Handcarders

Here's some new yarn I spun recently on my drop spindle. This is one I truly love and don't want to part with. the pale green along with the purple, pink, and red just stir something in me.

OK, I finally got my first set of Handcarders! I had not bought any til now because I couldn't justify the cost. They sell for around 55-60.00. I know that doesn't sound like a lot compared to a drumcarder. So, since my husband didn't get me not one single thing for Christmas, I bought them for myself. I have ordered some fiber from etsyans and am eagerly awaiting their arrival. I figure since sales have improved for me that I can justify the cost! I have been trying my hand at carding with some dog slickers I bought a few months ago and used up all of the fiber I had gotten for it a while back. the dog slickers are like very small handcarders. they have very short, fine teeth and work okay with small amounts of fiber.

I already have some recycled sari silk and some denim mill ends (looks kind of like dryer lint, but is from making blue jeans) to mix in with the fiber.

Etsy sales

Finally having some success on Etsy! 4 polymer clay pendants plus a scarf I made with all handspun yarn sold to one buyer!! It's not hard to get a little down when you go for weeks without sales, but it has really picked up for me here recently. I really like making the beads and the yarn as well, but I had been wondering if I should stop making clay beads and pendants since they were not moving.
Maybe I'll start making some bracelets with my beads just for myself. (And a little free advertising as well :-). I get so busy with making things to sell I don't think about making any for myself.

Scarf and stuff

I just relisted this scarf on my etsy shop today. (http://www.wildblackberries.etsy.com/)

It has some of my favorite yarns in it. I love how it turned out and the color combination is really pretty.

My 11 year old daughter gave out some of my Etsy business cards at school yesterday! She wore a nice soft green color cuff I'd made some months ago but never listed to sell. It's a button up cuff and the buttons were made out of polymer clay by me. She planned her outfit around it! Then she asked me to whip up a blue and brown one last night to wear today. She picked out some matching beads to go on it. How could I say no, she is volunteering for free advertising. I hope there are enough eclectic dressers there to appreciate something like it. Many of the kids are in name brand high dollar mass produced clothes from the mall.

I am so thankful my daughter is not into that sort of thing. I told her made in china is made in china regardless of whether it comes from that mall store or the mart of wall box store. We talked about sweat shops and stuff like that. God, if only I had been so knowledgable at her age. Way back in the 80's, I saved up to buy myself an Izod shirt. And for what? To be like people I did not even like. Kids now seem so much more mature in some ways.

papercranes

If you've never heard this group, you must check them out. To quote Satellite mag's review, "Rain Phoenix's sweetly organic and ethereal voice guides Gainesville's indigenous papercranes' album, Vidalia, over beautifully painted landscapes and out into the spaciest corners of the music's final frontier." "a modern sonic Monet".

I just love them.

http://www.papercranesmusic.com/

I lived in Gainesville for a time when my ex was going to UF. It seemed an average college town surrounded by little redneck hamlets. I went to nursing school just south of there in Ocala. I totally loved living there and miss it a lot. People were a lot more laid back in FL than here in NC. and generally a lot more open minded. dont get me wrong, I'm appreciative to be able to provide a low crime area with good values for my kids to grow up in, but one of the 2 seem to be gravitating towards the right and buying into what he hears around him. I grew up under similar circumstances and know the perils of that. It took me nearly 40 years to get my head right from growing up in a part of the country overrun with judgemental evangelical fanatics. And here I am raising my kids close to home. Not a well thought out plan, eh?

Sometimes it's hard to know just how narrowminded people are til you spend a little time with them and they start to say things. Although some hide it down much deeper or they don't even realize that there is another way of thinking ....

Well, off that tangent now....I've returned to crocheting and am currently working on yet another scarf, with some yarn I bought just because I like it, with no real project in mind for it. It's a soft novelty yarn in green with little bits of other bright colors. I actually used it recently to ply some handspun yarn that I'll be listing on www.wildblackberries.etsy.com soon.

I thought it'd be great for some mittens and it was not til after starting that project that I discovered that in order to be able to see past the poofiness to see the stitches, it has to be too loose a stitch to work for mittens. I needed to crochet last night at my girl's practice, so I started a scarf. It would be really helpful if I would take note of the gauge and hook size on projects, but I don't. I am so instruction reading impaired that I just usually wing it anyhow. sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.

These are some of my favorite beads I have listed on Etsy right now. I made my first sale of a set of purple polymer clay beads on Friday. So exciting for me! The buyer asked if I ever sell "orphan" beads. So, I'm in the process of putting together some of these for photos.

It's getting dark about the time I get off work now, and the kids have afterschool and evening activities 5 days a week, and 2 Saturday games, so I must wait til Sunday to do photos. My indoor photos are never good enough, so I have to take them outdoors.

How about this weather? It just doesnt seem like December does it? But I'm not complaining. I don't want any cold weather unless snow is included.

My god, there is a muppets rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas on the radio right now. Unbelievable. I still love the Charlie Brown christmas song and The Grinch.

Shop on Etsy!

If you love natural stones made into jewelry, you must check out this great etsy store. http://www.buyhappiness.etsy.com/ .

I've bought 2 rings from Lisa and I love them! She does 'Pick your stone" rings with pics of bunches of stones to choose from. One of mine is the crazy lace agate and the other is rhyolite. She makes your ring to order and ships it quickly.

How to wash hands..or Why in the heck don't you wash your hands?!

OK. This may be a little preachy, but it's a message that must be spoken.
Handwashing, being the primary way of spreading germs, is more than a quick rinse.
lather up and scrub vigorously for at least 20 seconds, which is longer than you think. Sing the ABC's a couple of times while you do it. Or the old standy by, "one mississippi, two mississippi..."

Research has shown (ok, just my own observations, not real research) that the people who do what I call the "fingertip rinse" actually use more paper towels than people who actually wash! What that has to do with my original message, I don't know.

Love and Peace.

screeching. russian tea.

There is some horrible screeching noise outside my window. bird or squirrel or something. there are a lot of squirrels here. sometimes they scare the crap outta me jumping on the window. are they cute or just rats with fashion tails?

I'm not going to go with the 'this is my first time blogging' entry even though it's the first one. just jump in with some random thoughts. my life is too boring to talk about, so just some random stuff.

russian tea. that's what they call it. maybe it should be called Tang tea. it's made with tang, instant tea if you have it, cinnamon, an ungodly amount of sugar, and my favorite part, cloves. I could drink it all the time, but only this time of year. we can call mine de-caf since i didnt have any tea to put in it. and i used artificial sweetner which will kill me.

i have new artsy yarn on etsy at www.wildblackberries.etsy.com