I’m sorry I missed a day on the countdown. I got very in the zone on one of my stitching pieces and ended up finishing the stitching on it at 1:30am this morning. While I’m super pleased I got it done, I did forget to post.
Today is the last day before Market Day!
The weather here has been weird with warm weather during the day and storms at night. The last two days have been windy during the day but sunny with rain coming at night. It’s storming right now in fact. There’s a 10% chance of rain in the forecast for tomorrow so, we’re crossing our fingers the wind is light and there’s no rain,
The car is packed with almost everything we need for tomorrow. We’re leaving food and drinks for the morning. I’m also washing the tablecloth we’ll be using on our two card tables to make things look a bit nicer.
I’m so jittery you’d think I was getting married for the first time again! LOL
Emmy and I are both nervous as can be, but we’ve decided we’re doing this unless the weather says otherwise – specifically rain. We can deal with a bit of wind I’m sure.
Wish us both lots of luck!!
See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!!
These are my goodies since Emmy doesn’t have photos of the new stuff she’s just made. It’s all curing. I have a clay object drying before I move closer to completing it. If it’s not done by Saturday it’s no big deal. It will be done by next Saturday,
If I have repeated some I apologize. I can’t remember what I’ve shown and what I haven’t right now. I’m still trying to get a few more things done tonight including getting some things ironed so I can complete them.
These are just a few things I’m taking with me. Others are in the works and won’t be done until next week when we go again.
I can see why cross stitch designers get so excited for when they go to the big market expos to show off their new stuff! 🙂
I’m starting to get the “imposter ” syndrome where I’m starting to get anxious that I’m fooling myself into thinking people will actually like my stuff enough to buy it. I know you have all said you like what I’ve made, and I am thankful for such positive feedback. I’m going into potentially hostile territory at the market and even at my age, I have issues with my esteem and self assurance.
I didn’t say all that to get sympathy. I’m just keeping things open and honest with you all, Self esteem and self confidence/assurance issues happen at all ages, and I am just one more person who deals with them. I am still going to the market in spite of my misgivings because I’ll never get anywhere if I don’t get out of my own way first.
See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!!
Emmy, my daughter in law, and I are going to our first farmer’s market where we will be vendors, not buyers. We’re both so excited and nervous about this!
I’ve been making small things mostly, but I do have two items that are a bit larger. I’m making a trinket bowl with roses on the side of the top rim and a light and airy spring shawl. I should have both done by the time we go to market, along with several more small projects. What I don’t get done this weekend, I’ll have ready for next weekend, depending on how we feel after the market
The market is called the Lufkin Farmer’s Market located here in Lufkin Texas. It’s located on property owned by the VFW. They are at a new location and are leasing this property to a lady who is in charge of the market. The first two weeks are free of charge to vendors, and we’re allowed whatever size site we need as well. After that, fees are $10 a day which isn’t bad.
Hours are 9am to 4pm giving us plenty of time to have people come by to see us, and we plan to do some walking around to check out other vendors. Emmy has already met a gentleman who works with resin the way she does, but he uses it to make knife/sword handles while she makes more decorative items.
I’m keeping my fingers, and toes, crossed the weather is nice enough for us to be out all day, but we’ll see how it goes. I will be taking pictures and videos of our tables and other stuff while at market, and I’ll be sharing it with you the following day.
Wish us luck!!
See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!!
I thought I’d do this topic about once a month, to show you all just some of the other things I do when I get the itch to do something besides stitch and crochet. I have many interests I dabble in and try out from time to time. Here are some of the more recent ones.
Upcycled Wine Bottle
This is actually not the first time I’ve upcycled a bottle. I did one for my son as one of his Twitch streaming props:
He didn’t want anything more than this so it’s not really much of an upcycle I know. It’s a health potion with a light on the bottom so when you turn it on and shake it, you can see the swirling “magic” inside of it.
This new one, I had to take pictures of it on its side because I don’t have a proper place to take pictures. It’s too cloudy right now to take a proper one but you should be able to see it well enough.
That’s the front. I’ll edit this later to add in a close up of the piece on the top.
That’s the back. This ended up being a collaboration with my daughter in law, Emi , because she’s a painter. She helped me with the verdigris look on the bottle. I think we did a great job considering this was a first for both of us.
Scrapbook Ephemera
I’ve been watching too many YouTube videos and just had to try my hand at making some stuff for a junk journal. Not my junk journal, I don’t have one of those. Just for any junk journal.
Again, these are all first tries for me, and I think I did pretty well with them.
Air Dry Clay Creations
Several of the miniaturists I watch use this clay, but I didn’t try to use it to make a miniature – not yet. I tried to make a jewelry plate first since it seemed to be the simplest to do.
It was coming along beautifully until I decided to get it a couple of coats of sealer. It’s in an aerosol can, and I got it too close to the plate. Along the right side and in a couple of other spots, it ruined it. The spray basically made pot marks in the clay even though it was dry. It’s a learning experience, and I will be doing this again sometime.
I have a few more projects I’m doing, but they’re not finished yet so I’m not going to show them.
Stay tuned for an update on the dollhouse coming next week or so. I haven’t really had time to sit down to work on it with everything else going on, but I am now feeling the need to get some more walls and floors finished on the Ground Floor so I can move forward with filling them. 🙂
See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!!
It’s a new year, and I’m doing my best to write more on my blog. It’s a case of time management as I juggle work with my crafting, my writing and my self improvement. It’s still a work in progress as I’m doing things slowly.
Work
I work full time in retail, and I work the closing shift which, currently, is 1pm to 10 pm. During the spring, summer and some autumn months, it shifts to 2pm to 11pm. I don’t go to sleep until an hour or so after I get home. I spend this time unwinding, not doing much at all. I get up between 7am and 8am, and this is the time I try to spend getting some crafting in. My job takes up the most part of my day, even more so than sleep. I work the rest of my days and nights around it.
My job is going well. I’m full time when most of my co-workers are part time. I got a raise not long ago, and I hope to get another small on in May. My attendance hasn’t been the best of late since my depression has gotten the best of me many times in the last six months, but it’s not bad enough I’ve gotten into any trouble over it. I am working on improving it because staying home from work seems to make the depression worse, not better.
Work gives me purpose and something else to focus on so I don’t get burned out. My job is part same thing every day and part new experiences every day so, it works for me.
Writing
I’m getting a new program to help me with my writing. It’s called Atticus, and I have a good feeling about it. As soon as I can, I’m going to buy it and try it out. If anyone has used this program before, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. I’ll be sure to post a review of it when I do get it and try it out.
Golden Knave has been on hold because I’ve been very unhappy with the performance of the program I’m currently using. I need something simpler to use because I don’t have the time to learn how to do a great many of the things I need to do. It’s not really user friendly unless you spend a lot of time learning how to use it.
Cross Stitching
I’ve already begun work on my projects for this year, and I’ve also shared several posts about them as well. I’ve begun a new one just today since I have to restart one, and I don’t want to do it right away. Check my archives for those posts if you’re interested.
Doll House
I think I’ve written and shared only one post on this project so far. It’s an ongoing project that’s going to take me years to complete because I plan to do as much as I can by hand.
I’ve finished plastering the walls and ceiling of the first room on the Ground Floor – my newly renamed Wine Cellar. I’ve begun work on the walls and ceiling of the smaller Basement room next to this room.
In addition, I’m making my first wine rack out of the cardboard used to make cat food boxes. I’m actually using this for most of my work on the doll house right now because it’s do plentiful. I’ve put together most of the frame, and it should be done tomorrow. Then, I have to research how to make the racks which will be diagonal instead of horizontal since that’s how real life wine is stored. It’s a fun project so far.
Crocheting
My second favorite hobby right now. I’m making small stuff out of crochet thread since I have so much of it.
This piece is from an insert pattern I found on Free Vintage Crochet. I’m thinking of doing three more of these and putting them in resin to make trivets.
The thread is 100% Mercerized Cotton Size 10 Color Cream by Red Heart Classic. I’m using a size 1.10mm steel crochet hook. It’s about 6 1/2(16.51 cm) inches wide by 4 1/2(11.43 cm) inches tall.
I’m also making a queen sized blanket out of Bernat Chenille yarn, and I’ll post pictures of it when it’s more than just a couple of rows. It’s a gift for my co-worker and Mentor who has really done a lot for me since I started work at Lowe’s the first time many many years ago. I left the company, and I wish I hadn’t. I’m back now though, and I’ll stay with it until my other personal goals are met.
The last crochet project I have on the hook is a scrap yarn body pillow. I’m using an aluminum J hook and different types of yarn in groups of three.
It also doesn’t look like much, but Mimi is enjoying sleeping on it, that’s her side of the bed. I’m out of scrap yarn for now so, I’ll be starting another project soon – one from my stash of saved patterns.
Other Projects
In addition to the aforementioned projects, I have several others I’m working on as I need to take a break from the main ones.
Sewing
I’m turning a table runner into a throw pillow. It was a rescued stamped cross stitch kit that was nearly complete. Thing is, it was just the table runner with the design printed only on one end. I didn’t like that and besides, I don’t have a table it would fit on. Hence, the pillow idea.
Journal Making
I’m going to be making my first ever journal. I haven’t started yet because I have a great many things going on now, but it’s on the list.
Education
I love learning new things, and I try to learn something new every day if I can.
Tack to Trades is a program offered by Lowe’s which allows you to get basic training in a trade of your choice: Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC and one other I can’t remember right now. This training comes with a link to a job site for tradespeople looking for internships/part time and full time jobs in the trades of their choice in their area. Lowe’s doesn’t require you to seek an internship, they’re just making it available. In addition, I was able to take the OSHA 10 Safety Course and got my OSHA card for completeing it.
Another benefit being provided by my work is the ability to go to college. Depending on the course, Lowe’s will pay 100% tuition costs for it. I’ll be starting school in the Fall to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.
I’m also still planning to continue my language studies and improve my fluency. I just need to find the time…
That’s about it for now. I still have lots of plans and ideas for 2023, but they’re just ideas I’ve actually written down. Nothings has been done yet. Once I’m actively working on them, I’ll let you know.
See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!
Dedicated to discussing the craft & industry of dramatic writing, maintaining mental health, and the unsurprisingly large overlap between the two. Oh, and maybe some Beatles trivia.
Griffin's Nest 