Luna's Baublebilities

My kiddo has a bionic ankle. 

Well.  She's got some metal in there anyway. 

Home.  Safe and sound sleeping on the couch.

I still need a house elf.

"Maxx, what are you doing in there?"

"What does it look like to you?" (shouted through the open bathroom door)

"I don't know, Maxx, I don't like to watch people when they are in the bathroom."

silence. . . .  more silence.

"Maxx, I'm thinking you had better wipe your butt."

"How do you know I need to wipe my butt?"  (closes door, begins making sounds of frustration and annoyance)

Boy continues to make strange and incoherent noises for 5 minutes, refusing to answer questions seeking to diagnose the problem from behind the door.  Mom enters, discovers that a bum definitely needs to be wiped, that no attempts to self-wipe have been made and that at this point she must resort to using wet TP to clean the problem area.

This is not unusual.  Maxx was very slow to potty train.  He still does not stay dry at night and often needs to be reminded to pee during the day.  Research shows that FAS kids, especially boys, have problems with toileting issues well into late adolescence because the neural pathway that the bladder and bowel use to tell the frontal cortex that a potty stop is urgent is fried before birth.  We see that all the time - the boy will dance around holding his parts but insist that he DOES NOT need to pee until you physically place him in front of the toilet.  Lo and behold - it WAS urgent!  He occasionally has very unfortunate accidents because his bowel can only give him a few brief moments of warning before he needs to get to the toilet.

Now we are struggling with wiping the bum.  He was doing fairly well for a little while after I pronounced that I was Done wiping his bum this summer.  His bum is now (supposed to be) his responsibility.  Sometimes he is successful.  Lately, he actually seems to be using the butt wipe problem to raise my irritation level.  He will get to the bathroom on time but then sit there for a long time - until wiping is um. . .  more difficult than it needs to be. This might be a good sign.  He may be processing a cause and effect and be experimenting with the outcomes of different actions.  He may be consciously resisting one more inevitable step toward independence.  He may be seeking to prolong his dependence on me for the sake of attachment.

He may just be trying to make me furious.

My sister-in-law suggests a funky green frog shaped container of wet wipes. 

It's on the shopping list.

Speaking of potty talk - I started reading Gaiman's American Gods a few days ago. 

He's playing with some very interesting concepts in the book but . . .  I'm finding that I frequently need to skip several pages at a time.  I'm not sure I will be able to justify finishing the book. Call me a prude, but I don't read R and X rated stuff.  It frustrates me that so much of that seems to be here.  I love Gaiman's writing.  His imagination is brilliant and his voice and characterization are rich and satisfying.  There are some aspects of  imagination that I think should be kept private.  I don't like to read about explicit sex or violence.  It's getting harder and harder to find fiction that avoids graphic descriptions, especially in fantasy. 

Sigh.  I've included links throughout this post for some other Gaiman books that I've read that I feel confident about keeping in my house.  (Someday Maxx will be interested in reading the sort of stuff Gaiman writes - he doesn't need to have that sort of graphic stuff inserted into his imagination, either.)

that the Neil Gaiman book I bought last Monday is still sitting on my night stand unopened.

Did you process that?  I have had an unread book - an unread book by Neil Gaiman - sitting practically untouched next to my bed for a week.  (confession - I did read the first page last night before Bry came up to bed.  Maybe I'll get to read some more on the treadmill later this morning.)  (Edit - CAUTION!  I cannot recommend this book to LDS friends and family members.  I love Neil Gaiman's writing and was aware of the fact that some of his short stories are a bit . . . beyond racy.  I still wasn't prepared for what I found in this novel based on the others I have read. - more about that in this post here.)

I have orders to ship today- yay!  I'm trying to upload more beads and brass findings into my shop this week as well as paint more scarves, paint the bathroom and finish a custom jewelry order.  Plus I brought Amelia home to her new studio on Saturday so I can finally photograph some of my new scarves. 

Speaking of scarves - I have a new coupon code for jewelry and scarves - free shipping!  From now until mid- December.

Enjoy!

wow.  I have not felt this awful in a year.  The timing is horrible.  I was supposed to work today,but considering that I can't even sit up straight or keep my eyes focused or stop the effusion of horribleness coming from - well, suffice it to say that I'm sick and unpleasant about the face today.

The real miracle of all this is that I haven't been this sick in a whole year.

The first three years Maxx lived with us, I was sick more or less like this every 3-6 weeks.  Maybe not this bad every time, but seriously unwell with some viral cocktail or another that the boy mixed up to share with me.  It was bad in pre-K and got much worse in Kindergarten.  In 2009, I think I used twice as many antibiotics as in the whole of my life leading up to that year -

)News Flash - strange shimmering stuff going on at the edges of my field of vision . . . that's new.  Guess I had better call the doc to see if that's related to that junk she gave me to squirt up my nose as soon as they open.)

- Then last year, I caught Swine Flu and suffered the Ear Ache fro Hell and then was . . . . better.  Great, even.  It was as is Swine Flu had cured me of everything.  I started using ProGest in January 2010 as well, and that made a definite difference with my entire endocrine system.  So I've been very healthy for almost a whole year.

And now I realize that I had a darn good reason for gaining 20 pounds, being depressed and unproductive and miserable.  I felt like this all the time.  Hopefully, I will feel better next week.  Hopefully I will  learn someday how to be productive again and keep the house clean-ish again.  In the meantime I'm going to call the doctor and go back to bed.

Studio Tour is coming! 

I have approximately 6 working days to get ready.  With a beading party thrown in this Friday.  And a Halloween costume to make tonight.

The house is a disaster.  I have two weeks of laundry piled hither and tither.  (A washing machine is coming today!  But not a drier - we need to make sure that we can afford all the other critical construction materials before we buy a drier.)

What was I thinking?

I feel a bit like Kermit the Frog backstage as the show is falling apart.  Aaaaahh!   The Muppets always manage to pull it off, will I?

Time to go clean a spot for said washer, prime the bathroom, make some more sparklies and dye some more silk.  Oh - but first I have to wash the dishes because I can't get to my blasted studio sink because my teenager seems to be completely incapable of washing a dish. 

Cue manic screaming and and flapping of arms.

This has been a poignant month. 

My girlfriends and I at Church learned that a dear friend who moved away a few years ago was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago.  She lives far away and we can't take her out for chocolate or help her keep her house clean and her family fed while she goes through whatever treatments are in store for her.  That's particularly frustrating and painful for all of us.

My Aunt Di, thankfully, is still in remission.

The SLC Arts Council is currently running a memorial exhibit of the quilts and textile art of Lorre Belt, who recently lost her life to breast cancer.  Every Thursday, I walk into work and am surrounded by the work of a sister artist who I never met but whose spirit was so strong that she left significant energy in every piece of fiber she touched.  The first week the show was up, I found myself wandering around the gallery touching everything - sweaters, penny rugs, quilts, socks, felt applique work . . . - in spite of my inner conservationist's strident protests.  Some of her work is unfinished.  Seeing it makes me think about the huge jumble of things - art projects, construction and decorating plans, children & family - that I would have to leave behind if I were called home early.

I will be 41 in a couple of months.  I'm carrying far too much weight which raises my risk factors for cancers and heart disease.  Photos from our weekend visit to the mountains high lighetd that fact for me - my Weston jowls have completely taken over my face! 

There's a lot that I do not want to leave behind early.  While I can't control all the events of my life, it is high time that I start controlling a few more of my risk factors.  I've been successful with managing my endometriosis in the past and  I need to translate that success to managing my diet and weight a little better again.  I seem to be past the constantly sick and/or broken phase of my life as Maxx's Mommy.  I'd like to fit into my awesome brocade pants again for the holidays.  I'd like to worry less about my longevity.  Feel free to nag me about it.

Here's a collection of pinks for October- fellow artists working in the color of the moment.

Earlier this week there was a rather serious security breach at Etsy related to a programming goof on some new tool.  (Sellers' full legal names instead of shop names were listed in Treasuries for about 45 minutes)  Etsy Bitch and the Forums exploded in panic begging Etsy to get sellers' private information hidden and, later, in rage and frustration at Etsy's perceived slow response and initially dismissive attitude about dealing with the problem. 

Etsy has offered apologies and claims to be beefing up security but they aren't saying anything about implementing better methods and procedures for rolling out changes to code.   This particular "glitch" would have been averted if Etsy had bothered to roll out the change internally for some testing before sending it out live to the world.   This is one of the major problem over at Etsy lately.  They have been rolling out new features and tweaks to old features for months and many many bugs keep popping up.  They have 60 engineers.  Dop you think they might take some time every week to review their work together, maybe help each other proof read a bit?  Have one or two other employees who know the site sit down to test the changes before making them live?  Apparently not.

That's a problem.  But the even bigger problem is their response to one (previously) very successful seller who posted her concerns about the breach in the forums somewhat stridently.  Today, her main shop has been shut down plus her other account and her husband's shop have been forum muted.  Admin have refused to help her or answer any of her questions.  They just kept closing down threads that she and friends started in forums asking Admin to please contact her.  Their responses are all run along the same line of  'we can't talk about private accounts here in the forums.  Why don't you contact live help, etc . . . this thread is closed.'
It sounds a lot like "We're going to take you to a secure location.  Where you'll be safe." 

Yes.  Their response makes me feel very reassured.  About this woman's ability to continue to conduct her business.  About the security of My own information which Etsy still has, even though my shop is on vacation and I don't intend to re-open it.  About Etsy's concern for seller well being.

It makes my blood boil.

Which is not hard today, what with me being estrogen poisoned again.  I'm exhausted.  My productivity in the house and studio is at an all time low.  The studio problem is probably best explained by the illustrations here and above.  It's just not there yet.  I keep hoping that the storage issue will resolve when we get the workbench turned back into a dyeing table and I have that under counter  and shelving storage available.  There's a plan to take out the closed grey door (which you can't see - in either photo, it would be just to the left.) and install 'pass through' type shelves there in the door frame.  That should help.

Maxx has been a handful.  He was sick all last week with a cold (Tuesday through Friday) watched too much TV and has been sullen and surly just about every waking minute for the last week or so.  He generously shared his virus with Bryan and I so that we could be stiff, headachey and miserable for a few days.  Now that he's well enough to go back , he is being particularly troublesome about getting ready for school.  He would rather play in his new tree house. 

(Can I blame him?  Not really.) 

His little surly act is getting very old very fast.  He has also been having a LOT of potty accidents.  Right now I'm chalking it up to an hour ride each direction every day to school and back and trying to re-adjust after summer vacation.  If it persists for more than another week or two, we may have to go see the doctor about it.  Doing laundry is a problem - we still have no washer over here so pissy laundry on a daily basis is really wearing me out.

I was supposed to take THIS in today to get it fixed before it produces more just like it.  We used to have 3 cat carriers.  Could we find any?    Go ahead - guess. 

No carrier.  No fix.  Maybe next week.

I have a new calling which suddenly has several responsibilities landing in my lap.  I can delegate but even that takes some energy and planning - you know, I'd have to actually think about it.

We ran out of construction money and need to send the bank a packet of receipts and a progress report/estimate for finishing up stuff.  That requires thought, too.

Oh and to top it all off - I need a trip to the dentist.  I haven't been in a veeerrrry long time.  We do not have family dental.  I am askeered.

And - yes.  that cat DOES have that much attitude.  She's very sweet about it but really.  She is the queen.  Or goddess.  Or something else infinitely better than me.

I haven't posted in ages.  The last few weeks have been crazy.  Bry was in charge of Young Men's camp for our district a couple of weeks ago and Molly was away at Young Women's camp.  I had been looking forward to a week off from construction to play in my new studio.  I was going to have a bead party and make Ugly Dolls with Maxx and everything.  But somehow the week just got eaten up with all kinds of stupidity and I had almost no time to create or clean or construct.  It turns out that it is a really BAD idea to run YM and YW camp at the same time when your district is really small. 

Sometime during that week, my gorgeous, guilty plastic beads arrived from China.  I think I might be addicted.  I also got some new, fun brass bead caps.  No photos yet.


Then last week was work week at his parent's home which is a fun and worthy tradition with all of the cousins clambering around and playing and fighting and having a grand time.  It's a great tradition - when it doesn't happen immediately after everyone returns home from camp.  By this Sunday, I was so wiped out that I couldn't manage Church.  I literally stayed in bed all day.  I did do some embroidery of a scissors case I've been pretending to make for 4 years.  That was fun.



This week, the men tore the roof off the back part of my house and they have been climbing around up there above my studio every waking hour.  It is wonderful.  They have accomplished so much - Tuesday the old roof came off.  Wednesday the lumber came and the old rafters came off.  Yesterday the built and installed all of the new rafters.  Today they are working on the decking and maybe even the tin.  We might have the roof done before school after all!



I have some wholesale orders to attend to and some small Etsy orders as well as cleaning, priming, painting.  My Molly is visiting her aunt Molly & family in Wisconson so I have no talented helper today to work on enamel or painting.   We miss her.  

I should run and get some work done!  I'll post some photos of actual work soon.

Maxx was home all week last week with some strange stomach bug which didn't really make him sick per-say, it just required that he frantically race to the bathroom three or four times each day.  It was a rough week.  He was bored, I was distracted, we were all trying to work at the Beorningstead as much as we could, Molly was studying (ha!) and we were all worrying about our neighbors.

Our dear friends and neighbors, Ken & Kim, are struggling with the seriously declining health of both of their fathers.  Kim has been in Burlington almost constantly for the past three months helping care for her dad and last week, Ken's dad broke his leg.  Now both of them are in Burlington and neither outlook is rosy.  I fear it is going to be a sad summer in Ft. Jackson. 

On Saturday, we had some earrings to make for a party Molly was invited to.  Maxx wanted to play beads, too, and I realized that I hadn't prepared anything for his awesome kindergarten teacher yet.  Mrs. Arquiett has been so wonderful with Maxx.  She has been patient with his needs and behaviors.  She has been educating herself about how to help him with his sensory, attachment and social issues and I know that she has been instrumental in Maxx's progress this year. 

Maxx chose the beads and we strung together some lovely RED earrings.  Maxx loves red.  He loves Mrs. Arquiett, too.  He's going to miss her over the summer.  (I think I will too!)

In other news, we are making slow progress over at the Beorningstead and we have some potential buyers coming to look at the Ft. Jackson house on Friday.  We have a new realtor and she really seems to be working hard to get our house seen.   Bry has received his teaching assignment fornext year.  He will be working full time in an 8-1-1 program in Huevelton.  It will be a big drive every day (1 hour, on good roads) but it will be full time, he will have a full time aide in the room, he will have a planning period, most of his students will be mainstreamed and will mostly be in his room for academic support.  Heuvelton is actually a wonderful little district so I think he will like the atmosphere there AND they actually use their snowdays when the weather is truly awful, instead of saving them for hockey tournaments.  (Don't even ask.  I am still furious.)

Now - on to work for the day.  Soooo much to do!

Allow me to say a few words about socks. 

I hate socks.  I wear them.  I enjoy wearing them.  They keep my feet warm and prevent my shoes from stinking.  But I hate being responsible for them.  Especially Maxx's.

With all of the socks Maxx owns, one would think that I could easily find a pair that reasonably matches.  No - I am not OCD about two socks needing to have exactly the same degree of grey-ness or stainage, but Maxx and I do insist that the socks be about  the same length & thickness and have the same sort of toe seam. 

It would help if he would remove his socks in the same place.  I don't necessarily mean removing both of  his socks in the same place every day - I mean removing both of his socks at the same time and place on any given day.  His normal mode is to come home and kick his boots off - one usually goes in one direction while the other flies off into the opposite room.  Eventually he takes one sock off.  He travels about a bit, indoors and out.  Then he takes the other sock off.  I have not done any studies about which sock he tends to remove first.  I'm not sure that would help. 

Sooner or later both socks end up in the laundry.  But not necessarily in the same load.  Not even necessarily in the same week.

Not 8 weeks ago, I bought him some little black socks, - 6 pair, 12 total -  thinking this would make it easier to find him a pair in the sock basket.  Can I find more than one of those socks at any given time? 

No. 

I can find any number of grayed white socks with holes in the bottom, but only one of the new black socks.  Sigh.

I have some mesh laundry bags I my Amazon shopping cart.  (Why can't I find these things when I go shopping in a real store?  Why must I pay shipping for them?  Should I just go to JoAnne Fabrics and buy some mesh to make my own bags?)   

I think that if I had 4 mesh laundry bags, everyone could be responsible for putting their own socks in their own laundry sack (or I could go around the house of a laundry day and gather up all manner of socks, placing them each in their designated bag) - wash the whole sack at once and then I would not have to sort socks anymore.   When children (and husbands) whine for socks, I could just chuck a mesh bag full of socks at them and make them choose a pair for themselves.

I may be delusional.

But I am reluctant to push the buy button because my Etsy shops are dead.  (And because I have several other things in my shopping cart.)  Very few sales this past week - just enough to pay my Etsy bill.  I am becoming disgruntled but am loathe to murmur about it too much, lest the Etsy Gods take vengeance.  Perhaps they already have and this is why my shops are dead.

Oh, how I wish people would learn to shop on ArtFire.


Meanwhile it is 49 degrees and raining outside.  The rain is O.K.,  I suppose the 49 degrees is really not all that bad - but it has, in general, been too warm.  My lilacs look like this. 

They should not look like this until May.  They are at least 3 weeks ahead of schedule - along with every other growing thing right now. 

Craziness.  We could still get a blizzard - or an ice storm - or at least a very heavy frost - and then where would my blossoms be? 

Blighted, that's where. 

Curse you, Global Warming and Climate Change!

While I'm cursing people, I shouldn't forget our dear Governor Patterson who now intends to lay off all the construction workers in NYS, along with the over 150,000 teachers across the state who are slated to lose their jobs come June.  That will be a nice change for our laborers - a big summer vacation.  It will be handy for NYS too, considering that they have been on the job just long enough to cause their unemployment to expire but not long enough to earn another round. 

Sigh. 

At least the Arts Council is making progress.  New classroom spaces in Old Snell Hall  - Dance Classes coming right up!  I hope someone will be able to afford them.

Keep yer socks on.  I'm off to do laundry.

So.  I have determined 3 things that have a direct impact on my eczema.  It has nothing to do with lotions that I may or may not smear on my face.  It's all about Zinc and  B vitamins.

And stress.

When I feel like I want to tear my face off because it is itching sooooo much I could scream, that means it is time for Luna to sit down, take a few deep breaths, refrain from clawing at her ears and eyelids for a minute and just breathe.

Good Lord.  Is this what my life has come to?

Guess so.

Right now the blood pressure raising, tension headache causing, itch inducing factors in my life are; 

Maxx's CSE meeting at 1:45 this afternoon.  I'm almost sick to my stomach.  1st grade is coming.  THEY are going to expect my rambunctious FAS baby to SIT at a desk and do worksheets - a LOT.  It is going to be very hard for him.  I'm pretty sure that most of the staff are not on board with the realities of FAS.  I don't want my kid in an endless cycle of detention.  I don't want him relegated to a Special Ed classroom. 

Molly's Opening Night.  Friday - we're all gonna be toast by then. 

NYS sales tax.  I have to go through a years's worth of sales and figure out what items I shipped to adresses in  NYS, figure out what tax district that address is in and calculate to the penny the tax that I have to send to NYS.  BY MARCH 22.   I simply haven't kept good enough records of these transactions this year. I'll be able to re-construct it but it will take time and I'm too chicken to just fudge it.  Oh - and I have to go back through my purchases and determine which items that were shipped from OUTSIDE NYS are subject to NYS sales tax - basically anything that doesn't get re-sold or become part of something that I sell.  By March 22nd. 

IRS tax return.  I haven't even started.  Really.

The housework.   The budget.   Bryan's job or not-job next year.

The other house.  The Fort Jackson Bridge is going to close next Monday for repairs.  Our other house is about to get about 10- 15 miles further away.  We debated about trying desperately to get moved over there this week but we have no water yet and very few electrical fixtures installed and the living room isn't ready for the woodstove yet. And we have soooo many demands and obligations on our time right now.  Bry is trying to make up at work and at Church for being relatively out of commission for over three weeks in February as it is.

O.K.  I'm getting itchy again.

On a happier note - I've got a project I want to take a stab at in the midst of all this stress.  SLC Arts Council is planning a special gallery exhibit/sale to benefit our multi-arts center project.  The exhibit will be called Limited Space and all proceeds will go toward our fund for renovating Damon Hall to house classroom space, galleries, a performance space and several specialized studios for glass, ceramics & jewelry.   We're acepting works in all media that are no larger than 40 square inches for this benefit.

I've been pondering this project for several weeks and it finally appeared on paper last night.  I'll use techniques from Embroidered Flora and Fauna - I bought it with a coupon at Joanne Fabrics many months ago and have been 'itching' to try some of these techniques for a long time.

I think the image of eggs in a nest is appropriate on a lot of levels right now.  The Arts Council is growing rapidly.  We won't fit in our little egg much longer.

On a personal level, I feel like I really need to transform into a more productive creature.  I desperately need to learn how to fly.  Lately I feel like I just keep falling out of the nest.











 . . . . .

Saturday night I finally got a chance to get back to that wonderful pink daisy I had started back in January.  I was originally thinking of making a bracelet with it but a bracelet needs to be very sturdy as it moves around quite a bit and can snag on things.  This daisy certainly has LOTS of petals to snag on stuff so I decided I should try it as a pendant.  It seems a bit too  . . . something . . . to dangle very low, maybe it is just that it really is so much like a flower. 

Mary Harding and Dr. Beamer both have some beautiful chokers made of ceramic or fused glass pendants put on simple single or multi-strand choker pieces over at the Arts Council.  I've  been admiring those for a while and suddenly realized that the daisy would make an excellent choker style.  So I filled out the back of the flower a bit and created a seed bead bail and slipped the flower onto a simple 5 strand choker with a slim twist & lock magnetic clasp.  It works wonderfully - very lightweight but secure, colorful & sparkley and the petals don't run into much hanging so close to the neck.












I'm already envisioning some variations - more colors of daisies, of course, but also chokers like this with multiple daisies strung on it.  I need to source some more sizes and colors of these wonderful daggers.

I have also been playing with crazy quilting this weekend.  Maxx was home Friday with some belly issues - just as I began to decide that I had been duped and that he wasn't really sick, he started screaming about his ear and asked to go to bed.  He was fine Saturday but yesterday, halfway through Sacrament meeting, he started in on the ear again.  At first, I thought he was just trying to get some more mileage out of Friday's complaint but he had to be brought out of Primary before classes even got started and slept in my lap 'till about half way through Relief Society.  I worked on my latest Crazy Quilt patch while he snoozed. 






I've got a spiderweb, some Daisies, some Fuchsias and lovely Algerian Eye motifs on one side of the block now. 










I'm not as wild about the strange knots and netting I put in here.  That may come out and be replaced with something that actually looks nice. 





People keep asking what I will do with these blocks.  I have no idea.  Right now, they are just a fun way to play with fiber on Sundays.


. . . . .

100 Day is this week at Maxx's school and Maxx had to make a 100's day project consisting of a collection of 100 things. 

Maxx is a particularly wishy washy child.  He can't make a clear decision and communicate about it to save his life.  He wanted 100 soldiers, 100 dinosaurs, 100 swords, 100 beads - he changed his mind every day at least once and every other choice would have been disallowed by the school's 0 tolerance policy towards violence (no toy soldiers unless you cut off their guns, no swords, etc . . . )

The other day Molly suggested that we make a book of 100 faces of Maxx.  "Ya, right, I said.  Can he even make 100 faces for the camera?"  But before I could finish my sentence, he had pulled at least 30 amazingly distinct and hysterical funny faces. 

The boy is a ham. 

The problem with this project was not in getting faces but catching them quickly enough.  He's got a great face - surprisingly elastic and sooooo cute.  I think we'll need at least 100 more.































. . . . .

A blog post is NOT what I intended to work on tonight.  But. .  .

Maxx has been having some serious adjustment issues with back-to-school and had a violent meltdown tonight after dinner, including punching me several times and saying "I wish I didn't even HAVE a Mommy!"  This as a result of being instructed to NOT allow the dog to drink from his cup of milk.  Maxx and I did a hold down on the kitchen floor while waiting for Daddy, who dispensed an appropriate spanking and talking to and sent the boy to bed before leaving for meetings tonight.  Boy hasn't slept and keeps coming downstairs.  I am frustrated, discouraged and angry and can't work at any projects upstairs right now.

I've been having a hard time finding my feet after vacation.

I'm no longer a home schooling mom.  That's O.K.  Molly is having a great time in HS and is enjoying the musical immensely.  She's even starting to catch on in Algebra. Wisely, they put her in the slow class and she is doing just about as well as the kids who have been there from the beginning of the year.

I'm trying to lose weight the old fashioned way.  You know - eat less and exercize more.  So far so good but with tonight's stress I really want some chocolate and I've already broken into the popcorn.

I'm struggling with my calling.  Primary Secretary is very administrative which means that I don't have a lot of prep time for Sundays since I'm not teaching but it also means that I'm not growing spiritually because I'm not teaching.  I'm also not doing a very good job in it.  I had to miss a meeting tonight because I needed to get Maxx in bed.  It is simply impossible to have both Bry and I out of the house on a school night and since Bry is the BP - his responsibilities at church come before mine do right now.  I also feel that Maxx clings to me and acts out more in Primary than he would if I weren't stationed there every week.  I'd like him to be more independent on Sundays and I feel like my being available in the room impedes his development there.

I'm trying to determine what to do with my business.  Bry is already playing the "There probably won't be a job for you next year" game with BOCES.  Patterson's budget cuts to education on top of the general economic downturn keep Bryan's position at risk, even though he has been at BOCES for 10 years.  Don't ask - its a bunch of administrative stupidity.  When we began planning for the Beorningstead, I felt sure that I could start producing and selling enough scarves and finished jewelry to pay off some of the extra debt we would have to incur at first to make the transition work.  I still think that is true and that once I do find my feet and get a working routine going, the money will start rolling in the way I need it to.   But I'm pretty sure that I can't make enough to support the household.

Who knows, maybe I could.  But at this rate I just don't see how.

The Goblins' Market supply business contributes a steady cash flow which comes in really handy but the amount of income it provides compared to the amount of time I have to spend is really not worth the hassle.  I need to narrow my inventory and the scope of my supply shops.  I need to do this without taking a loss in my current inventory or slowing down the cash flow.  I need to find the balance between this side of my business and the finished works side - which is where the real profit and enjoyment is.



Where do I narrow things down?  What do I cut out from supplies, what do I increase?

Ribbons and hand dyed cord are very fulfilling to sell.  I spend a lot of time and have lots of fun devising new colorways and the ribbons bring a good price.  They also represent a large layout for raw materials in order to have more than a few lengths of each colorway.  Having regularly available color choices means either doing HUGE lots of each colorway at once or dyeing the same colorways again and again throughout the year.


The enameled brass dragonflies, bead caps and birds?  Love them.  And so does everyone else.  I've managed to restrict enameling to one day a week when Molly and I work together which means that customers wait several days to get their orders shipped out but it keeps that task manageable and trackable for me.  I'm thinking of expanding to include a few more colored metal pieces like butterflies and other repousee findings. 

Beads?  Oh here's a dilemma.  I LOVE having tons of beads to play with and lots of variety.  But since most of the beads I stock are so inexpensive, I'm really not making much of a profit.  Between listing fees and inventory management time, I think that one would have to be selling in huge quantities to make any money with selling beads.  I think I will dig back through my sales records and choose out the best sellers and keep those on hand.  Then I will concentrate on finding a few really special beads for designing with each season and offer a few sets of specials in my supply shops.  I recently discovered some new wholesalers who have slightly higher prices (1-2 cents per bead) but lower minimums and better variety so I don't have to tie up all of my bead money in a few massive strands that I'll get bored with and that may or may not sell.

I love having filigree bead caps and components around for designing with.  Thse will stay, but I will probably start to lean more towards larger and more specialty pieces.  Smaller findings will go.  I realize now that I do not intend to be a "full service bead shop."  There are plenty of those out there.  I want my supply shops to be known for the really luscious stuff - the addictive stuff you can only get from the Goblin Men down in the glenn.

For finished works . . .

I really want to play more with the beads I've got.  I love sparkley stuff.  I need to market it better, though, because jewelry is such a flooded market online.

Scarves.  If I dye, they will buy.  Again, more marketing will help move inventory quicker but I have no fears about losing money on any style of scarve that I produce.  Except maybe the gorgeous hand dyed velvet wraps with the incredible beaded fringe, but that kind of labor is never wasted.

Tee shirts?  I've got some half dyed and waiting for me to finish a silk screen design.  If they don't move well, lots of family members will get pretty tee shirts with peacocks on them for Christmas next year.

But before I can be successful with these finished beauties, I have to actually make some more stuff and get photos of them and list them in my shops.  All of that takes time.


And I haven't even discussed the state of the household.  My studio is a Groggoch's den right now and the bathroom isn't far behind.



I think the boy is asleep now.  Perhaps I can sneak into the studio now?  Or at least upstairs to put my laundry away?








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