The last couple of days have been rather dreary. Rain and clouds darken the skies and the cold temps of fall have finally arrived. Undaunted, Cheryl continues to insist that we run. Even in the rain!
No biggy for her, but I have to dress up for the occasion. Riding a bike does not generate the same amount of heat as running.
Cheryl the Conquerer! (Or Terrible...)
And with the cold, slow pace, and lack of pain pushing her; She plans to make up for it all by running longer. Today she increased the millage to 4 miles. She probably plans on getting up to 7 miles by the end of the week. We shall see.
Cheryl sewing up the custom orders
In the mean time, Stockings are slowly trickling in. Last year, apparently, I did not blog about the steady stream of 3-4 stockings at this time. So this year, I want to make a bit more of an effort to catalog things.
The Motley Crew of Fur-bearers.
The Finished Stocking representations.
We started the day with "no sales" but that quickly changed by mid afternoon. During this time of year, that is how it is. Start off thinking you have an easy day and BOOM! 5 sales with three on the back burner for tomorrow. Cheryl had an especially fun time making the cats.
Armadillo.
Bulldog
Standing Crane. First time go!
Bulldog reads the blog.
As for me, now and then I get called in for my button sewing skills. Otherwise I keep my self occupied by playing with the cat, digging in the mud, and folding origami with my latest paper creations
Korean Paper. Similar to cloth.
I finally figured out how to make that Korean paper (Hanji) work. ( Hint: LOTS of methyl cellulose. Without it, it folds like a fragile cloth.) The stuff I'm currently using we purchased from Amazon. Apparently, it is the "industrial strength" kind. I'm still trying to figure out how to portion it up so it does not solidify in my container.
Sounds dangerous. But not really.
There are so many uses for this stuff. Mostly for Slime, blood, and other gooey special effects for movies and Halloween . Also it can be used as wallpaper paste, paper binder, book glue, and food emulsifier. (Makes gravy thicker) I doubt it will ever explode... about as flammable as flour and an open flame. It took me a while to figure that out, because each producer markets it as ONE of the intended purposes. Causing much confusion. In the end, it is all the same stuff... as long as you don't eat the "non-food quality" stuff. ( not that I would want to anyway.)
Hope everyone else is staying dry and warm on this chilly October day. In the mean time, Enjoy some Rod Stewart. (Small note: Remember when Rod Stewart was "too sexy and raw for the youth of America? Funny how time mellows us all.) Thanks for stopping in and enjoy.
The other day, one of our neighbors said that working from home must be awesome! And wondered how she could do it.
I warned her not to try it.... half in jest... Half serious!
I'm not sure what is happening this year, but we seem to be swamped!
Cheryl is giddy from lack of sleep!
Normally this is a good thing, however we have not had a break in over a week now. Today we sewed up another 40 stockings and the list of orders continues to grow instead of diminish. Add in that the quitting time for each day continues to be pushed back. Right now it is almost 10:00 P.M. and Cheryl continues to pack things up.
Snow covers the driveway..
Ah, but listen to me....complaining that sales are "too good!" for our own well being.... Most Etsy people would probably love to have this problem. But as the grind begins to wear on your body and mind.... sometimes you think that this will be the last year ...again. I believe we say this will be the last time we do this every year!
As Cheryl nearly causes a disaster by packing up the wrong stocking...I'm reminded of the other news that happened today. Namely...it snowed!
And the concrete
And the HUGE hole that still needs fixing
As if predicting that the driveway guys were waiting for the weather to become more festive, the driveway is now buried under three to four inches of thick, sloppy, wet snow. I'm sure it will only Add to the concrete dry time and make it "just that much more inconvenient" for us.
Not to mention the snow made driving to Iowa City tons of fun. Don't get me wrong, Subie loves the snow! But driving in slush is still unnerving for me because I would loath slipping off the road out in the middle of farm land. Not only would it hurt my pride, and Subie's....But it would take away valuable time that needs to be spent on Stocking orders!
Babe and Prince pogo for treats.
I know more pet names than residents.
Our Cat does not seem to enjoy the snow very much...but the neighbors dogs do not seem to mind at all. I give them treats to keep them from barking at squirrels. It works like a charm....except when they bark at me..thinking I am coming to give them treats. Somethings simply can't be won.
Hope everyone else is braving the weather and the holiday season better. If it snowed in your area, well, good luck with that. Snow is fun for the holidays as long as you don't have to drive in it. I'm sure there were other things I wanted to blog about today...but between the lack of sleep and the after action beer....I can't seem to remember what they were now. Only 14 more days of this nightmare to go!
Enjoying the Great Dane so much, I decided to take a stab at some other breeds. So far, A Papillion and a Chihuahua. ( What kind of spelling IS THIS!?? Hooked on Phonics does NOT WORK HERE!) Anyway, they kind of look like the dogs they are designed from. I know I could fool around a bit more with the proportions, but they look fine for now and all of my creative juice is all used up at the moment.
In addition to origami, I helped Cheryl sew up some stockings. We have been averaging around $1000 a day since the beginning to December. The designs are all over the place, so I really can't just narrow it down to one that is popular. I guess the blue bear has been featured in a couple of blogs, so there was a slight run on them recently. Otherwise, everything is getting low and we are going large batches with several designs to try to keep ahead of them so they don't run out..
ACT starts up again next week and Cheryl and I are a little nervous about it. we will be in the middle of the Christmas rush and on top of all that, we will have to qualify for a new project. We have thought about perhaps not taking this gig, but sales are not where they wee last year and that has us concerned a bit. The ACT gig should take us to February with a somewhat consistent paycheck to help us along. Our only thought is what are we risking if we happen to take the job and neglect the business? We will have to find out the hard way as we intent to attempt both at the same time. Hopefully, we will be able to keep up in the end. We shall see
It's a harsh fact that this year is not quite meeting up to our expectations. We are slightly behind the high water mark of last year, however, we are working a lot less at having to get them out. All that Prep work is paying off...but, although it seems it was not required for this year. Regardless! To cheer ourselves up, we are finding ways to spend our new found time with small things that make us happy...like Origami! We have this really ( REALLY!) cool dog that walks around town. He is a Great Dane....AND BIG! So big that he towers over his owner, a small petite lady. So big I mistook him for a small pony the first time I saw him at the park! With that being said, he is the most majestic, graceful dog you could ever imagine. He literally puts the awe in awesome....so, Being inspired by the post master at our local post office, I decided to origamify this image.
Nobel and majestic!
I think I saw a squirrel
There are no images or diagrams of Great Dane Origami designs....so I had to make it up. I'm happy with the results. I basically modified my favorite blintz bird base to lengthen the legs, narrow the ears and give him a larger head and neck. I would have been a little happier narrowing up his abdomen, but I should have taken that into account earlier in the pre-creasing.
Meow!
So...there he is! I also worked on a cat From David Brill's pattern. Not bad when you wet fold it....better than with foil paper in my opinion. I think with a little more practice, I can get better results.
More Boxes!
As mentioned before, we ARE selling stockings. It is just not as difficult as previous years because they are all done in advance. Except for the names, all we must do is find them and pack them up...and if we are feeling motivated...make some designs that are getting low in stock. I'm sure when I look back on these posts next year, I will be thinking" what was I thinking?" so this is why I wanted to at least keep a record of my thoughts at the time. We shall see how it all works out now that December is upon us.
The last couple of days have been rather dreary. Rain and clouds darken the skies and the cold temps of fall have finally arrived. Undaunted, Cheryl continues to insist that we run. Even in the rain!
I finally figured out how to make that Korean paper (Hanji) work. ( Hint: LOTS of methyl cellulose. Without it, it folds like a fragile cloth.) The stuff I'm currently using we purchased from Amazon. Apparently, it is the "industrial strength" kind. I'm still trying to figure out how to portion it up so it does not solidify in my container.
