Winding Down......

The leathery sewing frenzy is winding down now, just a few assorted wallets to get done this week.  Stuff I can do in the evenings after my two little turkeys retire for the evening.  Little bits of thread clipping and side finishing and that's it!  Then I am all ready for Saturday at the Trinidad Indie Craft Fair!  I am so excited to be going!  It's a great fair  and a wonderful benefit for the Trinidad Library.  It will be so nice to have lots of leathery stuff to share:)  Before then though, there are children to entertain, turkey dinners and thankfulness to be had, and a visit to Oldtown Eureka, so that's what is going on this week, I certainly hope you all enjoy your week!

Slowly But Surely.......

I am reaching my goal, slowly but surely!  I've finally got over fifty items in my Etsy shop and a WHOLE BUNCH of others left to list.  I am still sewing but it's all winding down.  I seem to always fall about a week off of my goal but I'm not holding that against myself.  I'm getting it done and I feel good about that.  I have finished up all of the billfolds, snappy billfolds, and larger pouch wallets.  Now I am furiously sewing my way through a stack of tiny envelope wallets and those will be followed by the last of the small coin pouches and heart shaped coin pouches.  Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!  Cross your fingers for me that this week will be an easy one with very few bumps and such. 

In other news, our apartment is a complete wreck!  It seems that cleaning and organizing is just about impossible when you are gearing up for the holidays with leathery goodness.  My floor is littered with small bits of leather, thread, and lining materials.  Linus, our new kitten seems to like that a lot, he constantly has something to play with, and he's been really good about not getting into everything I am working on.  He's a good little guy and very patient with his new family.  If the kids had it their way, Linus would never be without  a lap to sit on and his feet would never touch the ground.  It is pretty darn cute to watch them shower Linus with love.  Other than that, we are gearing up for the holidays with a few projects to work on here and there and I'm getting ready for my next craft show at the end of the month too!  Lots of fun stuff to look forward to, and I'll hopefully have some pictures of all of our various adventures:)

The Newbie

 This is Linus, formally known as Nadine, enjoying some quiet time with Edolie.  Linus came to stay with us last week and we are all in love.

 He met Abner yesterday and they hung out together in a sunny spot on the carpet while I was working on my leather projects.  Luckily, both were cordial and just pretty much ignored each other.  Although, Abner just ignores everyone, it's just his way.

 I came out of my shower the other day to find Linus wrapped up like a baby in Edolie's cupcake blankie.  Apparently, he was tired and cold. ( This is what our dear Linus gets to look forward to in his life with us)

AND of course, the small stack of wallets that I hope to list this week.  I'm getting stuff done and it feels good!( didn't realize I loaded this but I'm supposed to be writing about my work, not kittens right?)

With Yui gone we really didn't know if we would be bringing another cat into the picture, but who could resist a face like Linus'.  He's got us all wrapped around his teeny little paw and that's O.K.  It's nice to have a feline presence in the house again.  Welcome Linus!

I'm makin' lots of stuff!

It's been busy around here the last few weeks.  I managed to make it through Edolie's birthday AND Halloween without pulling all of my hair out.  I also managed to finish up a stack of 23 billfolds and am furiously sewing through a pile of coin pouches to be done in the next day or so.  Fun times!  I am desperately trying to get a lot done and listed in my shop to reach my goal of at least 50 items in my shop and a few extra for my upcoming show at the end of the month.  I'm crossing my fingers it will all come together:)  I decided to show off the first three billfolds that I finished up for my Etsy shop.  Now I'm off to do a little bit of cleaning before I hit the sewing machine again.

A Very LONG Week

I actually managed to get a couple of wallets done in between birthday party madness!  So yeah, we made it through without too many dents or scratches from back to back birthday celebrations and now it's on to sewing my little heart out.  I just got a little nervous when I went to organize my wallet projects, I have A LOT cut out and ready to go, I just want to get back to it and I'm crossing my fingers for very little interruption.  Not very likely, but at least I'm tryin'.  If I don't accomplish my goal at all, at least I got the two above done right:)  Positivity, that's what matters!

A Huge Pink Spider

Spider Body

Spider Body with it's legs

Spider with Ed's cool socks

Hairless Spider with Sparkly Green Eyes

Spider with Pink Hair

So, I was instructed last weekend to make a "big, fuzzy, pink and purple, tarantula with sparkles all over it by my soon to be four year old.  She wanted a pinata, but ended up with a fuzzy pink spider sculpture with purple sparkly legs.  We are reading a lot about spiders here these days, and seeing a lot of our beautiful garden spiders or "pumpkin spiders" out along our walkway and all over town.  I find it hilarious that both of my kids are terrified of spiders but have welcomed the big pink spider into our home without even flinching.  I guess it's because it's kind of goofy looking.  Well, that has been my project for the week.  Ed is having her birthday party tomorrow with lots of rainbows, flowers, and butterflies so we are super busy cleaning and decorating for that.  I hope to have lots of pictures of her big day to share.  Monday, I will get to do some leathery work since the birthday craziness will be over for a bit AND I finished both of the kids' Halloween costumes!  I can't wait to sew up the piles and piles of leather that have overtaken my art table.  I miss it so:)

What's New

Edolie's drawings are starting to show figures, this one is of her, Ciaran, and Me as princesses.  I made the dresses:)

My ever growing air plant collection.  I started with one and now have a whole window full!

So, school has started, Ciaran is pretty happy in first grade.  He loves to read, he loves his teacher, and his two new buddies.  He even loves the class pet, a tarantula named Nell.  That makes my heart happy.  Ed and I are enjoying our time at home in the mornings and out and about.  She is now my super fun shopping, errand running companion.  When we are at home she is pretty content just drawing, painting, or playing with play dough.  We do take breaks for tea parties and fashion shows though, and occasionally a walk out to visit her scarecrow friend on the bottoms.  Other than family life, I am working my butt off to get some leathery stuff made for my shop and hopefully a couple of shows for the holidays.  I am also trying my hand at needle felting, and sewing some new clothes for myself.  I found a stash of fabric I've had for years and I am intent on using it up!  Also,  I need new clothes since it seems that one crazy effect of a bad gallbladder is some weight loss!  Not sure about the health of having a super restricted diet, but it feels good to be a couple of pounds lighter.  I don't really have my nice glass of beer or cider in the evening anymore so I've kind of gone haywire with my projects.  I can't say I'm at all unhappy about it though.  Feels nice to be creative, it really helps in every aspect of my life and I can't complain at all.  The only thing that's hard is that I just plain don't have enough room to work and keep this place tidy, I'm just a messy square I guess:)  I am off to cut out the last few wallets before gluing, sewing, etc. commence!  Wish me luck!