packing sucks. . .

Planning may be everything but packing sucks. 😑 

I have started packing the shop, emptying all the drawers and bins, boxing up rings and packing supplies. I suppose I should put the online shops in vacation mode or something. 😏 

Normally I would have just announced a temporary closure and deactivated all listings, but being honest it's not like I'm swamped with orders and the inventory is all still in my possession so if I did happen to get an order, I could still ship it for now.  That will change but unlike previous moves where things have gone into storage, sometimes for months, this is just going from house to house. 😎 There will be a couple of weeks where it's all packed here waiting for transport while I'll be elsewhere painting and prepping for landing it all in the new place but compared to previous longer distance moves where we landed in furnished temporary housing and stuff stayed in storage for 2-4 Months, two weeks is nothing. 😉 

Although, there is a temporary furnished place in this move plan it is only for 30 days not 3 months like last time. Mostly it's just a local location for the husband to start his job (tomorrow) and a place for the cats to hang out the week I clean and paint the new place. I've ordered a trash bin (and service) for the new place, got on the list for the fiber internet drop, still need to schedule cleaning help and carpet cleaning for after closing which is just 3 weeks away. 😁

I have so many lists because there are lists for each location, lists of utilities to turn on for the new place, list of utilities to turn off this rental. List of cleaning and "repair" for the rental, change laundry room light bulb, swap shower heads back, hire carpet cleaners, etc. List of cleaning and repair for the new house, clean Everything, swap shower heads, work on deck boards, buy new dishwasher, water filtration system. Change of address, update banks and credit cards, etc., 

I am still pretty determined to finish these little guys before the move, #2 has a head and 2/4 of his legs, #3 has all 4 legs laid out, but no head yet. 😅 

Planning is everything. . .

You may or may not know the quote "Planning is everything, the plan itself is nothing", but it has been a founding principle for me and my husband for many years. We are always planning; some plans work out, some are just fun to think about, some are back-up plans or just in case plans or what-if plans. 😅 Some people are PACE people and know the primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency acronym but only apply it to communications not Life.  

So, there is a whole notebook with many pages of lists, lists of repairs for the new house, lists of things to clean in both the new house and the rental, lists of services to turn on for the new house and shut down for this rental. List of services to schedule like carpet cleaning and maid services for both. Plus, a whole separate list for the house purchase, documents for finance, insurance quote/policy, etc. 

Yeah, I'm crazy busy and trying to not be just cRazY. 😜 It is a lot going on at once and it's only going to get worse before it gets better, but by the end of July it will all be over. I am looking forward to that part when it's done, and I can just relax in the quiet. However, in between now and then I have to pack a whole house, paint a whole house, and deep clean 2 whole houses. I highly doubt we will get our whole security deposit back, this is a corporate owned rental, and they will charge $15 for a lightbulb. 😒 So I will do my best, and this place will probably look better when I move out than it did when I moved in, but I'm still not expecting much. 

Aside from the awesome quiet countryside views there are several things I really like about the house, including this stained-glass mosaic lamp shade.

I'm actually kind of in awe of it, I mean look at the shape of that curved rolled edges, I stuck my head in it and there is no wire frame or any kind of supports, it's an amazing piece of work. 😍 Also, hard to believe the woman who bought that for the living room put this hideous thing in a bedroom.

I'm guessing grandchildren were involved, but seriously that thing is the stuff of nightmares and it's gone the minute I get the keys. 😅

Summertime. . .

It is about to be summertime, June when it gets hot, kids are out of school, and I used to do lots of in-person events. However, not this year, this year I get to move again, ok so not until July but . . . that's not really better. 😅 I will be buying cases of water and hiring movers. 

In the meantime, the packing has begun, but not with my shop. I started with the photo set up and moved to the bookcase, I really want to clear my bench before packing my shop, so I scaled the spines. 😉

Now I just need to make them heads and legs and tails. I have the whole month of June to pack so plenty of time, especially considering this was a rental house and I never fully UN-packed here. 😇 

I will say after months of indecision and lack of direction it is nice to have a solid plan. I am actually really excited about the new place, house in the country, super peaceful and quiet, no neighbors, no park, no bus stop, no junior band members next door, no jackoff in a sports car thinking the neighborhood is a drag strip. 😌 We sat in the driveway on the truck tailgate talking to the realtor and there is no way to describe the peace that I felt in that open space with the breeze, watching a rabbit across the drive pay us no mind. I also found a frog on the deck, and I think there are mice for Jaspurr to chase. 

If you're not a country person, if you didn't grow up barefoot in a creek, running fields at your grandparent's house, if you've never been in countryside so quiet all you hear are crickets, you wouldn't understand.

There is a rabbit in the middle of this photo, you may not see him well because he is small and far away, but I'm sure we will make friends. 💗💗

 

Oh wow. . .

The "Weekly" part of the updates has been missing lately. 💩 

I had not realized just how far away from "weekly" I had gotten, sorry. Life has been weird lately and some big changes are coming which is time consuming and distracting, so I guess it's not surprising that I have lost all concept of time and just stopped posting. 😶

Unfortunately, for the curious types I'm not going to blog details, I will just say it is Husband, job, location related and you can probably guess the rest. 

In the meantime, the rainbow baby still does not have a tail, and his brethren remain bench bound and incomplete. 😒

though I am over my frustration with his legs so he will be getting a tail as soon as I have time to decide the pattern, the colors, the length, and attachment 😅 

I am also kind of excited about the other color-brothers, but sadly, they are still just bits of spine at the moment, seriously I haven't even attached the scales to the chain yet, maybe today or tomorrow I'll have some time.

Happy Memorial Day holiday weekend, Happy Indy 500, happy whatever makes you happy. 😇

This week. . .

I have made things!  😁 

Although, I need gold clasps, I didn't realize I was out of gold, so ignore the current placeholding mismatched clasp. 😅 Plus those bracelets aren't the only thing I made. I also made a super cute little "pet" I have no idea what I'm going to do with him other than hold him and admire him, he's not jewelry. He's not big enough to be a bracelet but he's a little too big for a hat/lapel pin 😇

He is totally adorable. I tried 3 different types of beads for the eyes and I'm still not sure about these, but they are growing on me. 

His front legs move more than his back legs but that's ok. The stiffness of the base weave has caused his "spine" to curve with the addition of the scales, but I really like the look of the edge with the square rings. 

Yesterday. . . .

The title is not at all related to the song, but I meant to write and post yesterday I just didn't. 😅  

So, my Momma is very happy with her birthday gift and I am very happy about that, but he didn't turn out quite the way I planned. I'm just gonna be honest it was supposed to be a lizard and he looks a lot more Eeyore 😏 however, my Momma loves Eeyore so it's fine.  

As per usual, I'm nitpicking my design choices, the wrong pattern for the legs, I left the legs too long, attached too loose, etc. He won't stand on all fours, but he does sit in a variety of positions. 😇

He is cute and a total one of a kind, which was the overall plan so I'm calling it success even if he's not exactly what I imagined. 😅 I'll just try something else next time. 😉

Spring is sprung

Things are green and growing, spring has sprung, the weather is changing, outdoor events should start soon but I have no desire to register for any. 😅 Trying to plan in a world of uncertainty is impossible.  

However, I am happy with the new website, it is starting to get traffic, I know because I finally got google analytics to connect. I've been fighting with pinterest code and pinterest in general because well they are not easy, I had to "unclaim" my goimgagine stuff and do a new "claim" my website and even though it says it worked pinterest is still misbehaving when I try to pin products. 😒 Like it literally works for one listing but not another and it's random and frustrating, so rebuilding the pinterest boards will take weeks with this 3-5 pins a day when I have over 120 listings. 💩

Not that I have a very high priority on that project. My current focus has been my Momma's b-day present. 

I make my Mom stuff every year, she's already got several pieces of jewelry and a full set of Christmas ornaments. 😎 

This year's gift is a super special, it will be a total one of a kind. I had a dream and now I'm trying to make the thing I imagined. I have high hopes and only a few days left, but so far, it's going fairly well, I have managed several "firsts".  Right and left handed 1/2 Persian, which has previously eluded me, scalemaille, which used to be really intimidating. 😅 

And if I'm honest still kind of is 😏 I mean I made a thing, but even after adding the "stabilizing" rings it's not super stable and I'm not sure it lays right but for the thing I'm making it's kind of perfect. 😌 So I'll worry about correct next time. 

Just a few more "I've never tried *that* before" to go and it will be finished, hopefully it comes out as cool as it looks in my head. I've been posting limited photos because I don't want to give away what it is, so . . . shhhh don't tell Mom. 😉