Monday, September 27, 2010

Monday Poem

I Wrung My Hands by Anna Akhmatova
I wrung my hands under my dark veil. . .
"Why are you pale, what makes you reckless?"
-- Because I have made my loved one drunk
with an astringent sadness.

I'll never forget. He went out, reeling;
his mouth was twisted, desolate. . .
I ran downstairs, not touching the banisters,
and followed him as far as the gate.

And shouted, choking: "I meant it all
in fun. Don't leave me, or I'll die of pain."
He smiled at me -- oh so calmly, terribly --
and said: "Why don't you get out of the rain?"

Thursday, September 23, 2010

But Wait, There's More!

I know, he looks winsome. 
Cute, huh, but......
How cool is this? They attach with a magnet.  Plus they are stuffed with lavender and chamomile so you don't have to have "I just bought this because it was cute." guilt. I'm all about function.


Things I'm Working On






Zombie Owl, not really just not done.
Although a Zombie Owl.... I am so making a Zombie Owl.












Told you they were big, about a foot tall and fourteen inches wide. Pattern was from this wonderful Etsy Seller Goo Goo A Go Go

Things I'

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

When a Man Loves a Woman


I have a Rowenta my husband bought me for about ten years, at the time it was a huge extravagance even at the lower end. A few years ago it hit the cement floor and cracked on the side, leaky but still working. As some of you know we have been really broke for the last couple years as he's been out of work. But about a week ago he got a few jobs so we are trying to get back on our feet.

So I figured could get a new iron but like a Sunbeam or something. Nope, afraid that I would "buy something crappy" my husband insisted on this. I am blessed to have a husband that is very much all about getting the best tools one can afford (hence my Bernina Activa).

I am so friggin excited about this iron. Not only because it will be great to not have a leaky one, but because it reminds me of my husbands generosity and insistence that I need the best we can afford to buy.

It also comes in real handy cause I'm whippin' up some big ass owls that I'll show you pics of in a couple days. These suckers are like 12 by 14 inches.

So yeah, we may not do Valentines or Anniversaries, in fact, neither one of us can recall just when, exactly , we were married, but I'll take this over a dozen roses or whatever what not you get one what year to the next, anyday.

Random Quote Tuesday



The best work is not what is most difficult for you; it is what you do best.
by Jean-Paul Sartre

Friday, September 17, 2010

Ballston Art Fair


This is the show I do every second Saturday of the month with the last show being in October (sad face). Jessica is the organiser and all around Wonderful Human Bean. Here is the blog and one of the pics of my stuff.

Next year we get to start early and have our first show in April. I'm already excited. It's very low key, drama free and Jessica is wonderful to her vendors. Its the only show I do after swearing off craft shows for ever.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Darling Houses




So this is my first Darling House. Stuffed with Lavender and Lemon. Wish my house smelled this good. I'm pretty sure there's not much call for dog and pizza scented sachets. The pattern is from this shop on Etsy NapKitten the seller is generous enough to allow you to sell what you make from this pattern which is always appreciated.

I made a few changes so it would sit flat and modified the roof a bit. I want to get some scallop shears and make a gingerbread type roof. It's crushingly precious. About 4.5 inches tall or there abouts, not the best pics but I really wanted to show it to you.


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

So much to do!

You know there is because I used a !

Where to start? Blue Dot Shops is done, I mean, some stuff still needs to be listed but the site is done and the blog post is up and I've had my first order. It's here http://www.bluedotshops.com/ and I'm very proud of it and the work that went into it.

What it started as and where it ended up, wow, pretty amazing. I am blessed to have a wonderful group of very talented, down to earth women who make me feel very lucky to have them along for the ride.

You know a ride where buckets of money will rain down on us, preferably.

I spent an hour or two with Quickbooks actually entering inventory. Yeah. And like, cost and stuff. I did this because my plushies are invited to be sold here at http://www.artspringsilverspring.com/ which is a pretty big deal. Now I just need to make thirty pieces by October 7th (insert mad cackling here).

I have decided to concentrate on Blue Dot and locally. I am beginning to believe that whole beat to death "eggs in one basket" philosophy has been really misrepresented when it comes to online shopping.

At one time I had a shop on Zibbet, Artfire, Etsy and my site. You now where I sold? Etsy. You know why? Because of the forum. In other words because I mingled or whatnot. I think the whole actual customer contact 'thing' got lost. And I sold, and sold well, to people I actually had contact with, even though it was virtual. Not because I spread my eggs all over the damn place.

The whole 'having a presence on the web' it must work for some, but I'm not convinced it works for most. I'm still pretty sure Twitter is basically a bunch of folks shouting over one another. The virtual sea so vast that I'm not even convinced SEO is the magic end all be all.

What I do think, is that it's still very much, very real contact and interaction. That maybe some of us are so busy being 'a presence on the web' that we don't see the people around us, locally, who would make a fine customer base.

This dovetails into my whole technical alienation nation thing but I won't go into that....

I do know that the sheer hassle and aggravation I've experienced in venue after venue, drama after manufactured drama, made me sit a spell and ponder just WTF I was expending, on what and why?

I'm not sure just where I'll end up, but I do know it won't be juggling eggs.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Poetry Monday

If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda
I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine