Dreams, Rip-Offs and Christmas Presents

Here's a long story with a happy ending.

A couple of years ago, a friend from work invited me to her house to learn to spin on a wheel.  I had expressed an interest in spinning after seeing really cool yarn hand-spun on craftster.  They have a fiber friday board and every week people show off what they've made.

It was a fun afternoon and I laughed a lot as I was really pretty bad at spinning but got the basic hang of it and had some really wonky yarn as a result. 

After this and after my daughter moved out and a spare room appeared in my apartment, I started looking for a spinning wheel of my own.  I am a cheapskate.  And a new decent wheel was going for hundreds of dollars.  SO when I saw one on craigslist for $100, I jumped.  Craigslist is a gamble.  But I've had good experiences buying musical instruments from there so...  I drive to redwood city and go this girl's apartment where they have a decent spinning wheel set up and also this one I"m buying.  She's replacing this one she says.

I'm all hope and ignorance so I hand over my 20's and take this thing home.

It is a piece of shit.  But I keep trying to make it work.  I bring home books on spinning wheels and I discover the following facts about this antique spinning wheel.

Just so you can figure out what I'm talking about...

1 - With a leg broken at the bottom, I can't get the thing to stand up straight.
2 - She didn't even have the drive band set up right.  She had two different bands not one band wound twice.
3 - The wheel was termite eaten or screwed up in some way that there isn't really a decent kind of rim to keep the drive band on the thing.
4 - The hooks on the flyer were gunky and just messed up.
5 - All in all a big waste of my money and I don't dare pass this crap on to some other unsuspecting spinning neophyte.

So of course, I had bought fiber and it was just sitting there in that spare bedroom mocking me.  I tried to make that damn wheel work, but I never got it right.  I don't think the person who sold it to me ever got it to work, I think she just had less ethical backbone than me and passed along the lemon to me.

So when my sweet Spouse asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year, I said I want a spinning wheel.  He's all like - what?  I don't even know how to begin to get you a spinning wheel?  So I sent him a link to the site to buy a Babe Starter wheel.

This is not your great grandmother's spinning wheel.  This wheel is made of PVC pipe and a wheelchair wheel with a big rubber band as the drive band.   It weighs less than 10 pounds and it doesn't take up too much floor space.

It looks weird, but it spins great and I love it.  I've spun a whole lotta yarn on it over the course of a few months and everybody loves the stuff that I make with it.

The only downside to this wheel is that because it is so light, I have to weigh it down to keep it from rocking while I'm treadling.  Currently I put one foot on the frame and treadle with the other.

The bobbins are made of plastic.  I have two sets of 3.  I currently am only good at using the bigger of the two - it spins slower and I like the chunky yarn that results.  I have not tried plying yet.

I listen to my ipod while I spin.  I like to listen to Prince - that music has the right number of beats per second for me to spin to.  So I'm spinning and listening to Raspberry Beret and Little Red Corvette.  It is not the idea of homespun that most people have.  But it works for me!

There is more to this story - so stay tuned to find out more.

Little Bitty Buttons

In 2006 I made a $200 investment in my crafty future.

I bought a seriously hard-core 1" button maker.

This is the real deal - it is made of STEEL and it makes 1" buttons REALLY FAST!

What was the downside?  The 1" circle of paper that you have your design on.
I have figured out how to make a 1" design - using word and the ruler function makes it pretty easy to size down images or put your little phrase in a 1" circle.

Cutting that little circle was the hard part.  I searched and searched to find an affordable 1" circle punch.
Finally, Michaels heeded my call and I got one for about $10.  Why wait?  Why not plop down another $100 for a circle punch from the button maker guys?  Well...I'm weird about money that way and I thought the price too high for what you got.

Okay now let's talk buttons.  Easy to make, quick to manufacture. Its just that I really don't like to be a sweatshop worker.  So I'll make you a specific button to your requirement or I'll guess what might be useful - like appearance based merits and flaws for LARPing.  Or if it is funny to me - like "We Do The Weird Stuff" from Dr. Horrible or Vote Petrelli from Heroes...

We Do The Weird Stuff!

Also simple stuff is best on such a small palette.  Don't be wordy because no one will be able to read such small print!  I like to take pictures from discarded books and punch out 1" circles of the text or from sheet music or origami paper.  Those buttons are very nice.

So - conclusion?  EXPENSIVE INVESTMENT!  Worth it?  Over the course of 5 years?  Yes.  Recommended?  No - unless you are crazy like me or have money to blow.  Otherwise, ask me to make your buttons or to borrow my machine.

Cooking with Sandra

Miso Soup is the ultimate dieting tool.


Here is how you make it.

• Boil Water
• Put 1 Tablespoon of Miso Paste into a bowl
• Shake in about 1/2 Teaspoon of Bonito flakes into the bowl
• Cut up a little bit of scallion or onion and broccoli or carrot and put into bowl
• cut about 1 ounce of tofu into little bits and put in the bowl
• Pour the water into the bowl and stir

Now you have miso soup.

Seriously folks, don't buy those individual packets of miso soup mix unless you really cannot get a hold of miso paste.

 Broccoli and Baby Bok Choy

Love me some broccoli and baby bok choy.  Those little cabbages are my best friends.  Steam this together in a wok with some garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce.  Add a few drops of Sriracha for heat.  EAT!  This takes about 5 minutes and the only improvement is adding rice noodles for a carb.

Rice Noodles?

Yes my friends, this is the quick preparation carb that will make cooking so much faster.  Drop a handful of these into a bowl of warm water.  I have started putting warm water in my rice cooker, turning that on for more heat and putting the noodles in that.  In 5 minutes, pull the noodles out and throw them in what you're cooking for the last minute or so.  Awesome!

Now that I've got your motor running to make some ethnic food - I watch little cooking shows on YouTube.

Cooking with Dog and Manjula's Kitchen are my current favs.  In Cooking with Dog, this very nice Japanese woman cooks and her poodle translates into English.  Hilarious and informative!  In Manjula's Kitchen, a very nice Indian aunty cooks every Indian recipe you have ever heard of in small quantities that her son or husband eat immediately after taping her.  Yum!

Rock Paper Scissors Cards

For the big convention last year, my dear Spouse wanted to have a souvenir to give to other players who attended a meeting he was hosting in character.  The game uses Rock Paper Scissors to determine outcomes and RPS is a psychological game that some people are really bad at.  The solution is Rock Paper Scissors cards.  This makes the outcome really randomized.

 Of course, if my Spouse wants something made, he usually comes to me with it.  So I buy a laminator and I come up with a back for the cards but finding graphics for Rock Paper Scissors and Bomb is just really not happening for me.  How does the solution find me?  In My DREAMS!!!!  Yes, I dreamt that I paid someone to draw me simple graphics of the hands making those signs.  This artist is someone I work with and the next day I said, "Hey David, I had a dream about you last night!  Will you draw 4 simple line drawings for me for a small but significant amount of money?"  He was all about it and by the end of the day I had 4 8 1/2" x 11" drawings of hands.

Rock Card Graphic

I scanned those puppies and threw them on the backs of the cards.  I used a copy machine to do double sided copies and a paper cutter to make them the size I wanted.  Since then I've moved to using the business card template and business card stock to save time. This does NOT save money.  But time is money so maybe it does...

Lamination 101.  There are basically 2 kinds of lamination.  There is the adhesive kind that is two pieces of plastic with goo in between.  You put your stuff in between the plastic and press it closed.  The second kind is better and more expensive.  This is heat lamination.  You have a hot machine with rollers that you put a plastic pouch with your stuff inside it into.  The rollers run it through and it melts the plastic together.  This stuff doesn't come apart!  The laminator is fairly cheap - I got mine for $35.  The laminate - the plastic - is where they get you - kind of like ink jet cartridges...  A box of 100 business card sized laminate pouches is $20.  Putting your stuff through the laminator is super easy - just make sure its straight and you put the closed part of the pouch through first so you don't get bubbles.
 
If you need to make RPS cards, drop me a line on etsy and we'll talk.  If you want me to make them for you - same thing - drop me a line.

This was an expensive endeavor, but I now have the ability to create RPS cards or other laminated stuff at will.  The end result was very good and people liked the product.

A Cover For My Nook Color

I bought a Nook Color recently and I highly recommend it to you as an ereader and as an Android tablet.  It connects to wifi and I can get my email, browse the web, play some games, read books, watch movies and listen to music or audiobooks on it.  It is compatible with most of the ebooks we have available for checkout at the library and it just frikkin rocks.  I have a lot of gaming books loaded on it as well as my pulp fiction, dolly parton music and some movies.  Forgetting Sarah Marshall was surprisingly good.


Right away I knew I had to have some sort of case to protect the screen from scratches and the whole thing from bumps and bruises that come along with Real Life.  In the car, on an hour-long ride, I crocheted a case.

It is simple, it is functional and I like it.  I've also gotten lots of compliments on it.  My spouse thinks it looks too much like a purse because I put a handle on it.  To him I say, SUFFER!

Would you like to make one too?

• Get out your crochet hook - size H and a skein of that super cheap acrylic yarn in a color you like.  Chain 40 and crochet that together.  You've made a ring that will be the top of the case.
• Begin Single Crochet around and around for 30 rows.  Just long enough to slip your Nook into.
• The last row you want to flatten the tube you've been making and Single Crochet across to "sew" it together.  Now it is no longer a tube, it is a pouch.
• At the other end Chain 4 and then Double Crochet x 3, repeat 14 times then attach to the other side in a single crochet to "sew" it on.  This will torment your Spouse with a handle which will make it look like a girly purse.

Voila - you have spent about an hour and now have a Nook Color case just like mine.  Simple, Functional, Like a Girly Purse.  All for the low low price of whatever that yarn cost you - probably somewhere around $3.00 because you won't have used the whole skein of yarn.

This creative endeavor was a success.  It was inexpensive, I did not make any significant mistakes in its creation and I've gotten compliments on the end product.

My Really Crappy Etsy Shop

I suck at etsy. I have an etsy shop. If you wish, you may contact me there and commission something. I'd love the business. I've had an etsy shop since 1996. I've made 21 sales. My feedback is 100% positive. 28 etsy users have favorited me. They are probably mostly my friends. Thanks friends. I am a member of AWL - Association of Workers in Leather.

But seriously, etsy is for cool kids. Etsy loves to highlight the shops of cool people - hipsters, hippies, fashionistas...Let's just make it clear - I'm not a cool kid. I'm not a hipster. I'm not a hippie. I'm not a fashionista. I'm a geek and not even as geeky as I should be to have real geek cred. Ergo I'm not cool enough for etsy to feature.

Etsy loves artsy fartsy photos with skinny models. My photos will show you what I've made but they aren't photoshopped or fancied up. I know some skinny people but I haven't asked them to model my leather masks. I have a copy of gimp on my computer and I have an okay digital camera, but really I haven't taken the time to figure out how to sexy up my photos so they're etsy-tastic. Ergo etsy will never put one of my items on the front page of featured items.

Etsy loves people who are really active - they post new stuff every frikkin day. I've got a day job - nay- a career and I don't have the time nor inclination to spend an hour a day updating my shop. Ergo etsy doesn't have my items show up in the most recently posted because they aren't recently posted.

What does this equal? A Really Crappy Etsy Shop. At least I've never been featured on Regretsy.

A Paradigm Shift

I - on the advice of my very smart spouse - have undergone a paradigm shift. Now the horribly neglected Constantly Creating will be more dynamic and the focus of the stuff I'm doing.

I was trying to make a business out of my hobby - making things. I had a skewed idea that I was going to make some money out of this. I got a tax id number, a business license and I even signed up to have tables at conventions and craft shows. The success of this - monetarily - was a spectacular failure. I have had a net loss in this area two years running. But I have paid my taxes and kept my paperwork.

What has been successful, for me, has been the satisfaction of making things and seeing other people wear and enjoy them. Figuring out what to make and how to make it is a pleasure for me. It is a puzzle to solve and the satisfaction of that is...what makes me want to do it again and again.

What don't I like? Sweatshop work. I don't like to do the same thing again and again.

What does this have to do with this silly blog? The paradigm shift. If you follow along, you'll get a glimpse into my creative process as I chronicle it. You'll learn a little something with me when I succeed and get a chuckle from my failed attempts.

So if you care to - read on...