In which I prove that not everything can be done at once

So here we are, on a Friday. It's a quiet morning so far, belying the excitement, stress, panicking and sweat that will define the rest of the day.

Tomorrow hubby and I head to Faires & Berries, the Penumbra Fantasy Faire prelude. This will be my first time as a vendor, and yet I'll be around the faire performing for most of the day while my business partner Crystal (crystalsidyll.etsy.com) sells both her own wares and mine in or double shopping space.

Panicked? Yes. Excited? Oh, heck yeah.

In the process of getting ready for this faire, I visited several garage sales and antique stores, looking for display objects -- something to drape jewelry over and around so that they're not just lying lifeless on a flat table. In one antique shop, they had a rather large pile of gallon freezer bags of jewelry for only $10 each. I was running out of the cash that I had set aside for the endeavor, but his was too good to pass up.


Wow.

Several days later, I finally emptied the bag on the floor to see what I had found. It's funny the way old jewelry always smells the same -- just as recognizable as a used book store -- sort of dank and yet metallic. What did I find but a treasure of potential take-it-apart-and-make-something-new-and-cool ideas, as well as do-I-have-to-take-it-apart pieces. There were even several sterling silver pieces which were individually worth more than $10! Well, I wasn't able to get through all the ideas from that antique bag, but it was certainly a creative boost.

What's more, a couple of the "brass" goblets I picked up from a garage sale for 25 cents each also turned out to be silver!


I've also managed to steal a little bit of riding time in on both mares at the new barn. The outdoor arena is lovely and soft, and Dancer loves to GO-GO-GO in that footing (which makes it harder to rein her in for collection and bending), but Tempest was convinced the other day that there was a ghost behind one set of trees, so we just rode in the indoor arena after a good longe.

Will report back after the show with pics of the booth, etc.!

A now for something completely different...!

Yeah, like you haven't heard that before.

But seriously folks, I've been playing with a few lace stitches and random ideas in additio to the chainmail. Now for sale on my Etsy page are headbands and bookmarks!


These were SO much fun to make. My favorite photo is of the sock sticking out of the book. Until I started coming up with the description, I didn't even think of the Harry Potter reference -- I was already moving on to other things that might look cute coming out of the book -- mittens, scarf ends, etc. However, I don't want a certain author to come after for not having the proper licensing, so it will just remain a simple sock bookmark, a.k.a. the "sockmark."


The headband is also a very comfortable option. It doesn't clink against your glasses or try to push them off. If you have thin hair like me, you don't have to worry about teeth scraping your scalp. And if you have a round head and slick hair like me, it doesn't slip off the back of your head when you look up. It's perfect!

To reiterate from the item descriptions on Etsy, if anyone is interested in getting these in other colorways (color combinations), just let me know! I have lots of sock yarn already, and there are many others out there.

In other news, vaulting camp is this week (Sky Mountain Vaulters), so I'll be busy helping the head coach there. Best of all, we'll go lake swimming several times this week! Although I did accidental drop a steak knife on my toe this morning, point down, so we'll see how it goes.

A shiny new toy

I have a new toy. It actually took a little time to get to play with it. The first part arrived, and hubby had assured me that the Dremel he had would work with it. However, it arrived, and the newer style of Dremel didn't fit. We went back to the site, ordered the one that was recommended (well, the least expensive version of it, which was actually less expensive than ordering a new Dremel).

And it works! Where I would easily spend the better part of a movie spinning and cutting enough jump rings for a necklace, I can now watch the opening credits while I spin a few coils, pause the movie, and then spend 5-10 minutes cutting said coils, and weave chainmail for the remainder of the movie! (Most people know that I don't sit and watch anything anymore -- TV is a very expensive, but potentially commercial-free, radio or book on tape.)


Having had plenty of sunshine and heat lately (and then some), between vaulting, yard work and the craft store, I spent the day in front of a window with the breeze, "watching" videos of Knitting Daily TV from the library, and actually making product! I had enough rings spun to make quite a few items, and here are a couple of them.

The first is a simply elegant birdcage and moebius weave with gorgeous purple shell drops. Earrings will follow eventually. The second is a black and copper bracelet which will have a matching necklace, and perhaps earrings.


These won't be in my Etsy shop for a while. I'm building up inventory for a booth at the Penumbra Faire Prelude on August 22. I can't wait!

Squeaking in some projects

I've been spending a huge amount of time recently on Etsy, in the forums, reading everything I can on getting more traffic to my Etsy shop.

Now, because I've been reading everything possible there, I also now have a fan page on Facebook for the studio (Fan me! Fan me now!) and a Twitter profile (heaven help me, follow me there, too).

Why, you ask? All for the glimmer of hope that someone, somewhere will see my work and to buy some of it. Well, all we can do is hope, right? But I really ought to make more time for actually making things people want to buy! But it's all for the fun of it. If it starts being unfun, then it just becomes another job, and all the sparkle will go out of the end result.


And speaking of fun, I have yarn! Yarn I spun myself on a Greensleeves spindle and on one of my own spindles. I've now divided it into 2 piles: Cat Toy Fodder and Potential Somethings. The 2nd pile may become a pair of fingerless gloves, a scarf, or perhaps even some jewelry, but we'll see how that goes once some other urgent projects are out of the way.


3 new pieces have been posted in my Etsy shop, http://horsenround.etsy.com. My favorite is definitely this jade and agate set. Yeah, OK, so green is my favorite color, but it was just so much fun to put together, and in the process of playing, I discovered a few new techniques that will appear later on more pieces!

In other news, I've just learned that the one vaulter from my team (Sky Mountain Vaulters has been doing spectacularly well at the National competition in Kentucky, all 2nd-4th places. Hoping to see some photos from that later this next week.

Absolutely nothing to do with anything, but have to share this

I've had my socks knocked off this morning. Not by any real news from the media (I tend to ignore it, as it's too frustrating most of the time anyway), but by a choir.

The video starts out very quietly, but grows slowly. The choir crates the sound of a thunderstorm with their hands and the stage itself. Once the singing starts, you also don't eve notice that they're completely a cappella. Just watch -- you'll be amazed!



If for whatever reason you're unable to view it here, here's the link to YouTube: Africa