Adversity

Still Chipping Away

by CZeitler

Every Day bring a slightly new challenge to the forefront. I’m still chipping away at my 100 day challenge, I did have one slip when I found some Fat Quarters for $.50 at Walmart. I plan on making a simple children’s quilt from them for the Holiday Season.

I have managed to work on several projects over the past week and a half. Much of my ‘good’ yarn has been put in plastic bags for easier storage. I have started spinning again and gotten a few ‘puffs’ of wool spun. My singles yarns that I purchased or were gifted years ago are now being made into a large granny square that might be sold or gifted as a decorative throw. I made a sale in my Etsy Shop (total of 2 now, lol). This makes me want to finish the skull earrings I have embroidered, they need their jump rings and earring hooks. My Tie-On Pockets have also made some progress.

I am doing my best to look on the bright side and get through this last hurdle. There is a Quarter left in the year, this Sunday is the Autumnal Equinox so I will use these next three months to close out this chapter of my life and welcome the New!

I hope that you have a great day and remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Digging Out

by CZeitler

Sometimes you dig a huge hole by trying to do what you think is right. At present I am reaping the consequences of my hubris. Despite this I am going to use this as an opportunity for a new start.

To make the most of this ‘new start’ I am planning 2 personal 100 Day Challenges that will go hand in hand.

The first is a moratorium on purchasing new craft supplies. I have a lot already and should be using them up before I think about purchasing more. To that end I am also going to run a 100 day crafting challenge. I plan on making progress on some projects a little each day, hopefully some of these projects can be used as Christmas Crafts, however if not I am not going to worry about it.

I am hoping to use these challenges as a way to remind myself to be grateful for the abundance that I have, as well as using this as an opportunity to get myself more organized. All of these problems have been weighing heavily on me, though I have learned a lot of lessons that will stand me in good stead in the near future. This will make me into a more balanced, responsible, and well rounded person. I look forward to enforcing these changes in my everyday life.

I will start my challenges September 10 and go through until December 19th. I hope that everyone has a great day and remembers to Live a Little More Abstract.

Depression is No Joke

by CZeitler

*This post is not at all Crafty, I hope to get back in the swing of things, but I am putting out this Personal Update in the mean time. Stay tuned for more crafty Content!*

I have never thought of myself as depressed; No self harm, thoughts of suicide, the world would be better off without me, etc. Since my last post I’ve been having trouble getting out of bed, wanting to just sleep the entire day away. I get this way once in a while where I just need 1 day of sleep to recharge everything, in the past month it has been flipped around where I have maybe 1 day where I’m ready to leave my bed. This means that I have been waking up about 30 minutes before it is time for me to leave, rushing breakfast (or skipping), and rushing getting ready. When speaking to my psychologist we agreed to up my anti-anxiety medication to see if that helps. After only a couple of days it has helped some.

Because of my sleeping a ton everything else has fallen by the wayside. The store that I am selling my products at on consignment was going to close this past week, however, the owner of the building gave the shop owner a free month to see if business picks up. That means I have another month to pick up extra income from teaching classes and possibly selling some of my items. Yay.

My next two vacations are already plotted out, though the second one might not happen. The car repair, not covered by my warranty, really threw a wrench in all of my plans to get ahead. Fortunately for me I have some equipment that I purchased thinking I would use it, don’t like it, can sell it for money to help me get back on track. The world, and universe, is strange an wonderful. I never forget that there is a higher power looking out for me, call it what you will, I call it God. So thank you for all that you have done for me and continue to do for me. All of the joy you have put on Earth, like shiny rocks, and people that enjoy getting a good deal on Craft Supplies and Equipment.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Sorry About Sporadic Posting

by CZeitler

I’m sorry I have not posted in a while. I have been trying to get some things related to my business accomplished, however, I have also recognized where all of my emotional and physical energy has been going.

To begin with, I am the type of person that if I surround myself (on purpose or accident) with negativity it completely drains me of energy, increases my anxiety, depresses me, and causes my IBS to get out of control. I recognize this about myself. According to my therapist I also have a hard time letting people in and when I do then I do whatever I can for them. Recently I have realized that someone that is undergoing their own mental health problems has been utilizing my compassion and friendship as a dumping ground for their negativity. At one point I had asserted that I could not take a ton of negative energy that day, their response was if I cannot talk about anything negative then I have nothing to talk about. Subconsciously, this triggered me to realize that if I want them to feel free to talk to me at all I HAD to absorb their negativity. This means that anytime that person asks me, “Are you okay to hear about this?” I felt that I had to respond yes, I was okay or they would shut down. Again, my attachment causes me to be blind toward these things until I am run down and messing my health up.

I had come to this realization before my trip. I was dreading the trip, my therapist did say that I could only provide the framework for a good experience and everything else is up to the guest. I am sorry about the car ride, they say that they forgave me, but they are also being very passive-aggressive.

If you come away from spending time with someone drained, and you dread seeing someone, then they are not the right person for you to be spending time with.

My energy for the next three months is going to be focused elsewhere. This is the last of my focused attention that person gets.

In terms of the crafts I have been working on:

One of my Aunts asked me to do some embroidering (on my embroidery machine) for her. This caused me to look at other websites that have embroidery files available, and it is amazing some of the artwork out there! There is some chatter about restrictions being placed on patterns, what I have seen is most of the retailers are trying to restrict large businesses from taking their artwork and doing major production with it. I’m not going to do that, though I do question whether they are able to restrict access that way. I’m not planning on doing any major production, however I am hoping to create some book covers for notebooks having to do with Pride right now. After that is done, and I have sent my Aunt all of the pieces she requested (and more of course), I am going to play a lot more with my Embroidery Machine and some of the amazing patterns available out there.

My garden is coming along pretty well, though I did thoroughly drown my carrots. I am going to take some time this week, since I took time off of work for another friends wedding that is not happening now (long story not mine to tell but the couple is still happily together), to work on my garden and figure out how I can mow around all of my planters. I might also just work on making paths/planting into the ground, so that I don’t have any grass growing in my front yard. I already put down landscaping fabric so that a lot of the grass is killed in the medium between the sidewalk and the road. After the grass dies down I plan on planting tons of bulbs to create beauty.

Okay, I have to get back to my full-time job now. Remember that no one is worth your health and happiness, Live Life A Little More Abstract!

All Work and No Play

by CZeitler

I’ll be the first to admit, I have been having a hard time drawing a line between time to work and time to play. Even during my time to play, I discovered I like playing alone. There is a Mine that has Quartz about 5 hours from my home. I decided to take a day trip there with a friend. I wish I could say it was a great time, unfortunately, I did not have a lot of fun. I spent more time worrying about whether my friend was having fun, and trying to entertain them, than I did enjoying myself. The whole trip got cut short due to grit in an eye then we took a detour to go shopping for something they wanted, and then they don’t like my driving (I drive defensively and had to stop short a few times). This proved to me, if I want to take a trip I’m just going on my own or with family that I know enjoy this type of adventure (or at least are willing to fake it for my sake).

In that vein I took a trip out to a local lake and enjoyed myself immensely. Dangling my feet in the water, having a personal picnic, taking time to watch how the refraction of light on the water made the stones look like they were rippling instead of the water, as well as getting some stitching done. I had so much fun, that I decided to make a promise to myself this summer. I am going to take the time to work on myself. No guilds, as little time with negative people as possible, visiting with friends and family, as well as enjoying my vacations.

I hope that you remember to have fun, and don’t let work/negative people consume you. Live Life A Little More Abstract!

Sometimes the Answer is No

by CZeitler

I know that it has been a month since I last posted. This past month has been a period of time where I end up having problems with library patrons, apparently some kind of rodent decided to chew a wire in my car, and the bannister leading upstairs decided to shear off at the metal. However, I still managed to go to Herkimer NY to check out the Herkimer ‘Diamond’ Mine with a friend of mine.

I have still tried to be productive, I did have a single person come to my fiber prep class. They were signed up for my spinning class, however, they got the flu and had to back out. I have several batts ready to be spun for sale, as well as some yarn I spun. There is always something to do. I’m trying to sew up some microwavable potato sacks. There is no one signed up for my Saturday Class, I’m looking at that as a way for me to take my time and relax for a day.

I did find out that hexagons are not working very well as an easy English Paper Piecing bowl, so I am going to have to try Pentagons next. I’ll use the hexagons to make some awesome pincushions instead.

I hope that the next week or so find you having an amazing time, and remembering that there is no happiness without some sorrow. Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Back to Etsy for Now

by CZeitler

Okay, so I did make one direct sale on Facebook and it really did come in handy since I am also trying to start building my own displays for the jewelry I am making. Right now I have re-opened my etsy store with plenty of earrings and some necklaces. ALittleMoreAbstract.etsy.com

Below are a small selection of the earrings I have been making, they are all on sale right now in my etsy shop with free shipping.

I’ve also made a couple of necklaces, and I will be putting some Embroidered Pendants on sale later this week, likely Tuesday morning.

As you can tell I have been very busy crafting. I also have been destashing all of my ‘good yarn’ to afford a ladder to repair my downspout. This just became a bit more urgent since I found out that the water is seeping into my foundation. If you are interested in bargain priced yarn then you can check out my destash link here: https://www.ravelry.com/people/czeitler/stash/trade/

As you can see I have been trying to ‘hustle’ a bit to get some more income. I’ve also found some Skillshare workshops that have been helping me to price my works in a reasonable way. So that has been my last couple of weeks, hustling to create, trying to build up my website, and working on getting rid of a few items that I no longer use. I hope that your week goes well and you remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Not What I Hoped For

by CZeitler

So, I took my rocks out of the tumbler after the final polish. I was excited but let them dry for 3 days before looking at them…and I was so disappointed. I think I know what I did wrong, so I will be taking all of my stones back to the second step and letting it run for a week to see if that will get the scrapes out of these rocks.

I believe that the problem is that I included the small/tiny rocks into the tumbling batch. I think that the tiny rocks banged up and scratched on the rocks that were ready to be polished. At least I hope so.

I plan on taking the rest of the rocks out of the second tumbler on Saturday morning to see if any of them are ready to go onto the second step, and then put those that are not ready back into the tumbler for the first step.

Thanks for reading my update, I’m still working hard on making jewelry and trying to sell on Facebook and Instagram under A Little More Abstract. I hope to have another post on Sunday, but if not then I will see you next week (hopefully with some pretty stones to show off).

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

God Laughs Harder

by CZeitler

Okay, so as a follow up I still haven’t gotten much done over the past two weeks. My stomach flu came back with a vengeance that Tuesday so I had to call off of work Wednesday. Then the following week my allergies stuffed up my head to the point that I was very dizzy. I took the medication, however, when I reclined to take a nap until the effects kicked in, I became nauseous and did when you do when you’re dizzy and nauseous for about 2 hours. 

Needless to say I called in sick to work again. Now I have switched my allergy medications, which should last 24 hours, to the night before and I am looking into getting an air purifier to help with these problems. 

All of this being said, I have not gotten nearly as much done as I would have liked. Just this morning, the last nice day for quite a while, I managed to get my rain barrel put together and outside, though I am still working on getting my downspout reattached. I have some crafting plans as soon as I get my house in some form of order, so hopefully I can get the organization done this weekend and get started on crafting again!

Life is full of ups and downs, sometimes the ride makes you nauseous, sometimes euphoric, but you have to stay in the cart and keep riding along. Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Man Plans, God Laughs

by CZeitler

I have been trying to get my house in order as I mentioned in the last post. Over the past week I have managed to get three small dressers put together and I started putting together the wider set of drawers. Then I had to get ready for work, after my shower I noticed a really bad smell coming up the stairs…my sewer had backed up. I scheduled a RotoRooter visit to be the most convenient around my work schedule, and then I decided to give myself a treat and order KFC while inviting a friend over for dinner. That was Friday, I quickly remembered why I don’t order KFC, it upsets my stomach. I had signed up for a class on Saturday Afternoon, so I did not eat much for breakfast since I wasn’t hungry, went to the class, and ordered something quick and cheap for lunch/dinner….

I wanted to finish putting the set of drawers together and hauling some things upstairs for storage. Yeah. Instead either KFC hit me really hard or I had a 24 hour Stomach Flu. I’ll spare you the details, but I didn’t get anything done Saturday other than finding out that Door Dash will send you a 7-11 order that arrives at 1:14am (clear soda and saltines). I then spent all of Sunday sleeping and occasionally getting up and trying to drink clear soda and eat a few saltines.

Needless to say I am here, at work on my lunch break, feeling dehydrated and frustrated that I accomplished very little this past weekend.

I’m hoping that the week shapes up to be better, and that I can down enough liquids over the day to combat some of this dehydration. I hope that your week goes well and that you remember to Live Life A Little More Abstract!