Kind friends and companions come join me in rhyme
Come lift up your voices in chorus with mine
Come lift up your voices all grief to refrain
For we may or might never all meet here again
So here's a health to the company and one to my lass
Let's drink and be merry all out of one glass
Let's drink and be merry, all grief to refrain
For we may or might never all meet here again
Happy New Year to you and yours. There is no time like the present.
For Christmas we got rain, lots of windswept, sideways rain. In many ways it reminded me of our honeymoon :lol: Seems like this year is just a wash, literally. Unfortunately between all the running around we did over the last 4 days I did not bother to take my camera because honestly it's one more thing to cart around. I can not wait till I can convince Chris that we only need to go to 2 family events for the Holidays, not 8.
In any case here's something to cheer you up if where you're at happens to be a bit dull and grey right now :) This was snapped at the Boone Hall Plantation. It was a very wet and chilly day, but it made for a vibrant picture.
I hope to have some more crafty pictures up in the coming week :) It's going to be very busy for me since I have some rare down time from the 9-5.
Charleston, with it's temperate climate is different. It's wetter, milder and downright odd. I found more fungi in Charleston than I ever did in any mid-Ohio backwood.
And there are ferns everywhere. It felt primeval. Marshy, bog-like, moist....well moist because it also rained alot on all of our outdoor treks. (I secretly hate the word 'moist').
But this was my favorite fungus. I have no idea what kind it is, but it's cool.
My "9-5" is unbelievably stressful at the moment. I've been buried under heaps of work that no one else can do. This is very unfortunate for me as I'd much rather be crafting and attending to business as it were. Adding to the "overwhelmed" feeling was the fact I forgot my house keys in the hubby's car (thank God for a spare set), the first dusting of snow that caused me to get stuck on the highway for 50 min. and driving another 20 min to work to be late a total of 2 hours, and then getting even MORE non-prioritized work that seems to be "very pressing" to upper management. But enough moping. I have to earn my keep for now :lol:
I didn't really talk a whole lot about our Honeymoon to Charleston, SC, so I'd thought instead I'd share some of the best pictures (that I have) of our trip to the south.
Charleston has a real obsession with iron. Very ornamental iron. It's on every single house that lines the inner city. I think what amazed me the most was the symmetry of each piece. Perfect symmetry is one of the most catching things to anyone's eye.
But the most interesting find was this gothic goat head door knocker. I love it. Maybe because it seems devilish. Charleston has over 100 active congregations in the "Holy City" so finding this piece of work makes me curious about the darker side of Charleston.
In the beginning. There were dogs. And dogs were good and loyal and it was good.
Then came the ornaments and alot of people thought that was REALLY
REALLY
REALLY good - wait that's a cat....cats aren't "good" are they?
In any case, this is what I've been up to. And really this herd of ornaments shipped out earlier this week and there's STILL more to be made. I can't help but feel a bit sad that this year I may not be able to join in the Christmas madness "retail-wise" simply because Christmas came undoubtedly early on Tumus. Trust me there's many other things I want to be making for this shop, but the sheer volume is quite staggering at the moment. Even over my Thanksgiving break I've been working nearly all day to complete orders early!
Do I dare list a few dog ornaments again? Do I dare swamp myself with more orders? For once I find myself damning my "9-5" job and it's 8 hour shifts. It takes away valuable time I need to help people. That makes me very sad too. Can I stand on my own? Is this just the pre-Christmas rush at it's finest?
*pout* I need to figure it out.
I have a small and modest waiting list of customers who still very much want their own pup ornament so they come first when I finish the last ornament from this rush. They have been loyal enough to stick it out with me so far and that deserves something really, really, really good.
Remember these? The Great Mouse Rolls of Thanksgiving 2008?
Well they didn't make it into the batch this year, but I did get to break in my lovely new mixer. If ever there were a time to initiate an appliance, Thanksgiving would be the pinnacle of hazing for all new mixers.
Making overnight rolls requires that copious amount of flour be dusted on all manner of objects, including me. But Kitchen Aid thankfully foresaw this "doom" and provided me with a flour shield. Thus my kitchen was spared, er, mostly.
This mixer is seriously the love of my life right now.....but don't tell Chris that. I also love King Arthur Flour. I'm ashamed to admit that I originally fell in love with this flour because of the name :lol: I mean come on, KING ARTHUR FLOUR!? How epic.
But then I reasoned with myself. A girl can not love a flour for it's name alone, nay, I also love it for the quality and care with which this mill produces all it's varieties of flour from. It's high quality and makes for such awesome baked goods.
In any case, happy Nom Nom Day/Turkey Day/Stuff Yourself Full Day if you reside here in the States :)
I finally bought this little print I'd been eyeballing for a while. It's kind of my reward for working my fingers raw (i have blisters to prove it!). I'm going to hang it on my craft wall where I can see it right in front of me. There's one more of her's I'd like to have as well, but this is just perfect.
I love this dog. He looks a bit like a Luchador lol. And I just got another batch of orders in thanks to a Storque article that ran today. I giggled at the madness of it because I just didn't know what to think!
I may have to start turning away the Dog ornament orders here by the first weekend of December simply due to volume. It's a challenge. I can only hope that the "9-5" does not make us work any more OT between now and the first of the year. While I want to accept the orders, I can't do so knowing that the quality of my work may suffer or my customer service not stay up to par. People expect great things and I have know when to say when to balance it out.
I've been doing alot of reading. I realized earlier this week that I've fallen off my own Wagon o' Goals that I'd set out to accomplish late in the summer. I have the excuses of being overwhelmed with wedding details, exhausted, and generally in a doldrum of sorts.
But now I'm out of those excuses and frankly I need to kick my own butt for not pulling out my goals sooner. As the Holiday season is practically here for us crafters and biz owners alike, I think my goals should be more or less broken down into smaller chunks and maybe one or two BIG goals to aim for at the end of the "season".
Things I can check off: Pinpinn [x] Seek out seasonal advertising with Lu.
Tumus [x] call the Vet office to ask about advertising the ornaments. I actually ended up buying advertising on another venue and getting free advertising at my sister's vet office.
Things that are staying on the list and new goals:
Pinpinn - Get 25 items consistently listed in shop by end of November. I got really close with this one, honest, but funny enough I sold so consistently that when I needed to focus entirely on the wedding I couldn't find the time to restock. So it's back on the list, even in the middle of the Holiday rush.
- create.photograph.list 5 new shaped pincushions by end of November
BIG GOAL: - New Fruit pincushions and New Emery line by the New Year
Tumus - Get 25 items listed in the shop by the beginning of December. I got to 21-23 item amount range. So back on the list it goes.
- create.photograph.list 6 new birdies by beginning of December
BIG GOAL: - sketch out and attempt the proto-type for the new standing cat by the New Year
I might also add the overall goal of balancing the books during the end of December as that's as good of time as any to sort out the stuff while I'm off work.
In other news I've rediscovered my love of SpongeBob. It's odd I know, but something about that yellow sponge makes me laugh WAY too much.
These have been lurking in a pile of "to-sew". I've got a few of them cut out and laying in a neat colorful pile just waiting.
But now I have motivation to get them re-listed on Pinpinn because there have been inquires as to where they've gone and if they will come back.
So Yes, Virginia there will be pears...and oranges.....and lemons.......and apples......
and if time permits maybe some tea, cookies and a few new pincushions that are just as fun and colorful.
Birdie in Squash Yellow sold of the front page today. (Thank you Lisa from Lilfish for making sure I saw it.
You know how people always talk about being "ready" for the Holidays and all? Well this panda is already wondering how she's going to work this out for the next two months. I already feel THAT busy.
Pinpinn has been featured all over the place it seems and while I've got plenty of things cut out especially for the Orange and Lemon pincushions I still don't feel like it's enough! Eep!
Tumus has had lots of new dogs stop by and I've been sketching up more breeds to get out the door and shipped out. It seems busier here than Pinpinn mostly because the custom doggies do take a bit more time to sew up. Which leads me to another important thought, I must make sure I value my work in proportion to the time it takes me to create it.
This is very important to me (in the dark recesses of my mind) because I eventually want to find a part-time job and work on Etsy more.
My dream is definitely getting there. Not as fast as I was thinking it would but I've come a very long way from that first sale to now.
I've been busy, but unfortunately it hasn't been with my Etsy shops Tumus and Pinpinn. It's been with my "9-5". I've been moved to another position within my company that involves converting and testing copious amounts of data. I haven't decided if I really like it or not. It's a bigger workload, more stress and with the same pay. It's not a good trade off but if I want a job then I have to take where they move me with as much gratitude as I can muster.
Despite this I am plowing away at making sure my personalized ornaments are up and listed and that I have some new breeds up. Can you believe I've made a Boxer and Coon Hound too but didn't have time to take pictures of them before I mailed them out LOL! Here's the jack russell.
I've been wrestling with that and making sure Pinpinn is getting restocked with it's best sellers.
It's incredibly hard right now. I don't mean to whine, but I am forcing myself to work harder at Etsy NOW than I was before even at the expensive of sleep. I can't help it. I might break down at some point and have to stop with shop updates or new items just to move thru the Holidays with my fingers in tact, but I plan to make it work.
Our company has forced us to take 2 mandatory furloughs, one the week of Thanksgiving and one the week after Christmas. You can guess what I'll be doing :lol:(well aside from baking 8 doz dinner rolls). It's remarkable any of us who have outside jobs from our crafting businesses have any time at all to eat and breathe.
It rained. Then it rained some more on the honeymoon. It wasn't perfect in fact there was an incident prior to the ceremony that I didn't find out about till this past Sunday. It involved one of the servers spilling a pan of chicken an hour before the reception and getting Sterno all over his pants thus igniting them (funny but not). So our lovely caterer Renee had to make a mad dash to the ER, swing back by her restaurant to get more chicken to prepare and cook, and sprint back to the reception.
And you know what. I totally didn't know anything was going on. Why? Because my mom is awesome and got the Barn decorated and laid out and somehow still had time to get ready.
It was a fun day, it went by way to fast and good ol' Aunt Flo had to stop by in the middle of the reception which caused me to be absent from it for like 30 min :( I was really bummed about that. I also almost threw up when Chris fed me the cake because I was feeling so ill. I can look back on it and laugh because it's fun memories now, but at that time all I was thinking was, Oh God please don't let me barf. I cried for an hour the following day mostly from relief and from feeling like I totally missed my own wedding. Ah guilt.
But I don't look too sick here ^_^
I can put on a brave face when I have to.....or a nonchalant, careless pose in a doorway lol.
I'm glad it's over and everyone had a blast even if it rained. Now I have the joy of nesting in my own home with new flatware and a boatload of thankyou cards to write. My hand will never recoup at this point.
I'm literally days away from the Wedding now (10.09.09 eep!), so this is more than likely the last post prior to the wedding craze that's about to commence. I find it hilarious that the forecast has changed about 6 different times in the past 2 days. But as of today it's forecasted to rain, like 70%.......and if you haven't guessed, yes the ceremony is to be held outdoors. THANKFULLY we do have a backup plan because I like to to be prepared.
I'll use the word "prepared" loosely because this is not always the case :lol: but I've been really good at it when it comes to the wedding. Maybe it's because there's a good chunk of change involved in pulling this day off.
I'm going to Target today to nab some ultra colorful umbrellas for me and my sisters aka my bridesmaids because I'll be damned if I'm going to let a little downpour ruin some spectacular photo opportunities. And I want to have FUN! I demand fun. Everyone should.
My AWESOME favors arrived yesterday right on time from my friends over at Whimsy & Spice. They are mini bundles of the Brown Sugar Gingerspice Shortbread cookies, seen here. I'm immensely thrilled and proud they helped me out with all 120 favors :lol: including tying lots of ribbon onto the boxes. It was a long time in the making and I can't believe I managed to get them to do them for me. To me they are like the Elvis of Cookies.
Got lots more to do including finishing sewing my centerpiece squares, putting together the programs, finding the rest of the reception music and generally keeping all manner of cat-kind away from anything tempting.
So keep me in your prayers and I'll see you around the week of October 19th!
Although the shops will be on a hiatus while the wedding madness finishes up I think I can manage to blog a bit here and there in the final 2 weeks I have left before the honeymoon.
Can you believe it? Only 2 weeks left?! Oddly enough I don't feel like panicking.
I'm glad it's officially Fall now though. And I'm really partial to gray, rainy days when the trees are vibrant with color, but I also like the cool crisp air that sweeps in behind the Canadian lows.
I like it because of the ridiculous costumes that come with Halloween, the candy, the cool air, the leaves, the pumpkins, the pie, the sweaters....there's nothing I don't like about it except when it has to leave and the dull boring colors of winter creep in.
Strangely enough I don't feel nearly as stressed about the wedding as I did nearly a month ago. Maybe it's the feeling of victory nearly here? Meh. All I know is that I'm trying to mend my broken brain and that part is becoming harder than I care to admit. Curse my worrying mind. I'm almost waiting for some strange package to arrive on my doorstep with claws to mangle my carefully arranged order.
So I made chili. Because it's delicious and it's nearly Fall...kind of...well mostly because it's delicious. But I was evidently out of chili powder (OMG) when I called Chris to start the pot up. I called him because I had to work OT at the "9-5" and he was already home, safe, comfy and I was stuck in diabolical, hellish traffic. After stopping at the doctor's office and getting some new "fun" things for my broken brain I set off back down the hellish Highway of Doom to the grocery. Bought chili powder, came home and dang it if we weren't short a can of kidney beans.
*apply cold compress or heat pack and relax*
But I made the chili anyways because I'm stubborn and I was stressed and nothing was going to screw with my already wasted evening! Not even kidney beans.
At least I had chili and it was well with the world once more.
I've always liked Celestial Seasonings tea. The story is pretty "hippie" like but still good.
It began when founder Mo Siegel and his crazy friends began picking wild herbs in the Rocky Mountains. By 1969 they had packed 10,000 muslin bags with Mo's "36 Herb Tea" and sold them to a health food store in Boulder, CO.
If you're curious Celestial Seasonings offers tours at their factory and I have it on good authority that the tea doesn't get any better than right off the line ^_^ My grandma and one of my sister's went back in February this year.
Just to give you a heads up, the blog will be going on a long 4 week vacation along with my shops, Tumus & Pinpinn Sept. 25 - Oct. 23 for my wedding. For my own sanity's sake and those around me I think this is a pretty wise step :lol: Of course Chris thinks I should close this week instead because things are starting to get down to the wire with last minute appointments and meetings with the caterer and cake peoples.
And to top it off Pinpinn keeps selling pincushions entirely too fast. I'd really like to get the shop to 2 pages of inventory, but at this point that's not going to happen. A funny problem to have I suppose. I listed these two last week and the Blue Bells sold the same night. The Pink and Rose cushion is still up for grabs though!
Tumus also got another front page with the lastest edition of Robins. Someone must really love these guys ^_^
Orange Pekoe, what on earth is this stuff and why is it called ORANGE Pekoe?
Well way back in olden times the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange no doubt, received a fine China tea from early Dutch traders to the region. The name has nothing to do with the flavor of the actual tea, instead the word "orange" simply refers to the royal house giving the tea it's seal of approval by blessing it with their name. How kind. A royal tea. Remember to sip delicately and with your pinky up! No gulping lest you smear the royal tea's name for good.
In case you were also wondering Pekoe tea is one of the more popular teas exported from China and includes the tea leaf and buds. It should be readily available in shops who specialize in tea and maybe even your local grocer.
I probably shouldn't be THIS irked over it, but for the past 2 weeks I've been diligently filling up an old cardboard box at work with items to recycle. Applesauce cups, glass bottles, pop bottles, plastic wrappers, the occasional sandwhich baggie, plastic forks, napkins, potato chip bags, candy wrappers......all manner of recyclable things.
And the cleaning crew took it last night to throw out.
WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE?! It had been sitting behind my chair for 2 weeks solid, slowly filling with things. It must've really looked like trash for them to have taken it, but why would they finally have taken it last night? One of my co-workers next to me, who I've kindly "harassed & teased" into recycling her copious amounts of plastic bottles, has two boxes full of recycling and they leave that alone.
It doesn't make any sense. So I wrote a passive aggressive note:
"Please DO NOT TAKE BOXES THAT ARE NOT MARKED TRASH. You just took two weeks worth of recycling materials out of my cube. Unlike half of America I actually recycle my trash. Thanks for hindering the process."
It's probably a bit too forward and mean and I'm sure they meant well and we're just doing their job, but that box was ready to be taken home tonight for the recycle pick up tomorrow morning. It's like I can not win here at my "9-5" no matter WHAT I'm trying to do. Whether it's my actual job or just doing something purely good for the environment I can't find that middle ground.
I’ve decided that when we have a second house we will have a big yard with lots of trees, but a sunny spot for garden, and a basement area for canning stuffs. And I’m going to have a garden and I’m going to can things. Delicious things. I will also have a sewing room that has lots of light and 3 kids....and maybe a hamster.
But 3 kids might be pushing it. I might be too old by then and my uterus might be tired and dusty or maybe both. You know because 30 something is "old" to be having kids and rough housing with them.
It's Saturday and I'm here at the "9-5" doing my part to keep my job and hold down the workload but it's hard. I've got alot on my heart right now, especially with Aaron being so far away in Iraq.
Lisa over at Lilfishstudios made me a very special and personal gift to send to him.
I do have another bird cut out I just need to sew it's little beaky-self together.
I've really been busy in crafty land despite the sad posts and the general angst that comes with wedding planning. Seriously, I'll take some photos tonight to prove it. Mostly just alot of template cutting and getting pieces cut out and ready for assembly. I need to go get alternate storage for my yarn collection too as it's just messy imo.
If I must have chaos I deem that it be organized chaos. But right now the sewing room is a mess and it's totally blocking my creativity which is weird because normally I'm fine.
I made some new "kick sticks" for the cats too which seem to amuse them. I don't have any catnip to add to them but they seem to like them well enough. I added fuzzy tails to them for more shredding fun.
I'm also thinking of adding a non-pet related personalization option to Tumus once the wedding is done and over with. I have a feeling that this Holiday season is going to put me to the test with two shops. I want to be ready, hence cutting the billion and one templates for pincushions and dogs alike. In fact I already have another order of 5 personalized dogs to make once I reopen in October after the wedding. How hilarious is that??
I plan to do the centerpieces for the reception this weekend too before August is officially done and over with. Can you believe it's practically Fall? Good grief.
Pu-erh tea, unlike any other tea, actually gets better with age. Made from either black or green tea leaves, pu-erh has an earthy, mellow flavor.
Honestly I've never even heard of this tea so I had to go look for more info about it. Most of the time a tea does not improve with age because teas rely on the remaining oil in the leaves (after the dehydration process) for flavor and strength. Tea doesn't always go "bad" but it will go stale as the oil will eventually completely dissipate leaving a rather bland taste if brewed.
I'm not sure HOW accurate the wiki article is but it's very interesting.
They say it's made in "bricks" which if you recall from earlier Tuesday Tea's, tea bricks were a common form of currency used in ancient Asia. These bricks haven't lost their value as some of the OLDEST of the Pu-erh teas have sold for thousands of dollars for just one!
There's a neighbor who has a dog. I love dogs. I love dogs who are fun and spunky and smart and TRAINED.
Our one neighbor's dog is not trained, in fact it's needy. Needy to the point that they let it out at 10:30pm and 5:30AM religiously so it can go about it's doggie dooties (yes DOOTIES) before coming back in. Apparently it takes the dog 1 minute to complete it's task and then it's to the back door and bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark, *PAUSE* bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark,bark, bark, bark....oh HEY! they let him in.
This typically goes on for about 10-20 minutes before they let it back in. Now granted all dogs bark but this one is SO incessent about it I want to throw my shoe at it. How can you ignore a barking dog for 10-20 minutes?! Obviously the pup is starved for attention. Poor guy. He seems like he needs some more training and more things to occupy his time.
So to set off all the barking I bring you more Simon's Cat.
Last night I was exhausted and mentally tired. I had so much to do and not enough time or endurance to get it all done. Work, OT, Wedding, House cleaning, laundry, dishes, supper, Etsy.....I really REALLY wanted to work on Etsy. There was no way I could feel like I could relax. I was overwhelmed in every sense. So I went out on the porch and cried for a bit. It was a slow kind of cry with giant crocodile tears. The kind that just fall right out of your eye without touching your cheeks. My knees were wet in no time. I guess it sounds pitiful and lonely, but sometimes Chris doesn’t want to bother me when I’m like that even though all I want is a hug.
It was about 9pm. The humidity was gone. I stared at a tree across the road. I remembered climbing a ton of trees when I was younger, but there was always one tree that was my favorite. It had three branches that formed a cradle of sorts. I can remember taking old ropes and blankets up there and making a nest. lol. Sounds funny I suppose but last night I really wanted nothing more than to be back in that tree and off the ground.
I really wanted to be back in that tree because it was where I could be alone and miserable if I wanted to be and no one could bother me.
Sometimes you just don’t want to be told it’ll be okay because right then, it’s the lamest line in the entire world even if it’s true.
Tumus scored for the team this week also. Not a bad week in my opinion.
The tummy turmoil has died down and I'm looking forward to productively SLOW weekend. And I'd like to emphasize the word S-L-O-W. I'm talking I want to lounge, not wash the dishes, and sleep in a nest of blankets till 9am tomorrow. Chris is going to go have a guys night out so it'll just be me and the cats and probably wedding madness at some point.
I really don't like sleeping by myself at night. My entire life has been spent in the constant company of people so naturally I'm used to the feeling of a human "presence" in the house at all times. When it vanishes I feel extremely wary and skittish. I sleep with a light on or the TV on and even take the cats to bed for company though my allergies say I definitely shouldn't. I'm a chicken.
Speaking of chicken, the chicken in the oven should be about done.......eggcellent.
Getting there.
Geez this wedding stuff is hard business....and I think I had some not so fresh salad over at my future mother-in-law's house tonight...*urp*....blech.
I wish I could catch a break, but it's not going to happen. The "9-5" just cracked down a horrific schedule for the next two weeks. They want us to work between 13-15 hours of OT each week for the next 2 weeks.
Nevermind the fact they could save loads by hiring new employees and training them, never mind they're busting the budget by willing paying 45 employees time and a half for a total of 30 hours of OT per person. Nevermind any of it. It makes so much sense they've chosen to ignore it and push head long into the abyss of zombie employees.
I've already decided in my head that I will only be doing 30 min. each day extra. My tiny body can not withstand any more stress at that place. That OT total includes two mandatory Saturdays at 8 hrs each which I can't evade no matter what. It makes my stomach gurgle just thinking about it.
Bad salad + stress + wedding overdosing = one very uncomfortable girl.
I think if I can weasel out of an hour each day to only doing 30 min. not many will notice.
It's for my own good and if they are too selfish to realize that, I fear I may have to seriously quit my job before the wedding which would not be a good at all. I'm sorry but my health and mental well-being are WAY more important.
This has prompted me to take down all custom work listings in both Pinpinn and Tumus till AFTER the wedding.
I need to start practicing meditation, if anything for the simple act of remembering to breathe.
Don't try to hide around the corner or sneak under my chair. I know you're there. Sneaky McFurbutts.
And while you've all been busy I've been sneaking in some sewing at work, shhhhh. I should have at least 5 completely done by this afternoon which will leave the 6th one just to be sewn together when I get home and then numbers 7 & 8 cut and embroidered. Actually I'm going to cut number 7 right now. Promise.
In all honestly I blame the wedding madness. Is it wrong to blame the madness? I wish today were still Sunday. Sunday didn't seem to slip thru my fingers like Saturday and Monday. Tuesday......well it was just Tuesday.
Pinpinn scored another FP last night, unbeknownst to me as I was busy working on my large dog ornament order for Tumus which, by the way, is definitely progressing and about 75% done.
It still gives me a feeling of absolute gratitude and joy at having both my shops picked and featured on the front page and in gift guides with good frequency. It's like my hard work is FINALLY paying off. All that gripping and struggling over pictures and practicing over and over, plus refining designs, stitching and new ideas. It's all right there. In one brief moment of unabashed, free promotion. Woot.
Now to celebrate I'll have a cup of tea:
Did you know that a cup of black tea contains more caffeine than any other types of teas, but still contains about half the caffeine of coffee?
I'd like to think of tea as a "gentle" wake up call....this morning, however, called for coffee.
I posted this up on another blog, but thought some people here might get a kick out of this.
Also I STILL have not ordered felt. HAHAHA! CRAZY! I did eat lasagna though lol and I did stay inside and work on orders, but the felt got pushed back. Even now it's like 7pm and I just got home from work (that's like a 12 hr day *dies*) and am eating in front of the PC, digging thru wedding stuffs and I realized I need to get a friggin' officiant! What the crow? I mean of ALL things to procrastinate on. I'm SO glad i'm only getting married once because all this planning for one day is just overkill.
Well at least mom is coming over on Saturday to help keep me sane and start addressing envelopes.
I may for the sake of my sanity temporarily close Tumus and Pinpinnalmost 3 weeks out before the wedding and keep it closed till 2 weeks after. That's about a month and a week. Not horrid, but ideal and hopefully understandable.
Now if you'll pardon me I have some pizza to nom on and felt to hopefully order.
But hey it's something! I had a rush of orders last night over on Pinpinn which was all very exciting till I took serious stock of my felt supply and realized alot of my "basics" are either gone or REALLY low.
Crap! I don't want to put in a rush order and I love to browse my particular store for felty goodness but this for one reason or another sent me into a bit of a crisis mode. I really would love to order one of every single color, but it's hard enough to keep track of the shades I have sometimes (without referring to my spreadsheet) especially once I start working with a sheet of felt and it gets moved to different spots on my craft table. My felt organization leaves something to be desired. I really should look into an open drawer system as I can't be bothered to put away a piece of felt that I "might" just happen to need. You know how it is. There for a while I was determined to use up exactly what I had in stock and I've done really well at doing just that......maybe too well because now I'm flat out of black. That's like a staple!
But as it's pouring buckets here and I'm debating on how wet I want to get going to the gym tonight I think it's safe to assume that I'll be staying inside, making lasagna and working on those 8 dog ornaments instead.
There. The main invites are all done and God willing I won't have to make any more and I'll have leftovers.
We got back from Dublin earlier this afternoon. It was a good time minus the fact that I had some bad fish and chips which later came back to haunt me after numerous beverages were consumed. I was not a happy camper. Needless to say I only slept about 2 hours last night. Even so I was still determined to finish the last 20 invites I had sitting around ready to string with ribbon. Then I took a 3 hour nap :lol: Everything else from this point out should be cake! Nothing but printing, cutting and stuffing envelopes.
Back in Dublin I managed to find the vendor who sold Jammie Dodgers and picked up a few packs as a treat to myself. Also found a Christmas present for my dad, a t-shirt for myself which says "Tis a fine cup o' tay", and a new Guinness sign for the kitchen.
Tomorrow it's back to the "9-5", bills and grocery shopping.
Where have I been? I've been kickin' with my dogs yo!
I've been amazingly busy with custom orders for my dog ornaments lately in the Tumus shop. It seems just when I think no one is going to be taken by them someone rushes in and snatches one or two up and I meet another special dog and their owner.
It's fun :) It's interesting and the dog's are hilarious. I have a rather intimidating but challenging order on the table right now, 8 individual custom doggies. Meet some of the dogs who are about to become felted:
This will be one for the records for me ^_^ I'll be sure to post mid progress pictures if I remember to haul my camera to the craft room (really need a point and shoot). And if I don't do that you'll MOST certainly see the final results.
But for the time being we are dashing out of town for a quick festival in Dublin, Ohio....aka the Dublin Irish Festival. It's going to be our last HOO-RAH before we really crack down on wedding details. So it's my chance to relax and try not to worry about too many things other than the present.
Frankly, that's going to be incredibly nice.
Summer is pounding away with it's heat and humidity here in my area. I came across this bit of fashion while browsing the internet. It's a bit old as in 2006 old, but still pretty funny.
Celebrity fashion designer Brett Cooper was commissioned by Celestial Seasonings to transform nearly 700 used packaging to make a Moulin Rouge-inspired dress. Complete with hat, purse and high heels.
2 months and counting and all I wanted to do is sleep and forget that I still have last minute details to iron out. You'd think the wedding invitations would be done and they mostly are, but I have to make an additional 20 and get the new, revised address list from Chris' mom (if she's actually done it). I also have to rearrange the RSVP card wording to fit another line of text on there.
And sometime today I have to get to the grocery to get a few odds and ends, trash bags and pack up a few custom orders from late last week. And unfortunately my arm is being twisted to work OT at the "9-5" this week. This means that the shops will more than likely not be updated for the next week or more. I apologize, but the closer the wedding gets the less time I'll have to get out the new designs.
I want to pull my hair out because it seems like time wants to fly by while I sit here wondering how last month seemingly vaporized. At this point I can't wait to get the wedding done and over with :lol:
Sir Thomas Lipton (sound familiar?), a Scotsman with a large grocery store chain entered into the tea business and in 1889 celebrated the arrival of 200 tea chests in Glasgow. Being a savvy businessman he sold tea at unprecendented low prices to tap into the working-class market.
I first opened Tumus? It was over a year and a half ago. I looked back in my sold section on this date and found one of my favorite photos. I can't tell you how many times people asked me to make this into a card. I thought I would, but honestly I love it too much as is it.
Callouses happen when you work hard. You can get them anywhere where tough skin is required, but what about business callouses?
How toughened is your skin to those bad days? Can you cope? Do you press on with the knowledge that the end result will be good? I like to think I'm getting my business callouses started. I press ahead when times are super busy or super tough. When the hours are long I remember that hard work will get me ahead. I try to rest easy knowing that I can always BE better. It's not easy and occasionally you have to exfoliate those bad days down and remember what it was like when you first had an inkling to start a business.
No I'm not talking Transformers here, I'm talking about this little guy who just landed in my shop on Tuesday. Those flowers should look mighty familiar to one blog reader *wink wink*
As for the dog ornaments over on Tumus I've been pretty busy helping people come up with new designs. It's fun, but makes me really really tired at my "9-5". I have a request in for a Boxer ornament so I sketched up a quick drawing and will hopefully get the go ahead on it ^_^. Seems like a crazy week.
Iced tea was popularized in America by an Englishman who live in Calcutta. Richard Blechynden was selling hot tea at the St. Louis 1904 World's Fair, with no success. In desperation he poured tea over ice and served it in tall glasses....and the rest is pretty tasty history.
Been working on my photography. After reading thru Pioneer Woman'sexplanation of aperture and how it works and what it does it made alot more sense. So I tried it out. It's about time I really start to use and abuse the settings on my camera. I'd like to remind everyone that regardless of the KIND of camera you have, so long as you know your settings you can literally capture any kind of picture ^_~
^_^ I really enjoyed this one and I actually saw it hit the FP this time! woot ^_^ If anything, I really enjoy all the hearts I get from this kind of luck. (thanks Sweptfromthesea)
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