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Archive for September, 2008

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jewelery promotion, now with active yogurt cultures

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

I’m about to open my etsy store, so what better to do it with than with these cool looking girls from the Murphy Foundation at Hendrix College.



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Check out those necklaces, and that pineapple! It was all so funny, I asked them if I could blog about them. Ty and I went to see a dramatic reading of “Yum, Yum Yoghurt, Ulysses!” by Jason Burk Murphy at Hendrix on Friday night. It was a fun, philosophical play about Little Rock’s frozen yogurt legacy, crossed with the movie _Clerks_, _Waiting_for_Godot_, and Sting. After the reading, the Murphy Foundation served up a bunch of fruit and yogurt.

My etsy store is almost up to full speed. I’ve got some friends editing some patterns, and a bunch of other stuff needs to be finished and or dried. You’ll be the first to know when it opens. Until then, a little sneak preview of what I’ll be selling: mostly jewelery.



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BIG UPDATE

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

I promised myself I’d get my etsy store opened yesterday. There are a few shipments running behind, and I’m on a 24 hour drying schedule for some of my crafts. I may also have to purchase some power tools. If that doesn’t make you curious, I don’t know what will.

There are so many things to do, from taking pictures, figuring out prices, getting patterns sell-ready, and shipping, etc.

Just got a nice pep talk from a crafty friend and I’m not going to bed until I have something to sell.

There are so many other pictures I have to post from this weekend’s outing to Little Rock. That will come after the store!

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tatting

Friday, September 12th, 2008

A project I’m working on requires cotton tatting thread, so I figured I’d buy a shuttle and try it out.



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Next up, more pictures of failed polyester casts.



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Finally, it looks like we’re going to get hit by another hurricane. Our landlord sent over the crew this morning to work on the roof and the windows, and hopefully we’ll be watertight by tomorrow when Ike hits with the rain.

Conway doesn’t like to go out in the rain, and I don’t blame them. Today, there were gas lines at the Kroger going back six cars for sixteen pumps. I thought maybe there could be some people from Texas evacuating, but they all had Arkansas plates.


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polyester resin: FAIL

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

Sure this is a craft blog, but there is a fair amount of mad scientist experimentation. Along with craft exploration and experimentation come “learning moments.” Second time pouring polyester resin today. The first time went well, only pouring an ounce. That yielded 6-5 pendants.

This time the four ounce attempt FAILED.



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The first picture was an attempt to embed fresh organic materials. The second picture shows the goo that formed when I set down the cup for a second. The third picture was an attempt to re-center an object.

What changed? Certainly the amount of formula from 1 to 4 ounces. Cursory internet searches also show that once the bottle of resin is opened, it may cure faster when the catalyst is added. From here on out, one ounce at a time.

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granny block blankie

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

New pattern alert! If your name is Erin, stop reading this now and check your mail in a week.

Here is the pattern for the Granny Block Blankie. It was fun to sample the fishnet stitch. A few years ago, I made a blanket for a friend. She came back to me with all of this information about how breathable crochet is, and how all of the research she had read suggested using a handmade holey blanket to cover up babies when going outside.



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The fishnet may be a little too holey, Erin will have to give it the old Pepsi Challenge.

Note: because of the fishnet stitch, this blanket would be inappropriate at my former place of work. Fishnet, even on infants, and even thought it may have been appropriate in the 1980s, is never appropriate in the present. This is especially true if the fishnet stitch is confused with patterned tights under a long skirt.

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granny block blankie

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

While I’ve got some down time, I’ve been able to do so many fun things.

I’ve started on a baby blanket in some of the softest wool I’ve ever found. This summer my mother-in-law, Diana talked about making a baby blanket out of granny squares. I’ve made many baby blankets, but most of them were some variation of a half-double crochet with baby acrylic. The granny square approach was a must try.

Craft-wise granny squares are very portable too. I can take one or to skeins to the bar to watch a game, or to a college reading/slam poetry event. I have a feeling if more people knitted or crocheted in bars in this dry Faulkner county, there would be more bars.



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Maybe I’ll post the pattern when I’m officially done. In the past, I’ve only made yellow/gray/green blankets for babies. Boys tend to get too much blue, and girls tend to get too much pink. This yarn is perfect for this blanket though, and I only have pink and white.

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paraplane/parachuteplane

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Tyrone and I were watching this fly around Conway last night at dinner. We live a block away from the municipal airport and the building next door is in the landing path, so they cut by a few times. Yes, we waved.



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Bonus shot of the tower/moon. You have to click it to see the entire thing.



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crochet keepsakes

Monday, September 8th, 2008

My collection of crocheted keepsakes is very small. This is a hexagon throw in acrylic. Despite the scratchiness, I really love having it around.



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My friend Sarah made these crocheted flowers. She knew about the tradition in my family to keep all of the bows from the bridal shower(s) and then put them all into a bouquet for the wedding rehearsal. These served as the bow on the gift she gave us, and were the center piece of the rehearsal bouquet.



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the corn

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

The sun came back, but we still have quite a few weird smells and standing water. Algae and moss are growing in every pool, even in the streets.



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As the daughter of a football coach and Nebraska native, I tend to take football a little too seriously. I cried last year when Tom Osborne and the 1994 National Championship team ran into the stadium. Listening to the audio broadcast of the games was a tradition while working out on the farm. Through my last 6 years at Rising City, someone always had a radio on the bus to Saturday marching band competitions or volleyball tournaments.

Yesterday after listening to the Nebraska/San Jose St. game, I received a mysterious package in the mail.



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My dad sent me three ears of seed corn for decoration. They used to bring me ears with the husks tied in a bow to hang on my door, even when I lived in the UNL dorms. One year I even gifted the ears to Tori Amos, but as they say in Conan the Barbarian, “that is another story.”

I tied up the husks with a piece of yarn. I’m not sure where to put it as my husband has a warm/cold relationship with the corn.



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Thanks Mom and Dad!

Finally, I’ve got a problem with my sugar snap peas. We’re having some cooler weather, which should be great for them. The bottom old-growth part of the plants are yellowing.



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The internet says to make sure to fertilize, which I did last week, but they’re still yellowing. Any ideas? Obviously they’ve had extra water this week, and less sun. Fertilize more than once every two weeks?

Posted in Iron CRAFT CHALLENGE, tech | Comments Off

rock you like a hurricane

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

It got worse than this. I took the pictures too early.



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That is our little pond. The street is a river, flowing away from the tower. A nearby creek overflowed.

The streets downtown were closed for a bit today. The okra is taking it in the pants. The plants can’t drain fast enough.



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Ty had to move a bunch of his books. The wall behind his bookcase sprung another leak. It really upset him, but while I was washing dishes, he started singing SCORPIONS, “Rock You Like a Hurricane.”

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