42

The bad news: there is no key to the universe. The good news: it was never locked. -Swami Beyondananda

Or as in Hitchhiker's Guide, the answer is simply 42.

Been busy working, foraging for supplies, and of course creating. I've run into a strange perdiciment when it comes to finding a wholesaler of Emery Sand, also known as aluminum oxide. I've been hunting for a sizable amount thru car paint shops, warehouses, and of course online vendors. I haven't been very successful in finding the grade I want/need but I have managed to find a few sources. Still why on earth is it so freakin' hard to find supplies WHEN you need them? And why is it so hard to find suppliers willing to sell to the little guys, like me and other independent artists??

But it's not just emery that's hard to come by it's environmentally friendly fiber filling. Jo-ann's had been gracious enough to work out a deal with me so I could order EcoCraft Fiberfill from them, but they are no longer stocking this particular brand from Mountain Mist. I'll be darn'd if I'm going back to the "air whipped" plastic fluff that's polyester. I was very sad about it because it meant that it wasn't moving the way that they'd hoped (and I had hoped) and that I'd have to add it to my list of things to find online. Fortunately I'd kept a general list of other suppliers who sold the stuff and found it in a local fabric shop near where I work. Same pricing too!

So I guess it worked out. Sometimes I wish other crafters would nod me in the right direction when it comes to hard to find supplies. I may eventually find them, but some things are industry secrets in a way. It's hard to get in the "know" if you will.


Other than all that business I'll be taking pictures of some new emery squares and making a few new emery editions....so long as I don't run out of the stuff first :lol: Look for their listings in PinPinn during this week ^_^

I Reckon There's Some Truth In That

Hooray! Saturday! FINALLY! It's snowing here right now, nothing unusual. I was hoping to stay home sewing and playing WoW but I was informed that there was a gathering over at my grandma's later this afternoon. One of my brother's is being deployed to Iraq come May so he's only been home here and there as he goes off to various camps for training and debriefing. We're all a bit anxious about it, but I mean who wouldn't be. My bro, Aaron is playing it cool though as he always does.

So even though is snowing, bitterly cold out and I'm feeling especially lazy I'm draggin my butt down there to see him because you can't ever see the people you love too much.

Broken

I broke my favorite glass horse tonight at the end of my photo session for some new pincushions for PinPinn. I'm a bit sad and aggravated with myself. On the other hand glass is ridiculously hard to photograph......

Simple Solitude

The moon this past week just remarkably clear. By the looks of this you'd think I lived in the middle of a forest.

What's New Pickachu?

THIS is! yep that's exactly what it looks like ^_^ A Rubix cube pincushion. It took me some time, but it's pretty awesome looking if I may say so ^_~
You can find it here on Pinpinn

And now enjoy an LOLcat.

more animals

Can Has!

This weekend has brought a rather difficult situation to an end. I finally have another car. HOORAY! We found it today after searching nearly 20 car lots and testing driving a whole slew of vehicles. I ended up with a "pre-loved" candy apple red 2006 Mazda3 sports edition. It goes "Zoom Zoom" and is the the newest car I've ever owned. Not only that, but we were able to talk them down from the original listed price and got a ridiculously low fixed rate. Woo WOO!! It will suck having a car payment again, but that is a small pain compared to NOT having a car.

All aboard the awesome train! ^_^


Now that that burden has been lifted and settled I can once more get back to crafting away at my pincushions for PinPinn and moving Tumus back to a mostly animal store.

And somewhere in all that madness I managed to finish sorting my newest intake of embroidery thread. Now they must all be wrapped and stored.

Meet the Jury

This is Tumus. As you can see he's pretty composed. He's ridiculously intelligent and refined and insists on being a handsome lad at all times. Please note his favorite collar is the Pirate one he's wearing.
Tumus

Guinness has been a hilarious, if not hyper edition to the household. He's learning his way around and likes to sit just outside of my sewing room with Tumus (which is no cats allowed area). I'm sure they're just both longing to sit on all my lovely felt....
Guinness

My Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades

Well in personal life my car situation is slowly working itself out. My lawyer, god bless him, is doing all the dirty work. Iknow that's what he's supposed to do :lol: but it's just a nice stress off my shoulders.....in theory.

I still worry about it of course because that's what I do in situations like these especially when I don't have any control over the outcome or am working thru a middleman. It's really put a damper on my real job oddly enough, but creatively I've just been going nuts!

I've made about 4 pincushions over the weekend that I need to, no, that i WILL photograph and list tonight over on PinPinn. And then I need to list coasters over on Tumus. It seems so crazy, but I'm still thinking about narrowing Tumus' shop theme down a bit to help focus on my field again which in that shop was originally animal themed, but may shift once more. I really can't decide on what I'd like to do in there. The shop feels a tiny bit cluttered and I'd really like to clean it up and give it a professional overhaul. Pinpinn feels kind of like my grown-up shop. A place where I can show how my sewing has improved and my creativity has sprouted.
I still hope to offer the personalized dog and cat ornaments earlier in the season over at Tumus. I want to give people more of a chance to get their orders in and I'm going to ask permission to advertise in my vet clinic also. Of course taking on an ambitious advertising scheme such as a vet clinic might just overload me in the end. But heck, if I don't try once I'll just never know and then I'll regret it.

I also read a really great post in the forums today about how sometimes you have to hustle and by hustle I mean get your butt in gear. It made me laugh mostly because it made me think of pimps and ho's but also because it's true.
If you can't hustle your talent then where are you going to go??