argghh...

my kiln mis-fired & my whole load looks like crap - all my flower tea top tiles that i'm out of on my site...& so close to the holidays...drat drat drat. f. r. u. s. t. r. a. t. i. o. n. they look like this awful orangey bronzey color with a pea green center...definitely not the beautiful crackle ivory silk and sea spray green....*double sighhhhhhh*

now i gotta make a whole bunch more, let them dry, bisque fire them, then glaze them & then fire again...on top of my full time job...did i mention that? crap. o. la. la. la. la. la. a little christmas carol for ya.

back in the sprout studio for this gal. it's crack down time.

seriously, maybe i'll blog again after the new year. sniffle.

mmmm...for real?

i hit try again about 40 times to post this picture; flickr says it's blogger's faults & they can't do anything...? i think i need to do the switcheroo to the beta blogger but i'm scared i'm going to lose everything...anyone have experience with this yet? anyone? bueller? bueller?

sf craft mafia table

sf craft mafia table, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

super behind - eep!

...so far i only have my large necklaces updated over in sprout studio land...hairpins & shirts have been photographed & are awaiting time for the mister to input (yes, the goofy shirt model, me, is a bit embarrassed by the photos...i need a better model next time, any interest?)

...got a coupla wholesale requests i'm trying to fill & even though i'm not doing any more holiday shows, i'm still feeling the pinch to be super motivated & productive.

i really want to go to shash's art/craft/glogg holiday party & sale on saturday, so i'm trying to get caught up!

bought the cutest little tree pouch at egg press yesterday. i have loved their cards forever...& i was so excited to see this pouch over there after having bought the little card with the same design a bit ago. and yes, i know, it was for me...sigh...i'm still thinking of others though whilst i go about indie business shopping! i also picked up 2 shirts for the mister from threadless as they are having their $10 tee shirt sale. (i did get 2 for me too...2 for the mister, 2 for me! fair is fair!)

off to do sprout work...ta ta!

toadstool friends walkabout

toadstool friends walkabout, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

cutest little mushroom buddies...(testing picture posting again...)

a picture posted!

finally -- but i'm still super confused, i'm going to try to post some of our thanksgiving too...it failed to post 3 times & then outta no where...hello picture!

what's the opinion on the blogger beta version? should i switch? does it matter?

i hope everyone heeded the buy nothing day yesterday & stuck it to the corporation man...did you? or, if not, just shopped local, handmade & indie...i sure hope so. we need a revolution in that department...

i dropped a bunch of my goodies at needles & pens yesterday in the mission; one of my all time favorite boutiques, so i'm stoked to have sprout studio representing there & know they dig my work!

i'm working on my grateful list...so very much, it's hard to know where to start...

first though, i'm off to get treats together for a little mini update...i'll keep you posted!

old school hopscotch

old school hopscotch, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

testing my picture posting again...i've got a title here...let's see...if it doesn't work, i'm going to need to erase the whole dealio & i suppose try over with my blog...grrr...

hrrmmm...

well, i'm stumped. i don't understand why i can't post my flickr photos anymore. flickr won't get back to me & i see that other blogger folks are posting their photos just fine. right when i'm ready to post up a flurry, this happens...grump, grump, grump...

but tomorrow will come a 'grateful/thanks' post followed by my 'buy nothing day' post...aka, or 'buy local, handmade' post...

hope all you turkey americans enjoy a bird free day...i hear tell neighbors are cooking up a quorn veggie roast that is too scrumptious, we'll see (& *perhaps* you will see if i figure out what's up with the flickr world not liking my blogger world...sigh...)

xxx.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

gathering & frustration mode

i was going to precede this little post with a cute picture of some mushroom friends i found but flickr & blogger have ceased to talk to each other; they must have had a big ole blow it b/c the 2 of them have not communicated very well at all in the last week & it has made my life difficult and my blog visually boring! do tell, has anyone experienced this? & what's the deal with the beta blogger? what is this? do i need to upgrade? i'm thoroughly confused! flickr is telling me that my blog doesn't even exist anymore...huh? i think it exists still...are you reading this now?! are we in some weird non-parallel universe? very confounding...

but, back to my gathering post; i must go do the frenzy-circle-around-dance & get ready for my show tomorrow...if you must know, i still have sprout studio goodies that need to be glued & fashioned and sewn -- eep! & considering that half my stuff is strewn across another room on the other side of the country from my previous show (crafty bastards) & said room was dismantled by lovely mister before coming out & my frantic, 'grab the little red polka do suitcase' & 'i need my felt sprouty sign', & 'look in the red tupperware for my appliqued shirts' & 'eeeek - where's my cute vintage ceramic pot to hold my business cards???' ...obviously readying for a show from 2 different coasts has me a might frazzled. maybe i'll pop a few shots tomorrow & if flickr & blogger have mended there ways and kissed & made up, i'll be able to post some pics...if not...i have no idea?!

wish me luck tomorrow :)

xxx.

holiday shopping...

it is sooo very hard for me to keep my money in my pocket when it comes to the holidays and spending on myself...i know, shame on me...but i end up looking at such wonderful, handmade gifties out there & inevitably i want them allllllll forrrrrr meeeeeee...oh santa, i'm sorry i'm such a greedy girl!

but i did purchase this for my mother in law (but in better colors, she already took the pic down of the one i got her) & also got her these lovely cards from the same etsy seller. she loves asian-ey type things so i think these will suit her well. (i only ended up buying one set of bird cards for me, honest, just one set!)

now, i also did a little shopping for my dear momma. i got her a very cool owl hoodie from fluffy co that she was admiring when she came to rescue her sick ole daughter. (okay, okay, i only bought ONE cuff for me while i was fluffy co shopping - pinky swear!)

i am coveting: this new print of camilla's & i was lucky enough to get one of mav's now sold out calendars (ah-hem, yep, calendar is for me) & her beautiful 'twinkle' card for the mister's special christmas card (that will hold a *very* special giftie inside...secret's not out yet; when it is, you'll know too!) well okay, i'll give you one hint, i bought two of the melamine plates from lena corwin to give him as clues, but i can't tell you yet, because what if he is a sneaky pete and looks here too?! so i'll just let you guess which 2 i bought us (HIM, i mean him...i wasn't thinking about me at all & how cute they would look eating a yummy veggie sandwich off of...scout's honor!!)

i'll show more as i cross people (me-hee hee) off my list - i'm making a bunch of sprout studio gifties for friends & families too - & if you want any sprout studio lovelies for the amazing peeps on your little (big?!) list ya better hop to it; after december 13th i'm not shipping out any more orders until after the new year - i'll be chugging back across the country in little ms. vw bus holding my dear sir finally coming home to stay (hip hip hooray!) & lots of other crap we've had in storage at our friends, families & acquaintances homes for near onto 5 years now...and *shocker* they want their space back now. greedy people wanting their garages & attics back...poop!

okay, enough rambling for me, off to ride the crazy bus home & work on stuff for the show on saturday!

xxx.

i'm a rare bird!

the coolio team over at rare bird finds gave my little good luck birdies a plug! hoorah and thank you so much!!!

happy day

the mr. comes back in for 10 whole days tonight! hoorah! laze around next week and do whatever nothingness that we feel like doing while celebrating t-day with neighbors! perhaps even sneak fun southern coast drive to l.a. in...

but before laziness comes a SHOW...(um...the only one, yes, you read that right, the ONLY one i'm doing this holiday season on account of me being so freakin' sick...but i'm on the mend darn it!) so, sprout studio will be in the house this saturday for my trunk show with the san francisco craft mafia, at the craft gym from 12-5...we got a flavorpill mention so ya better come early and score those excellent handmade goodies before they are all gone! :) please come say hi to me; i'll sneak ya something fun for sure! for their postcard they used a silly picture of me with one of my handknit hats & felt pin - it actually is pretty cute if i do say so myself - ha! of course un-savvy me tried to figure out how to make a pdf an actual picture i could post to flickr and then to here, alas...i am a technology buffoon (first i typed buffooB - i think i like that better, i'm a computer buffooB; it sounds like the female version; like in french where there is a male & female 'le' or 'la' attached to everything...la buffooB i am!)

off to cut down coupons of other rad indie businesses to hand out at the show & send packages out...

xxx.

grrrr...

i had more photos to post & flickr is driving me nutty; it won't post my pics & keeps failing. alas, i have run out of patience...so that's all you get for now...maybe all this rain is making my already weak ole signal flakey. grumble. i'll try to post more later!

xxx.

lovely giftie from wendy (green girl)

lovely giftie from wendy (green girl), originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

& this amazing package for supplying the word 'honey' for a project she is working on...thank you so much wendy ; i'm swooning over that print!

giftie from the lovely mimie with mi spa

giftie from the lovely mimie with mi spa, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

i feel kinda spoiled...package number one -- yummy soap & sampler body butters, plus rice candy & the best card :)

thank you mimie!

pictrue viewing

go here: flickr photos from weekend

i'll post some of the better ones, but for now you can check out my world there...

she came home today!

hoorah, finally - will spare gory details of rescuing ms. m-m from dreaded DHL offices.
pictures to come tomorrow; finally!

xxx.

still no muriel/mirabella...

well, i've always been fond of the name mirabella for quite sometime...but maybe ms. mac thinks she's a two-namer...like betty sue...my little mac lady (oh, please come home soon) will henceforth be muriel-mirabella :)

& since i can't post photos w/o m-m, i'll give you this instead:

sound vacations, brought to you from shari's blog...this one is my favorite. shut your eyes when you listen...and breathe in deeply. you'll feel better already, i promise :)

i think i might hit ye ole sewing machine this evening & fiddle around with some projects. i love seeing everyone else's super duper pillows, and whippin' up skirts, & fun little clutches & bags & belts...(check out this faboo belt made from sarah's twill tape...that's my next project -- except i'm going to use some vintage ribbon sewn to some canvas webbing to make mine...i'm hoping sarah will start selling those because i would snatch one up in a mili-second. tomorrow i'd like go see a movie all by myself - suggestions?

& who else is soooo excited about how the ole democratic process turned out here? ohhhhhh yeah baby! hello, nancy pelosi first woman speaker of the house - hoorah hoorah!

xxx.

*j

perhaps a picture (or two) soon...

i think my little mac lady will be returning today (cross fingers)

fortitude

without having my computer with me the last week, it's enabled me to have lots of thinking/musing/look at old magazines time. & i thought a lot about what i sort of mentioned before. changes. & how changes can be good, bad or a combination of both. & growing...i think all change makes one embrace growth (even if it's sometimes with a grimace).

in thinking about why i've been so sick (i really do think i'm finally on an upswing - thank god)...why i haven't slowed down, why i haven't even had time to think about what might be causing me to hit a new level of health low...i came up with this: i'm lacking focus...focus on me-time...it's been all about my students, or my business, or my dog, or my husband, or my crazy schedule, or getting this here & that there & it's all got to be done now, lists, lists, lists - everywhere there are to-do lists...& i think i might have forgotten little ole me in the process of growing my business & living my life...

so some changes are in order. i've been thinking on what exactly those might be...& talking it over with the mister too. so far, we've come up with sunday being *my* chill day, absolutely no sprout studio work, no go here, be there, go go go...no! it's total, absolute, 100% all about jenifer taking down time...rest time...nap time...being a sloth time...whatever i want to do time. & that will be difficult, yet rewarding for me. i've pushed & pushed with my business & finances & plans & goals...& my body finally said no more. so i need to listen to that...even though i know it will be very difficult to feel like i'm letting go some of the things i've been striving for, i know my health comes first...& knowing that, and acknowledging that, & coming to accept that is where i need to be...& i'm getting there...as artists we need rejuvenation time & healthy investigation/inquisitive/look around times...but we also need fallow time, where not doing anything is okay...so that we might *sprout* :) up with new, fresh ideas.

& i'm on my way to that re-energize time...even though it's technically coming right before the 'crazy' holiday times...i need to respect my body & heed it's decisions or i'll never get well...

so i'll still be posting fun things & blogging -- but i'll just be more on that 'when i can get to it' rather than the, 'right this absolute minute' -- thanks for reading along!

as soon as my little ole mac comes back, i'll post some photos!

xxx.

2007...please come quick.

anyone else ready for 2007 already? probably not. i'm reading everywhere how excited everyone is for thanksgiving, & the rest of the holidays...but not me. i'm in a funk. now i know i've been sick, which is contributing to this melancholia...& that my mr. is not with me...but still. i just am over bad, sad news. a friend/good acquaintance just passed away - last evening...she has been struggling with cancer & when i saw her last this summer, was in remission...& then i get the phone call. she was in her 30's...her *thirties*...so crazy...of course, tears (my trusty watery friends) surface...& i think, 'i am so done with all of this'...i'm ready for a new start. a bright morning. some happy sunshine in my equilibrium...i'm done with the over-wrought sighs...so i crawled into bed last evening...not even 6pm...pull covers over my head. try to relax. try to focus on the positive.

i gotta figure out how to shake myself out of this...maybe i need to buy myself a treat. :) maybe i need this...so sweet, no?

it started raining last night; & it fits well. i'm liking the gray skies & wet trees. i go in for my CT scan tomorrow - not looking forward to that either. i have to drink this nasty stuff to light up my insides...3 times i have to drink loads of this crud. i'm over making myself feel sick in order to see why i'm sick... what a complainer i am...give me cheery news folks, i want to hear happy comments damn it!

i also promised i'd post more about business so here goes the sprout studio news: i'm doing a trunk show on the 18th of november with the san francisco craft mafia - i think the only holiday show i signed up for. staying very low profile...but it shoulud be fun to hang with the SF craft peepers for sure...

xxx.

just a quickie

go check out WYMI (what you make it) it's an online zine - some of our favorite people are interviewed in there!

also, my little mac lady had to go into the shop to fix her uncharging, sluggish battery self - so if i post, it'll be from work, and short & sweet -- & pics will have to wait until she makes her way back home again.

:) have a wonderful autumn day...

xx.