26 July 2007

fast and pooped out.

i feel like i really should post because i feel like i have been on a different planet all damned week. i got my meds switched and have had more energy, but in a different way, so that i have been overdoing it all the time and screwing my self, although i feel so much better about myself when i get stuff done. i feel better in my brains. like my body is tired and things ache or whatever, the usual, but my brain feel more able to shut it out. that is not so good sometimes. i really zone out when i am doing things.

i forced myself to get up early, even though i haven't been sleeping, but shite, what difference does it make. i might as well get up and get stuff done. i feel like utter poo until i get some coffee...seriously like i am ill. dying. sick. coffee...okay, in honest, what equals4 cups of coffee in one cup...i am ready to get going. i have just been pushing through, ignoring, doing, going, painting, spinning, cleaning a bit (wot?) i am just in fear that my body will normalize to what i am taking and i will feel like poo again. i am hoping that the old meds were the cause of the big change in my energy. and, i have no appetite. i eat meals, but i don't snack. i feel good about that. in control of myself. not that some fruit or cereal is sooo bad to eat at night, but for someone that doesn't exercise...it can have s dire result. we know. don't we. i don't want to be sick and unable to move. i want to look young and healthy. just those that see my guts and blood will know i am gimpy.

okay, clearly, i am totally out of it, i have tons to say, but not the brain strength to say it. i finished another bird and some artwork almost. photos tomorrow if i have the time to do it...

xo
n.

23 July 2007

helloooo?

well. i had the ear issue for..okay, well, i still have it. this morning, i didn't call the dr. because it seemed way better. as the day goes on, it gets worse again. although, in fairness, my nose wasn't running and my eyes weren't watering all day.

so, i got up to run some errands and chatted with one of my favorite peeps, gabe and found out that they are still attempting to get a small arts festival in our town going. after talking to him for a while, i kind of realized that i have become so stressed about getting sick and having to ditch out on plans, or leave early (i stopped talking to someone because of that.) in addition to attempting to avoid the people that i dislike, i often don't do the things that i want to do. or, i make myself so stressed about it that i feel like i don't really want to do it at all. i don't want to be that person. i don't want to be uninvolved in my community. that has never been me. that isn't me. i am going to try my best. let me go on to say that gabe has been really pushing his work out there and has kept on it and has gotten to be really well known in this area, and for an area not really so open to art...that is something. it really is.

i found an awesome bra at...TARGET! i have been spending at least 40 bucks on bras that are not terribly comfy and not terribly attractive and then saw one there that was 15 bucks and tried it on and it is fantastic! i have big boobs and it is really something to find a good bra. that said, i bought 2 more today. i was actually looking for this dress in a medium, the dress was on sale cheap at my target, but they didn't have it in a medium, so i went to another target but they didn't have it either and online it isn't on sale. although, honestly, it is only 25 bucks. i know, i am cheap. i got the same dress in black with white polka dots and it is really flattering and comfy. i think i should wear this style of dress every single day. i wish i could find em in cotton. i would love that. this is why i need to learn to sew. seriously.

i went to st vincent depaul, my favorite thrift store, where the checkout girl is a retired lunch lady from my college who gives me even more stuff for even more cheap prices. i always try to argue, she never lets me. she used to let me eat meals at the cafeteria even though i didn't live on campus. she didn't know. you hill girls remember margaret? such a sweet lady. i got some really cool stuff there...
thrift finds! and there is more on my flickr, so go check er out!

also, i got photos of the two birds i finished...no backstories yet, though.
birdies!
we have a mohawk on the boy, and his cute tie and then the girl has a little stray feather and a crocheted scarf. cute? i have a couple more of em stuffed but no faces or legs or anything yet, so that will be to-morrow. i also will be updating the luxe.etsy.com store in the next few days. i have a bunch of yarns and fiber. bunch!

i think that about does it. i didn't sleep last night. literally. i finished the new chuck p. book yesterday and it was fantastic. i will have to read it again. so clever. and i started a book called mappa mundi which is about technology that is supposed to treat mental illness and help people to feel happy and content. it of course falls into the wrong hands and they are working to use it as a mass weapon. it is actually really good so far and her writing is a nice change of pace and fun to read. i am not so good with the words myself, not even to describe it. gah.

mwah!
n.

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20 July 2007

poor tammy faye...

i just saw on tv that tammy faye is very very very ill with her 3rd bout of cancer, now spread to her lungs. for the total sack of shit that jim seemed to be, everything i have ever seen about her has shown a really open minded and kind person. i send my best wishes out to her and her family. this is an interview with larry king, she is only 65 lbs, so for those of you that might get shaken up easily, don't watch it. tammy. man, it sucks. it makes me realize that i need to quit my bitching. seriously. i bet she would give anything to be able to complain about fat thighs, you know?

in other news, something not sad, but really funny, is a show called the flight of the conchords which is about a new zealand band (2 dudes) trying to make it in new york. it is soooooo funny. they are so uncool in the most adorable way. and the songs they do are hilarious. and as odd as it sounds, i am not a comedy person, but this shows just rocks. rawks.


my ears are still all plugged up. i went to my doctor today and there was nothing apparent, so i need to go to the ENT if it doesn't go away. i can hear about half with my left ear of what i can hear with the right. and i can hear my pulse. aaaargh!

whilst packing an order, or attempting to, and searching for a particular yarn, i realized that i have a lot of yarn and fiber that isn't listed. so that will probably happen this weekend. excited?

i will post photos of the new softies to-morrow, i swear!

mwah!
n.

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19 July 2007

thump thump thump thump. gaaaah!

beautiful and kind kahlo
my allergies have been acting up, in fact after handling some of the carded vintage buttons yesterday i was wheezing. yay asthma! anyway, today, i was sniffing and my eyes were watering and now my ears are both feeling all clogged up, like when you are floating in the pool and can hear your pulse. and. it. won't. stop. jake told me to hold my nose and blow, and it did nothing at all. driving me bonkers.

today, everything hurt. my hands, my feet, my legs and i also felt antsy and my feet were like ice. i sat in the house with the a/c off with wool socks on. i used to be cold all the time and for some reason in the past 6 months i think it has gone away. my hands and feet stay pretty warm and now i get hot easily. before, i always had a cardigan with me. dunno. anyway, i did pretty much nothing, although i did finish off two amigurumi that were waiting to get their personalities. one of em is a bird made from one of my first ever handspun on a spindle yarns. not good for anything...but that! who knew? i think it is kool-aid dyed, although i am not sure and it has white silk in it, which is strange. no clue where the fiber came from. especially because when i first learning a few years ago, there weren't many suppliers and i didn't know what i was looking for and where to look for it. so. hm. anyway, he has a tie and a mohawk. jake loved him and offered to pay me for him. um. anyway, i told him he could have em and he got all excited. i need to take photos of him. and then a cute pink bird that needed his wings, and i crocheted him a white fuzzy scarf.

i think that is really it. i mean, when you do nothing all day, there doesn't tend to be much news, you know? pray for me that my ears will go back to normal. you know, hearing? grumble grumble grumble.

mwah!
n.

18 July 2007

i REALLY am an artfag! who knew? oh wait, i did.

see my impressive resultshere and take your own test!

soooo...i actually got out of bed today! and took a shower! i know, i know, you guys are blown away. i had a few really crap days, i must say. i didn't answer the phone, i didn't do ANYTHING. i slept. and read a bit.

today, i put together the mobile and i plan to make more, but i will probably do a few things differently, like maybe adding a small weight to the bottom of each strand. here are some photos, although they aren't so great. it is hard to take photos of something that big that moves.
paper and copper mobile
paper and copper mobile
mobile
the photos suck, but i am not really sure how to take em. it is rather large, it hang more than 4 feet long and a couple feet square. any idears? i used paper patterns with mod podge and varnish and copper wire. i love how the paper looks, especially in the sunlight. i think i might do more that are just a single row of descending size.


i tried to organize the carded vintage buttons and got overwhelmed. okay, first, i had an asthma attack from the crud that must be on em, so i went outside to sort em, then i got overwhelmed. my organizational problems make me think of all the different ways i could organize and then...forget it.

my sister in law has been pretty sick for the past month...longer, actually, so i decided to make her a wrap. she wears chocolate brown a lot, so i used some uncarded chocolate merino i had and carded it with this rose gold angelina i have (a fave) and then added a bit of pink sparkle to that which has a blue flash, i plied it and added some coppery novelty yarns, some from the lovely laine zin zin and then some sparse eyelash with sparkle i had in copper and a hot pink with blue and gold in it. i will post pics. i crocheted it, which ate a big bobbin full in about a foot of crochet. needless to say, i will need to card up much more. that was 2 giant batts worth, i am surprised at how gorgeous it knitted up. it seems like it would be plain, but i would love to have a wrap like that myself. in fact, if i am not really really really sick of spinning this yarn, i might just do that. although, i make myself something, i never wear it. anyway, i will get photos up. purdy. i was going to add sequins later, but it is really pretty as is.

otherwise...nothing. i have several softies to finish, as well as all of the birdie legs for softies i have been working on...basically just a wire frame with both legs connected and then papier mache over that. i am just not sure if they will balance it. i wish i could see one of the birds from ann wood or one of the other birdie makers to check out the legs. although, lots of them make legs that are attached to something. i think a softie bird that comes with its own perch and little box would rock. i would love to make boxes for all of them, but i am just to slow and anal about that stuff. i keep picking at it. i do have a few that should be done soon. i have orders to pack up to-morrow and then i can do some art stuff. oh, i will be listing more loose fiber to-morrow too! most of it sold! how cool is that? and i have loads more. and some gooooood batts! and i re-weighed them and realized that my scale was underweighing them by an ounce or so...
bruised berries superwash merino top i am really tempted to keep that last one for myself. really.


off i go.
xo
n.

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16 July 2007

shnore...

soooo...after i posted this morning i slept off and on all day long. slept enough that i actually had dreams. i did nothing, i didn't shower until almost 4 o'clock, and i have a headache now, too. so. gah! i hate not getting anything done. i wanted to at least update today. i will be listing some of the vintage things i have picked up lately, so if you saw something you liked, let me know. i also have a ton of loose fiber that i bagged and labeled that will be listed, as well as handpainted top. really pretty. i will do that to-morrow barring pulling another rip van winkle. gah!

in other news, i came across this and i am wondering if i owe my large butt and boobage to double boobage? what do you think?
whippetDM1207_468x669

and here are some kitties who lub their handsome, sweet papa...
kitties who love their papa

somehow, i am tired, so i am going to read and watch a bit of tv and hopefully to-morrow i will feel better. or awake. oh, also, i picked up coffee from a local coffee shop that roasts their own. i got some decaf and some regular so that if i want it later at night i can. the bags are marked with some other kind of coffee altogether, i think that it was just whatever bag they had, but i have no idea which is which and they look identical inside. so i have no idea if they are or aren't. sigh. the coffee wasn't great anyway, but i really won't be buying more. i am a coffee snob. ah well.

xo
n.

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blah. blah. so blah.

yesterday i was exhausted after our day out. i forget sometimes why i don't go out a whole lot. i start to think that i am just being lazy or uptight. in reality, i get really pooped really fast, like a baby. or a cat, maybe. anyway, i woke up this morning feeling beyond exhausted. i was hoping to get up earlier, but i had to take meds before i felt well enough to even check mail. i will be heading down for coffee in a bit and i have been up since before 8. it is now after noon. i hate it. we had a really good time yesterday.

while we were out jake took some photos of me unbeknownst to me (i was in a junk induced euphoria) and when i saw the photos i was truly horrified. i am not trying to be self deprecating, i really am unhappy with myself. the worst part is that i know it is because i don't exercise. i don't eat a lot and i really don't eat anything bad, or not very often, anyway. i have major food issues as does my mom and my grandmother. i was on the atkins diet and lost a bunch of weight but literally lost the urge to eat. anyone that says that diet doesn't work isn't actually following it (or has a serious hormonal issue. my appetite absolutely went away. and i was thinner than i had ever been and was totally addicted to losing weight. the thing with that diet is that i am an all or nothing obsessive kinda gal so i couldn't start adding carbs. ones i was off of the extreme phase which is less than 20 grams of carbs a day, and i was literally doing way less than that. just sugarless gum, sugar free chocolate (i found some brands that are soooo good) and coffee. if i have to start adding carbs to do the maintainence, i can't do it. i fall off the truck and slowly gain the weight back. which is what has happened and i am not happy about it. i have to exercise and the thing that sucks is that i know that i have limited energy and if i blow it on that, i may not have any left for work. my mom keeps telling me that i will have more energy if i work out, but lupus and chronic fatigue (and then some) are not the same as just being out of shape, you know?

okay, well, coffee time. yay!
xo
n.

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15 July 2007

and this...

some of the most incredible wire work i have seen. ever. woah. make sure to check out the cow jumping through the building. swoon! polyscene...and paper dresses...and paper wigs...and and and...

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flea market joy!

lovely swallow mobile and it is under 25 bucks! kondrads.com has tons and tons of different mobiles from teeny to huge and all prices between, although most or suprisingly affordable. look at this one...maple leaf mobile. how lovely!i love it.
anyway, i was looking for some ideas for the top part that it attaches to which appears to always be just functional and not attractive in any of the mobiles i looked at, art ones or just cheapo kids room ones alike. i found this tutorial that looks good. i already have put together most of those strange wire framed paper pieces. i really like how they look and i hand strung and twisted 28 gauge copper wire to connect them, i am not sure just yet how the top will work. i wired just about all of them in strands, so i just need to figure out the top connector, although it will likely be more than one mobile. they would look incredible in front of a window or light source. i will take photos tomorrow. i may be best off just wiring them onto a curtain rod or pole in front of a window, i reckon. hmmmm.

did i show you the lion so far? balding lion he has chest hair and armpit hair. he is balding, has sideburns and a bit of a comb-over in the front. he has little knees and nipples. he has no name yet and is naked so far. what do you think of him?

it is now sunday night. i was too tired to finish the post yesterday, we got up at 7:30a to go to one of the bigger outdoor flea markets this morning which was rather good. i scored a shopping bag full of vintage buttons still on the cards, a sewing box full of all sorts of things...here are some photos, but i seriously didn't get photos of half the stuff...
flea market july 15
that said, if you need any vintage buttons, let me know what color you are looking for because i have loads and i am happy to sell em for a couple of bucks. after getting home i washed and organised the loose buttons that were just tossed in the sewing kit. i took tons of photos and then realized that i had accidentally put it on the low light setting. gah. i was super exhausted from not sleeping last night, getting up early and spending a few hours in the sun being overexcited, and then called barbe to squeal about my score. no worries, i am sending her some nice stuff, it wasn't just shear gloat. i wouldn't do that. the booths at the fleamarket that have only a few items and they are just utter crap, like a plastic cup from a convenience store and a dirty george foreman grill and a hot wheels car with a half chewed cookie on it. those people baffle me the most. although, i remember when i was in san francisco for a convention and crackheads tried to sell us similar stuff. so maybe that is the issue.

and, i should have taken a photo, but there was a booth that had defibrillators and some other really really strange electronic equipment that looked new. i wish i would have asked what the price was. just to know.

we left there and went to a coffee shop that roasts their own coffee to have a bite. i also got some coffee beans from them. i hope it is good, because we all know what a snob i am. bigtime.

we then went to burlington coat factory. i got thesemy new canvas babydolls shoes which i plan to either add beading to or embroider. i have to think about it, though. they came in khaki and camo, too! i will walk around in em for a while and i may get another pair. in the summer, i have such a hard time wearing anything other than flip-flops. it kills me. or open heels, but i try to have my feets showing as much as possible. i need to take a photo of them on. i initially imagined iridescent black seed beads on em, but a little embroidered thing would be really cool, too.

i guess that is about it. i had planned to do an update on fiber and softies, but i was too tired to do anything. i will be doing it to-morrow, though. i put photos up of a lot of the things that will be listed. lovely and soft loose kid mohair, merino, targhee, baby cotswald locks, border leicester locks (so cute and teeny little curls) and then superwash merino top and 80's grade merino i dyed that is luscious. seriously. so so nice.

okay, enough for now.
xo
n.

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13 July 2007

dye! dye! dye! and then glue. glue!

kahlo
well, i got up and did dyeing. i did loads of loose fiber for batts and to sell as is. i did border leicester, kid mohair, baby cotswald locks, mohair locks, a gorgeous merino loose fiber that still has the nice squishy-ness to it. ummm!(all of this is from a rescue farm), some 80's grade merino and some superwash merino. i used my vintage roaster, as i have been doing lately and packed it full of loose fiber and made sure it was covered with water. i brought it up to a simmer (somehow that is 150 degrees on the roaster, the lowest temp possible) and then poured in the dye and used tongs to squish it into the lower layers. i was surprised that it didn't strike right away, but it was a ton of fiber. i did it in shades of hot pink and fuschia with a bit of golden yellow, so those parts are a really pretty orange. i did the superwash in a separate plastic bag which i had used so much that it sprung a leak, so i put that in a used grocery bag and then squished the loose fiber in the roaster aside and put the bag in there to get hot. the superwash was orchid with black and gray. i know i don't usually do dark colors in the summer, but after some overly dark yucky fiber i got, i had an idea of what it maybe was supposed to be and i thought it would be pretty.

it rained like crazy here so i couldn't put it outside to dry, so i left it all where it was and will hopefully put it outside to-morrow. i think jakie and i will hit some yard sales to-morrow. we will see.

so after all of that, i made more of the wire framed paper and mod podge wingy figure 8 thingies for the kinetic pieces. i am excited to put it together and see how it looks. these are some of the first ones, the ones i have made since have much thinner paper and the wire is more stretched out. i am hoping that it will move with the air like those pods that fall from trees...like propellers. here are some of them, and i have way more...
propellers. figure 8. infinity.

have a fun weekend!
mwah!
n.

tweet.

several people suggested that pavel might be not feeling well. he has been keeping to himself, so that does make sense. the fact that he was so incredibly aggressive was really different than anything i had experienced. i guess he will be going to the vet. and he isn't gonna like it. he gets so upset that you can smell the fear on him...and it smells really really bad. i never knew what smelling the fear was before. if i can smell it i wonder what it smells like to an animal!

i got all of the orders done including the orders that came in yesterday packed the that day, too. i am really trying to get orders out super fast. it is a bad bad thing i do if i feel sick i do it the next day. bad. no more of that.

i am going to do some dyeing today and some of it will be for making batts. i am out of bright loose fiber. plenty of loose fiber, just not bright. so. i put gael the polar bear up on etsy, although i was so tired i forgot to mention it anywhere. i also put up another batt, and i will put up more tonight. they are really really fun to spin. it is a challenge to not spin em up for fun. must. not. spin. batts. ay!

okay, up i go, work to do.
mwah!
n.

12 July 2007

gah.

first...cuteable.com seen it? cute stuff. lots and lots of cute stuff.

amigurumi you ask? well. the pirate, i made him some clothes, although he still needs a belt and a sash on his head and the hook. that too. i don't like his vest much, i did a bad freeform embroidered skull and crossbones and...it looks terrible. i will pull it out and do something else. dunno.
pirate with beginnings of his outfit
and i am workon on a lion with male pattern baldness...he is only partially done, but here he is. what do you think about a moustache to go with his sideburns and long balding hair?
balding lion in progress

my noggin is feeling better. because of the series of migraines, my brains feel a bit scrambled and it has left me feeling...well...a bit high. i don't know why it is that way. and i have trouble coming up with words. dumb words. i have always hated that. searching for the words. anyway, i did some spinning:
at the left hand top the "HOTTT"superwash merino fiber that didn't sell. how? i would've snapped it up. anyway, i still have some of the fiber left if anyone is interested. this one is 100 percent coils, so not a ton of yardage, i may do a single from the other 4 oz to accomany it. or just sell this little pinky skein. it was a whole bobbin of singles and probably 25 yards of supercoils. fun, though. the lower left is one of the batts i did spun up. there is still a couple of the red based ones left, not yet listed. if you want on, ask, they won't last. they have mainly veggie silk fibers and sparkle and the rest is red, pink, or orange superwash fiber, or targhee. soft soft soft. a TON of sparkle in em. and twice carded. lovely! on flickr they are labeled by number. i will be listing different batts all week. and i think doing some more. i need to do some dyeing, but i think i might just take some of the dyed fiber i do and card em up. the market is so flooded right now, not that most of it is nice or anything, but everyone is selling fiber or purses or toys or what have you. crazy! oh, so the right top is fiber i got from the spunky eclectic club, they weren't my colors, so i did all supercoils and added novelty yarns in the same colors to intensify them. it isn't super soft, so it would be better suited for a something that isn't next to the skin. and then at the bottom right is the ANA superwash sock yarn...lovely, no? i want one. i am fighting myself on it. big time.

i added some paper to the bottom of the box and added darker clouds that go the whole way out of the box, and more small trees and things...i think it is almost done...what do you guys think? do you think it lacks a focal point?
DSC05553.JPG

and my desk whilst working on the box and then a kinetic mobile i started yesterday. i will show you in a couple of days...
my desk

in other news, pavel has been acting totally crazy. seriously, i am concerned that there might be something mentally wrong with him. he was pretty laid back as a kitten. he liked to play/fight and bite, but he always seemed to be playing. now, he growls if the other cats come within 5 feet of him and he starts to act aggressive until a fight usually does break out because he has the posturing to bring it on. and then if he is just doing it to one sister, the other will come running and then it is a battle. the thing is, he is now doing it all the time. the other cats will not have aggressive posture, they are just walking by or going about their business, and he will lay his ears back and start growling until it escalates into a fight. any ideas what is going on?
pavel...scared.

i am getting sleepy. i will try to blog when i get up instead of late so i can think a bit more clearly.

mwah!
n.

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09 July 2007

queaaaaseeeee....

pavel and papa napping
yesterday i had a migraine and then today i couldn't wake up. i had to go to my in-laws' to let the dog out and i hung out with her for a little while before i went home. i was super grumpy and exhausted and i thought i would just sit down and eat a nectarine before i packed up orders. well. i fell asleep at 1:40 pm or so and didn't wake up until jake brought me dinner at 6 i think. i have a migraine and am medicated at the moment. i am out of my migraine med and the pharmacy was closed by the time i woke up, so i am trying to just stay off of the computer (i haven't even checked mail yet at 9:35 p)lest i get really really sick. anyway, i just wanted to blog before i went to bed. or to sleep, rather. i missed the farmer's market! bah!

barbe sent me some yarn she didn't want and some other nice things (and she is getting some stuff in return because she is a sweet girl. don't let her fool ya! she is a total softie! i should make a barbe softie. hee.) and the one yarn is sort of a mustard color with a brown yarn plied around it, it has a tigery or bee look to it. i made a lion amigurumi that is balding. i started to give him a full mane and then as i put it in, it looked like bad hair plugs on someone with pattern baldness and it clicked. i may give him facial hair, he already has sideburns. i also crocheted some soft wire along with the yarn for his arms so they are poseable. i will take photos to-morrow. i promise. i also got some awesome stuff for a swap that i will post. with the links, i am trying to really keep this short and sweet.

some photos...here is the top that i made from a huge crappy women's old navy t-shirt. i completely took it apart and added a strap and a vintage button and added shaping to the body and a bit of shirring at the bottom on one side to make it a bit shorter, too. excuse my sweaty, lupus rashy face. it was really hot out. i was ready to swoon. that was the day that i took photos of everything with my makeshift light tent.hot, hot, hot. photographing batts on the back deck
and here is the shadowbox i have been working on for a while. i plan to add dimensional grass made with different papers glued to cardstock at the bottom. it also has clouds all around the box. it is called jacob's ladder, which was the stairway to heaven. after the grass not sure where it is going. i am not sure why i have been so creatively stumped with anything that is not just crafty. hmph.
these photos don't have all of the clouds that i have added...
jacob's ladder in progress

i will be listing some more batts to-morrow on luxe.etsy.com so pop by. oh, and i will also be listing another of the softies. woot.

okay, i am barely able to keep the eyes open.
mwah!
n.

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07 July 2007

more than 20 new batts? wot wot?!

so, let me start by saying that i put up one new batt on luxe.etsy.com and there will be more tomorrow. as the title suggests...i went nuts with the carder yesterday. i sat on the front porch with a bunch of loose fiber and sparkle, etc, and even though i sat on a pillow, my voluptuous ass manages to get bruised where the bones pole through. how is that fair? how? it should be one or the other! chubby ass, no cushion needed, skinny asses must have a pillow. right? not fair. okay, so the batts. i numbered them all on flickr, so if you see something you like, don't waste time, let me know. they tend to sell pretty quickly. wanna see? this is not even half of em. i took tons of photos to attempt to get the inside and outside because these have lots of layers of different stuff. really fun ones. a few of them are maybe a bit too tempting...
7-7-07 batts

here is a peek at what the porch looked like but you really had to see the complete coverage, stuff everywhere, batts and fiber and fuzz. i figured i would do it outside so that i wasn't breathing it in quite so much and there wasn't quite the amount that is thrown into the air of my studio, you know? it is an utter fiber cluster frakk anyway, but this worked. although, it was insanely hot and humid and i had fiber and dirt and dust stuck all over me. and a dirty bum even though i sat on a pillow. i was wrecked.
cararama

so let me tell you a story...at my favorite junk/antique shop i got a dressmarker's form a while ago. it came with it's original box that had been shipped to the owner one "dr.effie ireland", it is postmarked 1956 i think. i was reading the pennysaver and came across a listing for an estate sale today for a "dr. effie dunlap" from the same area as my effie was from. i thought it had to be the same person so i tried to google her and research her. i don't know if they were the same person, but the person whose estate sale i went to (more about that crap sale) graduated from medical school in 1911! not much earlier had it even been possible for women to go to medical school. i couldn't find out much more other than where she had gone to school. there were newsletters from her school for those years saying that she had graduated and that she worked in ligonier, but i don't know what kind of doctor she was or anything else about her. i would kill to see a photo of her. anyway, we went to the estate sale, i was super excited although i did think it might not be good because she died in 1982, so it was unlikely that her stuff was still in the house, although they used her name. jakie woke me up early and we went out and the house was the most disgusting thing you have ever seen. there was virtually nothing of value, clearly, when they had the auction 25 years ago, all of her stuff was removed and in the meantime, other people had lived in the house and wrecked it and filled it with cheap crap mostly from the 70's i think. it was filthy and smelly and gross. and seriously nothing good. and everythign was insanely expensive. there was a really gorgeous giant colorized photograph from the turn of the century that could have been her...but it was in poor condition and they wanted more than 200 bucks for it. it was so gross you didn't want to touch anything and literally it was the sort of thing that at a glance you can tell that it is just full of the garbage that no one wanted. anyway, there was stuff out back, so we went to look and there were tons of books, i had been searching for a photo album or yearbooks, to no avail, plus all of the books were rotten and mostly from the 70's and more recent. there was a bike for two in okay condition at best that they wanted $225 bucks for. c'mon. i didn't see a single person walk out of that place with anything. for anyone not from this area reading this, around here, we are cheap and can get lots of stuff for not that much usually. and seriously, an old bike in crap condition for that much? sheesh. there was a 1922 packard in poor condition that was really amazing, and then a strange guy looking for old comic books told me that some lady blew out her brains upstairs in the 70's. so.

we stopped at the farmer's market after that and then headed home. i did a bunch of new phtos (go see if you like) and got groceries and i think that is it. loaded photos.

oh, also, i have two softies that are not finished. the dark one is a...pirate zombie something...not sure. i spun a really dark not soft yarn up from some fiber (not my work)and put a ton of sparkle in it, not planning to make it a pirate, although they do have bling. i am not sure what to dress him in. i talked to barbe about it already. i imagine a loose blousy shirt and maybe striped pants and a bandana. andd i need to make a hook hand. i think. and the bird is crocheted from laine zinzin yarn i got in the french swap. it needs wings still. oh, and on the line of softies, i sold 3! collette (with the cute little hat), the owl and the amelia, one of the triplets that has no arms or legs. and snarky peeps said they were gross! so there! wanna see the new toys?
new softies in progress

i am tired and a bit nauseous. ew. oh, i made a lightbox out of a big plastic container, a white sheet and a piece of posterboard and the photos where great. whenever i can, i will use this method again.

okay. super tired. let me know what you think about the new stuff.
mwah!
n.

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05 July 2007

mini luxe update! woot.

in addition to adding the two softies (and more to come...i am working on a pirate right now) i added two really gorgeous soft new yarn. wanna see?
july 5 update
move it on over!luxe.etsy.com and see! there are some really good yarns there that i was stunned to see them still there. seriously, some of my all time faves. dunno. i will be listing at least one new yarn a day, so please do pop on by.

last night i was up doing spinning until the wee hours. i spun up fiber i bought from someone else that is really really coarse, i think it actually may have gotten kind of burned because it smells like it. after spinning it and later crocheting it into the pirate, it turned my fingers purple. that is a bad thing. anyway, i have some really gorgeous things done and awaiting listing. they will be coming gradually. so keep checking in.

oh, for those of you who have trouble reading my bloglines feed...i also have a livejournal feed that is exactly the same info, although i do rarely do a friends only post, if you want to be added just let me know. that journal is luxefibre at livejournal. pop on by if you fancy.

oh, and i hadn't seen these before until a lj friend linked this adorable site that has softies of all kinds of diseases, infections and more. i always wanted a rabies doll! especially because it is what the book i am reading is about. kewl!

off i go.
xo
n.

04 July 2007

softie update on luxe.etsy.com

hey guys, i am listing two of the crocheted toys momentarily...if you are interested in another, please contact me because i will be listing them everyday as they sell...
up for grabs...
july 4th update! each of their stories are on their pics in flickr...just clicky on em. so pop by luxe.etsy.com

happy 4th all!

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meet gael and audrey...

i meant to post this yesterday and flaked out...hey guys, i have a couple of new ones for ya! i will be listing a few of these guys on luxe.etsy.co m in the next few days.
audrey is the middle of the triplets. missa is the pretty one, amelia is the smart one and unfortunately, audrey is known for her severe trashmouth. it is not advisable to allow small children around her because she will say inappropriate things and is known to pinch anyone she can. she is in duff's business school to be in crime scene investigation. she loves cop shows and tivos all of them, even the old ones, like streets of san francisco. she loves the rat pack and will only watch movies with marilyn monroe in them. her favorite book is "in cold blood". she eats nothing but pudding because she has an irrational fear of her teeth "wearing down" from eating crunchy or chewy foods.
audrey
i crocheted gael from some natural wool that was handspun on a spindle when i was first learning. needless to say, the yarn was not so good, but look! it worked really well for something, therefore proving yet again that there is no such thing as a bad yarn. gael is a miniature polar bear who is actually rather tall for the breed. originally from alaska, he had to relocate due to global warming (which i hear is just a myth), he decided it was safer to live in pennsylvania with access to my freezer. he loves salmon puffs, salmon sandwiches, salmon mousse and mint chip ice cream. he hopes one day to be a child advocate or professional rugby player. he hates the sight of blood and buys all of his food butchered and ready to eat. his favorite music is soft rock. especially journey, styx and loverboy. his favorite book is dead souls by gogol and his favorite movie is the unbearable lightness of being.
gael the polar bear
i posted them on one of the lj communities i am on. i got a bunch of snarky anon comments. go look....
here

off to do some work.
xo

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02 July 2007

teary-eyed

last night, there was a catfight of enormous proportions. i was sleeping on my back, with a headache, had just fallen asleep. kahlo was sleeping on my chest. pavel decided he would like to attack the sleeping kahlo, who was, as i said, on my chest. someone scratched me and jake and ran around on top of us fighting and then peeps heard that there was a fight involving her sister and ran to her aid, again, running over us. we broke up the fight, but the continued it all over the house for most of the night and today, as well. while i was in the shower, peeps attacked pavel and it was horrible screaming sound (caterwauling?) and i had to call jake in to break it up. craziness! there is fur all over the house (fur was flying. that is what that means) and pavel has been walking around growling. goodness.

while i was in the shower, a friend that i hadn't seen in a year stopped by. we are bizarro twins...at least to me...so it surprised me when our hair was cut almost the same way even though we hadn't seen each other. actually, i think mine had been that way a little while ago. so odd. it was really nice to see her.

i appreciate your sweet comments about my post. i think my hormones got me more emotional than need be. usually, i just do my thing, because it is what i have to do. i don't really feel like i have a choice, but sometimes i feel like i need to be making more of a CAREER out of it for myself, you know?

i have hideous bad cramps, although they are better right now than they were earlier, so i am going to go catch up on email etc. i really will post the 2 new toys i made tomorrow. i need to take photos. and then there will be a few listed either tomorrow or wednesday, so check the luxe.etsy.com store, okay?

i love you guys! i really do.
n.

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01 July 2007

don't waste your life...

last night, or rather, this morning, i had a dream...i was at my grandfather's (who died a little while ago in real life) farewell. it was like he was a king of sorts and all kinds of bigwigs were there to say goodbye. in the dream, my mother asked me to keep out of sight because my grandmother didn't want anyone to see me. after the mayhem was over, i went over to my grandfather and my mother thought he had died and had taken off his tie because my grandmother had told her that there were diamonds inside of it (my mom really is a generous person in real life, i am not sure what this part meant) and i put my head to my grandfather's chest and i could hear his heart beating...i looked at his face and he opened his eyes suddenly and they were blue...cloudy like a blind person's eyes would be even though his eyes are brown, and he said to me "tashie...don't waste your life..." and i told him i wouldn't. and he was gone. jake's alarm went off and literally a moment after he said that, i bolted up in bed.

my family left south africa when i was little due to the political climate. we grew up mostly without grandparents. my dad's parents died when we were fairly young, and my mom's parents would come to visit every few years maybe, my granny is not a caller, a card sender, or a gift sender, so all of us grew up kind of without grandparents. for some reason, my granny, who is mean to everyone has a soft spot for me, even though my mom says that she tells her that i am mentally ill for having tattoos and she is ashamed of me. who knows? regardless, she is fairly mean to most people's faces, and is really sweet to me, so i just take it as it is. anyway, the dream was very odd, because i really loved my gramps and was sad when he died, but i was in america, so i didn't get to go to the funeral in australia (that's where my rellies live now). i had a dream the day he died and knew that he had, though. those things happen with me sometimes.

the dream i had last night really freaked me out. it made me wonder what it was that i was really meant to be doing that is important and meaningful. it made me upset because i feel lazy, even though i know i am too tired or sick sometimes to do more than i do. i worry that i suck as a business owner and don't work hard enough as an artist. i don't even know how to vocalize how i feel. i am so flaky about my work. i hop around from one thing to another. of course, i go through phases of utter obsession to one thing and then just get it out of my system and move on. i wonder, is there something that i should be doing? what is my idea of living my life fully?

my family and friends are important to me. i would do anything for them. making things is important to me, but at the same time, it is a compulsion that i couldn't ever avoid. i have to. but should i be focusing on fine art? do i even have any desire to be a part of the "art world" again? there is a wonderful middle ground of fiber art and fine art that has a softer edge to it that is a better fit for me, but i guess i need to really try to figure out what my goals are and start working toward them in some kind of organized way. you know, like working?

i feel scattered. lazy. i know that i produce a lot of stuff, but i guess i feel unfocused.

i will also add that i got my period today and i know that my tears a few hours after the dream had to do with that.

jakie got up early on a sunday when he has to work next week to help a friend move,and between the two of us, we have moved probably more than 30-40 times i bet and he hates moving more than almost anything. although we haven't seen him a whole lot lately. that jake...he is a good monkey. and then on saturday, he got up early and drove i think about an hour away to give red blood cells and take the bone marrow doner test for a co-worker who is having a drive because his kid has leukemia. again, he is such a nice person. he has the universal blood type, so he donates all the time. he is the guy that helps anyone and doesn't expect anything from anyone ever. his mom and dad are that way, too. i think lots of people are generous, but it is always so amazing to me when you see someone like jake that really just does it to help and there is no expectation of anything. sweet. i love him!

i am going to be listing some of the softies on www.luxe.etsy.com to-morrow, i think. i made a new one today out of one of the first "yarns" i ever spun when i got my drop spindle from sheep and wool. let's say that it is um...not so soft and a bit...overtwisted. it is just natural colored and kinda felted but it worked well for the amigurumi. i will take photos of him and the third sister beaverhousen to-morrow. i also need to work on writing up their info onto whatever so that whoever buys them has their birthday info and background. immunizations and such. handspun yarn works incredible well with them. i gave this new guy a bellybutton. not sure what his story is yet. he refuses to talk to me. so. i will post that to-morrow.

i finished never let me go, which was a bit um...boring and predictable. and at the end, i wasn't sure what the point even was. i think it must have been about technology and science without any moral limitations. it was just...slow. and i knew where it was going, but i kept reading thinking that there must be more to it. must be. yeah. nope. not so. and in the end, it is about human cloning for use as donors, and it is hard to decide really if it is worse to let a sick child die or use an organ from a person who was born to donate and has no issue with it. that was the especially strange part. it never occurred to any of them that they could run away. they didn't seem angry, or upset that they couldn't have a life past their teenaged years. you cared for those that donated until you yourself became a donor, and they took your organs at multiple times until you die. it is kind of hard for me to feel anything for the flat characters that didn't seem to aspire to anything at all. even animals going to the slaughter fight. fish out of water thrash about...so. i don't recommend the book. one of the reviews i read compared it to margaret atwood and i was offended. i guess it wasn't poorly written just very slow and very very dull. i am now upwards and onwards to the book i have been waiting for...rant by chuck p. i got it on vacation, but jake wanted to read it and i had a bunch of other books. anyway, as always, his books are really fun to read and exciting. he is fantastically quotable, and i have a colored pencil in the book, as usual. my absolute favorite of chuck palahniuk's books is called diary. if you are an artgirl or boy and like a good, exciting book...this one...soooo goood. i have read it more than once, which is really rare for me and you catch amazing little morsels everytime. so pick it up. really good. this one is an oral history of the man blamed for a world epidemic of rabies. yeah.

also, we watched "close your eyes" which was rather good. okay, i am getting sleeeeepy...
xo
n.

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