Again, I've Been Stalked

I've been quietly fuming for days now as etsy rolls out Halloween find after Halloween find. This is not because I hate Halloween, no it's because I have not yet been included in any of them...not a one. Just as I had decided that they were simply saving me for closer to the holiday because I'm just that awesome (yeah, I know what I said) I got stalked again. Yep, the wonderful ladies at Etsy Stalker have again chosen one of my pieces to grace their pages. This time it's my little spider joining a great selection of other pieces depicting our eight legged friend. It's a great list so go check it out and Thanks!

I've only got a couple of the neck wires I used for the piece, so I might make up another, but then they will no longer exist, at least not the way this one does. I have to say that this has put me in a rather pleasant mood. I'm starting to get that attention that I so desperately crave and you know what that means. My head will swell and I will become obnoxious and full of myself, that is of course until my inevitable fall that leaves me devastated, doubting myself and feeling ignored. Man, how I adore my fragile ego formed by a childhood of rejection.

Anyway, I've been doing pretty good with my new schedule of homeschooling. In fact, I've gotten
settles enough that I've been getting a decent amount of tatting and cleaning in everyday. There is still a lot of unpacking and settling we still have to do around here, but as I've been reminded it's a marathon not a sprint. Speaking of advice, I got some great advice the other day in regards to my "missing" piece issue. I have now started taking pictures of my orders before I finish wrapping them in tissue. I think this will go a long way to putting my mind at ease. So, thanks for the advice, it was well received.

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!

Yep, It's Monday

I know you were wondering whether I survived field trip day. Clearly survival was achieved and yes, we did indeed have a good time. All the worry about meeting the other local families was for naught. This is not because they all turned out to be wonderful but rather because so few local ones showed up.

Apparently families may attend any field trip by any teacher and since this one was in Fresno, the majority of the families in attendance were too. This meant that while we and the children had a good time, we were not meeting potential friends, but simply spending time with other people we're unlikely to see again. That took a lot of the strain off the day which was capped with a visit to a comic book store, though that wasn't as cool as my husband thought it would be.

I have been hard at work on the mask I mentioned the other day. The cat shaped eyes did prove a bit more of a challenge during the wire wrapping phase. I actually had to iron the piece before I started to get all the elements to line up around the eyes properly before I started to wrap with the thread. I sill need to get it pressed once more and get it on my mannequin head for pictures before I send it off. I promise I'll post a picture here probably tomorrow. It really is a subtle difference from the other mask, but I wonder if I should list it as it's own design or perhaps as an option when ordering the basic design. Like along side the message about thread and crystal colors, I add eye shape to the options. Yeah, I think that's what I'll do.

We're still waiting for our backyard to be completed, but we are almost finished with the blinds and curtains. All that's left is a pair of tiny windows in one bedroom and the damn window in the kitchen. What is up with kitchen curtains? Seriously, I just don't get the tiered curtain thing and when you add all the lacy, patterned ridiculousness, well I just can't do it. I may end up just sewing my own damn curtains, though I'm not certain where I'll wedge in that project. Anyway, here we go into another week.

I Know I Packed It

I woke up in a good mood and then I got one of those messages that puts a cramp in the whole day. It was the 'something is missing from my package...are you sure you sent it?' message. First one reacts with sheer, 'oh, crap', then I do a little looking to see exactly what transaction and the second I see it, I know for certain that everything was in that package. Just to be extra sure, I spend the next 15 minutes tearing apart every corner of the office to see if I don't 'find' said piece, the whole time chanting, ' I know I packed it'. I DO know that I packed it, and I sent a message back asking them to please recheck the package to see if it somehow slipped away from the rest of the pieces. This has actually happened before and the second piece had done exactly that as they tore open the package. Even knowing, I will spend the rest of the day doubting myself and flinching in anticipation of negative feedback, worrying that she has already tossed the envelope or tissue and there's nothing to be done for it. See, great way to start the day.

I shall try to move on here though, I got a special order for a mask yesterday. It's only a slight variation on my 'A Pale Kind Of Jewel' mask. Instead of the clear crystals, it's being made with black diamond ones for a more subtle sparkle and I have reshaped the eyes to a more catlike shape. They now come to more of a down point in the center and are a bit more flattened across the top. I shaped the wires first and am now tatting the design onto them. So far I'm made few changes to the actual pattern to adjust for the new shape. I have separated a few rings that were connected in the original design and will better space them when I wire the wire at the end. I figure that way I can keep the shape without losing the core design. I'll take some pictures when I get further along, or at least when I'm finished so we can all see how I did.

See, I wrote one whole paragraph and I'm already back to thinking about the lost piece...grrr. Anyway, the family is off to a 'field trip' with the other students in the virtual academy today and boy I am overusing the fake quotes today. All the families simply meet where we are going so that's why I hesitate to call it a real field trip. I don't mind telling you that I'm a bit nervous and uncomfortable about the whole thing. As you might imagine, my appearance occasionally puts people off, Generally, I'm perfectly fine with that, as the people I, umm, upset are not usually those that I care to spend time with anyway. If I am going to continue attending these events for my daughters sake, I would really like to not be a pariah. This is compounded by the fact that I am not what you might call, social. I'm painfully shy in new situations particularly when taken away from places that I know well. You know, like on a field trip, to a museum, I've never been to, in another city. I think you get it. Yes, I will suck it up and might even end up enjoy myself. That is, if I can forget about that damn lost piece message...sigh.

Slave for Love

I promised a photo of the bridal slave bracelets should I actually finish them and I did and here is one. They aren't much different than my other slave bracelets, but I listed them as a custom wedding piece anyway. They really fit best when they are made to specific hand measurements. In fact even though the customers hand measurements were only slightly larger than my own, these ones bunched and were not the most comfortable to wear even to just get the photos done.

In other news, I have five words for you...hula hoop in a corset. Since we busted out the Wii Fit again for the child both me and my husband have also been using it just a bit. Mostly the continue to encourage the child to keep at it. She chose to have me do the Super Hula Hoop...and I was indeed wearing a corset. While it did improve my form, I was so super sore and exhausted after just one session...yeah, seriously out of shape. However, I can now add virtual hula hooping to the ridiculous list of things I have done whilst wearing a corset.

I was fortunate to wake up to another nice sale. Things have been so horribly slow for everyone lately that I was getting terribly disheartened. After a nice little me too session on twitter yesterday, I already felt much better. Some times it is just so nice to commiserate with others and that can be so hard to do when people look at my sales and say I shouldn't be able to complain. I talked to another seller yesterday who blamed the slowness of her signing a new lease & I blamed it on buying the house. It was our own fault, you see, for beginning to rely on the etsy income. Anyway, I digress. What I really wanted to do was tell you that I am now just seven sales away from 800. I'm hoping that I make it to the 1000 mark by the end of the year, but the slow down puts that in doubt even with a holiday rush. I was going to do something for the 800, but I think Ill wait for the big one instead, what I don't yet know.