I haven’t posted in forever! Busy getting ready for a December craft fair and finishing up putting together my mom’s personalized sight word reading program. Am missing crocheting fun thingies! While waiting for playing bathing kids yesterday, I was able to whip out a giant…um…for want of a better term, heart-shaped butt pad! I was just thinking of making something I could throw on the ground at the park to sit on so the ants don’t bite me, and had tons of this bright, nuclear-colored Lion cotton yarn and Lion cotton ease purple yarn. (It will haunt me forever, there is always more in the closet! I think it’s breeding in there, behind closed doors. I mean, how many giant purple octopi can one person make out of the stuff?!) Yes, that is supposed to be a heart. The original pattern is from the Lion yarn website and I used 8 strands of yarn at once, with an P sized hook. That actually was too small, needed to go bigger. This perfectly fits on my computer chair also, and fits my butt!

Christmas? I haven't even thought about it except to roll my eyes in dread and slight horror. Yes, it's supposed to be a happy time, but the thought of all the presents to make or procure, fills me with a fear and need to scream akin to entering a haunted house. A really scary one!

I have not posted on etsy in forever. I hate the time it takes to get a good shot and then find out it wasn't a good shot. I need a light box so i can do the deed at night or inside or wherever, when ever. I so sad. :(

Remember reading that the most brilliant artists are also...um...nuts. I mean, really NUTS! So there's hope for me and big kid yet. We're both freakishly bipolar in temperament. It's a wonder my family manages to breed, I tell you.

Many projects underway but happily willing to put nose and lip and forehead to grindstone to create something that will help someone read better, happier, easier, and affordably decorate others. Ya, ya, two very different things but both are my babies (well one is my mom's baby and i just provide the sweat to produce the final product) and I am very excited to see how these two businesses will do in the long term.

Photos to follow, when I can manage to Take Decent Pictures!

photo by Eduardo Amorin


Doing that web surfing thing again. I keep getting side-tracked. Supposed to be finding creative commons images that can be used in the reading books my mom puts together and saw this amazing image. There's another one that looks like a Spanish rodeo shot. Very, very breathtaking shot. My daughter used it for a get-well card for her best friend's little brother. Which made me think that if two good friends have a row, maybe they could send nice cards saying how much they care about each with a cute or funny photo printed on the front, via snail mail.

Confession

I had one of these

and

one of these

today.

Now, I am not on a diet, mind you, but a healthy food plan. That means, lots, and lots, and lots of vegetables. Boy, eating lots of vegees is WORK! You gotta wash um and cook, steam, peel, chop, or otherwise prepare them. Not like fruits or bread that you just aquire and stuff in your face.

Epiphany:
The pooch is not from...well, i dunno what i thought it was from. But I have recently realized that it is a result of lax upper abdominal muscles. Ones you can make good with angled sit-ups. Cuz I know regular sit-ups don't do much for that poochy thing that sits right below your navel and just stares at you, begging for attentions, a name, squishige. My pooch reappears if I stay away from the gym and the slanted sit-up thingy for more than a few days. And the fat rolls. They like to reappear for extended visits if lots of vegees are not consumed, along with the regular cardio sweat fest.

New developments in Yarn Confections:


Jewelry for big or little people - chokers and matching bracelets with varying closures in two rayon cord colors: Bamboo and Pink Beach.
Closures available include decorative toggle, lobster claw, or wood bead and loop. For kids I would advise the wood bead and loop. It is very easy to fasten and pretty secure. Just loop the bead through the opposing loop a couple of times. However, my three year old was able to manipulate the larger flowery toggle-loop closure easily. I was pretty surprised. Also known as rat tail, this material is gently hand washable so you can easily clean off sunscreen, dirt, and sweat . Custom orders are available. Just measure your neck or wrist for the desired snugness and indicate what type of closure you would like. Bead or lobster claw is recommended for bracelets.

How about a bookmark for party favors, office gifts, graduation goodies? This bookmark is made in baby shower friendly colors. I can make planny! Just let me know.

Make your own Charms Bracelet
This is a fun and easy bracelet to make, for much less than ones you buy with $5 per charm cost, or more. Good for kids, teens, fun adults, fundraisers, etc.

Materials:
hair elastics
jump rings (6mm in this picture)
one or more buttons (these charms will clump together as there are not stopper things, so using just one well-chosen button has a nicer effect)
two jewelry or beading pliers, at least one should be needlenose

Instructions:
1. For each button charm used, take out three jump rings. These will be linked like a chain to the hair elastic.

2. Open up two of the rings using the needlenose pliers. Hold one in each hand and TWIST the ring ends open (bend one side forward and the other backward). Do not pry them apart; this would weaken the metal.

3. Slip a button and the closed jump ring on to one open ring. Close this ring with the two pliers and then carefully squeeze the ends shut. Squeeze the ring right around the opening to make it as smooth and non-catchy as possible.

4. Slip the hair elastic and the never-opened jump ring on to the other opened jump ring. You should now have three linked rings that link a button on one side and the hair elastic on the other.

Do this for each charm and you are done!

Note: Ideally, split rings should be used on the elastic for more secure holding power, but at this small size I just couldn't get the thing to stay open so stuck with jump rings. We'll see how long the buttons stay on!

I will work on more detailed pictures of the jump ring opening, but it's pretty simple.



Even at camp...

For SALE. $20
I'm a gonna put these up for sale on eBay real soon. Anyone interested? They will be available to the other public maybe next week or end of this week, for same price plus whatever book rate and a shipping package or box will be. I can drop them off at the next Aloha Knitters meeting if anyone wants um. But ya gotta take 'em ALL, cuz I don't wanna take um back home with me.
Funky Knits: Knitting Know-How for hip young things (I am sorry to say this book is too young for me...)
minnies: quickknits for babies and toddlers by Jil Eaton
25-Hour Crochet Projects by Rita Weiss
Crochet: 20 Simple and Stylish Designs to Wear (a Weekend Crafter book) by Jane Davis
Hollywood Knits by Suss Cousins (i really thought I'd make a few things in here but it's not happening). I think this is the same one as the link, just different cover, earlier edition. Mine also has 30 patterns, including the one on the cover at amazon.

If you want these and need them mailed, I would just charge you the book rate plus the shipping materials. email me if interested.

Working on various t-shirt designs. Some clip art, some hand drawn. It's FUN! Still working out how to do the cafepress thing. Neato to actually design your own shirt graphics.

Work hat

And this is how I'm supposed to get all my work done?

I'll do the six weird things later. Wanted to share these I found out about on local craigslist. I do not YET move enough product to purchase the minimum (5 rolls of 1000 stickers each), but perhaps other local crafters would like to band together and get some. I am posting the closeup of the stickers here, as sent by Francie, the seller. Here is the original link: http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/art/398661448.html

I have all these great ideas and often when I share them, people look at me like I'm a space creature from the planet Sif. Except for my husband, bless his heart. (mebbe cuz he bounces all his ideas off me too). So I'm just going to start a series of lists that neatly categorize some of these ideas for my type A personality.

Community
Every community fixture should have a way that community members can get to know the employees better while also utilizing available services. For example:

1. Community Library - have a place that posts a library employee's or a library patron's recommendations and current reading. I want to know what the people who work there are reading!
2. School library - how about getting various school staff and parents and community leaders to read a favorite book on tape to be lent out, with or without the book it goes with
   
3. Police Station - their bulletin board can have a monthly safety tip along with a picture and name of the officer who offered it
4. Don Quijote has started offering a lot of Mexican food ingredients. I don't know how to cook Mexican food but I'd be willing to try. Why not put take-away recipe cards using some of those ingredients next to this section, or by the entrance along with the weekly specials, or at the customer service counter. Every week or two, a new recipe. Every month feature a different ethnic food group. Or all kinds of recipes featuring kabocha, which would be on sale that week, or bok choy, etc.
5. Blockbuster - put specific employees picks on display, along with his/her reviews of recent releases
6. Post Office - is there a way I can find out about my mail carrier (kids? hobbies? how long been one?) and his mailing tip

I suggested the thing about the library recommendations, twice, and both times the response was "well, we have the Hot Picks" which is a list of a few national bestsellers that all the library branches carry. My response to that response: but I want to know what MY library's peoples are reading! That was six months ago, I guess they were not amused.

Fundraisers
My kid's school does various fundraisers all year. All year. Mostly selling stuff entirely unconnected to the kids, the community, nothing. It's just stuff. Anyway, I was wondering, why can't fundraisers for kids be stuff or services made or provided by the kids. The kids would learn that their ideas and tangible production have value, as well as a host of other relevant business skills being gained. The other way, they're just learning, maybe, to ask people for money. And their parents are probably doing most of the work, so where's the learning. So what can kids (and teens) make/offer? How about:

• service coupons (wash car, rake leaves, clean out the garage, walk the dog, read the newspaper to someone with limited vision)
• handmade wrapping paper
• take your bottles and cans to the recycle place for a fee
• organize, copy and bind all your family recipes
• bookmarks
• decorated spiral notebooks and composition books
• shop for a younger student's school supplies
• design school or community shirts/mugs/towels/etc. and sell on cafepress.com
• design logo stuff for school clubs other than their own
• videos of school events
  

Now how much ownership, pride, and learning would those fundraisers have gained.

Now, do I have to personally offer to coordinate each of my ideas for them to be taken seriously? Put them in writing and submitted to the pertinent place? I may try that. Not the offer to be in charge of each, but the in writing part. I'm good at the in writing part. That would be an awesome experiment. See what kind of response I get. Not like I don't have enough on my plate. I'm supposed to be doing some etsy forum learning as I type.

20 Reasons Why Living in Pearl City Rocks:

1. larger parking spaces than town
2. wider roads that are also easier to navigate and change direction on
3. the library
4. 2 craft stores
5. Daiei now Don Quijote
6. elementary, intermediate and high schools
7. WalMart
8. Wendy's
9. lock Buster
10. Longs
11. 3 Zippy's (with fabulous mid-priced sushi at the closest one)
12. a wholesale fabric store
13. malasadas
14. a Thai restaurant
15. Dave's ice cream parlor
16. YMCA
17. free trolley
18. 2 BordersALL the above lie within 3 square miles of my house!
19. Moms Club
20. my kid's school is small

Favorite Ice Cream Flavors:
something with coffee and chocolate
chocolate
mint chocolate chip
haupia
lychee serbet
green tea
ube

Things I like to read about:

good friends
smart, funny women (if they swear, it's a bonus) who get the guy
plot twists

Okay, that's it for now, but these lists will continue!

Yarn Confections 25% off Keiki Lei SALE

Quick! Any keiki lei, 25% off. Just wait for the revised invoice before clicking on the final payment in paypal. I will send a revised one. Just put in the comments to seller portion "yarnpornhawaii" so I know how you heard about the sale.

In other news, I am discovering that I simply need to revamp my typing skills. I haven't taken a typing course in DECADES and am realizing I need to type faster and more accurately. I hate hitting the delete key every time my letters get jumbled.

I am also learning all kinds of little interesting business things. Like, it's important to keep your company's name in the target market's sights, whether by keeping the blog current, or posting new items often, or keeping on top of different crafting and online business sites, being aware of business opportunities. Wow. No wonder it's called WORK! It's fun though, I like having something new to learn about an area I am passionate about all the time. Keeps me going "oh!", "think of that!", "I'll try that!"

Oh well, I'm off to wash off gym sweat and read to sleepy kids.

I just joined this great bunch of ladies who work from home. Check out my featured bio! Whoopee!

My Sisters Petal FunRings:

Off to get the kiddos ready for school.

Oh, and I have 13 days to finish knitting that sweater I posted about earlier. Fronts done. Back taking LOOOOONG time. Not. Good.

I missed my knit group last night preparing the kids for camping today. I yelled so loud at them to go sleep my mouth hurt afta and I was very grumpy. And now we're off to CAMP. I'll be less grumpy after coffee...and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

Big one lost another tooth this week. That's two gaps in her mouth. She's thrilled to pieces.

And been making bookmarks. Lots of bookmarks.

I just found this blog, I think i was reading posts in my creators of crochet daily digest on yahoo. And this thing this girl made is AMAZING:


Those are KNIT lemmings. Jumping off a KNIT cliff. And swimming in the KNIT ocean!!! Is that KNIT-F'ing cool or what??!! There are more detail shots on her blog and they will leave you speechless.

By the way, she also has patterns for sale that are very kawai'i.

Trying to get this last pair of Soldier Socks off my back. Making good progress on the foot of one, what with the thicker yarn.


Also trying to complete my first sweater in a long time and the first sweater for my husband. Mid-August deadline. The location of his business trip is said to be chill. From Interweave Knits summer 2006. I have the worst luck substituting yarns and getting gauge so I just used what the pattern calls for, cascade 220, in a lovely deep shade of brown. Oh, ya, it didn't hurt that the model was totally yummy. The simple lines of the piece are really what made me think my guy would wear it. (and, yes, i do just keep telling myself that, sort of. Hey, i need some kind of incentive to keep working madly at that sheer volume of back and forth stockinette.)

I'm reading various etsy threads about pricing and pricing formulas and valuing your time, and omg, i'm getting a headache. Considering how much time it took to change my prices the last time, I'm reluctant to go through THAT again. Maybe if there were a quick and easy way to adjust prices on etsy...

In any case, I price for what I would and could spend - on things for kids, my main target. Because kids use things, and abuse things, and LOSE things, I make and price items that I or the buyer wouldn't be overly distraught if something HAPPENED to them. Cuz you know it will. If the item is loved and used, something will happen to it. I'd like my craft to be liked and loved and USED. And because of that last word, and the kid target, I try to make things washable, durable, for multiple uses, and that took limited time creating. I am a very practical gal, and I want that thing I toiled over to be used so much it literally falls apart from love and wear, thus my kid recipients. So I price so that a busy parent can say "Oh, I like that!" and if another or more are needed, wanted, she won't think twice about ordering a bunch more.

Also, it is not really fair to devalue "non-professional" (hobbyist) because they cannot drop everything else to pursue their dream. Buyers will buy what they like and not what they don't. How one makes her living should have nothing to do with the value of a particular item. It should stand on its own merit.

I'm a full-time mom and a crafter. You bet your ass I value my time.

And that's my take on the whole pricing fiasco. (as posted on the pricing thread in the etsy forum)

In trying to promote my etsy shop I am trying to do some advertising, crafter style. I tried to make these iron-ons with my site name but had a little trouble getting the iron to be hot enough. Results after washing are abysmal, but now I know why screen printing is better. Your site on a shirt is a good idea, though. We wear brand names all the time, that we've paid for! So why not our own. Also, I got decals for my car off etsy from monster promos. They're cute.

And also working on other ideas for incorporating neato buttons into cute wearables. Unfortunately, I only remember to adorn myself with these things I've made when my body is the only one leaving the house. When kids are involved, I'm lucky to have my teeth brushed, bra on, food packed, and phone in pocket.

CRAFTY!
Keiki Gifts purchased some of my crocheted flowers and she did the most amazing things with them! I am so stoked! Will post link to her actual blog entry if I get her permission.

This was the "potion" created by older. It included some pretty expensive essential oils and some foam alphabets that accidentally got dumped in the toilet afterwards, but creative, and documented by older one, all the same. She and younger she collaborated on this effort.

Today we took it easy, again, because just yesterday morning the big one says "my throat REALLY hurts!" Today she says "It...doesn't. Can I have some candy? How about some ice cream?" So in the spirit of she's already sick, and the little one is asking me for all kinds of forms of sugar, I gave in and let them have one mochi ice cream each. They preferred chocolate but settled for strawberry.

That and they requested outside naked baths. Ya, that's exactly what it sounds like. So, obviously no pictures. This time. We did it in the front yard as it was sunnier, but only off and on. The big one got shivery in the breeze and the little one just ran around with her towel afterwards refusing to get dressed. And after both were clean and dry, both ran around sky-clad, refusing to get dressed. Fortunately, they remembered they had a video to finish (Night at the Museum) before too long and finally came in before Child Protective Services was called.

On the crafting side, my self-designed surfboard knit shape is not coming along too well. Looking like a Zulu warrior shield so I ripped it all out and will try different frequency of increases. I should have snapped a pic but changed to working on a girl's version of the keiki kane lei. Maybe an anklet.

Nya nya, I swooped in and scooped up all keikigifts' fairy tiara stash last week! Okay, I shouldn't gloat. Sorry. But I so happy I now have some more wondeful, original, handmade gifts. Yippee! Now if I could just get organized so I don't panic at last minute because I forgot I already have the presents.

We celebrated July 4th by dying yarn using Kool Aid. I turned one skein of Cascade 220 into six and the girls had three chances each to hand-dye, single color in the microwave, and single color on the stove. Boy, that was easy AND fun! We need to find more colors of Kool Aid. Only three available in Times Supermarket in packets. I wonder if other brand drink mixes work. I would like to dry a green and a blue. I'd also like to try REAL yarn dyes like those offered by Knit Picks.

Just finished photographin the keiki kane lei and new Ringos. I had especially good time taking the lei pictures. See!!!

Looking at it now, the picture seems a little dark to me. Maybe I'll make a light box like Kai's.
And most exciting: I met up with the Aloha Knitters last night! Whooooeeeeeee! That was FUN! I got to meet real people whose blogs I read and who are also a little loony about the yarn. We looked at each others' knitting magazines, yarn, projects, stitch markers, and dog! Everybody was really nice and I was just so happy to be there. So many came out to knit! That was awesome!

Being in Hawaii my family and i use words like boob or cheechee. I think cheechee is a kid or guy word. In any case, did you know...there is no such word on the net as chee chee or chi chi or cheechee or chichi referring to boobs? My hubby just looked on google with zero accurate results. Like that was worth spending time on. But he did. And now we know. Okay then.

I wanted to share, my really nice older lady knitting/crocheting/crafting group with whom I meet on Thursday evenings, share no crazy yarn lust kinship with myself. SIGH....I think they just see it as a tool but not an ends!!! I brought the green stuff I had recently purchased and only one person actually touched it (nobody's fingers itched to just grab the stuff) and the only comment was "Ho, expensive, eh!" So. so. I so sad. I like them really, but they just don't understand! That must be why so many knitters have online communities and frenz. Because no one they actually know in the flesh understands this color and fiber craze that has us gripped so tightly it is our drug. Before when I thought about drugs, I imagined the high from cough syrup. Now I just imagine YARN, LOTS AND LOTS of yarn. I think if I ever made it to Mocha Java one of these days I would never leave. I would be there til closing and nobody in my family would be happy about the bather/teeth brusher/flosser/story reader/go to sleep body not being there for ONE whole evening a week. That does it. I'm gonna try it. Maybe tomorrow!!!

I tried to find a decent image of yarn and boobs together but couldn't.

Do you think sitting and knitting/crocheting/crafting can make fat stay on your butt, despite frequent exercise and plenty of veges? That and the pooch on your tummy? Or my tummy, rather. It just sits there comfortably, stubbornly refusing to leave, no matter how many angled crunches i do (the ones where your feet are hooked over this thing and your body is at an angle, either downward or upward). I'll take picto next time i'm at the Y.

I thought i was ready to start the heels on both soldier socks but i just reread the instructions and apparently i have to knit 2 more inches of legs.

I got this in today! Woohooo! All the way from British Columbia off etsy: See Jayne Knit Yarns. The stitch markers are beautiful and they came with the yarn! It took three whole weeks to arrive but it was worth the wait.

My kid is actually shouting at me to read to her...So i guess that's a good thing.

Do you Ringo?



I do!

Get to the store to see more!

I'm taking pictures of my latest thingies for Yarn Confections and my kid has to get in the picture...




Come visit Yarn Confections!
I've opened another storefront on etsy that is more aptly named and doesn't make proper people go "uh-oh." The items from the original site will either be moved over or saled off. Ringos are my latest confection. Check them out! I have to snap pics and bag 'em quickly before the girls or I try to hoard them ALL.

Oh, and my friend who makes those beautiful fairy crowns also has an etsy site, KeikiGifts.etsy.com. She only has a few of those handmade wonders available...going for a TOTAL STEAL. You won't believe it. Please check them out.

My friend made these absolutely beautiful fairy princess crowns for my girls. I took loads of pictures to try and capture some of the workmanship and intricacies.

It looks like she first wrapped eyelash yarn and thin ribbon around the wire base.




Then pieces of that wedding veilish stuff is tied all along it, along with lots of pretty fake flowers that have bead centers.









Also, ribbon streamers are tied at the ends with different beads tied along the lengths and at the end. Wire circles with beads and charms are also attached at various points. These crowns are really the most amazing things I've ever seen. Soooo neat! The best part is the base is a thick but bendable wire so I can shape it very easily to the wearer's head. Oh yeah, and my kids LOVE them!

Thank you so much, J!