Preparing for the Show

I picked up about 40 paper bags with handles the other day for use at my show over the weekend, I know I know, I procrastinated. I should have ordered bags from Uline or something, then I could've gotten whole bunches for relatively inexpensive. But hey. College gets in the way of life right now because of finals coming up, papers due, tests back to back, projects, presentations, worrying about grades and registering for next year, what do you expect?

But I digress, I got some bags and then decided that I would decorate them so that my customers and other individuals at the show could easily see where the carrier had been shopping :) What do you think?

Just Don't Know What To Do!

Oy. So summer is coming up soon (Yay!) and I still don't know what I'm doing for it. I could potentially stay here in this little, rinky dink, dusty, hot college town or I could go up to Denver. Either way, I will be taking classes, the classes I will take varies depending on which school I attend, but there will be more credits on my transcript by the end.

Both would be beneficial for me. With option A I would get to retake a few classes that I did poorly in last year, this time with some friends and motivation. I would keep the job I have now and keep the apartment I have now. I would get to help out a lot more with starting up the Chi Omega chapter we are trying to get going and get to hang out with some females for once.

With option B I would get to take classes up there that would transfer down here and that I absolutely need to get my degree and only the credits would transfer so I wouldn't have to worry so much about the overall grade received. I would get to live in Denver again for the summer (like I did last summer). It would be refreshing and always fun. I called their admissions office today to see if I got accepted as I haven't recieved any mail about it and they said that I had but they hadn't gotten my NMT transcript yet, whattheheck. I sent it in a few weeks ago, or, rather, I had the office here send it in weeks ago. I'm gonna have to see what's going on with that. Also, if I go to Denver I would HAVE TO be eligible for the WUE program otherwise I just simply can't afford to go. So....my heading up there is contingent on those two things, evidently.

*Sigh*

All this worry on top of all my worry about finals and finishing up the semester with all passing grades has got me all overwhelmed and stressed out. To offset this stress, here's a pretty picture:

Pretty Flowers

I took and edited this photo myself, I'm quite pleased with it :)
For some reason, it makes me want to go on a road trip...back to the 60s and 70s in a big VW Bus with my friends and dog :)

Window Shopping

I was just doing a little "window shopping" on Etsy just now and totally came up with the cutest little outfit that would totally fit me if I had the cash. This adorable little black dress from 13bees and these ohsocute shoes from Thrush. What's not to love? Totally chic, sophisticated, cute.

I'm Seein' Spots

This past weekend I got a new pair of sunglasses! Now, you see, I'm not really a sunglass kind of person, I have a smaller head so I can rarely find some that fit, look decent, don't hurt my ears (they have piercings that make glasses difficult to wear sometimes), and don't give me headaches. But then I found these!

Super fun, cute, they go with everything :) Or at least, I like to pretend they do, since they are so awesome. Here's my friend Zita wearing them, I think she looks like she should be in Paris, walking a black poodle with an espresso or something

Matt's Birthday

This weekend was Matt's birthday! Woohoo!

I got him a custom tshirt from precisionengraving on Etsy, and I made him a beanie out of a wool/llama blend in a gorgeous deep brown with accents in orange. I also made him a delicious, vegetarian lasagna from scratch (except for the noodles), and homemade bread.

Less Than Two Weeks!

My show is coming up so quickly, less than two weeks to go! I have been working on quite a few different things for it, more hackysacks, beanies, and pouches, I knit up a large, stretchy, cotton market tote, another one in the works...wanna see what I've been up to knit-wise?

Woohoo!

So some time ago I entered a contest on lolitarose's blog for a chance to win some super cool earrings and for the first time ever I actually won!

I decided to choose these super cool hoops, very simple, very chic, and unlike a lot of the earrings I already have in my collection. The wonderful woman behind this shop, Miss Traci, was very generous, very cheerful and is very talented! Run on over to her shop to pick up your favorite new accessory!

Meet Your Meat

So I was shown this video the other day and found it completely repulsive. I mean, I knew the meat industry was bad, but I didn't know it was this disgusting. Needless to say, I don't think I will eat meat again unless I know exactly where it came from and what kind of life it had.

If the video in this post doesn't work, click here to see it.

*Warning: Video may not be suitable for weak stomachs*

Better Late Than Never...

So I know everyone else has already posted about their Easter festivities and what not, but better late than never right?

Well I didn't really have any big plans for this Easter. Actually, the only plans I had were to complete a whole bunch of homework assignments and work some, try and get some things knitted up for the show, nothing exciting. When my friend Matt heard that I hadn't gotten an Easter basket or even candy in any remote sense (except from the wonderful EllaLuna, my Ravelry Swap Partner) he took it upon himself to make sure that I got one. He put the whole thing together himself, didn't even buy one of those store assembled ones. I got some delicious Starburst jelly beans, peanut butter and chocolate eggs, a chocolate bunny and a super soft stuffed puppy I have named Persephone :)

Also, we decided to make tortillas from scratch! It was pretty fun, a new experience for me and they turned out so wonderfully tasty :D

Say Cheese!

Cheese. Love it. Love Love Love it. It went from being used as a condiment as being a main staple and this is a problem. Long story short, my favorite dress doesn't fit anymore.

weeones: Artisan Cheese Stitchmarkers

So my friend Zita and I chatted and I whined and was sad but we decided that the reason said dress doesn't fit is most likely because of the cheese I have been consuming as of late. Seriously, it was definitely a part of every meal. I know, a little excessive.

Rosemary4Remembrance: Mouse in Swiss Cheese pouch Needle felted wool Waldorf doll necklace pouch

She joked that I had a cheese addiction and I ran with this idea and found out that cheese and other dairy products have opiates in them! Evidently poppies aren't the only things that can produce the enzymes that make opiate, cow's livers can too! And in cheese, with the lactose, water and whey proteins missing, the opiates (aka MORPHINE) are more concentrated giving cheese and other dairy addictive qualities. So now I feel like my addiction is justified.

krankyk: vintage mice-in-cheese salt and pepper shakers

But regardless, I am giving up cheese for a little bit. I want that dress to fit by the time summer rolls around.

Hacky Sacks!

So along with all my scarves, beanies, pouches, etc that I am taking to the show, I decided that I wanted to do some hacky sacks as well. Here just a few of the ones I am taking with me.

Easter Eggs

Tomorrow morning some of my friends and I are going to dye and color Easter Eggs! Yes, yes, one never gets too old to dye Easter Eggs.

My friend Zita claims that using dyes makes the egg taste funny, so she will use crayons, but the rest of us will use dyes and whatever else we can think of. Once we have all dyed more than our fair share, we plan on having an Easter Egg Hunt sometime around midnight tomorrow night, just to assert the fact that we are not actually 6 year olds.

Are you dyeing eggs this year?

Cheek Pockets

*Sigh* Aren't you glad we don't have cheek pockets? If we did, people would be walking around with huge food-shaped tumor-looking growths in their upper regions. See that? That is an entire baby carrot in my Delilah's mouth. The Entire Carrot.

Spring Fling

This weekend was New Mexico Tech's Spring Fling weekend. Basically its a weekend where various organizations associated with the school (academic clubs, the frat they are trying to start, random departments, etc) host family friendly activities mostly for the students to partake in. The event that most people go to, even people of the town, not just Techies, is the MudBog.

Think large pit of mud, lots of mud, and massive trucks that try to drive through it. Emphasis on the word try. The show really is more entertaining when the trucks don't make it through because then some poor student who volunteered for this position not know exactly what he got himself into has to drag a very very large hook attached to a very very large chain attached to a very very large tractor to the unfortunate vehicle and trudge through the pit of muddy death to hook the truck to the tractor so it could be pulled out.

Colorful Cilantro

So last Thursday I found the coolest little crayon tin. The moment I saw it I just knew that I had to have it even though I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do with it right away. I found it at a friend's place, it had been randomly dropped off by a creepy neighbor so when I said that I wanted it they told me just to take it, they didn't want it.

I decided to turn it into a planter for my cilantro. Let's see what happens!

Oh, and the pot next to it is growing Basil, I also have some tomato seeds that just sprouted yesterday too :)

3rd Ravelry Swap Package!

So I got my 3rd Ravelry Swap Package yesterday and I can't even express exactly how excited I was! Everything in it was totally and completely awesome, very well though out, it certainly shows the care my spoiler, EllaLuna, went to in picking out the exact right stuff to include.

Along with gobs and gobs of Easter candy, she sent me a dyeing package! I received 6 different Jacquard dyes along with Knit Picks Bare wool, a skein of 100% alpaca, a skein of a cotton/bamboo blend, and a large amount of Tussah Silk Roving! She clearly took the time to check my Etsy Favorites and found stickchick there where she got the above skeins :) I also opened one of the Easter eggs to find reflective stickers to put on my bike which she read about here, in my blog, how cool is that?

As everything was festively wrapped in Easter colors and paraphanalia, my spoiler even put in some Easter Egg dyes! My friends Zita and Matt and I are definitely going to enjoy playing with those and the dozen eggs I just picked up at the store ;)

EllaLuna totally went above and beyond my wildest expectations for this swap. I will definitely be doing another swap just as soon as I can!

4 Weeks!

Ok, ok, so most of you would say that 4 weeks is a long time, but trust me, when you're as busy as I am with classes, work, Etsy, and preparing for your very first craft show, 4 weeks is nothing!

I've still got so much stuff to do to prepare for it, I still have to sew labels into all my new creations (I've made about 8 - 10 pouches in the past week, a few beanies, scarves, etc), the pouches need buttons, all of my items need hanging paper tags stating the price and care instructions, I need to acquire some paper bags (perhaps some 2" stickers to go on the bags promoting my shop?), I need to pester more Etsy sellers into giving me some promotional materials to hand out with my purchasers that day (you interested or know anyone who is?), I still need to get my hands on a tent and some tables, I need to work on displays, I really want to find a super cool coat or hat rack to display my beanies on...so much to do so little time!