My Fourth Blog-iversary!

Wow. It feels so surreal to type this. I feel like I've traveled so far over the last bunch of years, and I haven't really gone anywhere! Haha! When I first started writing, I had no idea what I wanted to get out of it. No clear picture in my mind, just a hope that I could share my creativity with a community. Even though my ride has had it's ups and downs, I really hope this next year I'll be able to find my niche. I know it's there, I've just struggled to find it for a while. Wish me luck!

Comment Moderation - Now On...

I've had to turn on comment moderation, as there's a been a large spat of spam links popping up around here lately... I hate to do it, because I hate those robot foilers with a passion; but I hate going back and deleting spam comments even more! So, I hope you all can bear with me, and still leave comments - I really appreciate them! And sorry for the change, I really didn't want to do it, but I feel my hand was forced.

Where life takes you...

I've been thinking a lot lately about how much our lives can change for the positive, when we open ourselves up to the scary vulnerable state that is change. Especially us women... we want the change alright, but it also scares the crap out of us. There should be a "Crappers, I'm sorry" message for when my brain blanks. Seriously.

The reason for all of the thinking, (for all 3 of you who care! lol) is that I have a job interview on Friday. It's informal & with a small business, and the woman on the phone seemed wonderfully down to earth, friendly and honest. I use the phrase "down to earth," because she's Beth, who runs Lorna's Laces*. I will repeat that, for those of who who couldn't do the math there... I - me, awful blogger, etsy shop failure, small potatoes me - have an interview with Lorna's freakin' Laces this week! They make the best yarn!

I might even be able to put the year I spent on college in Fine Arts to use, so how bout that?!? Yes, Mother, if you're still reading my blog, you were right, it does count for something. Hhmmph.

So, I need some virtual hugs people! My support system at home is limited, and I hate burdening my awesome sister too much with my neediness (or my DH, who works so hard so I can maybe grab an opportunity like this one!) Even sappy cheerleader comments would be appreciated at this point! And, thanks for reading this and maybe thinking of, or posting. I know just how life gets in the way of best intentions.

Best wishes for a wonderful 2010 to the whole Craft-Blog-World!

Shirley, June, Karrie, Adrienne - you are the kindest friends a girl could have, even though we're all so far away. I hope I can talk to all of you again very soon, even if I do get a 9-5 job again soon. I know it's my fault we haven't talked, and I'm so sorry!

Jenn, I didn't mean to exclude you, I just hope I tell you more how much more I appreciate our relationship in person, than to need to do it on the blog - but for giggles sake - visit Jenn's Unblog. She's got the best blog concept, she posts inspiration content, and has nearly twice the posts I do!

* here's the obligatory Ravelry link - Lorna's Laces Yarn

Real Life Intervenes Again...

... and this time it was in the form of a trip to the emergency room, at 11PM (just late enough to not be able to use a walk-in care place, which happens to be closer!) It happened at the end of June, the night of the 22nd.

The story goes, I was trying to pit a particularly nasty-tough embedded avocado; and I cut myself, quite badly. I cut my left thumb, about 1/2" wide, but very deep - like I felt it hit bone. Yikes. So, after a relatively short (1 1/2 hrs) wait, I got into a room and talked to a nurse about it.

The positioning was bad, I knew it would swell and want to stay open instead of healing shut; so when she said she could glue it back together, I jumped at the chance. I'd already had my Tetanus shot, (which hurt so much more the rest of that week, I can't even tell you.) Yes, I said glue. It was medical superglue, and while it stung going on - it was fabulous at immobilizing the wound so it could heal well. The excess superglue flaked off over the next three days, and after about 10 days, even the glue in the would had all either flaked (or gotten picked) off. The Tetanus shot really was the worst of the pain, I hate IM shots.

I thought I was back to normal way too fast, though. I have a bit of scar tissue, and while washing dishes a couple weeks after it happened, I caught the scar on the rim of a glass. It hurt so. bad. Oy. So, I'm trying to take things easy and take care of myself - which unfortunately meant not blogging for a bit.

But, I'm starting to get back to more and more, and it's high time I get back to you, my readers. I love you all more than I can say. It's really amazing when you reach that point when you realize other people actually read your blog. Even though I'm no Yarn Harlot, I really do appreciate each and every single one of you who spends a minute of your time reading my barely sane thoughts and ramblings. Oh, and sticking around for the crafts throughout it all. Hehe. I really do need to craft more!!!

Karrie - Have you received my email? (It was months ago... :( ) Are you busy-good, I hope?!?!
Shirley - I'm SO sorry I haven't replied to your email yet. I'm an asshole, what can I say?
June - I'm so proud of you this summer, and am sorry I haven't had the time to tell you more.

More knitting to come soon, I just finished my third Clapotis*, in Malabrigo Silky Merino yarn - yummy!

FYI - Clapotis gets it's name from the French - "lapping of water" how wonderfully appropriate for mine, as it's in the color-way Caribeño. Lovely, and I can't wait to share it!

My Belated 3rd Blogiversary Makeup!

Wow, I can't believe I missed it. I mean, 3 is my favorite number, and I did start blogging on March 3rd (06.) But somehow, I managed to miss my third bloggiversary this year - and I'm kinda pissed at myself! For more than just that, but that's another story entirely. Don't ask.

It's hard to believe it's been so long, because I've let things get so stagnant around here for so long. No new cake pops, knitted items or home projects. All was quiet on the Crafty Ginger front; but I'm hoping to change that in the coming months. I have a few projects already finished, and a few more started and on their way to being finished. I have a few packages I owe - so, so sorry Mommy Box winners - I haven't forgotten about you! (In fact, now I feel so guilty, you guys might get even more!!! Hehehe.)

Anyhoo, I guess it's just a placeholder post. More for me, to see if after this point I can really live up to my own expectations of myself... or fall into something wonderfully unexpected. Which is what I've been hoping for, for a long, long time. (Something I don't let slip too often, I like my laquered shell most of the time. Sue me.)

What did I really learn??? And a contest!

Way back when... I decided to focus on what made me happy, and somwhere in the process I put my focus on everything but that. I focused on the negatives in my personal relationships instead of the positive; I saw only negatives when I looked at myself, small-business wise. I saw myself in the most negative light, and without a gauge to help me realize how bad a rut that was, I fell right smack dab into it. (Yes, I am a blonde... make a joke about it and you're disqualified! J/K!)

I'm feeling physically better these days, as well as emotionally. I've tried to let go of some of my anger, because holding onto it did me no good... in fact, it probably made me sicker, longer. I've also realized that time is very short in this life, and that if I want to explore myself within that, I have to stay dedicated. I have high hopes, and I hope that I can achieve my goals this year.

And, I can see great things for crafty-diy types this year... I can't exactly put my finger on how I know, but I can feel it, like I can feel the rain coming in my knees. (Oh yeah, they're terrible, both of them, and considering my age, it's something I should probably take care of, but you know... I have much more fun things planned for this year!)

Ok, and one last update! I never did get my sister's "New Mom" box in the mail, so I thought I'd take advantage, and make two! It'll include bath bombs in generic scents, with minimal oils (not too slippery,) maybe lip balm, or whatever I feel like trying in the next couple weeks.

That mean YOU can win a "New Mommie" box, too! Whether it be for you, or the new mom in your life, be she a friend or relaitve, co worker or just an amazing woman who really deserves it. (Please keep in mind I don't use preservatives, so these products will need to be used in appx. 2-3 weeks.) From what I know of new moms, that won't be a problem! :)

So, leave a comment here, and tell me who deserves to be pampered, spa-at-home style. I'll keep the drawing open until Saturday the 28th, and I'm open to the preferences of the winner. Fine print - please only enter once (and Jenn, you already won one, so you're not eligible, sorry!) I'll use a random number generator to determine the winner, so please leave an email or way of contacting you. If I can't contact the winner in 4 weeks, I'll redraw another. Thanks for reading through, and good luck!!!

FaceBook Friends Needed!

To confirm that I indeed write this blog, I need at least 8 more friends to verify it for me! So, if you add me as a friend - I'm Kari Kail, (no profile pic, mention CraftyGinger in your "add friend" message please!) I'll be indebted to you forever! Thanks blog buddies!

Another day, another year gone by...

Wow, I've become one of those bloggers... you know, the ones that say they want to write and post more, but who never seem to get around to it??? Yep, that's me. Nail on the head, there. And really, I wish I had more to show for this year. I had such big plans, and I managed to screw up a major portion of the year, somehow.

I know that my late vacation this year had something to do with it, but it didn't even feel as relaxing as last year's (it had to be the food. Last year we had a kick-ass waitress and a semi-private table, this one we had a private table and the worst waiter on the ship. Seriously.) And in general, food has been my Achilles heel this year. I'm terrible at just getting enough food in me to not feel sick a lot of the time, and even though I know I'm a picky eater, I think there may be some underlying causes to this. I don't really want to go into them here, though.

Another component I think I may be missing out on is finding new blog-buddies, as it's been forever since I went out and commented on one that's new to me (or new in general!) So, that's definitely going to be a part of my new year strategy. I hate to be the "New Year's Resolution" kind of person, that only makes a goal because it's the new year; but the timing is actually good for this, and I really need some new friends! (Can you sense another contest coming soon?!?!?!)

Do you have plans for the new year? Are you trying to focus on one thing or another in your crafty/personal life? How do you balance the daily grind with your creative life?

Quickie Check-in!

aka - what I'm up to!

I wish I'd gotten around to organizing all of my pictures into a pretty blog post, but I just haven't been able to get to it, unfortunately. 2+ weeks of dirty laundry is a lot to get through, not to mention I haven't had a stitch of good food in my house all week. So, why the post? I wanted to update all of you, my good blog buddies, briefly, with what's up with me!

• Planning a paper tutorial that'll be super fun and relatively easy! (The biggest secret to cutting thicker paper is a very sharp knife... more on that later.)
• Redesigning my blog and logo - yeay! But also, kinda (very) scarey!!! Think more refined, but not too traditional - like mid century modern furniture!
  
• Designing a whole new career for myself, and I'm so lucky and proud to be working with a very good friend on it! OMG, so not ready to spill on this one yet!
• Shelving the book plans for now, I'm still trying to collect projects and patterns, but I don't have the right contacts to pull it off in the high quality style that I'd really like to. Maybe later...
• Working my way through the 700+ rss posts in my feed, I have to apologize that I haven't been able to comment on as many as I'd like yet!
• Finding all of my old high school friends through Facebook. This I have to admit, I find both super cool and a little creepy - all at the same time. Huh.

What's new with you guys? I'm totally thinking about another contest to bring you lurkers out of the woodwork again! What kind of prize or contest really makes you comment? I must confess, I always feel like I have such a small chance on the big blogs, I don't really bother trying anymore!

Belated Second Blogiversary!

I can't believe I missed it! As of March 3rd, I've been blogging for two years now. I can hardly believe it! Last year was a much slower year, blog-wise than I'd planned. But, I'm hoping to make up for it this year and I've got a few big things planned. Stay tuned for more sweets this week, more knitting soon and a big contest in a couple months! Don't miss it, there's going to be tons of prizes!

And, a great big shout of Good Luck! to a very good blog buddy of mine, she just quit her job and will be crafting full time very soon! I don't know if it's public yet or not, so I won't name her - but you know who you are, lady! You rock!

I'm Back!

Whew! After a ridiculously long travel day yesterday, I'm back home from Hawaii. Actually, both travel days were pretty bad, as there was problems both getting to San Diego from Chicago, and back home. I thought getting there was worse, but on the way back we had a medical emergency on the cruise ship, and had to turn back for Honolulu a day after we'd left; and it made appx. 2250 passengers 6 hours late debarking the ship. Truth be told - it was ok, normally they kick us off at some ungodly hour of the morning, but this time we got to stay in our balcony cabin until it was almost time to leave the ship.

Now, I just have to do something about those 465 posts in my rss reader, and about 130 emails. Heh. Oh, and over 800 pictures. I think they definitely call for a larger Flickr account, right now mine will only display the most recent 200. I can't wait to share all of the fun I had on vacation!

ETA: Oops! I almost forgot... I also picked up 15 yds of hawaiian print fabric! And, it was dirt cheap at 2.99$ p/yd. My poor husband carried it all along Waikiki beach for me, isn't that so sweet?!?! I can't wait to start making skirts! LOL

Updated Blogroll!

Quickie post here, just wanted to apologize to all those wonderful crafty folk who've linked to me, and I was rude enough not to return the favor! I'm so sorry!!! I'm such a terrible blogger sometimes! If you've linked to me, or posted about my projects or blog anywhere, I'd be more than happy to link back to you! (And, if I've forgotten someone AGAIN.... I'm REALLY sorry! LOL)

I've read so many awesome craft blogs, and before I started using RSS, found it really difficult to keep track of them all. Trying to improve on that, but it can only happen a bit at a time! Thanks for being patient with scatterbrained me lately!!! Go check out all of the new link-ey goodness on my blogroll!!!