The Raven Moon and Me

15 years? Really???

This morning, I realized that today is the 15th anniversary of the day I was graduated from college.  Wow...those years went by really quickly.  A lot has happened in them, but I won't delve into all that.  Some of it was great;  some of it not so great or downright rotten.  It's water under the bridge though.  My path through life has taken a lot of twists and turns, and there have definitely been some obstacles.  But I think I needed all of those things to happen to help me to learn the lessons that I came into this lifetime needing to learn.  Now, I look at my life, and I see that I'm still on the path that I originally set out upon 15 years ago.  I just didn't get here the way that I thought I would.

This snapshot is from that day.  (That's my little sister that I cut out of the photo, not because I don't want her in it, but because she would be pissed off with me if I showed her as an awkward 12-year-old.)  I've decided to celebrate by having a 15% off sale in my Etsy shop.  Check out the shop for full details.

Stick to the dandelions, please.

I've a little visitor in my back yard in the past couple of weeks that reminds me of a scarf I designed last year.  At least three times, I've looked out my kitchen window to find it sitting there, nibbling away on violets and dandelion greens.  Fortunately, it did not venture over to the fennel plants I have sitting on the ground, waiting to be planted.  Please save those for the swallowtail caterpillars, Mr. or Ms. Bunny.

Rabbits are said to represent new life.  I hope my bunny friend was here to usher in a new phase of my artwork. 

Finally...a breath

After a few weeks of things breaking, repairs and replacements, building up inventory, and getting ready for a show, I finally took a deep breath today.

It's amazing how things can change so drastically in a day's time.  And I've been rather happy with myself in that I'm pretty much rolling right along with it all.  The big thing this week was finding out that the first of two weaving classes that I was hoping to take this summer in North Carolina has been cancelled due to insufficient enrollment.  Reading that sentence was extremely disappointing.  But as I read on, I found that the owner of the center which holds the classes is offering to have me stay an extra week after the second class on my schedule (which I've been told has enough people in it) to get an informal lesson from the first instructor as she would be at the center working on her own weaving.  Um, yes, I'm interested.  Very much so!  I feel like a gift has been placed in my lap, and it's a wonderful feeling.  Then, there was a bit of dread as I had to tell the head of the dance troupe I perform with, and the other members of the troupe, that I have to pull out of our big show, as I would be staying in NC, rather than driving back to Ohio for the weekend.  But it went okay.  Now, I just have to figure out how to cover my vending table at the dance seminar in my absence.  I've been dying silk dance veils and hip scarves specifically for that weekend.  I'll have to compile a list of people that I can ask.  (Little sister, are you reading this???)

Since I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, I haven't gotten to say how excited I was to see my lilacs and my serviceberry tree in full bloom this spring.  Last year, a frost burned all of the buds, and there weren't any blooms.  And in the case of the serviceberry tree, that meant no serviceberry jam could be made.  But as you can see in this photo (I apologize for the graininess, as I can't lift the screen in my bedroom window), there were plenty of white blossoms this year, so there will be jam...and cobbler...oh, and maybe a pie or two.

Where's the Couch?

Okay, I have some major packaging to do if I want to be able to sit down again.

Anyone like to iron?  Anyone?  Hello?  (Sound of crickets.)

Just call me Sloppy..

Why not?  That's what my brother calls me.  Of course, he's usually referring to the fact that I have a tendency to spill during meals.  And when I was a little girl, one of my uncles called me Pigpen, as I would play in the piles of topsoil that my landscaper father would have at our house.  I still play in the dirt...I just call it gardening now. 

When it comes to my artwork, oh yes, I don't shy away from making a mess.  If I draw with charcoal, I normally end up looking like the priest was heavy-handed at Ash Wednesday mass.  When I dye fabric (despite the fact that I wear gloves...most of the time), I usually turn out spotted and speckled.  This picture is one of my lesser messes from last week.  On Monday, after doing 10 dyebaths, I then went to teach belly dance classes with turquoise and magenta hands.  We had a brand new beginners class that was starting that evening, and while in the midst of giving my welcome talk, I looked down and discovered that I had transferred blue dye to my stomach.  I'm sure I made a great impression.  I could hear the nature program voiceover in my head.  "Here we observe the blue speckled goofball in her natural habitat."  You better believe it!

The messes I make are so worth it when I see the finished products.  In the past week, I've dyed over 100 chiffon scarves in preparation for vending this spring and summer.  First up is Artisan Sundays at the North Market here in Columbus.  I will be participating in all but one of the Sundays.  I would have loved to have done the entire season, but the June date coincides with a trip to North Carolina that I have planned.  It should be a great time!

Handknit to Handmade

I'm spending the evening at home, trying to finish a kelly green sweater before my wonderful friends Anissa and David's St. Paddy's Day party tomorrow evening.  I'm bound and determined to finish it before the party....and still have time to make Irish soda bread and red cabbage braised in mead (I'm getting hungry just thinking of it).  But I'm taking a short break to mention that I will be featured in The Handbook to Handmade Volume 5, which showcases the work of 35 sellers from Etsy.  The book is the creation of fellow Etsy seller, Timothy Adams, whose metal work is fantastic.  One of the other featured sellers, beadkeepers, created the above video of the work of all the artists in the book.   Keep an eye out for my Magenta Tile batik scarf.

I really wanted a snow fort

After spending the weekend watching the snow fall and knitting, I finally stepped outside on Sunday.  The sun was shining, and everything was glistening white.  The little kid in me wanted to build a snow fort and go sledding down the hill in front of my house.  But instead, I was a responsible adult (Yuck!), and I shoveled my driveway.  I kind of hated to disturb the snow, as it was so pretty.  It reminded me a layer of fondant over a cake. 

I really don't mind shoveling so much.  It's good exercise.  But 20 inches is a lot of snow!  And my driveway is not short.  It goes up a hill and all the way past my house.  So the task took most of my afternoon.  Thankfully, my dad showed up just as I was losing steam to help finish.

I've got the warm purples!

Some more love has been shown for my Stomping Grapes scarf!  I discovered this treasury just now...I really should be getting ready to go teach, but I just had to share with everyone.

Kiss Me Twice

I had a lovely surprise tonight while checking out the Etsy Treasuries.  Two gold stars, one just above the other!  It's been about a month since the last time I found one of my pieces featured in a Treasury, so to have two in the same day was fantastic!

My blue Lotus Flower scarf is in great company with so many other gorgeous lotus pieces in the treasury by StudioElan.

The other collection is items in beautiful shades of purple, including my Stomping Grapes scarf.  The treasury was curated by TeaWorksCottage.

(As I'm feeling much loved, I thought the post deserved a Lita Ford reference for a title.)

Surviving the Slings

My sister's party was a lot of fun, and I was a good older sister and dressed for the theme.  I do so love my blue Chinese top!  The following night, I was a very tired girl, and I ended up getting into bed before 9:30....which is rare for me, as I'm quite a night owl.  I slept for over nine hours, and I've completely thrown off my normal sleep cycle.  Hopefully, tonight I can get back on track.

I've been listing more of my scarves in the shop.  As I was editting the photo of this scarf, I realized where I had seen a similar color patterning.  These roses look so much like the scarf.  I think they would look wonderful in my garden.