progress makes… progress?

here is the proof that i am actually working towards an etsy shop update.  buttons!  and flowers! 

these buttons i picked up at joann’s with supa, in addition to looking delicious, are also so cool- they’re not what i expected in a pre-packaged, fairly cheap assortment. 

that big green one, especially, is blowing my mind.  the big pink one, which is now one of the flower centers, is also one of my favorites- it almost looks etched with a swirly paisley design (i’m a bit obsessed with all things paisley). 

i’m going to a conference on thursday in atlanta, and last night i finished up the door decorations i made for our contingent, so that we can tell where everyone is staying in the hotel: 

we’re working towards a hawaii trip right now, so the hibiscus flip flops seemed like a good idea.  please try to ignore the giant stain on the cloth there, whoops…  and, since i know she’s lurking right now, mad props go to ms kristin for helping me with this- it went so much quicker with that giant slice of carrot cake…  we made the thong part of the sandal with braided hemp twine.  i think they’re pretty adorable.  minus that stain, of course. 

so, wish me safe travels this weekend, and safety to those i’m leaving behind.  i am going to enjoy so much three whole days of only wiping my own butt.  man, i need a vacation. 

revamp part 2

taking sarah’s (aka my new right brain) excellent suggestion from the comments,i constructed a diagram on graph paper of my room and all of the furniture.  of course, being incredibly left brained, instead of using a regular measuring tool, which would have required me to go into the basement and locate something useful (not at all an easy task- maybe someday i’ll past photos of my basement so that you, too, could have a coronary just thinking about it, as i do often), i used my foot.  my actual foot.  now i’ve spent an inordinate amount of time playing with it, as it’s endlessly more fun than actually cleaning out the room. 

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

update!  now i’ve spent the morning going through some things for my home business and re-organizing.  hoorah!  now i have a chest of drawers full of supplies, neatly organized, and only 3/4 of the room left to de-clutter!  ah, sweet bliss…

i think this is the arrangement i’m most drawn to:

so, i’ll need a standing/stool height table for the door wall, and the desktop will become my new sewing area.  i’ll move all of the business stuff out to the middle room (i know they’re hard to read- but these include the things to the left of the diagram: tall dresser and file cabinet), otherwise known as the closet of doom.  this will be next on my re-vamp list.  i’ve successfully moved zander into sage’s room to share, which seems much more fair than living in the closet of doom.  in sage’s room, there is a window, a radiator, and toys (not to mention, sage, the best toy of all), so i don’t think he’ll be upset. 

then i’ll have to secure the imaginary table (marked in dashes), and i’ll have to get back the folding screen i lent to my neighbors to divide the room into business and sleep. 

it’s a little nuts how excited i am about this.  just so you know. 

come revamp with me

so, to re-visit these items, i am working out a “design” in my head for the craft space in my bedroom.  i’m thinking when i move the crib out into the middle closet-type room, i can have almost half the room to use.  maybe you’d like to join me on this journey- the journey from junky bedroom to functional yet stylish sleeping boudoir/craft studio…

as you can see in the photos (and sorry for all the junk everywhere- i’m still going through that), i have options.  i could move the bed and have the non-window and non-light thingys sticking out walls be the craft side of the room (moving the bed to where the big dresser is in the above picture), which would also move the sensitive materials away from the radiator.  good.   don’t you love that quilt on the wall?  yeah, i didn’t make it.  it was a gift from a parent when i was teaching.  and, please be kind, it took a lot of reassuring self-talk to convince me to post photos of my bedroom. 

so, i have an approximate budget of $0, and i’ll need a flat table surface, a makeshift sewing station, and a lot of storage.  i’ll also need to work around the swirling tempests:

not a task for the faint of heart, indeed.  and i’ll need a strapping man to help move the furniture.  i see bribery baking in my future…

does anyone have a success story to share with me about your “studio” within the house?  i know many who have them, but started with guest bedrooms or otherwise empty spaces.  guests are not welcome here, unless they’re the crash on the couch types.  love those. 

also, i made a hat.  totally unrelated, i realize, but i wanted to share. 

i left my old hat at the golden west the other night, and rather than walk 3 blocks to retrieve it, i made a new one.  i never liked the old one anyway, i took it as a sign.  maybe some poor cold-headed diner really needed a hat and found it.  it does tend to be somewhat frigid in there… i wish i could tell you the name of the yarn- i know the black was washable wool, and the novelty is from autstermann.  i think i used 11 needles- i wanted 13’s, but i must have lent them to someone, as they are no where in my black hole of a craft stash.  the little flower is crocheted out of the same black as in the body of the hat. 

one more bit of randomness for your wednesday, i ventured out with supa last night to get the hot glue sticks, so i promise an etsy shop update in the imminent future (vague time line-on purpose).  i also have some roving and brand new felting needles to use on a new idea bouncing around in my head. 

snow sunday

 

it didn’t end up being much more than this, but they still loved every minute of it…

and then we ate these…

banana chocolate chip cookies… email me for the recipe- only 60 calories each, and especially good with the Ghirardelli  dark chocolate chips we got half price! 

…drum roll please…

and the winner is…   sarah, from small fox in a big world!  woo-HOO! 

congrats, my dear, and thanks for reading.  head over to her blog, she makes lovely scarves and dear owls, which you can purchase from her etsy shop.  she’s a great illustrator as well, there are no limits to her talents. 

email me your address, sarah, and your pin will be on its way prontissimo. 

i am trying hard not to assume that the lack of commenting means my pin is not popular, and rather that everyone who reads here is just so darn busy, they can’t comment lest something burn on the stove, or otherwise cause some sort of domestic/work related tragedy.  or maybe it’s that the picture is pretty crappy.  i need a macro lens. 

m’kay.  a list! 

Things That Are Making Me Frustrated, And Yet, I Remain Somehow Optimistic:

• erich has officially moved into an “apartment” with a handy bird entrance (read: hole to the outside), no heat, and no cold water.  and, he can only stay there a month.  if you live in baltimore, and have an apartment for rent that you wouldn’t have to sell an organ to afford AND does not include continuous year-round air conditioning or bird sanctuary services, please email me. 
• i have been working towards an etsy shop update for weeks, so that i could make a bit of moolah to buy some crafting supplies to make more things, and thus, more moolah.  it was really working great in my head, until i ran out of hot glue sticks.  no can-a make-a.  urrrrg. 
• my car, which has been in the shop for over 2 weeks, seems to be nowhere near completion, and i’ve been renting a minivan in the meantime, which is going to cost about $26,000 by the time this is all said and done. 
• all the faucets in my house have recieved the memo on leaking, and have complied.  i know they are plotting against me, and i am not happy.  i just had a very stern conversation with the one in the bathroom. 

however, i remain optimistic.  i mean, it could be this bad, after all.  hang in there, luckybeans family, and thank goodness you had the presence of mind to take photos. 

oh, and emily, thanks so much for the card + gift cert.  i was squealing when i finally opened it yesterday!  lurk on! 

all ye who lurk…

reveal yourselves!  really, i want to know who you are, and i have planned to entice you with a lovely giveaway… a felted crochet flower pin with a ribbon french knot center.

 

leave a comment, and i’ll draw a winner on friday.  i’ll even ship internatinoally.  woo-ha!  think you have nothing to say?  how ’bout:

• your thoughts on the new blog theme
• your favorite day of the week and why
• sesame street muppet you love most
• your feelings on sandwich crusts
• your favorite Dylan song
• tips on how to get rid of the mice in my kitchen

you have five mintues, starting…. NOW!  comment, COMMENT, COMMENT!!!

but, you know, no pressure. 

crafting space

this title has multiple meanings for me this morning.  let me start by apologizing if you’re reading this news here before i’ve been able to tell you individually, especially if you are a family member.  i’m feeling weary-lipped about it, just like i did when i had to tell everyone on earth about losing the baby in september.  erich and i have decided to separate.  in many ways, i feel relieved.  friends have commented that it probably won’t be all that different for me, that i’ve been living as a single mom for some time now.  i know it will be very different, but it seems to me that the positive will far outweigh the negative. 

i’ve gotten to the point where the idea of modelling this martyrdom as a healthy relationship to emulate (mostly to sage, but to zander, too) is scarier than the thought of my kids having a “broken” home.  what if it was broken to begin with?

i grew up with divorced parents, and often i have told myself that i would not break up my own marriage to avoid the stickiness of that situation.  there were never any terrible movie-style moments in my childhood, and i felt loved and safe throughout the process.  when i look back on it now, i think about what my nana told me once- when people ask ‘HOW do you DO it?’ (and, she was talking about having two, or three in her case, very young children, but i have applied it across many areas of my life), you just tell them that it’s all you know, and so you get up every morning and live out your life.  you have nothing to compare it with, it’s just what it is, and you just get the job done.  that’s how i feel about that time in my life-  i didn’t know any differently, so i just got up each day and did what i knew.  i’m hoping it will be similar for my kids. 

as for me, i’m looking at the opportunities this presents.  i’ve been wanting to craft a space in the house for craft, and now i will have the chance to; a) have the space, and b) decide how it’s to be used.  the frustrating thing is that the ideal space (just big enough, super sunny in the afternoon, has a door i could close), a little porch off the back of my kitchen, is falling off of the house.  so, can’t get in there right now.  i’m looking into other options- i could carve a space out of my bedroom, which is pretty huge by baltimore-row-house standards.  i need to be making things right now- it keeps me humming. 

so, if you’re the praying kind, please say one for my family, and if you’re the energy kind, please send me some awesome chi, and if you’re the wishing and hoping kind, please wish and hope a smooth sail for us into this new place. 

snow white

so, i went with the black.  i love it.  the after:

as for sprout salon, thumbs-UP.  it’s a great atmosphere, not too hipper-than-thou, but hip enough to make you feel cool.  i saw leah, who offers the cheapest cuts.  she’s perfect- not to chatty to annoy, no pressure to buy stuff, just nice and really good at what she does.  we decided on the color together, and i loved the process- the natural dye doesn’t smell at all, and it doesn’t burn on the scalp.  the only thing that i haven’t liked is that it hasn’t exactly come off my scalp yet.  if i scratch my head, i have black gunk under my nails, and this is after 3 washings with vigorous scrubbing.  i assume it will improve as time passes.  i hope, that is.  cause, you know, that’s not the most attractive thing. 

the cut is perfect- i told her i was open to whatever she wanted to do, as long as we could avoid the dreaded mushroom.  i’ve been cutting my own hair for the past 4 years, when my beloved hair man moved away (miss you, hini!).  it’s curly, so it never mattered much if it wasn’t perfect, and i liked doing it the way lorraine massey describes in her book, curly girl (a must-read if you are one).  but, as you can imagine, the back of my hair was very difficult to get to, and often i just randomly chopped upside down and hoped for the best.  the new cut is so nice, even in the back it falls so perfectly.  she used the thinning shears underneath, which makes it a little bit more fluffy than i’m used to, but i think in a couple days it will lay down and behave more.  they also shampooed it (which i never do), so that could have contributed to the fluff factor. 

all told, the event cost me $120, with a generous tip.  not bad, considering you’d expect to pay more for the natural dye.  i will definitely go back again, and i think you should go there, too.  i also chatted with the owner, rachel, who is super nice and has kids the same ages as mine.  she is very patient and sweet, as i noted while shamelessly eavesdropping on another cutting.

 in other non-hair related news, i have been writing some songs the past few weeks, which i hadn’t done in a very long time.  it’s been interesting, and i’m not sure what to think of them, as everything always seems so silly and contrived when you look at it the next day, but i have to believe that everyone feels that way when they start something that exposes them so fully.  it’s a little disconcerting.  stay tuned for further developments there. 

crafting wise, i’ve cast on for my charity knitting project for january, an afghan strip for sue’s ongoing project.  i have a metric ton of lion brand Homespun yarn to use, but if you’d like to contribute to the project and you don’t have a stash teeming with yarn you’d like to rid yourself of, go down to lovelyarnsin hampden, and sue will give you the yarn for this project.  isn’t that cool?  and, on the flip side, if you have yarn to donate to the cause, but no time or inclination to knit (or crochet) the strip, sue would be happy to take your yarn donation. 

making progress

SO.  i have an appointment tomorrow afternoon at the organic salon, Sprout, and my angelic sister to watch the kids.  here’s the before picture:

the question for you, should you choose to answer, is: to cover the gray, should i go full-on snow white-style black, or try to match it more to my real color?  i’m leaning towards the snow white thing.  i’m getting a cut, too, which i haven’t had done in over 4 years, when i started cutting it myself.  i’ll have a full review here afterwards, for all you charm city dwellers who cannot wait to hear what i thought, so you can flock there in droves.  or not.  depending on how it goes.  right. 

also, i have begun sketching the design for the tat, but i’m still conflicted about where on my body to put it… i’d like it to be where you wouldn’t neccessarily see it if i didn’t want you to (no bats out of the belfry, kristin- geez, i still can’t believe that– email me if you’re interested in the story- too racy to write about here), but not on a place that could be changed forever by a baby, should another ever come.  i’m thinking sort of the back of my hip.  if you have gotten a tattoo in baltimore, please leave me your recommendations in the comments- i’m thinking the museum, but i’m also not totally decided on that. 

and now, i’d like to announce how very proud i am to have made such easy to implement resolutions, enough so that on this, only the THIRD DAY of the year, i am somewhat close to finishing one of them.  yay, me.  yay, indeed. 

resolute

yes, i am indeed alive. isn’t it super?!!?

i could spend valuable lines of text explaining my absence, or i could just get on with the list. 

1.  be honest in all circumstances, as nicely as possible. 

2.  die hair black again (to cover the gray). 

3.  get that tattoo that’s been bouncing around in my head for 10 years. 

4.  always have a charity fiber project going on- be it knitting, crochet, or sewing. 

5.  set up a proper studio space for crafting. 

6.  blog at least twice per week.  no excuses. 

i think that’s enough.  i’ve gotten a jump on number 6 by ordering the wifi card thingy dingy, and number four is underway.  there’s a new organic salon in my neighborhood to help out with number two, and hopefully a friend will hold my hand for number three.  applications are being received for this position at my home, you know the number. 

number five needs it’s own post, more on that later this week (i promise).