Monday, September 29, 2008

Emotional Rollercoaster

Seriously, that's been me the last few weeks. Well the last few days for sure. I'm happy to find solace in my crafting. Unfortunately this digi cam (which will not speak ill of since it was gifted to me) is having issues with the flash feature. So all the pictures I've been trying to take come out dark. I've started new scarf designs that I can't even share with the www.
*cries*

I'm so proud of 'em too. I've gotten the hang of the button hole feature on my sewing machine. And now I want to put button holes on everything. This sewing thing is mad fun. Tis a shame I waited so long to indulge myself in it's thready goodness. I forgive myself though.


If only it were so simple to forgive myself for other things. I seriously need to lighten up when it comes to self expectations. I know we are our own worst critic. But there are times I take it too a whole new level. And as I type this in the dark, in my dining room there is a lil mosquito type bug stuck on the lap top screen. I know it's not a mosquito for real, but I don't know wtf it is. It's annoying, that's for sure.

Yeah, your girl is coming up on 5 years at her current employer. I already know what my raise is gunna be. It ain't much, but it's mine. And I'm very grateful to even have a job right now because I know of other people who are struggling something serious. And today I read an interesting blurb about a former employer of mine buying a former potential employer. And I smiled inside knowing that the peace I felt when the former potential employer thing didn't pan out was something real. The Universe was truly on my side. And in my heart I didn't really want the job so in a way I willed it not to happen. My spirit just told me that place was not the place for me.

My lil Prince got another 100% on his second spelling test! He's a lil genius. Although I think the spelling words were a bit easy. They were just the days of the week. But imagine my delight when he already knew how to spell Wednesday. I'm so proud of how he's making a very conscious effort to do well in school. He actually enjoys challenging himself. I pray that drive stays in him forever and ever amen. Tomorrow his class and the other 2nd grade class are taking a field trip to a local college. I'll be going along to help keep the kids from getting lost. My lil Prince is super excited about visiting a real college campus. I'm excited for him.

Well, hopefully pictures will be forthcoming. I need those pictures in order to list them and sell them in my shop! Argh!

Oh, and I think I may go with the goldish, yellow color suggestion by flytie for the set to match my purple peacoat!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

For a limited time only

After stalking the etsy treasury for the last three nights I have successfully made it in!
First Time for Everything

Hurry now kids, it's for a limited time only. Some of my favorite shops are in there. Flytie got a shot out for that gorgeous Tunic Dress she recently made. I *heart* it!

I've been pretty tired, and this freezing office temperature doesn't help. The moon phase gives me a little hint as to why I'm feeling this way.

I haven't crocheted a thing in the last few days. I kinda want some new yarn tho. lol. Think I'll work on finishing the crown I started a week or so ago.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

100% Pure Love


My lil Prince scored a 15 out of 15 on his very first spelling test. We told him he could get a special treat when we went to the grocery store. He proudly selected some Cheeto’s Hot Fries. lol. That child loves some spicy food.

In the last week I have sold two items! I am very proud of myself, but feeling the pressure to create more. It has been on the back burner the last few days since I’ve been making it a point to do some fall cleaning and organizing on the home front. Today I plan to fold all the clothes recently washed, and organize my sewing table which also sits in the dining room. I do believe I need more storage bins for my yarn and fabric. But for now I’ll have to work with what I’ve got. I need to get over this urge to save every little scrap of fabric. Much like I use to do with yarn. It just kinda piles up into a heap of confusing tidbits of projects (some gone bad) and it can get overwhelming. My mood is affected by my environment. And a cluttered or messy environment irritates me to no end. So the plan is to organize all this stuff and eventually get more storage containers so I can KEEP it organized.

I’ve been thinking about things I’d like to add to my winter wardrobe. Fortunately I’m already set as far as jackets and coats. I still have my lovely purple trench style pea coat. Which I still absolutely adore. But I’m trying to figure out what direction as far as color that I’d like to go with a hat, scarf and mittens. Last yearn I wasn’t exactly coordinating. I wore my coral pashmina scarf (which I still have and love wearing) and made some off white arm warmers. I plan to go the arm warmer route again since the sleeves on the coat are still too short. But the choice of color is stumping me. I could just go with a winter white again, or I can step it up with another color that would pop. Maybe a very light purple or stick with the coral so I don’t have to make a scarf? I may go yarn shopping today during my lunch break to see what I can find. I’m thinking wool is the way to go for this winter.

I’m definitely on the look out for more cardigans. They seem to go perfectly over my dresses for added warmth. I wear cardigans year round because the office STAYS cold. I’m sitting her now (yes, blogging at work) with cold hands. I have a pair of cheap gloves that I sometimes wear to get my fingers warm again.


So I was blog hopping and came across a blogger who kept posting picture of her Bento http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento . Now first off had no idea what the heck a Bento was, but I loved how it had the lil compartments for everything and figured it would be a great way to maintain proper portion sizes for food.

I was thinking, man I’d love to have a dish like her lil Bento thingy. Well come to find out a Bento basically a single portion mean that traditionally contained, rice, meat and veggies. I’m like HELLO! Great idea, you Japanese folks. Lol. But seriously, I want one. I know there are various Tupperware contraptions that have the lil compartments to separate food. I think I may just buy one of those. Right now I usually have bunch of different plastic containers and sandwich bags to hold my lunches in. It can be cumbersome to remember everything and getting it to fit just right in my work bag. But the Bento seems like something I should have to maybe streamline my whole lunch packing process. So I’m on the look out for something Bento-like to fill that void in my life.

But what I really want to know is, what ever happened to Crystal Waters?

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Out of Focus

This afternoon I logged onto my email and saw that I made an etsy sale! It felt so good to see that. I'm hopeing I can complete at least one more piece this weekend to post in my shop. It's tempting to spend the proceeds from this sale on stuff I'd like for myself on etsy. But my master plan includes cycling the money from sales back into the shop. I plan to purchase more yarn and some other items I've been wanting. I'd love to have some fabric tags made to include in my crochet items.

Man, I just had a total brain freeze. I stared typing out this post wanting to make it about my shop and the stuff that's in the works and I'm sitting here unable to focus. I suppose it's time to get some kind of rest. Something I've been lacking as of late. Even when I go to bed at a decent time i have a hard time getting to sleep. I figure my body will force me to sleep properly at some point. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

I think I'll brose some etsy shops until I fall asleep...

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

I Voted Today

I finished a really cool looking beanie today and am now debating on if I should list it in the store. It's a monotone blue skully/ beanie style hat I'm sure some dude may like. HOWEVER I got to the end and was ready to crochet in the elastic and discovered I misplaced the last bit of elastic. WTF? I'm typically a "place for everything, everything in its place" type of gal. Even when things are a mess I meticulously put things as important as elastic in its proper place because I know I'll need it again. Well I cannot find it in the usual places and that sucks monkey balls right about now. Cuz this crown is real fly and I want to share it with the world.

Methinks I'll have to go to the craft store at some point this week or weekend and pick up a couple of things. I discovered that I have almost a whole mini skein of hot pank cotton yarn. Oh joy! How cool would a hot pink cloth set be?

So as I browse some of the shops on etsy I notice this shocking trend of folks selling "vintage" goods and charging retail (or more) prices. What is the deal with that? Clearly they have rummaged through thrift stores, garage and estate sales to find this stuff. And when did the 1990's become "vintage"? What bothers me is I know some of those dresses I see listed for $60 only cost the person about $9 but they are selling it for sooo much more. To me it's a rip off. I'd rather get off my ass and go find the stuff in the thrift store myself. I enjoy the whole experience anyway so maybe I'm just not a good target market for their "vintage" finds. But I cannot justify paying $60 for a polyester dress that cost the seller no more than $10 to purchase themselves.

So while I sit here typing out this rant about overpriced vintage goods I've considered selling thrifted items in my own shop. I believe myself to have a great eye for thrifted treasures and would love to have another avenue to share that with peoples. I mean, let's be honest, folks seeing me wear the gear is not as fun as them being able to wear it themselves.

As I contemplated a way to avoid being one of those sellers that I just ranted about I figured I'd just charge a flat fee plus the actual cost to me to purchase the item. For instance if I found a fly dress for just $4 I would list the item in my shop for the $4 plus $20 (not sure yet if that will be the amount) for my time, energy, and amazingly great eye for vintage deliciousness. I still keep a decent margin and I won't feel like i'm cheating someone. And if I end up offering this "service" via my etsy shop, I may also prewash each piece before selling it. That way the buyer gets fresh smelling clothes and know if it's actually stained or not. I tend to leave stained clothes alone anyway. I've learned over the years to avoid anything stained at the thrift store because it usually won't come out.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Hater's Ball

I was browsing a popular hair site among natural haired black women and came across a thread discussing a youtube video. To summarize what I personally gathered from the video, there is a lil voice inside us that stifles our creativity. That voice shall henceforth be called the lil hater.


Now the preceding video, while insanely hilarious to me is right on point with how I've been feeling lately about my blog and my creativity. I figured, it had been so long since I had blogged that I better show some pictures, but then I was having issues with getting interesting and relevant pictures and that spiraled into more than a month of not posting. And during that time I had plenty to talk about. I have maybe two unpublished posts sitting there, well, unpublished because I felt like they weren't good enough.

I primarily get these thoughts out for myself. Something about seeing them in writing helps me sort through it all. And something about sharing them makes me feel a little bit more free and light spirited. But I certainly don't want it to become a chore or pressing obligation that causes me to procrastinate because I don't feel my blog post will be good enough. Self reflection would quickly tell me that it matters not what other people think, but how it makes ME feel typing all this stuff out and pressing "PUBLISH POST".

I've finally posted some updates in the esty shop. Which you can most certainly browse (and buy if you like) at the following link: www.BreathofLight.etsy.com

I'm proud of every item I made in that shop and hopefully someone else loves them as much as I do. I'm tempted to post about some recent etsy convos I've had over the last weekend. But I won't because I told myself that after I told my homegirl, that I was done and just needed to vent about it. lol. But yeah, that's on my mind and does the reader of this no good at all to keep referencing it and not explaining. I've digressed.






So I'm more excited as the weather cools about my Fall and Winter inventory. Oh, it has yet to be completed. But the crochet bug has certainly hit and ideas are flowing and eventually spilling out over balls of soft, purty wool yarn. I *heart* wool yarn now. When I first started crocheting I told myself I wouldn't become a yarn snob and buy all that expensive wool and natural fiber yarn. But now I can't help it. Cotton and wool yarn are just so practical when it comes to crocheting garments of any kind. And there are always wool blends (which I use most) that allow you to wash the item without accidentally felting and shrinking it. Cool beans huh?

Speaking of beans... (peep that transition) I've recently developed this intense appreciation for black beans. And I have a particular fondness for black beans and corn. And not that canned or frozen stuff. I'm talking about buying up corn on the cob, peeling all that hairy stuff (the name escapes me now) off, cutting the kernels off and cooking them up. OMGoodness! Talk about some tasty sweet corn that goes with just about everything. Especially black beans. Now I DO buy the black beans in a can. And I have realized all canned black beans are not made equal. Lawd that's a horrible pun, intended or not. But they aren't and GOYA is the worstest. It's like 50/50 actual black beans and then mushy filler. And all that filler (whatsenever it is) gets wasted because I always rinse my canned black beans thinking it helps reduce he sodium content. Why for so much salt to preserve food? I'm thinking soon I'll just buy some dry black beans. I buy all my other beans dry. This wouldn't be much different, right?

Anyways, the fam had some delicious veggie quesadillas tonight. I'm all cheesed out dude. But I don't feel as guilty cuz I threw in some corn (yes ma'am), black beans, spinach, yellow and red bell peppers, and cilantro. So it was sorta balanced if you disregard the high cheese content. But that's what quesadillas are, right?

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Getting in the Way

Frequently life gets in the way of blogging. Interestingly enough, it rarely gets in the way of READING other blogs. Flytie has been whipping up some amazingly beautiful pieces even though she keeps warning us that she’s in a funk. I wish I was in THAT sort of funk! Neosew Mama’s little princess started “big girl” school and had a fun filled first day. I’m sooo looking forward to seeing what kinds of school lunches she puts together. I could always use some creative ideas for my lil one.

Today I picked up some wool yarn to start some hats for winter inventory. As of late I’ve been getting emails and messages inquiring if I’ll still be selling items this coming cold season. Indeed I am! And those messages are motivation to go ahead and get started. I’ve used up most of my cotton yarn making face clothes, and still need to figure out some kind of project to use up my scrap acrylic yarn. Maybe some scrap yarn slippers???


I've purchased some wool blend yarn in some very basic colors and have started a heather gray slouchy tam. I can tell already it's going to be so cute. I better not keep it for myself.


It's the end of summer, going into fall. I've finally gotten a bike. I've had a chance to ride it a couple of times and look forward to much more time riding it next summer. I wonder if it's a good idea to keep it outside in the shed all winter. We have a large storage closet in the apartment but that's not heated anyway so it would still have to fair the winter chill. I'll have to ask Cussin' Crafter about that since her hubster is a bike expert.


As I start spending more time inside due to the cold weather I hope to have more frequent blog updates. And more pictures of course. I love pictures! And I don't have any good excused now since I have a digi cam.