Breathing through my nose.......

Would be nice if I could, just kind of walking around with my mouth open all the time doesn't really look that attractive. At least I feel up to getting some work done. I almost reached my goal of my last post, but I cheated by taking a nap and therefore, my five billfolds have not been cut out yet. I did get this little wallet done, new and improved with more card pockets inside!

In other news, our maintenance guy is re-landscaping our front garden so no more chopping things down, or better yet, getting yelled at for not chopping things down in a time manner for me! I was pleased to finally be able to explain myself to someone who would understand. My explanation as follows: Too many fast growing herbs planted too close together+ living at the home where the only person that can actually keep things in check has terrifying allergy attacks which last for days each time she goes out to prune and plunk= FAILURE! (and lots of overgrowth) It was so nice to be understood. Thank you maintenance person, you are awesome for helping us out! I will miss my wild herb garden but I think it's the best solution at this time.

I am Allergic to My Christmas Tree!

My newest little wristlet. I am so surprised this one didn't sell this weekend. Almost everyone that came by our table picked it up and commented on it. Oh well, I thought I would show it off here so you all could see some of the newer things I have been working on.


So, I decided to use a few dollars of my craft show makings to buy my family a live Christmas tree this year. I ended up with the perfectly fat little spruce that smells wonderful and just livens up our little apartment. The only trouble is that I can't touch it! I put a small strand of lights on it yesterday and my hands broke out in hives. It didn't last long but long enough to make me miserable for the morning. I still love our little tree. Next time I have to touch it I will make sure to wear some gloves.

Other than Christmas tree allergies, Ciaran and I are lounging about. I am making up a couple of patterns for some new items I will be featuring in my shop soon. That is about it. Finishing up a couple of wallets, cleaning and organizing, and making a few little gifts for the family. I like the quiet and calm, it is much appreciated after a few weeks of craziness. I also get to get a new haircut today! I love getting my hair cut. Maybe with all this slowness, I will be able to take better care of my hair and everything else:) Here's to hoping!

I Have Rearranged a Bit

The darn black background was killing my eyes! I really like the black background but my eyes did not. I needed something that still made me think about gurgly things so it had to be something that I thought would nicely go with green. When I think of green, I think of gurgly. I love purple and green together. Purple is kind of gurgly too. So I chose purple! So far, so good. I think it's purty!

I am so excited! I finally came up with a new idea for a mask that will incorporate my metal and leather work. It will be similar to the one you see here in structure but instead of the ribbons there will be some wild leather work! Yay! I hope I have time to get it done before the annual maskibition at the Ink People(one of our local arts organizations) before the deadline. I have a few things to get finished this week before I can start on my mask.
Tripetta will have a sister! I can't wait!

So the plans for the day are to sew up another couple of little snap wallets, finish a little custom order, cut out a pattern for a larger wallet, and play around with another idea for a sterling silver, and copper ring with a freeform cut opal set into it. Should be a good day. I have a great idea for another pendant to. I just have to find the piece of silver I planned on using for it. I have to catch up from a weekend with very little working. I had planned a couple of hours of working but ended up gardening on Sunday, which set off a terrible allergic reaction complete with sneezing, dripping, itching, hives, and wheezing. I managed to get all the weeds pulled along the back of the yard but paid for it for the rest of the day. I am still super stuffy and drippy today but I need to get back to work. Snotty or not. I should be fine as long as there is enough caffeine in my system to counteract the zombifying anti-snozzle meds I have to take. At least I don't have to go back out and weed today. That would be it for me. I wish I knew what was causing me all this trouble. There is just so much stuff growing out there, it could be anything. Oh well, as long as I can still work on all my various projects without too much trouble, I can't really complain.

What the Heck Man!

The title of my post is definitely more exciting than my actual post today. That is my disclaimer.

So if I haven't complained enough, my allergies are driving me crazy these days. I thought I beat them years ago. Now they are back and worse than ever. I was working last night and my face started to burn and itch, when I went to check it out in the mirror, My face was covered in hives. Crazy! I don't really mind the allergies so much as the way they interrupt my work. I was so excited to get a few things done last night, including a custom order and I ended up too drippy and itchy to work. Part of the problem seems to be that Northern California is on fire, and the air is full of smoke. That is a bummer all in itself, I feel really awful for anyone in the immediate area of those fires. I can't imagine how scary that must be for them. Yucky stuff all around. Around here, we get the smoke and ash from the fires. The light has this orange tint to it and the air feels really heavy. It makes it hard to breath. Smokey and yucky, blahhhh!!!!

In other news, my new wallets are turning out lovely. I finished three and sold one yesterday. I have three more cut out and ready to put together. I was in a panic yesterday because my machine seemed to be skipping stitches with the last one I put together so I did all sorts of little tests to see what was going on. It turns out that the way the wallet is put together makes it hard for the machine to sew the last hem around the outside of the wallet. So I messed around with a few ideas and decided to try using the zipper foot to sew the outside seam, and it worked!!! Yay! I love my machine. What a trooper! I tell it thank you and give it a hug and a kiss each time I use it.

My Snappy Project and Other Things

It's all done! My first item for sale with a snap. I sat down yesterday with a brutal headache and decided to design a new wallet one that would specifically use a snap and there it is. I really like how it turned out. I am getting ready to put a couple more together. I am thinking a purple one, a green one, and an orange one. It should be a colorful week.

I have been having lots of problems with my allergies this last couple of weeks and I think they have finally zapped my sinus cavities pretty well. I have had a constant headache for the last few days and my sense of smell and taste is pretty much gone. I hate when that happens. I guess it is good in a way when you can't smell awful smells, and can't taste terrible things. It always came in handy when I was working with children because when I was like this, I never smelled all the weird kid smells.....and there is always a weird kid smell somewhere! I am trying all sorts of things to clear out my head but so far all that works well is the zombifying anti-snozzle medication. I hate it. Poor Ciaran who is having some intestinal issues this morning is reaping the benefits of having a zombie for a mom. He is fussy every two seconds but I am on a fifteen to twenty second delay. So now he is extra frustrated. I feel bad but since I am a zombie all I can do is point and groan. We are both pretty tired from being up all night so we may just stay in and relax today. Maybe I will bake something yummy for Mark and Ciaran. Oh wait, if it burns I won't be able to smell it....bummmer!

A Little Bit of Down Time

So my goal yesterday was to finish my darn messenger bag to list on icraft yesterday. I tried with the best of intentions to do this but ended up in a zombie-like state half way through the day. I was already pretty tired from being up with Ciaran two nights in a row and then I remembered that I needed to go out and weed our back garden. My goal with the garden is to get out to weed and prune a couple days a week. So I went out to weed and ended up having a huge allergy attack. I could'nt stop sneezing, my whole face was dripping, my ears itched, my tongue and throat itched, I got hives all over my legs, and I was miserable! I ended up taking my crazy allergy medication that not just stops the reaction but also makes me a super, unsneezy zombie. So there went my plans for the day. I spent it on the couch trying to keep one eye on Ciaran while he played with a cardboard tube, a book, and his stuffed puppy. I was sooooo bummed out. I hate when I don't meet my goals. So today it is! This bag gets made and listed or else!!!!