luxe

in the meantime, do pop by my etsy shop to see what is up for sale, my photo gallery for all of my lovelies categorized or contact me at natashaluxeatgmail.com to ask about anything you see.

i will keep you posted!

mwah!

natasha

sorry i have been such a bad monkey. i get so absorbed with trying to catch up on all of your blogs that i am so so behind on, that i haven’t been blogging for myself, either. and i feel like i do get more done, but i am incredibly out of the loop, i fear. shannon was kind enough to give me a blog on the luxefibre.com site, so you can go to my old blogger one, my www.luxefibre.livejournal.com one, or this one, which is a wordpress one, if you have problems reading my other blogs. i put the same info in all, so don’t sweat that.

i have been knitting and crocheting a lot of new things. i have more photos to take and a shop visit into pittsburgh to see if i can’t sell a bunch of stuff, which would rock. yaaaay! munny!

in other news, jakie had his 33rd birthday on monday. i managed not to document any of it. so not like me. i was running around a bit and overwhelmed. i got him a ticket for buddy guy, and it is in a small local venue, the palace theater and it is a pretty good seat. i think he will have a blast. i saw the dhali lama at that same venue. purdy cooool!

i really am trying to get my blogging act together and blog everyday at least a bit, like i used to. i really need to get it together.

to liven up the post. some photos…did i tell you guys about this book i am in?…

it is a really cool book. it really is.

xo

n.

sunday:
hello. i am night 3 of no sleep. okay, not NO sleep, just not a lot. i went to sleep
this morning with the birds chirping and woke up to the neighbor weedwacking at the asscrack of morning. anyway, we were supposed to go to appleby’s for mothersday with the inlaws, it was a gross meal and i didn’t really eat. i have had leg cramps over the past few evenings and nights, i plan to get some supplements to see if that helps. i just feel out of it, i guess.

i have some new things to show you guys, but i plan to be in the midst of packing up orders, gifts, etc, tomorrow because we leave on friday for vacation for a week. it might just be a really good thing to get all of the extra fiber laying around the studio out of there. let someone else sell it! so i want to get that organized and clean. and the bedroom. that is bad. really bad. i am ashamed at what a pig i am.

i got to talk to one of my favorite people of all times, gabe today for a good long while, which is nice. he used to work with me at the tattoo shop and we just get along super well. swimmingly. i miss him. he keeps you positive. he is doing so much great stuff and i am so proud of him. we also popped in to the cd place that our friend works at and i got to chat with her for a while, and that was nice, too. i am always very awkward at stop and chats.

monday:
i was up super late again, once i fell asleep after a 3 a.m. bath for the leg cramps (which are thankfully gone today) and kept waking up because izzy had brought a pile of her rubberbands and ponytail holders for me to throw for her to fetch. once she saw that i wasn’t waking up to play, she would go look for another, and then, started tapping the other (sleeping) cats on the head in an effort to get ANYONE to pay attention to her. sigh. i spent most of my time sleeping today, just totally zonked out. i talked to my friend katrina for a little while and then got off the phone because i was tired and then fell back asleep. we are leaving for vacation on friday for a week so i really would like to get all of the shop business in order before then, ya know? additionally, luxefibre.com is down, i have no idea what the problem is, and i emailed my web guy to get the info i need to get someone to take care of it for me. all of my links go to and from there, so it really needs to be fixed. in my headache, flu haze, i stress about it. so. anyway, off i go. headache. sore throat. tired. house to watch. i even slept thru general hospital this afternoon. can you believe it?

mwah
n.

once i finally conked out, i was in and out of it and i got up and showered, but i got nothing done. i fell back asleep, and slept all day. i have been having bad leg cramps, too. i haven’t been eating well, and have been craving sweets…bad. i am normally not like that. still, i can’t wait until the summer fruits are ready to eat, although it is supposed to reach freezing tonight. crazy, eh? 80 degrees last week, 30 tonight. anyway, i had orders to pack,etc, including my entry to a softies show, so that has to happen to-morrow. has to.

at around 4ish a.m., i had all of these ideas running thru my head for stuff i need to get done, including a care package for lovely marian and her lovely support team. there is a video clip linked to her blog of marian and her mama on the news in philly, and she is so frickin cute. like a 25 year old in a little body. if you don’t know this little supa star’s story, she has some health problems and her amazing older sissy donated bone marrow so marian could get a transplant. they did that last week and marian is recovering in the hospital. her passion is art and crafts (her mom is an artist, too), so they have a shop on etsy with the crafts she makes and kits, and the money goes to other sick kids getting crafts to work on while they are in the hospital. marian inspires me to do as much as i can, whenever i feel good enough. being sick is what it is, it isn’t something i can change, and i need to follow her lead and just be as big as i can be. anyway, i knitted her a hat, i made her a pin that goes on it, and i have another hat with a poppy pin on it for her. i am going to send a kids crochet book and some crochet supplies, too. she doesn’t know how (YET!) and i don’t think mom does, either, but i must say, knitting and crochet have done so much for me when i am not feeling good enough to do anything else, or when i am nervous, or waiting or bored. it gives you something to show for a day spent in bed. plus, marian loves to make dolls and toys, so i have a feeling that she will loooooove making one long piece of yarn into an adorable doll. i don’t want to spill all the beans and what i am sending, just in case they read this, but i think it will be pretty good. i would like it, so that is good, right?

so, after showering in the wee hours, i was going to do some dyeing, mainly for making batts, i needed a few saturated colors, so i filled up the dyepots with fiber and managed to keep myself from actually doing the dyeing, since at that time of night, or morning, i tend to do strange stuff, like leave the hot water on full blast and don’t remember. i did manage to do a kamikaze dyeing session whilst waiting for our dinner to cook. 3 dyepots including my big vintage electric roaster, so a few pounds probably. i will post photos. hopefully, it will be warm enough to hang up the fiber to-morrow.

also, my buddy jenn is coming up on friday to measure the couch and chairs for slipcovers and to hang out and maybe do some fiber stuff. i told her that she will have to make herself a few batts on the new carder (or the louet, if she fancies) and i think she will have fun. i am so excited to do a fiber hang out! jake is probably going to be practicing with his “band” for a couple of shows they will be doing later on. one is public, i think, so i will keep you posted, for sure.

oh, and i just found the work of sandra sheehy. i wish i could find more stuff. with the blogworld and flickr, etc, i am always stunned when i google and artist and find next to nothing. i would love to see these things in person. i saw a passerby on a tv show with an amazing jacket on and immediately though, oooh i wish i could figure out how that is made, but only got a glance of it. it is such an odd thing that almost everything is accessible now. mindblowing.

anyway, legcramps, so i think i will take shower number 4 for the day. no, technically 5, because i took one in the wee hours.

xo
n.

first off, i know that loads and loads of regular peeps wake up early. i just don’t happen to be one of them. i have always been a poor sleeper, even as a kid. except in the car. then i sleep like a bomb. i couldn’t really sleep last night. i had a bad headache, was out of the good medicine, took the only one i had, a nasal spray, and as always, it bunged up my nose which already had a load of fiber in it from my new electric carder (!!!!!) so i just didn’t sleep at all. it is almost 7 a.m. now, the sun is amazing, the birdies are chirping, the cats are all snoozing, although soon izzy will be chatting with the birdies. she enjoys that.

yesterday, i woke up feeling okay. i felt so okay that i was a bit giddy and didn’t have my coffee or breakfast, took a shower and just got to work and worked all day. i sat outside with peeps in the back yard, she loves eating grass and rolling around, so i worried a bit that i would make my lupus react, but g-d do i love it. peeps does too. i made a bunch of batts, i plan to do some more and because the teeth on the carder are so shallow (although barbe suggested moving them apart more) the batts are twice as wide as my louet, but very very thin and fine, so i might do two batts that actually make up each batt, if that makes sense. the carder is not as powerful or noisy as i had planned, but i have never used any other electric carder so i have no clue. i also have no clue to adjust it, so i will have to attempt to find info on it. it is from the 70’s i think. the damn thing bit me several times, too. bugger! because of running my hand over the card to keep the fiber smooth among other things, my hands feel burned, they look baaad. i need to try to find a smoothing brush. even a stiff hand held broom might work. anyone with suggestions, drop it on me.

i got orders packed and i need to photograph the new batts, weigh them and the fiber i have so that i can list it, plus send off packages to a couple of people who have patiently been waiting forever. sorry guys.

i will leave you with this amazing video clip and hopefully show you the purdy new batts a bit later.

crazy on a theremin. insane. seriously insane.
xo
n.

ReG, originally uploaded by Chris Da SaXmAn.

so, if you have been wondering what this character has been up to, he is living in england with chris, and just making a total nuisance of himself. sorry chris.

i haven’t been able to sleep so well lately, or like last night, almost not at all. so i am a bit shaky, you know that feeling? i have been obsessively working on the house collages which are become more complex and i am starting to hammer out some of the issues and glitches. the one pictured here that appears finished (kinda) was finished until i kept fussing with the roof tiles until i got to the point where i am…i can’t stand the damn roof, so i need to rip that off and do it again. hopefully i can get it off withough causing damage to the piece, it really does take me quite a while to do. i sat outside although it was chilly to just sketch the shapes of the houses across the street and took some photos, just to have. i also trolled around flickr a while ago to look at other old house photos and found some incredible houses, some that look like the earth is trying to take them back, just amazing. i am interested in something like that, too. the house kitty corner from us here is really run down, but i love the way the siding looks, which i think i will use on the next one i work on, after the oval one in the photo. the oval one is actually done as far as all of the collage pieces are concerned, i really like how it looks so far, it is two houses in that one. i just need to outline all of the siding and roofing tiles and give it a little inkwash and go from there. i added a teensy bit more color to this one, don’t know what i will think o fthat. anyway, i am excited about these. anytime i draw a door or window on to the houses, they just don’t look right. it drives me nuts. don’t know what that is about. i need to go online and see what the word is. i do put chimneys though…so maybe it is saying something about being inside and letting things out but not letting anything in? although how does the house get its fuel if there are no doors or windows? hmmmm. anyway, i am really wanting to apply to some galleries, and get my portfolio together, my statement and try to do that. i will still do my fibery endeavors, but i really want to try to overcome my fear of getting that together, which then would mean i need to approach galleries and maybe get turned down…a lot. sigh. i just have to be a big girl and do it. and try to grow as an artist, in every way that i can. the thing that really is important is to treat it like a job and to do it no matter what, by a schedule. it you are training for a marathon and never go to your training sessions, chances are, you are in trouble. if you want to grow as an artist and don’t stick to your work schedule, same deal. you don’t just get better, or good, by osmosis. the artists i have known that are the most talented tend to be people that do work every day. it is their job. it is their love. it is who and what they are. being lazy doesn’t tend to yield results.

i am super sleepy, needless to say, but i wanted to pop in, les you think i am MIA. i have lots to show you and i am doing all i can to get all of the fiber weighed so i can list it tomorrow and over the weekend. so if you contacted me about something you wanted and didn’t get any message from me yet, shoot me another message. i am a flake. so. sorry about that.

i have been hyper and tired, forgetting to eat, wanting to sleep, can’t sleep, kinda hungry, don’t feel like actually eating, and we go to san francisco next week just for a few days. i am very excited to go! i get to see my super good friend barbe, rumor has it i am going to see diana fayt’s studio and i am hoping she will let me play with some clay. dunno. as you know, it was my focus for my degree and more and more i realize how much i miss it. i am excited to see everyone! we are only going to be there for 3 days when all is said and done, so not much time. kinda sucks. i will try to blog better to-morrow, i am just totally loopedy loopeyman.

i need to dye some fiber for a custom order and just get the studio and orders, etc, in order. it is seriously driving me nuts. i spent 16 minutes looking for my drafting rulers. i am sure when i buy more, i will fin the old ones. so damn annoying.

xo
n

okay. so i overdid it today. i did. and i liked it. take that! i didn’t sleep so well, i had the migraine, whch i still have today, so i was just not sleeping. i woke up early-ish and had my coffee and some cheez blintes that jakie got me at the grocery. i took one of my pep pills. i then proceeded to spin from 11a until almost 7 p (i think) i chatted with a few people before the phone battery died and then i just continued to do work. i have some good stuff to show for it. i need to skein stuff up and get the orders out and i am planning to get the presents that i owe some of you from xmas packed up, which will be a load off of my guilt that i cause myself because i take forever to get things wrapped up. stupid. anyway, i am wired and wiped out all at once and i have the kind of migraine that has the odd waves of queasiness and i feel like everything is annoying me. i am hoping to just fall asleep, i will go and nuke my eye mask in a minute.

i will be listing buttons on my etsy shop to-morrow, as well as some really cool yarn kits and hopefully some batts, too. we will have to see what happens.

xo
n.

i had my doctor appointment today and i am proud to say that i got up at 8:30a and got myself showered and made up and dressed. i am so so bad in the morning. it takes me hours to feel human usually. it is a source of guilt for me that i don’t do more earlier in the day, but when i tried to get up earlier, i found that i was totally wrecked and done for the day by earlier afternoon. i did get really tired early on and didn’t really do anything. it was actually tiring to check emails and i had to relax for a little while before returning phone calls. gah! i got a sneak attack migraine tonite. it didn’t surprise me that much because i did get so exhausted and chilled and sort of lost time, which is the strangest feeling. i was trying to watch lost and didn’t think i was sleeping, but i completely missed it. i took a shower because all of a sudden my nose was all stuffed up and my sinuses hurt and when i got back out, i fell asleep. now, it is 12:45a and i hope i am not up all night, but too tired to do anything. and the migraine is coming back, so i best be quick here. the crazy thing is that compared to the episodes i have of feeling all crazy and creepy crawly, i prefer a migraine. at least i can take something that just knocks me out with amigraine. the other thing, i don’t even know what it is or what to do for it because nothing helps. at all.
i entered the plushyou8 show and i am still waiting to hear back. i am in the valentine’s day artstream studios show, which is a good start. i just really need to apply for more shows. i am really trying to incorporate fiber into my mixed media pieces. i have been really excited about the circle pieces lately and seeing how they evolve.

what else? i finally organized the buttons that i made and took photos. i measured them and wrote down the sizes on the cards i sewed them onto, grouped them so that people could see which ones had matching ones, etc. the buttons were so incredibly labor intensive and i am very tempted to get back into the clay studio to do some buttons there. the buttons i do are finished on both sides and i guess that isn’t really necessary and doing only one side would be much faster and much easier because when you do both sides and are using a heat gun there are lots of issues that arise. wanna see some photos? i will be listing these over the weekend. if you want something, drop me a note and i will hang onto it for ya. i have no idea if they will do really well or not. i have had wonderful feedback and i don’t think there is anything like these that i have seen, so i think it will. the photos don’t do these buttons justice.

also, i have been getting some really fun striping yarns for hat and purse kits. i am also doing custom orders, so do feel free to ask if you want something. they are so fun to work with. i made a sample with a yarn that has a bunch of different wools, locks and sections of cotton and i just love spinning it and it is so smooth and soft. it makes the squishiest coils. ah, lub. lub, lub, lub.

and this gorgeous etsy shop with really reasonable prices…cotton bird designs

mwah!
n.