I'm Back

Ok I am back now!
No pictures for this post as my computer in in the tech hospital while Dr Lloyd fixes him. and all my pictures were there and all my favourite sites ect.

So the renovation is STILL not done! we were supposed to be able to be living in the new space in August, or so the contractor said. Will NEVER use him again. We were going to do all the drywall ourselves, however hubby over did it and has carpal tunnel in BOTH wrists! And I have weak wrists from a previous injury and while i could do a bit at a time it would take months. so we hired a guy who is doing fabulous work, a wizard with mudding compound. If luck holds I'll be able to paint this weekend. The 4 kids with new rooms or new walls (1 had horrid panelling before) all want sky blue. 3 want clouds painted on the walls and the 4th wants a blue winter tree pattern. luckily the 5th kid is fine with her wall colour for now. So I googled how to paint clouds on walls and the 5 sites i hit all had the same instructions so that's reassuring. So as far as the reno goes all I need to panic about is getting the cat to stop "going" in there instead of the litter box.

crafting news
I am selling a bunch of the poptab purses just from people seeing mine and asking. I don't have any in my etsy shop, and at shows people ooh and ahh at the ones displayed but no buyers. But I have had enough buyers to make me think that after Christmas I should list them. i am starting to make tab book marks and my 12 yr old DD wants me to attempt a tank top. we shall see after all the painting in my near future is done. jewelry sales have been a dissapointment. I lost a lot of money trying to do big city shows. And even my usual big sale show in Eastend was lower than usual, no loss but maybe made 1/3 of my usual. So next year I will go back to the tiny rural shows and maybe even put one on with a friend who has been tossing the idea around with me.

Adaira
As you know my now 12 yr old has been having major issues with her diabetes which is the major reason I haven't been posting. her health declined rapidly going from once a month hospitalization to every other week to every week. her specialist still insisted it was our fault and hinted we didn't know how to count carbs or that she was rebelling and not taking her insulin. so we ignored him and went hunting for a pediatrition who would listen and care. (I know i ask a lot in the "don't care" health system) finally we found Dr. Addai. at first he was the same as her specialist, but after a few weeks he realized that I was right, something was wrong. and then he noticed that the insulin type at home is not the same as the stuff given in hospital. so we switched insulins and poof her numbers are good. Ends up she DID have a resistance to the insulin she had been on. Even though it is very rare to have happen. He actually appologised for the way he treated us (like we were not taking care of her right) when do Drs EVER do that?!
During all this there were a few visits to hospital where she should have been in a coma. she was in ICU enough for the nurses to notice when she had growth spurts. I know some of the peds nurses birthdays, stories about their families, and things you really shouldn't be able to recall about the peds nurses.

So thank-you to everyone who prayed for and supported us through this struggle!! it looks like we have it figured out! There will be a few weeks of tweeking her new doses, but her blood sugar is still a lot better.

DIY jewelry displays

I know I know it's been a very very long time since I last posted!

We are finally started on the addition for the house. We are adding a dining room and a small studio for me up stairs and 3 bedrooms to the basement. so the kids do not have a backyard this summer.

In some fabulous news.... I have 2 shops who want to carry my jewelry on consignment! I did have some in a small shop in Eastend, but the shop is closing this month, it was only open seasonally, and during odd hours. But a new place in Eastend is going to start this month, and I get a large portion of a room to display as i like. It's a antique and gift shop one one side and a snadwich shop on the other, so she gets both local folk and tourists, open year round. MUCH better!

The other spot is in a small community called Manitou Beach. My Daughter goes there every summer fot diabetes camp, and this time we went and looked into some of the local gift shops after dropping her off. well the woman running Blueskys and Dragonflies has a hand made gift shop, and her jewelry person is done this year and off to college. So she was looking for someone and wanted unique. I think my crocheted stuff fits unique :) She is only open 5 months of the year, May to Sept, BUT I get a 4 foot by 4 foot spot, and she charges $25 rent, and then 7% commission... hello doesn't get much better. So I have several months to get stocked for her.

Now with 2 shops and a whack load of craft shows comming up soon I need displays,( and a ton of stock) so i went to the local 2nd hand shops and the garage to get supplies to DIY it:

I might use these small shed antlers for rings. cost was a hike done previously, and serious washing. Oh and the rings shown were all done yesterday, that's right, I the silly, made 65 rings in a day. But at shows they sell faster than anything esp to little girls with a $5 bill to spend.

This is actually a coaster holder, but it works perfectly for cell phone charm display! ( good idea Elaine!) and so costly.... .25 cents

And this old CD rack is perfect as an earring rack, with 3 sides it can hold over 40 pair.I also bought a spice rack and used the spinner on the bottom of the earring rack. the spice rack was $1 and the CD rack $2. Now I just need to make earring cards..... later.

And this Earring rack is/was a lovely wire mesh garbage can I got at the dollar store for a dollar. I used a lazy susan I bought for $2 and sewed a burgundy liner to the top (bottom) so the earrings aren't lost in the mesh pattern.

And the rest of the spice rack? yeah well I took the uprights off, glued 2 together, and screwed them into the top of the old spice rack, then I cut a mop handle to size, and used more wood glue and 2 screws to secure them in the spice holes. Voila' bracelet rack. I am still looking for a base for the other 2 spice rack bits to attach to. I also picked up a half circle spoon rack that will make a lovely necklace rack and 2 vineish candelabra, the spoon rack was .50 cents and the candelabra were 10 cents each. I will need a can of spray paint to finish them. yup big spender I am! all this for under $10.
Tomorrow I MIGHT get the paint. And now for the dishes I neglected while assembling all this...