luxe

so. i know, i have been absent. everyone knows why. a combo of lupus/cfs/fybro/migraines….and….ISOBEL. she eats my energy for breakfast. again, if you have children that are alive and have thrived…my hat is off to you. i am not wearing a hat, but you know, my hair hat. my kitten is off to you, anyway. so, i had a hectic weekend which involved errands on friday, the in-laws for dinner, they were gracious enough to come over here because izzy had been left alone for a few hours whilst i ran my errands and she doesn’t travel so well anymore. she is so fast. on the upside, she ran around downstairs and played the whole time we ate dinner, so she was pooped that night. i had a bad-ish headache and jake let me sleep in on saturday, which i hugely appreciated and then i went out to meet shannon (aka the knitgrrl), andi and lovely heather who unleashed her enormous stash of yarn on me (woot woot!) i felt guilty giving her two batts and charlotte sometimes (the pink bird with the white scarf, which is good because cleveland is cold!), so i will have to make her another package. all of the yarn is still sitting in bags in my bedroom, but i did look through all of it and ooh and aah. we met at ikea which is normally a bit more than an hour away in no traffic, i had a headache when i woke up still, but we had afun time and then by the time i was leaving, it was getting hurty. the traffic was backed up bumper to bumper all the way home, so it took me an extra 1 1/2 hours to get home. with the bad migraine. i actually got the panicky “i am stuck in a car an indeterminate amount of time away from home and i keep almost vomiting and i want to cry” thing going on. that night i totally conked out. let me add that i scored at ikea. i got these gigantor plastic bags…that thick plastic like the bags that mailmen use…from ikea that have handles and deep zippers, literally i could fit inside of the one, and the other is slightly smaller. i had to fight not to buy a bunch of em, but i can now take my stuff to the post office without having to attempt to hold the post office bag up over my shoulders to keep it from dragging. although, after my last deliveries of packages that made me have to do two trips, i think i will get pick up. i just don’t want to leave it outside, ya know?

so sunday, i did groceries and target and the pet store and then walmart because the pet store didn’t have the formula that izzy prefers…nay, the only one she will eat. so i spent the whole day out and today i woke up at 3pm and got no work done because i was so exhausted. so. to-morrow i am excited to do some of the halloween yarns and work on some buttons and get stuff listed. i have a stack of stuff. i feel like a jerk. i haven’t added much stuff in ages. gah!

wanna see some of the new neckywarmers with the handmade buttons?

not much else, i loaded up some new photos on flickr of izzy. she moves really fast, so they aren’t great, but they are cute…

she is all about getting into everything and if she is awake when i attempt to check my emails, she will run across the keyboard to hear the bong sound that the mac makes, swats at the screen and tries to eat the cord. the battery is dead on this laptop, so if she eats the cord, we have to buy a new one. so. if i move her or tap her on the snoot, she just goes right back to it, in a second. bad bad monkey. i actually lost my temper last night and just closed the computer. i would be a bad mom. she has pooped and peed on the floor by herself, which is good. we are trying to get her to use the litterbox, but she isn’t into it. i got the feline pine stuff because you aren’t supposed to use regular litter lest they eat it. i may need to get something different. additionally, i cannot get her to eat off of a spoon or saucer. she will only drink her milk and out of a bottle. really soon, she needs to get onto the 2nd step formula to get enough nutrition. i am mixing the two to get her used to it. wish us luck. all kittens, all the time.

i will take photos of some of the new knits and yarns. i have some ideas for some scarves with handmade felt roses. maybe fabric. i have loads. i dreamed about it.
eeeeee.

xoxo
n.

well, again, for those of you that have raised a child and also done anything else whatsoever (put on makeup, check emails, use the phone, eat) get my kudos. i could never do it. i really couldn’t. so, needless to say, the kitten has got me on a strange schedule. i am now attempting feedings every 4 hours instead of every 2, but she gets fussy sometimes and i keep trying to feed her when she does that. also, she is very nocturnal and wants to be up and playing (biting my lips and nose with her sharp baby milk teeth) and farting the grossest farts you have ever ever smelled (i checked online about that and it is normal from the air in the bottle and the fermenting of the milk in the digestive tract) but it is nonstop. seriously, you would swear that she drinks guiness and eats chili dogs and hot wings or something. so bad. sometimes, she will do a burp/fart combo. good thing that she is really cute. peeps is actually sort of interested in her, she will sit near her bag or near her, she is sleeping against the carrier right now, actually, which is odd because she has never liked any other cat. i have been calling isobel mini-peeps because they are both fuzzy. izzy goes right up to peeps with her lack of ability to focus and when she gets right up on her, peeps smacks her on the head or goes for her neck, but is actually rather gentle with her, no claws. it would be nice for peeps to have a kitty friend, you know? anyway, i know you have been wanting photos, so i am giving you some. there are TONS more new ones on flickr. she is a month old now (i think) according to the developmental milestones.

i am incredibly behind on work of any sort, and have been absolutely exhausted, but i felt better today, despite only a couple of hours of sleep. i have made several neckywarmers with the handmade buttons which i will attempt to get listed soon. i haven’t done an update in ages and i really really need to. soon. i did a few veggie ones that are nice and soft, too. i can’t even remember anything else. here is some eyecandy for ya though.

thanks for all of the sweet comments and emails, they really make me smile.
mwah.
n.

let me kick off this post by saying that jake and i had a wedding anniversary on thursday. as much as i feel like a bad partner due to my constant lameness/exhaustion/etc/etc i am amazed that jake doesn’t tire of me and is so sweet and kind to me and never gets mad at me. we were at his parents house for supper and i was talking to his mum about jealousy and she said to me in the most honest way “you are so lucky that you never have to worry about jake looking at anyone else. you can just tell how much he loves you.” and she is not a smoke up the bum sort of person. when someone’s mom wishes they had a husband like them…that is pretty impressive. not that his dad is not a great fella.

i never would have imagined that i would be married at all. i was always a no marriage sort of person. remember that episode of the facts of life when jo ran away and got married to that guy in the army? well, i felt like marriage was like that. young people living in a pop-up vw van or something. i am not sure why, either, because my parents are very happily married and have always gotten along really well. when i was with jake, it was like he just took me for what i was, lumps and all, and somehow didn’t seem to see those lumps as bad things. he makes me feel like my maladies made me more special. he looked at me like no one has ever looked at me. he wouldn’t let me push him away. he didn’t push me. he was just there when i was ready. he is the kind of man that just seems like he has a plan and kn
ows what is going on. he makes me feel safe. i had never felt safe before. that is probably my own issue, but we moved around all the time as a kid. we had no family around, no long time friends. i felt like it was just me.

he has given me the strength to really do what i want to do. my only limitation is myself. i can go as far as i can go. i love him so much. i admire him so much. he is the most kind and beautiful person, inside and out, that i have ever known. i love you jake. you rock.

and on to kitteh stuff. guess who is teething? (hint…it isn’t me) so she is really fussy and wants to chew and suck on my fingers which makes me skin crawl. dunno why. she really works up a suction, tell ya what! my sleep schedule is super jacked up, i get up about every two and a half hours to feed her, and she is fussy so it normally takes at least an hour to get her fed pooped and back to sleep. and she starting to climb out of her bag, now, so that is kind of an issue if she wakes up and tries to take off. aye aye aye! she is beyond adorable, though. she will do the attack thing with me, and it is so cute to see her trying to be a little badass. so, you want some photos, i reckon? i must say, she has been creating such a stir! peeps is surprisingly good with her. the other cats stay away from her and us, which bums me out. it got better briefly, but now it is back to no other cats around.

this is where she usually is…

there are tons more on my flickr if you want to die from the sickening sweetness. like eating marshmallow fluff, but with no calories! to help to detach you, she farts a lot. bad bad kitten farts. she tries to pass them off on her woobie, but blankets don’t fart. they just don’t. do they? okay, one more…

i have gotten NO work done. yesterday, rather than doing internet stuff that i needed to do, i made the buttons i wanted to make because i haven’t gotten to do goddamn anything. they came out well, i think i have some things figured out much better now to do them faster. wanna see? i may do a tutorial, although they are super easy, so i dunno if it is needed. what do you think? i am also thinking off adding some paper and things like the beads i did…

i will be selling them in my store soon. they are nice and big, over and inch. i have made some neckywarmers that will either have some big vintage button closures or some of the fancy buttons i made. i did some toggle buttons the same way, too. i saw a couple of things about making polymer clay buttons that suggested embedding a small button inside of it for added strength and to use the shank, although i personally hate using shank buttons. i may try it just to make sure that the don’t split where the holes are. they were really fun to make and i only burned myself once with the heat gun. they look like raku, no?

and now for some fantastic links! ibenhoej.com and
kirsty hall who has a project where she will post an envelope filled with something secret to herself everyday and not open them until the exhibit. i love that idea. i have the worst memory of anyone who isn’t senile (seriously) to the degree that i can look through my sketchbooks and ooh and ah. i ran into this GORGEOUS french site coleur clementine which i had somehow never even heard of before. fabu!

okay, it is about 2:30 am, so i should probably try to sleep a bit before izzy wakes up to eat. i actually fell asleep around 8, i think and woke up around midnight. crazy. forgot to eat. oops. and yet, a fat bum.

i am really really trying to get an update out this weekend. i feel like i have been a horrible business owner. i also have a couple of wholesale orders that i need to get finished soon. i haven’t touched my wheel since i made those cotton yarns (which will be in the update)

i am really trying to be better about blogging. i want to, i just get so exhausted, ya know? i am ever behind on emails. really behind. my mum and dad sent me an amazon gift certificate for our anniversary days ago and i didn’t even know. i still haven’t checked it. i get so overwhelmed tht i just don’t want to look, ya know. bad. i know that i have to try harder. i just have to. once izzy is weened (which should be soon, i imagine in a month or so, she should be independent) i will be a person again. for those of you with children who actually do ANYTHING else at all…wow. you blow me away. it is more than a full time job and unlike a kitten, they aren’t okay on their own in a couple of months. sheesh. also, cat mamas are something else. can you imagine taking care of 6 newborns at the same time and only using your mouth! sheesh.

okay. mwah. mwah. mwah.
n.

lovely swallow mobile and it is under 25 bucks! kondrads.com has tons and tons of different mobiles from teeny to huge and all prices between, although most or suprisingly affordable. look at this one…i love it.
anyway, i was looking for some ideas for the top part that it attaches to which appears to always be just functional and not attractive in any of the mobiles i looked at, art ones or just cheapo kids room ones alike. i found this tutorial that looks good. i already have put together most of those strange wire framed paper pieces. i really like how they look and i hand strung and twisted 28 gauge copper wire to connect them, i am not sure just yet how the top will work. i wired just about all of them in strands, so i just need to figure out the top connector, although it will likely be more than one mobile. they would look incredible in front of a window or light source. i will take photos tomorrow. i may be best off just wiring them onto a curtain rod or pole in front of a window, i reckon. hmmmm.

did i show you the lion so far? he has chest hair and armpit hair. he is balding, has sideburns and a bit of a comb-over in the front. he has little knees and nipples. he has no name yet and is naked so far. what do you think of him?

it is now sunday night. i was too tired to finish the post yesterday, we got up at 7:30a to go to one of the bigger outdoor flea markets this morning which was rather good. i scored a shopping bag full of vintage buttons still on the cards, a sewing box full of all sorts of things…here are some photos, but i seriously didn’t get photos of half the stuff…

that said, if you need any vintage buttons, let me know what color you are looking for because i have loads and i am happy to sell em for a couple of bucks. after getting home i washed and organised the loose buttons that were just tossed in the sewing kit. i took tons of photos and then realized that i had accidentally put it on the low light setting. gah. i was super exhausted from not sleeping last night, getting up early and spending a few hours in the sun being overexcited, and then called barbe to squeal about my score. no worries, i am sending her some nice stuff, it wasn’t just shear gloat. i wouldn’t do that. the booths at the fleamarket that have only a few items and they are just utter crap, like a plastic cup from a convenience store and a dirty george foreman grill and a hot wheels car with a half chewed cookie on it. those people baffle me the most. although, i remember when i was in san francisco for a convention and crackheads tried to sell us similar stuff. so maybe that is the issue.

and, i should have taken a photo, but there was a booth that had defibrillators and some other really really strange electronic equipment that looked new. i wish i would have asked what the price was. just to know.

we left there and went to a coffee shop that roasts their own coffee to have a bite. i also got some coffee beans from them. i hope it is good, because we all know what a snob i am. bigtime.

we then went to burlington coat factory. i got these shoes which i plan to either add beading to or embroider. i have to think about it, though. they came in khaki and camo, too! i will walk around in em for a while and i may get another pair. in the summer, i have such a hard time wearing anything other than flip-flops. it kills me. or open heels, but i try to have my feets showing as much as possible. i need to take a photo of them on. i initially imagined iridescent black seed beads on em, but a little embroidered thing would be really cool, too.

i guess that is about it. i had planned to do an update on fiber and softies, but i was too tired to do anything. i will be doing it to-morrow, though. i put photos up of a lot of the things that will be listed. lovely and soft loose kid mohair, merino, targhee, baby cotswald locks, border leicester locks (so cute and teeny little curls) and then superwash merino top and 80’s grade merino i dyed that is luscious. seriously. so so nice.

okay, enough for now.
xo
n.