Donations.

Just a quick update: I'm donating 100% of all sales from my Etsy shop to The Red Cross. Spread the word! And anything I add to the shop this weekend will be part of the donations.

Craft fallout.

It's been one of those days where I feel defeated and overly ambitious to a fault. I created my first prototype for the Kindle case - or at least started to - and got discouraged. I didn't think the pattern through and it ended up being a bust. I learned from the mistakes, of course, but I got frustrated and annoyed and put my machine away as quickly as my hands could get her back into her box.

It's a nice problem to have though, not being happy with my crafts. I could definitely have worse things to content with on a daily basis. For instance, I could be without this sweet little face peeking at me from behind the printer!

Luckily, Hazel is a mere 10 months old so she should be around for a long, long time. She'll get to witness more days of crafting fallout, I'm certain.

2010: The Year of OhMyGodIWantToGetSoMuchDone. So far.

You guys, I'm in craft overload! There are so many things coming at me and I don't know what to do with myself. I get excited about too many projects at one time and they all end up piling up on each other. Over the last month or so I've been very focused on quilts. For Christmas I made a quilt for my mom (the pink one) and another for my sister and brother-in-law (day of the dead).

It was nice to have one focus for a while but now I'm excited about all of these other possibilities - excited but overwhelmed! This is what's going on in my busy mind:

Brain-Based Project 1)
My husband and I got a Kindle for Christmas from my dad and stepmother and I LOVE it. They got us a case - a really nice case - but I can't leave well enough alone and I want to make my own. I went to my handy neighborhood quilting store earlier this week for some fabric and I have some chipboard on order so that the case can be rigid enough to support the device. I have a plan in my head for how I'd like it to look and work but it's not on paper yet. I plan on sketching out a pattern later today. If they work out, I might like to get some up on my fabric-based Etsy shop soon.

Partially Brain-Based Project 2)
My mother has a newly revived love of jewelry. Last week I placed a large order with Fire Mountain Gems and the package arrived yesterday. Needless to say? I'm overwhelmed with little plastic baggies in the best way. I ordered some items for myself (duh) for pieces that I'd like to get posted to my jewelry-based Etsy shop soon too. In addition, I ordered some Jax Black so those pieces can be given a lovely patina. P.S. Shipping costs for hazardous materials are ridiculous.

Currently In Action Project 3)
I started an embroidery project in December that is going to have be french-knotting until the next decade.

Should I Even Go There Project 4)
I'd like to make some new candle molds - a tiki statue thing and a matryoshka doll. I have an object I can use for the tiki mold but the matryoshka model I'll have to make. Candles are totally fun and easy to make and I love gifting them. And I have some wax that I'd really like to use up so I can have that shelf space back!


Entirely Brain-Based and I'm Ridiculous For Even Thinking About It Project 5)
My work friend Alix is a quilter. She blessed me this morning with some quilting catalogs. Really? There are so many cool little tools and sweet patterns and lovely fabrics and I want to make another quilt but for who? For what? Aren't there enough things going on without thinking about another quilt? The answer is clearly yes. I'm going to let this one go.


Thanks for letting me work through this. On top of my neurotic need to have a project going on at all times, we're about to start preparing our townhouse to go on the market. We're dreadfully out of space and we want to have a baby so... yeah. It's not a great market for townhomes - any home, really - so I have to cute it up in a big way. We're thinking March or April so the time for making to-do lists is upon us. As if we don't both have lengthy to-do lists already!

Finally, Happy New Year to everyone! I feel good things about 2010. Maybe it's the symmetry of the numbers themselves. So much better than 2009. I hope your year is filled with good people, good food, good times and great accomplishments.