Finished back of sweater

Woohoo!!! I finished it last night. I can now start on the front, but I have to get some more yarn.

I think I'm going to retire from painting for awhile. Some annoying people had to ruin the fun of it. I had a bunch of stuff to custom make from that home show I did. Well my sister in law kept asking me when it was going to be done because people are asking. How about telling them that I have a life and I'm not painting 24/7. I have a full time job and do all the cooking and cleaning in my house. Some of these things need multiple coats so that takes time. Plus last week was Thanksgiving and I was a little busy preparing and cooking for that. Then there was the other craft fair I had to paint things for. You know it's not an overnight process. And I wish my sister in law could have told them that instead of bugging me. I don't need to hear it. PLUS she asked DH when the stuff would be ready and I told him and he told her. Then she asks me later that day. HELLO??? Didn't your brother just tell you this before? So I tell her they'll be ready next week (this was on Thanksgiving). So yesterday she tells me that a woman asked when the stuff will be done. PITA!!! I told you last week, and had just sent you an email yesterday. How freaking dense are you??? (She really is by the way. She can be a whiny, immature, moronic b**ch!) One of these ladies, the one who keeps asking when stuff will be done, wants me to paint some stuff she already has. Well guess what. I'm not doing it. And if I change my mind and decide to do it, it won't be till after the holidays. I have enough stress without dealing with people asking 100 times when their stuff will be done. It just really annoyed me and really made not want to paint anymore. I'd much rather concentrate on candles and knitting/crocheting. So that's where I'm at now.

Here are A LOT of pics.

Since I've fallen behind, here are more pics than you can probably handle.
Some are WIP's, finished scarf, craft show stuff.



Did it dark so you can see the pattern better.

changed template

The pink was getting to me so I thought I'd simplify this blog. Eventually I'll create an original template, but until then... how's this?

Free patterns

Get yourself to ACMoore. The one by me had a free little booklet with Lion brand patterns. It had a really cute hat, a shrug, wrap, flower, and maybe something else. I bought some Lionbrand Wool Ease Chunky in Fisherman to make my first knitted sweater. I'm taking a risk and am trying a cable one from LB. The pattern called for Homespun but I don't like how it gets all fuzzy after wearing it a lot. So far it's coming out pretty nicely. I was having problems with one stitch (a Right Twist) because I didn't know what to knit on the wrong side. After making a few rows of boo boos and emailing LB, I found the correct way to do it. Just purl the wrong side. So the bottom few rows are wrong, but I really don't care. You can't really notice it TOO much, and it's just a bum around sweater anyway. I really didn't want to frog the whole thing. It was too much work.
If I really like it, I'll make a nicer one the right way. Plus I've been eyeing some sweaters from Patternworks and some from Debbie Bliss's new book (seven). So many projects, so little time!
I will TRY TRY TRY to post some pics when I get home tonight.
I also got another $4 bag from them. So now I have one for crochet projects and one for knit. :) Very happy.

I'm sorry, I lied

I didn't post pics yesterday. I wasn't feeling so hot for some reason, so I laid down to take a nap, then woke up when DH got home. Then I was lazy all night. I just had a headache and was feeling very tired.
Tonight I'm probably hitting AC Moore! At least that's what's on the agenda tonight. We're going to Burlington to get some pants for DH, Baseline Hobbies for some hobby stuff for DH (he does model planes and is in a show this Saturday), and then ACMoore and Quiznos for dinner. MMMMM Love Quiznos! I usually get the stuff on the healthy menu, but I feel like being fatty tonight.
But first I'm getting my hair cut. I'm in dire need. I haven't cut it in about 5 months. At this point my hair stops cooperating and just hangs there. Bleh!

I promise you...

I'll post some pics tonight. I'll post my knitted scarf, some craft show stuff, and anything else I feel like taking a picture of.
WOOHOO!! The ACMoore opened up by us. I LOVE that store. It puts Michaels to shame. I'm going to bring my mother in law there this weekend. We both want to try to knit a sweater. I need to find a fairly simple pattern now. Maybe with cables, I love cables.

Icky fair!

The fair I did was really a Flea Market. Did not know this when I signed up. There was not much foot traffic and a lot of people were just looking. All the vendors were complaining about poor sales, so I felt better that it wasn't just me. Also, a lot of the vendors looked like they were holding a garage sale. I did make the table back so that was good. And also a few people took the flyers my creative hubby made. He really should switch to marketing. People may end up calling me for custom orders, we'll see. But it was a fun day anyway, despite the poor turnout and the REALLY annoying lady next to us.

Eek, another craft fair!

My father in law saw an ad in the paper for a local craft fair at a high school for this Sunday from 10-4 (Holy Cross for the NYers, come and see me! lol). DH had called them today to get some info and it's only $30 a table, and there is plenty of room. So he wanted to know if I'd want to do it. I figured, what do I have to lose? I have a lot of stuff painted already. I can paint a few more things Friday and Saturday. I have to go to Michaels tomorrow anyway, I can pick up some more votive holders and some boxes maybe. I can bring all my candles. I'm always scared about these things.

Scarf for hubby

He's really ticking me off. I showed him some knit patterns that I can do for his scarf. So I start doing a ribbed one and it's hard to see the pattern with Homespun. So I asked him if he still wants it that way or a garter stich. He says he doesn't care. I ask him if it's too thick or too thin... he doesn't know. He tells me to decide. I tell him "YOU'RE the one that has to wear it!!". So I think I'm just going to do a garter stitch for his scarf. Unless you can think of any nice knit patterns that can be seen in the Homespun yarn. I'm at the point where I may just crochet it. *sigh* I don't know.

My craft show

It went pretty well. There were a couple people that couldn't make it. I was so mad I forgot my camera, so I stopped at a grocery store and bought a disposable one. A lot of the things that I thought would sell didn't. But I made about $200 so it was pretty good. And maybe I'll get some more customers word of mouth. I got a lot of good feedback and people saying I should open a store. That's my dream, to someday open a craft or craft consignment store. I took some custom orders that I have to fill. I mostly sold ornaments, candles (but not the jar candles, just votives and tarts), votive holders, a few painted plates, some boxes, and the hurricane in the pic I posted. Didn't sell the big items like the cake dome, cheese dome, oil bottles, wine caddy, mailbox or trifle bowl. Or the painted windows. That's ok though, because now I have a lot of items I can sell at craft fairs. I may look into doing one in December. I would always have to rush to paint stuff before a show, but now I have a lot done already. I'm going to take some better pics with my SLR camera and maybe make a sort of catalog. This way I can give it to people like my mother in law so she can bring it to work. Maybe even make a website at some point. Not sure ebay would be a good way to go since people usually look for bargains there. We'll see. I'll take some digital pics of the stuff that didn't sell and I'll post them later on.

Town and Country poncho or capelet.. whatever

I was in Michaels getting some more ornaments last week, and I was wearing my poncho. This woman came up to me and asked me if I made it and she said she loved it. She was obviously a crocheter so we were talking about where I got the pattern, if it was easy, what stitch and so on. It made me happy that someone liked it. :) It's funny, I can also tell which ponchos out there are homemade. I saw a young girl wearing what looked like the fun fur trimmed one from Lionbrand. It looked really cute.

One more day!

EEEK! I have only tonight left to paint. I don't have that much left to do really. But I'm just so worried that I don't have enough variety in the surfaces and designs. I should have done more wood maybe. I will give people the option to custom order stuff, but I'm afraid I'll get too many orders and be a slave to my craft room 'til Christmas. I guess it is easier to make something when I have a specific order, because the hardest part for me is coming up with a design and layout.
My sister in law is coming over to help me with the pricing. She is also helping me tomorrow since it IS her co worker that I'm doing this for. So nervous. I hate speaking in front of people. WINE... need lots of it! LOL

The geniuses at Bitter Creek sent my candle boxes and stickers to the wrong address. At first I thought maybe it was my mistake. But no, it was theirs. First I called them and got a machine, so I left a frustrated message. Then they called me back and said they'd have to call me back tomorrow (today) and see what they can do. I didn't trust them to get a new shipment to me in time for Friday so I made DH come with me to try and get it from the other house. Luckily they were just getting home, and we didn't have to beg for them to give it to us. DH says I shouldn't tell Bitter Creek that we got it, but I'm too honest to do that. UPDATE--- I called them, I was honest, and she said she'll give me some kind of credit for my next order for the inconvenience. I like that! I hate when you have to beg to get conpensated for a vendors mistake. They are alright by me! :) All is forgiven.

So busy!

I've been creating like a maniac the last few days. I haven't been able to rest like I should (i'm sick). I made a bunch of candles yesterday, and painted a few more things. Gotta do more everyday this week up to Friday. I hope my new scents arrive soon! I want to be able to at least supply them with a sample to smell. So far I've made: Pink Sugar, Warm Vanilla Sugar, Macintosh, Fresh & Clean, Grandmas Kitchen, Hydrangea, and Lavender Vanilla. I'm so mad, my Christmas tree Fragrance oil is backordered. Oh well, I'm sure people know what it will smell like. And I trust this company.
Maybe I'll post more pics later.