A fun quilt: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Whenever someone buys one of my fabrics I hope to see a finished project.  It doesn't always happen that someone sends me a note with a photo but when it does it makes me really happy.

Today a woman named Donna W in western Australia found my Facebook page and sent me a photo of a quilt she made out of my Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My fabric. 

Isn't it darling?

I totally love it, it's very cheery isn't it?  I love her backing fabric and I love that it's for a little kidlet and that it lives in Australia.  Isn't it wonderful that I can create something here in California and it lives with someone in Australia?

I have to thank Donna for hunting me down and taking the extra time and effort to show me her fabulous work.  :-) You totally made my day!  Wheeeeee!

Blog recommendation: Ellen at nouveaustitch.com

I follow a few blogs, I love peeking into the minds of others.  A week or so ago I got an email from a lovely woman who followed breadcrumbs of mine and found me just to comment on my fabrics at Connecting Threads.

Now that my friends is a huge compliment that someone follows web breadcrumbs.  And to go the extra mile and make a comment!  Really flattering.

I answered the comment and didn't really check out the name before I posted.  Once I posted the comment I followed her name to her blog.

Totally gobsmacked as my friend Sharon would say.  Beautiful blog; filled with yummy writing and photos of fabric, quilts, deco and all gorgeous.  And she's got tutorials up.  I started reading...and reading....and reading.  I kept thinking...I must do more of what she does my blog is so, ummm *looking around* bland.

Go on, click that link.  Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and settle in for some loveliness and make sure you say hi to Ellen!  She's been fabulous to get to know; I love finding people who have similar interests and who live in totally different environments. Totally an armchair traveler right?

So cool.

Victory of sorts

Today I did something I haven't done in (hmmm) 20 years at least.  I went to Joann's and didn't buy a thing.

N O T H I N G

I did help a friend pick out a beginner pattern, some fabric, scissors, thread, and pins.  But I stopped short of looking to buy something for myself.

Unheard of.

Freakish.

It helped that Joann's has such a dearth of good fabrics; especially for garment sewing. I did stop to fondle some decorator fabric, contemplated taking a photo with my phone and stopped myself because I'd want it once I got home and looked at that fabric.  Not to mention it was probably a 45.00 a yard fabric.  Which I can't afford and have nothing to make out of it.

Good strategy on my part eh?

It was a victory on my part to not even think about buying anything (seriously!).  I can't really remember the last time I went into a fabric/craft store and came out with zip, nada, nothing.

Aren't you proud of me?

Course once I got home I realized I should have picked up a walking foot because I don't have one.   Duh.  I have to drive 20 miles round trip (on surface streets) to get there so I don't go very often.

Like I said, it was a victory of sorts.

My Kindle 3G Frozen - Amazon FAIL

I'm a big reader.  I'm addicted to reading. Always have been.  I read 4 to 5 books a month on my Kindle, sometimes more.  I read magazines and newspapers as well.  I still read actual books but my mainstay is reading on my Kindle.

Aug 2010 I bought a 189.00 Kindle 3G. I loved it from the moment I turned it on.  I raved to everyone about it.  All of my fears of missing the feel of paper, of turning pages, of the sound of turning pages were nothing in comparison to holding that Kindle.

I love clicking a book and buying it with one-click.  Sync and download and I've got a few hours of reading in my hands. I'm fine with the older technology of the Kindle 3 (keyboard). I'm an early adopter of electronic technology and can use that for my internet needs (where I read even more on a daily basis). But I like the e-ink for reading.

What I don't love is my 2.4 year old Kindle DIED. I read til 2:30 a.m., set it down on the nightstand and the next morning the screen was all streaky.  It was mostly pixelated but I could still see some words. It would not hard boot even tho I knew it had a 70% charge on it.  The light turned amber when I plugged it in so I thought maybe it'd drained overnight and all it needed was a charge. I charged for an hour. It turned on but froze after trying to turn one page.  Called Amazon customer support.  She asked me to hard boot it which resulted in nothing happening. She asked me to plug it in for 2 hours and she'd call me back.

And she did. Trouble is it would not unfreeze. The light was green this time so it was fully charged but it would not unfreeze. She told me my options were to buy a replacement as mine was out of warranty. Said they didn't have the Kindle 3G anymore (which is wrong since it's sold on the site) but I could gt a Touch for either 70. and some change or the next model up for 100. and some change.

I'd read some threads at Amazon and know there can be battery issues and a new battery might fix the problem but repair is not an option. My only option is to buy a new one, discounted but still there is a pretty good chunk of change to lay out.  Probably stings more because my 5 year old pc just blew the motherboard.

I declined the offer.  I have other options. There are 4 computers in this house, 2 tablets and 2 laptops. Plus my pc at work and my phone.  All of them have Kindle and Kobo loaded on them. So it's not like I don't have a way to read.

But I am mightily pissed that I should only expect a Kindle to last 2 years and a few months.  My Android phones last longer than 2 years, my computers have lasted longer than 2 years, my tablet is still working fine after 2 years.  But I shouldn't expect my Kindle that boasts it can hold 3,500 books on it to last more than 2 years.  That's a big FAIL. And why would I want a refurbished Kindle Touch for 100.00 if it's not going to last?

So I'm not buying a new Kindle. I'm extremely lucky that I'm gaining one from a friend who has an extra.  But since I'm a Prime member I may use that only for my free monthly lending book. I may go ahead and use Google Play to purchase my books or borrow from friends who have Kindles.  I suppose it will depend on how tired my aged eyes get from being on the computer all day at work and then reading on a back-lit screen.

In this day and age of throwaway everything I cannot believe that Amazon expects I'll throw away my old Kindle and hand over more money for a refurbished one.  I think I'll go find a replacement battery and see if that will revive mine. So before you buy a Kindle go Google "frozen Kindle". You'll find gobs of posts about it.  Make your decision after you read all the issues around frozen Kindles.

Big FAIL.

Or just go to Ebay and find an unlocked refurbished one for about 60.00.

My snakey, slithery ikat

For this weeks Spoonflower contest the theme is Snakes.  I choose to do an ikat design. I wanted earthy and it needed to be heavily textured to mimic the warp and weft of a real ikat.  Here is a good wiki entry about ikat if you'd like to read about the real weaving process. 

It was pretty fun to do and gave me all kinds of ideas for future designs.  This pillow shown above is available at Society6, along with a cell cover, skin, laptop skin and a canvas.  Or it's available as fabric in my Spoonflower store (or rather it will.be as soon as I proof it).  Go on by and give it a Like or make a comment about it.  :-) 

I'm back!

I took the rest of December off to relax.  It was nice to have those 18 days off!  During that time I participated in a Secret Santa exchange, did the whole Christmas thing with the family. Spent ALL our money for the month of Dec., and generally sat around the house playing on the computer and chatting with friends.

Look! My secret Santa was none other than Cynthia F, renowned fabric designer, quilting extraordinaire and all around nice human.  Really, go check out her blog to see how talented she is and what a nice human she is. And she blogs all the time which gives me fun things to read on a regular basis.  

I must resolve to post to my blog more often!

I'm quite in love with her stuff, have coveted it and wish I could sew as well as she does.  I've sewn for decades but really, I don't have the patience she does because her work is perfect.  

I also sent off a few things to my Secret Santa person; she does a lot of hand drawing so with that in mind;  I created a quilted cover for a drawing pad and a pencil bag, and I stupidly didn't take any photos so I lifted the photos from the person who received the gifts.  

I love those technical pens and I love Strathmore paper. Those are my fave pencils and while the erasers are ok, the black pearl eraser is standard in my drawing kit.  Oh and have you ever had those white chocolate candies? OMG, they are to die for. Melt in your mouth goodness.  In any case it seems like she liked the gifties. :-)

I still owe some gifts to some people...I think I have an aversion to the post office. I resolve to get those things out the door too before too many more weeks go by.

Tomorrow I go back to my 8-5 daily job and must close so I can get my stuff ready for the week. The best part about going back to work tomorrow is getting paid tomorrow. OMG, running out of money and having to wait for a paycheck is the worst!  So yay for tomorrow!  

k 

A snowflake solstice

I have 2 children, both are adults now and I'm thankful every day they've grown up to be fine humans.  I remember every age; the trials and tribulations of rearing them and keeping up with their ever-changing personalities and physical needs.   I loved all of those moments.  I still love those moments; they are my babies no matter how old they are.

I love the kindness of children, their innocence, their unfettered joy of being.  I feared for their safety, their well-being.  I mourned the loss of innocence when my husband and I discussed how we'd teach them to protect themselves as they learned that in addition to very nice people the opposite existed as well.  Mean people, hurtful people, evil people. My kids have been lucky - most of the people that have been in their lives have not been of the latter ilk. I do not fool myself that I can keep them safe from all things. I wish I could.

This week has been exceptionally hard for me.  The Sandy Hook children and their family and friends have been in my thoughts all week long.  It makes me profoundly sad that they and their parents/families will not have them to teach them, to learn from them, to love them.

As I thought about my snowflake design I couldn't stop thinking about all of the children. Each one the light of a family. That no two snowflakes are alike, they swirl around for a very short time and melt away.

In remembrance I created this design. The background is storm clouds. The snowflakes are the fleeting moments we hold; perfectly individual. The candles the children that shine light for us. The light we light to remember them by.  The groupings is all of us, together we are humanity, together we must be the light for others.  The title is A Snowflake Solstice as we move from innocence to a new year where we can hopefully learn the hard lesson that we must do everything we can to keep our children safe and have conversations on how we can do that.

Hold your children and kiss them. Be brave enough to say all lights should be considered sacred and worthy of shining forth. Be the light and do what you can to keep them as safe as you can. 

Sick computer :-(

You know your computer is sick when the monitor is on but the screen is black and it won't boot up.  I broke out in a cold sweat trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I'm perfectly able to figure things out if it's software related but hardware? Nope, have no idea.

I could see the fan whirling around.  That means nothing really...I just like the words "whirling around".

The very nice thing about Facebook and having very nice friends is the generosity that is offered up.  My friend Jackie offered up her husband; he's apparently a hardware kind of guy and she somehow talked him into doing the diagnostics for my poor computer.  What a girl! What a guy!

So far the data is recoverable. Which is a relief since ALL my artwork is on it. All my programs...some of which I no longer have the disks for. All kind of photos are on that hd.  A fan is broken and based on what Jackie said I'm betting the power supply is toast too.  I hope it's not too expensive to fix as it's my daughters 21st birthday tomorrow and Christmas is right around the corner and I don't get paid again until January.  Being on a strict budget doesn't allow for computer crashes.

I may not be doing any designing until January. That fills me with fear and loathing. Drawing every day is what keeps me sane.  A different friend told me about an electronics recyling place not too far away where maybe I can get parts really cheaply. All my body parts are crossed.

So I'm using a Mac laptop.  I've installed my Intuos tablet which helps a lot and I do have a really old Illustrator ap on it so maybe I can adjust to using that. I find a laptop a pita tho.  My fingers just hate the keyboard!  And I an so awkward with the touchpad.  But I am thankful that I have a laptop to use.

Hopefully I'll be up and running in no time. I'm keeping all my body parts crossed!

Gators on your pillow!

How nice of Jamie B to send me a photo of a pillow she made using my fabric design Alligators are Evergreen in the Everglades

Isn't it so cute?  I rotated the horizontal photo so you can also see the print without getting a crick in your neck.  :-)

I really heart customers and when they take the extra time and effort to show me their work I swoon!  I <3 head="head" lay="lay" my="my" nbsp="nbsp" on="on" p="p" pillow="pillow" this="this" to="to" want="want">

Those are my naked alligators, I also have clothed alligators. They're on vacation so you know they needed to dress up just a bit. Gators on Vacation  Oh, and I also have a 4 for 1 design where you gt 4 fat quarters on 1 yard of fabric and it does include the Gators on Vacation design.  Gators and Snakes for the Adventurous!

Thanks Jamie B for buying my alligator fabric and thanks so much for sending me photos!

My Riveria Tee Detail

Partial view of my entry for the Riveria Tee contest at Spoonflower

My designs on pillows

Oh look...Pillows! Now you can buy pillows at My shop at Society 6

My surface design page on Facebook

Why yes, I DO have a Facebook Fan Page: Click here to go there! Click the Like button! I hope to see you there!

The worst Christmas gift

The worst gift I ever received was this very scary doll. My MIL loved church craft fairs and wanted to support the ladies at whatever church.

This, she so happily pointed out to me was made by a BLIND woman!  Isn't that nice?

Nice, no I don't think it's nice, I think he meant to terrorize people with them. See for yourself; Do you agree with her or with me? Don't worry, you won't offend my MIL, she's done the celestial  check out and won't be commenting here.

A pom pom full of sparkle for a nose.  Matching shoe pom poms. A festive one piece jumper complete with upside down designs!  Medium blue plastic beads adorn the appendages...I'm guessing those are where terrorizing cardboard/styrofoam headed clowns indicate where their joints are. Googly eyes! A styrofoam head with marker tattoos in it's face.  I think the red/white and blue yarn pom poms are to indicate that this was made in American, for Americans.  

What's not to love? 

A slightly closer look at it's face.  Ok, look, the danged thing was in the garage full of dust.  It scares me. It scares anyone who ventures into the garage, my camera was scared and didn't care to really focus on it.  

You see the evil eye it gives you if you move over to the side?  It's terror-inducing.  btw, you can't see it in the photos but there is spray glitter on it's hat. 

I do apologize, you might not be able to sleep after witnessing this gift. I probably should have warned you at the beginning eh?

Now, what is your worst gift you've even gotten?

My Facebook page

the Caper Chase detail

The detail to my entry for the Timeless Treasure/Spoonflower contest.

Whoa little dogie!

It's been a while since I posted. My only excuse is my daughter has been sick and there for a while all I was doing was running her to twice a day doctor visits and attending to her. But she's on the mend (fingers crossed).

In the last year or so I've been putting designs up on My profile at Society 6. I do ok there, not as well as at Spoonflower tho.

Just a couple of products by me

You can also find laptop skins, teeshirts and tote bags.  I can't really decide if the single subject items such as the vampire girls (hard to see their little teeth in this photo but they have teeny pointed creepy teeth) or the seamless repeat designs do better.  I'd really like to crack this market better.  

I often change things up a little for the Soc6 products.  The girls at SF have a spider and skulll background that they don't have at Soc6.  

I'm undecided whether I should continue on doing Soc6 stuff as it's harder than anything to get noticed there amongst al the really fabulous art.  One day I think I'll just not add things and then the next I get all gung ho.  What a quandry ya know?

Eagle eye spots my fabric design in an ad

Do you know how nice it is for someone to spot your fabric out on the web and let you know it's there?

Connecting Threads is a sponsor of True Up (a realllly great site) and Samarra Khaja, textile designer extraordinarre spotted the flashing ad while reading True Up.  Do you see it there on the right side?  Go check it out live in person by clicking the True Up link I posted.  

I know I'm still so tickled to see my stuff out on the web!  So if you see something...or you make something out of it I'll post it in my blog!

Thanks again Samarra! You made my night! 

Vampire Twins!

I've decided I need to really start paying attention to my Society6.com stuff.  Mostly I've been concentrating on fabric design and a lot of what I do can be modified to adorn cell phones, laptop skins/covers, etc.

My only wish is that they had cell covers/skins for my Razr Maxx.  But I'm tickled that there are iphones out there with my designs on them!  A recent fave of mine is this one.

Titled "Meredith and Delany: Vampire Twins".  They're kind of fun and quirky and I want them on my own phone!  Wah!  Oh well, I'm thinking I'll make them into a fabric and perhaps they'll be in a slightly different setting.  I'm sure these 2 girls are trouble in the making despite their innocent looks. I'm thinking I'd like to make a Kindle cover using these two...I've been waiting until I came up with a design that is a little darker (I use my Kindle alot!) so it doesn't show grime quite as quickly as a light colored fabric.

Oh, btw, this week only you can get free shipping on my stuff at Society6!

Off to design something fun.  If you have suggestions on what you'd like to see in my Soc6 or Spoonflower shop just leave a comment!

Virginia

Status Migrainous, DHE, Lyme

Again I have to apologize for not being around on the blog.  Not that I'm very good at posting regularly but I've been really scarce lately.

I've been learning about Lyme disease and Status Migrainous.  Having a very sick daughter who's being treated for both of these things at the same time.

The doc (a neurologist) is treating her for the Status Migrainous with DHE and antibiotics for the Lyme.  The Lyme is a possibility as she has a positive titer and one band showing but she apparently needs 2 bands showing (this might be Greek to you but that's ok..it's a PITA to be diagnosed without the 2 bands).

Most everyone has heard of Lyme so there is a sort of passing knowledge about it - it's not a good thing to have. Her neuro is treating her for it so that is at least being managed with antibiotics.

More worrisome to me is the protracted migraine. She's had it for 31 days now.  Yes, 31 days.  She's been in pain and has had severe nausea for all of this time.  She's getting IV DHE as well as steroids and a anti-nausea medicine 3 times  day. Her arms and hands look like pincushions.  The nausea, the vomiting and the heat is making her dehydrated and she's had to get IV fluids to keep her hydrated. Next week she gets a IV and a home nurse to administer the drugs and keep the IV cleaned a few times a day. Hopefully that will help so she's not getting 3 different IV sticks a day. More if they can't find a vein that will take the IV.

This is managing her pain to a certain extent but not curing her so far.  Her head hurts at a level 3 once she gets the meds. If the meds wear off she goes up to a level 8 (btw, I'm using a 1–10 scale).  She feels a 3 is manageable.  I've had migraines, I don't know how she can function at a level 3. Maybe because she's had migraines her entire life and has withstood a lot of pain over her lifetime. She's only 20 but that's a whole lotta life with migraines.

If you know someone who is a migraineur please be sympathetic and please do not minimize it as a "headache".  People have often given her a casual: "Oh  come on, it's just a headache" to either make her feel guilty that she can't just shake it off and do whatever they think she should be doing or think she is just trying to shirk off work/play/whatever. People like teachers, friends, strangers, etc. The number of people who are ignorant of migraines is a pretty large percentage of the population.

I know most of them don't mean it as a mean thing but because she forces herself to continue on with a migraine they don't always understand when it becomes too much for her.

I do want to thank every single person who understands or even if they don't understand are sympathetic to anyone who suffers from migraines.  Your graciousness and generosity is a beacon of light.

Hardest of all is watching her go thru this pain right now.  I can't fix it, I can't control it and I am totally frustrated and yes, I am worried. She's my baby.  Today I sat with her for 10 hours while she got IV fluids and meds.  She was actually there for a few hours longer as I was at work until she got admitted and then I left work to be with her.  Tomorrow we go back, rinse and repeat. I am hoping the headache breaks either from the DHE or if it's Lyme that's causing it, the antibiotics will break it.

If you read this I'd rather not hear horror stories of how long it COULD last.  I've already heard them or read them and I'd rather not focus on that...I already worry enough about it.

Maybe later I'll add links to all the things I've posted about here...education is always a good thing but tonight I'm just too tired to go looking for all those links.