A Brother's Wooly Wisdom Comes Free. Or, less wierdly: Wisdom, Free samples, Wool, and Art)

So, as my brother told me (to paraphrase, cause he wasn't as eloquent :-P), "If you are going to be passionate about a cause AND share that passion to the general public, be prepared for some people to criticize."  In other words, some people will agree with your cause, other's will not really give it much thought, and some will downright disagree with your cause.  The latter may just want to discuss that with you.  But enough of that.

In other news, I have received some very useful samples recently.  Ryan leaves earlier than I do in the morning when it is still dark.  He will get some use out of the UFO lighted key chain.  Well, and it is just so darn cool.  He says the place we got the sample from has a good reputation for making lights (lamps, headlights, flashlights, etc.). 

The Whisk samples are the same brand, but different types.  Will be interesting to see if one obviously works better in my new h.e. washer than the other.  The Wisk sample from Wal-Mart included a coupon for $1.00 off. while the Costco one didn't.  Not that I mind, just an observation.  The playtex will, of course be useful as will the vaseline lotion.  It will be nice to not have to buy a lotion before I try it.  Sometimes, when I try something new in hopes it will work for my skin better than something I already have, I end up throwing it away because it makes my skin itchy or rashy.

The other piece of paper (which is illegible; I have to stop using the camera phone to take pictures) is an apology that the toilet paper roll dispenser extender will be late and a coupon for $ off for my troubles.  Wow, a sample is nice enough, but to receive a notice that it is late but will be here and a coupon is great customer service.

I was washing wool today.  My back is tired from bending over the tub all evening so I am putting off scouring the tub until tomorrow and warned Ryan not to use it until I do.  I will use an antibacterial cleanser so as not to risk leaving anything behind.  The wool was fairly clean but did have some obvious filth and vegetable matter around the edges.  I trimmed off the obvious and washed the rest.  It is now on my sweater dryer rack hanging in the tub from a pole to drip dry.

The bottom rack of the dryer above is waiting for the next batch of wool which is just below the view of the camera.  The rack is now full but I didn't want to take another picture.  The brown wool is from a Romney sheep.  Below is a picture of some of a super fine, extra crimpy wool filled with lanolin (sticky!) that I had to rewash.  There was a lot of lanolin and it got sticky even after it had been washed a while back.  I rewashed it and combed it out and it is much easier to work with.  I will have to ask my friend Trudi what type of sheep it came from.  I just can't remember.  Anyway, it is drying atop the pellet stove:

I am so thankful to have access to free wool often enough that I never have to buy any as long as I am willing to wash and card it myself.

Tomorrow I need to finish the dog leash I was knitting and begin another hat.  I just need to attach the hook and then I will take a picture of it.


I have put a few more items up for sale on Etsy.  I also uploaded some beautiful photos onto my deviantART page that I took down at Shore Acres past Charleson.  A few others that were interesting but either a little blurry, dull or otherwise flawed I put up on my Facebook page to view.

Am feeling a bit too wordy tonight.  This is a rambling long post.

Friday!!

The weekend is here!  Tonight I am just sitting in front of the Pellet stove with my feet towards the fire blogging and knitting.  Tomorrow I volunteer at our textile guild's store from 1-4 and then we are having company over at 5:30 for dinner and movie.  I enjoy Phil and Sabrina.  Sabrina and I are both into Sampling big-time.  In fact, I think it safe to say that she gave me my addiction :-P.

I added another item to my Etsy store for a grand total of two.  Again, I should finish this weekend.  I added the banner I created for my Etsy store to my deviantART page as I liked how well it turned out: 

I still have things to update there but I hope to get that done this weekend too.  I hope I am as ambitious in doing all this as I am in writing about it.  I am thinking about adding Alchemy requests (requests for custom orders) for hats (to begin with) to my Etsy store.  I will have to think about how to word it and work it though.  I don't want to end up with 3 requests all due in one week, for instance.

I received some useful samples today:

 

The Aleve and Tampax are for obvious reasons, the Head and Shoulders for Ryan, and I wanted to taste the Just Like Sugar to see if it lives up to its name.  If so we might switch to using it in our coffee and tea.  

I am so thankful to Sabrina for getting me into sampling.  It has already proved useful in helping me to try out products.  As a result I have, for instance, changed my brand of K Cups and discovered that the SalonPas Pain Patches didn't work for Ryan's pain BEFORE I spent money on it instead of after.

Well, time to finish the leash I am knitting and then do a load of laundry.  It isn't the washing I mind, it is the folding :-(.  I don't even mind the putting away part.

New Etsy store and general news

I have started my Etsy store.  I am so excited!  I have only one item up just now but will expand on that tomorrow.  I have made several other items and taken the pictures, I just need to add everything online.  My new store can be viewed here: Danielle's Etsy Store.

I was so excited today to receive a wonderful sample from Green Mountain Coffee.  I had signed up for a sample of some their Fair Trade varieties in K Cup form for my Keurig.  I was expecting a cup and perhaps a coupon.  I received 4 K Cups (people who opted for loose ground got a whole bag not just one pot) in two different flavors and a travel mug.  Talk about customer service.  It all came within 2 weeks of my request!

I finished another hat today.  I am going to be doing a lot of them.  I want to put a few in my local textile guild's store, list a few on my Etsy store, and donate a few to the charities our guild is supporting this holiday season.  This is in addition to the fact that I am making one for almost everyone on my Christmas list!  I will not let it become a chore instead of a pleasure though.  Whenever I get a bit tired of knitting or crocheting hats I will either work on another needlecraft project, switch to my current sewing project, enjoy my favorite online game for a while, etc . . .

Ryan and I are having our friends Phil and Sabrina over for dinner Saturday night.  I haven't come up with a specific menu yet.  If the weather is nice we are going to grill chicken breasts outside.  Other than that, or an idea for the marinade, I haven't explored yet.

Tomorrow's goals are:  List at least two more of my crafts on Etsy.  Add at least one more of my poems or other art works to my deviantArt page.  Do one load of laundry, including folding :-( .   Remember not to get frustrated if things take longer than I expect to accomplish!

Busy, busy day!

First of all, samples I received Thursday and Friday (today I received a coupon for a free box of Cottonelle Fresh Wipes but I wasn't going to photo one item).

Edit:  I created this post on October 9th.  But I seem to have never finished or edited it.  Am not sure what happened to the images I was going to post.  I think they got merged into October 19th post.    I decided to publish this post as reference despite the fact that the actual post is one sentence long :-P.  I wish it would show up under the creation date (which my dashboard says is 10-9, but it is apparently going to show up under the published date, today 10-19).

Sleepless in Oregon and News on Updates and Etsy Store

I battle with sleep all the time.  I can't get it when I need it and occasionally get it when I shouldn't.   I have had this problem for much of my teenage and adult life.  I am told "You take after your Mother."  As much as I love her, that is one trait I could have done without.

In other news I almost have my deviantART account updated completely.  Just a few more additions.  I also almost have my etsy store up and running.  I am going to sell some of my home-made crafts.   Knit, Crochet or sewn.  Some are made of my homespun/dyed yarn.  Some are from storebought materials.  Ryan gave me some tips on how to get the best photos and took a few to get me started.  My first batch to go up will include a couple of hats, some homespun/dyed yarn, a small keepsake pouch, and a crochet grocery bag.  I will see how slowly things start (I don't expect to get many hits at first, there are so many wonderful sellers out there) and decide how quickly or slowly to add new items.

I am not looking to make major money, though that would be a nice surprise.  I am just hoping to make enough to support my crafting addiction :-P.  I do hope, though, to can at least a small client base over time.  Perhaps with holiday items.  Maybe interest people in coming back each holiday season to see what I have up next.

Anyway, "High hopes" and all that, but not unobtainable.

As a P.S. here are my latest samples by mail:

As always, I try only to get those things that will be useful to me.  It is hard when you see how much there is out there.  The temptation is to get greedy.  I try to remember that these people are offering samples to get you interested in their product/service.  If you only sign up for an offer/sample because it is free and you will never use their product/service you have denied  a chance for a true potential customer to get information and/or samples.

I almost lied and said I was a smoker to get a free lighter last week because I thought it might be useful when we go out to the beach, camp, or such.  Then my sense of guilt kicked in (it does come in handy) and I clicked off the page before I entered my data.  I do not smoke, I will never smoke and I hate smoking.  I will never use the lighter for the purpose they intended.  

Ryan was teasing that I would start to become rabid about getting things for free and go nuts signing up for anything and everything.  He has been happy with the freebies I have gotten so far though and the jokes, though always good-natured, come not as often.

Gearing Up for Christmas - Yup, you heard me!!

(click picture to enlarge)

So I mentioned in my last post that I had started my Christmas crafting rush.  Well, now I am full steam ahead.  Though I didn't get to the apples Wednesday, so some of tomorrow will be used for that.  That will be the last of the canning.

 Anyway, I finished another hat last night.  It and my other current and holiday projects can be seen above (poor quality, will change it out later). I know a couple of babies whom I will make socks for.  I generally make a new pattern out on yarn other than what I want to use for the intended recipient first.  This way I make sure there are no mistakes with the pattern and can check my gauge.  All my "mockups" this year are going to charity through our local textile group, Headles and Treadles.

I haven't even begun making my Christmas Cards yet.  This is the first thought I have given to them.  Last year I just went the easy route and used store-bought.  I may do that again this year if things start getting too crazy (don't want to burn out on Christmas, it is supposed to be fun) but I would like to make them!

In other news I found a sweater knitting machine at the local Good Will that was in NEW condition.  Never opened.  I got it for $30.00!  I love knitting and crochet but generally don't have the time or patience for really big projects.  This thing cuts the working time tremendously.  I am already 1/3 of the way through a sweater in 2 days!  I have an old one I started a couple of years ago that I still only have about 1/4 done.

I have started looking for freebies and samples online.  My friend Sabrina got me started.  I have found it is a great way to try out something before I buy it.  It also helps the pocketbook a bit and provides entertainment.  I had to promise myself not to go hog wild though and get something just for the sake of getting it free.  Only things I think I, or someone close to me, can use.

My favorite three sites to check for are Freebies 4 Mom, I Love Free Things, and Totally Free Stuff.  They post some of the same things but each catches something once in a while that the other miss.  Other sites I have found seem to be not updated as fast or be as comprehensive.  Freebies 4 Mom also links to sites that track other offfers and sweepstakes.  Anyway, above is my first "Inbox" of freebies that I received in the mail this week (A pain relief patch for Ryan to try, a coupon for free cat food for Hansa and a sample and coupon of free dog food for Rat-Deer).

I am also going to be updating my deviantArt account soon and link it to here.  Makes sense to link the two.   I will add some more pictures of the projects I have been working on here and on dA as well as some poetry to dA.

Canning and Preserving 2010 Edition

She's Back - After a long Haitus!

This year was not as big of a garden year for me. Hardly anyone had any luck with tomatoes this year due to the unusually wet and cool summer. I did however can a couple of quarts of tomato sauce. In addition to that I canned 64 half-pints of tuna (with Ryan's dad so we each got half) and 7 half-pints of plum preserves. I also dried about 2 lbs of carrots and froze several lbs of blackberries.

Wednesday I am getting apples from Grandpa Button and, depending on how many I get I will can apple pie filling and perhaps apple sauce. That will probably be it for this year for the most part. Due to the fall rains starting early the blackberries didn't do much this year either or I would have a bunch more to process.

I have finally become a member of the Facebook Population. I was dragged kicking and screaming into it, I swear! I am so nontechnical but when your own Dad keeps asking you to join, what can you do. Can't let the old man show me up :-P.

My friend Sabrina got me hooked on some of these new freebie sites like Freebies4Moms. That is how I started finding samples (I try not to go crazy and get everything just because, only things that I will use) and coupons and found the offer below. As Ryan and I have recently started a weightloss program, it would be neat to win. I am sure there are going to be millions of people entering though so I won't hold my breath.

Since I last posted here I have started spinning and crocheting. This is in addition to knitting, sewing, making jewelry, etc. I could say I really didn't need another hobby but I won't because I love it so much. And making something from yarn you spun yourself? Awesome. My neighbor and friend Trudie has been such a blessing. She has given me so much wool fiber to spin. It may take months to go through it all. I won't have to worry about getting my own for a while. I thank her in home canned goods and knitting and crochet patterns I get online (she doesn't internet surf).

Almost everyone, for Christmas this year, is getting a hand-knit or chochet hat from my very own fingers :-). Some will also be from my handspun yarn. For those not receiving hats I am making socks or bags. I am also sewing coupon organizers for a few people I know who, like me, love to use coupons. So far I have made 4 Christmas hats and 1 coupon organizer. My Christmas giving list is long so I have a ways to go yet.

More later!

Chance at a Wii Fit Biggest Loser Kit

Because I would love to win this wii fit kit and help Ryan and I lose more weight on our goals I am blogging about it here. Have been trying to restart this blog anyway. I am shameless but it seems really helpful. I am sure you all know the TV show "The Biggest Loser". Well, this is to help all of us become "Big Losers" (in a good way, lol) too.

Here is the Biggest Loser Page link: http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/?v=nbc_the-biggest-loser

And here is more info on the contest: http://www.jleighdesignz.com/2010/09/biggest-loser-nintendo-wii-fitness-kit.html

Check them out if you want to see more about it.