(Or, Why Auntie Mel Fell Off the Face of the Earth)
So it's January now, just about 6 months since I last posted. I've got a couple of good reasons, which I'll get to in a moment. Not only has my blogging slowed down, but my crafting / Etsy-ing has ground to a halt as well, so I didn't really have anything of that sort to write about.
In August, my unemployment compensation ran out, and therefore I made the decision to go back to school full time, for one year, to finish an associate's degree in accounting. The idea is that I don't want to go back to a secretary office drudgery type job, and being an accountant or bookkeeper would give me some professional credibility in the workplace from here on out. It will also help me run my small business better. While in school, I stopped making new designs except on an as-requested basis, and stopped promoting my Etsy shop as much. I have kept up with Etsy as far as the existing products I have, and they are still for sale, but I haven't dug into any new projects. Over the winter holidays I made a few sales and had to stitch my fingers almost numb to keep up, but everyone got their stuff on time, so I felt I was still doing a good job as a small business owner.
In October, my husband and I found out that we are expecting our first child. Now, this space is not intended to be a baby or pregnancy blog, but that's pretty much central to my existence at this point. My school schedule has been slowed down a bit, because since I'm due in June, I won't be taking as many classes this semester or during the summer as I had originally planned. My transition from just "Auntie Mel" to "Mommy" (and still Auntie Mel) will most certainly be a significant one. A big practical change, related to my crafting life, is that I'm losing my office to the nursery. I also anticipate spending more of my crafting time on personal projects for my baby and the others my friends and family are expecting soon.
What's the upshot? Well, I'm not certain how regularly I'll be posting or crafting for the foreseeable future. I'm spending time on Facebook, and posting my personal stuff there, but Auntie Mel's Gifts is in a holding pattern until further notice. One fun thing is that we just found out that it's going to be a boy, so I've got a huge backlog of boy-appropriate afghans to choose from, I mean, ahem, test.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Surreal...aka blogging from bed
Well, this post is going to have to be short, but sweet. Technology is a wonderful thing, but typing with a stylus takes a long time. At the moment I am using my Nintendo DSi to reach the internet. That's right, the game-boy just turned into an iPhone. It is a neat little gadget, but the Opera browser has its limitations. Overall I'm happy with it, though. It means I can check my e-mail and my Etsy from bed now, rather than going in the other room to use my laptop. I realize, too, that it's been a month between posts, so more will come later, when I'm not typing withthe equivalent of one finger. :)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Ponchos
So for each of my two nieces turning 3 this spring, I made a crocheted poncho from this pattern in size 4. It's supposed to be a replica of the Martha Stewart "Coming Home" poncho that she wore when she came back to house arrest from actual prison. Meh. I just thought it looked like a cute little poncho.
I didn't take pictures of the first one I made, which was a dark navy blue or blue/black. Here is a quick snapshot of the second one in a medium blue.
I've started a third one, this time for sale, in a purple acrylic with silver trim, size 7/8 girls. I will post pictures of that one when it's finished, and it'll go up on Etsy. The pattern is quite repetitive so I can do these while watching TV or a movie. The size 4 can be finished in about two evenings, but the 7/8 is taking a bit longer (because it is a bit longer!) It's a fun little piece of clothing that I hope people will like.
My sister-in-law is a big fan of the ponchos on little kids, because it is better for use with a carseat than a traditional coat. Big coats add so much bulk that the child may not be fully secured by the harness, but with a poncho, the straps go underneath and the poncho can lay over the top. For winter, my niece has a fleece one made by her grandma, but I thought this would be cute as a spring, summer, or early autumn layer.
For my other niece, I am hoping this will be a nice way to transition from using a crocheted blanky to comfort herself at naptime. She is the one I wrote part of this post about. Now that she's a big girl, she is almost (but not quite) ready to let go of her bicky. The lace at the bottom of the poncho would be ideal to weave her little fingers through.
I didn't take pictures of the first one I made, which was a dark navy blue or blue/black. Here is a quick snapshot of the second one in a medium blue.
I've started a third one, this time for sale, in a purple acrylic with silver trim, size 7/8 girls. I will post pictures of that one when it's finished, and it'll go up on Etsy. The pattern is quite repetitive so I can do these while watching TV or a movie. The size 4 can be finished in about two evenings, but the 7/8 is taking a bit longer (because it is a bit longer!) It's a fun little piece of clothing that I hope people will like.
My sister-in-law is a big fan of the ponchos on little kids, because it is better for use with a carseat than a traditional coat. Big coats add so much bulk that the child may not be fully secured by the harness, but with a poncho, the straps go underneath and the poncho can lay over the top. For winter, my niece has a fleece one made by her grandma, but I thought this would be cute as a spring, summer, or early autumn layer.
For my other niece, I am hoping this will be a nice way to transition from using a crocheted blanky to comfort herself at naptime. She is the one I wrote part of this post about. Now that she's a big girl, she is almost (but not quite) ready to let go of her bicky. The lace at the bottom of the poncho would be ideal to weave her little fingers through.
Back (It's all right!)
Wow. Almost two months since my last posts. To be fair, I started a draft in early February, but got side-tracked and never posted it. It seems a bit pointless now - it was basically saying that I was all better (from whatever illness I had at the time) and detailing an awesome trip through Target's clearance section. To quote Mike Birbiglia, "That's not a blog, that's a text message."
Honestly, I just haven't had much new to say. I've been a sort of a depressed funk as tends to happen to me towards the tail end of winter. So I'll just hit the main highlights and you can judge for yourself whether I should have been blogging them:
Honestly, I just haven't had much new to say. I've been a sort of a depressed funk as tends to happen to me towards the tail end of winter. So I'll just hit the main highlights and you can judge for yourself whether I should have been blogging them:
- I haven't made much progress on the apartment or my office, though I did enlist Dan to help move and reorganize some bookshelves.
- I checked out a local technical school where I intend to apply and get a quick 1-year accounting certificate so I can get a "real" job (well, one where I make actual money on a regular basis.)
- I had a terrible infection on my chin that has finally gone away with the help of strong antibiotics.
- One of my nieces turned 3, but celebrated her birthday at Disney World so I didn't get to be there. (Later she, her mom, me, my mom and my other niece all met up at the Mall of America for lunch, which was fun. The girls had a blast on the merry-go-round.)
- Dan and I joined a gym, again. He's been pretty good about going every day after work - me, not so much.
- I bought new business cards with my new PO box address, new web address, new graphics, etc.
- I got a custom order for a set of coasters from Final Fantasy 7 which was challenging.
- I've migrated about half of my current items from my old Etsy shop to my new Etsy shop.
- I made and tested prototypes for a few new projects - crocheted ponchos, crocheted bath poofs, "mug mat" sized coasters, etc.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sunday night
And my tummy is UNHAPPY. Dan picked up some sort of stomach bug which started on Friday - and I didn't get sick until this morning. He is still sick as a dog, so I don't have very high hopes as far as my own productivity this week goes.
Last week I shared the location of my blog with my Facebook friends, and promptly stopped updating. I have this tendency to fail at things as soon as I put pressure on myself by making a big announcement. Before I met Dan, I would date a dude for a few weeks, decide I might really like him, tell my friends about it, and after that it was basically jinxed. He'd dump me in the next few days. I repeated this cycle at least three times. But, obviously, I fixed that pattern and I'm going to fix this one too. Which brings me to today - blogging while sick.
So. Where was I last week? Here. Nowhere. I just really didn't have anything worthwhile to say - at least that's what I was telling myself. The truth is, I was in a bit of a depressed funk for most of the week. I've been "behind" on housework and my business tasks that need to get done if I'm going to grow. I've been whining forever about my crummy photography skills, and I know of a few "friends of friends" who are photographers, but haven't worked up the courage to ask for their help. My spring cleaning project is stalled for the moment - I cleared out the next area I was going to showcase, but I haven't placed the new pieces of furniture into it yet. I can blame part of that on the fact that Dan was sick and unable to help me, and today I got sick and was unable to do much myself.
The one plus of my little lethargic spell was that I crocheted like a madwoman, finishing one wool blanket set and one cotton blanket. Pictures to be posted when I take them. Don't hold your breath.
Anyhow, I wasn't feeling motivated, and now I am feeling it but can't act on it. Which is a little bit frustrating. What I have managed to do is make a list of daily to-dos, which hopefully will lead to a schedule to get me into a routine where I actually get things done that I need to do.
Last week I shared the location of my blog with my Facebook friends, and promptly stopped updating. I have this tendency to fail at things as soon as I put pressure on myself by making a big announcement. Before I met Dan, I would date a dude for a few weeks, decide I might really like him, tell my friends about it, and after that it was basically jinxed. He'd dump me in the next few days. I repeated this cycle at least three times. But, obviously, I fixed that pattern and I'm going to fix this one too. Which brings me to today - blogging while sick.
So. Where was I last week? Here. Nowhere. I just really didn't have anything worthwhile to say - at least that's what I was telling myself. The truth is, I was in a bit of a depressed funk for most of the week. I've been "behind" on housework and my business tasks that need to get done if I'm going to grow. I've been whining forever about my crummy photography skills, and I know of a few "friends of friends" who are photographers, but haven't worked up the courage to ask for their help. My spring cleaning project is stalled for the moment - I cleared out the next area I was going to showcase, but I haven't placed the new pieces of furniture into it yet. I can blame part of that on the fact that Dan was sick and unable to help me, and today I got sick and was unable to do much myself.
The one plus of my little lethargic spell was that I crocheted like a madwoman, finishing one wool blanket set and one cotton blanket. Pictures to be posted when I take them. Don't hold your breath.
Anyhow, I wasn't feeling motivated, and now I am feeling it but can't act on it. Which is a little bit frustrating. What I have managed to do is make a list of daily to-dos, which hopefully will lead to a schedule to get me into a routine where I actually get things done that I need to do.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
CPSIA Update
So enforcement has been stayed for a period of one year. The upshot is, testing won't be required now until February 10, 2010. The crappy part is, the law is still on the books the way it stands. Poorly written, devastatingly vague. So, while I'm not going to be going out of business anytime soon, the work to fix the law is still not over. We just have a bit more time to work with. It feels like a relief, but also a hollow victory.
Spring Cleaning
Well, I have no idea whether the groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, and it's "frickin' freezing Mr. Bigglesworth" in my world right now, but somehow I'm still feeling the spirit of spring. Maybe it's cabin fever. I confided in a friend recently this urge I've been feeling at odd moments lately, to just run away and scrap all my material possessions and start fresh in a new place. Of course I would never actually just disappear like that--I love my family too much to just run. Nonetheless, the urge to purge has become part of my day-to-day. I just need to let go of some of my past.
Regardless of the motivation to do it, and since I am stuck in the middle of a lease, I've decided to fully de-clutter my apartment. It's gotten a bit ridiculous lately. To keep myself honest, and to motivate myself, I decided to catalog everything in my living spaces on film. To that end, I've just taken 43 snapshots of my apartment, room by room, and will eventually post before-and-after shots of the results.
Image #1 is of my couch and coffee table. So here goes:
Update: Almost finished with this space, aside from the need to add a framed poster of some kind - the area above the couch is really quite bare. Considering hanging a quilt or some sort of fabric as a curtain instead.
Regardless of the motivation to do it, and since I am stuck in the middle of a lease, I've decided to fully de-clutter my apartment. It's gotten a bit ridiculous lately. To keep myself honest, and to motivate myself, I decided to catalog everything in my living spaces on film. To that end, I've just taken 43 snapshots of my apartment, room by room, and will eventually post before-and-after shots of the results.
Image #1 is of my couch and coffee table. So here goes:
Update: Almost finished with this space, aside from the need to add a framed poster of some kind - the area above the couch is really quite bare. Considering hanging a quilt or some sort of fabric as a curtain instead.
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