zoope is good food

Cool Find In My Own Backyard

2010-11-16T13:03:00.006-06:00

I live up in the outskirts of the Chicago Burbs... much closer to Wisconsin than the city. It isn't an area known for being a mecca of handmade goods, but I was thrilled to recently find out about a little shop just 15 minutes from home (through a mama in my local mom's group) that offers a bunch of tie-dyed clothing, hand-stitched upcycled tee pillows, glass marble magnets and push-pins, upcycled wool bags and fingerless gloves made from sweaters, hemp jewelry, and so on. How wonderful to find a kindred spirit so close to home in this cool little shop.

I neglected to get the owner's name, but we did talk dyeing for awhile and a little about thrifting too (there's a little room in the back of vintage and thrifted goods, which is also right up my alley). They don't have an online presence at all yet, but if you happen to be up in the McHenry, Illinois area, be sure to check the shop out. It's called Peace Offerings and is located on Main Street in downtown McHenry, between Route 31 and Crystal Lake Road just a block south of Route 120.

Next time I go back I should ask if I could take some pictures to share.

Thursday Things

2010-11-11T10:54:00.007-06:00

it's stocking day at http://hyenacart.com/LilyPadLanding/ this afternoon at 3pm. i squeaked out a few skeins of yarn... one inspired by wine (i had a glass while dyeing after all) and one by fiery fall colors. my camera is not picking up the variety of tone in the second one but this is the best shot i got of the 100 i must have taken on every background imaginable. sometimes you just have to see it in person. *sigh*

anyway, enjoy some pictures! first up is "A Little Wine" on licorice twist, then "Fall For Me" on merino/nylon fingering, and finally a grid of many of the lovely items we have stocking or already instock at lily pad landing.

this catch-all post needs more pictures!

2010-11-07T19:39:00.006-06:00

my next stocking is coming up on tuesday at fresh. our theme is elation. inspiration struck a little late for me on this one, but things are in the works. watch for a possible newborn remix, a new design, and some others in sizes and colors people might have been looking for.

no pictures to share yet but i'll try to get some up tomorrow. maybe. if i'm not too busy scrambling to get listings done still.

on the horizon is a lily pad landing stocking on thursday and continuing work on the yarn lovers unite order. busy times, especially since i need to pack all my dyes and pots away for the weekend for hosting the kiddos' joint family birthday party with 20-some people on sunday. my kitchen is going to look naked without dye jars, bins and pots on every flat surface. the zen will only last a few days before it all gets pulled back out and looks all cluttered in here again.

also watch for a charity listing for a YPS/color Heartfeet tee on the Family Pendragon cart on HC, and a few things might pop up at etsy in the next few weeks. Plus I have a set up nice fall napkins offered as part of a giveaway (pictured above) that will be on the Etsy HC Street Team blog within the next few days, as well as a few things planned for K and F Shops' anniversary stocking later this month. :)

Peace, Man

2010-10-26T08:27:00.004-05:00

jasper was supposed to wear tie-dye or something with a peace sign for school today. well he had his heart set on a peace sign, though he had a few tie=dye shirts he could have worn instead. mom to the rescue! here's what i made for him. ignore his expression—it's his "get this over with so i can watch netflix before i have to leave for school" look. well at least he didn't say it and was probably just thinking it, right? that's peaceful.

today at the pond

2010-10-21T09:39:00.007-05:00

it's stocking day at Lily Pad Landing and i have several tees, a few sets of cloth napkins, and several colorways up for grabs. the other vendors outdid themselves with many gorgeous offerings as well. just take a look at some of what we have stocking... it all goes live at 3pm eastern. enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T17:38:00.004-05:00

since i posted it elsewhere, might as well dust this blog off and post it here too, even though it's not wordless here :) yarn by alfabette zoope, beautifully knit by nana's woolies

pitiful

2010-04-29T02:32:00.004-05:00

once again i haven't updated and have missed several stockings. just had a few collabs sell today with wild child woolies. angela rocks. go to http://hyenacart.com/WildChildWoolies/ to check out the other things instock. if i had a wee one still i'd be all about these two listings in particular... love love love!

and later today i have 4 shirts stocking at comfort wool's knit night! 9pm eastern... be there! http://hyenacart.com/ComfortWool/

and then finally i will have 2 things stocking on may 1st at http://hyenacart.com/TadpolesNButterflies/ for their 8 year anniversary (wow!). No pics yet... still wrapping things up but I will say that one is a super collab with Brooke of Family Tree Glass and the other will involve trees as well, bringing back a design I did a few years back and always wanted to offer again.

in other news, customs have come to an unintentional standstill again as i'm juggling stockings and a few group orders i was crazy enough to overlap several weeks. if i make it through the next few months without my head exploding or the house from all the mess i leave in my wake, i'll be very thankful! and i'm always thankful for my customers and those writing in about possible customs (which i'm sorry to say i can not take any more on at this point but people are always free to hint at certain designs, sizes of colors they'd love to see stocked at some point). ;) everything is keeping me hopping!

giveaway giveaway, giveaway!

2010-04-03T12:24:00.004-05:00

figured that might get your attention. ;)

i have a cute wee heartfeet knot cap as part of an awesome baby giveaway on the etsy HC street team blog. follow the instructions there how to enter for a chance to win our april promotional package!

in my back pocket...

2010-03-08T13:13:00.005-06:00

fresh is stocking tomorrow with the theme POCKET. take a look! stocking 9am and 9pm eastern tomorrow!

Up! Up!

2010-02-26T11:17:00.006-06:00

Alchemy is stocked up with some lovely items right now. These are the ones still available as of this morning:

And I finally got a few things loaded up on etsy as well:

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
wordgirl.etsy.com

Go forth and shop on this lovely Friday! :)

wake the dead

2010-02-23T01:35:00.004-06:00

it's time to revive this blog. hopefully. big, exciting stuff happening this year and once i get into a good groove, i think it will all be tons of fun. while i'm still finding that groove, well... i'm feeling a little bit crazed. i'm working on it.

tomorrow i will be submitting an application to be a vendor at my first show. and what an awesome show it is! midwest fiber and folk was held the last 3 years just one town away from me and i've gone each time to lose myself in fibery goodness as a customer or student. this year it is being held a bit further away in grayslake, illinois -- but still within easy driving distance. cross your fingers for me i get in. if i do, i'll be sharing a booth with the amazing jen of starving artist bazaar. we've been friends since college and it's so neat that we share a love for making and selling handmade goodies over a decade later. oh heck 15 years now? i shouldn't have actually done the math.

also coming up this week will be a stocking at alchemy. we're doing a cool "spring cleaning and greening" theme -- which means there will not only be some new green goods there, but some deals on some things certain vendors have sitting around waiting for the perfect home to go to! i should have at least one HC$ auction, some discounted prices, and a few new, regular-priced items as well.

and finally, i am going to finally revive my etsy shop! it's been sorely neglected for too long and i have several things waiting to go up there hopefully later this week. keep an eye out for those!

WANT! back to school collection

2009-08-20T09:42:00.005-05:00

so the kids head back to school next week. jasper is starting kindergarten and millie is in preschool again. teachers all around seem great, kids opinions go from excitement (dd) to annoyance (ds) at summer almost being over. and i'm completely overwhelmed with paperwork, appointments to get required exams done (dental and eye... i procrastinated), orientations, open houses, etc etc etc.

so to take my mind of the less than fun parts about heading back to school, here's my dream shopping list for things for the kids (and maybe a little something for me) to get them ready for the coming months!

for ds, i love this pirate raglan! i think it's cute, he'd probably think it was cool enough to wear to school (even though it doesn't have cars or monster trucks on it), and it would be a nice break from his usual mostly-solid navy blue or red.

love this handknit tunic top for dd also. i'm not sure dd would go for it (it's not pink or purple enough, plus it's knit) but i think she would look absolutely adorable in it!

and another dress for my girliegirl. this mama has a few styles available and they're all adorable! perfect for school while still great for being active. love these.

and for ds, who has been wearing this style of unders since he first showed any sign of potty-learning at age 2... love the prints, love the fit, he has never had a single complaint about any of the 3000 pairs he has (okay not really, but he has far more of these than storebought underwear, that's for sure).

and then perhaps a little something something for me. you know, as a reward for all the shopping and running around and all that i've needed to do. i deserve something new too, right? i have a collection of maybe 8-10 necklaces from jen already, but not in red. beautiful!

explorations

2009-07-09T01:11:00.003-05:00

fresh is stocking july 9th at 9am and 9pm. our theme this month is EXPLORE! i mostly explored customs leading up to this stocking, but did manage to pull together a few listings...

plus a cool scrap yarn collab with scarlet at huckleberry knits and diane at bugsnugger (my part is the last pic)...

there's tons of other gorgeous stuff available as well. http://hyenacart.com/fresh

~ WANT ~

2009-07-01T17:19:00.009-05:00

i'm on the wagon. this ain't about booze but buying handmade. i have bought, i have enjoyed, i am now needing to stop spending because times are tight -- hence being on the wagon. so instead of buying all the lovely things i find i'm going to list some of them here on my blog in hopes that i will turn someone onto something new or someone will buy them and love them as i would! this batch is all for me, but no doubt i'll share some goodies i'd love to get for the kids or other people i know and love soon.

bloom studios ~ http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26096172
just found this shop today after spying a few things on flickr and OH MY. i will be watching this shop and awaiting a time i can treat myself to something!

motherhues (at necessitae) ~ http://hyenacart.com/prod_details.php?id=45848&vid=341
i think she made the enchanted vanilla just for me. okay maybe not, but OH MY is that so calling to me!

laines magnifiques ~ http://lainesmagnifiques.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_16&products_id=30
sock yarn. yes i would love more, and laines magnifiques yarns have been speaking to me soooooo sweetly lately!

blossom shop ~ http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22737177
this caught my eye from the moment i saw it on flickr and still haunts me now! beautiful combination of elements.

pisces knits (at tiny lady cooperative) ~ http://hyenacart.com/prod_details.php?id=67331&vid=1253
have tons of sockyarn and my feet want spoiling... need someone to knit socks for me since i don't knit enough to say i can knit (i know, it's a sad state of affairs).

la black ~ http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24120725
totally my colors, lots of compartments and looks sturdy to handle all the cr*p i seem to end up carrying around in my purse!

just a little busy

2009-05-21T18:02:00.003-05:00

this is the spread from the past week or so of very late nights getting ready for the ALCHEMY grand opening today. i'm thrilled with how almost everything came out. a few things sold and there's still tons available, not to mention some really awesome stuff from the other ladies stocking at Alchemy!

i also have some yarn going on sale tomorrow at Baby Bean Design's big fiber fest on her HC. more lovely goodies from tons of great fiber and other artisans! be sure to stop by there too for lots of temptation!

this is all kinds of awesome

2009-05-14T16:14:00.004-05:00

a kid-safe way to batik! okay, so it's not the only way (washable glue also works wonders), but i'd never have thought of using flour as a batik resist. one part baking, one part letting one's creativity run wild with a squirt bottle (or if i'm smart, 2 squirt bottles so the kids don't have to share). guaranteed to satisfy both of my kids with at least part of the process. anyway, just had to share and we will be trying this out sometime this summer when things can dry outside to give us quicker results not to mention keep most of the mess out there as well.

http://craftblog.com.au/2008/07/28/tutorial-review-flour-paste-batik/

stocked!

2009-04-24T02:40:00.002-05:00

yep that's right, i actually put a few things on etsy! so a few of them were already on hc, but not all of 'em. wacky to go for a whole month without other hc stockings to worry about, i actually had a little time to do some extras. check it out @ alfabette zoope on etsy!

once again

2009-04-07T16:45:00.007-05:00

i've been pitifully horrible about updating my blog! but that's good right, means i've been busy? yeah i'll say that's why. actually it has been the germiest yuckiest winter i can remember ever, and one cold or virus sort of has blurred into the next for far too many weeks (thanks no doubt to my 3yo walking petri dish bringing home lots of stuff from preschool).

but... things have been getting done, slowly but surely. customs are moving along steadily (albeit slowly) and i have been keeping up with stocking 1-2x a month. even more instock coming up, with some guest stockings in april and may at various really cool shops. plus, ALCHEMY is opening in mid-to-late may, exact date to be announced. this is a new congo i am really excited to be part of, made up of several congos that are combining efforts plus a few other select vendors! the range of talent, skills, experience and rockin' products in this group is amazing. so watch for news about that coming up several weeks from now!

here's some pretty pictures of some of the recent things i've stocked, and watch for more coming very soon to http://hyenacart.com/fresh for our HUMOR stocking on april 9th, 9am and 9pm eastern!

somebody's watching me

2009-03-02T00:20:00.006-06:00

the scene under my light tent the other night --

yes it kind of looks like a farm around here with all the creature shirts i'm working on or recently finished! lol. i just found it funny (and a wee bit creepy at one in the morning) when i looked over and saw all those shirts staring back.

here's some less creepy stuff... a few customs that are in-progress of have just been wrapped up...

my next stocking is tomorrow, actually -- a guest slot for the grand opening of shadow's rockin' store on hyenacart, felt fusion! i join a bunch of other cool guests plus of course shadow's beautiful felted goodies. it's going to be a great stocking, check it out at 3pm eastern. hyenacart.com/feltfusion

and then we have our next stocking at fresh on march 9th at 9am and 9pm as usual. the theme this time is GROWTH and i'll have a bunch of springy and other shirts and yarns, maybe even a set or two, plus an awesome collab with diane of bugsnugger! more info and maybe sneak peeks coming soon...

i've been terrible

2009-02-13T07:58:00.004-06:00

about updating my blog! a few more stockings have passed since i last managed to get over here and post. i've been doing a lot of instock and some customs... things are moving, but slowly. winter illnesses are kicking my butt this year -- millie brings them home from preschool and i seem to pick up every other one from her, probably because i never get enough sleep.

anyway, i'll just show off some pretties that are still instock either at the leaf shoppe or fresh. enjoy!

beautiful collab with steph at aliah's creations, instock at the leaf shoppe

little stinker tees, still instock at fresh

zoope lifecycle

2009-01-17T00:34:00.006-06:00

what started as yarn i dyed, destined for longies for my daughter...

became gorgeous capris (turns out there wasn't enough yarn for longies, oops) worked up by joline at hibiscus baby...

that were worn by my girliegirl, millie...

then she potty-learned.

and then inspiration struck and they became part of a sweet little remix set that sold recently at http://hyenacart.com/fresh/...

and who knows, maybe i'll be able to add a customer photo someday too. and hopefully the capris will be loved as much as they were here, and turned over to the next little girl to love on them, and then the next...

in other news, i'm excited about being one of plumknit's featured indie dyers, with four of my colorways on oh-so-yummy cashmere and cashmere blends stocking this coming tuesday. previews should be up in the next few days at http://hyenacart.com/plumknityarnsupply/index.php?c=63 but till then, here's a peek at the goods. :)

always late to the party

2008-12-21T11:22:00.012-06:00

it's been almost a month since i managed to update here. it's been crazy busy... finishing up a big group order, a few customs/trades in time for christmas, a stocking on the 5th and another on the 9th, plus jasper turned five, holiday shopping, preparing to host christmas day (which has now been changed to the 1st, so i get a little breather), playgroup at the house, new carpeting, etc. i'm a little burnt out from this month and we still have to get through christmas part one (parents house) and part two (out of state at inlaws). add to it a few winter storms... egads. spring cannot come too soon.

anyway, here's a little of what i've done in the past month or so!

next up is our INSPIRE stocking at fresh on january 9th at 9am and 9pm eastern and another stocking either at the leaf shoppe or perhaps somewhere else with some of the same great group as our december 5th stocking. *wink*

i know

2008-11-22T22:59:00.004-06:00

i've totally been holding out on updating the blog and my flickr. i've been very busy though, have no doubt! here's a peek at the past several weeks of work. not all of it, but most... the bulk is for a group order, with a few bits of customs and instock thrown in the mix.

our family just grew

2008-11-03T09:22:00.005-06:00

well after a year and a half without a pet after our dog, barney passed, we just adopted two young lab/terrier (lab/border collie?) mixes this past weekend. so i now have a dog-friendly household again and need to update my "about me" on the congos to mention them. they are confined to the family room, kitchen and laundry room currently so they will not be around where i store yarns/shirts or package orders up to ship. hopefully this will minimize any dog hair or issues for people with possible sensitivity to dogs.

introducing jet on the left and roxy on the right in both pictures.

i've been so bad about updating here but i have been busy working on a group order and customs, with just a little bit of instock on the side. my next stocking is november 9th at fresh when we celebrate our decadence theme. pictures hopefully later this week to show off a little of what's in store for instock and also some progress on the group order!

been too long

2008-10-15T12:51:00.004-05:00

things are still moving along here, just haven't taken the time to post. working on wrapping up a few customs (brandi and janet) and preparing to start the next batch. also jumping into batiking for a group order and more instock for the leaf shoppe this friday. here's a few things that i wrapped up this week so far. more coming in a few days.

also still have this cute yarn/tee set available at fresh. i just love this, and it's hard to capture the colors but the neutral beige/browns with the hint of celery green is just so neat. hopefully someone else agrees and will snatch it up soon!

getting stuff done

2008-10-02T22:40:00.009-05:00

it's been a good week for getting customs and some instock knocked out... not that it hasn't been without its hiccups but overall good stuff going on. i'll just show you the pretties because it's late, i'm tired, and i need to batik a few things up before i totally crash for the night (sick kid home today so didn't accomplish anything as planned).

first up, some customs in the works and just wrapped up...

the shirt on that last one has actually been overdyed so this is the updated photo now -- so much happier with the green now!

and then some instock coming up for my guestslot this coming sunday at artiste...

and of course there's still more in the works for sunday as well, and soon to follow -- our next fresh stocking is a week from today on october 9th! more on that coming hopefully in the next several days. :)

green is keen

2008-09-22T20:56:00.007-05:00

it's been a green sort of week around here. no coincidence that green is my favorite color, so i end up doing a lot of it. here are a few recently-completed green customs and future instock goodies.

coming up

2008-09-13T09:20:00.008-05:00

lots of collabs and things coming up soon for zoope. some you'll have to wait a bit to hear about but these ones are zooming up fast!

True Colors http://hyenacart.com/truecolors/
this is a great charity event coming in late september organized by Lori of beneath the rowan tree. i took part in the first event several months back and will be doing so again, this time donating all the proceeds of my auction to one of the Girl Effect causes. i will be offering an 18-24mo batiked shirt if all goes well in the next 24 hours (pics once it's ready!).

Mama Stone's Third Birthday http://hyenacart.com/MamaStoneCreations
also coming up in late september is mama stone's birthday bash! i dyed up some fallish yarn inspired by the color of crisp fall leaves with natural plant extracts on some lovely organic merino that ashley will be offering as a semi-custom slot. i love the muted, earthy colors i get with plant-extracted dyes (many from plants in my own yard) and this one is no different.

Kukae & Mimi's First Birthday http://hyenacart.com/kukaeandmimi/
soon after, in october will be kim's one year birthday bash for her business, kukae & mimi. we'll be offering up a diaper/batiked shirt collab with a dinosaur theme. it's going to be a cute one so check back here for a sneak peek in the next few weeks!

i'll also be plugging away on custom orders again, now that i've made it through the grand opening of our new congo, fresh. next stocking at fresh will be october 9th at 9am and 9pm with the theme of CRISP -- watch for lots of fall and winter-inspired goodies, and plenty of other inspirations as well! before then, i'll also be stocking at the leaf shoppe late in september if all goes well, and as a guest at artiste in early october.

four days!

2008-09-05T08:16:00.003-05:00

only 4 more days till our new super-duper congo opens on hyenacart! fresh is made up of a group of us who have mostly worked together before (plus a few new peeps who fit right in) and we decided to start up something new that's a little bit different than the typical theme-based congo there. previews are due to start popping up this sunday, and then we stock tuesday at 9am and 9pm eastern. come check it out, i know it's going to be a great launch!

are you on the bus?

2008-08-20T13:38:00.007-05:00

i have new instock going up tomorrow evening at the leaf shoppe! our theme is going back to school, but we called it "On The Bus" so i went off on a different tangent for a few things. ;) here are the sneak peeks, click on them for full details. i really love how the sharp-dressed kid set turned out and wish i had time to do yarn for the apple one but alas -- tonight we are packing because tomorrow we hit the road for pennsylvania! eek, i'm so unprepared!

my very most favorite custom ever

2008-08-13T00:09:00.003-05:00

i am just in love with this shirt and have decided i must make one for dd. maybe one for me, if i could find a shirt style that would both flatter me and not make doing this a big pain. but just lookie, i love when the picture in my head comes out in color so well!

a few pretties

2008-08-09T21:25:00.008-05:00

wrapped up a few things in the past week or so, with more to come. here's the stuff that's DONE, or at least mostly except for an overdye on the elephant shirt because my brown came out too red (grrrrrrr). some are customs, and the flamingo pear shirt is instock at All "4" Kids as part of Brandi's awesome crazy 8s birthday celebration! have you seen her new felt food, btw? that stuff rocks!!!

so i'm still slogging through my customs list at a snail's pace it seems. summer has been much busier with stuff than i anticipated (what was i thinking?)... since we haven't been hanging around the house nearly as much as i expected, of course i haven't been around to do nearly as much as i expected. i should probably add a disclaimer that i'm horrible at estimating time in the first place (need to learn to at least double my guesses), so between that and being busy i'm sure people feel like they've been waiting forever! but just look at some of the fun the kids have been having... i'd say it's all worth it. while i'm sorry i've kept people waiting so long for some customs, i have to remember i'm a mom first and keeping my kiddos happy and busy with fun stuff matters a bunch. it's been a good summer, and while i'm looking forward to them both starting preschool in a few weeks (just parttime) and things starting to cool down a bit before too long now, i think i'm really going to miss all the running around for fun in the sun we've been doing lately!

my new obsession

2008-07-24T19:30:00.003-05:00

the midwest fiber and folk fest was last weekend in the next town over last weekend and i found my new obsession there -- natural dyes! i took an all-day workshop on saturday and it was a blast. i learned a lot and got to play with yarn -- doesn't get much better. on lunchbreak from the class i also got to meet up with the amazingly talented kim of kimberly r and we talked shop a little bit while walking around and checked out a few of the vendors. then i had to rush back to class -- so much for food or shopping. oh well, it was worth it.

here's a pic of the miniskeins we made in the class. dyes used were from madder root, indigo, bee balm, marigolds, golden margarite, queen anne's lace, and weld. i think that's it, but it was tons. one thing about natural dyes -- if you're gathering and extracting your own dye, it's a labor-intense process. even if you're just using the powdered dye from a commerical source, it's still quite a job. but the results are just beautiful! see for yourself...

and while we're talking yarn, here's a peek of several things planned to stock on august 1st when i'm guesting at lemon tree lane. still working on the yarn for that last one, and still might pull of one more set if i can, but if not it will be these three.

post-stocking update

2008-07-18T09:09:00.004-05:00

so i didn't get over here to post before i stocked the other day, but these goodies went up at the leaf shoppe and there are still a few things left! ;)

in the works

2008-07-09T13:57:00.003-05:00

just a peek at stuff that is in the works this week. some is for customs, some is for instock for next wednesday at the leaf shoppe, and some is for my guest stocking at lemon tree lane coming up august 1st.

a big phew!

2008-06-26T23:44:00.003-05:00

just wrapped up a custom that had me pretty much shaking in my boots when the customer first floated the idea. she wondered if i could do something with a metamorphosis theme. in batik. plus paint. hmmmm. but i managed it and am pretty darn happy with the results, save for a little paint that went beyond its bounds in a place or two. nothing horrific, just not quite perfect. anyway, without further ado, the pic --

also wrapped up these other custom shirts --

in other words, it's been a pretty good week. now i just need to keep the momentum going and knock out customs for a few other people that have been waiting oh-so-patiently even though i started several weeks ago, before vacation...

next week

2008-06-21T09:56:00.007-05:00

i have lots of customs to wrap up. here's a pic of some in-progress shirts, and then there are several more i need to draw and wax up as well. and yarn! i will hopefully get back on the yarn wagon and dye up some pretties soon! i bought some new racks that i think will help out my process and fix some of the bleeding problems i was having on occasion with the old ones... fingers crossed!

and for even prettier pictures, here's thumbnails of the shirts i stocked at the leaf shoppe last night! sort of a low key stocking as i was the only person to get anything up in time... but so it goes.

so i thought i was in a yarn mood...

2008-06-19T00:58:00.002-05:00

but turns out i'm actually more in a batiking mood. i got started on a few shirts last night and before i knew it it was 3am. so i promised myself i'd not stay up that late tonight but just try to finish those shirts for friday's stocking instead of all the yarn like i had planned. i might just offer a yarn option for the shirts... that would work. or i might squeak in some during the day tomorrow, but with the kids in the mood they've been in lately it's all i can do to get meals prepared before they're at each others' throats. i don't recall my brother and i being like this when we were 4 and 2 but my kids just antagonize each other. so. darn. much. constantly!

anyway back to zoope -- i haven't even taken in-progress pics because 2 shirts are in the wash at this very moment and 2 more have been painted with dye and will get their second wax application once that dye dries. i guess i should take pics of them, but i want them to be a surprise. if they turn out like the picture in my head i think they're going to be really really cute!

vacation was good

2008-06-15T08:49:00.005-05:00

we're officially done with our almost weeklong vacation... only 20 miles from home but it's still nice to get away! the weather was decent -- lots of rain but thankfully most of it was during naptime, the evenings or overnight. the kids had a ball swimming in the pool (or i should say, being carried in the pool by me or dh), going to garage sales, hiking on the new walking trail across from the condos, eating out *far* too much, and just generally being on vacation-behavior for the week.

i'll be really glad to get home and sleep in my own bed again. and to get back to work -- i had to convince myself to not drag dyes and yarn up here because i have the dyeing bug. so hopefully this will translate into tons of progress this week on instock and customs. my next stocking will be on the 20th at the leaf shoppe. look for yarn and shirts and maybe an hc$ auction as well!

no pretty pics from vacation yet but i'll try to add some once i get them off the camera. instead here's a few shirts i worked up before we left for collabs with kim at kukae & mimi stocking at universal mama this monday!

things that are unfair

2008-06-04T11:32:00.003-05:00

1. it is summer and i have a headcold!
2. the kids both have colds too, though i don't think they have a killer sinus headache like i do right now!
3. dh brought the cold home, i figure he should have to deal with snotty kids all day long instead of me
4. and it's finally warm enough to swim but it's been too rainy to do so this week!

on the plus side, sick kids makes for longer naps, and gives me an excuse/chance to take them too!

my gallbladder and i are not on speaking terms today

2008-05-27T15:23:00.004-05:00

because it attacked me last night. actually started in the afternoon after a cup of water. wtf? of course it was probably the lunch at culvers after a weekend of too much food and dessert that is the real culprit, but i've never known drinking water to be the thing to set it off. that's definitely a first for me.

anyway, this mean ole gallbladder of mine -- the one that i've been nice enough to not have cut out mercilessly by a surgeon going on 5 years now after its first sneak-attack on me just a month to the day after ds was born -- decided the holiday weekend was a wonderful time to surprise me and make me miserable all evening, all night long, and even through this morning. despite still tasting my lunch (really it was fine going down but after that i'm done, okay?!) i tried giving it some chamomile tea first but couldn't get more than a sip into me before the nausea told me that just wasn't going to work. so onto a mini-flush like i've been doing for years with olive oil and orange juice. that usually does the trick within a few hours, but not last night. still i could taste lunch, now mingled with the not-quite-orange-juicy-oily taste. big ew. trust me, if it didn't work i would never do that again. but it usually does right my system after a few hours, so i endure it. when it doesn't work, though -- oh boy. them's fighting words!

so needless to say, i am not talking to my gallbladder right now, though i did send a peace offering of a very bland piece of bread a few hours ago to see what it would say. no word yet, sigh. i'm not quite sure it's done with me yet.

pluggin' away

2008-05-24T01:15:00.005-05:00

i'm still here and plugging away on customs alongside instock. i have 2 stockings this coming sunday night with just a few things planned for each. yarn and a shirt for one, not positive about the other yet but probably a shirt or two. here's one squishy skein called "earthside" from this week that might make an appearance at either the leaf shoppe or the tree of life sunday, as well as a few custom yarns ("great outdoors" on targhee and "beach pebbles" on cestari superfine? or fine? merino) and a shirt that will be auctioned off beginning on memorial day at kukae & mimi to support the "united by reading" program. i'm more than a bit smitten by the whole kawaii-style animal thing right now, they're so cute and fun to do... i have a panda design waiting in the wings when i get around to batiking that one up too! and i need to get going on a custom kawaii kitty for someone over the pond as well. (soon, very soon!)

funk

2008-05-18T23:24:00.004-05:00

no this isn't about my love for funk music, though i do enjoy a good groove from time to time. alas, this is just to admit to the masses that i have been in a world-class funk this past week and have gotten next to nothing done. a few things started for instock, a little bit of custom work... but not nearly as much as i should and could have gotten done if not for this awful mood that's pretty much sucked the energy right out of me. gah!

i'm vowing to make this coming week count, though, so i should have lots of new pictures and in-progress peeks very soon. i need to get my groove back, baby!

oh how i've neglected you

2008-05-05T19:34:00.004-05:00

yeah it's been awhile since my last update. or at least it feels like awhile because i've stocked a few times since last i updated! so here's a look at all that (still a few things left *wink wink*).

of course preparing for all this instock has me playing catchup on customs again. i know, collective sigh. i'm back at it now though, and things should start moving at a decent pace again this month. i'll also be taking part in beneath the rowan tree's birthday bash in a few weeks (i'll be on the "blue" day) and also a great charity event organized and being hosted by kim at kukae and mimi. oh, and i also have a shirt up for a really cool "baby shower" taking place at growing up mad later this week!

that's all the news here. need to get the boy some juice in a moment so he stops asking for it, set millie up with some markers and paper to keep her occupied awhile, and start putting some color to some yarn!

yarny love

2008-04-26T23:02:00.005-05:00

just a little bit of yarny love eye candy since i haven't posted in awhile. the first two are headed to canada for a yarn/knitting swap and the last one is waiting for some love over at the leaf shoppe right now!

stocking tonite

2008-04-16T13:54:00.003-05:00

have several yarns and one tee with option for yarn going up tonite. lots of reds in the yarns this time... basically because i've been trying and botching the same custom yarn and so i made use of them in other ways. i actually love how they turned out -- serendipity i guess! all going live at 8pm EST at wonderful world tonite!

more progress

2008-04-13T18:57:00.005-05:00

just had to share the latest bunch of stuff -- all of it headed out the door tomorrow except for a piece or two. i'm still way behind on customs and still have a lot to wrap up in the next week but it feels good to be able to get these out at last!

here's 4 shirts all headed to the same family that has been waiting so patiently for them!

and a custom "extended remix" for a new little guy born a week ago

a custom shirt for a little girl coming up on her first birthday very soon now

a long-overdue jolly roger babydoll top

and finally a custom-gone-wrong that's going to be instock in a few days at wonderful world

things are starting

2008-04-11T10:22:00.005-05:00

...to get done again. finally. feeling a bit more human now that my head isn't filled with as much goo as a few days ago and i'm not hacking up my lungs more than once an hour or so instead of every 5 minutes. big improvement. and now lots of catching up to do. here's a few things i managed to complete or nearly complete in the past few days, with more on its way soon.

yarn to match the kawaii kitty dress

last 2 shirts of a 4-shirt custom (these are still getting a little tweaking but are almost ready!)

which go along with these other 2 shirts i finished a few weeks back

a custom remix (this shirt still getting tweaked a bit)... 2nd shirt coming soon

and then finally these were wrapped up last week just before i got sick

no drugs for me

2008-04-09T00:27:00.003-05:00

so the doc today was fine. but i left disappointed because she didn't prescribe me anything. yeah i know, it's just a cold (apparently) -- but it's hard to break away from the ole "give me a pill to fix this" mentality when one feels this crummy! so it's nasal washes and lots more herbal tea it is for me, and i'm hoping i feel more human in the next few days because each day a symptom takes a turn and being the most annoying -- sunday it was coughing, monday the sore throat, today the horrible sinus headache i just couldn't shake all day... hmm, what will it be tomorrow?

i've been doing a few shirts each night but getting to bed by 1ish. still later than i should be up but it's been hard getting millie down before 10:30-11pm because of the long afternoon naps she's been taking, so i'm getting such a late start! maybe i'll snap a few pics tomorrow of the in-progress stuff. or maybe i'll use that time for a nap instead!

i hope this is the last time you guys have to read my whining for a long time! with no pretty pictures even!

miserably horribly

2008-04-07T02:01:00.003-05:00

sick again! and whatever it is, i can feel it settling into my chest tonight. doc tuesday -- actually for the kids and it was supposed to just be a checkup for the sake of having up-to-date paperwork for daycare and preschool... but now that we're all sick i gather that's going to be the focus. kids have this nastiness too... millie for over a week now, the poor girl! and jasper has just not been himself the last several days and has had the nose yuckies and coughing jags since wednesday i'm guessing. any day he goes to bed without asking for more time to play you know he has or is fighting something and he was like that tonight and friday night both. :(

so, what does this all translate into? more delays on customs (eek), fewer late late nights because i can't pull it off as much right now, and possibly i'll be prescribed drugs in the near future. oddly i'm excited about the prospect of the drugs right now, because i'm already ready for this yuck to go away and i only came down with it in earnest friday afternoon (on my birthday -- how cruel is that).

stuff that needs to go out or be worked on this week, though -- peter's cd artwork (in progress), carina's yarn(s) and shirt, jenni's shirts (in progress), stacey's set (in progress), leanne's shirt (in progress), yarn and shirt for an upcoming collab with teababies, and the plumknit charity set i'm doing with fluff & stuff. and there's probably more but that's what i'm thinking of right now.

wish me luck!

a little over 24 hours from now

2008-03-31T15:50:00.005-05:00

and all these sneak peeks will be full and complete listings, lol. i'm running so far behind due to illness (dd and dh), botching several shirts for various stupid and unusual reasons, and just because i always am. i don't know if i'd know what to do with myself if i truly got all my work done days in advance! okay, i'd work on customs... that's true... but i'm always working on customs so that's nothing new!

anyway, a few more sneak peeks for tomorrow's stocking at wonderful world...

peeky peeky

2008-03-27T20:32:00.002-05:00

a little of what i've wrapped up or have been working on this week for your viewing pleasure...

i love it when...

2008-03-25T21:23:00.003-05:00

the picture in my head comes out on the yarn or shirt just right! i'm so pleased with how the yarn turned out to match this instock shirt that sold last week, and know the new owner is going to do beautiful things with it! :)

lots of done, doing and to-do!

2008-03-23T08:49:00.003-05:00

i'm so late getting this blog updated, argh! had a few stockings this past week -- at the leaf shoppe on wednesday i offered the following goodies (a few things still available ;) ):

and my personal favorite that was a rockin' collab with lisa at winsome what-nots:

and then i also stocked a collab with diane at bugsnugger for her re-grand opening this past friday evening!

and besides all that i've been working on customs bit by bit, with grand hopes to wrap up 2-3 orders tonight and tomorrow and then move onto the next group. a few orders are for ladies due to give birth early in april so i *really* need to get those knocked out in the next few days for sure! they're first on the list so shouldn't be a problem.

next stocking is april 2nd at wonderful world. and i finally dove in and listed my first item at etsy -- just something that hasn't found a buyer on hyenacart so i figured why not. i'm going to try to get more up there this week.

note to self

2008-03-19T17:31:00.002-05:00

i don't know what possessed me to schedule 2 stockings on the same week (a mere 3 days apart), during and right after a weekend out of town, but i did! note to self: don't do that again!

order up!

2008-03-15T17:10:00.005-05:00

the next batch of instock is ready to go for our stocking this sunday at wonderful world! did a little bit of more boyish stuff to balance out the girlie yarn still instock from last sunday. here's a peek... everything goes live at 8pm eastern.

and finally here's a custom order for a young customer that is now on its way to him! i like how both of these turned out and hope he does (and his mama) too!

up too late to be articulate

2008-03-13T11:43:00.002-05:00

it feels like i didn't get much done last night but i was sure up late enough... so i'll just let you look at the latest collage of what's in the works. oh, there's a funny little birdie shirt in the works too -- i missed that when i was taking pics in my workroom (aka dining room). enjoy!

surprise... um, sorta!

2008-03-09T20:43:00.005-05:00

okay so it didn't turn out to be *that* much of a surprise but managed to put together a few things i like and one that... well, let's just say it's labeled as a second. i think it will actually knit up kinda neat... it's just waiting for the right person to see that. ;) anyway, these listings are now available at wonderful world.

is it spring yet?

2008-03-05T09:49:00.009-06:00

i'm done with winter, snow, ice, and especially illness! i am down and out with an awful headcold, this thing is kicking my rear! add to it not getting enough sleep and the kids having cabin fever and it's making me incredibly cranky. i've gotten nothing done the past few nights on instock or customs. blegh. my parents are pushing for me to see a doc but c'mon -- it's a virus. everyone has it or something like it in the area, we're all just passing it back and forth when we go out and about because we're so sick of being stuck inside with restless kiddos! the doc is going to say drink lots, take your supplements, use the neti pot, maybe recommend this xclear stuff i keep hearing about (it's on my list to try to track down some on thursday when the kids are in daycare) and come back if you still feel this crummy in a week. it's not worth a 45 minute drive each way for them to tell me that. probably do myself more good sleeping that time, lol.

the cherry blossom shirt at right is for an upcoming collab with julie of selah for their one year anniversary stocking. i can hardly wait to see how it looks paired with some of her amazing yarn. would it be horribly silly of me to stalk a listing i'm part of? not that i need more yarn... but i might NEED the yarn, kwim? it makes me think of spring and remember that in just a month, well maybe more like two, the winter coats will be put away and spring flowers will be sprouting and blooming. sigh. oh to fast forward even a few weeks!!!

seussical!

2008-03-01T23:14:00.002-06:00

we're stocking tomorrow at wonderful world and the theme is dr. seuss! here's a peek at my purdies for the day. everything stocks at 8pm eastern. just in case you were wondering. ;)

wip mosaic

2008-02-26T19:39:00.005-06:00

a few works-in-progress this week for your viewing pleasure. :)

4 jolly rogers and some wheat

2008-02-17T10:12:00.004-06:00

i guess i should call this something else since i don't have pics of any of these yet, but oh well. i've been working on customs alongside the instock that went live last night at wonderful world and in the past 48 hours have batiked no less than 4 jolly roger shirts! 3 black, 1 blue. the 3 blacks are in the dyebath now and the blue is boiling on the stove. next up is winter wheat for another custom, and a little something for a friend's new babe... theme still tbd on that one but it's going to be girlie!

here's pics of the rest of what i stocked last night, since i never did get some of the listings up till midday yesterday (talk about last minute...)

my next stocking will be march 2nd at wonderful world again. we're doing a great themed stocking -- all things inspired by dr. seuss! i think it's going to be a blast. oh, and i might possibly put up some sock yarn for happy mama day on the 29th of this month, i actually have a skein of 80/20 sock yarn (cashmere, baby!) dyed up in my beach pebbles colorway but it fell into a mass of tangles... if i can find the time to untangle that rat's nest, watch for it on the 29th!

good stuff in the works

2008-02-14T17:43:00.005-06:00

so i'm finally getting back on track with customs this week. i have 1 shirt done, 2 batiked up, one instock shirt for saturday at wonderful world on its first dye round, and 2 more shirts waiting for me tonite. and some yarn soaking for instock also. now all i need is good dyeing vibes to wrap these all up! pics/previews forthcoming, probably tomorrow!

okay, one teaser pic only tonite, as everything else is still drying or in need of better pictures. but i ***love*** how this set turned out. i'm putting it up for auction (i think) at 8pm eastern on the 16th at wonderful world along with several other things.

this picture makes me very happy

2008-02-11T14:58:00.000-06:00

most of this was dyed sunday, except a few things done last week that will be going out in tomorrow's mail. it just gives me warm fuzzies seeing a bunch of purdy yarn all lined up like that. for those who might care, left to right they are "pollen", "deep pool", "in bloom", "new leaf", "great outdoors", "fungirl v2", "with envy", and "spice rub" (which isn't quite so dark but was lost in the shadows a bit). all except the middle two will be stocking tomorrow at the leaf shoppe, 2pm eastern.

a new yarn and custom update

2008-02-07T23:21:00.000-06:00

...at yarn for an upcoming collab with gen of the cloth canoe. i'm pretty pleased with it and hope it makes someone very happy and hopefully ends up as a very nice pair of shorties or similar to go with the awesome dipe gen is putting together. if you haven't seen her stuff yet -- go check it out. she makes cloth dipes as well as mama pads that are absolute works of art (not to mention really squishy, comfy and thirsty)!

i'm running behind on customs already this year -- GAH!!! mostly because of one that just wasn't turning out like i wanted, and i kind of got stuck there. i'm still working on fixing that situation because the first shirt i did just didn't turn out nearly as cool as i envisioned (okay let's face it -- if it were being stocked it would definitely be a second), but plan to move onto other customs beginning this weekend -- so a few people on the list will probably be hearing from me in the next few days to confirm sizes, styles, designs and colors. :)

stocking tomorrow!

2008-02-01T19:16:00.000-06:00

our theme at wonderful world is wonderful world (as in the song louis armstrong made famous). so, i have 3 things stocking inspired by the lyrics to the song. everything stocks at 8pm eastern february 2nd! see ya there!

now that the january spotted box is out there

2008-01-23T12:33:00.000-06:00

i don't feel like i'm spoiling the surprise by sharing how my samples turned out. i'm pretty darn stoked over them, actually, and hope people find uses for them (i included several different ideas on a label on the back). it was a lot of fun doing these but a *ton* of work with all the waxing and dyeing and then boiling out wax and washing. not that i'm ruling out doing it again sometime, but not for awhile! :)

in other news, i'll be stocking a few things at the leaf shoppe tomorrow (yikes! late with previews as usual because i'm still working on everything!). my buddy foo (jennifer) is our special guest and has some of her really cool jewelry previewing already. ms. foo is the reason dh and i are together, she was my maid of honor, and we also went to the same college (uiuc graphic design program!), worked at the same office doing various multimedia, web (me) and video (foo) stuff for... gosh i dunno, like 5 years we overlapped there? foo rocks, as does her jewelry, so check it out!

in customs news, andrea's shirt is done and yarn is in-progress today. i should be contacting the next few people on the list if i haven't already, and am putting in a big ole order for blank shirts today (so those requesting bigger sizes or different styles will be very happy to hear i'm finally getting those instock in prep for your customs!).

tonight's stocking!

2008-01-16T08:55:00.000-06:00

here's a peek a the completed listings i have going live tonight at 8pm (eastern) -- check out the full listings at Wonderful World.

sneak peeks

2008-01-14T09:19:00.000-06:00

my next stocking is wednesday, january 16th at wonderful world! here's a sneak peek at a few of the things i have in the works for that, as well as a spoiler for andrea's custom... i kind of played with the idea she had and hope she likes it!

off to a pretty swell start!

2008-01-06T12:41:00.000-06:00

i got all my spotted box samples done, packaged and in the mail yesterday -- a few days after i intended to wrap things up but i'm thrilled with the results. i've shown a few people a sneak peek and the feedback has been good... so now i'll just hold my breath till people buy the boxes and see what they think of them. i'm so excited, i can hardly wait for that part!

also starting to plan for my next stockings -- january 16th at wonderful world and another one at the leaf shoppe, date still tbd. and on the last day of the month i'll be stocking something for the mamas... stay tuned for details and sneak peeks!

here's the latest and greatest list from custom-land.

working on now:
andrea - car shirt and coordinating yarn... planning almost finished, batiking and dyeing this week!
kayleigh's shirt - working on extras
jenni - shirts being ordered this week
lystessa (rav) - winter wheat shirt planning in progress
sarah (rav) - jolly roger hoodie planning in progress, hoodie being ordered this week
steph - peace fleece and shirt planning in progress

and after that:
sarah -2 jolly rogers; starting over on s/s shirts? going to coordinate with terra's order (same colors)
terra - detail-figuring in progress
alison - contacted to work out details, waiting to hear back
jennifer - fairy or butterfly shirt (tbd) - contacted to work out details, waiting to hear back
janet
carina
julia
kim (wsk)
heather
sophie
stacee
kim (k+m)
jill

a debut

2007-12-31T22:07:00.000-06:00

stocking at wonderful world for my first time on the 2nd at 8pm. woohoo! here's a peek at a few things that are ready to go, and there's still 1-2 more things in the works. ;)

before things get nutty with the holidays...

2007-12-23T11:53:00.000-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS to those celebrating in a few days! our holiday is going to be filled with food, presents, and family. and a little batik wax i'm sure, while i have the opportunity when dh is home to help wrangle the kids. :) everyone have a great week and be safe!

working on now:
spotted box samples
andrea - car (or treeforg or lizard) shirt and coordinating yarn
-- car design chosen, yarn tbd, need to work out size, style, colors this week
kayleigh's shirt - working on extras
sarah - 2 blue/black jolly roger shirts, first color dyed
-- batiking tomorrow! dyeing this week

and after that:
terra - contacted to work out details
alison - contacted to work out details
jennifer - fairy or butterfly shirt (tbd) - contacted to work out details
steph - yarn tbd
janet
carina
julia
kim
heather
sophie
~~debi - postponing till spring/summer~~
~~melanie - custom shirt(s) - passing?~~

results are in

2007-12-21T09:10:00.000-06:00

after this it's onto spotted box goodies, some instock, and still a few more customs to at least start on before the new year. but here's the eye candy -- pretty pictures of what was wrapped up and shipped off this week. i love how everything turned out and hope the recipients are thrilled with them!

"last leaves" on BFL -- around 11oz of yarn for this custom!

"just a pear" set -- batiked, dyed and painted shirt, plus coordinating BFL

the good, the bad, and the hopefully not too ugly

2007-12-17T21:57:00.000-06:00

it's been a rough week of working on customs, with multiple do-overs when things didn't come out quite as planned. i think i'm over the hump now and everything is finally coming together.

stuff for carm... a redux of one of my favorite sets -- just a pear. here's the yarn hanging to dry (no i still haven't setup a good wintertime drying arrangement, so it's hanging on a few plant hooks in front of the patio doors right now, lol) and below it is the batiked shirt awaiting a swim in the dyebath

and this is a failed attempt at recreating my "last leaves" colorway. funny thing is i actually took notes when dyeing this colorway the first time (one of the few i had)... but they apparently sucked! so i've been playing and tweaking and redoing this yarn. this round lacked some saturation and contrast, and i handpainted it while the kids were hovering so i rushed too much and the colors are not nearly as smooth as i like them. alas, i'm sure i'll be selling it at one of the congos before long at a reduced price -- no sense letting it sit unused!

and finally, here are the previous versions of the pear shirt meant for carm. the first was too dark, the second was just a stupid dyeing error by me (note to self: pay closer attention to whether i grabbed the acid or procion green dye next time). both shirts are lovely, just not a good match for the original set. more stuff to stock at some future date... or keep for dd to wear! i haven't decided yet. ;)

hmm, those pics will have to come later, the upload tool has not been working for me so i'm giving up. and my wax might actually be fully melted now so it's time to get back to the saltmine!

past my bedtime

2007-12-17T00:43:00.000-06:00

super-quickie jic anyone is looking for updates. i've fallen behind on emails for those next on the list but WILL be contacting you this week to see if you'd like to proceed with your custom(s) or wait till after the holiday craziness (or at least i know it's a little crazy here). carm, your yarn is dyed and steaming right now, your do-over shirt is batiked and will be dyed tomorrow. gen, we've already touched base today but the yarn feels like it will be dry tomorrow -- i'll reskein and send a photo probably in the morning. can ship in the afternoon if we connect in time, otherwise the yarn will go out in tuesday's mail (so long as it looks good to you!). up next is batiking andrea's shirt and dyeing the yarn (i should have plenty of corrie!). also batiking sarah shirts and working on my super-secret (okay, not really) spotted box samples. and kayleigh's poor babydoll dress still needs to get painted, omigosh! you've been SO patient waiting for this custom, i owe you like 3 more shirts in thanks. i might post a few pics tomorrow of a few in-the-works things.

okay, i think that's it for tonight, time to hit the hay and cross my fingers the kids sleep till at least 7:30am so i'm not walking into walls from the get-go tomorrow. anything less than 6 hours of sleep and i just want to crawl into a hole these days.

so i don't forget

2007-12-12T13:39:00.000-06:00

here's the list starting after the new year, so i don't forget. because if i don't write it down that is exactly what i'll manage to do i'm sure. sleep deprivation has not made me a smarter person, that's for sure.

janet
carina
julia
kim
heather
sophie

okay, phew... i feel better now. :)

derailed

2007-12-09T20:30:00.000-06:00

gosh i feel like a train that's been derailed over here. i managed to get little done this past week unfortunately so now i need to catch up. it's amazing what preparing for hosting a birthday party can do to my schedule (jasper's party was saturday, his actual birthday is tomorrow -- my goofy boy is 4 years old!). problem being i do most of my work in the kitchen and dining room and those are pretty important areas to have clean and usable for a party! ...and then dh's side of the family didn't end up making the trek up due to potentially bad weather for the drive back, so it was just my parents who ended up coming. all that prep, stress, money on cake and enough food to feed at least 15 people, and so on... such a waste of effort!

anyway, enough ranting about that sore topic, onto custom updates:

working on now:
kayleigh's shirt - dyeing done, painting jolly roger in flag on babydoll top
-- painting tonight or tomorrow, shipping next week
carmela - pear shirt and matching yarn
-- re-batiking shirt tomorrow (next size up, smaller pear, lighter green), then need to dye shirt and yarn, paint shirt
sarah - 2 blue/black jolly roger shirts, first color dyed
-- batiking tomorrow! dyeing this week
andrea - car (or treeforg or lizard) shirt and coordinating yarn
-- car design chosen, yarn tbd, need to work out size, style, colors this week

and also working on some goodies for the january spotted box ;)

and after that:
terra - contacting this week to work out details
alison - contacting this week to work out details
jennifer - fairy or butterfly shirt (tbd) - contacting this week to work out details
steph - yarn tbd
debi - swap yarn tbd
~~melanie - custom shirt(s) - passing?~~

Charity Auctions Begin Tomorrow Night

2007-12-06T23:20:00.000-06:00

just a little spam for a sad cause -- there are a bunch of charity auctions taking place beginning december 7th at 8pm eastern at http://hyenacart.com/something/ to benefit a family that just lost their 3 young children to a tragic fire in their home. i batiked a shirt, and then decided i wanted to do more so also dyed 7oz of yarn to coordinate, and am offering the set up with the 100% of the proceeds being donated. there are tons of other custom and semi-custom slots for just about everything... woolies, toys, diapers, soaps, bags, banners, and so on... please c'mon out and help us give the family one less thing to worry about in their time of mourning this gutwrenching loss.

fresh from the drying rack

2007-12-03T11:43:00.001-06:00

pretty pictures, as promised. :) they always look very washed out to me in the blog, but if you click on the photos you can view larger, more true-to-color/saturation versions.

"beach pebbles" on peace fleece worsted (for michelle)

"berry blast with a slice of lemon" on BFL aran (for leanne)

"neapolitan" on peruvian fingering (for liz)

finally!

2007-12-02T10:22:00.000-06:00

a custom update! (i know you're so thrilled you can hardly contain your excitement)
pretty pictures coming tomorrow if the yarn all dries :)

in progress:
michelle's custom yarn - beach pebbles on peace fleece
-- drying! shipping this coming week
dye leanne's yarn - berry blast with a slice of lemon, 7-8oz bfl
-- drying! shipping this coming week
liz - neopolitan sock yarn
-- drying! will bring to mmg wednesday evening
kayleigh's shirt - dyeing done, painting jolly roger in flag on babydoll top
-- painting this weekend, shipping next week
carmela - pear shirt and matching yarn
-- shirt is batiked, need to dye shirt and yarn, paint shirt
andrea - shirt (car? otherwise lizard or treefrog) and yarn tbd
-- sent design ideas for shirt!

and after that:
~~melanie - custom shirt(s) - passing?~~
sarah - 2 blue/black jolly roger shirts, first color dyed
terra - contacting this week to work out details
alison - contacting this week to work out details
jennifer - fairy or butterfly shirt (tbd) - contacting this week to work out details
steph - yarn tbd
debi - swap yarn tbd

just because

2007-11-28T12:32:00.000-06:00

just because i'm so proud of the selection of stuff we're stocking today at the leaf shoppe, here's a pretty preview of about half the goodies. :) not all of them are mine (obviously).

no magic

2007-11-27T23:34:00.000-06:00

okay yarnies, anyone else out there have this one colorway they made that was a happy accident, and ever since that time have been unable to recreate the perfect vision like that first one? i'm dealing with one of those right now and GAAAAH! it is so frustrating. i know what my problem is... i'm too attached to creating it the same way as the first time. if i just would mix the dyes to match the end product and handpaint it, there would probaby be no problem. but of course i take the hard way (that is true to the process i followed the first time), and handpaint it first, look at it in horror and say "ack, that looks like butt!"... then overdye it, and magic happens and makes it into something gorgeous -- except there's been no magic lately, oh no. the overdye is where things seem to go horribly wrong -- too dark, too yellow, too red, too dark *and* too red... on and on. at least i can sell the rejected skeins, but i'd rather be creating new intentional colorways, not "oops, what happened here" skeins, yannow?

so, for about the 3rd or 4th time now, i'm setting aside this custom for another day when i feel i can handle trying it get again (thank goodness the customer is a friend and exceedingly patient with me... not like she's hurting for yarn *cough* but that's beside the point -- hi, m! :) ).

well i said i would be putting previews up this past weekend and had intended to, but i really only got a bit done and didn't bother taking pictures till yesterday. so instead i'll just say go check out the leaf shoppe tomorrow late morning for all my previews and then everything stocks at 2pm eastern. for right now, it's back to one yarn waiting for the dye to exhaust on the stove, 2 shirts i just boiled getting washed in the laundry room, a shirt in the dining room waiting for me to iron and heat set the paint, and several descriptions that need writing on the cart. hmm, and it's midnight so i'm guessing some of the descriptions are going to wait till morning. i have the wax heated and ready to go as well, but neglected to sketch anything up in advance, so that will have to wait as well.

custom updates and all that coming (probably) tomorrow, once this stocking is out of the way and i can breathe again (at least for a few hours).

countdown

2007-11-23T12:36:00.000-06:00

lots of countdowns starting right now... countdown to christmas, countdown till the end of the year, countdown till my stuff is due for january's spotted box, countdown till my first stocking with my new congo... and of course counting down as i wrap up each custom and hopefully have a clear list by the holidays. the custom list as it stands today:

just wrapped up:
the newborn set for little ava, painting now complete as well -- shipped today and can't wait till she gets it!

in progress:
michelle's custom yarn - beach pebbles on peace fleece
-- dyeing this weekend, shipping next week
kayleigh's shirt - dyeing done, painting jolly roger in flag on babydoll top
-- painting this weekend, shipping next week
dye leanne's yarn - berry blast with a slice of lemon, 7-8oz bfl
-- dyeing this weekend, shipping next week
liz - neopolitan sock yarn
-- dyeing this weekend, bringing to borders meetup first week of december
carmela - pear shirt and matching yarn
-- might dye yarn this weekend, start batiking shirt

and after that:
melanie - custom shirt(s) - passing?
sarah - 2 blue/black jolly roger shirts, first color dyed
andrea - shirt (car? otherwise lizard or treefrog) and yarn tbd - working on design
terra - contacting this weekend to work out details
alison - contacting this weekend to work out details
jennifer - fairy or butterfly shirt (tbd) - contacting this weekend to work out details
steph - yarn tbd
debi - swap yarn tbd

i'm also going to be working on a few things to stock this coming wednesday at the leaf shoppe... i'll probably post some work in progress or preview pics over the weekend, depending how things are going!

wax off!

2007-11-18T10:19:00.000-06:00

got those 3 shirts done! i love productive weekends... am hoping to knock out some yarn today too, if the current queasies (leftover stomach bug???) subside by this evening.

here's both of kim's shirts, finished and ready to ship out in the next few days! hope you love them!

here's a quickie shirt to coordinate with an adorable woolie set from Quintessential Baby on hyenacart. i might still paint a little button in the center of the flower, i haven't decided yet. this is for a friends sweet little newborn named ava. i can't wait to meet her!

and finally, the second shirt headed to debi in a few days for our trade! i love how the tone-on-tone looks on this one, i think millie needs one when i have the chance to make another like it.

wax on...

2007-11-16T00:04:00.000-06:00

custom updates as of nov 15
i've been trying to work on waxing things up in the evenings and waiting on the yarn because yarn is something i can theoretically work on when the kids are home/hovering... there's no way i can do this with hot wax around, so the order of things might be a little bit goofy while i'm playing catchup from my bout without water in the house and a mysterious stomach bug yesterday and today (kids, not me. oh wait, i take that back, it's apparently now my turn, blegh). i apologize to those just waiting on yarn, but i will be trying to wrap those orders up this weekend when dh can do some kid-wrangling and i can hopefully do some work in the mornings or afternoon for a change!

in progress & up next:
kim's little birdie shirt - 2nd round batik done, dyeing tomorrow

debi's 2nd shirt - 1st round batik done, 1st round dyeing tomorrow

carrie - congrats it's a girlie!!! batiking done, dyeing tomorrow

michelle's custom yarn - beach pebbles on peace fleece
kayleigh's shirt - dyeing done, painting jolly roger in flag on babydoll top
dye leanne's yarn - berry blast with a slice of lemon, 7-8oz bfl

and after that:
melanie - custom shirt(s) - passing?
liz - neopolitan sock yarn (yarn is here!)
sarah - 2 blue/black jolly roger shirts, first color dyed
andrea - shirt (car? otherwise lizard or treefrog) and yarn tbd
carmela - pear shirt and matching yarn
terra -
alison -
jennifer - fairy or butterfly shirt (tbd)
steph - yarn tbd
debi - swap yarn tbd

water

2007-11-12T22:01:00.000-06:00

we have it again, thank goodness. $2400 to replace a burnt out well pump, omigosh. that hurt a ton, but oh for the joy of being able to turn on a faucet and flush a toilet again.

i'm ready to get back to dyeing!!!

a funny little birdie...

2007-11-07T00:16:00.000-06:00

customs status as of november 6th... and 9th

just wrapped up:
diane's 2nd shirt - shipped nov. 6

kim's pink/orange funny little birdie shirt -- waiting to hear on colors/contrast

debi's first shirt (crummy picture but here it is), shipped nov. 9

*** right this second we don't have water in the house because our well pump or pressure tank is toast. hopefully this will be fixed this weekend or early next week... but till then i can't do any dyeing so yarns and shirts are unfortunately on hold a few days. ***

in progress & up next:
michelle's custom yarn - beach pebbles on peace fleece
kayleigh's shirt - dyeing done, painting jolly roger in flag on babydoll top
dye leanne's yarn - berry blast with a slice of lemon, 7-8oz bfl
debi's 2nd shirt and yarns for swap

and after that:
melanie - custom shirt(s)
steph - yarn tbd
liz - neopolitan sock yarn (pending yarn arrival)
sarah - 2 blue/black jolly roger shirts, first color dyed
andrea - shirt and yarn tbd
terra -
alison -
jennifer - fairy or butterfly shirt (tbd)
carmela - pear shirt and matching yarn

restocked a few things at TLS

2007-11-01T14:10:00.001-05:00

i just restocked the ::: funny little birdie ::: shirt and matching peace fleece yarn as 2 separate items on the leaf shoppe today. they don't seem to be getting any action as a set and i'm anxious to clear things out and make a fresh start of sorts, since we're officially disbanding the congo by end of year and i think this last one was pretty much the last stocking anyone is going to do there. moving on is a good thing and i know it's giving me some renewed energy for alfabette zoope!

custom list updates

2007-10-31T15:32:00.000-05:00

in my new push to get organized in a little more official fashion, welcome to my brand spankin' new, so far very boring blog for alfabette zoope. this will be the spot to check out progress on customs and see where you are on the list. i'll also hopefully be showing sneak peeks for upcoming stockings when i can, or sharing any other announcements i think anyone might want to hear about. :) so the list as it stands right now...

just wrapped up:
jennifer's custom owl remix - shipped nov 1

steph's yarn - victorian pink-ish peace fleece, 8oz - shipped nov 2

in progress & up next:
diane's 2nd shirt - large jolly roger on blue, batiking done, dyeing done -- overdyeing to get a nicer blue :)
kayleigh's shirt - dyeing done, painting jolly roger in flag on babydoll top
michelle's custom yarn - beach pebbles on peace fleece
finish debi's 1st shirt drying, start on second, dye yarn for swap
dye leanne's yarn - berry blast with a slice of lemon, 7-8oz bfl

and after that:
melanie - custom shirt(s)
steph - yarn tbd
liz - neopolitan sock yarn (pending yarn arrival)
sarah - 2 blue/black jolly roger shirts
andrea - shirt and yarn tbd
terra -
alison -
jennifer - fairy or butterfly shirt (tbd)
carmela - pear shirt and matching yarn