Make way for Ducklings

just finished drawing and documenting this cute little guy. I don't know why I was in the mood to draw a duckling, but he is so adorable I am happy I did it.

I think the hardest part of trying to make a living with art is staying inspired. I have not had a true moment of inspiration in quite a few weeks now, though some would argue that my golf club covers were an inspired idea. I tend to only count my drawings and paintings in that list.

I also would like to take a moment to thank anyone who follows me on my blog/twitter/facebook. You guys are really spreading the word about my art and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Keep up the good work and I hope I can do the same for you!

Twitter Obsession

If you are actively trying to promote your etsy shop like I am, you may have found that twitter is a great resource. With one small sentence, I am able to reach as many people who follow me. The trick is getting those followers.

That being said, I have been using a few new tools. Firstly, twibes will connect you with anyone who lists themselves with your common interest. In order to use this successfully however, you must go on there site to post your tweet. Twibs is a great place to search through twitter based businesses. ifollow and wefollow are similar in some ways, they are both listings of people who will follow you back if you follow them. the major difference is that wefollow lists participants by 3 keywords of their choosing making it easier to search for others with similar interests. Lastly, I have been using huitter. The "mutuality" application is a great way to follow back all the people who follow you, or conversely, to unfollow those that have stopped following you.

2 weeks ago I started with about 30 people following me. As of this morning I have just shy of 600.

Day at the Beach

I forgot how nice it is just to sit and knit at the beach all day. Especially when the kids are entertaining themselves and i have a friend to hang out with.

I have been working on another blanket. This time instead of using 2 strands of worsted weight yarn, I am using 3 strands of sock weight. So far it is looking quite beautiful, but i am just on the first panel. I am not even sure if I have enough leftovers, I may have to (gasp) buy yarn!!!! A smarter idea would be to pay people to ship me their leftover yarns.

My great plan to have some greeting cards up on the site by tomorrow have been suspended. I did not get a chance to make any new ones over the weekend and I have yet to go and pick up my samples from Yarn-it. I have a couple of new ideas for father's day cards, but i still have not decided what the text inside should say.

Father's Day is coming!

Nothing makes it more evident that father's day is fast approaching then what happened on my Etsy page just yesterday. I knit a very cute Miami Dolphins golf club cover and put it up for sale. I tagged it as a present for a man. BAM! I got 35 views in the first day. I think this might have sparked some interest in my stuff, no?

The hubby is still lying in bed watching lots of movies. My job is to get him things from downstairs and help him get dressed. I am not loving this job.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG Weekend

If it wasn't going to be stressful enough already, my DH decides to bump up his knee surgery to tomorrow. Now I don't want him to suffer, that is certainly not why I am complaining, I would like little notice so that I can get myself mentally prepared for taking care of the kids and him for a week straight. I know in life things get thrown at you you cant possibly be prepared for. I thought I was prepared for this. I had it all set up for the end of June. My mom was going to help me with the kids so I could take care of him. Now I am going to have to take on the task all by myself. Oh well, I have done it before I guess I can do it again.

I am so close to being done with a Miami Dolphins golf club cover. Of course I am totally distracted by this whole surgery thing. It will give me something to do later I guess, and tomorrow I may have a minute to take the photos before I pick him up at the hospital. Isn't it nice the way I prioritize?

I did get a chance to get to the new coach outlet in Jackson, NJ today. A little treat to calm my nerves. Almost everything in the store was 50% off of the already reduced prices. I got a very cool aqua leather bag with brass hardware for $130. It retailed (supposedly) for $359 so it was quite a steal. Ah, retail therapy.

Chocolate problems

I am a chocaholic. There is no debating this topic. In order to stay within an acceptable weight range, I have pretty much given it up. In order to compensate for that need I have discovered Stoneyfield Fat Free Chocolate Underground Yogurt. It fills that need and I dont have to feel guilty.

Now this is why I bring it up. Why are they the only brand that makes chocolate flavored yogurt? It is not so far fetched that someone on a diet would want to eat their yogurt rather then a candy bar. I guess it is good for Stoneyfield that they are the only ones making this flavor, but it is sometimes hard to find and can range in price from $.89 on sale to $1.20 at the natural market. And dont even try to find the Soy version!

Plugging Away

While I got alot of research done yesterday, that never feels like accomplishing anything. So I am making a point today to get out of the house and get tangible things done.

I have already put up a new item for sale on Etsy, and I may put up another one this afternoon, I am still not sure. I really should be creating but I still have things in my archives that I would love to sell before I start making new things; destash as the kids say.

My friend Bari at Yarn-It in Deal was telling me yesterday that sock yarn is flying off the shelves. A visit from the Navesink Knitters sold at least 10 skeins alone! I am not surprised, being a sock knitter myself, all her sock yarn is 30% off and it only takes one skein a pair so it is easy to stock up. I myself have at least 6 pairs awaiting my needles. When I make a sale I think I will treat myself to faster needles, get those socks done super quick!

I was contemplating posting my baby hat pattern, but there are about a billion of them available for free online so I will not bore you with that today. When i do something new and fabulous I will be sure to let you know :P