Your Kids' Milestones

Yesterday, my daughter hit a huge milestone: she lost her first tooth. It took forever! She made us aware of it being loose on the first Sunday in September. That's a long time between being loose to pulling out!

I think her next milestone will be the monkey bars:) She's getting the hang of it, but scared to let go and reach for the next one.

What are the milestones in your life?

It's Thanksgiving in Canada This Weekend

What are you doing?

Do you get a long weekend? Will you have to work?

Do you have projects waiting for you? Will you laze about and contemplate the world?

Will you be going to friends or family for dinner? What will the main course be?

Whatever you are choosing to do this weekend, please enjoy yourself and don't forget to Give Thanks!

:D

Photography

I have not been writing as much as I should be because I've been making a lot of product. I'm just finishing off about 100 apple green snap clips and I'm not sure that's enough.

It's not so much as making Hair Flair as it is photographing it. I am a horrible picture taker. I don't deserve the title of "Photographer." I think you have to at least know your camera to get that title.

When I got my camera, I was so excited when I saw the manual, it had a lot of pages; I was sure I was going to be an expert by the time I was finished reading it. I did the usual, set up the time, the time zone, what my battery source was, etc. Then I flipped the page after I had it 'set up' and it was the same instructions over and over in about 13 other languages!

Yup, you guessed it - it wasn't a manual, it was a set-up book. I was on my own after that. I've had my camera for nearly three years and I don't know that I'm much better off now than when I started.

I have tried so many different ways to take pictures and bought a lot of light bulbs. I can't figure what background works best for my product, so I may be settling on a white background.

What is your trial and error "thing"?

Patio Furniture

It's that time of year again; autumn. What do you do with your patio furniture?

Do you leave it outside for the winter? Some people that do that. I don't understand it when I see it because that set costs just as much as an indoor set - but keeping it outside for the winter ages it quickly.

Keeping it inside takes up vast amounts of room and who has that?

What do you do with your patio furniture in the 'off season'?

Getting Ready For Christmas

I took some time off from creating after a three-day that took place on the long weekend in August. I am now starting to create for my Christmas shows. I have two of them coming up.

I really hope people like my new products that I started creating over last year; snap clips, fringe beaded barrettes and ponytail holders.

The snap clips suit babies the best as they're pretty small. The fringe, beaded barrettes are perfect for just about anyone - I have three different sized clips. The ponytail holders could be for anyone - I even wear them on occasion.

I have my work cut out for me - and that doesn't include the creations on the back burner (the ideas in my head). I'll roll those out after I've caught up for my Christmas shows.

You will be able to find me for my Christmas shows at:

- The Comox Rec Centre on the last weekend of November

- The Denman Island Craft Faire on the first weekend in December (It was the first juried show that I applied to and was accepted).

What are you diligently working on or for?

It's Sunday....

Are Sunday's a lazy day for you? Or are they a 'work day' on your day off?

Do you attend Church?

Do you sleep in?

Do you get dressed right away or stay in your pajamas?

What are you doing today?

Sports - Golf, in Particular

My goal for my daughter, who's five, is to be a happy, healthy, producing member of society. I believe as a parent, that's not asking too much.

My Mom's goal for my daughter is to have her become a golf pro as soon as possible! My Mom's already given my daughter three sets of golf clubs! When she was two, it was a fun, plastic set. When she was three, it was a combo plastic / metal set. When she was four, she got a real set.

Today, my Mom has taken my husband golfing and my daughter is riding along in the golf cart and gets to take her putter. This is her introduction to a real, live, golf game.

My Mom tells me there are not enough young, female golfers and that if we play our cards right (she really means ' her cards') then my daughter will be scouted by one of the universities for a scholarship.

Did you know that the same amount of scholarships that's given to the boys must be equal to girls?

I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing - this golf thing.

As long as my daughter is enjoying herself and not being pushed excessively, I guess it's okay, isn't it?

I don't want to be 'one of those parents'.

Tutorials

I love tutorials! I buy them a lot. Some I have taken full advantage of. Some I have not, but I plan to!

I bought a 'how to weave a headband with grosgrain ribbon.' I have not done it, yet. Why not? Although I mostly work with ribbon, it's velvet ribbon. Have you seen the amount of grosgrain ribbon choices out there????? Wholly cow, there's tons! For example, pink is a number one colour, but do you know how many shades you can buy??? And that's just the solid colours, then there's the striped, dotted, printed, etc, etc ribbon. There's a lot of choices before I start and that's why I have not.

The other tutorials have been great! I have made all sorts of wonderful things with them: fringe, beaded barrettes is one of my latest ones. It's the same with buying beads as it is with grosgrain ribbon.

Have you learned something new lately? What is it?

Coffee

I don't know why it took me so long to discover that coffee is such a personal thing! I drink mine black and I don't mean no cream or milk. No sugar either. Black.

I used to drink my coffee with a lot of cream and sugar. I stopped putting cream in it several years ago because my place of employment didn't have a dishwasher and I was in too much of a hurry by the end of my coffee break to actually go to the sink and put soap in it and wash it. After a period of time, my coffee mug had a layer of sludge, due to the build up on non-washing. It was, well, gross!

That was the end of cream in my coffee.

Then, several more years later, I slowly started to put on some weight and to try and assist with losing the few extra pounds, I thought I would eliminate the five cubes of sugar. Yup, five cubes!

Well, I am so conditioned to drink black coffee that I cannot put anything in it now.

Each person's coffee is kind of like a snowflake, there are no two the same.

How do you like yours?

How Much Do We Really Test Run A New ______?

Three years ago, we bought a new table and chairs with matching buffet & hutch. We were gobsmacked at how beautiful it was in the showroom ! Not only that, we had just bought a new home that we were waiting to take possession.

We thought everything was perfect, after sitting at the table for a few moments. (I think a car gets a better test run than this did.)

We were so excited when our set arrived at our new home - it was going to be the finishing touch.!

Well, we grossly misjudged the size and it barely fits in our dining area. Not only that, our bum's sink into the chairs too much and it makes the table too high. It feels like I've shrunk each time I sit down to have a bite to eat.

The set was a smashing deal at $1,500-. I don't think we could have gotten a better deal - but was it worth it? It's pretty to look at, but I think that's about it.

What is your regret purchase?

Time, Where Does It Go?

When I was in my early twenties, I could never understand why people wouldn't phone me back after leaving a message - or calling when they said they would. After all, it was only going to take a moment, wasn't it?

I had all the time in the world then. The only thing I had to worry about was my job.

Well, I had a baby five years ago and, WOW, I now understand! Time is limited when you have kids, especially for yourself.

I now feel badly that I felt that way, but am counting this as one of 'life's lessons'.

I do my best to return phone calls and when I say I'm going to - but reality is that things pop up and change at a moments notice.

The fine print, even about life is true: Subject to change without notice.

The Daily News

I have a child in the house and feel that although televised news is informative, it's too graphic and negative.

How do you explain to a child why someone's lying on the ground with a blanket over them? "No honey, he's not sleeping in the street......"

I choose not to have the news on in my home. I don't want to explain, yet, why people can be so crewel to each other, weather it's in our own country or another one.

I don't know what a good age, for kids, to hear and see the news, but I think I'm going to delay it for as long as possible.

Are you like me? Do you find that no news is good news?

Handmade Fuzion

A few weeks ago, I applied to the new and nearly open, juried site, www.handmadefuzion.com

The anticipation nearly killed me while waiting the three days to hear back from them! As you can see, I did live through it AND the rejection. Yup, they rejected me. I was so disappointed and sad.

Shortly after that, I applied to www.lollishops.com and was accepted. I was accepted nearly immediately, too!

Well, I thought I would try again to Handmade Fuzion. I'm glad I did. I was very careful in my selection with my photos and made sure they were 'like' so I had some continuity.

I was accepted, but told to work on my photos! Yeah!

What have you recently overcome?

Cleaning Products......

There are sooo many cleaning products on the market, how do you choose which one is right for you and your home?

We used to live in Vernon, BC - that's in the interior of Britsh Columbia. It has very hard water there and the previous owner left the tub and surround crusted! It was gross!

It was hard to keep up, the water was that bad. I really wanted to do a good 'spit and polish' when my daughter was born so I could give her a bath in the bath tub.

I was sold by the product CLR. I bought it and read the instructions. I couldn't believe what I was reading! I had to use it in a well ventilated area, use a face/dust mask and rubber gloves!

What if I missed a spot? What if I was bathing my daughter in CLR water? What would that do to her new, delicate skin?

I had to come up with a solution that I was going to be happy with and that my consience and the enviornment could live with, too.

I came up with a great solution, literally! I came up with Sunlight, liquid dishsoap and Arm & Hammer Baking Soda! The two combined made a cream and with a bit of elbow grease, I removed hard water stains from in and around my tub, I was not using any harsh chemicals and it was all okay for the envoirnment!

I was so happy with this solution, that I still use it today and my daughter's five now. I feel satisfied each time I clean.)

Are you content with your cleaning products?

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.....

I analyze everything before I make a decision on ANYTHING. It's just who I am. Sometimes it's plain to see what the answer is, but sometimes, I have to really think about the pros and cons.

I am usually happy with my decisions, but find that I make lots of impulse decisions to purchase on-line. Why is that???

My latest agonizing decision was to take paper or plastic plates camping. I finally decided on paper. I regret that decision; I am a bit of an environmentalist.

What decision has been giving you angst lately?

How Do You Shop?

Are you a "colour" person? Are you shopper that looks for one, specific thing and that's it? Are you capable of getting and getting out with just what's on your list? Do you make a list?

I think I somehow fit into all of this. I was trying to locate 'pastels'. You know, those oil crayon things. They were on the list of supplies for my daughter starting kidergarten.

We were in Zellers, my fourth stop trying to find said pastels and we were walking past the cutest, hot pink sweater. I had my daughter try it on. It fit perfectly with just a bit of room for growth. Then, we needed other things to go with it! Shortly, I was at the check out with a $200- bill and three bags of new clothes!

Ugh!

What's one of your latest shopping experiences?

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!!

I love shoes.

I love shoes that are different.

I love shoes that are pretty.

I love shoes that are unique.

I love shoes that nobody else has.

I love shoes.

I wouldn't say that I obsess about shoes, but it's really nice to have pretty ones that are a conversation piece all on their own.

I am a Receptionist for a Credit Union and a few female members always stop and check my feet to admire. That makes me feel special somehow.

I love shoes, what is your vice?

You Are What You Drive

Is that really true; are you what you drive?

I got a new-to-me car last May; a 2003 Toyota Corolla. Unfortunately, my husband drives it because he commutes to work.

I have to drive his car; a 1987 Toyota Corolla. Well, the E-brake is gone, the gas is gone (thank goodness I have not run out of gas!), the shocks are gone. That's a lot gone. Somehow it still runs and gets me from A to B.

I would really like to drive my car. After all, I did get it for Mothers Day and I am a Mom; shouldn't I be able to use my own gift?

Instead, I have to drive around in a rusting, breaking, tin can. Yup, a tin can. I have to admit, though, it's great in the snow!

I sometimes wonder when people see me in my tin can, wearing my business clothes, what do they think when they see me? Do they think, "She looks like she could do better than that!" I wonder. Hmmm.

I don't think, "I am what I drive", it's all due to circumstances....

What do you drive? Are you one with it?

Getting Ready

To me 'getting ready' is like standing in line. It's almost painful. I have my 'getting ready' down to 35 minutes. That includes having a shower, doing my make-up, blowdrying my hair and getting dressed.

I am the kind of person that has to shower everyday. Some days, I procrastinate 'getting ready' until the nth moment. That's not always a good thing; the letter carrier with a package that won't fit into my mailbox always rings my doorbell and has to see me at my worst, or my friend phones and says, "What are you doing right now?"

This kind of procrastination is a bit of a hinderance of my day because nothing can really happen until it's done, not even walking to my mailbox. I won't go out in my pajamas, that's just not right in doing that.

Why don't I just have a shower when I first get up? It would make the rest of my day move much faster. BTW, all of this happens either on a Sunday or a Monday, my two days off from my full-time job.

What do you put off?

LolliShops!

I applied a while back to a juried website to sell my Hair Flair. I was turned down pretty quickly! I was a little down - me and my Hair Flair had never been turned down before!

I am very happy to say that I got up the nerve and applied to Lollishops. I did that probably around midnight last night. Wow, are they fast, because I woke up to an acceptance e-mail this morning!


You can check them out at :

http://lollishops.wordpress.com/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/lollishops/

http://lollishops.com/

How Do You Organize?

When it comes to organization, do you have any specific 'rules' that you go by? Do you stack? Do you use all clear containers, so you can see what's in them? Do you put in a cupboard with doors to hide your items? Or do you put on a shelf for all to see?

I have chosen clear, stackable containers on a shelf. I really like how I can see everything. When I can see everything, it makes it so much easier to create! I think it's the openness of it all.

Ironically, my kitchen cannisters are see-through, too!

What tricks of the trade do you have?

The Weekend Is Here

I love the weekend! I don't know if it's because I'm not working or if it's because I'm in control of my own schedule. Either way, I really like my Sundays and Mondays!

Sundays are great because that's my 'home time' and Mondays are great because everything's open and everyone else is working!

I'm not trying to make fun of those working, because trust me, when I'm working on Saturday, it seems everyone else is off! It's a bit of give-and-take, I think.

I plan on 'getting out' and attending a craft fair today in a tiny town called Union Bay. It's been a long time since I've attended a craft fair that I wasn't selling at! I'm looking forward to it!

I do have an agenda: I'm going to find the coordinator and ask to be on their mailing list for next year for my Hair Flair.

First Day of Kindergarden

My daughter started Kindergarden yesterday. I feel like such a bad Mom because I forgot my camera for the event. Not only that, somehow I missed some major things for the event: I didn't know we were to enter from the outside door. (The doors are not numbered on the outside, how was I suppose to find it?) I was also slack on getting her school supplies and did not have them for the first day (they were going for 1/2 an hour, what were they suppose to do with three glue sticks?) How did I miss in all of the papers that were mailed home that she was suppose to have "inside shoes". What are those? In my mind that would be slippers. Do they want me to provide slippers?

Even though I forgot my camera, the teacher shoo'd us out as fast as she could; I don't think I could have any photos. I would have also been the only parent with a camera. One day, I hope I get to meet her! (The teacher.) Her teacher seems strict, though and I felt like I was reprimanded; because I was tardy in buying the school supplies, the store was sold out of the plane paper books, so I bought lined ones. They were handed back to me by the teacher, with a I-can't-believe-you-did-that 'look' on her face.

Maybe I'll be fortunate enough to go to school to learn how not miss the fine print.

Procrastination at it's best!

During the first weekend in August, I was a vendor at a three-day show in Comox, BC called Nautical Days. I thought I went prepared. It turns out that I didn't go as prepared as I would have liked. I nearly sold out of my snap clips!

Since then, I have done the market a few times in Campbell River, BC and have not made any Hair Flair Snap Clips since preparation for Nautical Days.

I keep telling myself that today is the day that I will get to making my snap clips. I have the ribbon cut, but the ends still need to be treated to prevent fraying. I have cut about 175 pieces of each popular colour of ribbon and about 100 of the not-so-popular. It's a time-consuming process and I've treated three colours so far. If I just treat three colours a day, I'll be done in no time! I just have to keep telling myself that.

What project are you putting off?

Market mishap!

I didn't have my camera with me, so I'm sorry that I can't show you what happened. Yesterday, it was windy at the Pier Street Market: http://www.pierstreet.com/market/ Although I have weights for my tent, one broke, so I only have three. Well, a gust of wind came up and took my tent over! It bent one of the legs underneath it. There are only four markets left for the season and I was not going to be at the next two for a family vacation. So, I will not be attending The Pier Street Market for the remainder of the season.

I really enjoy doing my market and am very disappointed that I won't be there for the remainder of the season.

I just had my other set of curtains made for my market tent, too. They are hot pink, black and white:

This is the first set that I had made. The 2nd set looks just the same.

Well, I'm off to buy a new market tent, probably a Caravan......

Hair Flair - Alligator Clips

Good day!

As mentioned previously, I started Hair Flair with creating Alligator Clips. What is so unique about these nickel plated hair clips is each one has a magnet inserted for even better staying power. Each clip is also lined with the highest quality of velvet ribbon that comes out of Switzerland. I also treat the ends of the ribbon to prevent any fraying. I top each one with an appliqué (or in the case of the picture shown, two appliqués).

I sell at a local market: Pier Street Market: http://www.pierstreet.com/market/ I have a following of Mom's that buy 'just one' each Sunday. I truly feel that their repeat business is a true testament to the quality of my creations.

I don't know what I would be doing if I wasn't making Hair Flair - probably going stir crazy! LOL!

I couldn't believe it the first time I saw my Hair Flair 'out and about'. I just about died! But, in a good way! It was like a dream come true , actually. Her Mom, Lisa, allowed me to take photos. I took three and one of them turned out AWESOME! So good, that I use it for my promotional material. The baby girl's name is Pheonix. She has a lot of Hair Flair now! That was last year and she still wears Hair Flair religiously!

How Hair Flair was created

Hi,

My name is Marnie this is my first official blog, welcome!

I have been making Hair Flair in full force for two years now. I started as, "La Bella Boutique Barrettes." At Nautical Days craft fair in 2007 another vendor very politely told me that although my name was pretty, it was too long and not memorable.

So, I put my thinking cap on and started to think and think and think. I got all thunk out! Then, when I wasn't even thinking about it: Hair Flair popped into my head! The more I thought about it, the more I really, really liked it.

It was very appropriate indeed! Why? Well, I made hair clips, (1 3/4" alligator clips) not barrettes. I have since started making:

- 1 1/4" snap clips
- Decorative bobbi pins
- Interchangeable Flowered head bands
- Fringed, beaded barrettes
- Beaded ponytail holders and
- ..............Remains to be seen - keep your eyes on Hair Flair!

Thank you for stopping by! I really hope you drop by again.