sachet2.jpg Monday I got 2 lbs of dried flower buds in the mail. TWO POUNDS. Do you have any idea how many flowers that is? Or how much volume it takes up? OK, not as much as I expected when I ordered them, but still, about 2 shoe-boxes.

I immediately whipped up these little sachets. Lavender. YUM. I also got Chamomile, another favorite, but doesn’t come close to my love affair with lavender. I suppose I’m going to have to come up with a lot more ideas for dried flowers.

Speaking of ideas, I got the best idea for storing all my knit picks needles – and yes, I just took the plunge and ordered some of the interchangeable circulars. I really dislike their cases though, and I have come up with what I think is going to be a great solution. I’ll show it to you when I’m done. (I know, I know, I’ve been promising the same thing about the sewing room for months now! Someday it will be either clean enough to show you, or I just won’t care that day).

And I got my new yarn for someone’s birthday present. I should take pictures, but that would ruin the surprise. I mean she already KNOWS I am making them, I’m not giving away the entire picture before I gift them. It’s not bad as far as cotton blends go. In fact, it really doesn’t have too much of that sticky cotton feel at all. I might’ve had to trash it if it did. Cuz knitting with that kind of yarn is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

I also figured out how to wind centerpull balls. Do I need to get a winder? Is it better than using your fingers? I know my thumb starts to go numb after a while, but no pain, no gain, right? At any rate, centerpull balls is SO much better than using balls or knitting straight from the skein. For one thing, they stay put. Um, well that’s pretty much the only advantage.

So, as usual, I’m way too busy. So busy that I’d like to just crawl back into bed. But I can’t, because I have to go to the dentist now.

I can’t understand why these beauties have not just flown off the (virtual) shelves. I listed them in my Etsy store about 2 weeks ago, and while they have been in a few treasuries, and have a fair amount of views and hearts, they seem to just be lost in the crowd. Do people just not have time to make crafts during the holiday season anymore? I hope not! Crafting at Christmas is one of the few things that keeps me sane!

Well 3 more days until we leave for Florida and the Bahamas. And I’m happy to say I’ve gotten all of my Etsy orders for Halloween packaged and shipped. I’m actually down to only one Halloween item left. A little lonely pumpkin:

And I’ve had enough of black cats to last me a life time. I do have just ONE more to make for a customer who has been very patient with me while I look for the perfect black cashmere sweater for hers. But she’s not buying for Halloween, just because he reminds her of her sweet deceased pet. :(

I’m so ready for that vacation! The last week has been a confusing mess of trying to package and ship items. I really hope I didn’t get any of them mixed up. (Now, I’m not so sure I would ever want to be the featured seller on Etsy.) I also ran out of promo packs… So I need to either buy some stuff so people will send me promos to pass on, or I need to find promo donations somewhere.

I’ve also really got to get cracking on the Christmas items, and start perusing the items on Etsy for gifts! Speaking of gifts, I promised I would show you what I got for my friend Sarah’s wedding. She recieved it last night and loved it. Or, maybe she’s a really good faker. Honestly though, how could you not love these:

I bought them from JDWolfe’s shop. Oh she does such a great job. The colors on the glazes are just beautiful, and the bowls are flawless. I highly recommend anything from her.

Remember this painting? Well it’s been finished for a while, it’s even hanging in the hallway at home.

I love how the eyes turned out, and I love that it looks like Chris, but what the heck is that thing in the lower left corner? I mean, it’s not his neck, it’s like his face has been contorted into an odd shape. It’s not bugging me enough to take it down and redo it. :)

Here’s the newest attempt at painting. I’m going to hang it above the desk/sewing table in my sewing room. You know, the one I keep blabbing about, but never actually show you? Heh! Don’t look at the feet on this painting. Besides the fact that it’s not done, I was really struggling at getting color AND form right on the feet. It might just be that I need to paint on a huge scale. Part of my problem I’m sure, is that I like stiff stiff stiff brushes, and I only have one brush that is both tiny AND stiff.

Anyway, maybe I’ll show the finished product some time in the next half century. You know, the same way I’ve been promising pictures of the sewing room all clean and shiny.

In other news, Etsy is having a costume contest and I’m going to enter the kid’s Shego costume. Judging by the entries I’ve seen, we should have this one in the bag. But that’s me getting too overconfident. I’m actually pretty sure I’ll hear nothing. Chris has even made these great green glowy light things for her hands to emulate Shego’s magic powers.

I have no idea how we will top this next year… And I hope we don’t have to, because this costume was a major PITA. I mean, I basically had to cut the body suit pattern apart and put it back together with the correct colors in the right places. At one point, the kitchen table was covered in butcher paper copies of the pattern so that we could cut them out with seam allowances intact (This because I am essentially stupid and would forget to cut out seam allowances).

So other than painting, cleaning and making costumes, I’ve been sewing black cats. I have sewed something like 8 black cats in the last week. (And sold them all in my Etsy shop) If I had more black felt, I’d make more cats, but I don’t. Oh darn!

Way back at the begining of the year I did a craft show (my first and last so far). I only sold about $90 worth of stuff that day, but the most raved about items were a little stuffed chicken and pig. I sold both of those that day (probably for way too little money) and began making stuffed animals for my Etsy shop. So far the elephants have been the overwhelming leader, but people like my cats too. But no one loves the chickens.

They have been in my shop for over 6 months. At first, I had them listed seperately, but thinking that maybe people wanted the set, I decided to list them as a group. For a while, I thought of listing them with a Mac like campaign. You know, the black one is $400 more for no good reason? Ok, I admit, I have a bizarre sense of humor.

Poor poor chickens. They really need a new home… Should I make some little felted eggs for them to sit on?

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