The ever famished sleep monster

Still not quite there, but I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Went to the doctor Wednesday and he ordered blood tests. still waiting for the results. He also ordered a mild sedative to help with my sleep. I am generally opposed to such measures. Earlier this year they tried giving me strong pain medication to help me sleep. It did wonders for the pain..not for the sleep. I am to the point though, where even though I am in my bed with my eyes swollen from no sleep I cannot fall into that blessed relief! I have been for two weeks now on an ever spiralling downward path of no sleep and constant exhaustion.

Last night, I slept.

So today I am ever hopeful. I am piddling around. Sorting my fabrics. Thinking of the next steps to each project. WANTING to do. That is something I havent had, The Want. I will do today. If even only a little.

New Floss

Fairyland

After my realization that I just couldnt cut it selling my floss at the price I did I had to think long and hard on what I wanted to do. I didn't want to increase the price so much that no one could afford it anymore. I would price myself right out of business! I also couldn't continue to make it if was just going to wear me out and have such dismal returns. I listened to everyone's advice and applied what worked to my situation. I dont want to sell formula floss. I know I would get quickly bored with this. I also cant make any money selling one ofs. It's simply not feasible. So I made a few changes and this is what I came up with:

Harvest

Four skeins of each color way! I wasn't sure if it would work properly and I did actually have to dye them twice, but I learned from my mistakes and I'm confident that I can make four skein colorways successfully now! I will seperate these and sell them as 8 yards skeins as I did before, but since I will be reducing my time photographing, listing and dyeing I might be able to swing it this way!

Rainy Days

I'm very happy with the results of this last one "Rainy Days" It reminds me of the rain slicked pavement with its myriad of dark rainbow colors, very subtle and very pretty!
This is not the only thing I've been up to. I havent forgotten 'small world' or 'mushroom love' or even the leaf project. I have been working a bit on each of these and will update you soon!

Quick update

I'm going to do a quick post with no pictures just to let you know that I am still here! I still have no energy, and have been getting no better. I am going to the doc this week to have him check for iron deficiency. Craving ice, insomnia, extreme fatigue and muscle cramps add up to something....
I have been doing a little, but slowly. I did some dyeing and will try to post pics tomorrow or the next day. Will be putting some floss in the shop too if I can get my act together. I have lots of ideas churning in my mind for the projects in the works so stay tuned for interesting things to come!
~to better days!

I'm still alive!

I'm sorry that I dropped off the earth there for awhile. I'm afraid this last week had me totally overwhelmed!


This last weekend was the wedding of our friends. The husband has been a dear friend of my husband for a long time. D was one of his witnesses at the wedding. Something I didn't realize till this last week. Last I talked to you all I had a fever.
Since then I have had:
An unexpected guest for dinner, someone I had never met before.
A different unexpected house guest for three days,
Mad shopping for the correct shirt,tie and shoes for D,
Mad shopping for the correct wedding gifts and a basket to put them all in,


More shopping for the paper and plastic to wrap them in,
Feverish sewing on my top to finish it,


Designing and constructing of a corset belt that I ended up not wearing,


Packing for the trip,
Three days of celebrating, eating and general revelry!



We arrived home late Sunday evening worn out! I got up early yesterday and dashed off to class, came home in time to receive my grocery delivery (man am I loving that!) and then I made two beautiful spinach quiche. popped them in the oven AND....the power went out. Seems our oven has decided to go on the blink. Even with everything else in the entire house unplugged it STILL trips the breaker.
A word to the wise, never ever let your husband near the oven unless the drip pan is in it. Mine had an inch of grease in the bottom fromhis magret stuffed with goats cheese...and it seems to have seeped inside the oven itself >.<

So when I arrived home today after class I'm sure you can understand why all I wanted to do was sit here and do NOTHING. I feel like I've been flattened by a semi truck!

Small World

I promised you a post yesterday but instead I slept! I went to class and realized in the middle of it that I had a fever. I was wondering why the talkative giirl on the other side of the class was getting on my nerves more than usual *grin* Anyway...I slept my afternoon away and then couldnt sleep once again last night. So as I tried to drift off to sleep I had an idea come to me, and I am excited about it! I am going to show you three pictures I took of small world with some border ideas I had, but I am not doing a one of them!


I have better ideas ^_^ It's nice to know where it started though. Now I am off to dye, for today I am excited, I have new ideas!!

A fresh look

I have spent the last few days taking an assessment of my goals, activities, projects, etc. One thing I have come to realize is that making floss is a wonderful activity. I love making it and I love the results. I do not make enough money off of it to justify making it though. I realized that when I priced my floss I tried to keep within the bounds of other's prices. I didn't do it the way I have been taught. Cost of materials, time spent in making it, etc. If I sit down and do the math its simply not plausible for me to do it. Especially with the exchange rate now (I didnt take that into mind either) It has changed quite a bit over the last several months and the dollar is worth even less over here now. For a $2.25 skein of floss I make 1.60 euros. I can't do it. I also under priced the shipping and so all in all this has been a time consuming process with little reward. So if I continue to sell floss I have to make some changes.
1) Slow down and quit being in such a hurry with it, enjoy the process
2) Increase the price and shipping to reflect my costs but still try to keep it reasonable
3) Make smaller batches


Another thing I noticed about my floss is that I make two distinct varieties. The first kind is common out there for a hand dyed floss. You take two or three colors and make a mixed floss, such as Summer Sherbet, in lemon, lime and fuchsia. It has a definite pattern when you stitch with it. A certain amount of one color..and then the other and so on.


The second kind I make is the kind I love. I havent really seen any around. It's a little more difficult to make but the results are outstanding in my mind. This kind is not patterned. I take several colors and make a mix on the thread. I have to be very careful with color choices and placement with this kind. I love the beautiful blends I get with this procedure. Since it takes longer to make I should price it differently than the other.
I started my shop to sell my art. The first kind of floss I make, the patterned kind is not really art to me. It's like a page in a color book, color the shirt red, the pants blue. It is just a process. The second kind is art to me. I am painting a thread much as I would a canvas. So if I want to continue with my goals I will concentrate on art even in my floss.
Sorry if I have bored you all with this, but it is important for me to keep on track and also explain where my mind is at when I implement this change. My main goal is to express my love of life through my art. Secondly to sell what I can of it to help support our family.

Tomorrow I will do an update on my progress with 'Small World'.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday!

Sorry for my absence

Ok, I admit it, I have been avoiding my blog because I have been in a foul mood. It just wouldn't let up. I was ready to just quit making things, and that bugs me. So instead of forcing things I just quit. Only thing I did was work on my skirt and top, which doesnt really count. I think it was needed.
D and I took off for a fun weekend trip up to La Roule which is east of here. Its an old tobacco country and has many old wooden tabacco barns there. It is only the second time I have seen a concentration of wooden buildings since I came to France. Almost all buildings here are of stone, including the barns! We had much good food, a few too many beers and other spirits and slept in the tent...without a mattress...which we put up in the dark after all the fun. Boy let me tell you, if you forget how old you are just try a night on the ground...it will all come back to you :p


I do have a few pics. Here is my nice selection of beads before I added them to my skirt and aother of a short section of the hem finished. The top is still a ways from being done.


I also finished up kokopelli and he is ready to be mounted to a velvet bag...


And here is my bag I messed up, I have yet to fix it but know how Im going to.Maybe now that I am in a better mood thats what will happen *grin*

BTW..the tassels are hand made with bits of my dyed floss. I really love them!

Hope you are all well. I have missed you!

MIA

Sorry I have been MIA, had to step away for awhile to refresh my batteries.I promise a real post tomorrow! Tonight, I am recooperating from my short trip away.

The terrible, no good, very bad day

Yesterday was the pits.I mean really! I stayed home from French class because the day before had taxed my poor toe so bad that it ended up being just as bad as the day before. It had been so much better but all the walking, going up and down stairs and just not being able to soak it and keep it up was too much for it.So I decided to take it easy and care for it yesterday. I planned on spending the day stitching while soaking my toe and envisioned much done. I started out by putting together the first velvet bag. When I first planned them they were supposed to have a top edge of about 1 1/2 inches and then the ties. Why did I sew it only 1/2 inch down? It looked terrible! Then I take it out and of course, stitch lines. Great big, huge, evident stitch lines. *sigh*
So I put it down and walked away from it.I decided to work on my leaf next. The fabric was terribly wrinkled so first I went to iron it. The wrinkles WILL NOT come out! I steamed it. I soaked it. I sprayed it with vinegar and water. They wont budge. This is a piece from a sheet and the only thing I can figure out is that someone dried this too long on high. SO...I wasted time dyeing it. I wasted time drawing the picture onto it.It is not usable for this piece. *sigh*
By this time it is afternoon and I am really getting in a mood. I decide to try the ribbon on the bottom of the skirt. D acts weird about it so I thought I would try to dress it up a bit. I thought maybe it was too bohemian for him. SO..I stitch away and the machine just tears the ribbon right up. It is way too delicate for machine stitching. Sitting there contemplating whether to try a diffferent ribbon or handstitch the one I have. Ask D what he thinks of the skirt once again and he tells me he doesnt like the color! I could just cry! I have no more material. I have no more time. I need to finish this now. SO I guess I will be attending his friends wedding in a skirt he doesnt like.*sigh*
Today I woke up in such a mood. I dont want to sew. I dont want to create. I am just GRRR! Hope this passes soon...