The Complications of Coral

So, as I predicted, the red coral branches worked themselves out but there seems to be another minor snag - I can't sell the coral collections. I've only made two so far but I've fallen completely and utterly in love with them which is the most depressing thing ever. I think they would be big sellers if I could manage to get them past the end of my desk...

...which is turning out to be an extremely daunting task. They're perfection. I suppose I'll just have to make kitschy whales for the Etsy shop and keep these for myself like the selfish crafter that I am.

Although I am attempting to do some volunteering with an organization called Soldiers Angels crocheting lap blankets and wheelchair bags for the Veterans. I'm waiting to hear back from their Crochet & Craft team - which will hopefully be in the next 24 to 48 hours. Until then I suppose I'll have to occupy my time trying to crochet whales cute enough to replace the grandeur that is contained in the above pictures.

Progress..

So there seems to be a technical snag with the coral branches and their birth is progressing slowly - I know in my gut it will all work out, it may just take some time. My Grandmother's scarf, on the other hand, didn't take any time at all and is finished.. with an adorable flower applique as the icing on the cake. I'm totally in love with it and want to call her and tell her however I would also have to tell her I got into Mason Gross which, with her tendency to ask the most inane questions, is a conversation that will last for much longer than I can afford it to and will probably end in me wanting to kill her but simply keeping the scarf for myself instead.

Needless to say, I'm putting the call off for as long as possible.

As for the Etsy shop - well, I feel like a total rockstar. I've gotten much more done in the last few days than I thought I would and I really think this thing is progressing nicely. I have a few more things I want to do, some last finishing touches, but like I said, I think it should be up in the next week or two. I even had a new brainstorm yesterday and am putting my new obsession with everything coral reefs to good use. While I think it's totally tackalicious to sell the red coral branches on my Etsy shop, there's nothing at all stopping me from selling what I'm going to call "miniature coral collections." I finished the first one last night and it's beautiful. I'll have to post some pictures in between cooing over it. I swear, these things are going to have some serious superiority complexes by the time they get to their new homes - which is fine by me, people need things with attitude.

Art School.

So.. Mama's goin to art school, kids, to become a Costume Tech.. which means I did manage to convince someone to let me make clothes for a living. Honestly, it's a huge weight off of my shoulders; now I can take a deep breath and concentrate on Etsy and those coral branches...

Speaking of Etsy, I picked up the last few things I needed at the craft store today and depending on how motivated I am and how much sleep I can manage to cut out, the store should actually be up in the next week or two. I would start immediately, but I have a birthday present to make for a friend today, which means more crocheting, more tiny hooks, and more callouses.

Singles Awareness Day? Are you people kidding me?

Whoever came up with the idea of "Singles Awareness Day" should be taken out behind the barn and shot. I mean, c'mon people, yes, its Valentines Day and you're all single and miserable but grow a pair and find a way to deal with it without hiding behind some witty catchphrase! I mean, I'm single (which is shocking I know, but if I've proved anything in the last few months it's that you can't meet someone that looks like Adrian Paul sitting on your couch) but I'm not sitting around today feeling sorry for myself! I'm watching one of my favorite shows and eating chocolate covered strawberries, one of my favorite things, and I refuse to have my day ruined simply because I don't have a date. It's a waste of a perfectly good Saturday.

And now I'll get off my soapbox and back to the point.

I finished that damn coral branch. And to answer your next question, no, it doesn't look like a heart valve - it's perfect, blissfully perfect.

My fingers are all swollen, I have a piercing headache behind my left eye from staring at the tiny stitches for so long (even with my glasses), and my back feels like I'm developing a hump but it's all completely worth it. I'm such a proud mama. The man I'm making them for loves this first one and hopefully it will be the start of something great

Aorta? I'll not allow it.

So.. I finished my book. Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood - and yes, it's a historical romance novel. Laugh it up, people, go ahead, but it's still better than the crap most people are reading these days. I haven't read in quite some time and I just read a 374 page book in less than a day and it successfully gave me enough time to reason through how I could possibly make that pathetic excuse for a coral branch - which I had just spent the better part of two days working on, mind you - look any better. The conclusion I came to....

Start Over.

Yes, it was that bad.

Don't judge me, I'd like to see you do it.

So now here I am trying to finish it off while watching yet another episode of Hercules (which oddly has Lucy Liu as a guest star, and let me tell you, Girlfriend had some work done between then and now because she looks like a totally different person. Hell, she acctually looks Asian in this episode wich is a dead give away that something's changed).

It's going to be another late night. Thankfully though I have a massive Dr. Pepper and an entire bag of Hershey's Hugs to keep me awake.
I'm going to have this prototype done by tomorrow if it kills me.. which honestly, it just might.

Th Dark Ages

I haven't crocheted a scarf in almost 2 years. They were the first thing I learned to crochet and naturally that meant that I had to make 15 of them in any yarn I could get my hands on just to prove I could. The second I learned to crochet in the round though, I abandoned the scarf like one would an old childhood toy and haven't made one since.

I was commissioned recently to make red coral branches for a boutique in Asbury Park by a very nice man who I completely adore. Unfortunately, after spending much of yesterday trying to make a prototype it suddenly hit me that the object I was working on looked more like a heart valve than anything else. I was heart broken.. hell, I still am. And instantly I found myself looking to make something easy and comforting - something I knew I could do. I started a scarf today with a chained base of 15 sts. I'm double crocheting it using a J hook. It's a beautiful yarn I picked up in Pennsylvania over the weekend; my Grandmother fell in love with it and asked me to make her a scarf out of it. I agreed to do it thinking it nothing more than a bothersome chore to be done when I had a spare minute. I find it funny and completely ironic that it was the first thing I reached for when the coral went to hell.

Tomorrow I work on fixing the valve, or coral as it were. I may have to completely scrap what I have which I am not looking forward to. As of now, I've started a new romance novel which I expect I will be up tonight to finish if only to try and prolong the time between now and when I have to look at that wretched thing in the morning. Here's to burning the midnight oil.

Back from the dead...

Pennsylvania is a beautiful state but I can never seem to escape it without heartache. Going back to the place where my family used to have that beautiful house and having to listen to everyone say my Grandfather made a mistake by selling it absolutely destroys him.

I'm glad to be home. I'm glad the church ski trip my Grandparents insist on organizing every year is finished. I'm glad we're not doing it next year.

And it's funny. I don't realize how much I miss being home until I end up some place whickity-whack for a couple of days. I come back to my mess of a room and don't even mind the distressed pile of socks in the corner or the yarn spilling all over the place - and that's really saying something.

In other news: I have an AC Moore stop to make. Etsy is almost up and running and I recieved a call last night about a commission someone wants me to do which kept me up until the wee hours of the morning brainstorming.

Oh. and the interview went really well. Cheers!

Portfolio Days

To start off, I should mention that by all rights I should be in college right now. Everyone I know is on their second semester at some university or another feeling like real adults. I'm not (at a college that is, I don't need to convince anyone of my adulthood - way too much effort and you look like an ass). Right now I'm plowing through the third season of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and trying to get in to college. I have an interview this thursday - I suppose I should be nervous. I'm not. Granted, I have to go into a room cold and try to peddle myself to a woman I've never met and hope to hell she gets it, but sitting here watching Hercules battle yet another monster to save yet another scantily-clad woman sort of puts it all in perspective. If Kevin Sorbo could convince someone to let him battle fake monsters and stand next to very busty women for a living, why shouldn't I be able to convince someone to let me make fake sheep or sew costumes? Right? Totally. Moving on.





Since my portfolio is totally finished - and bangin' if I do say so myself, I'm moving on to something I've been meaning to do for a while........ I'd ask for a drumroll but that wouldn't make anyone reading this feel like an adult, so I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be worth it.





Open up an Etsy shop.





Hold the applause, people, I'm a procrastinator, remember. But I am making a serious effort and I do have some acctual "stock" sitting around.

Adorable, I know. Thats Humpty Dumpty, by the by. There are a couple more gremlins to be dislodged from the innerworkings of this puppy before I get the site up and running, but I think it may just happen this time.

For now though, I'm going to get back to Kevin Sorbo and continue working on my latest project - a Hydra plush toy. I'm thinking Bernard as a name... or Kirk.