Drip

Holy ceiling batman...wait, that should be holey ceiling. Indeed, we woke up Sunday morning to the ceiling of our bedroom dripping water. Now we knew there was a leak somewhere in the roof above us, but it never seemed to make it all the way through the drywall and we could never find the source in the attic. This was all before we experienced this most recent rain storm, set to continue for the next entire week mind you. Sigh. Anyway, we are lucky to have a contractor friend who walked us through the best way to deal with this at 6:30 in the morning. Then I had the pleasure of climbing into the attic repeatably throughout the day to empty the bowl catching water from the now painfully obvious leak in the roof. This behavior will have to continue until the sky stops falling long enough that the source of the leak on the two story, tile roof can be located and fixed. Sound fun right? Yeah, I'm all sore from all the climbing and crawling this morning, but at least I do in fact have a roof over my head, so complaint over.

Do you remember recently I mentioned a large order request which I replied to with a rather large shipping quote and rather long completion time estimate? Well, I thought I had scared them off, but apparently it was just that they had 'thought' they had responded and it didn't go through. So I spent much of Sunday evening sussing out the details on that. I am still waiting for further correspondence as the last thing I had to debate was she intended to pay for everything when they are ready to ship and I think that won't work for me. I figure I should at least get some payment up front on an order that is likely to take me at least a month to complete. I keep thinking about spending all that time working on it only to have her change her mind because I took too long or something. Anyway, I think I didn't get a response only because it was really late in her time zone and she likely got off the computer, so hopefully we'll get that all worked out today so I can get to work on the single largest order I've ever had...or not.

One last thing this morning. On Saturday while the kids were with Grandma, we went out to eat, a rare occurrence, and on the way back, we stopped at Michael's. I had sold all the 'For Japan' medallions and I felt like I could sell more, if I had the bits to make more. So I dug through the clearance bins and came out with a few more dragon charms. I went ahead and re listed the medallion as soon as I got home. I haven't yet sold any more, but now I can sell as many as there are people who want one to help donate. I sent all the money I had already raised to the Red Cross on Saturday morning after the fourth had sold and I hold I get to do that again.

So today, it's working on the beginning bits of the large order, just in case everything works out. They are pieces I make often so if it doesn't work out, I'm just ahead of the curve stocking the shop and I'll move on to remaking some other pieces. Of course if things do get worked out for the large order, you may have to say goodbye to my creativity for  spell, but I think we'll all live.

Working

From a day full of milestones to a day full of, well just working. I finished tatting up the custom mask as well as the matching necklace, but I still have the embellishing to do on the mask. It's one of my newest masks, 'Such a Sad Love' in black and tatting it is just the first step. It needs crystals sewn in, embroidery around the edge and the beaded dangles ending in crystals. I didn't always make it in that order, but eventually I understood that adding bits that swing first makes everything harder. Yes, I'm aware you probably didn't need that bit of advice.

Toward the end of the afternoon I also sold one more of the 'For Japan' Medallions so once the mask is wrapped, I am pleased to be making another of those.  I did re list it again and I do hope to sell the last two I can make, allowing me to donate $120 to the Red Cross. I have made more than a few things over the years that were used to earn money for causes, but this is the first time, I am personally doing the donating and it feels rather nice. Of course I would go broke doing it all the time, but maybe a little more often anyway.

I'm afraid I don't have much else to share as it was definitely a production day. I will try to remember to get a few pictures of this custom mask before it's out the door to show you though. The day after a milestone or anniversary is always a bit of a let down even when little fuss is made. I always need to spend some time looking at numbers, evaluating and figuring out what the next goal to work toward is. I find creating finish lines, no matter how small or insignificant, goes a long way toward keeping me motivated and moving forward. A friend of mine on twitter commented the other day that I possessed the qualities of "Persistence, patience, focus" and that she found those qualities inspiring. Well, it's those finish line that keep me there...well that and the ever present childhood dream of one day being famous. Well then, I'm off to make goals, live famously and probably do the dishes and I think scoop the kitty litter too.

To Donate

I finished up the mask I was working on rather early in the morning as it was the only one that does not require the final and time consuming step of wrapping the wire with thread. Then I was off to do school for the day, which as the get harder gets a bit longer each day. When that was done I returned to my thread with the familiar, 'which direction now?' question. I had mostly caught up when one of the non paying buyers transformed themselves into a paying one. Ah, something else to remake.

This is when I overheard...read...someone on twitter asking for donations for a breast cancer fund to help women while they are going through it. That's when I made this. There was no ring on it at this point, but it is a pendant. I had made a similar one for the bride I just sent the veil to, only in her veil colors to match. I added a small swarovski to the center to make it a bit more special. I had initially intended to embroider the edges, but then I could not find my black metallic filament so I let it go. This one is off to be used in an auction or sold, I'm not certain the details, but it's proceeds will be donated. I did make another, so if anyone else out there is looking for donations for this pinkest of months, shoot me a message and I'd be glad to donate the other as well.

About the same time I was caught up with this little pink flower I received an email that I had actually won the third place price in a blog giveaway. I received a credit at Gloomth.com a very goth Lolita clothing shop which I have featured on the Wunderkammer before. I'm still on a spending moratorium, but I managed to find the perfect thing which left me only paying shipping. I got me a pair of short bloomers. Yes, I know it's a little odd, but I have always wanted a pair and they are adorable. I would have gotten a skirt, but the one I feel in love with would have cost more than I could justify even with the credit, but Yay, free bloomers! Thanks to Gloomth and the blog at LaCarmina.com for the giveaway. I am also aware that this might have been an instant karmic reward encouraging me to donate more...so I will.

I should get in my crystals and other supplies today and if the stars align this will be around lunch time so I can get started on the wedding mask while the kids are off with Grandma and then asleep at nap. If the stars don't, then it will likely arrive around bedtime leaving me grumbly, but then I'll get it done over the weekend. I do have plenty of time to work on this one, but the final stage may be to add feathers and I want plenty of time to work out the best way to do that. I get doubly nervous when I work on wedding pieces since they should be beyond perfection and since I have yet to work with a bridezilla, I still have the desire to make that happen. So, off to it then. Have a lovely weekend and all that!