Just Tickled Purple

I have been fortunate enough to supply an awesome store, Simply Bungalow, (Lincoln, Nebraska) with some of my wool items. I just sent a shipment of scarves to them this morning and decided it was time I jump back on their fun blog and check up on their recent posts.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a photo of one of my recycled wool tape measures! It was part of a recent giveaway promotion. Well, you should know that I was just tickled purple to see it there - how fun!

From simplybungalow.blogspot.com

And speaking of giveaway promotions.....stay tuned for information about mine coming soon!

The Red Bowl - Version Wool Mittens

Although the weather has been quite pleasant the last few days (and I'm loving it!), the time will come way too soon that we'll need some cozy wool mittens to keep our hands nice and warm.

Okay - sure - these are so teeny that they will only fit a small cat's paw, but they are wool...and they are mittens. But instead of kitten mittens, I think they'd actually work better as a sweet little tie to a fun Christmas package.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sweet holiday blessings to all of you.

TA DA!

I just hit my 100 sales mark! How exciting! Watch in the next few days for my wool give-away announcement and how to be included!

pbblogspot.com



Flowers are a-Blooming

What? I don't think that November is typically the big blooming season in Wisconsin - but, believe me, flowers are a-blooming at my house!

I've been making wool flowers magnets and they are multiplying (and rather addicting to make!)! Here's just a few...

In the 100's

Ooohhh La Laaaaa!

I've been creeping towards my 100th sale on Etsy for some time now. When I was at 75 sales, I promised that when I make my 100th sale, I'd celebrate the milestone by giving away one of my products.

Well.....I'm just about there! You can see below on my "Shop Info" that I'm now only one sale away! I'm hoping that I'll be able to announce my give-away to you soon - so stay tuned!

And, I'm really not trying to boast, but last year I shared with you when I received 100 shop "hearts" and how exciting that was. Right now I'm am over-the-purple-moon-truly-honored to show you below that I now have 430 admirers! I still can't believe it - because I'm just a little wool fish in a big old pond - but it's sure been fun learning to swim on Etsy! Thanks to Etsy and all of my supporters!

Shop Info

            Policies

            Request custom item

            Opened on Jul 6, 2009

            99 sales

            430 admirers 

The Green Potholder

I got the story below in an email a few weeks ago. Now I'm not trying to beat up on any age group and don't agree that a "young cashier" would really say something like this - but there really was some truth in what I read.

The Green Thing

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away  kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn't have the green
thing in our day.

Back then, we had  one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by  hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire
up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right. We didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

And after reading this story, it made me think of how my grandma would save every little thing (hmmm....wonder if it's hereditary...because I think I have the same condition as her!). Every scrap of paper, every scrap of fabric, every beat up bread bad twist tie, every bread bag - nothing wasn't worth saving and reusing.

I have this little potholder that my grandma had in her things. It's the teeniest hot pad - but I suppose whoever made it used just what they had available. I happen to just adore it (and not just because it's purple!).  I don't know if grandma made it or if someone else did, but whoever did, I'm thankful for it.

Wool Coasters

I've been making sets of coasters with wool. Some are made with circles and stitching, while some are more simple. These were made with just squares. I then stitched leaves on the ends of a piece of twine for the tie.

I thought they turned out kind of fun. These happened to be with a great colored/striped sweater, but I've also done some with solid colors as well. Easy little holiday gifts for friends and family!

Berries

While walking into work, I pass by these cute little berries hanging on an otherwise bare tree. (I'm talking about my full-time "day" job - not my "wool" job.)

When I saw them the other day, I knew I wanted to snap a quick photo. They were so cute on a sun-shining morning and yelled to me, hey-I'm-fall-but-winter-is-on-its-way-quickly! I listened to the fall-talk, but promptly ignored her comment about winter!

Sonja

When I told you about my apple pie making weekend, I told you about a sweet surprise we had when at the apple orchard. 

The gal working at the orchard was giving thin slices of apples to the customers to taste. She said "This is a good one for eating. It's new this year. It's name is Sonja."  What? That was our mom's name!

Here we were together for the weekend to make mom's apple pies and we have the pleasure of tasting a new apple called Sonja - well, that was the perfect addition to our weekend! And in all honestly, I do believe it is the best tasting apple I've eaten! It was perfectly sweet - just like our mom.

Although they spelled her name differently, I believe it was a message from mom saying she was pretty darn proud of us carrying on her apple pie tradition.

The Red Bowl - Version Harvest

The other day I had such a sweet surprise. A friend, who I haven't seen in a long time, dropped by with a gift for me from her special homegrown harvest. I knew the best way to show it to you was in the Red Bowl. (As you can tell, I adore the little "daisy" gourd!)

Eating Apple Crisp

I still had some apples left from my pie making weekend - yes, they really stayed nice - so I decided yesterday I should make some apple crisp using my mom's absolutely delicious recipe. The topping is thick...sweet...crunchy...and fabulous!

The full pan...

I'm going in...

Oh boy, it's looking good...

Yup, I'll finish this pan in no time!

Snowballs in November

In my quest to prepare for upcoming shows, I thought it would be fun to make some holiday ornaments.

I've been in a white-mood lately, so I dug out as many white/off-white/cream sweaters as I could find in my stash. Unfortunately, it's often hard for me to find white sweaters. But I happened upon enough to make some white-on-white-on-beige-on-cream snowball ornaments. I'm packaging and selling them in groups of three with varied sizes. I hope people like them.

Happy Holidays! Oops......I got just a little ahead of myself!

Upcoming Shows

I've been busy, busy, busy......

I've been getting ready for several shows. I still have a lot of work to do yet - so I can't talk long - but here's a peek at three shows.

The Space - New Richmond, WI

Whimsical Wares - Marietta, GA

Cafe Wren - Luck, WI

It's No Bull

When I went to visit my sister and brother-in-law (let's just call him K) the other weekend, they showed me a ceramic bull statute that had been recently sent to K.

See if you can follow me here....his friend's wife's family (that was the tricky part!) send each other humorous gifts throughout the year. They decided to include K in one of their gift-giving moments and sent him this ceramic bull statute. The meaning? He kind of likes to "shoot the bull".  :-)

Here's his tough looking bull...

And his don't-mess-with-me attitude...

One morning they both left the house for appointments and I was left behind for a couple hours. I think I softened the bull. Here's what he looked like when they returned home. (Yes - thank goodness I happened to have some wool with me!)

Not so darn tough anymore, huh?

The Red Bowl - Version Leather Pins

I recently finished a bunch of recycled leather pins (from leather jackets) for a sale. Without a doubt, they were screaming to be part of The Red Bowl series!