project 2: update etsy

Updating my etsy shop may not seem like a big deal, but it is for me. First, I am continuing to hope that it will at least pay for itself at some point, Second, I had to rephotograph a few things and actually photograph a few other things, and Third I had to finish one item that has been waiting for finishing for, oh, a year. No, longer. So that is what I did.
I grabbed the neglected tutu and finished it up, then I had a live model photoshoot for all of the skirts (except the one adult sized one I have), then a few shots of the previously unphotographed skirts. I know I have another one somewhere in the garage, but for now I am not going to try to dig it out. It will get unearthed soon enough. I then took all the photographs, edited them, and voila, shop updated. I am debating relisting the patterns I have or my floral essences, but right now what I have up is enough. Here is one picture from the photoshoot:



In other news, we had more sunny skies and temps in the upper 40s/low 50s today, so windows open! Hanging clothes to dry! Boys playing in the backyard! Lots of Vitamin D absorption! It was wonderful :)

Project 2: completed! Projects 3 & 4: In Progress
-happily, nava

project 1: secure pantry

The majority of the closets in this house, including the pantry (and excluding the under-stair area) have sliding doors. This wouldn't be a problem except that 1) the doors hang from a track and were not secured at the base, so the boys looooove to swing them in and out and push between them, freaking me out. 2) the track system/ wheels are bent or otherwise distorted to the point that the doors in the pantry and one closet will not stay on their tracks, which make things interesting. As in, loud, cumbersome, and dangerous. Also, we have been battling mice (and winning, slowly, but winning) and the doors as they are now leave a sizeable gap along the floor, which means that mice can get into my pantry. EEEWWWW. Granted, so far they can only get in to the floor area, where I don't have any food, but still. The mice needed to be excluded (I'm sure they disagree), the doors needed to be secured and, oh yes, the doors needed to be securable (as in, lockable) so that two little boys would stop serving themselves whatever they saw and then leaving it to rot on my kitchen table. Also in my living room, on the stairs, in their bedroom...etc. The madness had to stop.

So, I got some strips of wood, had them cut to size, went back and got the correct width when I found I had a 2" wide board instead of a 3" wide (grrr), and built a track system of my very own, based on the danish credenza my mother owns. So far, so good. The doors stick a little, as the bottom corners have been roughed up, but, the gaps are gone, the doors stay in the doorway, they are moveable, and they cannot be swung to the point that the Ikea safety latch can be popped open. Hooray! I am going to sand the doors a little and wax them and the tracks (and paint them), but those are tasks for another day. A day in which I have money and go to the hardware store. Here is the really awful picture, because I really didn't feel like trying to move our table out of the way in order to have a better angle. I did move it a little; usually the chair shown is right against the doors if someone is sitting there, so the chair at the other end is pinned against the back doors right now, but that's ok. You can see the remaining beadboard waiting to be installed on the left, which is also on my list, but I'm tired of sawing things so that's gonna wait a bit. I also have to get the trim for that. All of this is on my list.



Project 1: Complete! Projects 2 & 3 are in progress. Yay!

-happily, nava

making plans: week 2

Since the task of going through everything in this house is so consuming I am not going to attempt to get back to my 5-day postings until it is done, just random updates and a weekly game plan.

On the house front, we are waiting to hear from the bank and from Milt's job, to see about a transfer request. We are really waiting to hear from the VA on an even better job, but we need something in order to move forward. Onward, ever onward. We havedecided to go with U-Packmoving, because theideaofMilt having to drive a truckover I-5 in the snow has me freaked the heck out. Of course, so does the thought of us driving the van over I-5 in the snow, but oh well.

Last week I focused on patterns; I have over 200 complete patterns ready to go to Pattern Rescue, and I am still finding bits and pieces as I sort through. however, I am marking that project 'done', and moving on.

This week I have a few areas to focus in: fabric, sewing, and etsy.

I've decided to get my etsy shop going again, this time by November1st. It seems crazy, but really it's needed, because if I can sell the things now I don't have to take them with me to Oregon. Yay! So that means I need to put together all my partially assembled items, finish writing my essence descriptions and get everything photographed and posted. Even if nothing sells, at least this will be done and I can reopen after we move.

Other sewing is needed as well; I am going to try to finish up all my UFOs, at least to thepoint that Ican take out all thepins, if not completely finish each thing. The boys at least need very cozy pjs, since they kick their covers off and I don't want them to freeze. Footie pjs! I am also going to try to turn more of my scraps into quilt squares: I keep all my trimmings, then sew them to used dryer sheets in crazy-quilt fashion. Waste not, want not, right? Plus it's really quick, and less thought and time intensive than my other quilts.

While I do this I am going to go through all the fabric. There are more than 10 bins of fabric to go through, which I will be dividing into keep: I actually have plans for or love this fabric; sell: vintage or otherwise awesome fabric; and giveaway: small lots, random fabrics, and anything not a natural fiber.

Ok, we'll see how this week goes! Hopefully the weather clears by next weekend too. :)

happily,
nava

working wednesday: the 3-wheeled bike

it's day 1 of my cleanse and so far...nothing interesting to report. oh well! :)

I am currently working on restoring this little beauty.


Can you believe there is white paint under all that rust? So far I know I will have to replace the seat, the tubes (if not the wheels!), the brake lines, probably the rear-view mirror, and the paint job. chrome and aqua, maybe? I am going to get lights for this one too. In fact I need to get lights for my other bike (Penelope) as well, so I better get started on that. I am also going to retrofit the basket to hold one of the boys. Trying to figure that one out, but it looks like I'll have a while before I need to worry about that!

To be honest though, I would LOVE a Madsen bucket bike. wow. dare to dream, right? In the meantime, I'm going to save this one from the scrap heap. What should I name her? I am thinking Adelaide, but suggestions are welcome.

happily,
nava

wait, it's almost July?

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted here. Or anywhere really; even my hand written journal has been neglected. It is truly because of an over-abundance of activity; I just haven't had the time, or the focus, to record much; I keep up with the boy's journals and that's about it! Speaking of the boy's, Adin's 1st birthday is in less than a month; incredible! I am excitedly planning his party, finally mailed out invitations yesterday and today, and I have a few to hand-deliver later this afternoon.
Otherwise my life-direction has been building momentum. With my plans to become a massage therapist and a midwife on the back burner, due to money+time, I came across flower essences, which I've used various times without realising it, and herbalism, which I've been studying on my own since I was about 8 (so, 20years or so? My neighbour had to help me figure out how old I am going to be next month; I thought I was turning 29, apparently I'll only be 28!) Anyhow, so I took the leap and signed up for the Master in Herbalism certification program from the School of Natural Healing, which I am LOVING, and I have immersed myself in flower essences; found a wonderful place called Green Hope Farm and ordered a bunch for my family and have begun making my own as well. What's really helpful in this is that my youngest sister reads/feel/manipulates energies really well, so she is helping me figure out the energy of each essence in addition to the traditional description for each one, and I am hoping our middle sister can use her talent reading auras to give a color signature to each one, for color therapy. This is all very exciting and fun and really wonderful, and I feel as though I am on the 'right track' to the point that I am calm, happy, and still feel like I am careening toward some unknown and very happy point in my future.
Other than that, trying to figure out where we are going to live; the NEW new plan is to wait and see where Milt gets in to pharmacy school, and in the meantime keep trying to win a house somewhere, since as long as our names are on my MIL's mortgage we don't actually qualify to buy our own place (sigh) oh well, things happen for a reason! All right, back to being busy!

shoes prettified

Back in, oh, May or so (March? April?) I managed to fall down a hill with no provocation. Trick ankles. One of those things, you know. Genetic easter eggs. In addition to permanently discoloring my leg (which is REALLY weird, and somewhat disturbing. Whenever I look at my leg, that is) I also ripped a hole in the toe of my pink maryjanes. Rather than have a pair of essentially unwearable shoes I finally decided to cover the toes. I used some leftover fabric from the green coat, backstitching it over with pink thread, and then embroidered over with some pink floss. The insoles were all twisted and shredding, so I pulled them out, used the old fabric covers to cut new ones out of this pink clown flannel I inherited, sewed around the edge and stuck them back in. verrrry comfy. I'm proud of myself. yay!

wool skirt resized

I got this really well-made wool skirt at a thrift store, discounted to about $1.50. Which is awesome! Except for it being a 24W, when I am certainly not. Since I can hit about an 8, I decided to bring it in just a touch. I took it apart, slimmed each of the panels about 2 inches and reassembled it, then machine-embroidered over a pencil sketch and added some butterflies. I love it! It is really itchy though, even with the underskirt, so I'm going to try to find a thicker silk to put underneath. Learned a lot about skirt assembly in the process, definitely a fun project.

navakame

K. (the 'kame' in 'navakame') and I are going into 'business' together (finally!) we registered navakame.com, and we'll be working on that together. In the meantime we also now have an Etsy shop which will probably be playing host to her FANTASTIC monsters, and eventually my varied creations (once I can get back to my sewing machine and room of fabric.) Maybe someday A. will let us put up some of her art as well. All three of us, working together. wow. Happy happy!

SewRetro : the polka-dot pea coat.

I made a coat for the SewRetro challenge this month; I used the same pattern my grandmother used for my mom's coat back in 1970. Because I only had about 2 yards of the green fabric, which is also vintage form the 70's, I shortened the pattern by about 8 inches, so it hits at the upper thigh instead of above the knee. I decided to fully line it with a very light polka-dot cotton, which meant I had to make up the lining pattern as the original only calls for lining the front. I eliminated one of the outside pockets and made the remaining one and inside pocket (instead of a pouch pocket). I also put two pockets on the inside front because the lining fabric was so long :). I will probably add at last one more button to the front, so the left flap stays smooth, but I may go ahead and do the full set of buttons the pattern calls for. This was my first time making buttonholes, and I did it by hand as my machine does not have a buttonhole anything. What surprised me was how big the coat turned out. I had to make quite a few darts, which is odd because the original coat just barely fits me. I guess grandma likes to make really WIDE seams. I'm pretty excited about it, and it should last through until winter hits.