Busy Day

This morning I was awoken by a screaming neighbor.  I don't think that quite gets across what I experienced.  It was a S C R E A M I N G neighbor.  Well, the neighbor part might be a lie.  It was either the neighbor's babysitter (which would be really weird), or the person who lives under them.  At any rate, apparently this young lady was very irate with her (now) ex-boyfriend for waking her up during her very limited sleeping time.  Also, he was a selfish in the way he loved her.  And he didn't get rid of his cat.  Mark, how many times does she have to tell you, this is all your fault?*

So there was that.  At least I woke up in a decent mood and found it more amusing than annoying.  It was early for me, so I read Shades of Grey until I fell back asleep and had a little nap.

On to the busy part.  After waking for real, I made my way to the post office to mail an SGC order to the Netherlands.  I did a lot of laundry.  Okay, that's not very exciting.  I made brandied cranberries, which are delicious and made from our CSA cranberry batch.  Then I made butternut squash soup**, also from our CSA stuff.  I've really been into making soups lately.  I worked out, including 4.5 for real pull ups.***  Currently, the dining room table is set up as a mini photo studio, and I'm wading through 144 new product photos.  (Not 144 new products...)

Copper and Crystal Hoop Earrings by Sleep Goblin Crafts

I'm trying to spice up my product photos.  My stuff never gets picked to be in Treasuries or the Etsy Finds e-mails, and I just don't see where the items themselves aren't good enough.  That leaves the photography.  I'm happier with this new set, but it's still not amazing.  I have photo lights on my wish list, and that should help.  What do you think?  Give me some feedback!

Button Pearl and Garnet Earrings by Sleep Goblin Crafts

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*I lost count around 15.


**I just realized I forgot the butter in that soup.  Eh, I added a bunch of spices, and I really like how it turned out anyway.


***Not all at once.  Though the first round was two, which is a new record for me!

2011 Sleep Goblin Ornament

I have been quietly re-opening my Etsy shop for business over the last few weeks.  You might have noticed some activity on the store's Facebook page if you follow that.  I also started a Google+ page, just to cover all my bases.  So if any of you want some custom stuff made by Christmas, now is a great time to let me know so it can be done in time!

But the more important thing I have to tell you is that the 2011 ornament is done!  Well, designed.  I still need to "mass produce" them.  They're themed after the carol 12 Days of Christmas, specifically a partridge in a pear tree.  It took a long time to figure this one out.  I had originally planned on doing it last year, but it just didn't come together.  This year I had a brilliant idea for layered paintings, but I couldn't figure out how to incorporate the partridge in a way that made me happy.  I still love the layer idea, but it will have to wait for something else.

A pear tree painting inside an ornament.

After debating between sculpted paper, cross stitch, and felt, I finally settled on felt.  I had to figure out how make a 3d bird plush, which I'd never done before.  Normally I just sew two flat pieces together and put some stuffing inside.  I did some research and found out the partridge referred to was most likely a red-legged partridge, so I tried to make it look like that.  They have a lot of color changes in their feathers, so it's not perfect, but I'm cool with it.  Then I threw in some real twigs with some felt leaves and pears, and done!

If you like it, you can pre-order it for $10 through the end of November, and then the prices go up to more accurately reflect the time and effort put into them.  Also, if you're missing any previous year's designs, I found a bunch of half finished things that I'm going to try to finish up and put in the shop so I can be rid of them.  Keep an eye out for those as well!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Weaving Experimentation - Soumak Weave

I'm working on a belated birthday/Christmas present for my brother, whose birthday is the day after Christmas. I'm attempting to weave designs into the fabric in support of his favorite team, the University of Louisville cardinals. After planning out the lettering on some grid paper (well, homemade grid paper... I really should buy some of that stuff; making your own grids is needlessly time consuming) similar to a cross stitch pattern, I went about weaving them into the fabric using what's known as a soumak weave. For you embroiderers, this is basically a stem stitch. Which I realized after painstakingly weaving this in between each plain weave row. I think for the image part, I will just embroider the design.

At any rate, I'm pretty pleased with how the UofL part came out. Very simple, striking, and not too fancy looking for a dude to wear even though making it feels very fancy. I should have photos once the whole thing is done.