philosophy

Weekend Sewing

by CZeitler

I did have to work on Saturday so I did not get as much time to enjoy as I would have liked. I do get this upcoming weekend off. Despite working I did manage to get eight book sleeves sewn together, however two of them are too small to fit a paperback so they are not available on the shop. The fabric unraveled a little more than I thought it would so I had to redo a couple of seams.

I always find it fascinating to look at the lunar phases after I notice a pattern occurring. Right now we are entering into the full-moon phase. This is a time of new beginnings, and a little bit of madness. The madness started earlier this week with some really strange interactions with patrons at work, and since next week is the actual full moon I expect the strange to continue. It is also a time of renewal in projects that interest me. I am loving making these book sleeves and I have some ideas for projects that I can take to a very special thing I am doing in May (though I really need to get a start on those).

All in all I am finding this time to be one of renewed interest and starting new projects despite the cold outside. I had hoped it would be warmer so I could get a bit of a start on my garden, alas that is not going to happen, though I might find it in me to get some seedlings started this weekend.

Until next time remember to 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!

Ups and Downs

by CZeitler

Life is so very funny some days, weeks, and months. **I’m going to be frank about some medication complications of antibiotics, if you want to skip the medical stuff, well I was planning to talk about crafts but the rest of the post devolved into strategies for my store and a little bit of whining. I’m hoping to have some great photos of the crafts I’ve been making in the next post Mid-January.

I was on a Stay-Cation earlier this month, I had Wednesday through Sunday off to enjoy myself and get things done around my house. I was extremely productive, I managed to get quite a few things cut out and sewn to go up on my Etsy Shop. I also had my first sale at my Etsy shop, which allowed me to realize I priced that type of item much too low considering boxing, postage, and the cut Etsy took out. All of that was lovely, I had tickets to the Livestream of Sorted Food to watch over Saturday and Sunday, I find them so funny. I ate a little too much on Saturday so when I woke up extremely dizzy on Sunday I thought it was likely my blood sugar, I took Motion sickness medication and went back to sleep for a few hours. I spend Sunday and Monday getting my blood sugars down so that I could ensure it was not Acetone Acidosis, which put me in the ICU for a week when I was first diagnosed. On Tuesday I called into my regular doctors office to see if they could see me, I had realized that as I rolled onto my left side I got dizzy. They were able to make an appointment for my day off, Wednesday. I went in, it was an Inner ear infection, so I was put onto an anti-biotic that I am able to tolerate. I didn’t think anything of it but to make sure I had medicine if I had gastrointestinal side effects. I was very surprised when I woke up at 3 am Friday to find out that I had a different kind of side effect. It turns out that Antibiotics can kill off beneficial bacteria, such as the kind that keep yeast at bay. So I suffered until the pharmacy opened at 7am, whimpered at the person opening the doors that told me they were not allowed to open the doors until a pharmacist arrived and theirs was running late, bought the medication that works in 1 day, and went home to see if I felt better in an hour so I could go to work. After oversleeping my alarm, I found out I did not feel well enough to go to work, and had to call off. I’m not sure what it is about vacations but I always seem to get sick at the tail end of them, oh well.

All of that being said, I did have a good vacation overall. I managed to cut and sew quite a few bags in a style similar to the Japanese Knot Bags you can find on YouTube and other places. The bags are reversible and will be available in my store early 2024. It occurred to me while I was cutting out and sewing different bag patterns that my store seems to be going in a Textile direction, I had originally thought I would be a mostly Resin shop. Since Textiles have different federal regulations I am going to put my store on Vacation until about Mid-January when my tags should be in and I should have a decent stock to put up and start advertising. One of the things that I have to keep in mind for my store is that I created A Little More Abstract as a way to sell the items that I create to help support my creative exploration, if I am not careful I will be creating only to sell not for creative exploration. Thanks to Elizabeth Goddard’s Christmas Party I now have access to a lot of different courses for free that should help me build my business. 

Right now it is my plan to take part in at least one of the courses each weekend I am physically and emotionally able to. While it is a little early to be focusing on New Year’s resolutions I am planning on focusing on making sure that I am eating protein and vegetables before I worry about the bills. This does not mean that I will stop paying my bills, or that I will be dining on Filet Mignon, it just means that my focus will be on making sure that I have healthy foods in the house and then cover the bills, if I have to pay a slight late fee next month on something then I might have to do that. Hopefully my store will allow me to skip that step and I will have at least a slight income to keep the wolves at bay. I could talk about how if I had a second income in the form of a spouse, how I have a full-time job, make just a tiny bit too much for assistance, or so many other circumstances, but all of that will sound like whining. 

I am very lucky to be where I am. I own my home, in conjunction with the bank, I own my car, in conjunction with the car loan company, and I can pay my bills, if I forgo meat and vegetables most of the time. Many people are in the same boat as I am, however I already have several plans for how to get out of the rut I am in. As I stated in my last post, I’m a Dandelion. If I get sick, fall behind, or run into trouble, I will bounce back up again….often with a vengeance. That obstacle will be hammered down. 

Okay, that is enough philosophy and whining for this post. I hope that everyone has Happy Holiday’s whatever you celebrate and a Happy New Year!

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract and Be Like a Dandelion, don’t let them get you down or they win!