Shop Anniversary Sale!

Hi folks! Just wanted to let you know that to celebrate my five-year Etsy shop anniversary, I'm having a sale! Use the coupon code 5YEAR10PERCENT at checkout to receive 10 percent off any item in the shop until Midnight Central Time, February 23, 2012. Thank you!! :)

Working on the Shop and Yet Another Craft

I thought I'd pop in for a little update. Though you wouldn't know it from the blog, I've been busy working on my Etsy shop. Since I switched it over to photography, it's kept me busy getting things listed, taking new photos, and adding other items. Besides 8x10 and 5x7 photo prints, there are now photo note cards, ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals), and photo blocks. I've thought about doing ceramic tile coasters, but am still working on that idea.

In the meantime, I've also become enamored with Mod Podge...can you believe it?! You'd think that sometime in all my craft obsessions, I'd have discovered Mod Podge before now, wouldn't you? I mean, it was invented in 1967! But I don't think I had unless it's been so long that I'd forgotten. Anyway, there are lots of neat projects out there to try with Mod Podge. Here's one that I'm working on:


I already had this small lamp shade. It was kind of plain, though, and seemed to be a good candidate for "podging." I used a paper towel to trace and cut patterns for the different sections, then laid the pattern on some lace fabric and cut it out. I placed the cut lace on a shade section, and then Podged away! A foam brush worked well. It took a really thick coat to soak through and get the fabric to stick. Dabbing down over and over with the brush smoothed it down nicely, though. Fabric Mod Podge would probably have worked better, but I just used what I had on hand.
It's not quite finished yet, but so far I like how it's turning out.

And one more thought for today about photography...getting a great shot sometimes takes a hands-on approach--
:)

Taking a Licking

One of our bulls has a thing for licking. If I'm close to the gate, he'll try to lick.

What he especially likes to lick, though, is Bo. The tie ring where I tie him to saddle him is on the post next to the bulls' gate, and whenever we're getting ready to ride, here comes the bull.

Bo: "Why is this bull's nose so close to me?"

Me: "He's just being friendly."


Bo: "Aaaaack!!!"
Me: *giggles*

Bo: "This isn't funny!"

Usually, Bo's a good sport about it, and lets the bulls lick him. Yesterday, though, I guess he was getting tired of it. Right after this he gave a big snort, which startled the bull and made him jump back. I doubt if that will stop him for long, though. :)

Big Changes for my Etsy Shop

I wanted to check in and tell you about big changes to my Etsy shop.

In my previous post (from long ages ago), I had said that my real hobby was trying out new hobbies. Well, that still seems to be the case. Even since that post, there has been a new one or two. First off I did a little restoration on an antique treadle sewing machine. It just needed a little oil and a new belt, and it was running smoothly again.Then, back in March, about the time of my previous post, another hobby pastime passion began.

This hobby (let's just call it "hobby" since that's easier to type than all the strikethrough code) wasn't one that you could stick in a closet or drawer when you became distracted with something else.



This hobby is 14 years old and weighs over a thousand pounds.



This hobby has a name.



Bo.

We've spent the summer getting to know each other. I used to ride a little several years ago, but hadn't for quite awhile. Most of the riding I did was on a horse that for the most part just followed my husband's horse. And I just sat there and came along, too. But she foundered a little and became a bit stumbly, so I hardly rode after that.

We had looked off and on for several years for another horse but hadn't been too serious about it. Then, for some reason last spring, I was seized with an overwhelming urge to ride horses again. Maybe it's just some kind of middle-aged craziness, I don't know. But we did a little searching online and found Bo. The ad said he was gentle, so we called about him, went to look at him, and came home with him.

We're still getting used to each other, and I still have much to learn, but we are making improvements and gaining confidence from when we first met.

And now, to the shop changes. Early this fall I rediscovered an old hobby...photography. Back in my early twenties I bought a camera (no, it didn't make tintypes, it wasn't that long ago) and took lots of pictures. But of course, film and processing are expensive, and have since tried digital cameras. So much fun! Just delete the blurry ones and play around with Photoshop Elements for all kinds of effects.

With my dye studio equipment stashed in the garage for some home improvement projects, fiber has kind of fallen by the wayside. But I wanted to do a little something with my shop and decided to list a few of my photos. Etsy recently let us change our shop names, too, so I took advantage of that and changed the name to Prairie Daisies so I could list photos or yarn. I changed the name of the blog, too, but am keeping the address the same for you wonderfully patient folks who, even after the long absence, haven't taken me off your list of blogs you follow.

Anyway, stop by the shop sometime and see what's going on. I only have a few prints listed so far, but have several more to go, and another batch to send off to be printed.

An Apron...and a Realization

First, I thought I'd show you a sewing project I recently finished. A vintage-style apron:

The front:
And the back:
This thing really covers you up. It's practically a dress. The pattern is Simplicity 3544. After seeing some aprons online, I got the idea that I needed to make one. I really like the vintage styles and found the pattern and material at Wal-Mart. The material for this apron somehow just shouted 1950s to me with its bright yellow background and red flowers. I haven't been much of an apron wearer in the past, but probably should have been, seeing as how anytime there is flour involved, it usually seems to go everywhere. I haven't actually worn the apron yet. I'm thinking I may have to tie a dish towel around me to keep my apron from getting dirty. :)

If you haven't looked lately, you can't imagine how many aprons are sold and available for sale at Etsy! I didn't realize they were so popular now. I bought some more material, and would like to try and come up with a pattern similar to some of the ones I've seen on Etsy.

And now...The Realization. It seems like every time I post, I've become enthralled with some new hobby/craft. I go surfing around the internet and think, "Oooh, isn't that cool?! I should try that!" Then while looking up information about that hobby, I come across something else and think, "Oooh, isn't that cute?! I should try that!" And so on. And of course, you have to order the equipment necessary to try it. I've often wondered why I can't seem to stick with a particular craft without trying out something else before I've hardly learned the first one. Is this weird or what?

The first "needlework" type crafts I remember doing are probably embroidery, crochet, and sewing. Since then, I've made miniature quilts, appliqued on sweatshirts, done counted cross stitch, and, of course, there's the whole fiber thing: knitting, spinning, wool dyeing, carding, wet felting, needle felting, weaving. And this isn't even counting photography, genealogy, soapmaking, digital scrapbooking, papermaking, and who knows what else. I think sometimes even baking and trying out new recipes fall under this category. Then a couple of weeks ago, on a trip involving my latest project (I'll save that for another post), as I pondered all of this "first-one-hobby-and-then-another" and "why-don't-you-stick-with-one-hobby" business, I came to the realization...I have stuck with one hobby all this time. My real hobby. Yes. My real hobby is...Trying Out New Hobbies.

Wow! It's kind of a relief in a way, figuring this out. A little hard on the pocketbook at times, but nice to know that maybe it's not so weird after all. I guess the excitement is in the learning.

Next time, I'll try to show you my latest "new thing." :)

Oh Look...

...it's my Post-of-the-Month post. Maybe I'll get back in the swing of things in Blogville after the first of the year.

I wanted to pop in, though, and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Catching Up

Shame, shame on me for being such a lazy blogger again.

Seems like things were really busy during the summer, with all the outside activities that come with it. Mowing the yard was pretty much a full-time job...there was only a short time where it got dry enough that you could skip a week or two.

So what have I been up to? Late in the summer my husband's folks gave us a big dishpan full of grapes from their vines that I made into jelly. I thought I'd never get all of them picked through so I could make the jelly, but finally I did.
Yum!

And remember in my previous post I talked about my newest addiction obsession hobby, digital scrapbooking? I've become so enamored with it, that quite a bit of my computer time has been spent learning software and doing layouts.

I'm also still working on going through our fleeces from this year's shearing. (See, I'm almost always behind.) I'm thinking this year I may have the wool spun into yarn at the mill instead of just roving. There's quite a bit of combed top still left to spin from last year's shearing.

This past Saturday was National Hug a Sheep Day. I'm embarrassed to say that I forgot it on Saturday (though our sheep get quite a few pets and scratches on a regular basis anyway). But I made up for it yesterday and hugged four or five of the ones that would let me. Maybe I'll try another one or two this evening. :)