Mini Motif

With nothing set in stone to do yesterday, I admit I started with reading. One story later I remembered that I had started a pair of ankle corsets for extra stock and had never gotten back to them, so that was my next task. They were almost complete when I got to them, so it wasn't long before I was again reading. I knew I had to do something more physically productive with the day, so I opted to do some small doodling.

This is the second version I came up with. The first go around I was playing with lock chains. They just did not want to behave the way I wanted them to. I'm glad that I let them go though as I like the way this one turned out. It's much smaller than the last motif, so it won't be turning into much else though. I'll get it pressed today and if all the bits are behaving after that it will likely get listed as a pendant.

Upon more thought, I might muck around with it a bit and see if I can build upon it. I do hate letting a motif just become one thing. I think I might also see if I have any beads on hand that would look good in the center there. I guess I have a few tasks on hand for today after all. Here's hoping for many more.

The Weekend

It was a bit of a strange weekend and really I have nothing much to show for it. We headed out to Monterey on Friday. We go there often enough that the trip is generally without much surprise or stress. It was a lovely, cool, but sunny day and the almost complete removal from the computer and online life was a great distraction. I had brought tatting for the car ride, but without a project in queue, I didn't even touch it, preferring to just watch the world go by.

Saturday, the kids and myself were obligated to attend a baby shower. I dislike these things very much and was quite prepared to have an awful time, but the mother is a friend whom I like very much. Fortunately the one other person besides the mother-to-be that I knew was also a good friend and was as adverse to the social situation as I. We had a fine time with the aid of some champagne she brought and our complimentary senses of humor. Even the children were amused and the day was saved.

Sunday kind of slogged by as we had filled the days before it with so much. Again I read more Sherlock Holmes. In fact I think it's affecting the way I'm writing even this morning. So, my apologies for being a bit odder than usual. As I've only knocked out 13 stories so far, I fear I'll be like this for some time as I fully intend to read them all.

I still have no tatting in queue as the shop was fairly quiet all weekend. I'm hoping that it's just an end of the month lull and it will be back to normal in a couple of days. In the meantime I'll try to think of something interesting to create or make so I don't waste away the entire day reading. Not that reading is a waste of time, but it certainly won't contribute to my income nor creative body of work. So here's to a day of inspiration or tasks to complete.

The Injury

I managed to acquire myself a nice injury yesterday morning. Now, for most people this wouldn't have been a big deal at all, in fact it is the epitome of minor. During schooling I was pulling a worksheet out of the child's math book when I received a nasty, bleeding paper cut right across the cuticle of my left index finger. Why am I telling you this? It's a silly paper cut right? Put a band-aid on it and move on. Well, I did put a band-aid on it and became a handicap tatter for the day. Have you ever tried to needle tat with a band-aid on? It's cumbersome to say the least.

Right after schooling I decided that I needed to finish remaking the necklace I was working on so I tried and I finished it...hours later. Every loop of the thread had to be bigger to clear the bandage and the thread would snag half the time anyway. Then I would have to run the needle close, but not too close, again snagging the bandage with the needle, poking myself in the injured spot and generally having a bad go of it. Sure in the wide scheme of things, this was nothing, but it certainly slowed my day to a crawl and when I was finally finished with that necklace I happily dropped the needle for the rest of the day. The finger looks to be healed enough for liquid bandage today, so it was just a one day ruining ouchy.

There will be no tatting today either as we adventure to the coast for the day. It's the same adventure we always take, so there is literally no stress in the day. We go, enjoy, and return, only wishing we could have spent more time there. The rest of the weekend contains just one challenging task and the rest should be mild as well. So please go forth and enjoy your weekend when it starts. I hope to come back refreshed from mine.

Listed

I'm just not feeling very productive lately. I mean I got schooling done, then we went on a walk, mostly to get the kids away from the computers for a while. After that I worked on laundry and getting pictures done for all the new pieces. I got them listed, I sat down and then I proceeded to do next to nothing.

I mean it all starts with tasks aplenty, but then I just can't muster the energy to do much more than read some more Sherlock Homes or catch up with the shows on my dvr. I've knocked out two novels and four short stories so far, by the way. Of course that leaves like sixty stories left including two more novels, so I don't think I'll be an expert anytime soon.

I guess I should just focus on what I did get done. I named the new pieces 'Garden Portal'. I added the subtitle horizontal to one bracelet and diagonal to the other. I hope the difference is obvious enough to folk looking at the two. They're right next to each other in shop, at least until one of them sells. It seems most people had a clear opinion about which version they liked better so I guess only time will tell which will sell better...or at all.

Today I have to double up on classes with the girls because we're taking a day off tomorrow to adventure. My husbands jury duty interfered with the adventure we were going to have during their actual Spring break, so we're just going to carve out some time. After that, I do have one necklace newly in the queue to be remade, so I have at least one clear task for the rest of the morning. I do better with a nice clear list for the day. Let's hope I can focus then.

Two Ways

Well I got part of what I intended to do yesterday done, but not everything, by a long shot. Schooling was better, but I had mistakenly believed that exercise was a good idea on Monday and I suffered for it yesterday. I mean we get out and go on walks quite frequently, but it's been some time before I did anything resembling an exercise and I went ahead and did squats and push ups and crunches and I could barely make it up and down the stairs all day. Go ahead, laugh a little...it is amusing, but it means I spent more of the day sitting than I had planned.

The other snag in my day was my desktop computer. The hard drive has been telling my husband that it was sick for some time and I finally got a new hard drive to cure it, so it was out of commission yesterday. Since I use my desktop for all my listing pictures, I didn't get the new pendant or bracelet listed, but I did work on making the bracelet.

In fact I made two bracelets. I just couldn't decide which way I preferred the motifs to join, so I made it both ways. I thought I could figure that out when I saw them both completely made, but no. They each have their own distinct look and feel.

The bottom one was the first way. It's the easiest and most straight forward way to join them and has a very structured look to it with the row of rings across the center. The top one I did second and it required adjusting the pattern with a creative join as well as a new loop for the hook to attach to. It has more visual interest and this neat 'X' pattern. I posted this picture to the facebook page and opinion was split between which was liked better, so I'm just going to list them both.

Now that the computer is back, after schooling today, I will get these new pieces listed. I'm not sure what I'll get up to after that though because I've got all my orders finished and there's nothing left that I plan on remaking right now. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the day brings.