So... what's new?

What's new?

Lots.

So much going on right now I don't have the time to be a dedicated blogger. 

Let me explain.

No, there is too much, let me sum up.

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Yoga Sunsations was featured in a blog: Check it out here -- http://topetsyfinds.blogspot.com/2009/08/repurposed-yoga-strap-and-handle-in.html

Woohoo!! 

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I also made a sale, woohoo! First Etsy sale, calls for a celebration!! 

Pretty, isn't it? I thought so too. And someone else thought so too! Happiness all around.

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JET is keeping me on my toes. He'll be a year old in early October (!), but he's been walking for almost 2 months now, so he's moved on to the more dangerous-make-my-heart-skip-a-beat types of activities like climbing and "running" (perhaps a better word is "zooming") and grabbing at anything within finger tips reach. It's exhausting, but I love being a mommy! He's a funny little person with a charming disposition and only the occasional tantrum now that he's mastered the zoom. Those mainly come out when you request he refrain from zooming. Stillness is devastating. 

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I'm opening another Etsy shop. This one is just for whatever I happen to be in the mood to make but have no practical purpose for. It's just going up under my seller name and can be found here -- jessmturner.etsy.com . Nothing for sale yet, but I've already found a talented model for all the lovely little things I have just waiting to go up! 

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I'm turning into a crochet maniac. Seriously. I have 5, maybe 6 projects I'm in the midst of with no end in sight. My (minimal) free time is spent searching for more patterns and projects. I have an afghan I'm making that was Anthropologie inspired -- http://search.anthropologie.com/?q=carnival+throw&international=false 

though I'm doing mine up however I like. It's really just a patchwork blanket that should be done in time for the cold weather we experience in Rockford (ugh). Red, Burgundy, Navy Blue, Cream and Brown are the colors selected to match our bedroom, and they are a delight! My favorite part is the hexagon "squares" I made, following a pattern from a blogger named Lucy at Attic24 -  http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/hexagon-howto.html

Love, love, love crochet!! 

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My husband and I are also active members in our church - www.hopeinrockford.com. He's the official/unofficial leader in all of our community outreach projects we do in an effort to show the love of Jesus to those around us. Next up is a food drive for the local homeless shelter - www.rockfordrescuemission.org - and after that a Fall (though I prefer the word "Autumn", sounds cozier and a bit more important) Service Day, where a group of us go around the neighborhood raking up leaves in yards whose occupants are incapable (from lack of time, lack of motivation, lack of youth, lack of health, etc) of raking themselves. Just a random act of kindness sort of thing. Gotta love those! Don't you wish you had us walking down your street with rakes in hand right after your lovely maple tree dumped it's leaves off on your grass. :)

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So between the yoga, the Etsy, the babe, the crochet, the church and the husband, and not to mention all the social functions we got going on, I'm SWAMPED! And pooped! Whew! Good day to you all!

Getting Organized

I'm not an organized person. 

Oh sure, when I occupy a territory that is not my own I am. When I worked outside the home I completely overcompensated for the lack of organizational skills in my personal life. I'm sure I duped quite a few people. It hit me Saturday that, while sewing a repurposed pillow case, that I was working in a mess. Baskets atop baskets, bits of fabric and string everywhere, sewing tools in 4 different locations, there was even an unpainted bird house found in the mix. Seth declared the mess is because because I don't have any room to "spread out", but I knew better. Sitting in my sunporch and running back and forth between that room and the guest room, unable to find my stitch ripper, I completely crumbled. This would not do. Organization was a must. What an awful way to spend a summer Saturday, cleaning and organizing. This wasn't a calm, collected sort of cleaning, this was a mad frenzy that began with the purging of useless items. "What do we need this for?!?" was my battle cry. Seth walked in to find me, with twitching eye, stuffing my Abbey Road poster into a garbage bag (an act I now regret. I'm so sorry for wrinkling you up, George). That's when the intervention took place. Seth, despite all stereotypes that indicate men are sloven pigs, is surprisingly organized (you should see his tool box at work. Everything laid out in a row like he's a surgeon or something). He retrieved the Fab Four and informed me that having a poster that was not hung on the wall did not add to clutter at all, it just needed to go where it belonged. I calmed down and the two of us worked together, me explaining what tools I use most often, and Seth giving helpful suggestions along the way. The happiest sight of all was when I hung up my completed projects in the closet. The straps especially, because their d-rings would gently clang against each other reminiscent of a wind chime. I can't wait to add more!

Not wanting to waste the beautiful weather, Seth, JET, Anna (our Sheltie) and I ventured out for a walk. We got around the corner and there, by the curb, was a discarded desk. The perfect sewing desk. Flat top, three drawers on the left side: perfect for a mostly left handed one like myself. Seth sped up towards it and I was immensely grateful for a husband who is unafraid to take peoples discarded furniture. The family was sitting in the driveway after an unsuccessful garage sale. Seth double checked that the desk was free for the taking and declined an unassembled Christmas tree they tried to press on us. He then threw the desk up onto his shoulder and carried it home. My hero! :) 

The desk isn't in terrible condition. It's solid, made of real wood, not that particle board corruption. It has some stickers on the bottom drawer, and some marker etching declaring it the property of "Katie", if I recall. We left it in the garage and I have big plans to sand it down, repaint it (orange? green? other?) and give it fun new handles. We did the same thing for my dresser on one birthday and years later I'm still obsessed with it.  

On a different note, I'm considering not creating anymore crocheted yoga bags. Random, I know. I just was looking at how many views were on each of my items on Etsy (obsessive? Quite.) and noticed that people looked at my fabric bags 4 times as often as the crocheted ones. That means that the project I started on the way back from Ben & Elisha's wedding (which was BeAuTiFuL, by the way) will be unravelled, unless someone declares otherwise. It's my own design, again, a bit different from the others. Here's a picture... 

It's quite a bid wider than my other crochet bags. I thought that would appeal to some. I've been told to finish it and put it up on Etsy anyway buuuut... what do YOU think?

Now Open!

After months of planning, I'm proud to announce that

 

                                                         Yoga Sunsations is Now Open!!!!!!! 

                                                              www.yogasunsations.etsy.com

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:) Now that the yucky computer part is done (I won't deny that it took me 2.5 hours to load 1 item...), I can get back to what I'm competent at: creating more bags and straps. I have a few pillow cases that I'm repurposing to turn into mat bags, and some ideas for straps from fabric rather than only the repurposed belts that you currently see. I'm also working on some gift/novelty type items and drawings for sleep masks and yoga pants. So keep on checking back! 

Thrilled, Excited, Jubilant!

Yoga Sunsations is close to being open. Very close. So close that I had to immediately blog about it's closeness. I'm thrilled, excited, jubilant, etc, etc. Greg finished the logo, the banner and did a bunch of extra stuff that I was not expecting. That's what you get when you ask a professional for help. It looks so bright and sunshiny, but very clean and classy at the same time while still being calming and yoga-ish. Should I post a picture? No, not yet. Not until it's officially up on Etsy. This is all about Etsy, after all, that wonderful place that magically makes your money evaporate (though it's not really money when you buy through paypal, is it? It's just numbers. The numbers go up sometimes, and when you're on Etsy they just go down). Ah me, there's so much to be done betwixt now and the Grand Opening (!). Let me make a list...

-Pictures need to be taken of all the wonderful yoga-goodness that I've created and (not so) secretly want to keep for myself. Yes, I have to retake pictures of *everything* (minus the pictures you see below) due to a mishap with my clunky old laptop involving a cup of coffee, a soft unsteady surface and a baby's foot. No babies were harmed, but 1 IBM did lose it's life. 

-Spreadsheets and shop policies need to be recreated as well. They were lost in the coffee/baby/laptop incident. I'm thinking FREE SHIPPING. On everything. I hate paying shipping, how could I subject anyone else to the same? 

-I need to make a facebook page for followers who love yoga and Etsy. I'm sure there are many.

-I want a yoga sunsations tshirt. I just do. I think I'm getting off track.

-A thank you card to Greg. No, a THANK YOU card. Something that plays music. And pops up. Maybe I'll find it on Etsy. Nay- I SHALL find it on Etsy. In the meantime, THANK YOU, GREG! (Too many caps: I apologize)!!

Okay, okay, I must go get things done. Wednesdays are so much better than Tuesdays. 

A Case of the Tuesdays

I hate Tuesdays. I have no idea why. Every Tuesday I get lethargic and irritated. Most people speak of having a "case of the Mondays". I suppose what I experience week after week is a case of the Mondays a day late. No chores get accomplished, the baby won't nap, is temperamental and insistent on chewing wires and slapping at the stereo, my husband's work does something ridiculous to him yet again and turns his disposition foul, the dishes in the sink are breeding, the laundry room explodes at some point during the day, none of my projects will ever be finished and if they are they'll all be lopsided and non-reparable,  it's raining or snowing or sleeting, and I'm probably guaranteed to stub my toe on a Tuesday. Get my drift? I feel so awful on Tuesdays that I don't even want to go to yoga in the evening.

So today, on this typical Tuesday, I've decided that I need a Tuesday ritual. Perhaps Tuesdays should be library, coffee shop, farmer's market, park days? Or I could take a morning yoga class to get my energy up and feel revitalized? Or have Tuesdays be my day to clean the house- nothing is more appealing than a clean house. It certainly needs it most on Tuesdays. 

For now I'll sit and ponder... oh, never mind, I must go rescue the stereo. Maybe the baby is ready for his nap now...

=)

In my backyard...

There's a sweet little swing that my husband made and my sister in law painted. Whimsical fun!

My sunflowers are growing! My favorite flower! I can't wait for it to bloom!

The rhubarb that was planted before my husband and I moved in is surprisingly good. It was both of our first time preparing and eating it. Lots of sugar....

Every time I go outside there are more green beans to pick. JET loves to gnaw on them, and so do the rabbits that burrowed under our compost pile... hmm...

And, perhaps the most exciting of all, my tomatoes are getting bigger every day!

And now my baby is awake and "talking" in his crib. Time to go outside and explore...

Repurposed Straps

Yesterday, while JET was napping, I decided to utilize my time repurposing/upcycling some belts I bought at the local thrift store. So I sat on our kitchen floor in easy pose and was quickly corrected by my charming husband who was home for lunch ("Shouldn't you be stretching your hamstrings?" Drat, yes I should be). So, sitting in staff pose, I cut, tweaked and pinned the soon-to-be yoga straps. They're shorter than the usual straps, but I often find a lot of wasted canvas draping around me with the standard length. These ought to get the job done, plus they're repurposed, handy, completely unique and fashionable. What more could a yogi ask for?