Summer Fun: Stone steps

My dad has a new riding mower.  A fancy one, that likely cost more than my car.  (Granted, my car is old, and it was old when we bought it... but still!)  And, it came with 2 hats!  Lol.  Anyway, this thing has a nice cart and a front shovel/blade combo thing, is powerful enough to mow down the prairie, and it makes him giggle like a schoolgirl.  It's rather hilarious.  Point is, this thing can get the dirt work done that I need and haul stuff up and down the hill without any trouble. 

Yesterday we took it out onto the back acres to find some big, flat limestone rocks.  I know there are tons back there, it was just a matter of having a way to get them hauled to where i could do something with them.  I need them for walkways and such around my trailer so I don't have to trudge through the mud all the time, something that would last and look nice and not cost much (if anything), and I knew we had lots of limestone.  We loaded up the cart and took that load of rocks up the hill, sorted them a little, then picked one little spot we could finish up in just a couple of hours.  It was pretty hot out there and I've been fighting off a pseudo cold all week and didn't want to push too hard and he's been at work a lot and needed to get a nap in before he went back.

We picked the little hill just outside my back door.  When my water pipes froze repeatedly last winter (I'm in negotiations with the contractor who built the skirting to get the gaps filled in so it doesn't happen again... that's all kinds of fun, let me tell ya) I had to keep getting underneath the trailer to turn the space heater up, move it, turn it down when it was nice out, all that.  I had to get under there at least once a week for probably 3 months, usually in the deep snow and subzero temps.  Out my back door is a little walkway from the door to the back hill... not sure why he built it that way, instead of connecting it to the deck or building some stairs... but the hill is steep right there and every time I had to get under the trailer I had to slide down the hill on my butt so I didn't land on my face in the snow.  Getting back up was fun too. 

So, we built some stairs.  They're cute, they'll get the job done, and they were free.  Unless you count what my parents paid for the land and the mower... Point is, we didn't have to buy anything extra for them and now I don't have to slide down the snowy hill in the middle of the night anymore.  Hooray!  We have more rocks that we brought up that will need to be a walking path from the deck stairs to the front door eventually.  I'll probably start at the deck and work my way around one little load at a time, so that maybe by the time I turn the corner toward the front door there will be an entryway room built on with some real stairs!  Well, maybe not.  A girl can dream, anyway... it'll be a while before the contractor we like can get out here for that.  At least I need to get something by the deck stairs because the first step is too high off the ground and a nice thick slab right there will help with that considerably.

That's a project for another day.  That's as far as we got yesterday because I got overheated, even in the shade... guess I didn't drink enough before we got started or something.  But all is well now, and the little stairs look good!

Next weekend is another show, possibly the last one of the summer, and I need to get some biker chic stuff made.  I've been crocheting like mad to fill out my inventory a bit, so I need to get back on the jewelry bandwagon.  Cheers!

Brain Flexing

The mind is like a muscle.  It needs to be exercised or it will get fat, lazy, sluggish, and just otherwise nonproductive.  I've been feeling this exact thing the last couple of years since finishing my Master's.  I seriously needed a break after all that, as I had been in school basically nonstop from age 5 to age 26 and frankly, I was worn out.  The end of my Master's was very intense and I tried to hit the ground running with the inevitable post-graduation job search, which was rather draining in itself, especially after hearing "no" (or nothing at all) as many times as I did, even when I set my goal to send out 5-10 applications and/or resumes a day.  I did this for months, got very sick a couple of times, broke my foot, found a couple horrible jobs, started making jewelry in the hopes of selling it, then moved back home.  While relieved to be home where I could actually get full-time work, I was extremely discouraged about my future as a composer.  I've been telling myself ever since that I have more opportunities for that here because I'm local and I likely know people involved in such projects simply because I grew up here and was out at the Black Hills Playhouse a few times.  That's several stories in itself, but suffice it to say that I do have connections to the arts community in the Hills, should I choose to take advantage of that.

I tried to stay at my first job here as long as I could.  It was good money for here, but I was working something like 55 hours a week without overtime and I was barely making it to Symphony rehearsals and concerts, never mind sleeping and eating and trying to be creative in any fashion.  It was a truly horrid job... I was the manager of a small loan company whose entire goal was to get people stuck in a credit hole so we could keep collecting loan fees off of them.  I've never had any management experience or training, never worked with any kind of financial institution, and they tossed me in with minimal training so I had no idea what I was doing, and the poor girl that was already working there was mad at me for getting hired off the street for the management position.  Don't blame her one bit for that, and we ended up being friends once she realized how little they prepared me for it.  I got in serious trouble the one day we didn't make a new loan... it was a Saturday, we were only open half the day, and it was blizzarding.  I saw maybe 3 cars all morning, and none of them stopped for us.  We were expected, and actually required, to entice people to renew their loans (after a certain point, they would be eligible to miss a payment if they renewed), and a renewed loan collects a new loan fee and keeps the ridiculous interest rate rolling in.  I couldn't sleep at night with that job.  I only lasted about 6 weeks.

After that was full-time retail and that was significantly less stressful, but still not a good job.  Irregular schedule (sporadic enough that it was impractical to get another job), hours not guaranteed, minimum wage (started out a tiny bit over that, because of my retail experience... whoopee.), and the store made it quite clear that there was no room for advancement for any of us when they hired a new assistant manager off the street with a little management experience but not in retail.  Shortly after that, and partly because they refused to hold one employee to the same standards that they expected from everyone else, I started looking around for new jobs, found my insurance one, and put in my notice.

I do like my job.  I'm still just part-time, but the better work I do the better our agency does and I get directly rewarded for that, so I have some sort of control over where I go here.  It gives me time to go to Symphony, make and sell my jewelry, and work on my house.  I'm still ridiculously poor, but I'm much happier here than I was at the other two jobs.

Back to my point.  My job now has its challenging moments when I need to figure out how to solve someone's insurance problem, remember how to work the policy management program or enter a new homeowners policy, decipher a confusing billing statement, things like that.  Mostly, I sit there by myself and scan and upload documents to their appropriate policies.  It's rather brain-melting once you've done it for a few hours.  I definitely feel like I'm losing sharpness (as can be proven by the rambly nature of this entire post... apologies!) and I'm riddled with guilt about not working on my music.  I'm getting a decent amount done with jewelry, and though I need to shift gears a little for the fall, it's basically in line with what it needs to be for now.  I need to be writing more.  I need to be practicing my instruments.  My symphony will need me on horn in the spring when we play Mahler's 1st Symphony and I'd really like to put together a decent audition for that in the fall so that maybe I can play horn in a couple other concerts too.  That's the instrument I got my degree in, so I'd rather be on that, it was just so much easier to get the cello skills back up and I didn't have to audition on that.

I got my cello out for a bit tonight and after I'm done writing here I'll get my horn out for a little bit before bed.  I took a mouthpiece to work to buzz on when I'm alone so that will help a lot to get my chops back up.

Creativity is also like a muscle, but one that needs a certain set of parameters in order to cooperate.  Only when one is regularly working with it can it come at will; before that it's very hard to snuff out and give up on.  That's what I've been wrestling with since I graduated.  I worked so hard on my thesis that I was pretty well burned out and it's been ridiculously hard to get back on the bandwagon.  My dad and I went to the 1345 Film Festival last weekend and I was impressed and inspired by the short, cute, low-budget films that 100+ people showed up to watch in Art Alley downtown.  It inspired me to get back on track and submit a short or 2 next year so I can make some connections with these people and start working on films again.

Next thing I need to do is figure out how I can start to get my composer brain back.  Maybe I should take a pad of staff paper to work and jot down ideas to work on when I get home?  I can't find the pad I was using in school so I'll need to get a new one.  I'll probably need to retrain my ear as far as getting the right intervals from my head to the page.  I don't want to skimp on my filing responsibilities, but I do need to be able to take 10-15 minutes here and there to do something that actually uses my brain, otherwise I feel like a pile of mush by the time I get home.

I didn't intend this to be as rambling or whiny as it ended up to be, but I think I needed to get all that written down so I can get on with finding solutions and making a plan.  Now, time for a little horn blowing, then bedtime!

Fresh from the desk: Ideas for Fall/Winter designs!

I've been doing a little bit of trend research for Fall/Winter jewelry and I've got some ideas.  Several of the trends are just horrid, I think... like the chunky neon chain thing... bleh.  I won't make anything like that, I'm sorry.  I try to use as little metal as possible most of the time and that would be entirely counterproductive.  I saw a crochet pattern for large chain links that could be strung together, but I didn't like the look of that either.  I'll stick with what I know.

There are a few things that did sound good though: Mixed media is huge.  Wood and pearls on leather with a ribbon, braided denim cuffs, feathers, you name it.  That's very good news for me considering the materials I like to use.  Stacked bangle bracelets and cuffs are big too, and while I can't do the metalworking to make bangles I can figure out how to crochet cuffs with beads.  I have a couple of patterns I'm playing around with to get that to work.  Statement necklaces are still in, and while some of them are gawdy, that still leaves me with plenty of room to experiment.  My statement pieces usually end up smaller than what's on the runway anyway, just because I know so few people who would actually buy something like that, but it does mean I can still use color.  While I work on crocheting cuff bracelets, I'll work on crochet chokers as well.  Vintage-made-new is something I should look into... maybe a couple trips to some local flea markets are in order.

Clothing trends are surprisingly bland.  Lots of colorblocks, mostly with variations of beige, with occasionally something in red.  Runway fashion makes me crazy... so little of it is actually wearable.  A lot of it reminded me of a large taupe square paper sack that even makes the model look stupid.

This next batch of jewelry I'm working on is for the Sturgis Rally that's coming up.  Soon, the Hills will be swarming with motorcycles and they will definitely be around town at the next Saturday show, so I have some ideas for biker-chic pieces to cater to that crowd.

We'll see how this one does... It has a fire agate center donut, hematite, bone, horn, and glass beads, strung on hemp 20" long when tied.  The differing textures of all the beads didn't quite come through, but Mom took the good camera with her to Cleveland so this is what I'm stuck with.  Oh well. 

The heat has finally lifted a little.  Finally, opening my windows lets in the cool evening air like usual!  That hasn't been the case this last week or so.  Hope you're all staying cool and hydrated!

Fresh from the desk: New chain stitch

I'm tired of only using daisy chain and seed-bugle-seed-bugle all in a row.  Those stitches are fine when appropriate, but I'm bored with only having those two options if I'm trying to keep production time down.  I know there are much nicer/fancier stitches out there, but they're so time-consuming that I'd need to raise my prices and I'm not willing to go there just yet.

However, I did come across this one that takes more time than a daisy chain but not near as much as a spiral rope.  It's a little hard to tell with this resolution, but it's a flat chain of small squares with a contrasting color in each corner.  I had redone necklaces with the butterfly pendant a couple of times already.  It's so large that nothing else I tried laid right, but I think the contrast of the frilly butterfly and the square chain with hematite balances the whole piece nicely.  A daisy chain was too much fluff for the pendant and a plain bugle strand was too bland, but this works nicely.

This one is choker-length with navy blue delicas beads and mint green seed beads for contrast.  The squares in the chain echo the geometrics on the ceramic pendant and the green shell discs tie it all together.  I love this little choker and I'll definitely make some more to sell in various places so I can keep one for myself!

All in all, this stitch takes a bit longer than the others but it's useful in ways they lack.  I'm looking at trends for the Fall so I'm sure I'll be able to work this one in more.  I'm also working on some crochet jewelry, so once I have something to show there I'll definitely blog it.  I have an idea for a lace choker with an amethyst nugget front and center... maybe I'll work on that one tonight!

Fresh from the desk: Coin pouches and cat toys

It's been suggested (twice, and somewhat strongly) that I expand my inventory to include items other than jewelry for the shows so that more people are drawn to my table, spend more time looking at the variety, and are more likely to buy something.  It makes sense, and I figured I could do that with some simple crochet projects.

Enter the "hundred yen pouch" pattern.  It's fun, it's easy, it's quick, and they're just plain adorable.  I can get small skeins of 100% USA-grown cotton yarn for a decent price at our local discount/department store in town, so I got a few colors and got to work. 

The first one I made (the green one) took about the length of a movie to make, but once I got the hang of the pattern I managed to cut the time to make one about in half.  I should get some more colors, but I'll just stick with these 4 for now and see how they do at the next show before I make too many.  The mostly white one has flecks of purple, green, pink, and blue, in case you can't tell.  It's my favorite color so far but I liked how the variegated brown/white/blue one turned out with the twist.

My other idea was toys, so I have a couple started.  The bunny pattern is behaving strangely... I always end up with the wrong number of stitches for each round but I think I'm doing it like the pattern says... guess we'll see how it turns out once I finish it or if it ends up horribly disfigured halfway through. 

I did get a couple cat toys finished though, and Cricket loves them!  The first was a "kitty tweet" which turned out pretty darn cute.  It was a little time-consuming for something so small, so the next one I made was just a stuffed disk, and not surprisingly, she likes that one better.  It skids across the floor nicely or something; it's hard to tell exactly what cats prefer other than "the simpler the better."  I didn't put any catnip in the first two, but I will for the next handful I make for the show.  Catnip grows wild out here and my mom has some in her garden so I harvested some of that to dry and put in the cat toys. 

I haven't tried a purse yet, but I'm thinking this one will be a good place to start.  Once I get there, I'll update on how it turns out.  Maybe I'll do that this week when it's too hot to do anything but sit in front of the air conditioner, like today was.  Today resulted in lots of lounging, 2 coin pouches, a necklace that I'll blog next, and a little bit of furniture rearranging while trying desperately to keep the house from getting too hot.  I failed in that attempt, so now I have all of the fans on and windows open hoping the cool air from outside will come in.  There's not much breeze so it's not working as well as usual, unfortunately.  Time for a cool shower!

Summer Fun: Front closet renovated in one day!

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus... oopsie.  Life happens.  I have some interesting projects to show you once I get some pictures done, so we'll see if I can get that done this week.

Today's project was a bit daunting at first, but I got it done and I'm rather proud of myself!  This is what the front closet looked like.  It also has a little shelf and bar for coat hangers, but this was the nasty part.  There had been some carpet stapled down, but I took that out before I moved in.  It helped to reduce the general stink of the house to get the carpet out, but doing a whole gutting of this closet was a bit too much to tackle that day.  I promptly loaded it up with stuff and ignored it until now because, frankly, it was easier to close the door than to actually deal with it.  As I cleaned the stuff out, I ran my winter coats through the wash and rinsed the mud off my winter boots so they could go in a plastic tub for storage elsewhere.  My eventual plan is to use this closet for cleaning supplies and tools, and once I get the tall cupboard gutted and transformed into a pantry with pull-out drawers it will be closer to what I want.  Also, to completely finish that plan, my coats will need another place to live, but the front room won't be constructed for a while still so in storage they go.

As in the rest of the house, there were a ton of staples in the floor.  First order of business was to get those out so I could pull up the old (and terribly ugly) linoleum. 

When the trailer was parked last spring, before we could get it moved, it was parked in our field on a sideways incline with the front door facing uphill.  We had to park it because it wouldn't stop raining and we couldn't get it in position until we had 3 dry days in a row, so the rain dripped in the front door and got everything there wet.  Including this closet.  Thanks to the linoleum, it was still wet underneath.  Great, huh?  Made me gag.  I wondered if it was a leak from the roof or something, but the roof was fine and there were no signs of moisture on the walls, so it should just be left over moisture from then. 

So, I covered it with mildew/mold killer sealing primer and let it dry, like I had done with many other spots in the house.  I took the door off for accessibility but also to paint the frame gloss white like I've done with the rest of the woodwork in the house. At some point I'll set up an assembly line outside and get all the doors painted too.  A couple of them had been done already, and the woodwork was beyond saving, so it's all going white. 

My parents had saved some of their old linoleum at some point.  I don't remember if it was in their old trailer or if it was on the porch in the house they built when I was 1, but they had saved a little scrap for whatever reason and it was nearly the right size for this.  I had already gotten some flooring adhesive for this project several months ago, just to be ready when I actually got around to doing it, so all I had to get was a grout spreader and box cutter from dad to get the new linoleum down.

Next was to decide what to do with the walls.  Most of my wall colors came from the same paint chip, just in varying shades, so they all look good together but it's not all the same.  The kitchen cupboards are the lightest version, the living room and hallway is 3-4 shades darker, and the office and bedroom are one shade darker than that.  They all turned out to be pinker than I expected from the paint chip, but the shade grew on me.  It's sort of fleshy, a neutral with a little personality but not too flashy.  I decided to use the bedroom color in the closet.  Maybe so it wasn't quite the same as the rest of the living room, although the door will usually be closed so it really shouldn't matter.  This picture shows the start of the first coat on the back wall and the gloss white on the door frame.

Two coats of paint later, here we are!  I also added a little white shelf to expand my storage capabilities, but I'll need to keep in mind that there are no studs behind the wall so the shelf can't hold a whole lot of weight, even with wall anchors.  I'm pleased with the results after this sweaty day!