AWOL and Feature

Sorry, I've been AWOL from the blog for a bit. I am on vacation...enjoying some warmer temperatures, thrift store trips, and outdoor activities in sunny Arizona. I'll return soon. In the meantime, I was pleased to have my first felted sweater bag featured on this wonderful blog: Knit One, Poet Too

As I commented on the post there, this was my very first attempted at a felted sweater bag and I feel like I have come a long way in the almost two years since I made it.

Inauguration Day

Inauguration Day, Morning View of Santa Rita Mountains
Cactus Garden, Green Valley, AZ

Manic Monday #151

Manic Monday #151
By Fleur de Lisa

What do you do to make yourself feel better when you are sick?
Well, it depends on the nature of my sickness, but generaly I just try to get comfortable, wear sweats and slippers (or my flannel pj's) , and sip on hot drinks.

What is the most amazing weather you've ever seen?
I experienced a couple of tornados when I lived in Kansas. I spent one evening in a basement weathering out a tornado and saw a funnel cloud in the distance when driving on the freeway. However, I think the most amazing weather (since I like it best) is a calm, winter day in Arizona when the morning temperatures are in the 40's and the afternoon temperatures are in the high 70's and the sky is a beautiful blue( a day like yesterday!)

Do you listen to music or talk radio in the car?
Only when no one else is in the car with me or or on long trips. Then I have a tendency to listen to NPR; on long trips, I may play music on my IPOD.

My Father, My Brother, and Me

Here's a preview of a film by my former college classmate:

Film Description
MY FATHER, MY BROTHER, AND ME
Airs Tuesday, February 3, 2009 on PBS (check local listings)
Pre-release online Thursday, January 29, 2009
http://pbs.org/frontline/parkinsons/

In 2004, journalist Dave Iverson received the same news that had been delivered to his father and older brother years earlier: He had Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological disorder that affects about 1 million Americans. In a FRONTLINE and ITVS joint production, Iverson sets off on a personal journey to explore the scientific, ethical and political debate that surrounds Parkinson's, a disease at the center of the ongoing controversy over embryonic stem cell research. Iverson talks to scientists on the cutting edge of new cures and therapies for Parkinson's as well as a number of other major neurological conditions. And he has intimate conversations with fellow Parkinson's sufferers like actor Michael J. Fox and writer Michael Kinsley.

Organizing for Taxes

This is one of the choices for topics to discuss in the bi-monthly Etsy bloggers Blog Carnival. The other topic (new goals for the year) seemed too similar to a post I wrote at the beginning of the year, so I guess I'm resigned to talking about taxes in this one.

GROAN, not my favorite topic. Last year was the first year of my business on Etsy and I barely had a clue what I needed to do until I got to the end of the year and had to try and gather everything to do my taxes properly. I've been doing my taxes myself ever since my divorce in 2002 and finding that satifying in a strange sort of way. So, I was detemined to do my taxes myself even after I started my Etsy business. After all the real work is knowing what to keep track of and doing that throughout the year. The first year was a bit painful because although I had kept everything, I didn't really have it organized. By the way I have used TaxAct software to do my taxes since 2002. One feature I like is that it retains the history/information from the previous year so I don't have to put same information in again.

For 2008, I had the following system in place all year which should make taxes much easier:

1) I keep track of all my products (bill of materials for each item, materials purchases, miscellaneous expenditures, and mileage using the Excel spreadsheet I created. It's a modified version of the one that is linked on the right hand side of my blog.

2) My reciepts go into envelopes labeled with months so I can find them later if needed.

3) When I make a sale, I record it in my Excel spreadsheet, checking to be sure I've recorded the cost of the materials to make it, postage costs, taxes if any, etc. I print the Etsy receipt and the Paypal receipt, staple them together and put them in my "Etsy sales" folder.

Next year, I may make a folder for each quarter of the year because I had so many sales, it's a huge file. :)

4) At the end of each quarter, I added up my total sales, my taxable sales, computed my taxes and send them in to the state of Idaho.

Last year, when all was done I was happy to discover I had made a small profit. I'm hoping for even better news this year.

Featured Etsy Blogger for January

This month's featured blogger is Roseworks Jewelry. The simple hemp bracelt design above is from her shop and I think it is wonderful. She makes all types of jewelry includng some scrabble tile pendants, but hers are unique:

I like the profile for her shop on Etsy in which she says:

Hi! My name is Ruthie and I have been creating jewelry, for fun, since I was a
freshmen in High School. Over the years I've mostly made projects for my family
and friends, including all the jewelry for my wedding in 2007, but I've had
people telling me for a long time that I should sell my work. So here I am!

Check out Roseworks blog here.

Storybeader Interview

I was interviewed for Storybeader's blog, check here to see it.

Wordless Wednesday

Blue Makes Me Happy

and so here it is, my newest Alpaca Neck Warmer color:

De clutter--It's National Organizing Month

Declutter , originally uploaded by libbywithnall.

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

— William Morris—

First off, I have to admit I am far, far away from achieving the idea in that quote. I am the consummate packrat. I have fabric from the 1970's, I still one of my prom dresses (and many other "vintage" clothing items), bits and pieces of yarn from finished projects, and on and on. However, I got the organizing bug the past week.

Did you know that January is National Organizing Month? Well, I didn't, but I wasn't surprised because there is a month for just about everything on the planet. Anyway, before I knew it was the month for it, I launched a "Declutter the House" project. I had 4 consecutive days off and was frozen outside, so it seemed like a good time to start. I actually started with cleaning out four drawers that were driving us crazy because they contained just about everything on the planet...you know that junk drawer that you have in your kitchen, well, I had 4 of them around the house.

I made one trip to the thrift store to donate with the back of my Subaru wagon totally filled and have another load ready to go. I feel lighter already. Well, I may not actually BE lighter because I haven't started the "Get Yourself in Shape for the New Year" project yet. I'm listing crafting books and supplies in my Destash shop and I have a couple of items for sale on Craig's list, but most of what I am shedding is going to charity. I started a similar project at work last week. It was quiet so I had time to send a huge crate full of paper to recylcling and I got almost everything on my desk organized and filed.

Try it, it will make you feel lighter and better, guaranteed!

My New Etsy Shop

I've opened a new shop on Etsy, DestashOriginals. I'm listing from my huge stash of fabric, felted wool, books, supplies and some vintage items. Come by and check it out and check back frequently as I will be posting many more items in the days to come.

A bright and cheery New Year

Unfortunately, my Pro Flickr account was deleted without warning on February 15 and the photo of my treasury disappeared along with my account.

Collage-it

I wanted a collage like this for my Twitter page background. I'm still trying to get it to upload there, but thought I'd share. Made with Picassa collage. This looks more impressive large, just click on the photo.

Finshed objects for 2008

I tried to make a mosaic, but couldn't figure out how to make one with 84 photos. These are MOST of my finished objects for 2008. Click on the larger photos to advance, or use the numbers at the bottom to browse the smaller photos.

(Note: this mosaic ceased to exist when Flickr deleted my Pro account on February 15, 2009.)