Tired of Books

I have spent most of my weekend going through my older book inventory. These were books I had purchased from another Amazon seller. She had listed them, then when I purchased them I uploaded them to my Amazon storefront and put them on the shelves in my garage.

Now that I have been listing on my own for about 6 months I am not entirely happy with the descriptions in the old listings. So I have been editing and deleting(if a book is now selling for less than the cost to ship).

Also, we got a call on Friday that the thrift shop where we purchase our books has another load. The last load was still on the trailer and had to be unloaded so we could pick up the new load.

BOOKS, BOOKS everywhere!!! It's a living so I can't complain too much. Back to work...sigh

It's my birthday.

I won't say exactly how old I am but if you know the day the Korean War ended-that was the day I was born. The birthdays seem to whiz by and hopefully soon I'll lose count. Actually, I feel pretty good and have managed to stay in good shape. I have to watch what I eat these days-something I never used to worry about. I still have my daily dark chocolate(so glad it has been decided that is good for you) but no more ice cream every night, no more 3rd slice of pizza.

Overall I am very, very happy at this point in my life. Wonderful husband, warm climate, and a job where I keep my own hours. Last, but not least, I get to satisfy my creative side by making teddy bears and other critters. What more could I ask for???

The Siamese Sisters

They are finally finished! Meet Mi Ing (Mee Ing) and Mi Ow (Mee ow) the Siamese Sisters. I made 3 different sets of heads before I was happy with the needle felting. I had wanted them to be identical twins, but they had other ideas as their faces each turned out a little different. They have hand painted glass eyes-each has one blue and one brown-mirroring each other. The girls are 7 1/2" tall from their paws to the tip of their ears and are made with wool fur. The ears, tails, and lower legs were dyed. I used prisma markers for shading on their faces and their paw pads.

I am so glad they are done and I am pleased with the way they turned out. I will be listing them in my etsy store as soon as I get more photos done.

Current project

Here are some pics that hint at what I am working on now. I took these photos back in October. I was actually amazed when I checked the date because I had it in my mind I had started working on this project in March or April. I think it's been on the back burner long enough. What has 8 legs, 4 ears, and 2 tails? More pics in a couple of days(maybe finished pics)

Vote for URSA's

The URSA competition has begun. Bear and Buds is a Teddy Bear "webzine"(online magazine). Their yearly competition is the URSA and I have an entry in the Best Friends category. It is the Me N' My Lil Sis set of 2 bears. Anyone and everyone can vote. There are some wonderful bears and other critters in several categories and mediums. Fun to look at and vote for your favorite. I am putting a link along the side so everybody can VOTE.

Kibble Kitties - a new series

I finally finished a cat in my new series "Kibble Kitties". The idea came to me more than a month ago when I found a cute little cat dish. All the kitties will come with their own bowls(to sit in). The first in the series is PJ. He is an orange tiger made with short dense German mohair. His cheeks & nose are needle felted. I like the cat faces I get by felting these parts. He has hand painted copper colored glass eyes. PJ's stripes are applied with prisma markers and so were his paw pads. I kept trying to come up with a name while working on him but nothing seemed quite right. Then, while adding his stripes it came to me - he looks like he is wearing pajamas. Just 6" tall he is wearing a wool felt collar with a mother of pearl fish skeleton charm.

I have ideas for several more kittens and hopefully will get a couple more done between other projects.

Prioritys

I just finished about 20 minutes on my float in the pool. It's a good time to go over things in my mind. I would like to spend more time working on critters but everyday things keep getting in the way. Yesterday I took some time and updated my website and joined Bear Artists Worldwide(added to my links here). That was after I packed and shipped 26 books that sold over the weekend. Today I paid the monthly bills(online), got some correspondence out of the way and packed and shipped 25 books that I sold yesterday. Thanks to somewhat regular afternoon t-storms here in Florida, I did get to do a little sewing today(have to turn off the computer during storms).

The books sales really seem to be taking off lately, which means more income but also more work. Yesterday we picked up the largest trailer load of books we have ever gotten-about 4000 books. I have to sort through them and list the ones on Amazon that are in good shape.

I'd like to find the time to get together an order for Edinburgh-mohair and supplies. I want to make sure I don't forget anything and then have to place another order later(will probably happen anyway).

Tomorrow I will try and post a pic of the kitten I just finished. He is to be the first in a series.

Dog Days of Summer

I read somewhere that today is the official beginning of the Dog Days of Summer. That is also the name of the new challenge at Edinburgh's Community Forum. Making dogs is right up my alley but it would be nice to have lots of competition this time. Actually you don't have to make a dog or puppy - you just have to incorporate one into the design - like a bear wearing a poodle skirt. You have til the end of August and the prize is $25 certificate to spend on great Edinburgh mohair or supplies.

I have an idea cooking in my head so I have to get busy and put it on paper and then try to make it come out like it looks in my head.

Start cooking your doggie ideas because the more entries in the challenge the more fun it is.