First Foray Into Vending!

So here is the big announcement for Fabulous Pants that I have been waiting to make. I will be vending at my first real time show: Danse Du Ventre in San Jose, California!



The event is at Splash Night club, and I feel like I have so much to do! I signed up to take credit cards yesterday and have been approved. I have lots of smaller items I am working on to have things to draw people into the booth and also will have lots of my pants goodness there for people to try out and love. It is all so overwhelming. I also had my first international and custom order to actually work out go through today, so there is a custom set of falls in process as well. I hate to cut it so short, but there is just so much to do. I will keep you updated with short postings next week and some pictures. Keep your fingers crossed for some great sales and wonderful dancing that night. This is my first attempt at selling in person, so I hope it all goes well.... there are necklaces to finish, falls to make, cowrie falls to work on, a few belts, ooohhhh more pants.....

I better get to work! I hope to see you all that can make it there! Entrance is free!

Radio Paradise, Tomatoes, and a Quilt

This weekend was rather interesting and action packed. I had the show down in Morgan Hill that I have been prepping for the last few weeks. After much agonizing over choreography and what I wanted artistically when I listened to the music, I settled on doing improv. I was somewhat happy with the result, but wished I could have done a bit better with my interpretation of the music. Everyone seemed to like it, but I had parts I would do differently. I guess that can almost always be said. I just wanted to write a quick thank you in here to Paloma and Devvvora for all the hard work they do setting up and arranging these shows. With out your hard work, none of this would happen! Thank you!

Today I decided that I wanted to turn off the television and get back to some music while I work around the house and on stuff for the shop. I really like to listen to Radio Paradise, but I do not like having to attach the laptop to the stereo. I used to use a Nokia 770 for this application, but as of a few months ago, ours got rather temperamental. I decided to give it a fresh go today, and to my surprise, I have my internet radio back! I could not be happier.

On a Aerogarden note, I finally have a few of the golden cherry tomatoes ready to be picked soon. The red tomato plant seems to have stalled out, but perhaps now that it is not competing with the lettuce plants for light, it may grow again. Who knows in this little science experiment. Here is a close up of the new tomatoes:



Today on the plate, I am going to work on making some new hair flowers and photographing them for listing tomorrow. I also have to make another of the play quilts for my mother.



She has placed an order for one for a baby shower gift. I had to run out to the store on Friday to get some more materials for another one. I made the first two out of the material I bought and the extra material. (I always seem to over buy for these things.)This time I had to get some different materials for the outer border fabrics, and I am going to have to substitute some other scraps for things like the bear's neck tie. I kept with the same style for the border, but it will look slightly different when I am done. I will take pictures of the new one when it is finished. I hope to have that out by the end of the week.

I am also hoping to get the final sorting of my magazines accomplished across this week while I watch television at night. I want to eliminate all the extra paper and space these take up, so I am pulling out only the articles I want from all of my years of magazines and recycling the rest of them. The other thing I would like to get done by the end of the week is a set or two of accent falls with cowrie shells. Hopefully I will get done with the magazines sooner rather than later and can move onto the falls.

Also today, some house cleaning..... I should quit procrastinating and get that done.

Taxes and Shotgun Theatre

This weekend was full of activities; some planned, others not, and still others planned not happening. Saturday was a fun day of getting the house back up to running order for the next week after my Vegas trip. There were groceries to buy and some straightening to be done in the morning. We made a great lunch and dinner then went off to see Skylight by the Shotgun Players They did a wonderful job, and I really loved the play. The acting was wonderful and the set was amazing. They do great work over there, and I highly recommend anything that this group does. They even have their rendition of Beowulf opening just off of Broadway.

Sunday was filled with things we had to do but did not, mainly taxes. I worked a bit on the belt here and there and pondered my choreography that is no where near done. I also was able to make some stunning achievements in the realm of cooking. I tackled fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits for the first time. They really turned out well, and I am pretty proud of myself. Thanks Alton Brown! Today, choreography... that is all I am going to work on.... I promise. Speaking of which, I think I should get down to work.

Cake and Choreography

I made a cake this week from scratch. I usually don't put in the effort on cakes for some reason like I do on other things. Lately, that has been bothering me. I have been trying to remove a majority of the premade and box foods in our diets, and I have been feeling much better about my cooking skills and food choices as of late. Part of my hunt for better food has involved looking through old issues of Cook's Illustrated that I have but never was able to cook out of due to time issues. I really love this magazine as it takes a more scientific method approach to cooking and improving recipes. In my searching through for a dessert this week, I found a recipe for applesauce cake found in their September and October issue from 2006. It was a little bit more work than a mix or packet, but the results were really that much better. I decided to take a page from Jane Brocket's Blog and take a picture of my cake on a fancy plate.



The china only gets used on special holidays, but I have to say that looking at cake on this dessert plate makes me think I should crack them out more often. China just makes everything look better.

Today I am going to work on jogging again and also hit the choreography. I have gotten mid way through the tough opening of the song and look forward to the free flowing part that I seem to have in my head already. I am excited and think today will be a very productive session, and hopefully, I did not just jinx myself! I am hoping to finally get the shirring foot to work this weekend. I am going to work on trouble shooting with Dan to see if he can figure out what I am doing wrong. He is a wonderful sounding board and usually finds the obvious things that I seem to always miss in these situations. I really want my skirt for the start of level 2 at Fat Chance Belly Dance next week. While I could have had this skirt done last week if I would have hand gathered it, I really want to learn to use my machines for these things. It will speed up any projects that are similar in the future. Here is to hoping for a successful day.

Hoping for Some Inspiration

My dance performance is coming up soon, and I need some inspiration. I am going to be doing double fan as shown in my practice picture above. I am dancing to a song by the Toids called Sleepless. It is really beautiful, and the back three fourths will be easy for me I think. As usual, I am having trouble with the opening. This is where I really begin to miss Bastet. She and I could always get a piece started. When one of us was stuck, the other always had a good idea. That was why I loved collaborating with her on Maelstrom. Well I guess this is going to be a short entry as I have to work on this choreography before I head out the door for a lunch meet-up and tutoring at 826. Hopefully I will have more tomorrow.

Soaps That Look Good Enough to Eat

A few weeks ago, I was blogging about making my felt fortune cookie promotions for the shop. I would like to give a huge THANK YOU to Alison of Dirty Ass Soaps for handing them out for me at a craft fair in the Etsy bags! It is people like Alison that make Etsy such a fun community. I love her shop as well. She makes vegan friendly soaps that look like some definite non-vegan food items. I would have to say that soap makers like Alison are so inspiring. Her talent is unbelievable, and the items she makes are creative and so realistic that you will want to eat them. I would not advise eating the soap though! Check out her shop. Here is a mini of it:

Etsy Buy Handmade DirtyAssSoaps

Today I want to get some things in order around the house. I was so involved in the embroidery yesterday that I did not fully unpack. I am also hoping to get a major component of my choreography done for the show on the 11th. I also want to get jogging again, so I guess I am off for the gym.

The Summer Wind, Came Blowing In...

Vegas was a great time. I am, however, glad to be back home. It was really great to see Christine and bond with all of her friends. I felt like one of the gang in minutes, and the weekend ended with trading e-mail addresses and phone numbers to keep in touch. I may not have won any money, but I did win some new fun acquaintances.

I have to hand it to my husband, he sure knows how to impress. I came home to a fully cleaned house including the shelving of the last moving boxes. It is nice to no longer have a box wall to push around from place to place. I am glad to get home and again get to work on my embroidered belt. I also have some major choreography work to do for the April 11th performance at Hot Java in Morgan Hill. I have decided on a song and cannot wait to tackle it. Prop dancing is one of my favorite things because it is very challenging to me. You need to keep enough dance in to still have it be a bellydance, but you also need to seamlessly add a prop to the mix with out it distracting from the dance itself. I am going to devote tomorrow to that, but for now, I want to sew and work on some domestic activities. I am also thinking about making a new black choli for myself once I get the serger figured out for making my skirt and making it. I would love to have both the choli and the skirt for classes on Friday. Here is to hoping for luck getting it all to work!

Spring Flowers

I finally got to make that pair of hair flower hairpins for the shop. They are a wonderful medium tone purple gerbera daisy. The color of them actually reminds me of the old lilac trees of my childhood home back in Illinois.





These are a steal for $6 plus shipping. I have some more great silk flowers that will be turned into hairpins in the near future so look for them soon.

Today I am working on more embroidery of that belt. I don't have much time to work on them today though because I am due into the studio early to work on choreography with Ariellah. Hopefully I can update you tomorrow with more fun news.

Baking, Blackwork, and Berries

The English muffin experiments were more successful on Friday. The new recipe worked better for me and also worked well being halved. The other recipe did not work very well when halved to begin with, so trying to force it into success was going to be difficult. This time I think the kneeding went well via the Kitchen Aid, but I still must have added a little too much flour. There were not as many nooks and crannies as I would have liked. I did decide to try cooking them on our large cast iron griddle. I think that this worked out much better than using the small griddle that I used before. I could get more muffins on at one time, and if I had been more patient in allowing the iron to head up evenly, I think the browning would have been even more even than it was. Here they are all lined up:



I also had a wonderful time at Needle in a Haystack for my Blackwork class. It was taught by Lucy Barter of the Royal School of Needlework. I learned a lot, and even though my work from that day does not seem to show it off as well, I stitched for a good four hours. It was a great class, and I recommend any classes taught by Lucy highly. She was delightful. I learned about shading techniques and also tried my hand at working on linen. I have never had the guts to work on an even weave fabric and usually use Adia style cloth in my cross stitch and embroidery projects. I do have to say the results of stitching on cloth is beautiful, but I think I would resort to using a magnifying glass in the future. It is very hard to look at the threads and find the holes between the weave when you are staring at a piece for more than five minutes. I am surprised that I did not lose a contact. This was my humble attempt at the dragonfly design she provided us with:



Here is a close up of the stitches:



On Sunday I decided to celebrate the Spring Equinox by buying some early season strawberries. I got a good deal since there were not that many people at the market due to the overnight rain and morning winds. They smelled so good that I could not pass them up. Now I need to come up with a dessert I can make with them, so they get finished before I leave for the Vegas Trip this Friday. They looked so pretty, I had to take a picture.



On the plate for today is the start of a new, more intense exercise program. After trying on clothes all Saturday and finding that my bottom does not seem to fit into clothing as well any more, I am back to the treadmill. I also want to add in weight training and some yoga. I am going to also try to do this five days a week. I hope that I can keep committed to it. I am also working hard on finishing up the embroideries for that belt. The faux shisha are coming along, and I am dreaming of some other embroidery stitches I now want to add around the belt. I think it is going to be a knock-out when I am finally finished. I also found a great new set of music while at dance class on Friday. I am pretty sure I have my music picked out for the show, but I don't get the cd until Wednesday. I guess I will be choreographing in the airport! :) Well lots to do before this trip, including getting an appointment with my hairdresser. I need to call her.....

Machine Woes and Human Training

My surger and I have a love hate relationship with each other. There are days when I totally love it, and it shows me love back by effortlessly producing great work. Yesterday we were not quite seeing eye to eye. I found though, that most of it was my fault. I need to learn to finesse that machine more and force it to do less. It is not the same as my workhorse Singer sewing machine. That machine will take anything I put through it and happily turn out consistent results. I guess I just need more training on the surger and need to spend more quality time practicing on it. Right now I am trying to master the shirring foot for the machine. It is a great attachment that I would totally love to be able to use. I am currently taking more lessons at Fat Chance Bellydance and they want you to wear the standard pieces of American Tribal attire to classes once you hit level two. That is coming up for me this summer, and I want to be prepared with several skirts that would be appropriate. While I already have two 10 yard skirts, I have only made one for myself, and the gathering of 10 yards of fabric into the skirt was rather time consuming. Plus, why do it by hand when I have this fancy machine that should do it for me? The big challenge is finding the right settings on the machine to perfectly gather the two pieces of fabric at an even 2 to 1 ratio. It is also an interesting thing to try to feed fabric into a machine with both hands into different slots. Only one fabric is under the presser foot and the other fabric is passed above through a channel. It is a feat of eye hand coordination to be able to make it all work. I was blaming the machine for a while, but I am starting to realize that this human needs some more training and practice for this to work. Last time I tried this, I decided it was not worth it, and I could finish the skirt faster by doing it all by hand gathering. While it was true, I am starting to realize that if I just put in the time now learning this, I could expand the shop to someday offer skirts for dance in the shop as well.

So, on that note, today is going to be filled with machine practice. As a break, I am going to actually pick up the cross stitch belt while I watch some March Madness games. Hey, just because I am no longer working as an athletic trainer doesn't mean that I lost my love for sports. Besides, I keep saying I am going to work on that belt and seem to never actually pick it up. I am also hoping to make some hair flowers for the shop. Perhaps I will be able to get those made and ready for listing tomorrow. We will see where the machine lessons and March Madness lead me. I still have not found music I like for my performance. I hope that inspiration strikes soon!

Thoughts on Domesticity

Yesterday I got the fortune cookie promos finished and sent off to Dirty Ass Soaps for her promo bags for a craft fair. It took me several hours to fold all the cookies up. I sat on the couch and just started throwing them into a finished pile as I was folding. Here was the end result.



Yesterday was an odd day. Dan was home from work again because he was not feeling well, and I was trying to do quiet work around the house and not run the sewing machines to save him from further headaches. I am not used to having to change plans or tip toe around, so I did some things I usually don't let myself do during "working hours". In the spirit of quiet I did some more reading of Jane Brocket's book The Gentle Art of Domesticity. There is a passage that I keep going back to and rereading as I think it sums up why I think my life as a stay-at-home wife is so valuable. This is what she says, and bear with me, it is a long quote:

"Just as many aspects of domesticity are often derided as old-fashoned, quaint or downright useless, so the skills and practicalities associated with it have fallen out of fashion. Despite the efforts of many contemporary knitters, quilters, stitchers, crocheters, crafters and bakers, the fact remains that the gentle arts are frequently regarded as mildly eccentric, touchingly nostalgic and outmoded. Why on earth would anyone prefer to hand-stitch a quilt when you can buy a perfectly good one in a shop? Why knit a pair of socks when they are so easy and cheap to buy these days? Why bake a cake when the store shelves are groaning with ready-made treats?
The answer lies int he not-so-revolutionary idea of seizing the means of production. It's as simple and as complex as that. A modicum of practicality in the domestic space empowers us to make our own choices about what we create and eat, rather than handing over control of our homemaking to profit-making companies. It may sound surprisingly radical, and it is. Embedded in the gentle arts is a slyly subversive streak that encourages free thought, individuality, creative self-expression, imaginative thought processes and not a little self-determinism. All this, and a great deal of pleasure, too."

I could not have come up with a better explanation myself. I have always felt like a rebel of sorts when I get to introduce myself to others as a housewife. People often wonder what it is I do all day and how do I keep myself fulfilled and happy. I find that my life is more fulfilling now than it ever was when I was working in the high impact athletic training field, and it is also more enjoyable to me than teaching, although I do still love teaching. (Hence the 826 Valencia tutoring I do.) I also like the notion of subversiveness that Jane Brocket talks about. I am bucking the system by not trying to "have it all," and I am perfectly fine with that. In many ways, I have found more freedom and creativity by working in the home and running a home based business than I ever did in a more traditional work place. My jam from now on is coming from my kitchen, and I am trying to buy less and hand make more. Thanks Jane for making me feel more comfortable,confident, and valuable in my choice to be a home business based Domestic Artist.

On that note, I made a leather thimble for myself last night. It turned out really well. Leave it to Threads magazine to come up with a this great tutorial Today I plan on making myself a new skirt if I can get the shearing foot to work on the surger. The last time I tried this it did not work so well, but that was also right before I found out one of the parts on the machine had broken. Today I will give it another try. Also, I am going to work on that cross stitch belt some more now that I have a trusty leather thimble. I also have to find music and start the choreography for my April 11th show. More on that when it gets close

Finally done with Christmas.... Only Two Months Late

So I finally finished up the last Christmas gift for this year, and yes, it is two months late. Seeing as I am new to knitting, I am not too disappointed in myself. This was in fact only the second thing I have ever knit, and while I did not do it exactly correctly, it looks fine and is done. Apparently, I was not really knitting my knit stitches on this one but doing something else entirely called knitting to the back. I think.... I am so confused on this lately, and I am thinking of learning socks next. What is wrong with me! Anyhow, here is a picture of the finished scarf for my father-in-law.



It was supposed to be moss stitch, and it looks kind of close. I looked at several other pictures of moss stitch, and I can definitely tell this is not the same due to not actually knitting the stitches correctly. It looks good to me none-the-less. Here is a close-up of the stitches.



Pretty good I think for only the second thing I have made. I am still working on loosening up my tension on the knitting. This was a bit better than the first scarf, but still quite tight. I realized this especially when I compared the finished product to the swatching I did originally. I thought I had the gauge of needle right due to the swatch, but the finished scarf was smaller due to my excessive need for too tight knitting. It should get better with practice though, right?

I also went to take dance classes at a different studio while Ariellah is off teaching away from the studio. It felt fun to be a "new student" again. I went to Fat Chance in the city and had a good time. American Tribal Style was my obsession when I was in Illinois, but there were no certified teachers out there then. Ishara taught me the little she knew though. That emphasis switched to dark fusion styles before I left to move out here, so I have been with Ariellah since the move from Illinois and my cabaret style background. It felt great to look into ATS more again. I think it is going to be a nice departure temporarily from the studio. I feel in an odd way refreshed. I guess I should start practicing my zills again so I can keep up in class again.

Today I have decided to not go and jog. There is just too much that needs to be done around the house. I am still working out the kinks on that special order. I need to get that wrapped up by early next week to get it sent off in time for the client. I also have to do my city taxes for Fabulous Pants. I would also like to get some ideas sketched out for a new belt and perhaps pull out that embroidered belt and work on that again some more. I need to get some belts up in the shop soon! Ok on that note, I need to get down to some sewing action.

Weekend at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Yesterday I said that I had taken a bunch of pictures at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, It was a great time there, and the drive down was beautiful. I think that it was good for Dan to get away. The building that the aquarium is housed in is partially recycled from the Hovden Sardine factory. They had to demolish the building, but they kept the boilers that were used to power the plant.



They had a wonderful short video of the factory at work in the 1940's as well as displays talking about the old cannery row that used to be on the shore. I thought it was great that they tried to maintain the architectural feel of the old site while embracing the new functions of the space. To me they totally succeeded in this pursuit.

There were all sorts of animals and marine life there. We went to the outside parts of the museum first in case the fog rolled in early and made it too cold to want to poke around outside. They had a great little display of a native California trout stream. There was even my favorite, a turtle, out sunning itself on a fallen log.



There was a tidal pool simulator as well as other interesting displays of what marine life there was in the more shallow areas of the beaches. Next we went inside and ended up in the kid friendly confines of the touch pools. Dan was not up for it, but I touched some star fish and other marine life. The stingrays, however, were having none of it. They were safely tucked away in the farthest corner from us and refused to swim toward all the people wanting to pet them. We next went into the aviary. That was very neat. The birds were so calm and so used to people that the pictures I took make them look like stuffed birds and not the real thing. They were very calm and preening themselves with no regard for the loudness around them.





After that we walked around some of the deep water tanks. There were tuna and schools of sardines. It was neat to see all the prehistoric looking fish swimming around. Sharks slowly pursued smaller fish, and then one of the huge fish would swim toward the sharks and they would disperse. I could have sat and watched the tanks for hours. One of my favorite fish was the sunfish. Having been raised in a family that took a fishing vacation every summer of my life, I thought I understood what a sunfish was. I had no idea that there was a sunfish that existed in the depths of salt water. When I first saw it, the only thing I spotted was the bottom of its fin. I though perhaps there was some sort of sea turtle in the display somehow, but upon further exploration, this is what I saw:



We took a lunch break and then went into the smaller tank areas after visiting the otters. In one of the small tank rooms, they had this awesome display showing the flat fish that hide in the sand. This tank was my favorite because all of the sea creatures reminded me of Dr. Seuss books and characters.



If you look really close in that picture, you can see some of the fish that hide in the sand and have skin that looks like that sandy bottom. It was easier in the tank because you could spot all these eyes looking around and at you. They also had a tank that contained embryonic skates. They are left by the mother in a birthing sack of sorts. We could see it just hanging out in the membrane of the sack.



From there we found the jellyfish. Jellyfish are my all time favorite, well them and seahorses. I took many pictures of the jellyfish tanks, but these are my favorite pictures. Here is Dan contemplating the big tank at the back of the room:



I really liked how that picture turned out. I think it really captured how everyone looks when they turn the corner and catch that tank. The jellyfish in there reminded me of the Chilluly exhibit that I blogged about. Here is the tank with just the jellies up close.



They really looked like his glass sculptures. From the colors to their delicate tails, I was awed by the intricate action in the water and the beauty of movement. They also had moon jellyfish. I like them as well because of their pearl essence in color.



We then wandered into one of the kid friendly areas. The kelp forest. We did not last long due to the numerous strollers and screaming kids. It was approximately nap time, so I blame the lack of naps for the noise. We quickly moved on from there and ended up somehow at the penguin tank just in time for the afternoon feeding.



After that, we were almost fish watched out. We went into the room where the octopus were kept. They were hard to photograph. There was one that looked like a ghost it was so pale and white. The other one was an orange one. It was the classic looking octopus, and boy was it active. It was crawling all over the side of the glass. I tried to take my best picture in the ultra dark room, and this is what I cam up with:



We ended the day by going to Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing. Dan and I agreed to not feel guilty about eating fish after the day of watching them all swim around. The aquarium is big on conservation, obviously, so they had many education stations about over fishing and what fish you should try to not eat because they are endangered or the fishing methods are harmful to the ocean. Therefore we also agreed to start making our "smart fish choices" on Monday.

Yesterday was good. I went to the studio for the first class of the new session. We have been on studio break since December, so it felt great to get back to dancing. I do have to say that I miss doing my yoga before class already. I am going to try to somehow start making time for yoga and working out more at home since Ariellah is no longer able to offer the yoga class. I guess I am just addicted to it. I am also realizing how excited I am about visiting my sister and the family. So I think my life seeming to be back in order has made me also realize how much I miss some people. Normalcy does that I guess.

On the plate for today, I want to desperately finish my tutorial. I would really like to have that up and in place for people to experiment with when I am gone in Delaware. I also want to get down to the gym today, but it is already starting to get kind of late. I guess that means I should really get going on the day.

Fabulous Fridays

Ok, I will admit it, I am falling behind in my plans this week, miserably! I blame it on me rediscovering my love for my lap harp that I still do not know how to play. My husband made it for me, and it is beautiful, yet I stink at reading and learning to play. I am a learner who needs an instructor most of the time. I can and usually will practice on my own, but I need the reassurance of an instructor when learning most things. So I usually just tune it and pluck around. No matter what you do with the harp, it almost always sounds pleasant.



I had trouble with the bottom hems of the lime peacock pants, so they are still being worked on. I hope to finally finish them off today. Then I need to work on wrapping presents for my husband's birthday that is tomorrow. Today is also laundry day, so that needs to get done along with some minor house cleaning. All of this may be impacted in a way though if Dan decides to stay home from work and work from here today. While I love the idea of him taking a more low key day today since all the extremely late nights and long work hours, but it makes wrapping presents and using the sewing machines kind of a challenge. It is really hard for him to concentrate with the machines running. If there is any time left in the day before prebirthday sushi dinner, I will cut out the black roses pair of pants. I have made the decision to do the black ones first and then the brown. Tomorrow is a total Dan decides birthday day. He wanted to go and do "free shopping" for his birthday, so we are going to finally spend all those gift cards we got for birthdays and holiday presents last year. These days are always fun because you walk away with a bunch of stuff that you did not pay for. The end of the day is going to be spending his gift card for a wonderful steak dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I have never been to one, but he tells me they are really good steaks. On Sunday I will be gaining a new skill that I have wanted to learn for a long time. I am taking a drop spindle spinning class. I have always wanted to be able to go from shearing to a finished sweater or scarf or socks or something. I have learned how to knit, now I will learn to spin. Hopefully I can then find a class in cleaning and carding. I will let you know how all the weekend plans go on Monday. Till then I hope you all have a Fabulous Friday.

New Product - Organizational Tins

I have been busily bouncing around on this idea since this summer, and after working on some great blackwork designs over the past few months, I finally have my first tin out for purchase at this listing!



This project is the culmination of two things I really love, embroidery and organizational items. Blackwork is a distinctive embroidery technique that became popular in sixteenth century England for covering caps, gloves, sleeves, and bodices. Ever since I first learned about this technique, I have wanted to try it out. These small tin pieces are a great way to have some of this intricate work around for me to enjoy in an everyday practical way. I have always loved items that aid in organization and are stylish at the same time, and these tins will fit the bill. I was always sick of digging through my overly stuffed bag at dance performances trying to find my ugly plastic sandwich bag of pins, that ultimately did not get closed all the way and dumped all over my bag. I also love the oh so embarrassing "I can't find my bindi, oh wait, here it is stuck to my costume" situation.



Sticking with my need to make all things multipurpose, these tins can also be more versatile than just uses for a gig bag. It could also help to tame your purse or backpack of its organizational woes. Inside is a mirror for aiding in any contact replacement, bindi adjustment, or make-up touch up needs while at a dance function or when you are just out on the town. This tin is so small and versatile it could be slipped into a clutch purse when out on the town. The interior is also lined with black felt to show off any pretty bindi or jewelry pieces stored inside. I hope you all enjoy these. I really enjoyed developing and making this one. There will be more with other new designs to come in the future!

Things to Accomplish

I have decided to try to get tons done today and really buckle down and do it. The past few days have not been the best for picture taking because the fog is in and thick. By the time it has been lifting, the sun is not in the best place in the sky for me to take pictures. I have decided to take whatever pictures I can get in when the fog lifts. I am also not complaining about the fog being here. It is actually one of my favorite things about living in this area. I have always loved the look of fog around water since I was a kid. We would go fishing every year up in Wisconsin at Clam Lake, and my favorite days there always started out with the lake so fogged in you could not see it. Going out in the boat on those early mornings was an experience that has stuck with me. I loved the sense of the veil of the two worlds being lifted in some sense of it all.

Other than the picture taking, I need to finally finish off these purple hairfalls once and for all. I am really close to getting them done, so I am making them a priority today. I have to get some labels made up as well. I am going to try to get many of them edged today and will stamp them tonight in front of the television.

In amongst all of this, I need to run some things to the post office and make a trip to the store for some of our household needs as well as some items for the store. If I get all this done, I am going to move on to starting up a new product. More details on that soon.

To Do Today

Toady I am hoping to get a lot done, only, in a quiet fashion. My husband is working from home today to try and get things done. His office space is shared and therefore very loud, so he is using the house today to try to get more done. This means that machine work will be limited today. I have that special order pairs of pants that should be finally done today. They have taken a while, but I am learning a lot about working with cotton knit fabrics. I am beginning to think that I like it.... I know, crazy but true. I was so petrified of working with it when I took on the project, but through diligent study and trying out different solutions, I think I am well on my way to working effectively with this type of fabric. Who knows where this will lead in the future! I am also slowly getting my hairfalls done. I did some research looking at other sellers of hairfalls as well yesterday and felt better about my lengthy making process. I did not understand how some people got their falls done so fast and why they looked so different. Upon further looks, I found that these sellers string yarn onto hair ties and do not much else where as I braid almost all the yarn I place on the ties except for the few "highlight" yarns and metallics that I use to make them look more dread like. Hopefully the hard work on these will pay off for me. Time will tell. Well I am going to head into the work space and try to get some great work done.... quietly.

Productive Weekend, Trying to Carry That into the Week

I got more done this weekend than I thought. I was trying to keep off the machines, since the hubby needed quiet while he worked on his programming for work. I ended up working on a personal project but also on many things for the shop. On Saturday, I went to the knitting group I have become a part of. It is put on by Knit-One-One, a local knitting school that I will one day take some spinning classes from. I have learned to knit from a very talented friend, and am working on my first project. It is, of course, a scarf for my Grandmother for Christmas. I am hoping I will get it done in time along with all the other gifts I have to make. I then spent some quality lazy time with the husband. He even took me fabric shopping! He is a great man! I found some great fabrics and am really excited to start cranking out some new pairs of pants with them. They are truly gorgeous.

On Sunday, I did my normal domestic duties such as shopping at the Farmer's Market and picking up the other groceries at the store. I finished the laundry that is always supposed to get done on Friday, but always seems to not get done because of my working on pants items! :) I worked on some promotional items for the store that are going to be given out by a fellow Etsy shop Simply Sarah's Paper Perfections at a craft show in Florida. I hope it gets some new people into Fabulous Pants. I also worked more on braiding the purple falls I am working on for the store. They are super long! I really am liking this pair, and I hope that they find a good home soon when I get them onto the store. Hopefully they will be up in the next few weeks. They do take a long time since I braid almost all of the yarns that are attached on the bands. Pictures to come soon.... I promise this time!

Well it is time to get back to work on these promos. I also am down right determined to get the pants that I am working on for a special order done. They are made out of a different kind of fabric I have never used before for these pants, so they are taking a really long time. I really want them done though.... the person they are for has waited very patiently, and they need their pants. I just want them to be perfect. Hopefully this pair will make me gain some confidence though, and hopefully I will branch out further with the pants line because of this. If I do, they will be named after her! Off to work, and I hope you all have a creative day.

Artisan Pants?

So recently I had someone ask me what was so artisan about my pants. I had to think about this only a little while seeing as I hand picked the word artisan for a reason when I put it on my tag line. My reply boiled down to the following points. One thing that makes the pants artisan is that they are made in small batches. I do not tend to make more than five pair out of any singular material, unless it is a troupe order. I like to limit the number of alike pairs out there in the world, so each owner can feel like they have something that is not owned by hundreds or thousands of people, like a manufactured piece of clothing is. I also search out my materials and purchase things that I think are beautiful. Then I hold onto that fabric for a period of time. I want to make sure that I don't see a ton of other things made out of the materials I pick. I want to ensure they are unique for my wearers. Another artisan touch is that I make sure all my seams are turned under where ever possible, so there are no exposed cut edges. When that is not possible, seams are sealed with a serged edge to ensure a clean finish. I also have certain special touches I use with my pants to make them artisan. I make all my own labels for the pants from recycled material. Each label is cut from former dress material, seams are rolled, and then I hand stamp my logo and name on each one. For clothing that tags would be excessively annoying, such as choli tops, I hand stamp right on the interior fabric so no tags get in the way, show during performance, or irritate the sensitive skin of the arms or back. Finally, the pants are artisan because each package is wrapped in hand stamped wrapping paper when ordered from my Etsy store. Hey, who doesn't like to feel like they are opening up a present for no particular reason! Treat yourself! So that was my reply, and I think I won them over to calling my pants and products, artisan.

No I Haven't Fallen Off the Face of the Earth!

Ok so many of you must be wondering what happened to me and if I have closed up the shop. Well the answer is that I was on a hiatus and of course I would not just close up the shop! For a week and a half, I turned the sewing machines to work on my own personal costuming for Belegarth. Every year I promise myself that I will work on my costumes incrementally and not put it off till the last minute. Well we all know how that goes. I get wrapped up in working on Fabulous Pants and in my real life and my hobbies many times get put aside. This year I made several items for the event. I created an Afghani style tribal dress. It turned out better than I had even envisioned even though I had to finish hemming it on the train out to Idaho. (I will post a picture up here for you all to see sometime!)I also got a couple of pantaloons made for myself and a new choli to add to the bellydance trunk. The trip to Idaho for Chaos Wars was very fun, and the event was even better. The train trip out was one of the most exciting that I have ever experienced. I met a man who is walking around the world. This begged the question, "Why are you riding a train then?" He was actually on a break from the round the world walk. Once I find his business card again, I will post his blog for you all to read about him and his adventures. The site was gorgeous. We were lucky enough to be hosted on a horse ranch in Hailey, Idaho. The hosts were amazing, and their land was so beautiful. The event was action packed and filled with old and new friends, good fighting, and great food.

After one of the best Belegarth events I have ever attended, I returned home for one day to do some laundry and repacking. I then left for Illinois to visit family and let the husband have a well deserved vacation away. The trip was nice, and it made me realize exactly what I missed about the Midwest. One of those things being sweet corn. Californians may think they have sweet corn, but theirs has nothing over the corn of "home." We also got to have some wonderfully beautiful weather, especially for the Steam Show in Sycamore. Usually it is so hot, and then you are standing next to all these steam engines, you just want to get back to the air conditioning of a house. This year, I had a hard time leaving the Taylor Marshall Farm. It was a great day with wonderful weather and great music and threshing.

We finally returned home on Monday of this week, and I had a glut of laundry, cleaning, ordering, and appointments to keep. 826 Valencia needed some help, so I went there on Thursday. I finally got to turn some attention to the shop today. I went to get some supplies and will be working on some custom orders I have received. I also hope to get some falls and new belts made soon. Check back more often, seeing as I will be back to blogging now that computers are in reach and back logs of computer work are finally cleared! It is good to be back, and I cannot wait to get back to some costuming fabulousness!