Panic Time!

I just realized that the holiday season is upon us.  Time to PANIC!  I guess that will happen when crazy stuff comes up within your family, and that is all you get to concentrate on for a few days.  Now that it is all past, I get to concentrate on making some stuff!.............in a hurry!   I got three wallets done and listed in my Etsy shop yesterday, and today is all about a HUGE stack of billfolds that will be going to Funk Shui in Eureka.  I decided to not do any craft fairs this year just so I could concentrate on filling up my Etsy shop and keeping it that way.  I'm crossing my fingers that I can keep this energy going!  It feels good to be productive!  I wish my poor sewing machine agreed:)

Along with sewing, the kids and I have been making things for the holidays, mostly from what we collect outside.  Lots of leaf collages, stars out of sticks and twigs, etc.  It has been so nice to deliberately go out for walks in hopes of finding treasures to work with.  I hope to have some pics of our creations soon, I just realized how badly I have neglected putting up photos from the last few months.  We have been busy little happy bees and plan to stay that way. 

It's Riveting.............

Playing with rivets is fun!  I'm still getting the hang of making them super neat and pretty, but they work!  So this is my newest piece all ready to go in my Etsy shop, all made by hand by me!  Metal and rivets are fun and make me feel all happy and bubbly on the inside:)

I am off to help Grampy move out of his house and hopefully back to the lab this evening for a little more creative escape.  Happy Sunday Everyone!

Friday!

My week has been super long with a side of tired.  I have not kept up with much of anything this week, especially sleep!  So I send along a lizard smile from Baby Tig, and wishes for an awesome weekend.  I will hopefully feel a little less draggy and a little more perky over the next meanwhile, and get some stuff done!  I hear that lizard smiles are a good cure for all those stumbles:)  Happy Weekend all!

50 Items in my Etsy Shop!

I feel pretty awesome right now!  I finished up another snap up billfold and it turned out AWESOME!  I think I'll keep the design as is for now unless I figure out a way to make it easier to use.  I modified the ID pocket and the over all length and it seems to work just fine for now.  I'll have to see how it goes over before I make a ton.  Maybe I should do a give-away for a critique kind of thing, so I can get some constructive feedback on it. 

My other awesomeness is that I have finally reached my goal of having 50 items in my little Etsy shop!  I get to celebrate by working on some of my new ideas for metal/leather cuffs and such:)  I am also working on a stack of large pouches to add too.  It feels good to not be stressed out about making things to fill up the shop.  I hope I can keep it up.   I am crossing my fingers!

That's it for now, back to work and all that:)

Sometimes You Just Need to Get Out of The House

.........and get some fresh air. We have had a stormy few days here in Northern California and my young friend Ciaran and I are pretty darn bored and wiggly. So today is an outside kind of day. Hopefully a little running around will put things back where they go in my head, so I can come home and get some stuff done. Ciaran just really needs to get out and run somewhere. Poor little guy has spent the last few days doing laps around the couch and down the hallway to get rid of his excess energy. So we take the young man to Target to spend some of his birthday money on something grand! Mom just gets to browse for now,(except for a small purchase of a so smooth and chocolate-y ritter sport with cornflakes, if they have them!) I LOVE YOU CHOCOLATE!!!!!!! Then it is off to find some wonderful area to set Mr. Ciaran loose, so he can get all that energy out. Have a great day all!

I've Done It!

I have finally made it throught my to-do list that was due at the early part of January! I am sooooo darned happy! Now I can concentrate on other things. It feels good to finally be done. I was feeling quite slackerish and wrong, then BAM! it all got done! Now if I could just shut off the t.v. and get my butt out of this chair so I could play around with some new ideas, life would be just dandy!

I did manage to get a new billfold done amongst all of my other projects. I love the colors, not sure if they will go over well, but hey, it's worth trying right.

I would celebrate with a nice long walk but today, I am not into walking in the rain, I usually don't mind, but after being sick and stuck inside for so long, I'm a little sensitive. I hate feeling like this though, all super sensitive and unwilling just to step out and deal with whatever is out there. I really believe that I get set straight with every outside adventure I take. I learn so much from everything around me. Not to mention, fresh air and exercise are great for depression and motivation. Even rainy day walks, they can sometimes be the best thing for you when you need a little mind clearing. Everyone needs to get rained on once in awhile, it is good for the soul.

So Far, So Good

I am taking my new plan for work seriously and trying to stick to it as much as possible. I feel so much better today! I am so happy! I decided to take it easy anyways and hang around the house to work on a few things and just take a breather. Meanwhile, Mark is taking Ciaran out for a breather of his own, away from sick, grouchy mama and to get some much needed fresh air and sunshine. Although I didn't do much except for make pudding and do some gluing, I feel like a whole new person. I would dance, but apparently, that can set off the whole dizzy thing all over again. So on to my quiet Saturday night, celebrated by little increments of work and rest...........and food!

I Was Featured!

I forgot all about an interview I did with Copper in the Arts online magazine this last November. I got to share my story about making my copper suncatcher/ornaments and what I am working on now. Yay! It is really nice to be surprised like that:) Now all I want to do is get busy on some new ornaments and masks, but, no can do, at least until my wrist heals. I can't even pick up a knife or fork with my left hand right now, so I think pliers would probably be overdoing it a bit. I will just have to miss my metalsmithing skills for now. Hopefully, all the wonderful ideas that have been floating around my head for the last few months will stay put until I can put them to use.

How to Cheer-up Those That Are Un-Cheerable

How do you cheer-up those that are un-cheerable? I really want to know because I feel that if I continue to try my soul will be sucked right out of my big toe never to be seen again! I can't always surround myself with happiness and cheer, but I refuse to drown in someone else's sorrows either. I guess I just need to keep plugging along and try to be an ear and a shoulder, but my ear hurts now and my shoulder is soggy and nothing ever seems to get resolved. I know everyone has to dig through their own piles to find their own little pot of shiny happiness but sometimes I wanna shake all the darkness and cobwebs out of them and say "snap out of it! PLEASE!" That is my rant for today. I am off to sew and drink more coffee!

Nothing New

Humbug Beazus is fighting the computer for a spot on my lap, Ciaran is playing with his piano, two baby wipes containers, Elmo, and a cardboard tube on the couch, Mac is having an argument with a large tabby through the deck window, and Yui is just hanging out watching the birds fly by. A lovely mellow day. Still smokey and orange out there but it is a little more tolerable than the past few weeks have been.

Later we head downtown to get Mark more supplies for his second brewing attempt. I love trips downtown, I get fancy coffee drinks, and Ciaran gets a cookie! I need to get a few things too. I have been looking for nice sized/weight snap clips for my bags and wallets for a while now. So I am heading to our local hardware store to get a couple from there. Then tonight, Ciaran and I head over to my parents' house to meet the new puppy and have pizza. My parents sound like they are already in love. I think it is great, exactly what they need right now. It is amazing how just a little being like that can bring all the happy back in an instant. It is great to hear them sound so positive.

I am so excited, I sold my first travel wallet! I sure hope it's new owner gets great use out of it. It definitely makes me excited about working. I just keep sewing and a sewing and a sewing, and I like it like that. I think I will celebrate by getting some new paint! I have my eye on some metallic lavender at the art store downtown, and it's on sale, Yipee!