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!