Random thoughts...

...while I'm waiting for the Verizon guy to fix my phone.

I've always been glad when September ends. During school, it was because Halloween was coming and it was one month closer to school being out. But since I've been out of school, it's still always been nice when September is over and done. And I think I finally figured out why. When you're a kid, September symbolizes change. If you like school it's good change, if you don't (like me) it's bad change. But, it’s the change part (good or bad) that's important here. I think the feeling that come September something should change followed me even after I graduated. Now every September I get an edgy feeling, like I should be doing something different. It's worse now that I stay home with the kids, because it really feels like "summer vacation" should be over and I should be going back to school or something. It's kind of like wanderlust. You just feel like you need a change. But now that it's October and I can start focusing more on fall and Halloween coming up, the feeling is starting to fade again. I'm sure it will come back next year too, but for now I'm glad it's gone.

Later!

I really was honest!

Okay I really was gonna work on my sewing, but then I got a flickr account. :) I just spent 3 hours on flickr. That's not good... But anyway, I will be home all day tomorrow, so sewing will be my main project. I'm not typing coherently, so it's time for bed. Oh and here is my flickr account for you guys to check out.

Autumn2May on Flickr

Later! :)

Not too bad I guess.

I didn't get quite as much done today as I would have liked, but considering most of it was spent playing with the kids, I did get a good amount done.

Very recently I convinced my mom, who started my love of crafting longer ago then I will admit, that she should start making things to sell again. She recently had back surgery, and needed something to work on while she was resting up. So here is her first piece.




Her name is Not Even the Mouse. You know, like from the poem? "Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, Not Even the Mouse." Okay, so it's "not even a mouse" in the poem, but whose counting? :) Anyway, she used to make bunches of these (along with lots of other stuff) and sell that at craft shows. So now I talked her into selling them on Etsy instead. :) We just have to think of a good name for her shop, then I'll help her open it up.

This evening I worked on the Hufflepuff ornament some more. Here's more progressing shots.




The little upside down fleur-de-lis are taking WAY longer then I would like, but I started it, so I'm gonna finish it. Hopefully now that I've got the shape down, they'll be quicker to make.

Well I'm off to bed now.

Later! :)

Hufflepuff is a funny word. :)

Okay it's late, I'm starting to get silly. :) So here is this evenings progress. Not much, but it's getting there. If you'll notice this time I'm not doing all the detail work behind where the banner and animal are going to be! I'm learning! :)

And no it's not the picture, the badger and banner are pixely cause that's how it printed for some reason.

Here's what it will look like finished. See you can't see the unfinished part in the corner at all. :)

Okay time for bed, cause I'm miss typing everything!

Later!

Perfect Day for Pictures

I got a lot of pics taken today. Some of my pieces still had there "I'll just take a quick pic so I can post this" pics. So I retook a whole bunch. This one was the biggest change (in my mind anyway).

Before


After



Oh and I also finally posted the casino dice pincushion.

Casino Dice Felt Pincushion with 3 Clay Poker Chip Pins

I think tonight I'll work on the Hufflepuff ornament some more. I haven't been doing a lot of sewing cause this cold is making me fuzzy, but I'm actually feeling slightly better this evening, so maybe it's starting to subside. Anyway, if I do some more on the ornament tonight, I'll post pics before I go to bed.

Later! :)

Stupid Internet

Well as I was uploading the following picture to the web last night, my internet decided to cut out. Here is last nights post:

I worked on the Harry Potter Hufflepuff ornament this evening. I got a lot done too. I finished the black and gray edging and I got the yellow background sewed on (it's not sewed on in the pic, but I don't feel like retaking it). The cut-outs on the edge are slightly more irregular then I would like, but the technique I used worked perfectly! :)



The next order of business is to do the black embroidery in the background. But that will have to wait till tonight, as today is my youngest's 6 month doctor's appointment, and I will be in Hamilton for the duration of the afternoon. But whatever happens today, at least it's Friday! :)

Later!

More Hats!

So I posted all but one of Anne's (The Crocheted Cat) hats today. This one is my favorite from today:

Shades of Blueberry Ear Flap Hat

Not sure what I'm working on tonight, but right now it's time to eat!

Later!

ugg...

I have the worst head cold EVER! Well probably not, but having three boys to chase after is making it feel like the worst cold ever. Now that I think of it, this is my first cold/sickness since I had Jake in March! Weird. I thought the last time I was sick it was a little easier to do stuff, and I was right! Two kids is way easier then three, sorta. My dad always said that once you have three, everything after that is pretty much the same (I have 3 brothers and 1 sister). Anyway, now that I remember that it's been 6 months since I've been sick, I guess I shouldn't complain. :) But being that I am kinda fuzzy today, I think if I work on anything crafty it will be pictures not sewing or sculpey. Okay time to feed the baby!

Later! :)

Well so much for the nice cool weather...

This weekend it was in the 40's at night. Today it is 80. Stupid weather. Anyway I managed to pick up a lovely head cold somewhere this weekend. I thought it was due to me being off my allergy meds for a few days, but I've been back on them since Monday, and I'm still all stuffed up. Hopefully it will be gone soon.

Being that I felt yucky, this morning was not productive at all. I did manage to answer all my mail and get the kids down for their naps without a lot of hassle, but no crafting got done. This afternoon I'm heading to my mom's house to hang out till dinner, at which point Pat and I are leaving the kids with my parents and going out to eat with his. His mom and dad both have September birthdays (and they were actually born the same year!), so we are taking them out to dinner for their birthdays. :) I think his mom wants to go to Red Lobster, but since Pat is in charge, I know nothing.

I should probably get a little bag of stuff together to take to my mom's to work on. Well, I just looked in on the kids and they are right out, so I guess I will get a bag together. I got my new felt in, maybe I'll bring that with me.

Later!

The Crocheted Cat

I just opened my mother-in-law Etsy shop. Anne (The Crocheted Cat) has been making crocheted pieces for years and just made my kids each a cute little toddler sized earflap hat with a pompom on top. :) I'll have to get pics of them wearing them next time I think of it. Anyway, I have half the hats she gave me posted in her shop. I'll hopefully get the rest of the hats posted later this week.

My Brother Steve

I actually had one of my brothers pose wearing the hats, but all but one of the pics came out yucky. He was not overly thrilled to have to pose in the first place, so I'm not sure if he will be happy or annoyed that all but one pic got deleted. :)

Okay now I have to get my dining room put back together.

Later! :)

My house has been nuts lately!

I haven't gotten a lot done lately, for various reasons. The first being we are attempting to start potty training my twins. It hasn't quite happened yet, but soon! Also, since I had my youngest in March, my back has been giving me trouble. It has gotten bad enough, that I can't sleep for more then 4 to 5 hours at a time or it stiffens up and I can't move it in the morning. Needless to say, I haven't been getting much sleep lately. Also on that note, my youngest and my twins are ALL teething! The little one is getting his first tooth, and the twins are working on molars, so really, they haven't been sleeping well either. I'm also trying to organize my work room/computer room/dining room so that it can be used for all of those purposes. If you add all that up + trying to keep the rest of the house clean and take care of the 3 boys in general, it leaves not that much time to work on Etsy stuff. :(

I have gotten a little more done on the Hufflepuff ornament. And I got my felt to do my newest pincushions in on Saturday! :) Now all I need is the time and energy to work on them! ;)

Sorry for the mini rant. I just kinda needed to explain where I had gone. :)

Later!

Sad Update

Mary of Peter, Paul & Mary passed away today. This is from their website:

"Mary Travers passed away today. After successful recovery from leukemia through a bone marrow/stem cell transplant, Mary succumbed to the side effects of one of the chemotherapy treatments."

Peter, Paul & Mary is my favorite folk band (possibly even my favorite any kind of band). Their song Autumn To May is where I got my blog/etsy/online-in-general name. My dad used to sing it to me (along with many of their other songs) when I was little. Now I sing it to my kids.



~ Mary Allin Travers (November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009) ~

Good-bye Mary. We'll miss you and your music. :(

********************************
All my trials lord, soon be over.

I had a little book was given to me,
And every page spelled liberty.
All my trials lord, soon be over.... Read More

If religion were a thing that money could buy,
The rich would live and the poor would die.
All my trials lord, soon be over.

Too late my brothers, too late, but never mind.
All my trials lord, soon be over.

There is a tree in paradise
The pilgrims call it the tree of life
All my trials lord, soon be over.

Too late my brothers, too late, but never mind.
All my trials lord, soon be over.
All my trials lord, soon be over.
********************************

Hmm...

I forget what my last post was. Well right now I'm working on another Harry Potter house shield. I was going to do Ravenclaw, but I don't have the right color blue. So instead I'm doing Hufflepuff. Now I'm not sure if my current plan is going to work, but here is a in progress shot:



At the moment, as you can see, I'm working on the boarder. I'm going to try and attach the outer edge now. Wish me luck (it's really skinny!)!

Later! :)

Beautiful Day!

Last night I bought some new colors in felt on esty, so I can make some sushi pincushions and have the "proper" colors to make the other Harry Potter house shields. But today, since it's so nice out, the family and I are headed to Hamilton to hang out at my mom's house, or possibly go to Septemberfest.

This weekend was a big event at our house: we bought potty chairs for the twins! :o They like them so far, though right now they are just sitting on them fully clothed. They seem excited to go potty like big boys, so I'm hoping this goes pretty smoothly, even though it probably won't. ;)

Since this will be the first week of pottying, I'm going to try to work on some easy sewing stuff I can do in the living room in case I need to jump up quickly to run a kid to the potty! I also need to work on some sculpey special orders, but I can do those at night after all the kids are asleep.

This week I also have to get my mother-in-laws crochet shop (The Crocheted Cat) set up. Well it is set up, it just doesn't have anything in it yet. :) Maybe I'll bring her hats to my mom's and use my brother Steve to model them for me...

Okay time to get this show on the road!

Later!

And so it goes...

And thus ends my unofficial week off from crafting. I did take a break from my break to put my extra ghost lollipop covers on Etsy, but aside from that it was nice not to have to think about crafting for a while.

Felt Ghost Ornament or Lollipop Disguise

Oh and apparently (as Amber (thewanderingknitter) was good enough to inform me) my little ghosts look exactly like a Japanese doll used to keep away rain. Here is one made by Kiiss I found when I searched for them on Etsy.

Teru Teru Bozu

And here is a link to the Wikipedia article on them.

Anyway if you need party favors for Halloween, or a good luck charm to ward off rain, then look no further then my shop! :)

Later!

Craft Circle Day

So today is Craft Circle Day. Since it's cloudy out I probably won't get a chance to take pics of Anne's (The Crocheted Cat) hats, but we'll see. I have to give Amber her pieces she bought from Tony. And I need to post the dice pincushion. Oh and I also should finish the beehive. Okay time to clean up before people get here!

Later!

I gotta share this!

My cousins Amber (thewanderingknitter) and Heather (Gilliantwo) just got interviewed by InJersey.com!

Here's a link to the article: Local Crafters Hearken Back to Past by Embracing Technology

Nice article! Good press for them and Etsy Sellers in general! :) Congrats guys! :)

Dude...

I just posted a bunch of video game pieces for my brother Tony. Since he's back at school, I'll be in charge of his shop (more or less) until he is back for winter break. So here are his newest creations!

Digital Mushroom's Shop

Later! :)

Phew! That was a LONG weekend!

To start off, the craft show on Saturday was a big success! :) Rather then fill up my blog with pics, I'll just link you to my Flickr photo album. (That's my cousin Amber hiding under the tent!) :)



I also posted a few more things to my destash shop this afternoon.

Spring To December: Autumn2May's Destash Shop

Tomorrow, I'm going to see about posting my mother-in-law's hat's in her new shop:

The Crocheted Cat

And post some stuff for Tony, cause he is back at school now:

Digital Mushroom

I also need to finish my Beehive and post my Dice pincushions, and post the ghost ornaments that didn't sell at the craft show. Oh I'm also going to open a shop for my mom. She's going to make sock mice (there is one in the pic below) and other crafty things for Christmas.



That's it for the moment. Later! :)

Before I forget!

For any of you in the New Jersey area who are thinking of attending the Giant Craft Show in Ocean Grove, here's a coupon for you! Just print it out and bring it with you, to cash it in! :)



Here is a link to my original Craft Show post for more info.

Info on my booth!

And here's a link to the Craft Show info. To find info on the craft show, click Events, then Giant Craft Show.

Ocean Grove's Homepage

Okay time to finish loading the car! Tomorrow is an early day!

Later!

Sorry...can't talk...busy!!!!!

Getting ready for the craft fair is kicking my butt! I'll post again Sunday when I'm DONE! :)

Later! :)

Kids and napping...

...two things that should go together, but don't. I really don't understand children. If someone said I could take a nap everyday day I would kiss their feet. Say the same thing to a two year old and you get a look that could curdle milk, followed by a 5 to 10 minute screaming fit. Sigh...kids.

Short post cause it's late.

I finished the sun pincushion tonight. Here's the finished product:





I also got my mom's van packed for the craft show. It turns out it will just be me, Amber, and Heather selling stuff, cause Melissa couldn't come. Okay bedtime!

Later! :)