No Rest For The Wicked

Since I am still sewing I have been unable to attend to my blog. I will be back to write more when I have more of a break.

Another Day, Another Dirty Dish

So the sewing continues unabated, the orders still roll in, and my household manages to mock me at every turn. Now it is my sink. Yes even the house itself is against me. My sink is clogged. Not an ordinary clog mind you, but a clog to end all clogs. My husband used the plunger, draino, liquid plummer, muratic acid, a snake. He took the pipes apart and forced the hose down as far as it would go and turned the water on high. Nope, no dice. So here it has been three days of him trying to unclog this drain. Three days of not being able to wash dishes, cook a meal, clean my kitchen. If you think that is not that bad, I live in a small mining town with no real fast food restaurants. We have been eating sandwiches off paper plates and I for one want a hot meal so bad I could cry! But have you ever tried to wash a pot in the bath tub? Yeah, right I have a notoriously bad back and would end up in traction in a heartbeat. Hmmm... traction... hospital stay.....hot food....no kids..... nah the medical bills would kill us. But it is tempting, oh so tempting!

Sewing My Fingers To The Bone

Just a quick note to say, no, I haven't died. I have just been so busy sewing I haven't had time to blog, read forums, clean my house, discipline my kids, kiss my husband or any of that sort of thing. Yeah, they are all pretty pissed about it too. The dishes overflow the sink, the husband is surly and the kids run amok. I may just move out!

Not Enough Time To Even Chew My Food

As many of you know I have been battling an illness that has been debilitating. In the middle of all this my friends have had awful things happen to them and strangely enough my Etsy business is booming. Sigh. I have no extra time to be sick and cope with all this! I could really use a helper but my teenagers are not up to par. I would actually appreciate someone taking them off my hands. So here I offer up two teenager girls that excel at talking on the phone, shopping, spending money, and snotty attitudes and one teenage boy that smells, doesn't know what soap means and hasn't changed clothes in a month. I will pay you to take them. Please?

The Shirt Off My Back

Or rather this shirt should be on YOUR back! Admins have repeated this phrase ad nauseum in the past couple weeks so it is time it was turned into a stylish article of clothing.
Subversion has never been so classy!



Shop at Funky Quail for more subversive goods!

And the Other Shoe Drops

I hit a brick wall. Not a real brick wall, but a brick wall none the less. I went to see if it was true, if Emckinstry was gone. I clicked on my feedback from a pair of earrings I had sold her and there it was. The dreaded brick wall. You've reached an error: The user id specified is not a verified Etsy member.

I AM ERROR

I think I may cry now.

Worry

It is pouring outside right now. Another monsoonal downpour and my husband is at work at the mine. I am sitting here in front of the computer crying because I am worried. It was just a few weeks ago that he was involved in an accident because he was sent to refuel a piece of equipment that was idling in the pit. The pit itself has been closed due to the heavy rain. Will he take a chance again? I don't know, it is his job.

A Community Call To Action

All of the "Etsy 5" have now been revealed. Emckinstry, Eclipse, Blondezillabeads4fun, Quirke and Bencandance. As three of those banned are sellers on Etsy, I believe there should be an appeals process so that they may at some time to be allowed to plead their case for reversal of their banning. At this point they are not even permitted to change their avatars. This has had a negative impact upon their business at Etsy. Please send a polite letter to community@etsy.com to ask for an appeals process. If not for them, then for the rest of the Etsy community. We all deserve it, don't you think?


Show your support buy a TEE!! Being sold right now is this awesome tee with the proceeds going to Amnesty International.



Free the Etsy 5 Tee

And So The Truth Will Be Heard

While Etsy continues its silence and any questions in the forums are locked at UEN the debate is continuing on what is the possible cause of the banning of 5 members of the Etsy community. So far Blondezillabeads4fun, Emckinstry and Bencandance have come forward as part of the 5 who were banned. The 5 received form letters with no warning stating that they were permanently banned at almost the exact same moment. This has led to speculation and rumours among community members as to the reasons for their expulsion. As of this time the exact reason is still not know but I am closely watching the UENfor further information.

Just in: Eclipse has come forward with her story as another of the banned members.

Spin Doctors

So things have changed. Many people have ignored what has happened and will go on with their lives and businesses. They figure that it does not affect them. They do not have to worry about it. Maybe, maybe not. But an new undercurrent of fear is now in the forums. Some sellers are slowly moving on to other venues and new people may choose to not sign up. I am not sure what was supposed to have been accomplished by this. Did they meet their objectives? Or did this back fire as I have suspected and now they have let loose any hold they may have had.
And remember not all publicity is good publicity. So what kind of spin will they attempt to put on it? I will be waiting for that.

The Sound of Silence

It was unexpected. There was no warning, no meaning, no reason. Why? I don't know. The people who were silenced do not know. They were not shown any examples of their behavior that may have been the reason for it. It was sudden and it was chilling. Who is next? Is is me? Is is you? Who? I do not know and we won't know until the duct tape is placed over our mouths.

And the Winner Is......

The winner of CCCOE's August Challenge is
peggradyart with her entry:,
'Words of Wisdom from Hunter S. Thompson'


You can view more wonderful items in her store here:
peggradyart



She wins this first prize ribbon

-----------------------------------------
The FREE gemstone earrings goes to ******sparklepants******
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=78334

Wow, what fun!!!

Rolling Along

So strange the things that life throws at you. My husband and I have been through just about everything a person can go through and come out relatively unscathed. This was evidenced yet again Friday night when my husband's refueling truck slid in the slick slurry from a monsoonal rain and flipped over twice at the Borax Mine. Other than some bumps and bruises he is fine. He could have been killed! If he hadn't been wearing his safety harness and hardhat he would have been, or at the very least severely injured. He has a nasty lump on his head that made it through the protection. I can imagine with out it, it would be many times worse.
So we take nothing for granted. Each breath is the sweetest and each day is the brightest. Life is here and now.

CCCOE-August Challenge

The CCCOE Street Team August Challenge is ended and here are the entrants.





You will be able to vote for the winner in the Etsy forums starting Sept 4th and maybe win a pair of earrings from Sandy Simone Jewelry! I will post a link to the voting when it starts.

When the Time is Right

Amazing how fast it can be when it happens. I felt so horrible this week. I had strained my neck overdoing it earlier this week. I wanted to get better so bad that I rushed things and ended up back in bed for two days. I then spent my time either in bed or on the couch. Then this morning I woke up and I felt different. Sure I still hurt, but I had energy! I felt alive! I took it slow though. I had after all, been an invalid for two weeks and just gone through surgery. I am pretty happy with this feeling, this feeling of being more myself. With my daughter's help I was able to make a simple dinner for the first time in two weeks! No one had to wait on me! I got my own water, still have to drink with a straw :( but I am doing it all myself! I sound almost normal when I talk, though I cannot raise my voice, so no yelling. I can sing, very softly or sotto voice, just not on a sustained basis. Ugh, does this mean I have to start cleaning my house?

A Long And Winding Road

Such is the road to recovery. I am getting stronger every day and my voice is starting to come back a bit. It is still not where it was, it is very soft and wispy. Hard to discipline children with a voice like this. I have a pot and a spoon that I am supposed to use to get their attention when I need them. I broke the spoon, sigh. They still didn't come to help me. I went to go out side and the dogs were so excited to see me that they were jumping on me. I tried to make my "eck" sound which means down. Didn't work. I ended up being puppy battered and had to beat a retreat to the house. This is very frustrating to me. I know it has only been a week and the doctor had said that it can take up to three weeks for the nerve to recover from the stress. I understand that intellectually, but there is still that little niggle at the back of my mind, that little worry. What if it is permanent? I had one of the best surgeons in the country. He did an amazing job with my surgery. There were no complications and I am healing well, all will be fine. I need to stop worrying. I tell myself this over and over. And I sing softly, "The long and winding road that leads to your door."

A Night At The Opera

Okay, so I wasn't actually at the opera, and technically I wasn't fat. But the saying "It isn't over until the fat lady sings" was somehow apropos. I was the last one in pre-op. All the other patients had been wheeled away to their destinies. I was left alone and forlorn with a nurse and a tech who was cleaning the gurneys so I did what any insane person would do and belted out a few tunes to keep my spirits up. Vacation by the Go-Gos, Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush, Dona Nobis an Elizabeth madrigal, My Favorite Mistake by Sheryl Crowe, Tonight and the Rest of My Life by Nina Gordon (they asked for it twice) Linger by the Cranberries. I sang because I was not sure if I would have a voice to sing with after that night. I still do not know. It will be a few weeks before I know. I write this with the memories of those songs in my head. Memories of being a teenager and having a garage band. Memories of the lullabies I sang my babies to sleep with. Memories of making up special songs for each of my children and now for my grand children who will each carry on with their clear high voices. Who will each sing their own songs now.

Salvation Is Just A Keystroke Away

Who says you can't buy indulgences anymore? (hides in case Martin Luther comes back from the grave to strike her down)

Eclectic Chef's Wire Competition

The Wire Competition by EJA – Your Chance to Vote and Win!
The Jewelry Guild I belong to is having a very exciting competition and here is what they have to say about it:

Here's your chance to vote for your favorite wire project by the artisans of EJA and your chance to win a free gift bag that will include hand made jewelry and other goodies!!

Just visit eeja.org/wired.html and fill out the form. On July 25th, we will draw a lucky e-mail address from those that have voted. One vote per person. Voting on an item will sign you up for our newsletter that will inform you of future sales and other prize drawings.

Thank you,
Team EJA

EEJA.org

Now how cool is that? Go there and vote and maybe win some cool stuff!

Adventures in Cell Phone Shopping

A long boring wait at a doctors' office with only back issues of Golfer's Digest and AARP Magazine had me desperate to pass the time while my husband had out patient surgery. I had my trusty Samsung Plum cell phone with T-mobile service and their T-zones, so I was looking at movies times and the BORING amazon.com interface when I realized that I could put in actual website URLs in a section of the screen. Wow. The first thing I did was put in www.etsy.com, a site where I buy and sell handmade crafts. Not too good. But I was not about to give up so I tried a couple more sites and here is my rating of each site with a list of their best features and a letter grade. I plan on doing more experimenting so check back for more of my Adventures.
Note: I did not actually checkout with any of my items so I am not sure how paypal's interface works, but that will be for another article!

Etsy.com:
This was the first site I visited and it was a total wash. You could not view shop products, you could barely view the shop banners. You really couldn't see ANYTHING. I believe most of the problems are because the site relies heavily upon flash and it is just not compatible with my cell phone browser. So no shopping of any kind here. Rating F

MintD.com:
On to the next shop. I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and clear this shop looked. It is a marked improvement over their regular website which seem a bit cluttered. Easy to use and easy to shop. The pictures took a bit to load but, man oh man, they were awesome and I was clicking on items to put in my cart like nobody's business. I could use every aspect of this site on my cell phone including the forums and the lookbooks and was extremely pleased with the experience. I highly recommend it. Rating A+

SmashingDarling.com
The last shop I looked at was very nice also. More cluttered than MintD, it was also a bit harder to navigate, but you could get to the shops, look at the products and put them in your cart. Definitely a good shopping experience that I will do again. Rating B

Injustice Prevails

Posting in forums can be a risky business. There is no face to face contact to gauge vocal tone or facial expressions so it is easy to misinterpret meaning. While that may be, it seems so unfair when a long time forum poster tries to change her persona from one who is critical (she really cared which is why she pointed out where improvements could be made)to an over the top, silly Pollyanna. She was told that her critiques were unwanted, so she gave them what they thought they wanted. Sweetness and light and positivity ALL the time. What did she get for this? A forum muting from none other than the owner of the site. She was accused of mocking them. Hmmm... maybe. It was a silly mocking if that was what it was. Most of the other forum posters either thought it was hilarious or took it at face value and were happy with her! Did it damage or demean the site? No, but I can say her muting sure did. It made many of us question the direction this company is heading in and whether it is the same direction that we wish to go ourselves.

Can An Old Dog Learn New Tricks?

I have been veering in the direction of metalsmithing for a while now. It takes a lot of hard work, commitment and some expensive equipment. I am worried about adding "something else" to the long list of crafts I presently do. Will it go the way of the 8 quilt tops I have that need to be finished and are stuck somewhere in a box? I don't know. I just know I am fascinated by the image of molten metal. It sparks a creative urge that I hope will take my jewelry making to a whole new level. If not, does anyone want to buy a used torch?

A Few Pictures to Remind Me

I did manage to take a few pictures at War and will post some of them here. The first is my granddaughter and her friend making bracelets. Little girls sure do like sparkley things!




Here is the front of my booth

We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

War is over.
All I have left are the wonderful memories and a ton of war dust on everything. I was able to reconnect with many old friends and we spent some time reminiscing. I have made many friends at war over the years and I have to wait until the next war to see them again. One positive is we never get tired of each other!
Now it is time to return to the mundane and wait patiently until the drums of war beat again.

Going To War!

I am leaving soon and I am really excited. I am going to Potrero War where I will have a booth to sell my jewelry and costumes. From Friday through Monday I will take on the persona of Peldyn verch Hywell, a 16th century Welsh seamstress. I will speak forsoothly and dance at the ball on Saturday night. Afterwards my husband and I will walk through the lanes of Merchants Row by lamplight and then sing songs 'round a roaring fire. It is a time of enchantment and I get to partake of it!

I Love Lampwork

I started buying artisan made lampwork beads and I am sooo hooked! Both Etsy and Ebay have some amazing artists that help to keep me broke. Here is my newest bracelet using beads from kreationsbykris at Etsy



Other noteworthy artists:

Denise Harbison of Whispering Beads on Ebay

Mardi Brown of Bastet's Beads on Ebay

hautemama at Etsy

All Sparkly and New!

I am sure you have noticed the changes to my blog. I now have a beautiful custom designed blog from Ouissi of Memory by Design. I gave her an idea of what I liked and now I have this beautiful site that makes my heart sing! I am anxious to have her revamp my other sites online now. She can work magic!

Don't Stay In The Past

Life is change. Things will not stay the same no matter how much we want them too. People come and go and life moves on. Embrace the change and have the courage to let life and people change too. Look back with nostalgia, but always move forward. To stay too much in the past is to lose the pleasure that can be found in the here and now.

Friendship

What is real friendship? I think about this since over the years I have had friends come and go. I like to think that I make a good friend, but I think I am a lazy friend. I am horrible at writing letters, I never call. I rarely visit.
All that aside, I am the friend who will never judge you. I never let you feel bad about yourself and I always listen. When you really need me I will do whatever I can to help. Is that enough?

Now On MintD

I have opened another store and I am very excited about it. I may even have my line of apparel on it in due time. For now it is just an experiment in other venues.

http://www.mintd.com/stores/show/206-Peldyn-s-Unique-Craftings


Check it out and let me know what you think!

Find Your Voice

I know there are a lot of people who may not like the way things are in this world, but they do not speak out.

I feel sorry for them being afraid to voice their opinion, because I once was one of them.

I am talking about the person who's dinner order at a restaurant is wrong, but doesn't say anything and eats a meal that is not right. The person who is overcharged and just pays it without complaining. The person who is made fun of and never defends them self.
The person who is with a group of people and someone makes a racist remake and they say nothing for fear of making a scene. The person who allows censorship to flourish because they are afraid people will not like their views.

I used to not speak out. I finally realized I was not doing me or my children any favors by keeping quiet. Sure I want people to like me, but sometimes wrong is wrong and we need to speak up against it.

It took me a while to come to this state. It happened at a local merchant meeting where the leader made an anti-semitic remark. I didn't say anything and I felt so dirty! I vowed to not ever let things like that pass with out comment again. Think about it, where would we be without the Rosa Parks of this world? Baby, just get on that bus!

What is this all about?

I have been told blogging is the next great thing. Is it? It can seem so self absorbed and banal. I almost feel that I have started this under duress, but I do want to learn new things and be forward thinking. So am I now merely a follower? I do not know. But this I do know, to understand I must do.