cranky-pants

so apparently i have forgotten how to relax. my first DAY OFF with nowhere to go since november ... and i had a good day, don't get me wrong. but i spent the majority of my day crocheting a little amigurumi mouse and it's just not turning out the way i had hoped. i can't find the right eyes so i made some out of yarn ... and it's ok but not great. and i am struggling with the arms and legs cuz they are just so tiny and i feel so clumsy with my big stupid fingers. and of course, since it didn't turn out the way i wanted, i feel like i wasted my day off. and now it's 11pm and i am cranky cuz i feel like i wasted my day and i have to go to bed soon and go to work tomorrow ... *sigh* it's a vicious cycle. so now here i sit with a big mug of hot chocolate (cranky cuz i forgot to buy marshmallows!) and am trying to salvage the day. why can't i just be happy that i had a nice lazy day off with dave?!?! ugh!!

i think i will try it again with a bigger needle. i like the tiny size but i am just struggling so much with the small needle. *sigh*!!!!!!

ramblings during a relaxing evening at home!

don't ya just love the cupcake? i think she turned out so cute!!! ever since i followed a knitting pattern for dave's wool hat, i thought i would try my hand at the adorable crocheted amigurumi i've admired for awhile. this little gal only took me a total of 2 hours!! i need a lighter shade of tan yarn for the base ... it came out a little too dark for the eyes and mouth. but other than that, i am pretty pleased with her! :) i can't wait to make others to put in my etsy shop! keep your eyes peeled!!

the holidays were wonderfully sweet but oh so exhausting. i love christmas so much ... and i did very good this year with early shopping and a bunch of handmade items for friends and family ... but i was just going a mile a minute everyday ... and work was just silly! 9 to 10 hour days 6 days a week! i am not complaining because i am very thankful to have a job during these scary economic times. i know how blessed and lucky i am. but between that and social engagements and family gatherings ... i just didn't have a moment to really sit back and enjoy the season! tonight is the first night i can just sit on the couch and look at the christmas tree and relax ... and it's all gotta come down in a few days!!! whew!!

but, as crystal mentioned in her http://littlebitfunky.blogspot.com/">blog, as enjoyable as the holiday season is and how much fun it is to decorate the home all cozy christmas ... there is just something about getting everything all back to clean and normal. and you better believe i am looking forward to lazy days off and quiet evenings in. :o)

i will be spending the coming weeks updating my blog with new items and musings and i will be working very hard on adding a bunch of new items to etsy. i have so many ideas and things i want to make and share ... i'm so excited!! :)

christmas!

it's been a tough week for a variety of reasons ... work stress, divorce hearing, anxiety and fear about life and relationships like i haven't had in a long time, a bit of a ... fight ... with dave ... but today was just filled with holiday sweetness. waking up to a dusting of snow on the ground, yummy breakfast at my favorite local place, dave and i then going to get our tree and then going home to set it up while christmas music (and then the football game!) played in the background. it was ... refreshing to be with someone who actually WANTED to help out with the tree ... it was fun and sweet to decorate the apartment with the rest of the holiday stuff ... it's so nice to be home in my cozy home while the wind whips around outside, a kitty on the couch next to me, a hockey game on the tv (go Rangers!!) and my tree lit up and completing the cozy holiday home! as soon as i finish this i will proceed to knit some christmas presents!!

so crystal at littlebitfunky took some pictures of what christmas is like at her house ... and requested her blog readers to do the same! so here are some pictures i took! :) hope you enjoy them!

the tree

some of my grandmother's christmas village houses the my grandfather gave me after my grammy passed away.

and that's my home! :)

have a wonderful week!

holiday hiatus

it's been awhile since i've updated so i wanted to take some time to write. my traffic on etsy has slowed to next to nothing ... but i have been so busy with work that i haven't been able to create anything new. it's frustrating because i have a ton of ideas ... especially gift ideas for friends and family as well as things to list on etsy ... but i come home from my days at the bookstore beyond exhausted. i just don't have any time these days.

i am also in a little bit of hiding because of the emotional state i'm in. my divorce becomes official on wednesday and has sent me back onto the emotional rollercoaster. dave has been absolutely phenominal ... so patient, so kind, so loving...just like the bible verse! but my fears and emotions run away with themselves and scares me into thinking that maybe the love and life i seek don't exsist. i'm so tired of being mired in this ... and am really looking forward to closing this door of my life.

i am planning on continuing etsy and my craft business ... i have big plans for 2009! new products, new directions, new life!

i'll definately be peeking in now and then ... until then, however, please have a wonderful holiday season!

is it actually possible ...

to be so overwhelmed by ideas, impulses, projects and creative juices ... that your brain just goes ka-plooie and you can't do a single thing??? because if it is, i think that just happened to me.

work is going great and i have a real vision as to how i want my store to run. the time flies by and my shifts don't seem long enough ... which is odd for me because, even though i have always enjoyed working the bookstore, i always want to be HOME! :) that being said, however, i do want to be home because i have so many things i want to do here as far as cleaning and organizing ... as well as crafty things! i really want to work on developing more CUTE things since that seemed to elicit the most squeals at the craft show friday. i have some stuffed animal ideas ... as well as some other ideas ... as well as a scarf in mid-knit and a hat in mid-crochet ... and here i sit on the couch with a horrible headache and NO energy. :( and i am not even THINKING about the disaster that is my laundry in the bedroom ... and that nice cleaning chart i made myself that says today is kitchen day. X_X uugh.

happy sunday

hi everyone. still riding the creative high from the show! :o) making new stuff and putting new items into Etsy. go have a look! :)

here is a preview ...

hope you are having a beautiful sunday!

craft show report

hello everyone!

so i am back from my first craft show and it was a moderate success! :) i was hoping for a bigger venue and a larger crowd ... but i made a little money and got lots of great feedback (i wish i had counted how many times someone told me my items were "so cute"!) ... so i am taking it as a win!

here are some pictures from the night ... and the new items that didn't sell tonight will be up on etsy in a day or two.

me and dave at the table.

the new baby onesies that will be in etsy soon! so cute!

getting some work done at the show ... finished two tote bags!!

thanks to everyone for their support and love. especially dave for all his help! love you baby.

Franklin Elementary School Family Holiday Gift Shoppe!

Hi everyone! My craft show is Friday at the Franklin Elementary School from 5:30pm to 9:30pm. Franklin School is on 8 Meeker Street right off of Hillside Ave. in Succasunna. There is plenty for the kiddos as well as 40+ vendors, snacks, games and door prizes! Hope to see you there!

craft show in t-minus 3 days ...

and the anxiety is setting in! i have a lot of stuff done ... i think. but i am happy i have the next few days (minus work tomorrow) to work on everything. i am excited too ... because i think this has the opportunity to be good. it's a holiday shopping boutique for kids and their parents at a local school. the town is pretty big with a lot of schools ... so there should be a big turnout. and because i have stuff for kids and adults ... i think i could do quite well! so we shall see!

in other crafting news i am making a ton of new stuff! so, if i don't sell out of everything (hehehe ... gotta be optomistic!) i will be able to throw that stuff onto Etsy! so keep your eyes pealed!

ok ... enough goofing off online ... back to the sewing board ...

snow!

yup! we had our first snowfall today ... and it's only October!!!! :) about 4 inches or so fell today. it started at about 3am ... and didn't really stop till 5ish. it was amazing!

unfortunately i had to go to work because the closing manager couldn't make it in ... so i didn't get any photographs. it was very wet snow and very heavy so there were a lot of down trees and branches ... some amazing scenes!

and nothing like a little snow to get you into the holiday spirit!!! :o)

recovery.

another visit to the hospital. more medicine. restricted diet. more pain. lots of missed work. feeling better and then stretching or moving and remembering that i had surgery a few weeks ago. not getting a whole heck of a lot done at home, at work, in my crafty world. it's been a frustrating time.

but today i am feeling better. went to a high school friend's baby shower and i was so happy for her. appliqued a little elephant to a onesie for her and it came out cute. trying some new crafty things ... and looking forward to my show on 11/14. going to do my best at work ... and try very hard not to stress. i can't control what other people do ... i can only control how hard i work. happy with having dave in my home ... and thanking God for putting him in my life. looking forward to a holiday season filled with love and happiness ... the first in about 3 years. wow. how crazy is that?

feeling a little more organized ... a little more together ... a little more me today. i am SO thankful for that.

and i hope to get a lot done this week in my crafty world. i have a lot of ideas ... a lot of things to do ... and i want to have that focus this week to work hard. stay tuned for some new items this week here and on my etsy!!

have a great day!

pushing through

ok so despite crampiness and crankiness ... despite feeling totally uncreative ...despite stretching this morning and feeling something snap by my stitches and now being in more pain than i was the last 2 days ... i've perservered and am creating. i am posting these in Etsy as i type this ... go on over and have a looksie! i have a few more items to list but was getting horrible shadows on my deck so i have to wait until the sun moves.

i'm proud of these! :o) now let's see if they sell! more later!

it should be illegal ...

to have to go thru pms and cramps while still recovering from surgery.

bleh.

so i didn't get nearly as much done these last few days as i had hoped. i know that i had surgery but i really thought i would be able to sit at the dining room table and work on my projects. alas, that was not to be. sitting up-right hurts, i can't sew on the couch and my sleep has been all over the place. i am also feeling decidedly uncreative. i've been on the computer a lot this week (when i haven't been playing viva pinata on my ds - my current obsession!!) and did a lot of crafty blog hopping. as inspiring and fun as that is (and i LOVE looking at what creative wonders people put together!) it also makes me feel uncreative and lacking in talent. i am trying to just ride this out ... not get too bummed by it ... because i know these yucky feelings usually passes with time. and then i will have those days where the creative ideas just spill out from my ears! but between the pain in my side and living in frumpy sweats this week ... and just feeling eh ... i am not feeling my usual cheery, happy self. i am also in a little bit of a freak out thinking about my craft show in less than a month.


but i am sitting on the couch in front of the ballgame ... dave is rubbing my feet ... mittens is asleep on the computer chair ... and i have so much to be thankful for. i have to remember that.

mini break

so i am officially minus an organ. no more appendix for me! it's very weird to think that i no longer have a certain part of my body!

i woke up saturday around 4am with a lot of pain in my midsection. thinking it felt an awful lot like the kidney stones i had last year, i drank lots of fluids and went to work as usual. by the time the closing manager came in i felt worse ... but continued to wonder if i was just using it as an exuse to go home. i kept thinking to myself, "is it really as bad as you think it is?" dave wanted to take me to the hosital instantly but i kept putting it off. "maybe a nap will make me feel better." "if it's kidney stones, they are just going to tell me to drink lots of fluids." the exuses were silly, i know, but i will do ANYTHING to not go to a doctor. by the time he came home from his show he thought i looked paler and i had to admit that the pain was pretty bad. so we piled into the car and off to the hospital we went.

blood tests, cat scans and a few hours later saw me in the operating room ... a place i have never been! i was doped up but still nervous. had a panic attack upon waking up (not fun when you don't know anyone there ...) but came out ok ... just minus a very infected apendix. had to stay in the hospital until yesterday afternoon ... and i am surprised by the amount of pain i've had. the first two days i couldn't do anything but lie in bed and be helped to the bathroom. i can feel the improvement each day ... but i am still sore ... walking slow ... it's hard to bend, sit, lay, laugh, cough. it's very odd. but ... i can't do anything until i am cleared by the doctor next monday ... so here i sit! it's a little frustrating. as much as i love being home and sleeping in ... i am not a really lazy person. i love being on the couch ... but i hate not being able to do something while i am there ... or not being able to jump up 12 times to get different things to work on. :( but ... it is what it is! :)

dave has been a wonderful caretaker. i am not used to having someone do everything for me! everyone has been great, actually. once again i feel very supported and loved. :o) oh and i also got these really great fall flowers from dave's parents today ... what a nice surprise!! :)

so i am planning on making the best of this time. catching up on my reading, my crafting and my video gaming! :o) this is like a nice, imposed vacation ... minus the pain, of course! stay tuned for lots of great things going up on etsy this week ... and whatever else my mind thinks up this week!

enjoy the day!

back from florida and back to sewing!

hello! it's been a busy few weeks but i'm back in the swing of things. had a business trip to florida last week ... it was fun but extremely exhausting. next time i go to florida i think i would like to see more than what i could see outside my window in my room! :o)

i am sewing like a fiend tho ... and i have my next show lined up! it's at franklin school in succasunna on november 14th. i believe it starts at 5pm but i will post more info as i get it.

so i am sewing lots of holiday goodies ... i will post some here in the next day or two ... but be sure to check out my etsy shop for all the new stuff!

the weather here in nj is cool and beautiful. the leaves have started to change and there is a definate chill in the air. i am loving it! :o)

have a wonderful day!!

happy fall!

hello! my blog is undergoing some changes ... please bear with me! :o) you may visit 5 different times this week and the blog will look 5 different ways! lol. i'm working on stabilizing it!

i am currently putting some new items into my etsy shop ... as well as trying out different ways to get the best pictures of my items! i am also experimenting with some new ideas and felting techniques ... so expect some cool new items for the holidays! any suggestions, comments or custom orders you may have, please leave me a comment.
some new items i'm featuring on etsy ...

fall tote bag

fall tote bag (detail)

pumpkin tote bag

(makes a great halloween treat bag!)

pumpkin tote bag (detail)

pumpkin tote bag version 2

pumpkin tote bag version 2 (detail)

bluebird change purse

happy apple change purse

fall is in the air ... and it's time to dig out my fall decorations! this evening is so nice and cool ... it made me realize that it's mid-september already!!! in the retail world ... and with how busy i've been lately with work and plans and sewing, etc ... i realized that i wasn't really thinking about the approaching change in seasons. but now that i've realized it ... i can't wait to get "into" it! :o)

check back often here and on my etsy page for more cute stuff ... and please contact me with any questions, comments, suggestions or orders!

thanks and have a wonderful day!

coolness

hi there! so even tho my succasunny day show was thwarted, Dave and his Growing Stage friends came thru in a pinch and i got to set up a table in front of the stage for Netcong Day. i made a few sales ... a few were pitty sales (Lol) but a few were true sales! :) not bad! here are pics of my table ...
once i figure out my picture sorting i will post some new items as well. look for that as well as a revamped blog and items list.

i've also opened a shop over at etsy.com ... LaizyDaisyDesigns.etsy.com ... go visit it and buy some cute things!!!

thanks to everyone for their support and help this weekend ... and a special smootch goes out to dave for everything ... and the cool new logo!!! :)

rainy day

hello everyone!

so hurricane hanna rained out my 1st craft show. i was very bummed - i worked like such a dog these last few weeks ... and sewed until my fingers were literally bleeding these last few days. BUT. now i have a boat-load of things to sell ... either at another craft show ... or online. in the next few days i will be setting up an Etsy.com account and ebay account to try some online selling. also, if you see anything you like here or would like something custom made please contact me on here ... or email me!

today and tomorrow i will be posting pics of all the new stuff i've been working on in the last few weeks! enjoy! and enjoy this cozy rainy day at home! :o)

for the love of tote bags

so even though i have more than a month before my craft show, i'm freaking a bit about having enough stuff done. that anxiousness, i suppose, can be used for good and not necessarily evil ... if it forces me to get stuff done.

tonight's installment ...

(front)

(detail)

strawberrie tote bag

i love having a tote bag to throw everything into and fling over my shoulder (i carry around a lot of stuff. you never know when you are gonna need ... a book to read ... emergency lipstick ... tissues ... nail clippers ... a notebook ... a journal ... a nintendo ds ...). i assume (especially with the whole "green" thing going on these days) that other people do to. so i am stitching my designs onto tote bags! many many more of these cuties to come!!!

back to work ...

and i'm back!

vacation was wonderful (oh so wonderful ...) ... but boy was it hard to get sewing again. lots of great ideas floating around my brain ... a craft show in my near future (!!!) but i just couldn't balance my day to get the sewing started. but i forced myself to sit down tonight ... and dave pushed me a bit to work too ... and i finished a cute little change purse!

cloudie change purse

i plan on making a tote bag to match!

getting (re)started was so hard! but i can see that i am slowly getting back on track. i am a little anxious about my craft show in september ... but it's an excited anxiousness!!! and ... because i am wacky ... as excited as i am to (hopefully!!!!) sell some of my stuff ... it will be so sad to part with it! that's why i am glad i started this blog to chronicle all the stuff i am making!

well ... enough jabbering ... must get back to work!

insomnia = productivity

updated some of my pics now that the sun rose. couldn't update green mouse since green mouse has disappeared from my apartment. only mittens knows where he resides now.

also adding my latest addition ...

mom's owly eye glass case

mom requested a case for her glasses ... so here is what i did in my spare time ... instead of sleeping.