Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Some Beefs on my Way Out the Door...

Okay, so everyone has to just GRIPE sometimes, right? And yes, I know...if these are my biggest problems of my week, I'll be doing GREAT. I know. I know....

1. On the way to the post office my A/C fan dies. AGAIN. Just had it fixed last week. How hot is it today? 90 degrees. Yuppers. And now I have to dash off to the eye doctor. There's gonna be some sweaty eyes for her to look at...

2. Shipping charges. Now I have a REALY BIG beef here. I ordered yarn from a company. They pull the cones off the shelf, throw them in a box, and slap a label on. 4 Lbs. OVER TEN DOLLARS for UPS shipping. Second scenario: I order 13 Lbs of wool that has to be pulled out, WEIGHED, packaged in plastic, and put in a box to ship. And this is for EACH TYPE of wool ordered. Package is about 14 pounds total...cost? About $14. Now you tell me...WHY does the 4 pounds thrown into a box cost over TEN BUCKS? And the distance for shipping, by the way, is about the SAME. Next scenario: A piece of software from Jo-Ann.com. Literally, a CD case. $9.95 for shipping. Are you kidding?? Shipping is always a bone of contention. I know, as a seller, that I have to cover way more than just the cost of shipping itself. There are the boxes and bags to cover, and other stuff. But come on, get REAL.

3. You know my spinning stool that I endured immense stupidity to get? I hate it. HATE IT. I'm going to Ikea to get one. What am I gonna do with this? I dunno. Put it in the closet for extra dinner seating. For all the dinners I don't cook. Yeah.

4. That's all!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

ArtFire is Divine!

ArtFire - Buy Handmade - Sell Handmade

Well, I finally got my ArtFire shop up and running! A few months ago, I jumped on the charter member offer that they had, not really knowing how I would proceed with it. I already was building a presence on Etsy, but knew that ArtFire looked REALLY cool. So, I decided. ArtFire is where I am offering custom-dyed fiber, where you can order up to two pounds of any colorway you would like. This is great for anyone who knows about how much fiber they will need for a project...someone who might not want to just play around with four ounces of fiber, but wants to spin for a sweater or other project. Of course, four-ounce sizes are offered, so if you wanna play around with these wonderful colorways, well, go right ahead! I posted some of my favorites, and those that my customers have favored. I am looking forward to see how it does!

With this idea in place, I can concentrate on developing new colorways, and offering them on Etsy. When they do well, and I know they are dependable recipes that will repeat well, I will offer them on ArtFire, for anyone to purchase whatever quantity they need, larger or small!

Check out the shop...plus I am going to see about adding it to Blogger here, where you can purchase right from Blogger! (How cool is that??)



Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Is It Any Wonder??

...that I need therapy?? These are my two dear boys, Conner and Alex. This particular fashion statement happened to be Alex's idea. I just stood and stared. Really. What else could I do? After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I took this photo.

This all came about because I warned Alex to absolutely NOT under ANY circumstances put a bag over his head.

Ahem...Okay. Well, he had to put the bag over something. So he aimed for the other end. Good Boy!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Where Have I Been??

Well, I'll tell you! I've been busy, frustrated, and busy some more!

My computer decided to not make spaces between words. Well, it would...with MUCH effort and pounding on the space bar. The whole machine was running a bit hot, and things were just so sluggish. I was planning my trip to Maine, saving up my money, and the thought of saving up for a new computer made me a little sick to my stomach.

Now, my computer was built on March 15, 2002. that's pretty danged old. In fact, it's REALLY old. And you know, it's still a nice machine. It's a Pentium 4, 2.6Ghz, and I had a 160 GB harddrive in it. It had a Gig of RAM, and it really ran quite fast, all things considered. The display was dark, though, making my photo editing difficult. And the keyboard; well, we won't go there.

So!! I figured out a way to get a new puter for six months free interest!! I am so delighted. This is a GORGEOUS machine:

Of course, one laptop looks like any other. But this thing is HUGE...it's got a 17" screen that I love. And the entire thing is bronze. I am delighted!

Now, for my trip to Maine. It was wonderful! The Maine Fiber Frolic was great! I picked up two fleeces...really nice ones, and left them in Maine for processing. I decided that until I have a drumcarder, I am not going to try to attempt to process anything myself. I also got 8 ounces of some lovely dyed roving, and three bars of handmade soap. And I found a Spinner's Control Card, and a jug of Eucalon.

Upon arriving home, I had over 50 pairs of jeans waiting for me at The Buckle. Ann Arbor lost their tailor, so I picked them up. Ugh...three days in a row of sewing, sewing, sewing! I have today off, then it's back to work tomorrow. Ah well, the money will be nice.

After all, the Michigan Fiber Fest is coming up...