Busy Lazy Day

I don't know how anyone could feel busy and lazy at the same time but I certainly do. I just listed a new wallet on Etsy, and I am busily cutting out billfolds but all I want to do is sleep. I think I just need to get some fresh air and a good snack then maybe the lazy will be squashed by all the busy. I think I will gather up the kidlet and hit the road for a while.

Blood and humongous spiders

My newest Etsy listing, and the last of the cool purple leather.....WAH! Oh wait! I have one more little coin pouch cut out and ready to go, but that's it:(


The two things I face first thing in the morning. I wake up at about 4:30 nervous over how high my blood sugar is and having to go poke myself in the finger before I am even conscious. I have gone through one whole pack of test strips just because I was not awake enough to use the glucometer correctly, and couldn't get my fingers to bleed enough to test accurately. So, after many pokes and lots of cussing, I think I have it down. Then Mark mentions that he killed the biggest black widow spider he has ever seen as it crawled out of our wall heater. So now, I am not only reluctant to get up and check my blood, I am afraid I am going to run into one of the sisters or the mother of the huge spider and she will be set on seeking revenge for her sister's/daughter's untimely death. I think I might need more to do.

All This Energy and No Where to Put it.

Yesterday was the day of no energy and lots of naps. Today is the day of too much energy and not enough to do with myself. I am working on my leather projects but I can't sit still. I thought about gardening, but that leads to sneezes. Maybe I will take the opportunity to clean the rug in the front room and do a little bit of extra cleaning and organizing. Never hurts right. I would much rather be hiking around up at Patrick's point or hanging out on the beach with my toes in the sand. Oh well, the price I pay for not having a car........no great weekend adventures.

First Nap in The Big Boy Bed

Ciaran's first nap in the big boy bed! Hopefully he is o.k. with it. I am slowly cleaning out his room so it is all his. I don't want him to feel shunned once little Ed comes to stay. I am keeping my eyes peeled for animal illustrations, kites, and all sorts of decorations to make his room really fun for him. My first decorative purchase will be a map of the world. Since his dad and I are hoping to get this family on the go once Ed is here and situated. I have only left the country once, but I am so hooked! We want Ciaran and Ed to see more than just Arcata in their lifetimes, so a traveling we will go. Hopefully, I will have the energy to keep up with everyone.

Besides big boy bed and decorating fun, I have been cutting out a lot of pieces to stock up and prepare for Fall when I will be taking a short maternity leave with Ed. I just need to get to sewing and preparing in other ways too. This year I am being smart and ordering my supplies early. I also found a huge box of misprinted business cards that I will be re-decorating with my logo and my online information. That makes it a little easier to afford all the hardware for my wallets and the few baby items we still need to get for Ed. So that's it for now. I feel a little more prepared each day. Just got to keep myself in check.

Now I Can Relax!

I spent the morning at the Doctor's office getting the lowdown on my high blood sugar and what I need to do to control it. Basically diet and exercise should do the trick but I still need to test my blood sugar many times a day to keep track of what is going on with my body. No sweat, I am a pro, I had the same exact problem with Ciaran too. Now I am back at home and just relaxing while the boy gets a much needed nap. I think I will cut out some wallets to pass the time! I just listed this one in my artfire studio! I think I like it!

It Almost Killed Me!

........But I won! I conquered the "big boy bed" and now I take the rest of the afternoon to relax and cut out wallets and coin pouches. I don't think I have ever cussed so much in my life. Luckily, the big boy was too busy watching his cartoons to notice. So when he wakes from his nap time, he will be able to see his new bed. He better like it! Not only did I cuss, I sweat like a pig, and I stubbed my toe on one of the many pieces!

The Big Boy Bed

Among all of my other projects I am working on, I am also getting Ciaran ready to transition from his port-a-crib to a big boy bed. So, today is clean the carpet day, and tomorrow shall be put the big boy bed together and organize the new room to go around the big boy bed. Should be a fun adventure. Hopefully, this will be an exciting transition for him too. At the moment he seems to be incredibly excited about sleeping in mom and dad's room tonight. I hope he is just as excited to see his new bed and sleep in it for the first time. Oh, we'll see!

Just finished and and listed in my Etsy shop, this one is super fun in hot pink suede with lime green and salmon orange suede applique. I am so excited because I got my order of snap clips today so I can keep on making my little wallets without hesitation! I love when I get cool things in the mail! So now I am working on a travel wallet which should be listed tomorrow, and still working on a couple of custom pieces. The rest of this week will be dedicated to cutting out wallets and Dr. appointments. Yipee!

Cleaning up The House

I am back to going through my stuff. I managed to get rid of a huge pile of clothes, a huge pile of make-up, and even a huge pile of weeds! I am trying desperately to get rid of all the extra stuff we have lying around here that we never use. It felt good to get rid of clutter. I have been doing a little bit here and there but the last couple of days I just jumped into it. It's nice to have counter space, drawer space, and closet space. It's also nice to step outside and not feel like the weeds are going to attack at any second. My plan is to do a little bit each day until we get rid of all the unnecessary stuff we have accumulated over the last few years. We'll see how it goes:)

I am Soooo Hungry!

So I found out yesterday that I got a bad grade on my glucose intolerance test, therefore I would have to take a longer three hour test where I fast overnight, go in to the Doc's in the morn and drink overly sweet, sticky red stuff and then every hour over the next three hours, I get to have lots of blood drawn. Sounds like an awesome way to spend a Friday! All I know that is I am sooooo hungry already, I don't know if I will last! I think afterwards it's a trip to Wildberries for a bite to eat and perhaps a coffee, since I've been awake since 4:30 with a grumbly tummy. Just needed to get that out since I am sitting here in the papa chair with visions of pancakes and french toast dancing around in my head. I must be strong!

Two New Things

Just finished these yesterday evening. I am pretty happy with both. I tried some new color themes and design elements and they seem pretty successful to me. I got up early once again to work on a project for a very special person and I LOVE IT! I think my special person will be happy once they see it. It is in the softest deep purple suede with a super cool applique design. I am also finishing up a hot pink wallet that I have had sitting on my table forever! Then on to finish up a collar, two cuffs, another little messenger wallet, and stuff for my show in November. Yes, I am doing the Ink People Center for the Arts Holiday Gift Fair again this year. If all goes well, I will have baby Ed in my arms the whole time and lots of stuff to share. Most people think I am crazy trying to do a show a month after my second child is born, but it's like my holiday tradition and I can't not be a part. That would be just wrong! I am working hard to stock up the shelves and get all the other stuff done now so I can just pack up my wares, go, set-up, and sell instead of the traditional week of panic that usually takes place. Wish me luck!

An Early Start

Yes, I got up at 5:00 this morning and started working. I don't know why, I know I will be exhausted in a couple of hours but I just felt like working. Everything was quiet and dark, and I could concentrate on just doing my thing. It was so nice. I got a few new items cut out last night and a few little projects that are in the works, a little bit closer to done. I didn't want to stop working last night but my eyes wouldn't focus after a while, which makes me dizzy, which I DON'T want to deal with again. Yes, the vertigo I was so ill with still hangs on here and there, which sucks, but as long as I can function and it doesn't seems to be affecting my pregnancy, I'll deal. It's more of just a weird sensation of being on an escalator when I turn my head in certain ways. Like the ground is moving out from under me. Seriously weird stuff!!!! When Ed comes along in October, as soon as I am able I am going to be looking into some serious sinus pampering and recovery, I hope that knocks the dizziness right out! On the bright side, my experience with vertigo has helped me create some fascinating designs lately. So it can't be all bad can it.

Just finished!

Just finished this custom order and tried out a new design element with it. I decided to add more interior pockets and an exterior zip pocket and slide pocket. I like it! This one will be heading down south to it's new owner soon, but I hope to have many more ready to go soon. The next one up will be a white leather with multicolored this, that, and the other appliqued all over the place. I think it will be nice. Kind of an underwater theme.

Cat-tastrophe!

So, I have been collecting pieces of fabric to put a couple of maternity outfits together for myself over the last couple of months. Nothing too special, just enough material to make a skirt, a sundress, and a top. Well, I have been noticing a rather nasty smell coming from the chair where the fabric was stacked. I also noticed that the fabric was no longer neatly stored on the chair but was now wadded up underneath it. So in investigating the nasty smell, I picked up the fabric only to have about fifteen turds fall out of it all over the floor! Not only that but the fabric was the nasty smell, a mixture of kitty potty I don't even want to describe! So no homemade maternity outfits for me. Well, until yesterday when I brought home a magic leather jacket that held a whole lot of cash in it. Not a huge amount but enough to make my day, heck, I would have been happy to find an extra dollar! So, today I went and used some of the cash to buy a couple of shirts and a couple of skirts to make into maternity clothes! Thank you to the magic jacket owner for giving me clothes that fit! As for the two little furballs............I love them but they stink!

No More Black Leather?

Am I actually running low on black leather? I am! I found this out today while working on one of my custom orders. I can't believe it. I ALWAYS have some hanging around now the box is full of green, blue, beige, pink, and a smidgen of purple leather with a little bit of orange here and there. I guess that means I need to get out and peruse the thrift stores again. Hopefully, while I am there I will run into some red and purple leather too. That would be splendid! Maybe even some bright blue or more lime green! Oh well, for now I have enough to keep working on my order. That's all that counts right?

Little Bits and Pieces

This is the start of one of my newest custom orders. It took me most of the weekend to come up with the right purples to put this one together. This piece will be the front pocket of one of my little black bags. Right now it is just a bunch of pieces of leather waiting to be o.k.'d by it's future owner. Once it's o.k.'d it gets to be glued down, and sewn in place then I can make the rest of the bag.

I am also working on a few other pieces and slowly but surely muddling through. I just have had no energy over the last couple of days. Probably because I keep waking up at 5am and can't quite get back to sleep. I get up, get a snack for me and baby Ed, then stretch a bit, and then lay back down until the diapered wonder starts calling my name. Then it's up and back to work for the day. I can't complain too much, I am still having fun, even with my droopy eyelids!

We Missed the Fireworks!

Well, we saw a few from the field but we missed the fireworks show yesterday. Mostly because of uncomfortable pregnant lady(me) who didn't want to walk to six miles downtown and back and the still slightly ill-ish dude(Mark) who also isn't up for that much of a journey right now. So Ciaran and I scoped out a place in our parking lot, until the mosquitoes tried to eat us to watch our neighbors lighting their fireworks off. Ciaran covered his eyes and looked the other way for the most part. He was just not very impressed. Next year, we will be back into our groove with Ciaran, baby Ed, able to walk those six miles there and back without complaint and end the night with our usual: put the kiddos to bed and drink a couple of good strong beers! (Watch it rain next year.)

Building up my Shops

So, after this weekend, I should be able to concentrate on strictly building up the inventory in my shops. I am thinking about cancelling my icraft shop and just concentrating on Etsy and artfire for now. I just need a spot for my handbags for now, and that's what I am doing with icraft. I love the site, but I spend way more time on the other two. Although, I have promised myself that I will work strictly on leather bags, since the fabric ones don't do very well for me. So, I will be finishing up the few custom orders that I have and a couple of other projects(collars, belts, etc.) so I can get a bunch of wallets, cuffs, and etc. cut out and ready to put together. My plan is to be prepared for the arrival of baby Ed(that's her new name) and the holiday season this year, so I am starting now. I want to get my already established designs ready to go so I can focus my time in the early Fall on a couple of new ones, mainly guitar straps and belts, and a few smaller items. I hope to have lots of pictures of my progress to share over the next few weeks, wish me luck. Happy Fourth of July all! Enjoy your festivities!

Vicicous Nose.

Vicious nose, Vicious nose, Birthday cake, Daddy gone, Oh, Etsy! Camping, Doggie, Suddenlink, Oh, Etsy!, Vicious nose. - As written and sung by Ciaran. This was his song today. I am not sure what it means but he was really rockin' it.

In other news, I finished a new cuff and I am working on a new collar. Very dark and goth, not exactly what I usually do but fun none the less. I also finished up a few little projects, mostly custom pieces for friends or orders. It feels good to be done on a Friday. Now I am off to mail off a few things and peruse the thrift stores. It should be a fun time! Happy weekend all!