The new moxylyn moleskine

In my giveaway post I recently put up I noticed a few readers mentioned maybe adding some smaller sized journals to my shop. See! I listen. So I worked out this version of a smaller journal. Originally I had planned to just make it the same only smaller and less thick, but when I made the cover I messed it up pretty bad. Things just don't work in tiny version sometimes. So I came up with this no sew cover idea and named it my "moxylyn moleskine".





This one below I really like the cover liner design. It's a travel journal.





I've also started working on a tutorial on how to make these so check back! I believe I have 26 pictures in the tutorial already, and I just need to add directions to go with each one.

Some Fab Finds with a FAB price!

While I was looking around for items to add to my virtual treasure chest I came across these great items. The top one caught my eye because of the gold edging. The bottom one is just like the set I ate off every day of my life when I was a kid! I bet my parents still have the set.





Now there's a few more things that made this shop stand out to me. The location is in a little town I use to live in, in Southern Maine. And how 'bout this... these pieces are only $1.19 each and he has more of them in his shop!

Yesterday Morning

Please excuse the blurriness, but I had to share this photo anyways.
I took this picture as the sun was rising on the morning of Black Friday.
This picture is completely unedited except for size.

Such a beautiful sky for a sad day.

50 Etsy Tips

This is a work in progress and I expect to add to it and update it on occasion.
I promised I would do this a month ago so I have been compiling my thoughts in this post. I'm sure I forgot some, but will add as I go.
I'm not claiming to be a pro, or a top seller (far from it) but I don't do too bad and these are some things I've learned in my year and a half on Etsy...

LISTING and YOUR STORE

Pictures are important. Picnik is a great free simple picture editing tool. Make a light tent or take pictures in a sunshiney room in the middle of the day. Throw a couple artsy angles in.

Have a clean shop appearance. I've heard many people say it's a turn off when they view a store and there's all kinds of text at the top. Put all your details in your policies section and keep the shop announcement short and sweet. Have a theme with all your main pictures, such as a white background, black background, or a favorite chair as a prop.

List regularly. If I don't list anything new for a week people forget about me. Renew items and add new ones to keep people looking forward to what you make next.

Nights are a slightly better time to list. I can't find the link, but I did see somewhere a few months ago that there are a whole lot more sales during the day, but the ratio of sales to listings is better over night.

I haven't had great luck with weekends. I think people tend to be out and about more instead of sitting at a desk. Some people say they do better on weekends. I think a lot depends on the time of year and what you sell.

Don't forget the description. I've seen a whole lot of listings that don't give a size or a measurement, or don't list everything in an item. Sometimes it's easier to keep browsing listings rather than send a convo and wait for an answer the next day.

Spell check!! A typo now and then is acceptable, but a few scattered around your listing makes you look careless or rushed, and no one wants their item to show up in a package that says you were careless or rushed. DoNt TyPe LiKe ThIs. Please.

Proper tagging. I searched for business cards a while back and I brought up all kinds of things that had nothing to do with business cards. It's frustrating. If I come across business card holders that's one thing, but a baby blanket?

Etsy weather reports. Take a glance now and then to see how many new people are on Etsy. New buyers = cash for you, new sellers = competition for you. There are a few other stats on there too like sales increases.

Offer Gift Certificates Just make sure you read the GC rules.

PIF's For me I find that they attract the type of person that likes to haggle. Someone looking for a bargain and sometimes they will question shipping price also. I did make a decent sale last year from a lady who found my PIF, but that was 1 sale, out of a few hundred.

Majaba is now Craft Cult. Use their Heartomatic to view all of your hearts in one place.

TRY some Etsy Hacks Includes scripts to add stylesheets to the printer friendly receipt view, link convos to items, and add buyer information to a receipt.

Watch your fees. Etsy isn't Ebay, so you shouldn't have any trouble keeping an eye on your expenses. Use this calculator. If anything it's fun to click some numbers in there.

If Etsy is broken go here. There may be info on a site outage.


ADVERTISING and NETWORKING

Treasuries are SO important. Every time I'm in a treasury that hits the front page my views to that item skyrockets, and many times it sells. Great pictures end up in great treasuries that end up on the front page. You'll get more hits this way than you would paying the $7 for a feature spot, or being mentioned on someones blog.
Here's the regular Treasury and Treasury West and a Treasury Demo

Poster Sketch is a great tool for making your own treasury. You're featuring other Etsians instead of yourself, but it gets you noticed as the curator, especially if it hits the front page.

Flickr Use it. Read their files though because you aren't allowed to sell or mention selling in your description. I upload my journals with no description or something like "I love this fabric. It reminds me of an old vintage bed sheet". You are allowed to link to your site/store on your profile, but that's it. They won't tolerate a photo stream that looks like a catalog. Add some pictures of your pets or pretty flowers in the garden. They make your photos look better than any other site. I've put the same photo on Picasa and Photobucket, but on Flickr it looks so much better. They also have a section called "Explore" and if you are lucky enough to have one of your pictures chosen for that you will get tons of traffic also.

Set up a blog. Mix it up. Shop talk, personal stuff (not TOO personal) show your pets, kids, new material for upcoming projects. Host giveaways, offer advice. Offer free graphics. Show cool things you found on Etsy. Add some buttons to link to your Etsy shop. Don't leave it sitting for a month or your readers will move on.

People love tutorials and experiments. Know how to make something and have the patience to photograph every step of creation and add all the instructions? Do it. Be even more daring and make a video tutorial and star in it. How about an experiment? I once saw a very lengthy experiment testing natural colorants in cold process soap. I faved it and went back many times. What's something you could experiment on?

Twitter Some swear by it, others think it's over rated. I've used it for a week and have already had people come to my blog and go "I saw your post on Twitter so I came to look at such&such".

Own The Hour. It seems to be nothing more than a screen of 12 Etsy items but everyone is trying to purchase a spot (which is only .50) so it appears to get lots of traffic. Spots go onsale at midnight for the following day and if you don't grab one before 2am all the good spots are gone. I used it once and got an increase in hits, and I have a couple spots running on Thanksgiving day.

Forums Lots of conversations to join in, leaving your avatar everywhere you speak. Don't be too opinionated or you'll end up on a lot of "do not buy" lists. Give yourself a daily goal of leaving 10-20 posts a day in there. Get your name out and make some friends.

Chat up a storm. When I was selling soap it never failed. Go to the chat room for half an hour and I always made a sale. It's harder with more expensive items but it doesn't hurt to pop your head in the door every once in a while.

Youtube Make a video tutorial of a craft you do. Post a craft room tour clip.. show people where you create. If you don't want to get into video making, sandwich a whole bunch of pictures together and add text and transitions. I use Movie Maker. It's already in your computer if you run Windows.

Myspace If you can stand the blinkies and the glitter then it can be helpful in getting your name out. Leave comments everywhere and don't be afraid to use their forums too.

Facebook Same as Myspace but much easier on the eyes.

Project Wonderful I started by transferring $5 from my Paypal account and bought some advertising spots on others Etsy themed blogs. Most only cost a few cents a day. I also added PW ad space on my blog and I make a few cents off those, which I turn around and use for purchasing more advertising for myself.

Entrecard Similar to PW but you only have one square spot on your blog and you earn credit by visitors clicking the word "drop" or in other words, dropping their online business card. You also get credit for dropping on their Entrecard. When you have enough credits you use them to purchase advertising spots.

Outrageous items or listings draw traffic. Just take a look at these people. I bet they get traffic just from word of mouth over a funny listing. Some adult content.
mixedspecies HeartSizedCrush ingermaaike

Internet connection matters I know. I live in the sticks and have to choose between satellite and dial-up. I don't have unlimited internet out here so I can't get my name out as much as I'd like, but then again you don't want to be online 4 hours a day doing just advertising and networking. Make sure you leave time in your day for production.

Read these when you start feeling blue. We could all learn a lot from these people.

ORGANIZING and PRODUCTION

Daily goals checklist I keep one of these at my desk and try to cross off as many as I can every day. What doesn't get crossed off gets added to the next days list.

Set hours I've tried this and when I can stick to it I am unbelievably productive. I set a schedule just like when I was in school. Every hour is planned out, down to my shower, a quick workout, and lunch break. I seem to have a lot of interruptions, and also the need to see what's happening on my blog so I take breaks. Then there is the occasional phone call from someone who thinks you don't "work" so you're at home watching Dr. Phil. I myself need to set computer time just like some parents set tv time for their kids. I also need to learn to say "I'm on lunch break at noon. Can I call you back then?"
(this is one of my favorite tips)

Designated space If you have to lug everything out of a closet, clear the diningroom table, and spend 15 minutes setting up to get ready to work, you will avoid it. If you don't have an extra room, make one. Get an old wardrobe thingy from a thrift store or yard sale and use that as a closet and take over a walk-in closet as your office. Or find a table to put in a corner of your room, or living room and cover it with a nice tablecloth and keep labeled boxes or your materials underneath. Have a space that NO ONE is allowed to mess with.

Label everything If it's labeled you won't have to hunt everywhere for it. You'll know right where to look, and where to put it away when you're done with it.

Print your own postage from Paypal. Then drive past a mailbox and drop it in. No lines, no waiting, and you save money on delivery confirmation. If you didn't receive payment through Paypal you can take the secret back door entrance and print postage that way. Also helpful for shipping items if you trade or do giveaways where there is no record of a payment in your Paypal account.

Use lots of windows It might sound like it would be confusing but to me it's very helpful and saves time. I set up a folder in my favorites and named it "work". In this folder I added my Etsy store, my blog, my Flickr, Paypal, Yahoo email, Twitter and Project Wonderful. I may add a few others like Youtube or Myspace if I ever use them for networking. What I do is click "work" and it shows all of these bookmarked options, but just underneath it says "Open All in Tabs" and that's what I choose. Then all 7 windows open at once and I can see everything. I answer convos, emails, check sales, my Paypal balance, approve PW ads, and when I decide to tackle my blog I surf around and right click names and open them in tabs. Then a lot of my commenters profiles are now open and I go to their blogs and read/comment. I do this with Flickr also but I'm a little more slack about it there.
(this is one of my favorite tips)

Codes and Coupons

Happy Black Friday to everyone!
I have an extremely busy day planned today but I will be in my office so I'll try to log on every few hours. Luckily I didn't eat that much yesterday so I will just get my exercise walking back and forth in front of my work bench.

Here are some Joann's Fabric and Craft store printable coupons.
2 are 20% off your total purchase
2 are 50% off any regular priced item including single yards of fabric
All have online promotion codes if you want to order online at Joann.com

In addition they have FREE SHIPPING online right now...
Use promotion code SCD001 for free standard shipping on your order through Sat., 12/06/08 09:00 PM PST.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's some interesting news from the town I grew up in.
The cop that responded is a guy I went to school with.

Gobbler's revenge? Turkey terrorizes children at Hawthorne School

BRUNSWICK — Students of a local elementary school might watch their Thanksgiving turkey carved with particular glee this year after a turkey chased a handful of the children around the schoolyard Tuesday morning.

Police responded to a report that the turkey was harassing students at Hawthorne School, Brunswick Police Cmdr. Marc Hagan said today. But when officers arrived, the turkey had escaped over a fence surrounding the downtown schoolyard.

"It didn't seem to be threatening anyone, so we left it alone," Hagan said.

At the time, police didn't know who owned the turkey, he said, but figured it out "later in the day, when we dealt with said turkey again farther up Federal Street, wandering around in the road."

The owner, a neighbor of the school, refused to retrieve the bird, Hagan said, "and he wasn't doing anything illegal or suspicious, so we left it alone."

No one was pecked or scratched, and no charges were filed. Hence, the aggressive turkey won't be tagged as a jail bird, at least for another day.

Black Friday

You may all be out shopping and looking for bargains on Black Friday, but I will be right in this room working off candied sweet potatoes, green beans in gravy, biscuits and butter, cheesecake and pecan pie!

The Treasure Chest unveiled

Here she is, my "Virtual Treasure Chest".
Thanks to everyone who let me list their item here! There were so many to choose from between the 10 page forum post of offerings and the wonderful things I found in search.

To view the listing with larger photo and information just click the item.

Which ones are your favorites?

A Virtual Treasure Chest

Today Larry and I decided to clean out the attic. Well, he also fell through the ceiling into a hallway downstairs but we'll save that for another post. Some of the things we found in the attic brought back so many memories. Old photos and clothes that the kids wore in the 90's, even some old books of Larry's when he was a kid himself. I even found a pregnancy book from 1989 and I remember studying it for hours each day.

In the summer of 1986 right around high school graduation we went to a beach in Maine and I found a little white shell that had holes straight through it. I saved it and wore it on a chain for the longest time when I was 18. I also found this gorgeous ring and this vintage drawer pull that I think came off an old dresser we got rid of.



So I'm looking at all these items, and I'm thinking about all the old looking stuff I'm putting in my big journal, and I'm thinking how neat it would be to open a treasure chest. Who wouldn't want to find an old chest full of goodies from the past in their attic? Old jewels and ephemera, books, lace clothing and linens, tarnished brass fixtures just waiting to be polished up...

I thought about how awesome it would be to make my own, to line it with vintage linen and slowly fill it. I could have my own treasure. Then I thought, wouldn't it be fun to assemble a "Virtual Treasure Chest" and share it with everyone online?

So I'd like to see what you have on Etsy, whether it's handmade or vintage, or handmade vintage. Maybe it's not even your item but someone you know who has an item that would be perfect. I'm going to look through them all and decide on 10 items and post them here on my blog with links to the Etsy shop they came from. (with permission of course)

I already have the first item lined up. I actually asked to feature this shop before my idea, just because I love her stuff so much. So I'm looking for 9 more. Show me what you have!!

Here is the Etsy forum thread if you are interested.

He thinks he's a dog!

I took another picture of Bear sleeping with Sheena yesterday and decided I had enough to make a mosaic out of now. Bear's interests (besides sleeping with dogs) are:
Chasing leaves
Chasing bugs
Sneaking up on dogs outside
Eating
Putting his ears back



Notice in the first picture he is using Sheena's foot as a pillow!
Here are links to the separate pictures on my Flickr:

1. This pillow smells funny, 2. Sheena and Bear napping, 3. Buddies, 4. Shhhh, 5. Kayla and Bear napping together, 6. Kickin my feet up

Here's some that didn't get picked up in the mosaic because they didn't have the "sleeping" tag but are worth posting. Look at the way he intimidates dogs!

EtsyBloggers Carnival

Last month I joined the Etsy Bloggers Team and I'm still confused about the Blog Carnivals.
I was just looking in the forums and was reading one of their threads, and turns out I'm suppose to have my Blog Carnival posted by midnight. Oopsy.

So here's what I need to do:

Pick ONE of the following subjects to write about:
1. What is your favorite tradition for the Thanksgiving holiday?
2. How are you going to prepare your business for the holiday rush?

I'm gonna go with #1
For Thanksgiving every year as far back as I can remember I always had the parades on TV. The excitement of the newscasters and the musical sounds... visions of people bundled up in the cold talking about what floats were coming up next. Even if I didn't sit and watch it, it had to be on for every time I walked by. The sounds set the mood.
I cringe at the sound of a game on Thanksgiving. It should be a day for family and friends to spend together, not women slaving in the kitchen while men scream at the TV.

Cold Process Soap Giveaway

I mentioned a few days ago that I was cleaning out my fabric stash and that I still have a whole lotta soap from last year when I was selling it. This soap has had a nice long cure time so it's wonderful.



The soap on the left is Sandalwood Rose. Those are dried Rose petals on top. They don't hold their color well after a year but they are still wonderful soaps. The soap on the right is Basil and Kaolin Clay with a Bay Leaf on top. Both are vegan. No animal fats in my soaps. I cut them all out after the first few years since I had so many requests for vegan or Olive Oil soaps.



So I wrapped them up in some brown craft paper and they are ready for the winner.
Here's how to play the game:

1. Take a look at my Etsy shop and tell me what stands out that you like about it.. it may be an item or something completely different that you like about the shop.

2. Tell me something you think I could do to improve the overall store.

3. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you're chosen. If I can't go to your blog and harass you there, then atleast leave an email address in your comment here.

That's it. Another thing... if your name is in the list on the left under TOP COMMENTERS you get extra credit. Those are the people that keep me coming back here everyday. Well, them and the big picture of Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

I'll announce a winner on December 1st!

Being Productive

I added some new things today. First I wanted to get some guyish stuff up, or unisex stuff. I needed something a little more basic to appeal to the male crowd. I have decided to name this my Chameleon Journal. Why? Because it's green? Well, not exactly...

I special ordered this Olive Faux Suede fabric. When I opened the package it was brown. It turned back to Olive under a different light. Every time I look at it, it's another shade of green or brown. It all depends on the time of day or night... or if you are looking at it under sunshine or cloudy skies, incandescent bulbs or florescent. (This is what my Etsy listing says)

The truth is... I was fuming mad when I opened the package that evening. I complained and fussed and thank goodness Alex is deaf cause he would have heard a whole lot of whining. The next morning I walk into my room, open my closet, and sitting right there in the morning sunlight is my Olive Faux Suede!!!

Chameleon Journal





This one is a larger journal and took some extra work. She has 3 layers of fabric and if you want to count the little decorative strip then 4 layers. She's Burgundy Faux Suede and the lining is Linen with 2% Gold Metallic thread for some sparkle. Canvas in the middle just to keep it from being too floppy. I love the charm and the gold stitching and the vintage seam binding. This one is all about those little touches.

Heirloom Heart Journal





Hopefully they will both find nice new homes for the holiday season!

A JDM Fansite

Since Alex (my cat) kicked me off my desk I'm using my old clunker laptop at the dining room table. All my photos are on my regular desktop computer... so my idea was to share a picture from my Flickr favorites. I glanced through them and saw a picture of Jeffrey Dean Morgan (aka Denny Douquette) and somehow found this awesome site! It appears to be every single Denny clip from Grey's Anatomy! I haven't watched them yet since our internet connection "doesn't support video" but I'm sure I'll come back and watch a few at a time.



I don't know why this picture is bigger than the others, except maybe I didn't upload it from my computer? I don't know how to edit the size.

For anyone that doesn't know, JDM was a heart transplant patient on Grey's Anatomy and Izzie fell in love with him. She cut his LVAD wire to move him up on the transplant list and get him a new heart and they they were going to get married. Well he got the heart but there were complications and he ended up dying. Now she is being haunted by his ghost.. but there are talks of her having a brain tumor which is making her see her dead fiance. I know, only on TV. Sounds crazy, but I don't care. Denny is back for now. GA is on tonight at 9pm (I think) and that's where I'll be.. drooling over Denny.

New Book Ideas

Today I want to share some pictures of a custom journal I just finished. The lining is one of my favorite fabrics... Joel Dewberry's Damask. I love it. I had some before and quickly ran out but this custom order gave me an excuse to get more!





If you like this fabric, I purchased a yard right off Etsy and I highly recommend the seller. She was quick to ship and the packaging was simple but pretty. Wrapped in tissue with a round matching sticker and the business card.. it all matched and was in light pink. I almost didn't want to rip it open. So I went back and looked at her shop again...
I don't know if I missed it the first time because I was looking for red, but look at it in black!

Every time I get making a journal my brain starts to churn and I get these ideas. Making the books I do has it's problems. Before I can sew the pages into the cover I have to mark dots on the liner so I know where they go. Well... with the black Damask it wouldn't work because I wouldn't see half the dots. I could use a lighter color but I've tried that with white and yellow pencils and it wears off very easily. Sooo... I've been thinking about using them in a book that I don't have to sew to the cover. A hardcover book.

I've been thinking about this ever since I started working on my ULTIMATE Journal and realized it's quite a lot of book for a fabric cover. Even if it is sturdy fabric. This would also allow me to work with fabrics that I otherwise wouldn't use (like the black Damask) because the dots wouldn't show up.

I'm also working on some plain unisex journals that guys can use, and I'm still struggling with attaching the pages on my big journal. That's quite the project.

Speaking of big projects, Larry is about done with the windows and painting. Still a little bit more to touch up, and then major cleaning time. The shop vac isn't working well so the broom will have to do... but every single thing has to be wiped down. I will give you a peek though, even though it's not done.



I'm staying out of there for a few days if I can help it. We are currently only a high of 41. That's fahrenheit. Ok that word looks funny but spell check said it's correct. We had snow here in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach yesterday. I saw on the news that Virginia Beach got snow before Boston. What's up with that??

Spend money to save money

Ok anyone reading this that knows me, knows I like to save money and not pay for things we can get by without. I'm a penny pincher, but I'm not against splurging once in a while. Well even this wasn't a splurge...

A few weeks ago Larry was at a lumber store picking up some stuff for work and he spotted some windows marked down to $20 a piece... $20 !!! So he grabbed them. The sliders we already had but the new ones are the 2 long skinnies on either side and the 2 on the opposite wall where he is painting. Not bad for $80. He ended up getting some sheetrock, wood and paint... but I'm sure it will all pay for itself when we don't have to heat this room all winter. The sun has been shining in so bright when it hasn't been raining.





This room was originally a garage made into a gameroom. The floor was laid with vinyl tile, the cinder blocks covered with paneling, and the walls painted a bright blue. We also got an unreal deal on a pool table which at the moment is covered in sheetrock dust. The dust is everywhere and it's pretty annoying, but the upside is that there is no sense in me doing the floor in the livingroom because it's just getting tracked around the house everytime one of us (or the dogs) goes through there.

So I did do a bunch of cleaning over the weekend. How do we get so much laundry and dishes? I bleached the bathrooms and replaced a shower curtain.. fought a headache, got groceries and cooked meals and colored my hair. Somehow last night I only got just over 4 hours of sleep so I'm dragging today. Might also have something to do with trying to cut down on Pepsi. It's really the only unhealthy thing I do (besides not getting enough sleep) but that all falls into the caffeine addiction I have.

Journal updates:
I have almost 2 minutes of video sandwiched together with still pictures for my ULTIMATE Journal video...
*****AND*****
I am starting a new line of unisex journals because I've gotten a few requests lately for journals without lace, flowers, and Goddess buttons. So I will be introducing some very basic looking journals also, for the guys, and the girls who don't like foo-foo.

Rain Rain Go Away

I'm having some major connection issues today related to the weather, but I seem to atleast have a somewhat stable dialup speed now so I'll attempt to show a few pictures. I planned to list 3 new journals today but after all the trouble of listing on such a slow connection I gave up after the 2nd one. Maybe I'll do the 3rd one tomorrow.

The first one I listed is: OWL Garden Journal - recycled denim





That stack of jeans you saw in yesterdays post... this is one of the pant legs. When the knees wear out I just just cut them off and I can get 4 journal covers from the lower part of the legs.

Then I listed: Garden Of Darkness journal





I love the botanical print! I also have it in green so you will be seeing that soon also. I love the button in black. I do most of my buttons in cream and just paint them the color I want instead of having to purchase many different shades of clay.. but after this one I think I might still pick up some black and terra cotta also.

Well I'm hoping we don't get too much rain tonight and tomorrow. They said it's tapering off.. which is good or I'd still be sitting here cussing out loud at the screen. I'm going to do some blog re-arranging to make it a little less chaotic looking. I guess I need some organization here, and maybe get rid of some stuff I don't really need. You know, less is more. Now that I joined Twitter I think I will move that up higher also. That way anyone visiting my blog wont have to search for it and can tell right away when I'm eating, sleeping, or working. You can follow my every thought while I stress through the holiday season! Yay!

A peek in my closet

Last night I pulled out my bin of scrap fabric and went through it to see if I could add it to my fabric shelf and organize it all a little better. I keep it all in a closet behind closed doors incase little kitties come wandering around when I'm not there. A kitty near a pile of clean hairless fabric is like a kid in a candy store.
To see this picture with everything labeled click here



Here's a closeup of my fat quarters. Lemme see if I can explain to those who don't know what a fat quarter is...
Most fabric runs 44" wide, so a yard of fabric would be 36" by 44"
A quarter yard would be 9" by 44"
A fat quarter would be 18" by 22"



And here is the shelf I put up with jeans to be recycled and a few shades of canvas.



The wire rack up top is still full of bars of soap that I never sold because I HAD to get out of it. So if I take care of it I won't have to buy soap for another 5 years. Maybe I should wrap some up and give it away here hmmmm??

The ULTIMATE Journal part 2

This is the "Michele was in a hurry" quality photo but I had to snap a quick shot for those who haven't seen the movie at all. Or for those like me who didn't remember the book exactly because it was sooo long ago that you last saw it.
Excuse the reflection of the pool and deck in the back yard.



Here is the one I'm working on. I added one of my regular size journals in the picture for size comparison. The regular is 4.5 x 6 inches. The Ultimate Journal is 10 x 13 inches.



The pages look crooked because I haven't sewn them in yet. I've cut the Linen thread and soaked it in a tea bath. I'm still deciding on a closure for this book because it's not a hardcover like the one on Practical Magic. I plan to add a little embellishment to the outside.



My collection of ephemera for this book is growing and hopefully soon and I can post pictures of all my stuff!

Brandon Breaking Bricks

A comedic look at the life of teenage black belts.
This clip is funny. Brandon came home with it on his camera so I made sure I got a copy to show everyone.
....... A Terry *whatever* Production

If only there was more time

I know, it's been a week since I posted. Oops!
I can't say I've really been busier than normal... I think it's just that things have been messy and unorganized and chaotic, so I've had a tendency to be a bit unproductive.

In the last week Larry has tore holes in the walls of our game room and put in 4 new windows (I'll post pics when it's done and cleaned up) so there has been sheet rock powder everywhere. Don't worry! It's the opposite end of the house from my office. Right now the room is a total wreck, but we can see it coming together. I'm really looking forward to using that room more often now! Sorry Larry! (shh, it's his man cave)

Then there is the Presidential Election and a whooooollllee lot of political talk.
***** Please take a moment to look around and notice this has been a political free blog *****

Anyways I've felt like a bit of a scatterbrain BUT I have a whole box of cut up fabric covers with matching buttons, charms, and folded papers all ready to be assembled. Since last week was wonderful to me sales wise, I had some extra cash to purchase more fabric! (what else would I do with it?) So I went to Ladybug and purchased some nice florals and botanical prints. Then I ordered some Faux Suede from Hancock Fabrics and I can't really say I'm pleased. Although I got free shipping, the items just weren't exactly as they were on their site. I'm thinking I'll take the time to drive out to Chesapeake next time and choose the fabrics myself, even if I do have to wait in line and witness little old ladies fighting again. Anyways, I did get some nice things and will be putting alot of new journals together this week.

Here are some items that I've recently made and listed.
The mermaid button... HUGE! She's over 3 inches high. She was a custom order and is already in her new home. I am curious what she is going on.



Then I have 2 new journals, one that is a bit foo-foo without overdoing it. The pink flowers are on the inside. On the outside it isn't overly girly.





Here is my "envy" journal. Green with envy. I wanted something that you're curious to touch, and I found this chenille in a forest green. The lining is a natural Linen left plain and the button is a nice terra cotta with some patina in the grooves. (it's really polymer clay and paint)





So I guess I have been somewhat productive. I have gotten a few things made as well as filled a box with my ziplock baggies of "kits". My Ultimate Journal hasn't been touched all week except for printing out a few more filler items to tea stain. I'd like to work on her this week so I can have her finished and listed over the weekend. The video may take as much time as the journal. Lots of little clips I have to crop and put in order. It will happen.. it just takes time!
Bye for now!

Brandon's a Black Belt!

This weekend was pretty busy. It started with Halloween on Friday night, and for the 5th year in a row we didn't have a single trick or treater. Kit Kats and Snickers.. I lived on them Friday and Saturday and ended up not feeling well. I also tivo'd a section of the movie "Practical Magic" So I could get a screen shot of the famous book. I'll share that soon as well as updated photos of the one I'm working on.

Saturday morning Brandon and I got up at 5:30am for his Black Belt test. This is something he has been working towards for over 3 years now and it was finally here. The test started at 8am but he wanted to leave a few minutes after 7 to get there in plenty of time, and he needed time to wake up and eat a healthy breakfast and make sure he didn't arrive there half asleep. He had all his paperwork with his questions and essay answers and his uniform (they call it a dobok) and his pads and mouth guard and all that. He has to know and perform several forms, and be judged on multiple board kicks and brick breaking. The part I was worried about was the sparring matches. To become a black belt you have to spar each and every black belt that shows up. There were like 10 of them. You start off sparring one guy and then every minute they jump another guy in, until you are sparring 5 guys. We've heard stories of black eyes and broken bones and scars and sparring matches lasting 2 hours long with only 1 minute breaks in between.

During the red belt test last year they jumped 3 guys in on him and I started to panic. No one warned me it was going to happen or give me the opportunity to leave while it was going on. I stayed calm through it but I started to sweat and my heart was racing. No mother wants to watch that. I have just recently come to terms with the 1 on 1 matches not really being fights, but being about landing kicks and blocking kicks.

So anyway, the whole test lasted a total of 6 hours. They let us in to watch the board and brick breaking for the last hour. I got some pictures and video clips but I've been having an issue with videos lately so I'm going to just share a couple photos for now. Here he is breaking a cement paver. That's Mr. Spencer to the right. He's the head instructor.



I already have a clip of him doing this at a demonstration at a local mall a few months ago so I can embed that one without my computer blowing up.



The guy in the blue tank top is his friend Terry. I like to call him "tank-top Terry". Brandon has been lifting weights with him at the gym every chance he gets since he got his license. Wonder what Brandon will look like in 6 months.

Here's B just after the instructor put the black belt on him. I know he can't wait to go to class tomorrow and have everyone see him in it. Also now that he passed we don't have to pay for classes anymore since he's somewhat considered an instructor himself.



We're so proud of him!