Making Items for My 1st Blog Swap

I recently signed up for a Valentine swap with fellow bloggers. The items that we will be swapping are to have a Valentine's theme and one item is to be handmade. For my fellow swapper, I've made a decorative penny rug pillow in various shades of pink and red, and also a pink wool felt heart ornament. I bought a heart shaped candy dish and am thinking about doing a small stitchery item to add to the box. I've never done a swap before so I hope the items that I plan on including in my swap box will be enjoyable for my swap partner. I'm excited about getting my package from the person who has my name. In this swap, you don't swap with the name of the person you're given. Someone else has my name and will send me a package of stuff. I hope to be in more swaps as I find them on various blogs.

We're expecting snow this weekend here in Indiana so I should be able to get some crafting done this weekend. I've also absolutely positively got to get my craft room cleaned this weekend. Things have gotten out of control. I need to have some organization so I can decide which crafts I'm going to work on next. I'm thinking about signing up for the Wool Crazy Sew Along. I'll need to get the Wool Crazy book so I can follow along with the others in the sew along. I just have to decide if I'm going to join.

I'd also like to see if I can figure out how to list some of my handmade pillows and wool felt ornaments for sale on my blog. Everything on my blog is in a straight line. I've been told that you can click on pictures, etc. and drag them over to the sidebar. I can't get mine to do that. I see other blogs that are so cool and I'm aiming for that.

I'll post a picture of the items that I'll be sending in the Valentine swap. Everything has to be mailed by Monday, February 1. It should be fun!!

Sharon

Pennies and Pillows - 2 of My Favorite Things

I was on another blog tonite and Julie at Bush Baby Jag was talking about cutting out pennies for her penny rug.  Pennies have got to be one of my favorite things.  They are such an uncomplicated thing.  It's very soothing to cut out circles of wool or wool felt in different sizes and then sew them together.  I enjoy making penny rugs and also pillows made from my rug hooking wool and the pennies.  They turn out great and sell very well at local craft shows.  I have a few pictures of some of the pillows and one of the penny rugs that I've done recently here on my blog.  Penny rugs, rug hooking and needle punch are all lost art forms that are making huge come backs.  People everywhere are making penny rugs, taking rug hooking classes and learning to needle punch.  I haven't quite tackled the needle punch thing yet, although I do have many patterns.  I just need to step outside my comfort zone to try one.  Maybe I'll try one this weekend.  It's been a more than crazy week at work and I need some downtime this weekend.  And crafting is just the ticket.

What a Wonderful Day It Was Today

Today I was off from work for Martin Luther King Day.  I woke up with a headache for the 3rd day in a row.  But I had made plans before today to spend time with my son, Adam, whose 27.  So I picked him up and we went to a restaurant called The Butterfly Garden to eat lunch (which is a total chick place to eat).  Once in a while you'll see a guy in there eating, but unfortunately not today - Adam was the only guy there.  But Adam was good about it.  We had homemade soup and a sandwich and good conversation.  We left and went to a local antique mall.  We had a good time looking at a bazillion things in the mall.  We left there and stopped at a peddlers' mall (you know, where there are booths of assorted items for sale - a lot like an indoor yard sale).  Anyway, Adam discovered this one area that had many, many boxes of old LPs.  He rummaged through the boxes and found several cool LPs that he liked.  We walked through the entire peddlers' mall and then stopped next door at a thrift shop.  Lunch had long ago worn off so we stopped at Steak N Shake to eat a bite before I dropped him off at his house.

I'm posting this because it was one of the best days I've had in a while.  The holidays were rough for me, as usual, mostly of my own doing.  In fact, I still have all my Christmas stuff out.  But I wouldn't have traded today for anything.  Adam and I used to be best friends when he was younger.  We had some rough times when he went through his young adult years.  But the last few years have been back to that special relationship we used to have.  I could have stayed home today and taken down all my Christmas stuff or organized my craft room.  But instead I spent the entire day with my one and only son.  Priceless.

Adam, I love you.
Love, Mom

I can't get anything done for blogging...

I haven't posted anything in a while because I can't anything done except blogging!!!  I think I'll get some of my crafts done, but once I get online I go to a bazillion different blogs, sign up for free giveaways, link blogs to mine, etc. and before I know it, I've been online for hours and hours... I guess everyone else does this, too, but OMG!!! I'm never going to get anything done if I don't stay off the computer!!!  I've joined the OPAM (One Project a Month) and here it is already the 17th of the month and I don't have a clue what I'm going to have done this month.  Hello!?!  Today all I did was blog 'cause I had a migraine and didn't feel like straightening up my craft room which is what I told myself I was going to do today.  Well, that didn't happen.  Maybe tomorrow...

If you look at my blog and want to respond, I'd like to tell you about a deceitful woman stealing my money from a craft show.  I was involved in several craft shows in October and November, some of which where I had the booth space by myself with only my items being for sale there and having paid the entire booth rental myself.  Then I met this woman who wanted me to share a booth space for a few shows with her and her friends to cut the cost of the booth rental by dividing it among everyone who had items in the booth.  I thought that sounded like a good idea because the booth rental on some of the shows gets pricey so I thought I'd try it.  It worked OK for a couple of shows.  Then we had this show over Thanksgiving weekend where you don't sit with your items, but you have labels on everything and you pay a commission of the amount of items you sell to the people running the show.  The booth rental was lower so I thought paying the commission wouldn't be that big of a deal.

The problem lies in the fact that the woman that I had met had the booth in her name so the check for the entire booth came to her with my portion of my sales included in the check.  We finally, after much deliberation, decided what my portion of the show should be (around the end of December) and she said she'd mail me my check.  I've yet to see the check which means I not only lost the money I spent on the booth rental and commission, but all the proceeds from my items.  My items were hand sewn pillows and ornaments made of wool felt and my precious wool that I use for rug hooking.  I am very frustrated and angry with this woman for taking my money.  My significant other says she has no intention of paying me.  I've sent her emails saying I'd even come pick up my check, but she doesn't email me back.  I think it's pathetic when I know how hard I worked to make the items and then she doesn't even have the decency to give me my rightful portion of the money.  Next time (not that there will ever be a next time), I'll know better than to ever share a booth with anyone unless it's someone I've known for a long, long time.  How dumb could I be?  Anyway, I'm terribly disappointed that I stayed up late all those hours making all the pillows and ornaments by hand and now I have nothing to show for it.  I just had to vent a little because I feel so used.

My wool felt pillows and ornaments are very cute and sell very well.  I will just have to make more for future shows later this year and will just have to chalk this up to a learning experience.

Thanks for listening.
Sharon

Valentine Swap for Artists or Crafters

I've just joined my first blogger swap for artists or crafters!!  I'm so excited.  These swaps sounds like so much fun.  This one is for Valentine's Day.  The website for the swap is primandwhimsy.com and the deadline to sign up is January 15, 2010.  

I'm having a lot of difficulty understanding the "grabbing" of badges or banners to place on my blog so others can see what I'm interested in or participating in.  If someone wants to help explain this to me, that would be great.  I've tried to search for help on this, but can't really come up with a good answer.  I get the impression that the badges or banners are actually supposed to be links to the sites, but so far I'm not getting that to happen on my website. 

I'm anxious to sign up for other blogger swaps.  There seem to be so many - Easter swaps, harvest swaps, Christmas swaps, secret Santa swaps, and probably many more I haven't explored.  I can't wait!!

If you read this post and want to let me know about a swap for artists or crafters of which you are aware, please let me know.  I'd be glad to check it out.

Sharon

Customizing My Blog

Well, I've already added a border to my blog and it looks so much better!!  I didn't think I could find some of the cute stuff I'd seen on other blogs, but I did!!  So now I need to get some of the blogs that I visit listed on my blog as ones that I "follow" so other bloggers can see my blog when they go to these websites!!  Things are looking up already.

Happy New Year 2010!

Happy New Year to anyone and everyone who reads this blog.

In 2010 I very much want to get my blog up and going so I have people actually reading and enjoying it.  I'm going to start working on the features of my blog and its appearance for those who will log onto it.  I'd also like to participate in some of the "swaps" that I see on other blogs - ornament swaps, pincushion swaps, Secret Santa Christmas swaps, Harvest swaps - just to name a few.  I think the "swaps" would be fun to participate with people that you don't know and it appears that you receive some really great items in the swaps.  I need some instruction on how to improve my blog.  If anyone wants to offer some help in that regard, I'd appreciate any help offered.

So I'm leaving the blog now to work on improving my blog. 
Sharon