I apologize in advance for the length  

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Since getting back from the cruise I've been a busy little beaver... Well, kinda.

The thing is, as soon as we got back on land the horrible sinus headaches I had all trip finally manifested into a cold. I'm grateful that it waited until the vacation was over, but it a.) made ending the vacation that much tougher and b.) slowed me down when I had things to do!

I mentioned in a previous blog that I was making scrub caps for a friend. I got three of the five [including the Halloween one - remember?] finished before we left, so I had the last two to finish when we got back. I felt bad enough for not finishing them all, so I didn't want to leave it too long. However, sewing is something that I personally feel you need to be in tip-top shape for, otherwise you make a load of stupid mistakes and could potentially ruin the project... which is ALMOST what happened. Since I had all the pieces cut out already and all I had to do was assemble, each hat should have only taken an hour or two - instead, one hat took me like four hours because I kept making stupid stupid mistakes because I still felt poorly. I wasn't able to use my iPod, either, since I forgot to charge it. I really don't work well without music [I'm calling it a fact now]. Anyway, in the end, as always, it all turned out ok. My poor hubby had to suffer a couple temper-tantrums, but he should be used to it by now ;)

The other project that was waiting for me when we got home was one of my "signature" Twilight bracelets. First, a little back story:

Yes, this time last year I was obsessed with the Twilight books [before the movie came out, I'd like to mention]. Of course, it reflected in my crafts. I made a few pieces of Twilight inspired jewelry to wear to the midnight screening of the movie and they were a huge hit [the best thing about that night, because the movie sure wasn't, haha]. Lots of people [ok, they were teenage girls] commented on them and asked me where I got them, and were very impressed that I made them. Unfortunately, this was before I had started my etsy, so I missed a golden opportunity to pimp myself out. When I finally got around to opening my etsy shop, however, the two twilight bracelets were the first thing to be listed! The stretchy "book cover" bracelet sold within a couple hours! So I made another - and that one sold. Then came a Twilight convention - I made my friend one to wear to it, and I made a different version of it for myself, on top of a bunch of other Twilight inspired jewelry. The second my friend and I arrived at the Twilight convention we were swarmed by a bunch of older women who wanted to know about my jewelry! I passed out a lot of business cards that day, but I didn't see any immediate boost in sales.

Then came Twilight convention #2, haha! We wore the same jewelry and this time, it wasn't other Twilight fans who noticed and complimented - it was the Twilight STARS! Well, just one. The hottest one - Kellan Lutz [aka: Emmett Cullen]! We went to take a photo of him and he said he liked our jewelry and asked us where we got it - When we told him that I made it, he said "That's cool!" *blush* It was unexpected and awesome. I also gave out quite a few business cards that time. If I'd have known, I would have taken a lot more. We ended up leaving about 10 on a table next to the "photo" line and within minutes they were all gone! But, once again, I didn't see an immediate boost in sales. So fat lot of good that did, eh?

Eventually the listings expired and I've just not bothered to renew them because, well, I'm about ten different kinds of OVER Twilight! I still appreciate the books and how I felt about them when I read them, but... the movie is just so LAME! I LOVE some of the actors [and HATE Kristen Stewart ], and I LOVE making fun of the movie [and Kristen Stewart] with my close friends who feel the same way - hence why we all trailed all the way up to Atlanta for the convention, but it's gotten WAY out of control. The marketing is overkill to the extreme and, well, I'm just over it! Sure, I'm still going to New Moon [HELLO! One of my favourite actors/characters tries to KILL my LEAST favourite actor/character! That's worth $8 right there!] at midnight, but make no mistake, I will not enjoy waiting in that line with those teeny-boppers. I've moved on to bigger and badder things - True Blood! I've even been toying with the idea of bringing one of the books from the Sookie Stackhouse series to read whilst waiting for New Moon [and perhaps a bookmark that says "Real vampires don't sparkle?"].

Anyway! I've gotten WAY off track here! The whole point of this babble-fest was the Twilight bracelet! My good friend Michelle asked me to make one for a younger family member's birthday. I started on it before we went on vacation and finished it as soon as I was able when we got back. It was sort of nice to make it again, since it's where all of this started, but I really really REALLY don't want to be known as the girl who makes Twilight jewelry and nothing else. It's not where my heart is, and frankly, I'm not sure I want that kind of attention [aka: dealing with the demographic]. I'll still make it if someone asks for it, of course.

I have three other commissions lined up within the immediate future, as well. I got a custom order request on etsy for three matching, painted sunflower bracelets, so that's what I'm working on right now. Next, I'll be knitting a half-dozen [I think] butterfly dishcloths for a very good friend. I made her two for her birthday and I guess she liked them because she wants more! Heh. I used an non-bleached cotton yarn that my Nanny gave me from England, but I don't have enough left to do six, so I'll have to see if JoAnn's has anything similar. The last project is something I've just recently gotten myself into - a knitted J.R. "Bob" Dobbs tote bag. This fabulous creature known as Logan is a big fan of the icon and all he stands for, so when I happened to mention in passing that I have a pattern for the graphic, he was VERY excited and damn-near begged for something, heh.

So there you have it! Busy busy busy! When I have a lot of things I have to do, I tend to shut down and generally avoid working in any way possible [say, BLOGGING] until the last possible minute. I'm trying desperately not to do that, but I'm not sure how successful. Of course, the only thing that I gave myself an absolute deadline for is the etsy commission, but it's not like I want to take too long to do the others - just because I'D feel bad.

Once again I'll end this kicking myself in the pants, telling myself to stop gabbing, and get to work!

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13, 2009 . You can leave a response and follow any responses to this entry through the Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) .

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