I've Been Reading

The mail was an utter disappointment and so I simply continued tatting a pair of ankle corsets. I engaged in no creative thought and as such have nothing creative to share. You'd think given that I would not bother writing anything this morning, but that is not my way. I function on habit and if I do not want to upset the precious balance I have set over the last few years I must stick with it. So again, I will just talk about something else.

I mentioned a few times that I was participating in the One Book, One Twitter event. Today begins the second week of the discussion schedule. You see, rather that schedule the actual reading which everyone seemed to agree was going to be rather difficult, they scheduled the discussion of the chapters so that folks wouldn't be unleashing tirades of spoilers upon their slower reading brethren. While I have not contributed much to the discussion, I have been following it and it is quite entertaining. Honestly my favorite so far are those that are over thinking every detail. I mean, sure it is possible that Mr. Gaiman was that hopelessly detailed and that every little thing means something deep, but I rather think that it is more what it seems with just a few things baked in for subtext.

Just in case I didn't say before, we are reading American Gods, which I have read before. I read the book as soon as it was out, so I have forgotten much of the details and it is almost as if I am reading it for the first time with a healthy dose of deja vu. In fact I am becoming so engrossed in the story that I'm at least halfway through at this point and it's killing me not to answer some of the discussion questions or comments with the truth revealed further in...I just keep wanting to shout, 'just wait!' I don't do that though, I just keep reading. What is wonderful about this whole thing is I think I needed a bit of a distraction from the days habits. Sure it's slowing my tatting down, but maybe that's a good thing for a while. It's almost like a vacation without going anywhere.

So in a repeat of yesterday, I shall tat, hope for a better haul at the mail box and I shall read. Also, if you are reading American Gods with us, stop by the Wunderkammer today as I curated it as a tribute to one of my favorite moments in the book so far.

Here's the Finger

The package I was waiting for yesterday did not arrive until about 7 in the evening, so I was as I had suspected left to my own devices. With the peer pressure mounting I decided to go forth and start the creation of my tatted gloves. Several other glove patterns exist, I've seen pictures, but rather that use them as a jumping off point I started elsewhere with my spine pattern. Sure a few people have offered great suggestions which I had considered. Just do the back side and sew them to existing gloves or why not just do opera length fingerless gloves. I thought about both of those options, but decided that I wanted to conquer those fingers.

Sure, if all this works there might be a much cheaper, I imagine, fingerless version, but for now were starting from the beginning. I also ran across someone asking how the designers mind works and while I didn't answer there, I thought about that a lot. Sure, there are those that truly understand the math involved in pattern creation. They sketch and run the numbers when they design. Me, not so much. I think that I might understand the math at a subconscious level, but it certainly does not ever come out to play on a piece of paper. More often than not my designs start with an idea which is often times very vague. Then I either imagine what existing designs might be married together, pull our scraps of lace to actually lay them together, or more often, I just start tatting and see what emerges.

I rarely scrap an idea. Usually the first thing off the needle wins. There are rarely adjustments or revisions to the original design and to make everything even more interesting, I almost never write down stitch counts while I work. I must take a zillion pictures and then I count stitches and hope I remember. Usually a pattern gets written down only after it has been created quite a number of times, or when someone asks real nice like.

I am digressing though, fingers. I wanted to show you fingers. I have all five on one hand done now, but I took pictures when I had only 4. I used my spine pattern which itself was adapting a one shuttle pattern to two adding a Celtic element. I played with the stitch counts to make each finger fit just so. I do need to make some slight adjustments to the length and then it is on to making them one. I can't help but think that I'm going about this a little backwards. I have knitted gloves and they go in the other direction, but it seemed only logical to me to conquer the fingers first. I thought about continuing this basic design throughout the length of the gloves, but I decided that had been done. All the tatted gloves I've seen do the strips method to create the glove. My current idea is to take one of my slave bracelet designs and figure out what need to be done to match the two together. I'm also toying with the idea of leaving the palm bare. I think it might be a striking look and besides warmth is clearly not what these suckers are designed for. I features some other gloves recently on the Wunderkammer that played with that negative space and it gave them a real avant garde feel.

Ooh, speaking of Wunderkammer, she has reached 300 followers. I wanted to celebrate, but I think I shall save all celebrations until the one year anniversary, since it is near the two year anniversary of this blog and my 4th etsyversary. Sure, we've got a few months to go on that but, look out, it's coming.

Ummm

Okay, so it's one of those morning where I've got just about nothing new to contribute to the conversation. Nothing too terribly fancy has happened, no news to share, so all you're going to get is babbling .

Yesterday was a day of remaking, I abandoned the barefoot sandals as they were taking too long and I fear the holiday season makes me nearly as impatient as the drivers on the road that I want to dismember for their horribly unkind behavior. So instead I made a couple of necklaces. I did sell one of my newest creations, the tatted spine, so I got to start on making that one again too, though I still need to get the hardware on that one.

I have long finished my holiday shopping, but as I curate the Wunderkammer, my thoughts are with handmade giftable items. If you're inclined to like the Steampunk or goth side of life or you need to gift someone who does, stop by the Wunderkammer during the next week as I focus on those finds there. That totally sounded like a commercial, ha. I've also been wanting to say something like this one, Every woman loves lace, why not get her some of mine for the holiday. Whew, that's been killing me. I keep thinking I should tweet it, then that little voice in my head simply says, "laaame" and I know the little voice is right, so I shush. Apparently the little voice is not quite awake to stop me and the rambling has won out. Please forgive me.

More tatting today as I try to catch up with sold orders and wish for more of them. I think I'm beginning to look forward to the quiet of next month, but just for a little while. I really do prefer to be busy.

Fringe

Well, the great twitter experiment to get fans to pick the wunderkammer there failed miserably. There were a couple of people that gave it a go, but perhaps my timing was poor. I'm taking another tact and giving it another go. Head to the wunderkammer to see the details for the newest version of the great Wunderkammer experiment. If it works, it will be an ongoing feature, if not...we'll try to forget that I tried this at all.

I finished up the arm band yesterday and used facebook to debut the pictures. I did end up putting fringe along the whole piece. I took a photo of it as a necklace first and I wasn't certain it would make a good arm band, but after biting the bullet and changing out of my warm clothes for a photo shoot, I decided that it does indeed work as a convertible piece. It might be listed as early as today. I'm still wavering on the price. It's not a particularly complex pattern, but the extra steps, like the fringe and the ribbon make it more time consuming than it might appear.

You can see the other photos on my fan page on facebook or you can wait until I list the piece and they will all of course be there. I've got to get back to the task of remaking now that I've gotten a few new things made. I think I'll use my new gray to make another arm band with black ribbons after this one has been listed a while. I like to see if it has any chance of selling before I start making more and I imagine this one might need to find a niche audience since it's not exactly every day wear.

One more quick thing. I was excited this morning to discover that my brand new facebook fan page, less than a week old has already acquired over 100 fans including one celebrity...no really, there is one, go look. Also, the etsy store is just a few hearts from getting 5000. Of course those go back and forth so much that it might take another week or so before that occurs...it's still pretty cool.

Rebel Yell

I am a rebel, an outcast...not is the most interesting uses of the words of course, but rather in the sense that I like to do things my way. This includes how I choose to learn new things. I do not seek out teachers nor generally ask for advice. I am self taught. Now, I know those who will say that term is a misnomer. No one is truly self taught. We all find sources to help us learn, weather they are websites, books or simple illustrations. There are many drawbacks to this type of learning, but I've decided that I enjoy a few of them.

I remember my English teachers saying that as writers, you cannot break the rules until you know them. I find that it's much easier to break them when you never knew them in the first place. By breaking them here, I really mean transcend them creatively. I spend a little time at intatters, an online tatters group and I lurk in the forums. The questions asked that I have no answers for are many. There are many procedures that I have never even tried to follow, like blocking. Then I spent some time looking through the selection of photos brought up in a google image search of TotusMel. I thought to myself, wow, I really have been all over the place.Would I have tried any of these things if I actually knew the mechanics of designing tatting? Would I have ended up with the same pieces if I had followed rules or structure? Probably not. This isn't to say that my way is any superior. It's just better...for me. Anyway, I just had to wax poetic on this point for a bit, hope I didn't bore you silly.

I did get a couple of pictures of the mask with the new eye shape. It really is a fairly subtle difference, more angular. Even though it appears to be a slight change, there was considerable difference in the final construction to make the mask lay correctly. It definitely does not warrant it's own listing like this, but it does give me ideas for a new creation based on the shape, rather than retrofitted to it.

I also have been given inspiration for a design from my husband. Every so often he comes up with an idea for me. So far, all of these have been video game based, but I'll take it. This one might require a little more creativity and more wire work. I still haven't got my mind around how it will work, but I do enjoy the occasional challenge.

Oh, and one more thing. Yesterday the Wunderkammer received its first donation/tip. I installed the paypal donation button on the off chance that someone would want to compensate me for my time, though I knew it was an extreme long shot. Well now someone has. It wasn't much at all, but it's the thought that counts and it really made my day. So, thanks so much my first tipper, you're awesome!

Happy Birthday To Me

This is a rare Saturday post because its my birthday and I'll whine if I want to. Plus, I'm not certain when I'll get a chance to post again. Things did not go according to the best case scenario yesterday and we did not receive the keys to the new house. I am of course annoyed although a relatively good nights sleep has taken the edge off of the rage. This means that the earliest we will get them is Monday, I imagine afternoon as they must still fund the loan and get it recorded. I have no idea why those tasks should take many hours but I have learned the art of pessimism throughout the home buying process.

On a good note, I woke to a few more Wunderkammer entrants which unlocked the sixth prize. This means that within the next week, we only need 23 more people to enter and we get the last prize unlocked. I however will most likely be offline until Wednesday or Thursday, so I won't be of much help in that regard. I went and scheduled Wunderkammer posts all the way through Thursday so I don't have to worry about that, there will be fresh finds all week.

Normally, I'd have a sale or something on my birthday, but with the move looming, I have closed the store. So, sorry about that, but it really couldn't be helped. Perhaps, I'll have a blog reader special after I get up and running again, but no guarantees. Alright, that's it for me. I'll be packing and getting ready for the move on Monday. Cross our fingers that everything goes smoothly from this point further, 'cause I really can't take many more setbacks.

Still Waiting

Still, we wait. I know, I know all this is probably getting tiresome to read. There is nothing new to report except the single statement by one of out mortgage people, 'It looks like we have everything to me so I am hoping for tomorrow.' I sure hope that her hope is not misplaced. We spent yesterday evening doing the lawn for the last time and really getting down to the brass with the packing. My husband even started working on his computer room.

Whether we get the keys or not, my etsy store will be closing today around noon. I figure the last thing I want to be worried about tomorrow is shipping something out. I'm going to keep trying to pimp the wunderkammer giveaway, but I doubt I'll have much twitter time either. So if you're so inclined, I'd appreciate the occasional tweet or post on the giveaway. The entries have slowed dramatically with about 10 left to open the sixth prize and another 25 after that to get that final prize unlocked. I know several people are coveting that bustle skirt, so I really want them all unlocked. Hopefully even without my attention another week should bring the needed entries.

Just one more little thing before I sign off for the day. Guess what I managed this morning? I cinched my new corset closed. Okay, you might not think this is an achievement, but it hasn't even been a month yet and I'm proud of myself. Once this is comfortable, I'll have taken my waist down 6 inches. Yes, I know it mostly goes back when I leave the corset off too long, but a couple of those inches are really gone and more importantly, my stomach muscles are closer together and the pooch is slowly shrinking. I might get one more smaller corset in the coming months just to really get the best long term benefit. We'll see though, I've only been lacing for a few months and I do kind of like it so I might just keep going...of course I've no intention of going sideshow with this so don't worry too much.

Signed

Well, the deed is done. We have signed all the paperwork, handed over the ridiculously large check and now we wait...again. With the sellers hundreds of miles away we are uncertain as to when they will get their half done so we can get the keys to the house. Regardless, we've been assured it will be in time to move before we need to be out of here. We're crossing our fingers for Friday so we can move this weekend when all our family can actually help. I imagine whichever way this plays out, I will disappear over the weekend only to reemerge midweek in time for the conclusion of the Wunderkammer giveaway.

I'd be lying if I said there was really anything else on my mind. Sure a few things have flitted in and out. I'm babysitting the giveaway, tatting on and off and oh yeah, my birthday is Saturday. Everything keeps coming back to what needs to be done for the move. Address changes, moving services, not to mention the actual carrying of the boxes and our immense amount of stuff. Yeah, we love our stuff and it all need to come with us.

So I've got a few of those on the plate for today, plus an attempt to schedule Wunderkammer posts for the next four days or so, though every time I've done that in the past, things sell in advance of the post. It's either that or let it slumber in the middle of a giveaway and that just seems like a bad idea. My brain is starting to hurt trying work all this out. Hopefully a week from today I'll be in a much calmer, better place, but who really knows.

Ow & Wow

Interesting day yesterday. First my two year old decided to attempt the surgical removal of the wart on my back with my tatting scissors. Yeah, I thought she was just playing with my back as she does often, when the pain hit. Actually it's just too bad she didn't actually take the bad boy off. Now it itches something fierce.

Then I got a message forwarded to me from our loan guy saying that he was getting the loan docs anytime now, so be ready for the call. Only much later in the afternoon were we informed that while he had the loan docs, he had to request more papers from the title company so it would be another day. The time between these two events had me antsy and relatively unproductive as well.

A bit of good news however, I had gotten a blog contest entry from one of the gals that does the Haute Macbre site. Now, for me, this was like having the cool kids, no the cool, famous kids talk to me. I was elated and yesterday, the site posted about the Wunderkammer giveaway. To say the plug increased traffic would be a dramatic understatement. So not only was prize 3 unlocked, but prize 4 needs just 2 more entries to be on the table. The Wunderkammer has also increased its blogger followers way past my humble personal blog. Yep, I think this was just the ticket to getting a little notice for my baby blog.

Back to the house buying business, hopefully we will in fact get those papers signed and can have the keys to the house in our hands by the weekend. Of course if that does happen, look for me to disappear over the weekend and perhaps not return until the middle of next week. If it doesn't, look for me to keep complaining loudly until it does. I will let you all know when I know...which I hope to be soon. I'll keep on tatting as long as I can. All my supplies have been ported into plastic tub for easy moving and access. I figured that might keep my down time to a minimum, Internet connection not withstanding. Well, onto the unknown for the day.

Well, That's A Relief

Well, the first day of the Wunderkammer giveaway was a rousing success. The second prize has already been unlocked and if we maintain even half that momentum, all the prizes will have homes in the end. The site traffic also more than doubled yesterday and it added a handful of blogger followers as well. My hopes for the event are of course to gain lasting exposure for the blog and all those featured. What I didn't expect was the information I've been receiving in the entry comments. Already. I've heard tale of purchases made after features, which is awesome. Everyone also seems to have wildly different favorites, which tells me that I should keep bouncing all over the place as I'm filling several different niches with my themes. So one day in and I'm glad I decided to do this...of course ask me again and I might just say I'm exhausted from plugging the thing relentlessly.

Speaking of exhausted, (great segue right?) here's the latest on the house buying. We were told yesterday that we may be receiving 'docs' today. This, I'm told may result in us closing by Friday. I've learned to take everything with a grain of salt here, but I did start up with the final packing anyway, hoping to get our move on this weekend. What's funny is my birthday is Saturday and I've barely given it a thought. I assume that I'll be spending the day with carpet cleaners and boxes so woohoo, right? Of course at this point, I actually hope that is what I'm doing. As you're fully aware, we're all exhausted from this process.

I have been trying my hardest to keep up with tatting orders by immediately remaking everything that sells. This would be easier if folks were buying smaller pieces, but I won't complain. If anything, this situation has made me very money conscious and every dollar counts. Again, my tatting is another thing held up by the move. I do actually have a few new pieces sitting about waiting for their photo shoots. I also want to make some masks in new colors, but why bother until I'm moved and can get photos of them. I guess what I'm trying to say is, can I be moved already?

Wunderkammer Giveaway

I know that this is just so much self promoting cross posting, but I'm doing it anyway. Please stop by the Wunderkammer and checkout the amazing giveaway going on there. The redesign is done and seven amazing artisans donated prizes to be given away to readers new and old. Each and every one of them deserves a great home, so the Wunderkammer needs your entries, your plugs and recommendations. Of course if the theme of the blog isn't your bag, that's fine too, just pass it along to anyone you think might enjoy it.

In other news, we did a walk through in the new house while the owners were in the process of moving. We were a little taken back to learn that not only were they taking the porch brick by brick, but also two trees in the backyard. Wasn't shocked to see them taking the blinds, but we hadn't really thought about that. Since this house is window heavy we've got to replace those pretty fast and get the backyard put back together so the kids can have their place to play. Oh, and the carpets were quite a bit more stained than we remember so they need a good cleaning too. Of course all this is contingent upon us actually closing on time. We got the most recent paperwork, but no one seems to have a solid answer about the closing date. Seeing the owners moving out has us in a better mood though as it represents good forward momentum.

Also this weekend, I picked up some bamboo crochet size 10 thread at JoAnns. I don't really shop there, but made a trip with my Mother-in-law. I went ahead and tatted up a quadra bracelet with it as a trial. It's much softer and tats a bit smaller than the size 10 cotton. The resulting bracelet has a much looser drape, if that makes sense. I can't imagine making a mask with it as I think it would just collapse upon itself without a lot of stiffening. It would probalby be great for the frilly cuffs I make though. Of course the bigger issue for me is color selection. Right now it seems they only do a few pastels...and no black. I'm glad I gave it a go though and I might work up some pieces after the move to sell, whenever that turns out to be.

Two Steps Back

Well, I can't say I'm really surprised, but yesterday was full of little setbacks. First as I spent afternoon nap time packing, I received a convo about a package that had not arrived. It was a piece mailed over a month ago and of course the delivery confirmation shows it as delivered just two days after I mailed it. It was a custom colored piece, so I tend to believe the customer and they have been given the option of me remaking the piece or a refund. I know that it's not my fault, but I always feel guilty when this happens. Lucky for me it has only happened a handful of times. Even though I haven't heard back yet, I went ahead and worked on remaking the piece anyway.

Turns out that I needed to stop packing anyway. We got a call later that evening from our real estate agent. Apparently the 2nd bank on the seller home, the same one that held us up for so long in the beginning hasn't gotten their paperwork done, so we need to file an extension until mid August with the first bank to give them more time. We'll be filling out that paperwork tonight, so fabulous right? It's not all bad really, at least we'll have a set date now and more time to sort out our house. We have until the 19th to get out of our rental, so hopefully there will still be a little cross over for comfort. This does also mean that I can do some supply ordering and keep the store open longer. It also means that I might be able to set the Wunderkammer redesign date, though I still need to talk to my design elf. Yes, I know that also means that my husband was right, but that, right there, is the only time I'm saying so.

So today's agenda is supply orders, mask tatting, Wunderkammer planning and no packing...see not so bad.

Too Hot

I think I mentioned that it was getting to hot yesterday. What I think I didn't mention was the reason the heat was getting to me. Well, our air conditioning has broken. I know many people live in climates where this would not be a problem, but I live where yesterday was over 105 degrees. I managed to keep the house under 90, but barely. We did tell our property management about the problem,but we also told them we were putting in our 30 day notice, so I'm just crossing my fingers that they don't ignore the problem. Sure we're out of here in a few weeks, but it's not likely to be cooling down outside for quite sometime. To add a little extra fun to the hot, my husband is now out of town for a few days for a training. Yep and he's in the bay area where it is always cool, but I'm not bitter, not at all.

Yesterday I snagged prize number three for the Wunderkammer giveaway. Part of me feels kind of weird planning so far in advance and yes a few weeks is far for me. I'm used to doing these sort of things on the fly with little advance planning. I'm finding that contrary to what logic might dictate the extra time is not making me plan better. If anything it's letting me come up with then summarily reject additional giveaway scenarios that are really quite lame. This is certainly a case of going with your first instinct as the best bet.

I know that I also said I wasn't going to be able to come up with any new designs for a while either, but during the construction of my custom project I came up with a ring. It wasn't much of a stretch from the hat band to a ring. I just decreased the circumference a bit and it made itself. It's quite a comfy thing and I've already listed one in what I suppose is a small size since I have particularly skinny fingers. When I asked after pricing on twitter, it was suggested that I might do a ring and pendant set, so I decided that a pendant based on the same basic pattern design would be interesting. I haven't gotten great pictures of that piece yet, but it too is made with the slightly smaller thread, size 20 and is based on the same motif as my Spine barefoot sandals and the throat corset. I made it smaller and turned the top edge into a clover as well. I might get it listed later today. Of course I might not as the heat is sucking the life out of me.

Done and Done

Is there a name for that gesture where you mime slapping dirt off your hands to indicate that you've completed a task? Well, that's what I did this morning as I finished packing up the last of my recent bout of custom orders. All done. Whew. Hmmm...now what?

I've notice that this summer in particular has been moving in a feast or famine pattern. I go a long stretch with no sales nor attention and then without warning they are heaped on for a short period only to fade to nothing just as quickly. This is not a comfortable pattern for me, though I am getting used to it. You see, now that these are in the mail I can expect to go with sales for up to a week. Then if the pattern holds I should get at least two custom orders in a row effectively swamping me for days. I think I would much prefer a nice steady one day on one day off sort of pattern, but we don't get to choose now, do we?

I've already begun taking advantage of the recent downturn to remake many of the pieces lost to the feast, but with the daily packing regimen, it is going to be a slow process. I've all but abandoned the idea of any new designs at least until after the move and the Wunderkammer relaunch. Though honestly the relaunch shouldn't take too much effort really. I've received two giveaway offers and though I am hoping for a few more, I can always make up the deficit with a couple of my own pieces. We're suppose to meet with our real estate agent this weekend and that might result in a better sense of the time line we're looking at. Then I'll know more accurately when the relaunch should occur and I'll let everyone know.

Goals

It's that time of the year again. The time when I start to get antsy and decide to come up with a set of goals. The goals I've chosen this time are a mixed bag of slightly possible and absolutely ridiculous, as is my way. The set this time includes receiving 5000 heart in my etsy shop and my 1000th sale by years end. Then there's the ridiculous one. In the past I've set this goal to revive tatting as the newest craft craze and while I admit to doing my part to expose more people to the art, it remains an illusive one. Another ridiculous goal was the writing of a tatting book. This one is hampered by being the stay at home mother of two small children...yeah it's not happening any time soon. This time I've aimed for the starts, I want at least one celebrity sale that results in a tatted jewelry sighting on said celebrity. This doesn't even need to be a sale, I'll give away the tatting to get the sighting, though I've no idea where to start to make this one a reality. Which is why it sits comfortably in the ridiculous goal spot.

More house updates for you this morning too. The house was appraised yesterday and came it at what we needed it to, so that's moving smoothly. Packing however is going to be the death of me. The dust is a killer...I know I could wear a mask, but I don't and I not certain it would really help anyway since the dust I disturb floats around the house all day and night now. Also my desire to keep everything is fighting dramatically with my desire to throw away tons of stuff so I don't have to move it. Of course I also suffer from an advanced form of the pack rat syndrome. I believe everything will eventually be used and to throw it away now would mean that need simply presents itself sooner. That's the way it works...right?

I opted for a simply call for donations on the Wunderkammer's sidebar. I'm hoping to get in a healthy handful, so I can run the same sort of giveaway I did here. You know, more entries more prizes and all that. It was really successful at getting new traffic and though the levels I reached during the giveaway were not maintainable, I did see a sustained increase in traffic, so here's hoping I can do the same thing for the Wunderkammer. I've already gotten a couple of responses so I am hopeful...for now anyway.

Updates

Well, it seems like everyone who has already left for the darkside had plenty to say justifying their decision and those out here with me are all just fighting the pull. I shall discuss it no further until it has me firmly in its maw, so moving on. We were finally informed yesterday that we are in escrow and the house we're buying is officially off the market. We don't actually know when this happened because our real estate agent and mortgage guy seem to be running with the ball. What they don't realize is we're those people who want an update on every little mundane detail, there is never enough information for me. No I don't really want to supervise the whole event in an active sense, but I do want a play by play and I'm not getting one.

In the world of tatting, I'm slowly catching up. I have just one pending order I'm working one. Of course that order contains two masks, so it's not likely to be finished for another few days. I haven't gotten any new orders since I got back and while I would normally begin to worry, I'm relieved that I have the extra time to catch up. In fact this run on custom pieces has gotten me thinking forward to the holidays. Yes, I know they are months away, but if the summer sales are any indication and I hope they are, I'm going to be a bit swamped. So from this point forth, every little bit of down time I am afforded will go to creating stock of my most popular items starting with a crap load of masks for Halloween. Though making this statement will probably jinx me to very few sales of them, oh well.

Anything else...oh yeah, the Wunderkammer redesign is humming along and has an eta of the first week of August. To go along with the new skin, I want to have a giveaway, which I think I've mentioned. Problem is, how to ask for donations from the featured artisans without coming off all spammy. I know many of them make very expensive items and those are right out, but perhaps discounts. Then I was thinking of offering an ad to those who wanted to donate an item, but I want to make sure that the prizes are, well...appropriate for the Wunderkammer audience. I suppose I could just post a call for donations on the site, but would that look tacky? Aargh, I'm just thinking out loud now and I have so many other things to think about, so I'm gonna stop it now. You know where to leave opinions should you have them.

100

Yes, it was hot again yesterday, but I was on a few small missions. I was cleaning and tatting and knitting and all sorts of little things. We're still waiting to hear back about the house we want to buy, coming up on two months soon. To say we're getting discouraged would be to ignore a dozen other emotions that are filling our household. Then to make matters more stressful, I attempted to enroll my daughter in a charter school so that I can home school this coming school year. I say attempted because the school is of course full. I've got one other I can try, but they did not have an online application, so for all I know they are full up too and my plans are out the window as they are the only two charters serving my area. I'm sure there are other options, but I think I may have waiting too long for many of them. You see, I was hoping to get everything done after we moved assuming that it would have occurred by now. I seriously miscalculated and now things are terribly uncertain. I know she doesn't *have* to attend kindergarten so I may unofficially school her this coming year and get everything set for first grade, but somehow it seems wrong.

Well, that's enough personal drama for today. I have been tatting a bit on the reward for my Wunderkammer collaborator. She chose something in the chocolate brown sock yarn I used to make my last scarf project. It's not pressed and finished yet, so I'll just give you a little taste here. I think I actually have enough yarn left to make a second piece to sell and since it's been a while since I listed something made in yarn, I think I might just do that. Sales in the store have begun to slow down dramatically. That's about par for the summer course though, so I won't start complaining yet. I am also about halfway through my knitted scarf/wrap. I've been working a bit on it everyday, but I've no idea when it will be completed. Of course I can't wear in for months anyway.

The Wunderkammer is doing great, along with the secret redesign, it just reached 100 blogger followers. This was a milestone I was waiting for because I had decided that once I got there, I would do the first giveaway there. The redesign has changed the plans a bit. I will now wait until that is complete and I will start asking featured artisans if any of them wants to participate in the giveaway. Of course I have no idea how best to do that without getting all spammy on people. I'd like to do it in a similar fashion to the one I did here with more prizes for more entries, but I don't want to be the only one donating to the cause. I think I've got a bit of time to get everything all set up so no stress.

It's Too Hot

Yet another long weekend is now behind me. This one featured my husbands birthday, which means we watched movies and video games, ate ridiculously large meals and I have consumed enough chocolate based desserts to create a whole new me. So to say I'm not well rested is a severe understatement. Yet, here we go into a new week full of...well, I've no idea really. I've got very few if any plans for the foreseeable future. I am currently making the reward for my graphic collaborator on the wunderkammer and I'm really excited by what she's already shared with me. So excited in fact that it's a bit of a struggled to not share it here, but I shall endure. I want it to have a great reveal when it is complete.

I am still knitting away as well. Switching between the two fiber arts has my hands a bit confused though and if I stop paying attention to what I'm doing things get a bit weird. I really should be remaking a score of pieces I have listed as custom orders, but I just can't seem to get motivated to do so. I have started one of the masks, but I'm pretty much ignoring it right now. I think the heat is just wiping the energy right out of me and it's only going to get worse.

I will be shipping pieces away to have their magazine photo shoot this week. If I am recalling correctly this is for an August issue, so hopefully I'll feel comfy sharing all the details soon. I've made one piece specifically for the shoot, but the others are existing ones. Though I did make some earrings to match them. I very rarely do earrings since there are so many other tatters that make them, but I figured this was a special occasion.

Speaking of other tatters, I discovered over the weekend that the pattern I've been passing out for my barefoot sandals has a rather glaring mistake...oops. Someone finally called me on it, well more accurately, asked me if it was their mistake. So, if you have the pattern, please note that the center medallion is wrong and should be: (4 rings of 5ds, p, 3ds, 9p sep by 3ds, p, 5ds close join each ring together by the 1st and 11th picot.) Sorry.

What A Week

Boy, the Internet is a strange place to live sometimes. Like so many others, I spent a big chunk of time glued to twitter yesterday whilst dramas real and imagined played out at the speed of sound. I did manage to get a few more pendant listings up, which means today I'll list just four more from the fair batch and then I'm all done. I've also spent a lot more time knitting than tatting the last few days. I guess I just can't seem to get back into my normal routine with all the extraneous events. Speaking of which, my husbands birthday is tomorrow, so if you know him, wish him a good one.

I know I'm rambling a bit today, I've got no cohesive thoughts to share, just an amalgamation of stuff, like this next story. Yesterday I asked the twitterverse why they were following me as I have had a bout of followers that I don't understand, they aren't friends of a friend or etsy sellers and I didn't get why or how they found me. This morning I saw a response from one of them, then they unfollowed me. I went to their twitter stream and I saw that they called someone so damn cocky at about the same time. Now, I have no ides if that was directed at me, but I got all defensive over it. I obsessed about it really for a good half hour. I wasn't even on the twitter when the response came in, so I couldn't react to it...yeah I know I shouldn't worry about it, but I live in the internet and I do like it when people like me.

What else...yes, I have found the perfect collaborator for the wunderkammers redesign and thanks so much to all of you who offered your kind help. I'm gonna keep it all on the down low until it's closer to fruition, but suffice it to say, it should look amazing. The project wonderful ad spot is also up and running and has made me a whole 3 cents so far. No, I didn't think it was going to make me rich, but it is amazing how well it just seems to run itself. I might even throw one up here one day. I do kind of like the idea of giving people really affordable advertising for their etsy or other micro businesses.

I do have another question to ask you all. I know some of you have used places like cafe press to sell merchandise. Do you have an opinion of any of the other similar companies, good or bad? I do still want to set something like that up for the wunderkammer and thought I'd cull your vast knowledge for information before I make a false step. Again, I'm not in any rush to get started on it, just doing a little groundwork first. I almost said legwork, but that seems ridiculous as I am clearly sitting down and don't plan on moving any time soon. So that's it for this week. Here's hoping no more icons die, Iran finds a little peace and the Transformers movie I'm seeing tomorrow doesn't suck.

Wunderkammer Ramblings

I've been thinking a lot about my other blog, the Wunderkammer, lately. It's mostly a labor of love for me, I don't get much traffic to my store or here from it and yet I have an irresistible desire to have it succeed. I get plenty of heartfelt 'thank you's' from those I feature, but what I really want, is for it to become a coveted honor or daily destination for those it was intended to speak to. So, to that end I've been thinking of ways to improve its traffic, its appearance and, well...it.

Yesterday, I took a small first step and added another element to my picking and posting process. Each item I pick will now be stumbled, stylehived and wist...ed. I can do these things fairly quickly and hopefully they expand the exposure of the items featured. I am also stumbling the wunderkammer entry itself. If you are into that sort of thing, I'd appreciate the adds. So that move increases the exposure for the featured artisan, but now I need something for the Wunderkammer itself. I don't want to join a dozen blogger network sites, because...well, they're mostly annoying. I did apply for project wonderful the other day, though I've not heard back quite yet. If approved, I'll had some ad spots with them to the blog and use any profit to advertise the Wunderkammer elsewhere, though I've no idea if that will help either.

The next thing I want to do is redesign the Wunderkammer itself and for that I need help. I know I have artistic and graphically minded friends out there and if anyone wants to help, I'd be grateful. The idea is to create a more appealing background than the plain yellow, but it shouldn't be distracting. It's also like to create a better logo and banner design using the current font and faded paper look as a base. I want something nice enough to perhaps open a cafepress or similar storefront to sell Wunderkammer merch. I'll be hitting up a few people for help, but feel free to volunteer. Though in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm horribly picky, so don't be offended if I choose someone else for the task. I figured that a small line of stuff might compensate said artist and myself a bit for the time spent, though I've really no delusions of making blogging profitable.

Any help, opinions or random useful advice is gladly accepted, if not openly acknowledged. Now I really must get back to the tatting.