Wow, I got the coughing cr*p for Christmas!

When I went to bed on Christmas Eve I felt okay. Really really tired, but okay. Six hours later I got up with a nagging dry cough. I coughed all day on and off. No drainage, no gunk, just coughing and general malaise. Friday morning I couldn't talk and my throat felt like I'd swallowed glass. Plus the cough, of course. I felt absolutely rotten, my temp was going up, and the doctor was closed. :o(

Over the weekend it escalated. Saturday: disappearing voice, glass throat, runny nose, and fairly constant coughing that rarely produced anything (and nothing bigger than my fingernail). Oh, and my ear started aching a bit too. Just so much fun. ;p Sunday: all of the above, plus massive coughing fits that wouldn't let me sleep in any position until I'd run into the bathroom and spat huge amounts of saliva (not much gunk, just saliva) into the toilet. I felt like I was going to throw up, but nothing came. However, the throat pain did ease off a bit, except when I coughed it raw.

This morning I saw the doc. Diagnosis: my second bacterial infection in a month. Lovely. The only good thing was that he gave me samples of a once-a-day high-powered antibiotic. I think I've had this one before, and it was not cheap, so that helps. I suddenly seem to remember I didn't like this stuff, but who knows. Anyway, I've taken one dose and think I feel a little better. A very little.

Oh, and my temp at the doctor's? A whopping 97.8 Yep, just a roaring fever there.

With any luck I'll feel like working on Wednesday. So far I've lost three days' pay to this crap; I can't afford to lose any more.

Soooo, what did you get for Christmas?

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I haven't taken any pictures of this year's tree yet, so here's one from a few years ago. It was the second Christmas that I had my digital camera. Notice the gift on the right, stylishly wrapped in a Container Store bag.

This year Christmas is at our house, after two years at my sister's in Ft. Worth. Hosting a holiday dinner has its good and bad points. Bad -- having to cook and clean up (especially cleaning up the house beforehand!). Good -- you don't have to drive home when you're tired and stuffed to the gills. :o)

Late tonight I have to put out the stockings on the livingroom furniture so one or more of Santa's helpers can fill them. This particular elf didn't have a chance to get much this year, so I hope the other elves who live here did better.

Merry Christmas to all!

My latest creation -- manly man-sized micromitts

Yesterday I finished my first pair of "manly man-sized" micromitts, as suggested to me by SurrenderDorothy, aka HerRoyalMajestyBags.

They are 1" longer and wider than my regular micromitts, to accomodate the larger hands of most men. I listed them late last night after I got home from work and posted the link in a few threads on Etsy.

Tonight when I got online after dinner, I got a note to say that they'd been sold! Yippeeeeee! Not only that, they went to a friend. :o)

I finished another pair today, but haven't had time to do photos yet. Maybe tomorrow. :-o)

Somebody save the cashews!

I love cashews. I mean, I LOVE them. So much so that I haven't bought any in years because I can't keep my hands off them and they're a lot worse for you than peanuts (which I also love, especially the roasted in the shell kind).

Today I bought a jar, and within an hour of opening it the jar was 1/3 gone. I started by picking out all the broken pieces, and then graduated to wholesale munching. Now it's half gone, and even though I put the lid on I can still hear the cashews' siren song:

EEEEEEEEEEEEEat meeeee! EEEEEEEEEEEEat meeeee! EEEEEEEEEEEat meeeeee!

I think it's time for a cashew intervention. LOL

===============================

I woke up this morning feeling fairly rotten. And I'm sure at least part of that is due to eating 6 ounces of cashews yesterday. :o)

Soooo, I've put the cashews out of sight for the time being. Hopefully, I won't forget where I stashed them!

Micromitts are Hot!

Since my last post I've sold the mitts/heartpads special order, the custom mitts, and two more pairs!

Yoboseiyo of Etsy ordered this set for a friend. The heartpads each reverse to the other fabric.

Another customer wanted a set in black, white, and red, and this is what I came up with. She loves them. :o)

One of my first pairs sold -- the Aqua Dotty mitts. Unfortunately, I don't have any more of this fabric. :o(

And Tuesday night I listed these Star of David mitts, and someone snapped them up within an hour or so!

I listed 3 more pairs of holiday mitts last night, and I have 3 pairs of "manly man-sized" mitts to cut out and assemble tomorrow so I can list them Saturday. They're about 1" wider and 1/2--1" longer than my regular mitts -- great for guys who survive by nuking takeout. ;P

3 sales in 2 days!!!!

This has been my best week ever here on
Etsy. Friday afternoon my Autumn Leaves micromitts were snapped
up by the first person to view them.

Saturday a friend bagged the Golden Leaves mitts and a baby blanket.


And on Sunday morning another friend purchased her special order, two matching pairs of mitts for her and a friend.

I'm also working on three commissions -- mitts and heartpads for an Etsy friend, and two local embroidery orders -- and I have another Etsy commission to accept for more mitts!

So far I've sold 8 pairs of micromitts on Etsy, and 4 pairs locally (plus the two orders!). Looks like I've found a previously unfilled need with my marvelous micro mitts. :o)

More newness!

I finished listing all my micromitts; at least, all that
are completed. I've got several more in various stages of completion, waiting for my next day off. Here's what I listed today and tonight.

This morning I listed the mitts
in my last post as well as two more:
Golden Leaves and Happy Hanukkah.

Then tonight I added three more sets. First, the Turkey Harvest mitts. I know, I know, Thanksgiving's over, but you could always get a head start for next year! :o)



Next, the Happy Holly Holiday mitts.
Believe me, they're not nearly as eye-poppingly bright in person.




Finally, the Autumn Winds mitts.
I love this fabric, and if they don't sell quickly I might just have to confiscate these for my own use. :o)


Update Saturday: the Golden Leaves just sold!!!! Yay!!! That makes 2 pairs sold in 2 days!!!!!

Quickest Sale Ever!!!!!

Last week my sister took some of my stuff to a show she did. Unfortunately, neither of us sold anything. :o( Yesterday she returned my stock, and this morning I photographed and listed several items.

I went and caught up on several threads, and decided to show my newest listings to my friends. Imagine my surprise when one of them had already sold, half an hour after it was listed!!

Here it is : Autumn Leaves Marvelous MicroMitts.

Marvelous Mitts for a Delightful Duckie

Today I finished a special order for a friend on Etsy. Duckie (of Circleinthesand) ordered two matching pairs of marvelous microwave mitts for herself and a friend, and here they are.

Duckie picked the fabric from several I have posted here in my Flickr. If you're interested, there are lots more fabrics there to choose from, and several pairs already made in my shop.

Freezing down here in Texas

The weather update on my computer says it's 44, but both of our outdoor thermometers say it's in the mid-30s. All I really know is, I'm about to freeze!

Early last month we had our window frames painted, and to do it the guys had to take off the storm windows. The weather was decent, so it wasn't a real problem. Then my dad decided he wanted to get new film on the windows (what!! the film's only about 30 years old, it's good for years yet ;p), so he didn't put them back on. The place he used originally doesn't do that anymore, and so far he hasn't found anyone else.

It's been a bit cool, but the house stayed warm enough. BUT this week we've been having a real cold snap and the lack of that second pane of glass has made itself known. The only way to get warm is to stand over the air vent, but a) you can't stay there all day and b) even if you could, the heater doesn't stay on all day. (Okay, I could stay in bed, but then I wouldn't get any sewing done. No sewing, no money.)

Right now I'm sitting here in my nightgown and flannel robe, with a crocheted shrug over that, and fuzzy socks, and an afghan over my lap, and I'M STILL COLD!!!!!!!!!! When my hands get cold I can put them under my arms, but neither the robe nor the shrug nor the afghan do anything to keep my nose warm.

I need to crochet myself a nose-warmer. Maybe if I wore that around the house, my dad would put the storm windows back up. :o)

My nose is froze. And my toes is froze. And my feet is froze. And my tail --- um, no, I don't have a tail to freeze.

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Today I planned to cut out mitts, zigzag them, mark 3 fabrics for bias tape and possibly start cutting the tape out. All I got done was cutting out the mitts. :o(

I woke up not feeling too wonderful. After breakfast all I really wanted to do was go back to bed, but I sat down and cut out the mitts. Then I pulled a blanket over me and dozed for at least an hour. Then came lunch, a little time on the computer, and another nap before work. It's a good thing I had those naps -- it was after 10:30 when we left and there's still stuff left to put away.

I don't work tomorrow (yay! I hate working on Sunday), so I should be able to work on the bias tape. I have to get these mitts made up by Wednesday. I want to send them off with my nephew to a craft show my sister's attending next weekend. Hope I feel better tomorrow.

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that besides the tendonitis in my shoulder, the doc said the occasional pain in my elbow is tennis elbow. I've never played tennis, but I have to have my arm in an odd position to use my mouse on this laptop. Guess you could say I have "mouse elbow". ;p

Not enough hours in the day

So far today (November 14), I have done the following, post-breakfast: visited the orthopedist and get another shot, this time in the front of my shoulder; dropped by the library to pick up a requested book (and have nearly finished it!); made 6 more fabric and insulbright sandwiches to quilt for mitts (to go with the 2 already made); eaten lunch; gone to JoAnn's and spent a pile of money on fabric and notions, but saved a lot since it was the last employee double discount day of the year; run two loads of fabric through the laundry; opened a birthday goodie bag from Jaymie of WhiteStoneStitchery; quilted 4 of the aforementioned fabric sandwiches; ate dinner; ironed 5 yards of various fabrics for bias tape; had another piece of my birthday cake from Tuesday (can't let it go stale, can I? ;p) and outlined 4 sets of mitts, ready to cut out tomorrow, at which point I said enough was enough and quit for the day. Whew!

Tomorrow, I have to cut out the mitts and mark fabric for bias tape, at which point it will be almost time to go to work.

I might actually get these done for my nephew to take home with him on Thursday so my sister can try to sell them at the show next weekend.

"Unfinished" should be my middle name

Tonight I picked up a shrug I started crocheting last winter. I had one side almost finished when I stopped. Don't really remember why I stopped, I just did. This got me thinking about projects that I've "abandoned" midway through. There are more than I like to think about. ;p

There was the dresser scarf I ignored for several years. I finally finished it, but only after having to scrub off the cork stain from the metal hoop I used originally.

In college I started a quilt, possibly for my parents. I haven't worked on it in 13 years, since I started working. It's nicely folded away in large plastic bags in a box in my overstuffed closet. Someday soon I plan on getting it out and finishing it for me, since the quilt I made for myself 20 years ago is about ready for the cedar chest (or the rubbish bin!).

About 4 years ago I put down an extremely involved counted cross-stitch project because my eyes were bothering me. It's still sitting where I left it, still in its hoop, on the shelf of the table between the recliners.

My first knitted project, a baby hoodie, is sitting in a box in my room, waiting for me to block and seam it and add the finishing touches --- three years after I last worked on it.

More recently, I started crocheting a helmetliner for the troops last winter (after I abandoned the shrug). So far I've gotten the top of it done, and that's all --- not even down to the eyeholes. :o(

And I've got a ziploc bag in my room with what will someday, some century, be a sweater vest. It's about 3" high after too many years to count.

I'm not even counting the half dozen baby blankets I haven't put tape on. I pull threads on them when I'm bored so they make up quicker when we need to restock.

I do eventually finish things, like the dresser scarf I mentioned. There's a baby blanket that took me several years to crochet, since I only worked on it at craft shows, but it is finished.

Better get back to this shrug. If I work at it, I can have it done in time for next winter . . . . . . or maybe the winter after that. :o)

Aren't these cute?

When my eldest sister was here last month she ordered two sets of micromitts. I just finished them yesterday. The purple set is for her daughter-in-law, and the yellow set is for her own kitchen (she loves red and yellow).

Wouldn't you love a set for your very own?

"I'm Sorry, You've Got A Bad Case of Faucet-Nose"

This has just not been my week. On top of the persistent tendonitis, over the last few days my nose has decided that it would rather be a faucet than a working body part. :o( I can't begin to count the number of tissues I've gone through since Wednesday. It's so bad I took a plastic bag to work to collect my used tissues and keep them out of the general trash. I even took a box of kleenex with me! That's the only high point, since I discovered they were the ultra soft kind. At least my nose isn't as sore as it could be.

Back to my shoulder woes. Monday was not a good day in shoulder city, nor was Friday. My shoulder joint hurts when I cough, when I sneeze, when I breathe deeply. And my thumb is still kind of numb. When I squeeze the thumb joint I can feel it in my shoulder, so I'm pretty sure I have a pinched nerve. Unfortunately, my chiropractor died a few months ago, so to get this taken care of I have to find a new practioner. :o( That'll be a lot of fun, I don't think.

drip. . . drip. . . drip. . . I think I need a plumber for my nose.

My arm! My arm! I can move my arm!

After a week and a half of assorted anti-inflammatory drugs, including one that I can only take once a day (it must be really good; I didn't take it this morning and I'm regretting it just a bit), I can now move my arm without wanting to either scream or cry for a large part of the day. That's not to say it doesn't still hurt, but I don't feel like curling into a ball and sobbing in pain. :o)

Anyway, I've been working up a list of things I can now do if I'm careful (in no particular order):

1. Wash my hair. I've got a lot of it and the job requires a working shoulder.

2. Change my sheets. My bed is in a corner so it's a bear of a job on a good day; with a bad shoulder it was out of the question.

3. Get stuff out of the washer and dryer. We have a stacking set, and getting stuff out has always been a stretch for little old me. It's either past my reach (washer) or over my head (dryer).

4. Get out and put away the cereal. We keep it on a high shelf, and even though it slides out it's hard to get to when it hurts to move your hand past your shoulder, let alone over your head. I could just barely get the box out from the bottom, but putting it away was impossible.

5. Pick up a glass with one hand while sitting at the table. The action involved awkward, painful movements, so for several days I reverted to childhood and used both hands. ;P

6. Cutting my own meat. The back-and-forth motion put too much stress on my shoulder, so I've mainly been eating fairly soft foods, or at least ones that didn't take any cutting.

7. Taking off my bra. There were a couple nights I just couldn't get my hand back there and had to get help.

8. Taking off my sweater. I usually meet my hands behind my back and pull the cuffs off, but that was not possible this past week or so. And you don't remember how painful it was last time until you do it again. (ow! ow!)

9. Sleep! I've had to sleep sitting as straight up as possible to ease the pressure on the shoulder, but last night I slept in something approaching my normal posture. :o)

If I think of any more, I'll let you know. :o)

The Terrors of Tendonitis

Last week I woke up feeling like someone was sticking ice picks in my right shoulder. This did not bode well for spending two hours in the dentist's chair (see my last post). I couldn't get an appointment with the orthopedist until Tuesday, so I ended up at the ER. I got a shot of some painkiller that's supposed to be 10x stronger than morphine and prescriptions for megavicodin and a steroid 6-day pack.

After the shot wore off, I found that I had to take the vicodin strictly on schedule. If I didn't, I turned into a crying, screaming meemie. It took half an hour to work out the least unpainful position for my arm at night, and everytime I woke up in pain I had to start all over again. I think I got about 3 hours of sleep a night. :o(

I hurt in the shoulder joint, the elbow, and the wrist. After a few days, my wrist stopped hurting, but my thumb went kind of numb. All I wanted to do was sleep, but it was too painful to try more than once a day.

All of this was occurring while I worked the Halloween rush, with all sorts of crazy (and crazed) people coming in for stuff to make their costumes. I couldn't do much other than run the register -- you can't cut fabric if you can't use your arm. We didn't get out before 10 any night, and usually it was later. Much later.

Yesterday I went to the doctor, who confirmed my self-diagnosis of tendonitis. (I had it in my left shoulder four years ago.) This time I got a shot of cortisone and a script for mobic once a day (a once-a-day pain pill? how's that supposed to work?).

24 hours later, I can report that both seem to be working. Despite working last night, I was able to fall asleep quickly and slept SEVEN hours!!!!!! All right, I woke up once, but it was to answer a call of nature, NOT because of the pain. :o) My shoulder still hurts, but not as badly. My elbow doesn't hurt at all. My thumb's still a bit numb, but I wouldn't be surprised if I have a pinched nerve as well.

Crowns, cleanings, and crappy insurance

I got my third permanent crown this morning. He had to test fit it several times to get it the right depth (even my teeth are short!), but all in all it went pretty quickly. No shots, no drill, no problem. Next came a full set of xrays -- uncomfortable, but not truly painful. I've got a couple of spots that will need a little work, but all things considered, I'm in pretty decent shape.

Then came the real fun --- a thorough cleaning. :o(.

I have always hated having my teeth cleaned. He was lucky to get me in once a year for the torture session. It's been several years since my last one (yeah, I know, I'm a very baaaaad girl), so it was definitely NOT a fun experience. I think he probably rinsed my mouth at least 20 times to get rid of the blood and the "boulders" of plaque (his word, not mine). He would like to do a follow-up cleaning in a month or so, but my insurance says 6 months, not just twice a year. Which leads me to my next topic, my crappy dental insurance.

It apparently doesn't pay for crowns. I mean zip, nothing, nada. On my urgent visit in June (diagnosis: abscess/infection and root canal required), it paid exactly $23. And when I had my root canal, it only paid about $150. I pay for my (extremely) minimal dental/vision coverage through payroll deductions, and I'm seriously contemplating dropping it during the next adjustment period. Since virtually all of this is coming out of my pocket anyway, I might as well put the extra money in the bank for the next round of dental bills.

I'm going to get my teeth cleaned every six months in future to avoid the pain.
I'm going to get my teeth cleaned every six months in future to avoid the pain.
I'm going to get my teeth cleaned every six months in future to avoid the pain.
(I'd write this 100 times, but that would make this post waaaaaaaay too long.)

Cross my heart and hope to spit.

Halloween Micromitts!!!!!!!

I finally got the mitts finished, photographed, and listed today. One of my sisters is visiting for her high school reunion, so I got her to help with the photos --- it's a lot easier to take a photo of someone else's hand than your own. LOL Anyway, here they are.

Halloween Hearts!

I made some of my heartpads in cute Halloween fabrics! They protect your whole hand from burns and spills. I sure hope someone likes them as much as I do! :o)

I'm working on some matching micromitts, like these. Since I don't have to work tomorrow (what! a day off this week?) I should have some of them finished and listed by tomorrow night.

Follow me!

I just added the Followers widget to my blog. If you like what you read here, sign up to be a follower and you'll be notified when I update my blog. It's very easy; just click on Follow this blog and follow the instructions. :o)

All my sales should be this easy . . . . . . .

My eldest sister came to visit for the weekend. She always ends up buying something, and this time was no exception. She bought this walker bag (before I'd even listed it!), and ordered two sets of micromitts for herself and her daughter-in-law. :o)

Mama mentioned to her that my uncle had recently left some hand-turned pens with me to see if they would sell on Etsy, and she ended up buying 6 of those for various family members. I'll add a photo later of what she got. This bodes well for listing them. :-)

Crown and carnival

I went to the dentist today to start work on the crown on the tooth I had a root canal in. It wasn't too bad, except for the nasty taste of the pre-numbing medicine, and the shot to deaden my palate. The main problem was the temperature --- it was freezing! He ended up putting the lead apron on my legs to warm me up a little. At least it kept the AC from blowing on my legs. When I go back to get the permanent crown I'm wearing a sweater and taking a blanket!

*******************************************

The carnival at Kaufman went okay. We could have done better, but we've done a lot worse. It felt odd not being able to pop into the rectory to use the bathroom or get a glass of water. And it was really odd not staying the night and packing up on Sunday. By the time we got home and unpacked the car it was almost 9, and 10 before I got some supper.

I was sooooooooo tired on Sunday. I went to bed by 12:30 Saturday night, and got up at 6:30. After Mass I went back to bed for 3 hours (!!), had some lunch, and took another 1 1/2 hour nap. Sunday night I could not keep my eyes open. So I went to bed at 11:30 and didn't get up until 8:00! I had about 18 hours of sleep in a day and a half, and I was still kind of tired on Monday. The last time I did anything like that I was fighting some kind of infection.

Tagged!

I was tagged by Here in this Diary. So here are seven things not everyone knows.

1. I've never seen/read a slasher/horror flick or novel, and I never plan to. Buckets of blood and gore and stupid teenagers screaming are just not my cup of tea.

2. I like to read Regency romances, especially Georgette Heyer. I'd like to live then, except for the lack of modern conveniences like flush toilets, electric lights, cars, radio, . . . . . . hmmmmm, on the other hand, maybe not.

3. I have nearly every Harlequin Romance written by Betty Neels and Essie Summers, and I don't care who knows it!

4. The only place I'm ticklish is the soles of my feet. I used to have tickle wars with my college roommate and I always won because she couldn't get me off my feet.

5. I don't like the Rolling Stones. The occasional song, yes; the band, no. Looking at Mick Jagger makes me sick.

6. I have 21 first cousins on my mother's side, including 6 double cousins (Mama's sister married Dad's brother). There were 23, but 2 have died.

7. My favorite candy flavors are (in no particular order) grape, orange, and lemon. I love lemon-lime Tootsie Pops, but they're almost impossible to find. :o(

All right, now you know seven random facts about me. I've tagged the following:

GirlSavage
Right As Rain Creations
Pandy's of Lake Sunapee
TeeGee Studio
Krazy Kates Krazy Days
It's My Life
Dateline . . . . . My Floor

Now it's your turn to post 7 random facts about yourself, and then tag 7 other people. :o)

Here we go again

Tomorrow we set up shop at another carnival. This time it's at my brother's former parish in Kaufman, St. Ann. I think this is the 5th year we've done it. So we know the people, we know where things are (like the all-important little crafter's room), we know the traffic patterns (most people have to pass the crafts at some point). :o) The downside is that since Joseph has been moved, we can't spend the night Friday and get our booth up as early as previously. :o( We'll have to drive 40 miles tomorrow morning (and evening) before we start. However, things start later than last week (and we know where we're going!), so that's an advantage.

I embroidered two more aprons this week and sewed another walker bag, and filled 3 black baddana cool ties --- I sold the only one in stock last week. :o) Mama's finishing a couple of aprons, and that should be it for restock. I'm thinking about sewing bias tape on a couple blanket pieces I have ready this afternoon, but I haven't decided yet.

Here's hoping it's nice and warm so my cool ties sell as well as usual --- one year I sold 23 of them!

Wish me luck.

My late lamented thumbnail

A week ago I was trying to hoop a recalcitrant towel when I ripped part of my right thumbnail. I slathered it with clear polish and went on with my work. I almost forgot about it being ripped, until I was washing my hair. LOL

On Saturday as we were coming home from the show, my thumbnail gave up the ghost. Luckily it followed the curve of the quick so it didn't really hurt. I saved the nail (yes, I'm weird), and took pictures when I got home (make that extremely weird).

I know it could have been a lot worse (and it has been in the past), but it's really a pain in the left ventricle not having any nail on my right thumb. To pick up a pair of embroidery scissors I have to slide one fingerloop over the edge of the table since there's no nail to lift it up. Using the touch screen on the handhelds at work is awkward --- my other nails are too short to use without hitting 2 spots at once. I don't understand how people manage with really short nails. I relied on that nail for a lot of things, and it'll be at least 2 months before I have any decent length to it. :o(

The show was okay but slow. I didn't have a huge number of customers, but the last one made up for the whole day. She came up as we were starting to pack up, and bought $64(!!!!) worth of stuff --- 2 blankets, a burpcloth, a set of mitts, a toddler apron, and a bookcover without trying to haggle. Now I have to restock a few items, and then I'll be set for this weekend.

St. Anthony, here I come

Well, tomorrow's the big day. I have nearly everything packed --- baby things, bookcovers, cool ties, etc., as well as the money, and other supplies. The only things left are 2 aprons that my mother will finish today. The tent, tables, chairs, and displays are in the trunk. I want to finish packing the car tonight since we have to leave about 7:00 in the morning. It always takes us forever to get going, so anything that will speed us up tomorrow is a good idea.

Mama and I will be joined by my sister Joy. I have some of her jewelry listed in my shop. We like to have adjoining spaces so we can keep an eye out for the other. It also gives us a little more flexibility in our displays.

Tonight I have to put my entire Etsy shop in edit mode. A lot of my stuff is one of a kind, and I don't want to sell something twice when I've only got one! (Yeah, right, that is sooooooooooooooooo going to happen. ;p)

If you're near Wylie, Texas, on September 20, come see us! We'll be at St. Anthony Catholic Church for their carnival and 150th anniversary celebration.

Next week we'll be at the carnival at St. Ann Church in Kaufman, Texas. Join us for the fun.

Now, if I can just keep from gnawing my fingers off in nervous anticipation, I'll be fine. :-)

Anyone got a valium?

Man, my knuckles hurt!

It's from all the pinning and pinning and pinning of these darned hotpads. Also from clutching the wheel on the sewing machine and "encouraging" the needle to penetrate up to 8 layers of tough bias tape, plus the 7 layers involved in the hotpads. Last night I had to put Ben-Gay on my hands to ease the pain, and I have to pop my knuckles more frequently than usual.

Anyway, here they are in all their relative glory.

I finished the last one this afternoon. And I got the embroidery for the "wedding bibs" done today. Tomorrow I'll cut them out and bind them in the tape I pressed tonight. Then I can finally get rid of them all and finish getting ready for the carnival this weekend.

Let's see, all I need to do is embroider 3 toddler aprons, bind a few blankets, make a couple of walkermate bags, sort out my stock, pack the car, clean up the house . . . . . . . .

A One-Ladybug Sweatshop

My one-ladybug sweatshop has been going full speed since Monday, and my legs are getting tired. ;o) I've finished the pillowcases and hotpads that were in progress as of my last post. I'm now about halfway through with the 4 sets of hotpads and mitts that Olga ordered on Tuesday, and have planned out the embroidery for her original project.

However, this still leaves 2 hotpads to do (replacements for those she bought), as well as everything else I mentioned --- embroidery, blankets, toddler aprons, etc., etc., etc..

Plus, before the carnival I need to inventory everything, "freshen up" all my old stock (AND the drawers it's stored in), send out an Etsy order, pack everything up, write a list of what I'm taking, and clean up the living room, the den, my room . . . . . . . . .

Oh yeah, I need to go to Target sometime this week, too ---- if the remnants of Hurricane Ike don't blow us away.

I'm a glutton for punishment

I'm getting ready for two carnivals in the next two weeks. I have 4 half-done potholders at the sewing machine, I have to put collars on at least 3 toddler aprons, and I need to embroider a few more items as well. Oh, and I'd like to bind a couple more blankets as well. Plus, I have five little pillowcases to finish sewing by Saturday for a regular client.

But apparently that isn't enough work for me. Oh, no, not me.

Yesterday a lady called about embroidering some "wedding bibs". (Yeah, yeah, I've never heard of them before either.) I quoted her $20. Today she came by to drop them off, and I end up agreeing to cut out and bind the darn things for another $10 (I should have said $15). Anyway, my mother got in the act and told her about my micro mitts and my newest item, heart-shaped hotpads. I showed them to her and she loved them, so much that she left with two hearts and these mitts.

She was so taken with them that she ordered two sets of each.

To be done by next Wednesday, before she goes out of town on Friday.

With all that I have to do in the next week and a bit, why oh why did I agree to make 8 more hotpads on top of the "bibs"?

All together now:

because I'm a glutton for punishment!

Lean Cuisine ruined my lasagna :o(

I've been buying Lean Cuisine's lasagna with meat sauce for several years. It reminded me of the lasagna I'd get at Olive Garden --- mildly spicy without large chunks of tomatoes and plenty of meat. A few weeks ago I tried another brand and didn't like it as much -- it tasted strange. Tonight I had a LC lasagna, and guess what? They've apparently changed to the same recipe as the other brand. Ugh.

There wasn't much meat in the sauce; hell, there wasn't much sauce! I found several tomato chunks the size of a small grape, and I truly hate chomping down on stewed tomatoes! The worst part was when I bit down on something that tasted kind of like licorice --- it might have been caraway. Now, I don't like the taste of licorice anyway, but I sure didn't expect to find it in my lasagna! It's been an hour and I still haven't managed to get the nasty taste out of my mouth. :o(

Why do companies do this? It seems like they play with recipes just because they can. The box says "new recipe" (which I wish I'd noticed when I bought it), but has nothing to indicate they changed it to reduce calories or sodium or for any other healthful reason. It used to have plenty of cheese; now the cheese is nearly nonexistent. My advice to them is CHANGE IT BACK!!!!!

I've got another one in the freezer, but it will be a while before I can bring myself to eat it. First I have to forget the way it tasted!

Jewelry fit for a Snow Queen

Tonight I listed this gorgeous citrine and quartz set made by my talented sister Joy. It has a choker, bracelet, and matching earrings. The way the light reflects off the quartz is really neat -- makes it look like ice crystals.I was really having trouble coming up with a decent description and pricing of this set. I sew and crochet and have no idea of what's reasonable for beautiful jewelry. Luckily, my friend Yoboseiyo at Jewelry Ninja! helped me out. :o) Check out her shop for all sorts of innovative jewelry designs.

O Frabjous Day!

For the last several years we've prayed every Sunday for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, especially from our parish. Today Fr. John announced that five people from our parish are committing themselves to trying their vocations. Two young men will be studying for the priesthood for our diocese, and one for another diocese. A fourth man will be taking his first vows as a Cistercian monk, and a young woman will be starting a life with the Dominican nuns.

This is truly wonderful! Over my lifetime we've had three priests from our parish: my brother Joseph, Msgr. Robert Coerver, and Michael Duca, the new Bishop of Shreveport. There have been a couple other men ordained, but they ended up leaving the priesthood for various reasons. We've also had at least two women become nuns. The older sister of a schoolmate has been in the convent for twenty years or so, and comes home every year for a few weeks. Sister Carol, the former music teacher at my parish school, also grew up here. However, she left the convent after about 15 years. She's been out 20+ years and I still don't know how to address her! LOL To me she'll always be Sister Carol, who taught me piano for one year (we agreed that piano was not for me), music for 8, and was my choir director for 3.

We must continue to pray for vocations. There is a serious shortage of priests in America, and the only way we will get more is by praying. You never know who will hear God's call and take heed -- it might be you!

WalkerMates listed at last!

Today I listed my newest creations, a couple of WalkerMates bags. They're great for carrying all the little things you can't handle when using a walker. I plan to tweak the patterns a little, and try some other designs as well.

The floral one is for ladies, and the blue one for men. The latter includes two elastic straps on the back for holding a magazine or newspaper, or other bulky items.

I'm hoping they'll just walk right out of my shop. :o)

Root Canal Day

Today I had my root canal, and it was a lot easier than I expected. In fact, in some respects it was easier than having a tooth filled. The doc didn't start til I was well numbed, even though he had to wait a bit to give me a second shot. And because of the "rubber raincoat" they put on, I didn't have to worry about keeping my tongue out of the way or swallowing some of the debris. :-)

In 10 days I go back for the finishing touches. The doc will replace my temporary "Blue Velvet" filling (I'm not kidding, that's the name) with a permanent one. Then it's off to the dentist for my third crown.

On the other hand, that rubber raincoat was attached to a torture device. True, it kept my mouth open without work, but it was rather painful going on and gave me a real ache in my jaw which I still have 14 hours later. :-(

The other painful part of the procedure was the price. My insurance plan will only cover about $150, and I get to pay the rest of the $1350 myself. OUCH! They don't normally do payment plans, but since I have to come back, I was able to pay only half today.

I'll probably have to have another root canal done, but it will have to wait for a year or two while I save up for it.

I took the plunge

I listed the fabric in my previous post. It's here in my Etsy shop. Now I have to wait to see if anyone is just so wild about it that they want the whole piece.

Destashing Fabric . . . . and I'm Stumped

A few weeks ago my mother and I were going through some of our boxes looking for certain materials, and we came across this piece.

It's very pretty, but we have absolutely no use for it. The little girls in our family are all too old for it now, either as dresses or curtains. I want to list it for sale on Etsy, but I'm completely stumped as to price.

The piece is 2.75 yards long by a true 45" wide, with a single 2.5" border. Any suggestions, whether for price or description, would be deeply appreciated.

Too Many Gadgets

About 5 years ago I bought a simple Babylock embroidery machine, very similar to this Simplicity machine, and this PED Basic card reader/writer device to download designs from the internet.
Unfortunately, machine embroidery software is only available for Windows, so I had to buy a PC and a printer.And a hub, since my laptop only has 2 USB ports. :-(Then I messed up and bought a pack of designs on a disk instead of a card, so I had to buy a disk drive for my laptop. It's been 3 years and I've used it exactly once, to read that disk. LOLMy next purchase was a digital camera, so I could take pictures to list items on Ebay. Before I could list anything, I learned about Etsy.com, a much better place to sell handmade items. :-) This one is similar to mine (it's hard to take a camera's picture ;p).After I started to sell things on Etsy, I signed up for Stamps.com and got this digital scale. It only weighs up to 5 lbs., but it's fine since my stuff is all very light.Earlier this week I got tired of changing camera batteries all the time and bought myself a card reader. I'd have preferred green, but the choice was black or blue. :-( so I got blue. The only downside is the cable's fairly short.And of course, there's the nearly 20-yr. old dual tapedeck/radio that I listen to while on the computer!
As I've been sitting here tonight, I've realized two things. One, I have too many gadgets. And two, I have too much time on my hands when I start taking pictures of everything I own. :o)

More Mitts in production

I've gotten lots of comments on my first set of micro mitts. Some were simply on the lines of "neat idea", but others were more "ooh, I want a set!" So I picked out some fabrics and dug out the Insul-Bright yesterday and got started.

Here's what I got done today:


The red's a bit darker than it shows, and the rooster fabric is a little lighter. (I never can get that red to photograph properly.)

I marked, quilted, cut out, and edge-finished these three sets. Whew! What a job! Tomorrow I'll get to do the easier part, binding and assembling the sets. Then it's time for a photo op before I list them in my shop. Hopefully, they'll sell as fast as the first set. :-)

More Mitts

Tonight I finished my second set
of micro mitts while listening to the Rangers beat the Mariners in a hard-fought game. This pair is blue-green with yellowish dots . I haven't listed them yet, as I'm waiting to hear from someone who likes blue-green items and thinks the mitts are great.

And yes, these have been "in production" for a couple years as well. :-) The next set I'll have to make from scratch, and I want to do it soon -- I've got several people who were disappointed that the first set sold today.