be "plausible". My biggest concern is that from what I can tell, some of the sellers featured in the QYDJ series definitely couldn't quit their day jobs unless there is somebody else at home bringing home a decent sized income. For sure, once the cost of materials, taxes and other business overhead (marketing, business cards, shipping materials, etc) have been taken into consideration, their net income is likely to be less than $15,000 a year. I do realize I live in an incredibly expensive state (CA) but that would be considered low nationally. Without another income at home, the chances are many of these sellers may not be able to afford health insurance based on these numbers.

Perhaps it's not a question of whether someone can quit their day job and sell on Etsy full time, which I believe is definitely possible for some. It's more a question of those that Etsy is featuring and how many of them are legitimately able to support themselves on their Etsy earnings. Looking over the many Etsy sellers who have sales into the tens of thousands, there are obviously those that are "stop working for the man and be your own boss" successful; however, I think the QYDJ feature doesn't necessarily provide the best representation of sellers who are able to do so.

My footnote on "weighted averages"...
If a shop has 20 items for sale at $10, and one item at $50, a standard average would calculate as $30. With a weighted average, it takes into consideration that most of the items are $10, therefore the weighted average is $11.90. This is far more representative of the average price.

4 out of 5 isn't bad

2009-02-18T09:02:00.001-08:00

For my last sock pattern (Rustled Up Socks), I was really excited to be collaborating with an indie yarn designer who dyed up some beautiful yarn for my project. I'm thrilled to be doing that again for the new spring sock pattern that I'm working on now. Perhaps I'm swayed by the So Cal weather, not that the recent rain is anything to go by, but I am definitely an ankle sock kind of girl...when I'm not wearing flip flops that is. So, this will be a cute lacy ankle sock when it's done and I'm happy to provide this little preview. I'm just using some yarn from my stash to knit up the prototype, so the final yarn will be a surprise! =)

The fun part of this being that one of the double pointed needles has walked off. It's interesting trying to write a pattern for a set of 5 DPNs when you only have 4 of them. I don't know if it had some kind of dispute with the other DPNs in the set and has decided to go sulk in a corner hidden out of view, but I wish it would return!

Quit your day job?

2009-02-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

Etsy has been running a "quit your day job" (QYDJ) feature in their blog for a while now, and I've been truly curious as to whether or not it's possible. Don't get me wrong, I love my day job and enjoy the people I work with, but at the same time I wonder if it would truly be possible to make sufficient income without "working for the man" (so to speak). After what I heard on the news yesterday about the California tax increases that sound like they're going to affect every aspect of my existence, I think my opinion of what you can live on in L.A. might be slightly skewed! However, thinking as a statistician on this one, I'll be keeping it real.

So, being the math and Excel nerd that I am, I've started compiling data from the Storque QYDJ features. This isn't meant to be a form of pointing fingers at those Etsy sellers that have been featured, more a statistical analysis of whether it's possible to live off an Etsy based income. My spreadsheet is a work in progress right now and I'm about half way done with the data input for each seller. I hope to have something good to present to you in a week or so!

The interesting thing is that it may have been 12 years or so since I've had to consider what a weighted average is and how to take an outlier into consideration (yes, I know, speak English right?) but it's amazing how quickly it all came back - kind of like riding a bike. It's true, I actually enjoy doing this stuff!!

I was tagged

2009-02-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

I was reading this blog post from my friend Holly and mentioned that I hadn't been tagged. OK, big mistake because she immediately tagged me and now I must post 25 random things about myself. So, here we go. You're about to learn a bunch of strange things about me, whether you wanted to or not!

1) Seeing as she's the one that tagged me, she gets an honorable mention here. Holly and I used to work together and have been friends for about 7 years now. Her fiance and I worked in the same department and I got to witness their love blooming from inception. She is the person that introduced me to Etsy and if you haven't checked out her stuff, you should. We are also able to take photographs of ourselves with two separate cameras at the same time. We're incredibly talented like that.

2) My husband and I met freshman year of college because my roommates and I needed ride to a frat party. That evening, I walked into a screen door in front of him. We dated for 10 years before getting married, then planned our wedding in 10 days.

3) I have grade 8 certification in piano and ballet from the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Academy of Dance respectively back in the U.K. I studied both from the age of 6-18 before I moved to California.

4) The piano thing reminds me that I am double jointed in all my fingers. My hands are on the petite side but I have a span of 8.5" from tip of the thumb to tip of my pinky, which is longer than most of the guys I know.

5) Of all the strange things to inherit from my dad, he passed down the ability to read upside down and write backwards. There is very little practical use for this.

6) My current boss and I have the same alma mater. The other thing he and I have in common is that we both went to our first stadium concert in 1981. The difference being that I was 2 years old and he was 14.

7) I was a child model up until I was 13 when I got hips and boobs but stopped growing at 5'3". I don't think I've worn polka dots since this catalog cover was shot. Also, I'm now much more used to being on the other side of the camera.

8) Relating to the modeling thing, I was a dance extra in the U.K. commercial for milk with the song "Cool For Cats" by Squeeze. For that shoot, I had bright pink hot pants and matching tights.

9) Somewhere trapped in my head is a screenplay or novel just waiting to escape.

10) The older I get, the less interested I am in chicken.

11) The very first thing I learned to cook was scrambled eggs. I have perfected the art of making them super fluffy and light. I refuse to eat scrambled eggs in restaurants because they look weird and somewhat like egg bricks.

12) My husband and I make decisions by playing rock, paper, scissors. It has prevented a lot of disagreement in the past.

13) Buying our house was the most exhilarating, fulfilling, frustrating and terrifying thing I have ever been through. Adulthood is way harsh!

14) I think of fate as a "choose your own adventure" book. Life hands you choices along the way and the path you pick determines where you end up.

15) Both grandparents on my mom's side were Bhuddist.

16) Even though I was born in Singapore and my mom's side of the family is Asian, I don't speak a word of Cantonese. I somehow always know when they're talking about me though!

17) When I get my U.S. Citizenship, I will have been a citizen of three different countries on three different continents.

18) I'm pretty sure my parents' house in England is haunted. None of the ghosties are scary, but I did sleep with a tennis racket by my bed when I was a kid (not that it would have done me much good!)

19) Being on "Don't Forget The Lyrics" would be awesome. I've always had a talent for remembering lyrics but I wonder if I'd forget them all if under pressure.

20) When my father in law got re-married some years back, I got up with the band and serenaded them with "Just The Way You Are" (Billy Joel) during the reception. It brought him to tears.

21) My belly button is totally off limits. When someone touches my belly button, it sets off my gag reflex.

22) I've always been really good at finding things on the ground. When I was a toddler, I was with my parents at an airport gate waiting for a flight. I was playing with something in a small bag. My parents wanted to know what I was playing with. Turns out it was over $1000 cash from somebody cashing their paycheck. I don't find much money on the floor anymore though.

23) Also when I was a toddler, I had a habit of storing food in my mouth for later. Apparently my favorite thing to store was pieces of banana. It sounds really weird now but I think I might have been a chipmunk in a former life.

24) I think baby food is gross. I had to try it once at a baby shower and swore that I will never feed it to my kids when I have them. If I won't eat it, why would I make them eat it?

25) I sound completely Californian and people are always asking where my British accent went. I tell them that it got lost somewhere in baggage claim (just kidding).

Into phase 2

2009-02-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

Well, the good news is that our bathroom is basically done! They have a small flooring issue to figure out (has to do with a strange soft spot that has become apparent) but it's usable and that's the most exciting thing to me right now.

A couple of days ago, the demolition of the second/guest bathroom began. That's the bathroom that started the need to remodel anyway. When we first viewed the house, the shower door in that room was crooked. Think thick aluminum frame with "rain" frosted glass and a shower base that always looked a little dirty because there were little dark flecks in the design. The floor was also a light brown vinyl that didn't really match anything. Even better was the scary original vinyl flooring underneath that when they pulled it up. My favorite part of the room though was the position of the shower head. I'm 5'3" and it was low for me. My dad is 6'5" and when my parents were visiting, he somehow showered in there. I do not know how, but he must have had a very clean belly button! The good news is that it's now been raised about 18" up from where it was...which is good for non-tiny people.

I'll be taking completely finished pictures soon, once everything is done, sealed, dry and I can get in there with a wide angle lens (been using our point and shoot so far).

Winter Wonderland

2009-02-02T12:25:00.001-08:00

When I was a kid back in England, I always loved it when it snowed. We had a little sled that my brother and I would use, and the snowman thing was always fun too. I remember my dad dumping a 3ft icicle in my bathtub once when I was really small - something I'm glad has only ever happened to me once.

I haven't seen snow at my parents house for a long time and have never seen anything like this before. They're in the south of England (about 30 minutes out of London) and my dad just sent me these pictures of what the house looks like right now. Naturally, I had to share! My mom said it's fun except they're not prepared for this kind of snow down there so there's no slow plows or anything like that and they're essentially trapped in the house given the depth of the snow on the street. She also said she couldn't put the cat down because she would disappear!

More treasury fun!

2009-02-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

I found out I'm in another treasury. It's my second one this year and the first time this ACEO has been included, so feeling quite honored. The other work I'm featured with on this one is stunning.

A productive day off

2009-01-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

There isn't really anything fun about having to wake up at 7:00am on your day off to let in the workers who are continuing to demolish things in your house. Having said that, I had a very productive day.

After a little Guitar Hero, and watching them tile the walls for a little bit, I took a little trip to the Salvation Army Thrift Store a few miles from my house. Firstly, the place is huge. Figuring out where to start was a challenge, but I had also taken note of the 50% off store wide sign on the way in so was definitely determined to find something good! About 45 minutes later, I had found quite the load.

Soft pink cardigan with brown collar: Wool/angora blend, bulky weight yarn that is buttery soft. If I had to liken it to a commercial yarn, I'd say Malabrigo! This one is already half unraveled and has come apart beautifully with no knots and no argument.
Red Benetton sweater: 100% Merino wool and put together raglan style with no seams!! It's laceweight so may take a while to unravel but the no seams thing makes me a little giddy.
Lemon sweater: 100% cashmere. It's a women's small but nonetheless I had to snatch it up. Best part about it? It was $0.95.
Men's tweed sweater: Nice 100% wool in good condition. It is a tweedy yarn but is also begging to be overdyed.

The grand total price was $5.45 and I also found out that they have the 50% off sale on the last Friday of every month. I know where I'll be spending those Fridays!

I did have to run off to a lunch with some clients from work, but fortunately they're great guys and it's not a business lunch in the boring sense, so that was a good break. Then I had promised the husband to make moussaka for dinner. It's one of those meals that my mom used to make and that I loved as a kid but never tried for myself. This is the recipe I used and it turned out great. It took exactly an hour to prepare and then an hour and fifteen to bake. To top it off, our friend is on his way over with carrot cake for dessert! I could have dealt with a chance to sleep in but I definitely can't complain about how the day's been overall. =)

CPSIA Blog In - Important info for all.

2009-01-28T20:26:00.000-08:00

As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They're banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we've seen in decades. I'd like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.

Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.

The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.

How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students:
Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader:
Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there's always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.
Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist:
Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper:
Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur:
Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector:
Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy:
Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.

To the Worldwide Economy:
Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.

If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html

And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.

New yarn, new pics

2009-01-28T12:19:00.000-08:00

It hasn't taken me long to fall in love with the yarn dyeing thing. I was never any good at painting on canvas, so I'm now going to consider myself a painter of the yarns!

A couple of days ago, I was playing with one of the hanks from a recycled sweater and after looking at how the plies were separating, decided to re-ply it on my drop spindle. It came up with a nice rounded yarn that went into a dye bath a few minutes later! The beauty of this particular recycled yarn is that it has wool, angora and cashmere in it. There's a little rayon as well to give it strength most likely, but it's a wonderfully soft blend that has a slight rabbity (yes, not a word I know) halo. =)

This time I went with a grape and blueberry mix and it has to be said that I adore the end result. I'm calling this Foggy Morning. I'm excited enough that I put it up in my Etsy shop.

I tried something a little different with my photographs for this one, not going with a plain white background but a more subtle grey that I think matches the tone of the yarn really well. Would love to know what you think.

So close I can smell it

2009-01-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

Our bathroom is going to be done today and ready for use by tomorrow morning. I am totally psyched! I took off the rest of the week (use them or lose them vacation days) so I can babysit the demolition and remodel of the guest bathroom. I took some pics last night of the bathroom in it's 80% done state to share. Today they're grouting and cleaning, plus adding a nice tile base board to replace the wooden ones that were there before. I have to make a quick trip to Home Depot at lunch but definitely worth it!Around the bathtubThe floor is under there somewhere.

Check out my awesome mitered corners on the ledge around the tub! I was very impressed.

With any luck I will have completed photos tomorrow and then the before and after of the other room are to come!

I'm dyeing!

2009-01-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

I believe I said I wanted to give dyeing yarn a try and this weekend, while it's pouring with rain outside and the husband is out playing poker with his friends, seemed like a great opportunity.

The first sweater that I bought to recycle was always destined to be my first victim. I was a little worried about the dye taking properly because it's a wool/acrylic/cotton blend, but I figured it would be worth a shot.

It's not a full tutorial, but here's a rundown of what I did in 10 steps!

Step 1 - Soak the yarn in warm water with a dash of dish soap (I did this for about 20 minutes).
Step 2 - While yarn is soaking, mix up Kool Aid packs. I had 2 packs of orange and 2 packs of strawberry. I've seen some tutorials suggesting using 8oz water for each pack, but I decided to make it a little more saturated than that because of the fiber blend so for each color I put 2 packs in 12oz water.
Step 3 - Remove yarn from soaking and gentle wring out the water.
Step 4 - Place yarn in microwave safe dish and pour on Kool Aid mixture. I originally was planning on doing one color per hank, but ended up doing one hank that was a random mix of the two colors together!
Step 5 - Cover dish with plastic wrap and poke a few holes to let the steam escape.
Step 6 - Place dish in microwave for 2 minutes.
Step 7 - After the 2 minutes in the microwave, pull it out and take a look to see whether the water at the bottom of the dish is clear. If not, let it sit for a couple of minutes, then pop it back in the microwave for another 2 minutes.
Repeat Steps 6+7 as necessary until water in the bottom of the dish is clear. For me, this was 2 runs through the microwave for each.
Step 8 - I had left the water that the yarn was originally soaking in still in the bowl. So, after I was done microwaving the yarn, I removed the yarn from the microwave dish and threw it back in the original water to let any extra dye seep out and to cool off a little.
Step 9 - Once the yarn is cool enough to touch, pull it out of the water and gently wring it dry.
Step 10 - Hang to dry!
Here are my final products waiting to be hung up to dry. Top hank was dyed with about 7oz of orange flavor, the middle one is whatever was left of the orange plus a few oz of strawberry flavor. (It's somewhat variegated but hard to see right now.) The bottom hank was dyed with the strawberry flavor. It's probably the least saturated of the three and looks like more of a watermelon color to me.

As always, the concept of dyeing yarn seems so much more complicated than actually doing it and I'm really glad I had the chance to just give it a try!

So that's what was under there!

2009-01-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

There is something to be said for having your house taken over by a bunch of men who are demolishing things. I've been very impressed by our contractors so far - not only have they shown up on time but have been very productive, are looking to get the job done by the end of next week, and have made sure to cover half the house in plastic so as not to get everything dirty! It does sound a little bit like I'm walking around wearing plastic bags on my feet, but I'd rather that than the alternative.

In fact, they were so eager to get started this morning that the doorbell rang at 7:45 while I was in a state of semi-undress, having just got out of the shower and not quite decided what to wear. I quickly threw my PJs back on to let them in, at which point they were very apologetic for having woken me up.

I've been taking photos to document progress and have a first few to share with you. I'd like you to meet our old bathroom....One word to describe it? Bland. While retro is "in", there's something about the 1980s white tile and delightful vinyl flooring combo that just doesn't quite work for me. Even better than that, check out the handles in the bathtub. Are those a nice smokey gray plastic? Oh yes, I believe they are. Oh well, out with the old and in with the sledgehammer.

When I got home last night I was greeting by a bathroom with no walls. It's definitely odd to see what's underneath all the lovely tile that existed. You have to excuse the crooked photo - that's what happens when you stick your arm through plastic sheeting and aim blindly!Right now they are putting up new walls and tile is soon to be going on top of that. It's definitely an interesting experience but no complaints so far. More photos once they start laying tile...

May the demolition begin!

2009-01-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

When we were first buying our house, one of the things that we were desperate to do is remodel the second bathroom. It started with a broken shower door, which turned into "well, we might as well replace the shower base too cus it looks old". That became ripping out the tile in the shower area and tiling the floor. I made the observation that if we're redoing the floor in one bathroom, we should probably tile the floor in our bathroom as well. After meeting with a couple of contractors, we decided that we could just re-tile the area around the bathtub while we're at it...you know, get it all done at once!

About 15 estimates later (ranging from $1300 to $11K), we finally picked a lovely contractor to help us with our first real venture into the equity building mess of remodeling. He came over today to help finalize our contract with him, and work begins on Wednesday of this week. I've spent so many hours watching Sweat Equity on the DIY Network that we might wonder why I'm not just getting down on my hands and knees and doing everything myself. This is definitely one of those cases where my end of year bonus will buy me the peace of mind of having a professional with a sledgehammer do it on my behalf!

Before and after pictures will be following of course. =)

Acrylic yarn to a good home?

2009-01-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

ALL YARNS HAVE BEEN TAKEN. THANKS!

My charity knitting group at work just went through our stash of donated yarn (we were overflowing!) They asked me to post it as we want to share the wealth with others who may have use for it. It has been split into 3 lots.

Note that all of this yarn is acrylic, and much of it appears to be vintage. Send me a message (organicstills [at] gmail) if you’re interested and which lot you would like...first come first serve on that. =)

Lot 1
2 skeins mustard color, 1 skein black, 1 skein navy, partial skein of royal blue, partial skein of brown, 2 partial skeins black (a little tangled together)Lot 2
1 skein white, 1 skein black, 1 skein royal blue, 1 skein brown, 1 skein purple/white variegated
Lot 3
1 skein navy, 1 skein grey, 1 skein orange/yellow/brown, 1 skein + 1 partial skein grey/red/white variegated, 1 partial skein royal blue

What is lavender, fuzzy and makes you sneeze?

2009-01-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

After the success of unraveling my first sweater right before New Year's, which yielded about 800+ yards of yarn, I am finding my new supplement to the fiber arts to be quite entertaining. I've never been one for finding excellent thrifty deals but when I read about the finds that the thrifty folk on Ravelry (who inspired me to try this in the first place) seem to come across, I'm encouraged to keep looking!

The selection of thrift stores near home and work aren't wonderful, nor are these places super cheap. The concept of a wool sweater for $0.50 leaves me in awe and extremely jealous as I just can't see these particular stores selling for such prices.

American Cancer Society (Burbank) - gorgeous stuff, but pretty expensive and more a place to go if you're trying to buy a $300 pair of designer jeans for $50.
Goodwill (North Hollywood) - nice big and bright store, but terrible quality of sweaters right now. They're mostly acrylics and sweaters that just aren't in good condition.
American Way Thrift Store (Burbank) - where I've been having the most success so far, but is accompanied by that very authentic thrift store "smell" to go with the dark and dusty warehouse looking room that it's comprised of. It also seems to be quite popular and is picked over quickly so the good stuff isn't around long enough to go on sale!

On my most recent trip this week, I went to American Way (at the intersection of Magnolia and California in Burbank, just in case any locals are reading this). The sweater section seems to be hugely depleted right now, probably on account of the 3 days of cold weather that we've had recently. Go figure that I would start trying to find sweaters to reclaim during the "cold" part of the year in L.A. Having said all that though, I did find a couple of nice sweaters.

The first is a beautiful lavender nylon/angora/wool blend. It appears to have been made in a raglan style and the seams have been pretty easy to work with. The downside being that I am completely covered in lavender angora rabbit fuzz and have had several sneezing sessions this afternoon seeing as it's taken over my office completely. The lace weight yarn that I'm getting from it seems worth it to me though and I am hoping to have well over 1000 yards once I'm done (insert happy dance).

The other sweater is a wool/rayon/angora/cashmere blend. The seams have been a little resistant but I am being patient and trying to remember how lovely and soft the yarn will be once I can get it undone. The other interesting thing is that what appears to be a worsted weight yarn in the sweater is actually 6 strands of lace weight. I'm going to keep it as a worsted 6-ply (sort of) because I don't really want to deal with un-stranding and weakening the yarn.

I am telling myself that this new fascination with commercially made sweaters is so that I can learn more about the formation of knitwear. After all, guys have been taking things apart to find out how they were put together for years right? =)

All the pretty colors

2009-01-09T12:29:00.000-08:00

I was told today that I've been included in a treasury on Etsy (always a nice thing to find out!) The colors are so pretty and eye-catching that I just had to share.

One way to stash bust

2009-01-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

I just came across this video of Extreme Knitting, an art form brought to us by Rachel John in the UK...trust a crazy brit to come up with something like this! (I should know, I am one). Using hundreds of strands of yarn and fence post sized knitting needles, she creates seriously over sized knit pieces that have no apparent practical use, but definitely look comfortable; which is a good thing because it seems like a lot of work to create the piece in the first place.

I'm in awe of the artistry involved in her work and I'm still sitting here scratching my head and trying to figure out how on earth you'd keep the yarn from tangling. I have issues untangling 2 strands, let alone several hundred. I am inspired though and am now contemplating whether it would be possible to knit a large rug with needles the size of the handles on my Swiffer duster! Well, if my yarn stash ever takes over, I now know how to get rid of it quickly.

Happy (Crafty) New Year!

2009-01-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

2009 is finally upon us! While I'm not one for New Year Resolutions (just seems like setting up for failure), I have been formulating a list of fun crafty things that I'd like to try this year. I'm not under any assumption that I will actually manage to do all of these things, but one can wish! =)

- Try dying yarn with Kool-aid (perhaps move on to roving if that works out ok)
- Do the cross stitch pattern that I bought (see picture)
- Figure out if I really do want to buy that darn weaving loom!
- Finish the sweater that I've been working on for a year now that's been hiding...crazy cable patterns lead to long time knitting!
- Sew the curtains for our bedroom
- Learn to sew zippers properly
- Go on a couple of field trips with my camera (definitely need some new portfolio shots)
- Thrift more yarn (I had fun with my first sweater so will try to find more!)
- Attempt to felt something in the washer
- Write down a couple more of my knitting/crochet patterns. I have them in my head but not yet on paper.

In between all of this, my number one priority this year is to get my inventory fully listed on my own website and figure out the details of Zencart! I've been making some progress but definitely want to focus on it more.

If you have crafty things that you're planning this year, please comment below as I'd love to know what you're going to be up to!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

I've been saving this bit of holiday cheer to share with you closer to Xmas. Every year at work, I head up the "adopt-a-family" program at work. A local charity that helps families in need throughout the year assigns families for adoption that need help over the holidays. This year, we adopted 4 families with a total of eight kids ranging in age from 4 to 15. They send over their wish lists for Christmas gifts, and we collect what we can, wrap everything and donate to them. Even with the economic downturn this year, my co-workers were generous as always and we put together a ton of toys - from Barbie dolls to an iPod, plus gift cards to Target, Best Buy, Blockbuster and a variety of other places. We also do a food drive to collect non-perishable goods and top it off with a grocery store gift card for each family. I thought it might be fun to share some photos of the process. =)
On that note, HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you all!!

'Tis shiny indeed

2008-12-23T10:26:00.000-08:00

Our anniversary evening was lovely last night. We exchanged gifts (I got him an xbox 360, he got me a watch) and then went out to dinner. The server at the restaurant coincidentally was the same guy that headed up the waitstaff on the evening of our wedding reception that we had there. He gets two thumbs up from me! After dinner, we went to Best Buy to get a second controller for the xbox and then played a few rounds of Kung Fu Panda with the new toy. I am pretty much horrendous when it comes to video games, although he has now been instructed where to get a good deal on Guitar Hero for me. Hehe.

So, on the more crafty end of things, I've been hearing about people unraveling sweaters and reclaiming yarn for a while. I've never been one for patience when it comes to thrifting, but while out searching for a horrible holiday sweater for a party this weekend, I figured I'd take a look at some other sweaters to give recycling the yarn a try. I found a nice cabled sweater in a cream color. The fiber is a wool/cotton/acrylic blend and it was $5.99 at the local thrift shop.

With a little help from this tutorial, I have so far removed one sleeve, which came apart pretty easily. There were a few knots and breaks while unraveling the first sleeve, but overall a quick and easy experience. The yarn appears to be about fingering weight and I have no idea how much yardage so far, but the ball I made is about 4 inches in diameter. That's just from one sleeve! I'm going to be able to make a lot of socks with this I think...and I also think it's going to encourage me to experiment with dying the yarn. Yup, I might be out of control!

One Year Ago Today

2008-12-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

It's crazy to think that one year ago today was my wedding day. I'm wondering how the time passed so quickly and thinking of all the things we've done in the last 12 months - most importantly buying our first home.We banished my parents, who are visiting from England for the holidays, to my brother's house so that we can have the day to ourselves. This evening we're going out to dinner at the restaurant where we had our reception for out of town family (best filet ever!) We'll be enjoying some live jazz and a bottle (or two) of wine - normally wouldn't be drinking on a Monday night, but special occasions don't count.

He's been trying to guess what his gift is for the last week since I snuck it in the house, wrapped it and shoved it in the downstairs storage closet. Seeing as first anniversary is traditionally a paper gift, I keep telling him that I wrapped a 24 pack of toilet paper for him. I don't think he believes me though. On the other side, he got me something "shiny", which I'm pretty sure is jewelry. Pictures of my new "shiny" gift to follow!

There's a hole in my cashmere!

2008-12-18T07:55:00.001-08:00

Now that the weather has finally reduced itself to a nasty cold here in L.A., the winter clothing has been making its way out of the closet. So, when I put on one of my favorite sweaters this morning, I was definitely distraught to find this hole....I will say that the hungry moth that chowed down on my sweater has good taste seeing as this is the only cashmere sweater I own!! I'm pretty sure the incident occurred in the apartment I used to live in as I would find the occasional moth there. The weird part being that I haven't lived there for nearly 2 years and I've definitely worn this sweater since then. However, seeing as the hole is on the bottom toward the back, perhaps I just never noticed. Since taking up various fiber arts in the last couple of years, I've been a lot more conscious about watching for moths in general.

Of course, having found the hole this morning, my first thought was to check the seams to see if the yarn can be reclaimed and I'm completely in luck! I can't bring myself to rip up the sweater and recycle the yarn just yet, but I'm so happy to know that I have that option available to me. When I can finally bring myself to do it, I'm going to have a ton of pretty orange and cream lace weight cashmere to play with. Just like the clouds outside right now...there is a silver lining.

Important ruling - CPSC and the little guy

2008-12-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

Many of you may not have heard about the new Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) regulations, due to go into effect on February 10, 2009. The new ruling, known as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) passed in August 2008 and was originally intended for more stringent testing of children's items imported from foreign manufacturers, including testing for lead and dangerous phthalates in children's items. However, this will affect anybody who sells items for children under the age of 12 in the U.S. and will require them to seek stringent testing of their items. It includes toys, jewelry, clothing, school supplies, and anything else you can think of that may be used by children.

Although the laws were created to increase regulation of imported items, those of us in the handmade line of work will be directly affected by this as the way the act was passed did not address the impact this ruling would have on the safer items made in the U.S. The certification testing that this regulation requires involves a cost of $300+ per batch. A batch is considered to be a group of a single product that all where made using the same material lot - therefore if you make handknit baby blankets, they would need to all be made from the exact same yarn and dye lot to be considered a batch. The manufacturer of the yarn is not responsible for testing, only the maker of the end product. Given that those making handmade items for babies and children are generally making something that's one of a kind, or at least in limited amounts, this would essentially put stores making handmade items for children out of business given the financial repercussions of compliance. Non-compliance can lead to hefty fines and possible jail time.

If you'd like to read up more about the regulations going into effect, here are a few helpful links.

FAQs on the CPSC website
Handmade Toy Alliance
CPSC Petition
GK Law Article
Fashion Incubator Article

Whether you are the maker of handmade children's items, or someone who enjoys buying children's items that are handmade here in the U.S. with care, this will affect you. Those of us who handmade things for children and babies ask that you look into this law and contact your congressman, the CPSC, local media outlets, or take a few minutes to sign the online petitions regarding this ruling.

I'm featured on another blog!

2008-12-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

I'm so used to being the one featuring sellers on a blog that it was a pleasant surprise to be asked to be the featured seller on somebody elses! Check out meanbean's blog to see. =)

Smells to smile about

2008-12-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everybody that commented on my post below, providing a commentary on commercial vs. handmade. It's encouraging to know that I am not alone in my thoughts and I will say that I have learned a lot from the experience. From now on, I will certainly be a lot more careful about choosing where I sell my goods and make sure that I have the right audience to appreciate the work that goes into making each item with the love of my craft.

I am finally getting around to photographing and listing in my Etsy store the items that are left over from the vendor fair, starting with the scented sachets I made. It brought a smile to my face this morning when I opened the storage tub and the fragrance of lavender and mulberry filled my nostrils! It also made me laugh a little to think about when I brought home all the sachet pellets and the entire house was filled with "girly smells" (as my husband described it). I can't describe how fun the fragrance is through the computer screen, but take a whiff. =)

Commercial vs. handmade...the truth in action

2008-12-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

As you may be aware, I have spent the last 3 weeks knitting, crocheting, sewing, taping, sticking, and who knows what else in preparation for the vendor fair I attended yesterday. After all of that, what was the end result? To be honest, I was a little disappointed.

I am very proud of my craft(s) and it's certainly an honor to be able to share that with the outside world and get a concept of what the general public thinks. After all, while I certainly appreciate my husband's opinion (and thankfully he's very good at being honest), it's also nice to know what a complete stranger thinks.

After yesterday, it's been confirmed in my mind that there is something to be said for an appreciation of the art that goes into handmade. I was one of 6 vendors that attended the fair - three of us selling our handmade wares, the other three were offering mass produced items (namely purses, framed posters and holiday cards). This was really a true test of handmade vs. commercial in my mind.

I found that I certainly received a lot of "oh, you're so talented" or "oh, your things are so cute" comments. I received admiration and comments about knitting being a dying craft, but this somehow did not translate into a lot of sales. While I did make a few sales, most people would squeal how adorable one of my items was....then go purchase a purse from the booth next to mine. I may not be the best salesperson alive, but the commercially made bags sold themselves, whereas I found myself constantly explaining my craft, what inspires me, why I love it as much as I do.

The kicker truly came when a nice looking gentleman in an expensive suit and tie came by and was looking at my 5"x7" matted photography prints. He noted how nice the prints were and inquired how much I was selling them for. I told him that they were $20 (which I still consider to be under priced but I had to go with my anticipated audience on this one) and that, as the artist, I would be happy to sign the print if he'd like. He exclaimed "$20?!!" as if I'd just asked him to hand over his soul and scurried off into the distance. At that point, I didn't know whether to cry a little, or laugh. The vendor next to me sold over 20 framed generic reproduction posters (he sold an amazing number of Kobe Bryant posters) with a price ranging from $35-$65 in a little over an hour, while I quietly pondered the value of my art.

It didn't improve when another person came over and asked me how much it costs to make my notecards - I believe the comment was "I mean, this can't cost you more than 50 cents". My husband told me later that the correct response would be a pro-ration of the $2000 camera, the travel costs to the different locations, the time taking the photographs, downloading them, organizing them, picking the perfect shots, uploading them to the printer, costs of the prints themselves, the shipping, the cardstock and the time taken to mount each one by hand. When you think of it like that, the notecard being sold for $4 is a steal. My husband's answer may have been the more direct approach, but I found myself justifying how I shoot my photographs and the time I take to carefully compose each shot because I'm not much of a believer in post-production (hence my business name). The man seemed surprised that I don't just hold down the shutter button and click about then see if I got a good shot later. I eventually gave up trying because I didn't feel like I needed to explain myself to him and remembered to not take it personally - although it's a really hard thing to do.

When I returned home slightly disillusioned by the day, I started looking at the humor of it all. While the masses may not appreciate the skill involved, I can be happy with myself knowing that I can create and do it well. At the very least, I regained the cost of my materials and I am now able to move forward with a supply of holidays gifts for my friends that are already made, and of course a month's worth of Etsy listings for my shop!

Don't bother me, I'm crafting!

2008-12-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

I think I've been firmly entrenched in my crafting bubble over the last 2 weeks. While I had made a bunch of things for the last craft fair, when I really started thinking about the upcoming craft fair this Wednesday, I started panicking...just a little (ok, a lot). My biggest concern was that I just wouldn't have enough inventory for a building with 2,500+ tenants. So, I put my head down and got to work, even creating my own little excel spreadsheet (I'm a big nerd like that) to track inventory with. As of last night, I have 109 items!!

While knitting and crocheting up a storm, I realized that my hands might fall off, so next thing you know I'm sewing scented sachets, eye pillows, purses, and doing holiday penguin rub-on transfers to candle votives. I'm very proud of my insane achievement though and excited to get to show it all to a bunch of strangers on Wednesday!

One last thing on the needles for now and then mostly organization and sewing on buttons to finish everything off. Of course, many pictures from the show to come.... The good news is that the husband and I just started the planning for our bathroom remodel and of all goes well this will be a nice head start on paying for the floor tile!

Seems obvious to me

2008-11-18T11:24:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to think of fun and quick projects to make for the corporate craft fair I have coming up and was thinking that logically, they must all drink coffee right? Why not make them coffee cup sleeves? I have the cotton, I can improvise a design and they're just so darn cute!

The real question here is how many would be a reasonable number to make for a building that has 2500+ coffee drinking tenants....

16 days and counting

2008-11-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

...until my next craft fair. My friend is the property manager of a huge high rise in downtown LA and has invited me to be a vendor at their holiday fair. She witnessed the extravaganza of crafting that happened before the craft fair in my own office and I am honored that she wants to include me in hers.

The big difference is that her fair involves being in the lobby of her high rise with 2500+ tenants there to potentially purchase my wares. Imagine the look on my face when she told me that my table space is 12ft!! First thought was - what the hell am I going to make that will fill 12 feet of space?! Once the mild anxiety attack passed, I immediately got to crafting, which is what I've been doing ever since. So far I'm 3 pairs of baby booties, 1 scarf, 1 neckwarmer, 3 hats and am nearly done with my second crocheted edging on the fleece baby blankets I bought. I also bought a ton of photo mats, with photographs on their way from the printer to be either matted and sold as prints, or turned into notecards. I am also lucky that Hollylynne has agreed once again to partner with me on this one and send over some of her jewelry.

It's been 4 days since I found out about the fair and my hands already hurt. I think it might be time to bust out the sewing machine so that I'm not in crochet fever and can give my palms a break for a little bit. I don't know if I'm going to make it the next 16 days without having a seizure of sorts because even outside of the crafting, I need to make tags, price charts, finalize my display etc. I just hope to make enough money that I can book a massage!!

Entirely too cute!

2008-11-12T09:28:00.001-08:00

I'm currently in the process of taking the inventory that I crocheted and knit up during the week before the craft fair and making it ready for sale in my Etsy store. I've been sick all week (not related to the anthrax scare in my office) so it's been hard to move up off the couch and take care of business, so to speak.
I know I previously mentioned the booties that I'd been making and last night I separated some to donate to a local children's charity through my work and started photographing others to go up for sale. First up are this super cute pair that I am tempted to make in adult size for running around the house. I sense that I wouldn't do so well on the hardwood floors in our new home though - this is based entirely on watching my husband slide around in his socks very "Risky Business" style (a/k/a when Tom Cruise wasn't crazy).

I'm definitely going to be listing more of these over the next few weeks, and of course some things for us adults too!

A craft fair and an anthrax scare...

2008-11-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

...all in one day!

So today, I continued with the tradition of helping to organize our annual holiday craft fair at work. It was a much quieter event than in past years, but unfortunately it sounds like that's the way things are right now. I was happy to make a little extra cash over my lunch break, given the insanity of my crafting over the last week in preparation. My biggest thing has been making tons of little booties. I think I was inspired by my nephew, Ethan, and once seeing just how cute the darn things are, I made a LOT of them! I was also happy to be selling jewelry on behalf of my buddy Hollylynne, who happens to be betrothed to a co-worker of mine.My booth, with knit/crochet accessories, handspun yarn, photo notecards, and Holly's jewelry.
Here's a few more pics of some of the wonderful vendors we had join us.

So, at the end of the fair, while trying to help people break down their booths, the next thing I know our head of security very quietly came in and told us to evacuate the building. I'm wondering what on earth that is about and trying to figure out how to get the vendors out without them having to abandon all their goods. I guess 4 years as a fire warden and my CPR training did teach me something though as I managed to work some magic and get everybody out of the room safely.

I'm wondering what on earth is going on when I find out that there was an anthrax scare on the other side of our building, which we share with various radio stations. Apparently it was in relation to the Prop 8 issue here in California (although I don't know for which side) and the radio station had received a threat of some kind involving some powder. If the fire department, police, helicopters and hazmat trucks outside were anything to go by, it was a pretty freaky situation but thankfully was a scare and nothing else.

Just another Friday I guess...now off to photograph all my goods to be put into my Etsy store!

An ocean view...

2008-11-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have really looked at the treasuries on Etsy. There used to be a couple of hundred to view, but now there's 500+ at any given time. However, I was notified that I was included in one and was very proud to pop on over to the treasury world and take a quick gander. It's also the first time that "The Guide" print (top row, center) has been included in a treasury so I was very happy that it would be getting a little extra exposure.

Breast Cancer Awareness giveaway winner!

2008-11-03T09:16:00.001-08:00

I am happy to share that Cindy Joy is the winner of the beautiful print, donated by Lanae Photography, for my Breast Cancer Awareness giveaway.

Thanks to everybody who checked out the delightful items being donated to this worthy cause!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

My co-worker wanted to decorate a Sarah Palin pumpkin at work this year. Strangely enough, I happened to have some yarn that I'd just spun up in my office that looked suspiciously like Palin's hair with highlights. Makes me feel less like a complete nerd for always having yarn with me (correct, it's not just taken over my house, but it's been invading my office too!)

Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

2008-10-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and that gave me the idea to find some wonderful shops on Etsy that are donating a portion of their proceeds to the Susan G Komen Foundation for breast cancer awareness, support and finding the cure. Here are some beautiful items that you can buy to help with this cause...scroll to the bottom of this post for a little extra incentive!

From Kays Krafts:	Breast Cancer Awareness Memory Board - $24.99 20% of the proceeds to be donated.
From Wags Creations:	Give Hope ....Coaster Set - $15.00 100% of the proceeds from this will be donated!
From Liebling Designs:	Pretty In Pink Necklace - $25.00 10% of the proceeds to be donated.
From Coasters And Cards:	Stamp Out Breast Cancer Card - PIF This is a Pay It Foward (PIF) listing for $0.21. You will pay the $0.21 to get this card, which will be donated. Same goes for any other cards in the Pay It Forward section of this shop.
From Lonesome Road Studio:	pow dominOh effect pin - $8.00 10% of the purchase price to be donated.
From Buster and Boo:	The Pink Ribbon, a scrabble tile pendant - $6.50 50% of the purchase price from this item will be donated.
From Four Dog Day:	Nancy's Rose of Inspiration Fundraising Card - $3.00 $1 from the sale of each card will be donated.
From Fervent Butterfly:	Candy Flower - Red Flower on Water Fine Art Photo Print - $10.00 35% of the proceeds from this photo, and any other photo in the Pink For October section of this shop, will be donated. Also, 10% from any other categories.
From Bead Brat Originals:	Think Pink Cotton Candy Pink and Sivertone Slider Bracelet - $28.00 30% of proceeds from the sale of any item in the Think Pink section of this shop will be donated.
From Whats That Smell:	Pink Sugar Soy Tarts - $5.00 100% of the sale price to be donated

Seeing as this is a giving thing, let's get some sales going to assist with donations! Lanae Photography has graciously donated a 4"x6" copy of the print shown below as part of a contest. All you need to do is find a store on Etsy that is donating part of the proceeds from an i tem to Breast Cancer Awareness, and post a link to either the store or the item in the comments here. The only rule is that it can't be a store already shown here!! On November 1, a winner will be chosen and this print will be yours.

My first big home project!

2008-10-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

One of the things I was super excited about moving into our new home was fixing the ridiculous window treatments that had been left in the house. Every single blind in the place is too long and the blind in our bathroom is an interesting shade of aquamarine that doesn't match anything we own! The first thing was to actually put up a curtain in the living room because it didn't have one. I dragged the husband along to Joann with me and he helped me pick out some gorgeous olive colored microfiber for our curtains and is even the one that found the perfect thread for it! I looked up some videos on how to do tab top curtains and I was ready to go.

It was a 3 day process because attempting to cut and sew a 90" length of fabric that's 54" wide and doesn't press (which is something I wish I'd thought of before going the microfiber route) takes a while. In the end though, I am extremely proud of what is my biggest project to date and one that we look at every day so I can only imagine how much it would have sucked if I'd royally screwed it up! Anyway, here's a picture for you which also shows our pretty new dining table and the centerpiece my mother-in-law gave us a while back that's never had the perfect place to be shown before.I have to love the fact that the sun is poking through in the middle of a hot So Cal October....

Monkeying around

2008-10-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Seeing as the holidays are fast approaching, some of you may already be thinking about decorations and unique ornaments. This year, I have a really fun suggestion for you - why not adorn your tree with an Ornamonkey? I can tell that you're wondering what on earth an Ornamonkey is. Well, check it out!This little guy is a felt ornament made to resemble a real species of monkey, with a new species of monkey released each month. Each monkey is collectible and comes with a dated bio-blurb about the species and its conservation status. The felt is eco-spun felt that is 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. Created by a real primatologist, this is a great opportunity to learn something about the monkey while having a wonderful conversation piece for your holiday gatherings!

To find out more about the Ornamonkeys, visit Recycled Ideas on Etsy where you can see more species that are available or join the Monkey Of The Month club (spaces will be available starting in November). Also, click on the "win a monkey" bug on this page to find out how you can win your own monkey. Now, that's not a phrase I use every day! =)

A tale of two customer service departments...and 5 desks!

2008-10-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

In our attempts to finish buying the furniture for our new office, the husband and I decided to head on over to Target to look at some desks for his DJ equipment. Naturally, we found one we liked in a gorgeous expresso brown wood, plus picked up a desk for my sewing machine, and headed off home to get to work building it. What we didn't realize at the time was what a saga this was about to become.

Monday night...Desk #1 - Got it home and found there was a big chip in the top of it. Popped it back in the box to take back to Target.

Tuesday night...Desk #2 - Took the first desk back to Target, explained the problem. Left a few minutes later with a replacement. Husband gets the desk home, starts building it and comes up the stairs cussing up a storm to ask my opinion on why one of the pieces doesn't fit. Realized it was definitely drilled on the wrong side/upside down. Now, for those of you that have built your own furniture, you know that if the holes don't match up, there's no hope!

Wednesday morning - Called Target's guest services department. Very nice man tells me that he's going to call my local store and have them pull a replacement piece out of another box for me and that I should just go over there with the one that's messed up to exchange them.

Wednesday night...Desk #3 & #4 - Arrive at guest services in the store to pick up my furniture part. Very helpful associate pops off into the warehouse to go get me a "correct" one. Comes back with a desk box, opens it up and pulls out the piece...which is also drilled backwards. Tells me to stick around for a minute while he pulls the last one they have in stock (which of course means that I have to use that time to buy toothpaste, dishwasher soap and browse some jewelry...after all, I'm in a Target store!) The guy returns from the warehouse with the last desk in that color, opens it up and yes, you guessed it, it's drilled wrong!! Yeah, big ooops. Fortunately, they had the desk in another color, which I opted to take...on the condition that they opened it up and checked that the piece was drilled the right way around (which it was). Thinking all was well, I'm then told that I actually have to go home and get the half-constructed parts because they need those to give me the exchange. Grrrr! Stupid stoned factory dude putting holes in the wrong side.

This morning...Desk #5 - Shoved all the half built pieces into my car and made the security guard help me carry the desk into the store at 8am this morning when they opened. Desk #5 had my name written on it in Sharpie and was waiting for me. It's sitting in the back of my car now just waiting to be built tonight. I guess time will tell if we've closed that particular chapter of desk buying!

At the same time, I did use this as an opportunity to build my karma points by calling Target, and the furniture manufacturer, to let them know that there was a manufacturing problem with the desk and both customer service people were so incredibly grateful that I brought it up. So, if you see a desk recall notice in Target, think of me. =)

As much as I love that store, 4 times in 36 hours seems like it might be pushing it a little bit don't you agree?!

A new fascination

2008-10-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a first, as my husband was actually telling me to get off my butt and go to Joann. The plan was to get supplies to make another window treatment for one of the downstairs windows. Of course, he should have known that I was going to come back with more than just the fabric for the window and a curtain rod.

Given that Joann was having their Columbus Day sale, all their red tag fabrics were 50% off, and they were having a $0.99 sale on Simplicity patterns. This of course was entirely too much to resist and I had a lot of fun rummaging around for some great deals (which isn't hard when you can buy super cute fabrics for under $2/yard). It was especially gratifying to be told on the receipt that my savings for the day were $46!!

During my search, I discovered that I have really developed a love for brocade fabrics. The history of these fabrics is just as rich as the look of the fabric itself. They have been used as an indication of status and to signify ceremonial events. Perhaps it is my Chinese heritage, or the huge Indian culture where I grew up in England, that makes me love the style of fabric. Either way, I am very drawn to them and came home yesterday with three different styles of brocade fabric - a red and gold, a turquoise and gold, and a baby blue (I forgot to take a picture but the picture here is really similar to what I purchased). I have a couple of tops planned, although these are the kinds of fabrics were I get nervous using them in case I mess it up!

A little Project Runway talk

2008-10-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

As the most recent season of Project Runway nears the end, I do have a little to say about last night's episode. Firstly, as much as I was sad that Jerrell got a little too whacky with his wedding dress creation last night, it's really nice to see three strong females doing their thing for fashion week.

As much as Kenley drives me nuts, you can't say the girl doesn't have a style...even if parts of it appear to have been "inspired" by another designer (see the design by Alexander McQueen below left, by Kenley below right). One thing that bugs me, apart from her whining, is that she can't seem to get out of her niche. That being said, I think she'll do really well within her niche.
Korto has a great personality; very down to earth and I think that reflects in her designs. While I do think she missed the mark a little with her wedding dress last night, I have enjoyed her previous creations. The dress shown to the left is one that I like, despite being someone who's not much for crazy prints. I thought her bridesmaid dress was nowhere near as bad as the judges made it out to be, although given where they are in the competition I think they wanted her to find a happy medium between the over and under whelming that they kept talking about.

Finally, Leanne is my favorite to win right now. Apart from anything, she has an Etsy store!! She has such a classy style that is well structured, yet flows beautifully (see the dress inset right) and I really enjoy her humble nature - the absolute every day kinda girl. I'm really excited to see her final collection because the hints we got in the show last night looked really interesting and so well designed. The wedding and bridesmaid dresses were beautiful and I would be happy to wear either.

Of course, waiting another week will be torture to find out who made it, but it'll be an exciting finale this year for sure!

We have a winner!

2008-10-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce the winner of the contest I have been running this week to win the set of notecards (shown in my post below)!

The winner is The Giving Tree on Etsy. I was really happy to check out her shop and see that she is donating proceeds from her October sales to charity on account of it being Breast Cancer and Domestic Violence Awareness month.

Thank you to my co-worker, Karen, for picking a name out of the hat.

100th post and a contest!

2008-10-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

I noticed the other day that I was coming up on my 100th post here on my blog and it seems like a good time to have a little contest to share with you as a thank you for visiting my blog.

So, here's what I have for you. Post a comment here telling me what photographic images you love to see on notecards. Next Wednesday, (October 8) I will pull a name out of the hat for someone to win this set of floral notecards, featuring my photography! The photos are mounted on blank notecard stock so that you can write your own message inside, and can easily be pulled off and framed too. Each card comes with a matching envelope.

Please don't forget to leave your name and a method of contact so that I can let you know if you won. =)