A few useful tips

Here are a couple of helpful tips I've learned along the way these last few months:

Tamanu oil works wonders. I have used it with success on human and animal ringworm, acne and skin infections. It is dark in color and has a strong nutty aroma. It is made by using the bark, leaves and seeds of the Tamanu tree. It has been used as an antiseptic, astringent, expectorant, diuretic and purgativs. The oils of the seed and root have been used to treat wounds and scabies. In Pacific island folk medicine, the oil has been topically applied to treat various ailments such as cuts, scrapes, burns, insect bites and stings, abrasions, acne and acne scars, psoriasis, diabetic sores, anal fissures, sunburn, dry or scaly skin, blisters, eczema, herpes sores, and to reduce foot and body odor. The oil has also been topically applied to the neck area to treat sore throat. The oil is valued for its analgesic and pain-relieving properties and has been used to treat neuralgia, rheumatism, and sciatica. The oil is used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat rheumatism, skin infections, wounds, leprous nephritis, pain, eye diseases, and inflammation. (drugs.com)Now, I can't vouch for its leper-healing qualities but I can attest to its antifungal and antibacterial nature. It is said to reduce scars and I believe it has reduced the scarring during the healing of a cat scratch (mine heal terribly uplifted and ugly). I recommend Mountain Rose Herbs as a terrific retailer. I would also be willing to provide you with a much smaller and affordable portion for a trial of your own. The smell isn't the most pleasant but the result is!

You can't take yourself too seriously. Or this world, for that matter. There will always be people who cheat the welfare system so they can live in their big houses. The individuals who don't seem to deserve it will always be the ones that get that not promotion or the fancy new car. In the end, the only thing you get out of this world is what you put into it. As Walter James said, "Only those things I notice shape my mind."

Newly In Stock: Woodland by Natalie Lymer from Lecien

Newly for sale in the CPD shop is the most wondrous and whimsical fabrics from one of my most favorite crafties, Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches. I have the pleasure of owning one of her stitchery books and let me tell you, she's amazing. Talented, original and sublime only begins to scratch the surface of her designs. Please check out the shop to see the partial line we have in stock. You can click on the pictures to open the listing in a new window. Thanks for popping by!

Where have you BEEN!?!!??

Where have you BEEN?

Oh. My. Goodness.


I apologize. Profusely. Let me grovel.

A Tropical HeatWave

I hope all of you are staying cool, wherever you are. We are having a summer wave of heat which has pushed our heat index well over the 100 degree mark. Mr. Gnome and I have continued our boycott of installing the window air conditioner unit downstairs -- we did give in and install one upstairs. This has only been the second time we turned it on since its installation. Since having only one running doubles our electric bill, we have done what we can to conserve.

progress made

I've been allowing myself little bits of here-and-there crafty time. I started two separate projects. One is tedious, time consuming and I know I can't finish it in one sitting - but it is something I can pick up for 15 minutes at a time, no problem. The other is increasing my stash of zipper pouches.

Apple Mango Smoothie

So behind, so behind.
I feel like no matter what I do, I keep lagging behind. One would think that the spring (and summery) feel of recent weeks would make one more productive -- but it's been just the opposite. I've had family gatherings, friend obligations, feelings of tiredness and sub-par productivity drive.

Tutorial Tuesday - or, "What not to eat"

This isn't a crafty tutorial. This isn't a how-to tutorial. This is a "what not to eat" tutorial.

WHY?

I love spring!

I love spring. Really, I do. The trees that line the streets of my small town are dotted with puffy white flowers. The cherry trees are all blossomed and I have a hard time focusing while driving because it's SO distracting!

We've been busy here in my household. So busy that I haven't finished any crafty projects since the last time I posted. We did, however, break out the bicycles and go for several rides - one of which was about 2.5 hours long and INCREDIBLY taxing on my winter-soft body. We also framed and fenced the entire garden to keep our pesky dogs from trampling the fragile lettuce and sugar snap peas we planted. It looks quite nice. Mr. Gnome decided on getting lattice rather than simple 1x4's. We overheard nosyneighbors talking about our fence, and not in the most pleasant way... ah, the desire to move away from the smack-up-against-everyone kind of neighbors.

Looking at houses has been another big to-do on our priority list. We haven't found *the* one yet, but dagnabbit we sure are trying hard. We're going to look at a couple tomorrow. One is WAY out of our league

oh yeah, out of my league.

The other may just be a probability!



I've had a couple of custom orders placed in the past few days - so I'm really hoping to get back into the swing of things. I've been very scattered, lately, and I just can't seem to focus on one thing. This may be what I need to get focused. Or maybe not. Time will tell.

What have you been working on, lately?

Twenty days?

It has been almost twenty days since I have last posted for you. Why?
I started my new job. It has been a tiring, draining, exhausting mind-blowing bunch of days for which I am both thankful and tired of. In my usual fashion, I have allowed this new job to overtake me, consuming my every thought and devotion. I have let my mind wander back to work when it should have been contemplating personal time and enjoying life with my Mr. Gnome.

Ready for the horrifying information?

Beginnings Anew

WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS PURELY PERSONAL RAMBLINGS OF A NON-CRAFTING CRAFTER. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS IN NO WAY A CRAFTILY POST. IF YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN READING PERSONAL DAILY MONOTONY, MOVE RIGHT ALONG; BACK TO YOUR DAILY SHUFFLE AND GRIND; RESUME YOUR STUMBLEUPON JOURNEY; GRAB YOUR SHERPA AND GO!

:)

You know you've been sewing too long when...

I've spent the majority of today sewing. Clearly, I got a giganto-spool of white thread. I took the morning to cut many pieces, iron them and then get to work sewing all of them at once. Considering the lull I've been in (see previous few posts) this is a great step for me in the right direction. The dogs have been quiet, Mr. Gnome has been putting in some overtime at work - so I get to jam out to some music and have some quality time with my sewing machine.

New Listing and Question for YOU!

So, I was able to be crafty a LITTLE bit during the past week. So without further adieu I present the Spring Magnolias Tote:

 

I've got the itch!!

I feel like I keep apologizing lately for the lack of posting. So I'll apologize again... I've got the itch! It feels like spring has sprung early in my area and the beautiful weather has been prohibiting me from sitting inside behind my sewing machine. I can't seem to help myself.

Tutorial Tuesday - or, "I'm Out Of White Thread!"

Happy Tuesday!

I promised a flat-bottomed zip-pouch tutorial, and a flat-bottomed zip-pouch tutorial is what I will provide. I know many of you have made zip-pouches before, but this is the way I have found that works for me. This post is fairly pic-heavy (sorry for the iffy quality of some of them -- I only had so much daylight to work with!).Additionally, I won't be posting new projects until I get my hates-to-leave-my-house-behind to the store to grab some white thread. This staple of my sewing... um... things... has been practically running away. I have *no* idea how I have gone through so much white thread. I need a gigantically large spool. Anyone have a tremendous spool of thread they'd like to gift me?

ONWARD!

My Homemade To-Make list

A slightly less-than-perky "howdy!' to all of you. Why not cheerful? Mr. Gnome and I went a-house hunting this weekend. On one of my morning online searches, I found a property not previously found in my search. It didn't have many pictures posted but it did state it is on almost 4 acres, has some pasture land, lots of goodie-oodie-oodies (such as an already built chicken coop) and some outbuildings that need fixing up. The price is only a little higher than we would like to spend. The kicker is

On Houseplants and Holistics

Acalypha pendula

I do believe I have mentioned before in this blog that I have a love for many, many things. One of these loves includes houseplants. I had a wonderful terrarium filled with many goodies, a Dwarf Chenile plant (Acalypha pendula), a Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea) that I moved inside for the winter and loves to bloom on snow days, a Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum) which keeps sprouting little baby plants no matter how many I pluck - and a plethora of plants which may or may not continue to grow. A few weeks ago I brought home a $2 fern from Produce Junction -- which has awesome produce in the Phila area, by the way. Anyway!

A Slothful Sunday

It has been a very slow, slothful Sunday here. At the end of the last workweek, I could not have been more excited for all the potential craft time. However, as the weekend progressed, I got less and less motivated to be creative. Since it is the weekend of Valentines Day, Mr. Gnome and I headed down to NE Phila to grab a bite to eat at the tiniest hole-in-the-wall sushi joint. I kid you not: This place has the most BANGIN spicy tuna roll I have ever tasted. And their seared black pepper tuna is so fall-apart tender that it melts in your mouth. We were so excited to go there that we even got all dressed up for the occasion... to be excitedly greeted by a customerless waitress. We got to pick our own table and got top-notch service. We really could not have asked for a better date.

Visitor

I have had the pleasure of having an unexpected visitor the past three days. Her name?
MIGRAINE.

In hopes of spring

Happy Saturday, followers!
I've been a busy little bee today and completed two new bags to share with all of you.

They are made from Riley Blake's "Rainy days and mondays" collection. I must say, they're absolutely adorable. One is a smaller purse, measuring around 7x9. The other is a medium size tall tote.
Check them out!!

Buh-rand new bag!

Well howdy hello how-do-you-do?!

I'm in a perked up mood because I successfully tore apart my machine and put it back together and am happy to report I got her all fixed up! I was able to finish the custom commissioned mushroom bag and it will be to its destination by Friday evening. How amazing a snow day can be for one's spirit and determination. It has been my day of happiness and hope.

Enough words, on with the bag!

Ice Storm and Productivity

Isn't it amazing how a bit of natural beauty sparks the creative spirit?

Happy Sunday, Everyone!

Happy Sunday, everyone!
Considering my sewing machine is a hot mess, I'm going to just do something for myself today. I want all of you to do the same. I don't care if you have a million obligations and things that need to be done - take 15 minutes, that's all I ask, and do something for yourself. Take a bath. Paint your nails. Throw away that pile of junk that's been sitting on your desk forever. Do something that makes you, and only you, feel good.

And if you feel like sharing, please do!

I'll let you know what I chose later today.

They're Here!!!

Oh happy day!

My new fabrics have arrived! How beautiful, right? They're by Laura Gunn's Magnolia Lane line. I just can't help myself... they're so pretty!!
But... my sewing machine...

It's pretty much still on the fritz. I've cleaned and oiled and practiced and it still just won't sew. I have changed the thread and the bobbin and it will sew a few straight lines, then for no reason at all go back to jamming the fabric into the feed dogs while getting the thread all wrapped around the bobbin.

I really have no idea what caused this catastrophe but I'm going to say that my machine needs to be serviced ASAP.


All custom orders will have to wait for a while to be made. I'm already backed up and have aspirations of making a little cape for a certain little girl so... looks like sewing is off the hook for a while.


Polymer clay... watch out... I'm coming for you!

Of course it would!

Well, the storm has hit my area. I'll shorten the "storm" to: the forecasts were wrong and it's snowing lots and lots. k.

this is, in no way, what the thread should look like
just in case you were wondering

After my two hour commute to work, hour stay, subsequent closing and over hour drive back I decided to unwind by working on that awesome soft feathery wonderfulness that is the custom commissioned mushroom zip top tote (quite a mouthful right?). I pin and tuck and get everything together. I sew one side of a zipper with no problems at all. Then, all of a sudden, my machine jams and I can't get the fabric out of the machine. It is literally pinned into the machine, the needle won't move up or down and I'm scared to death of ripping this wonderful fabric. I eventually get it out (in tact!) and open up the bobbin case to see what the deal is. After removing large quantities of thread that became tangled during the mush, I tried sewing on a scrap piece of fabric. Same thing happened. I took apart the whole bobbin-dealies and got rid of all fuzzies, pieces of tiny thread and anything else that could have possibly made its way into the case. I adjusted tension and tried different thread... and I can't fix it. I just can't fix it.

I am heartbroken.

I wanted to finish this bag tonight so I could send pictures to its commissioner. I wanted to continue to sew a nice raindrop pleated bag. Not tonight, my friends. I will be scouring for answers related to how to get my beloved machine unstuck.


Suggestions, anyone?

Please, in the meantime, share with me your recent projects...

Rockin Snowstorm in the Northeast

 Tonight, I started making a custom-commissioned zip-top bag in a slightly new design. I've got a bit more time to make it than usual so I have time to play around with the design to make it better and more efficient. So far, I have been quite pleased with the result.

In keeping the promises I made myself...

Out of the past three days, I have had the majority of two to myself. I used this time to try to renew my spirit as I have been quite high-strung and stressed lately. I got a lot accomplished but I can't help but think about all the things I did not yet get done. I'm going to try to make it my mission to focus on what was done, what was accomplished and what was good rather than the opposite.

This is my homage to happycat

It's not like I didn't get a lot done today while Mr. Gnome was out snowboarding with his big brother. In fact, I made myself a "feel good" list and on it is about 20 accomplishments for the day - including making a big pot of hamburger soup, scrubbing out my sink and renaming many of the files I had to recover on Friday when I had learned that my hard drive died while trying to completely reload my laptop (which was accomplished yesterday - bam!). Another of today's distractions was that of a fuzzy nature... happycat was SO attached today that each time I turned around - whoosh - there she was. Doing laundry, making dinner, scrubbing the sink, blow drying my hair, even (yikes) getting into the shower.

Tomorrow I get a girls' night. We work out and make dinner and all is right with the world. It really is true what they say: when you are in a stable, loving relationship your waistline tends to increase. Or maybe it's just the winter. Or my love of all things starchy, carb-filled and sweet. That and Mr Gnome eats all day. I kid you not. He eats seconds or thirds, and within a couple hours he's back to being hungry. I only wish I could eat like him... oh the feasts I would consume!

So, in keeping the promises I made myself, I am going to treat myself to a little mini-self-manicure while waiting for MrG to get home from his frosty trip.

New Year, New Products!

Hello my long lost followers!
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. With the holidays, my sister's baby, trying to adjust to going back to work on a daily basis after having so many days off and some of those other cogs life throws in one's wheel - I'm finally getting back into crafty-mode. I've received several requests from my website (http://www.crimsonphoenixdesigns.com/) that I am positively THRILLED about.

I know money is tight after the holidays so any new bag I make I will personally calculate a price for. If you order more than one bag, you will receive a discount. I am also offering first-class shipping. This does not get to you as quickly as priority mail but I know some of you see the $5 shipping and have second thoughts. Just let me know if you'd like first-class shipping and I will get you a quote. I shipped a bag to Canada the other day for a mere $2.02!!!

What would you like to see, fellow bag-lovers? Please let me know. I can't make bags without you.


------Warning: Personal stories below. If you're interested in products-only information, this is where your ride stops. Please be careful exiting the tramcar.------


Mr. Gnome and I have had our bouts with the difficulties of life over the past few weeks. Everything from work woes to getting stranded after believing we just had a wonderful evening... it has been trying.

We have been saving money so we can buy a home, rather than rent the one we are in now. We would love nothing more than a nice, victorian-esque or old stone farmhouse on a little plot of land to call our own. (My love of creating doesn't end with fabric - I love gardening and planting and all kinds of get-down-and-dirty-outside hobbies). I also have this desire for a goat. And an alpaca. And a llama. And a horse. Ok maybe that's going too far for now but you can see my point. I aspire to have more than a small home with a tiny backyard which only has room for one flat of flowers and a couple of tomato plants. I want to try my hand at corn and pumpkins. I want to have the opportunity to have a goat, even if I don't believe my life will truly ever be ready for it. I just want something to call my own. (and, universe, a fireplace would be great. kthx.)

We also have similar cars, but different years and styles. We have since found that as soon as something goes wrong with one of our cars, the other will break within 6 months. We've had flat tires, broken windshields, a broken sunroof, several windows that will not go (or stay) up (some of these are still not fixed), an ignition in need of replacement and that's not the last of it. Yes, all, this has been within the past 6 or so months. We would love to just get different cars but a car payment is one of the last things we need right now... and with our cars needing so much work, we couldn't get a different car as an even trade. And the last time one of the cars broke down, we just got done meeting our realtor for the first time and were feeling super good even though we found out our dream home has gone from "available" to "pending"... til we got out to the parking lot and my car wouldn't start. I'm not a person that is super spiritual or into all the happenings of the universe, but I know a sign when I see one. And I believe that's a sign. Of what, I'm not sure... or maybe it's a test... to see how much I can handle... to keep me grounded and my head out of the clouds (clouds? you're unclear of what I mean? please see paragraph above this one. llamas? yeah there you go.)

I have been having some medical issues as well; issues which I will not delve into for the whole world to see, but just know they have not been minor scrapes and bruises. And an internal organ which I have not-so-lovingly named "Vlad."

These issues, along with several more I am not yet ready to share with the world, have been making me feel quite overwhelmed and in need of a mental vacation. As much as I try to be a nice, easygoing person, I am at heart a wound-up worrywort of the largest proportions. I also like to make lists and have plans and these issues.... well they have thrown lots of cogs in my wheels and almost stopped them from moving altogether. It seems there have been issues for me every few days and sometimes I simply can not handle all of these things at once.


So now that you have an understanding of my last month or so, I'd like to apologize for my lack of crafts and posts and new items. Sometimes, you need to be in a good spot in your life (or day) to feel that creative juice flowing and, followers... it hasn't been flowing. No amount of yummy Kona coffee I ingest has been making it warm up and thaw out. It has been frozen solid in my rigid, stressed out body for several weeks and for that I apologize. However, my snow day today has been (I believe) the start of my inspriation to get back behind that sewing machine. I hope to get some new products out to all of you very soon. I need to sew. I need my hobbies. I need an outlet for my hostility, my anger, my love and all things in between (Mr. Gnome can't take much more of any of those things!)

So, please, if you would like to see something, do not hesitate to make special requests. Happycat will gladly field your requests and give them to me in the order in which they came... or she will print them and sleep happily on the paper... either way, I will find them.

I wish you all the happiest of Fridays and a fantastical weekend.

All my love,