Curing Affluenza

We're not wealthy. Maybe by world standards, I think most Americans are, compared to, say, Haiti or Bangladesh. But we don't want for much, and therefore consider ourselves blessed.

Even so, every year when the idea of Christmas comes creeping into that dark crevice that grows and expands by the week, nagging and taunting me to GET MOVING, I cringe inside. Here it comes. The STUFF. The move-out-the-old-stuff and make-room-for-new-stuff tango I think we all do from Halloween until after Christmas when we finally figure out where to put more STUFF.

I'm tired of it. Christmas is a lovely time for my family. We celebrate the joy of the holiday as it was meant to be, being Catholic, and cherishing the true meaning of it. But still, over the years, the STUFF has become more than I can bear. You see, we have 6 kids. Six awesome, smart, rambunctious, goofy, normal, happy kids. Did I mention they all have the most gorgeous ginger heads you have ever seen? It makes me want to buy them MORE STUFF. And it's going to change. And so, I've laid down the gauntlet.

I posed it to my husband, who's eyes grew larger by the second, and I could see the "how are the kids going to react to this" look in his eye. It, being my plan. This year, the money we would spend on presents for them, and each other, would go to a charity, and we would all decide as a family where it would go. No, it's not ground breaking, but for us, it kind of is. We give as much as we can to others, but this would be bigger. A well for a village. A cow for a family. A lot of food for our local food pantry. Something. Anything but more stuff. I felt sure they would see the good and be all for it. They did not disappoint. So far.

Son #1...in the true form of a leader, nodded, and said, "sure." I expected that. It's the kind of kid he is, and at 17, doesn't ask for much. Daughter, child #2....same thing. No hesitation from child #3 or 4. Perfect. I have not raised them as indulged people, they earn money, and have to buy their own amusements. They don't have cell phones, and have bought most of their own electronics.

I have not approached the 7 or 4 year old yet. Ok, I'm a little intimidated (small children can be SCARY!!). My plan included buying a family game for Christmas Eve, and one video game for them on Christmas morning. I'm considering little stocking stuffers, just for giggles, little goofy things. I'll need strength to resist overbuying! I think they are going to survive, I really do. In the end, perhaps on Christmas Day, when the reality of it hits the young ones, I won't be the most popular mom on the planet, but this lesson is for the long haul. Curing affluenza.

This 'n That

I have an addiction. I am a night owl. I love the quiet of the wee hours, the solitude, the funny noises of the coyotes, the dogs that bark at them, the rain on the roof when the house is silent. I love the late night visits by wandering sleepy ones who forget there is a bathroom upstairs or just...can't...sleep. I get most of my creative impulses right about now.



So I have a custom order for these Victorian boots. They are so sweet. I have been battling with mock ups and getting increasingly frustrated. I am determined to get them right, so I put them down for a few days. Back at them tomorrow! Spring Fling is quickly approaching, so I need to clear the docket to give it the attention it deserves. But I will give my customer a lovely pair of these in pink first.




Liv has amazed me once again with another of her delectable projects, raspberry chocolate eclairs, for her grandmother's birthday. I am so very proud of her energy, growing skill, and joy with which she attacks each and every recipe. She is not afraid to take risks, use her imagination, and just chuck it and do it again if it's not right. I've seen such a growth in maturity in this, and I see it spill over into all she does. She may get frustrated, but she keeps at it, and produces yumminess that rivals even the seasoned pros. I wish her so much success in whatever she chooses, I just love her so much! I am looking forward to watching this process in each of my children, watching them find their way with maturity and confidence. They may change their direction as many times as I can imagine, but I will support them every step of the way!!

From There to Here

I have a rule in my house. You can do any sport you want, as long as it's karate. Yea, I can hear you all now...WOW, wacko! Kind of extreme, huh? Well, no. Not really. Here's why.

I spent a year of my youth being bullied. I mean, picked out of the crowd, harassed, name called, and physically assaulted at one point. OH, you say, you're fulfilling a lifelong vow to make sure your kids can beat up a bully. Well, no. Not really. But as my parents had no clue how to help me, and never alerted the school or the idiot's parents, I was left to deal.

Fast forward 25 years. I'd since decided to homeschool, for a myriad of reasons. My firstborn, donning the shock of red hair sure to serve as a beacon for kids of the stupid and shallow variety, was enrolled at 4 in karate. Determined that he was never going to be left on his own to deal with whatever came at him, I would make sure he had the tools and confidence to handle himself in the face of any threat.

This was when I discovered something crucial which I will bring full circle soon.

I'd been bodybuilding and powerlifting for 7 or 8 years, and people seemed to assume that I could defend myself, and I had a confidence that I could at least do some damage. Anyone with legs as strong as mine surely was not going to let anyone hurt me without getting my licks in. It must've shown in my demeanor. Little guy syndrome, let's call it. No one really knew if I could take care of myself, I just acted like I could.

But in my son, it was something different. He was not cocky like me, he was quietly confident. As he grew stronger, and I added myself and child #2 to the mix, who also grew in strength and skill, I realized that what karate gave us was far more important than the ability to turn the tables on the bad guy. It was more than the physical strength, and good health it gave us.

It made us bully proof. It took away the fear of "what if". There is a confidence, a calm sense of well being you get when you're not worried someone might push you down, grab you, hit you, call you a name, or try to intimidate you. I know this sounds harsh, but once you've been punched in the face, or kicked in the head, well, then you know what it feels like (my daughter pointed this out to me). Problem solved. Nothing in life will present you with a fear that you can't handle it with the right set of skills. So I added child #3, 4 and 5, until #6 ages a bit (we've all started a new style together..."tang soo"!!).

Now to bring it full circle. Jay Sevron, radio talk show guy, was reacting to the MA bullying law. How it would "help", whether it would help. Wanted to know our questions, thoughts. So of course, since I always have an opinion, I called, rather bemused about the whole thing. Imagine, a law banning bullying. How's that law thing working on the murder problem?

I said, Jay, a law will not stop bullies. I said, every child in America should be given self defense lessons in grade school. Karate as gym class instead of wasting time with volleyball, or whatever they do these days. He pretty much scoffed at the idea, and this is where he departed from his usual ideals and totally threw me off of my mental balance beam. He said "Why should the onus be on the victim to DO something about it (paraphrased)?" To which I replied...if you take the victim away, there can be no bully (of course he talked over me and heard nothing I said). He has his preformed opinion. I went on to say, look, cops, laws, courts, can do nothing to prevent crime, and you know this. But give a kid CONFIDENCE, and bullies can't scare or intimidate them. Again, he had me muted while he went on. An actual debate would have been nice. Imagine, kids in shape AND confident, for shame!

This blew my mind. Jay is not usually this much of a pansy. I mean, we are a Christian family. We do no harm. We love our neighbors, and treat everyone as a friend. But conversely, we will fear no man. THAT was the vow I took when I grew up. We have the ability NOT to fight. Because fear of all things is the enemy, and usually is your worst enemy. It's not that the victim has to be the one to DO something, Jay, it's that the victim won't HAVE to do anything.

He didn't get it. And that's too bad. Someday I may begin a campaign to get self defense taught in all grade schools. In the mean time, perhaps you can bully proof your kids too!

KaBoogie on Zibbet!

I've decided to give another venue a go. Yea, yea, I've done this before. Like many Etsy sellers, I get that feeling like it may be a good fit, if I give it enough time, and put a good effort in at promoting it.

So I'm starting with my winter boots, and wholesale moccasins. There's obviously a growing desire out there for quality handcrafted items, and although each major category is filled with lovely goods for all, when you feel you've found a niche, it's best to get it right out there and be seen by as many potential customers as possible!


I read a plethora of wonderful articles daily on marketing your shop, riding the social networking wave, linking, linking, linking, and all I can think is, hey! I can do that! I'm diving into this with both feet, 2 arms and hopefully, my head screwed on straight, so when I saw Zibbet recently, it just appealed to me as a new and growing venue.

I'll be listing winter items, mostly boots, there for a while, as the winter rush seems to be coming a bit early this year, so look for many new KaBoogie items there soon!

Monogrammed Baby Shoes, and...PIE!

I love custom work. I think I've said this about 300 times. I love when I can give a customer exactly what they want, and throw in a little challenge for me. This week it's not just a monogram, it's the whole 3 letter initials!

As I was chugging along I realized, wow, these letters are teeny. And I think I'm going blind. One stitch, two stitches...many done by manually turning the wheel because I have no idea where the needle will land, and it cannot ever land outside the applique! This is leather, it has no forgiveness.

When I'm finished sewing the letters on (they are spray mounted in place, no way I'd ever be able to hold them!), I always glue the thread ends down in the back. I don't ever want the threads to come up in the front.

Just a little KaBoogie tip I thought I'd share. One of those little things we do to go the extra mile as crafters, to give our customers the very best we can produce!

And in other news...
My 13 year old daughter made this most awesome lemon meringue pie tonight! It's her second one this week, and it came out even more beautiful than the first! When she brought me a nice warm piece, I discovered HER idea of going that extra step to give her very best. She added fresh cut lemon thyme to the lemon filling! It gave the pie such a nice gourmet flavor!

Isn't she great?

You can find the listing for custom monogrammed leather baby shoes here.

Homeschooling With a Business, Do I Still "Got" It?

July. It's July. I haven't started getting my books together to start homeschooling again. I'm still trying to make sure my oldest gets the math curriculum he needs in his school (he opted to stay in the school). We're trying to have as much fun as possible, there's 6 different camps being attended, and September is coming fast.

Am I procrastinating? I need to get my head back into educating my kids in less than 2 months. I'm SO happy to have them home, but in my year off I've gotten a bit lazy. I also worry that the kids will have a hard time reacclimating themselves to being self motivated.

So the question arises; how does a mom, who is determined to provide the best education her kids can get, structure the day so that the kids make the best use of their time, chores and household issues are attended to, and mom can get some work done and help contribute to the household?

It used to be that I'd let the day unfold on it's own. I'd require work to get done as early in the day as possible, but didn't set time limits, or keep a strict schedule. But that can't work with my etsy shop, which gets very busy during fall to winter.

Does strict scheduling work for you? Or does letting the kids work at things in their own time get the job done? I think I forgot how this is done! How do you work it all in?

KaBoogie Giveaway!

Spring is nuts. I can't believe the flurry of activity we blew through. Seems like I was lazing through winter and BAMMO. School activities, craft show fundraiser, wholesale orders, and finally, SPRING FLING!

I love making Spring Fling decorations. 70+ homeschooled kids look forward to this, not knowing what they're going to walk into. This year we gave them the 50's, complete with drive-in movie screen. I LOVE making props. This one was my favorite:


Next year, who knows?...

Oh! and by the way! If I haven't plastered it enough on facebook...Check out RockerByeBaby for details on how to win a pair of eco-friendly, soft soled KaBoogie moccasins!

Silly Family Things

We have this game we like to play. Well, it's not even a game, it's a big joke. Started with my oldest daughter wanting to play "the color game". Would've been fun if we ever actually got to play it, but the joke was even funnier. Goes like this:

Everyone picks a color, and announces it. Then you go around the table and everyone has like 2 seconds to point at someone and say their color. You hesitate or get it wrong and you're out.

But hubby decided to make the game more interseting one night.

Daughter..."Let's play the color game!"

All chime in..."I'm red, I'm chartreuse, I'm BUTTERSCOTCH (see, the harder the color...you get it)".

Now we have 8 colors to remember. Except now everyone decides to change, and we've descended into the stupidest color contest.

Hubby "Let's play the superhero game!"

All chime in with their superhero..."I'm RUBBERMAN!", "I'm DIAPERMAN!"...and on and on, louder and louder, laughing and arguing.

Daughter...."Oh, C'mon, let's just play the color game!!", as face gets redder and redder.

Hubby...."Let's play the favorite vegetable game!" Now I have to cover my ears.

Chaos, mayhem, foolishness ensue, game never actually gets played.

Family fun time at Red Squadron, hehe.

Then there's the "sentence game". This one can actually be pretty funny. We like to play speed rounds with just two people. Basically, one person starts a sentence, and the next person says the next word. You have absolutely no control over what turn the sentence takes, and it can get pretty bizarre. Like this:

"Twelve....soups....can....run....nine....cars....over....instead....of....camels....freaking...out...swimming...backwards...alone."

But put a 6, 8, 11 and 3 year old with a 13, 15, and two adults, and you have absolute and utter nonsense (if you didn't think that one was silly). Especially when one child decides to say the same word over and over....like this:

"Floods....can.....bark.....STUPID.....walls.....into......garbage......mouths.......because......STUPID.....crabs....ate.....mom."

Dinnertime fun.

Artisan Pizza?

I have no idea what aartisan pizza means, but I must save about $1000 a year on pizza. We LOVE our pizza. It's a welcome relief on Friday night. But not for the usual reasons. See, we hate take-out pizza. We can't eat it anymore.


Nothing annoyed me more than making my own pizza dough, so once I realized my bread machine made incredible dough, I never again minded rolling out my own. I mix whole wheat with unbleached white in about a 3:1 ratio (mostly white). We have our favorites, including BBQ chicken (BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce) with cheddar, onions, red peppers, shrooms and mozz; meatball, and my personal favorite, terriyaki tenderloin pizza. Oh, yea. We use leftover beef tenderloin we get at BJ's, with pesto, onions, roma tomato, and mushrooms. Mushrooms are a staple on all of our pizzas.



I throw one half plain half pepperoni for the little ones. One by one, my kids are moving their tastes up a notch to try the more exotic flavors. Two down, four to go!

This is my famous (at least in my family lol) BBQ chicken, with red peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheddar and mozz. For a REALLY incredible treat, lay basil leaves under the sauce. Learned that little treat from a good friend. In the summer, my roma tomatoes go on every pizza.
So even if you have no bread machine, it's well worth it to try some unusual flavors on your pie. Let the kids put their own together! Make personal pies. Enjoy!

A Hearty Snack

After deciding to make some small changes in our food choices, I decided to test them out on a baking project.

The changes are incremental, but I think necessary for me to feel better about what I feed my family. I got some non GMO (non genetically modified), organic unbleached flour and some of the same type in whole wheat. I mixed them in about a 3/4 - 1/4 ratio so I could use it pretty much for everything.

I also switched our processed sugar, which I only used for baking, to unrefined evaporated cane juice. It's not a huge change, but in a big family, small changes are workable.



I made pizza dough last night and the kids loved it, so that's a no brainer. Didn't taste much different. Since they're used to the organic whole wheat bread I've been buying, and we've never bought white bread anyway, I figured as much.

Today I made zucchini bread with some of the zillion bags of shredded zucchini I froze last summer. Frozen zucchini drains a lot of it's moisture when you defrost it, so 2 cups turned into one. I added a cup of shredded carrots to make up the difference. Then I halved the sugar asked for. I'm daring like that.

They looked kind of crusty coming out, so I feared they might be dry. Wrong! They were YUM! I had to stop the kids from gobbling them like cheap grocery store Oreo knock offs! The carrots lent a sweetness even my 8 yr old sugar fiend said was good.

Ahhhh, sweet success! Next, I try my hand at the food co-op. Do they sell air tight bins for 50 lb bags of organic non GMO flour?

Custom Work

I love a challenge. I love when a customer has a vision, and just needs someone to make it real. Ok, it does take some of the pressure off of me as a designer, but it presents new challenges. Is my sense of proportion, color and layout going to fulfill her vision? Am I going to spend all this time working on it just to find out it's not anything like what they wanted?

Some designers & artists loath the idea that what they create may not be at all what the customer wanted. This is always a possibility. I've found, however, that after so many years designing, whether it be logos, furniture or a sign, that your confidence level does come through in your work. Customers come to you because they like what you do, and WANT that "look" that says it's yours. Otherwise, they wouldn't come to you!

There's always going to be that one time when your vision doesn't match your customer's. That's when we as artists must be willing to go that extra mile, it's the nature of custom work. I've had to remake items, and it's those times when I realize perhaps I wasn't listening to exactly what they were really saying. Sometimes they relay a detail that gives me a clue as to what they really mean.

Sometimes, though, they aren't really sure, and it's up to me to know what will look best. It's a collaboration of ideas and communication. One thing I've learned over my years as a designer, is that effective communication is crucial to serve your customers in the best way possible.

Perhaps it isn't exactly what they had in mind. Perhaps it's even better! Perhaps you'll have to redo a job. It's ok. It's the challenge of taking a vision and making it real that builds that confidence and makes you a better designer. Often, it's your job as a designer to let the customer know that certain aspects of their vision won't work in reality, and with just this adjustment or that, it will work.

Sometimes their vision won't work at all, then the onus is on you as the professional to communicate why and offer up a better alternative. Either way, it's a good experience builder to improve your communication skills, your problem solving skills, and your creative skills.

So don't shrink away from a challenge if you know it's something you can handle. And know when to tactfully say "this won't work". You're the professional. You will both walk away with something you wanted, or even something you needed. Risks are important to building a business, they can and do provide learning experience and a chance at greater success!

Have a custom horror story? What have you learned from it? Or tell us a success story when you knew what needed to be done, and it all worked beautifully!

Soft Comfort for Any Hair!

I've been having a blast making these headbands! They're a new venture for me, and have been selling well locally. A lovely friend at the Lost Spool does my embroidery for me, and I can't stop making them!

My customers rave about how comfortable they are to wear, while growing out bangs, or just for a quick and easy do. I find myself going the "easy do" route often!

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KaBoogie Babies!

A few of my boogie babies. I live for this! Many customers send me pics of their little ones in their boogie shoes, I've got a big folder of them, some have given me permission to use them, so here they are....ta-da!!

This little guy needed some black leather ankle boots, stat! Seeing how adorably his little birthday outfit came out, I'm glad I put a rush on this one!

This was my first pair of boots, for a special custom order. Her mom wanted them just a little higher than my ankle boot. I was thrilled at how well they came out!

A friend brought this little darling over one day and I just had to put these on her! Maryjanes are just so classicly sweet...

A customer at a craft show, I'd swear she brought this baby dressed JUST for these boots. One of my more exquisite designs, made from an eyelet skirt. Rare find, gorgeous boots!

Always on the lookout for more boogie baby shots, if your baby is sporting KaBoogies, I'd love to see a shot!

Train Them Up Well Already!

So.

You're running around your house behind your kids, picking up stray socks, vacuuming, clearing dishes, wiping counters, putting silverware away, folding laundry, bla, bla, bla. Those pampered little princes/princesses are toiling away on Facebook, having a pattern block war on their bedroom floor, or watching iCarly for the 400th time this week.

Not you? Good. Move ahead 2 spaces.

No, just kidding. I know we've all done this at one time, wondering why it's US doing all the work. The answer is simple. Because kids don't have the first clue how to do chores. They must be taught. I did a little experiment with my 5 year old today to see just how much she could handle. Now, she's been trained up to do many things, so you'd have to start simply. But I think you get the idea. Seriously, if you think your kids cannot do anything, it's because you haven't taught them how.

I gave her the vacuum cleaner, an Oreck, not too heavy. Told her to do the best she could in the dining room, moving the chairs for her. She got about 1/3 of the way through, said it was too hard, I believe her lol. She does know how to work.

This needs to start when they are around 2. They must learn to pick up. They need to be shown over and over, ohhh, until they're about 18. Then you can send them and their junk packing if you want. (Disclaimer: your standards will never be met, it's "kid" clean, as my bf told me, get over it or toil away alone). So here's my list, certainly not exhaustive, of things kids CAN handle, from about age 2, to start them getting used to the idea of chores. Be aware that at age 2, you have to take their hand, put it on the item to pick up, move them to where it goes, shake the hand til it drops LOL. Repeat for each item. They'll get it.

2-3 yr. olds :
Can sweep with a small broom, toy or one from the Dollar Store.
Give a basket they can carry when full, show them how to pick up toys and put them in. Afterwards show them how to put them where they belong. Small steps, one thing at a time.
Have a low drawer of plastic ware that they use, cups, plates, bowls. Have them empty those things from the dishwasher into their drawer. If you have to actually hold the item in their hand, walk them to the drawer and put it in, so be it, just be calm and firm. Usually they love this chore though, my 3 yr old does.
This is a good age to let them learn to cut things. Play dough and a plastic knife, graduating to butter knife and a hot dog. This is such a great skill for a child to learn, to be careful with cutting! Anything a 3+ yr old can cut with a butter knife is invaluable experience.
Teach them to put small piles of clothes in their drawers. This is the start toward the day they will actually bring the piles from the laundry room! You’ll probably start by sorting and laying piles on their beds. My 5 yr old sorts, carries up and puts hers away herself, as do the older kids.
3-5 yr. olds

Put their dishes in the sink, as long as they're plastic, anyway.
Clean up into basket and put away. If a room is particularly messy, give them 1 type of toy at a time to put away.
Feeding animals.
Watering animals.
Watering plants.
Sweeping/vacuuming with a small enough vac, and no, it won't be done very well.

Vacuuming stairs.
Putting laundry away.
Using a vinegar and water solution and a small squirt bottle they can clean tables, counters, sliding doors…anything you can think of. Cabinet and drawer fronts, chairs, things that get cruddy and we hate cleaning lol. A chamois type micro fiber cloth works very well, or a sock on their hand. Make them step back and look at their work when they’re done so they can see where to “fix”.

These are just some ideas, I'm sure you can come up with plenty, I'd love to hear more of your ideas. At this point it's plenty of work for mom, but worth doing. Kids need and WANT to feel like contributing members of the house. They appreciate the praise, and feeling like they matter. I tell mine often that I cannot run this house well without their help. We're a team!

Next time I'll get into chores and responsibilities I think older kids can handle.

Fix Your Facebook!

This is copied from a facebook post in my status updates!

To restore old Facebook look. Look to the left menu on the home tab and click on MORE. Then drag STATUS UPDATES to the top. After dragging to top, click on it. That becomes your default and it is like before. Pass it on.

That's it!

A New Venture

I met a lovely woman, the mother of one of my kid's schoolmates. She is a seamstress, like me, but she makes costumes for LARP, ren faires and CSA. She commissioned me to create some belt pouches to take with her this weekend to a LARP event. I gave her the outside rectangles to embroider, and WOW! The possibilities! They all use my typical recycled leather. I am excited because these use the heavier leather I am not able to make shoes from. They can be custom ordered in several colors, choices of images, or plain. Enjoy!

This butterfly mask she gave my daughter as a gift. See, I told you she was a lovely woman! These pouches can be direct ordered through me. Jo Jo is sporting a mask I had already, bought 20+ yrs ago, I may remake this one in leather. I will be working on a line of animal masks once the busy Christmas season is over.

A Little Etsy Love!

I love my customers. I do! No, REALLY. Not just because they buy shoes from me. But because I get to hear from them after they get their shoes. Their reactions give me more satisfaction than getting paid.
Sometimes they send pictures, which makes me feel like they value what I do so much more, to take the time to come bad, leave feedback AND take a picture during their busy lives.
Here's some of the feedback that gives me such joy:

"As I held these little shoes in my hand I could just imagine sliding them softly onto little feet. As a mom of four I would have loved to have these when my children were little! Soft yet protective of little feet. A perfect shoe for little feet!"

"Totally AWESOME!!! so well made, cute and comfortable fit, great styling, my daughter just LOVES them!! they have growing room without being bulky, they are soft inside and out, and just what I hoped for!! thanks so much for offering such wonderful moccasins at an affordable price!! fast turnaround, fast shipping, well packaged, great communication, just everything perfect! thanks so much!!"

"Oh my goodness, I LOVE THESE BOOTS! They are the cutest, most well-made, most comfortable boots! My 2-year-old, who hates wearing shoes, won't take them off. I can't say enough positive things about your work. I will be back for more the *second* she outgrows these. Thank you so much!"

This is what makes a place like Etsy so wonderful to sell on. Without the feedback, I'm just another anonymous seller, and they're just anonymous customers. I've developed friendships with my customers, gotten to see their children, and have used their ideas to make KaBoogie shoes an even better product.

So thank you so much for every kind word, it makes doing what I love SO worthwhile!

Update on consignment issue

I've been finally contacted by the owner of the shop I sent my shoes to. It seems she left the return of the consignors merchandise to another, who may or may not have been thorough in returning said merchandise.

Without going into detailed personal information, she apologized for the inconvenience, and said the box had never been delivered, and is probably sitting at her post office, since their mailbox does not accommodate large packages, and they never got a delivery notice. I told her it's on her to go to her P.O. and find my shoes. I will also call and ask why they have not been returned. I'll not accept either one putting the issue off on the other. But for now, I am placing my happy thoughts on the matter until I can resolve it.

The store is closed, and many of the other consignors have gotten their merchandise back. Great, lol.

The lessons here are plenty. Many are mine to learn. But store owners, hear me now. COMMUNICATE with your vendors. Do not ignore your responsibilities because you're in a mess personally. We can sympathize, and understand personal trouble. What we cannot abide by is ignoring us because someone else was supposed to handle it. It's your store, your responsibility.

I'll update as I find out where the heck my shoes are.

Is This What You Get for Trusting?

I am so disgusted. I am so hurt. And now I'm getting mightily angry.

Back in August I was contacted by a Lisa Belcher from SeaGreen Treasures in Myrtle Beach. She asked me if I wanted to consign in her recycled gift shop. I googled her, saw her biz page as a real estate agent in Myrtle Beach, saw her lovely website http://seagreentreasures.com/, and had a lovely phone conversation with her. I loved her business model and the fact that she gave art classes, even free ones to kids who brought in recycled materials to use in class. Heck, she even posted pics of my shoes on her front page!

I worked all week on a shipment of shoes and boots to sell in her shop.

I emailed and convoed her on etsy to tell her the shoes were coming, bla bla bla. Heard nothing back, but stupidly, since I was enamored with this lovely business concept, I sent the shoes. This was on August 26. After I returned from the post office, I got this convo. Mind you, I called her 4 times that week, and she even called my house once, and did not leave a message:

by kiwibeach
profile shop contact
I've had some significant personal issues arise and am going to focus on my off-site recycled art classes (my original passion) vs. the retail store. Therefore, I will be returning all consignment merchandise to their respective designers through this week. Please do not send us any additional shipments.I apologize for any inconvenience and/or hardship this imposes and I regret that my I will unable to successfully carry out my business plan. Thanks in advance for your understanding!26 August 2009 3:31pm EDT

ALL she had to do was write "return to sender" on the box and drop it at the P.O.

Ok, so I can understand people have a crisis, and their plans change. But NO contact since, and no merchandise returned. I have contacted a few of the other sellers on her site, and am hearing similar stories, no contact, and no merch returned. If there was a sincere emergency, or crisis, should she not have had someone communicate with us?

I am out 10 pairs of shoes and boots. I am trying to trust in the better nature of my fellow humans.

My box was delivered on August 29th. It is now September 20th. It took 3 days for my merch to get there. I believe my next move is the Myrtle Beach Police, the state attorney general, and perhaps the real estate organization she is associated with. If anyone has personal experience with this woman, I'd love an email. I hate to call her out, but she is leaving me no choice.

Anyone in the Myrtle Beach area want to pay her a visit and get my shoes back? lol! I'll give you a free pair of boogie shoes!

And to Lisa Belcher of Seagreen Treasures...whatever your problems are, this is so wrong. I will inform Etsy of your practices. You need to communicate with your vendors, NOW. I truly hope you are not ill, nor experiencing some horrific trauma. But barring that, GIVE ME MY SHOES BACK. It's called stealing.

Recycled Leather Mask Tutorial

I bought this funky mask, made from some synthetic leathery product, about 20 years ago. I've used it as a mad cow ("moo, dammit") with white tee & pants with spots tacked on, or with street clothes on lazy Halloweens when I had to have something. It occurred to me, since it's trashed, to make another, and that there are limitless possibilities of design here. So I've recreated it. You can use any design you can google, get inspiration from, or come up with on your own. You are free to copy mine, just not for sale, of course.

Please let me know if these instructions are confusing, this is my first tutorial!

I'd say this is an intermediate job, leather sewing experience helps because of it's stretchiness, or heck, even use a mini glue gun for the smallest beads possible. I worked on this over 2 days. Read through all instructions first! This is a grown up mask, but for a kid you can trace a kid's size plastic mask!

**I highly recommend a teflon presser foot when sewing leather, which STICKS to metal ones. If you have paper tape that may help by taping the bottom of your metal presser foot. TEST it first. Also, a size 11 or 14 machine needle is fine for garment weight leather, a leather needle makes too large a hole, leather does not forgive holes, it's best to sew once, twice if you can hit the same holes the second time. I've developed a knack for being able to use the same holes.

All seams are exposed., except where the snout meets the face. It's stuffed slightly to give it stiffness. I used llama roving, you can use cotton balls, synthetic batting, geez, even scrap rag strips. Whatever you can stuff inside, you won't be machine washing it if you use leather.

Which brings me to materials. I used scraps of garment weight leather from skirts, jackets. I imagine even fabric would be fine, it's a mask, not a ball gown (you can pre-seam the edges to prevent fraying). The original mask used felt as horns, ear trim and whiskers. Some ideas...moleskin, vinyl, mix and match. Faux suede, denim, even recycled plastic wrappers, think outside the box! Anything you can sew or glue. Make a trash mask!

Here's my old mask, has seen better days.

You will need: face color; horn, ear trim, nostril and whisker color; eye band color. I used cream, red and black leather. If you are picky like me, have the matching thread on hand. 14" elastic will hold the mask on your face...

I roughly sketched the outside shape of the face and snout. (You can make a pattern by measuring your face from ear to ear, then close to the top of your forehead down to about the bottom of your mouth.) Then I cut the face and snout separately. I retraced the snout and made a mark at the point where the face and snout meet on each side. I added an additional width of about 1/4" on the top half of the snout on the sides (not on the top of the snout) above those marks (you'll see a point where the pattern juts out at the top half, this will be the point where you sew one snout piece to the top half of each face piece.

I drew & cut two vertical 1/4" V's for darts at the top, to give the snout some "pop-out" dimension. See picture below. You can see where the top half of the snout is wider than the space it fits in.

I then traced the horns and ears, adding an additional 1/4" at the ends where they meet the face, so you can tuck them into the two face pieces (you will cut 2 of all pieces, 4 for the ears and snout).

Don't forget **trace the 2 "whiskers" and the additional trim pieces at the bottom 1/3rd of the ears for the second ear color**.

Out of the first color, cut 2 face pieces (flip to draw the second one on these, trust me, both sides are rarely the same). Don't cut the eye holes out yet!!

2 snout pieces (flip as well)

4 ear pieces (draw 2, flip, draw 2)

Out of the second color, cut 4 horns; draw 2, flip draw 2. I used the original mask to guide in freehand drawing them, on the back of the leather, you can make your mistakes drawing before you cut. Be careful when you draw on the whiskers, the back will show. Cut inside the line.

Cut 2 whiskers, (draw, flip, draw).

Cut 2 trim pieces for the ears (draw, flip, draw).

Cut two nostrils, I free hand drew them on the leather.

I traced the eye holes from the original mask, made the holes slightly bigger, or for your purposes, measure your face from outside one eye to the outside of the other. Then I freehand drew the rest. This will be a trial and error, you could use your sunglasses laid over the ovals you draw to make sure the holes will fit your eyes. Once you cut this pattern part you can lay it over your eyes to fit. Better to screw it up on paper first, so don't hesitate to do it twice. I redesigned the flairs slightly, this is the creative part.

I always have a hard time drawing on black leather, I used a white colored pencil, you can use a fabric pencil, gel pen, whatever you find makes a sharp line.

Cutting this ended up being easiest with embroidery scissors, the knife made it drag.

Remember, it's your mask, leather in out leather out, make it your own!

Here's all the pieces cut and laid out how they will look. I actually sewed the whiskers suede side out, because they droop and flip over, so on the finished mask the leather shows.

I sewed the eye piece on first. I ALWAYS glue stick or spray mount (LIGHTLY) the leather on leather when I sew it, it's slippy and you can't pin it. I keep a medium-large box handy for spraying in. 1/16" seam allowance is fine on leather or non fraying material.

Sew the nostrils on one piece of the snout. It's upside down in the pic, so look before you sew! the wide part of the nostril is on top. Fold the leather at the darts you cut, right sides in. Seam close, 1/16th" is fine for leather or any non fraying material.

Sew two horn pieces to two back pieces, seams out, right sides out.

Sew a TRIM to each front of TWO ear pieces, then sew a front ear piece to each back piece, right sides out.

Stuff the horns and ears lightly and tack them shut with a long stitch.

Now it gets a bit tricky. I stopped and took the night off lol.

Line up the front snout piece (with the nostrils) right sides together, at the bottom of the face and the point where you made the snout wider. Leather is both hard because it is slippy, so go slow, and easy because you can stretch and manipulate it as it goes through.

I actually started about 1/2" above the point where the two pieces meet. This is so I can put the whiskers in later without wrestling the pieces to the ground in a WWF style smack down. About where the tip of my finger is in the pic above. Sew slowwwwwly around the snout, you have to constantly readjust by lifting the presser foot and turning slightly. Have faith, it'll be round when you're done.

Now, slide a whisker in one side, with right sides of whisker and snout together like the pic above. I cheated and put a TEENY line of superglue at the very end of the whiskers, held in place and let it dry on each side. Finish the seams of the snout. When you sew leather or vinyl, you can stretch one side to make it line up. If you have an overlap at the end, fudge it, really, it's a mask and it won't show, mine didn't line up perfectly when it was done, I ended up trimming the mask where it met the snout. *shrugs*

Now do the other side of the snout, and then repeat for the back face and snout piece. You won't have to worry about the whiskers so go from end to end, looking forward constantly to make sure the other end will line up.

Ok, here's where you get to put the front to the back.

Mark the point where you want the ears to go (mark top and bottom of the ear) on the very edge of the back face piece so your ears will be even (keep referring to the pic for position). I am pretty advanced, so I don't use points of reference like on patterns, but always keep my eyes forward to see if I'm going to line up later.

NOW is the time to cut your elastic, wrap a piece around the back of your head to the front of your ears, stretch some, and cut. You will slide one end behind each ear piece as you sew the pieces together, about halfway down the height of the ear. Or you can superglue the elastic to the BACK face piece about 1/4" in, on the first side, right in (I did this).

Start at the corner where the snout meets the face. DON'T sew the bottom half of the snout shut yet. When you get near your ear mark slide one ear in about 1/4". You CAN cheat and superglue the ears onto the front of the mask. You can do this with the horns too! I did.

When you get to the other ear, you can slide the other end of the elastic behind that ear (about halfway down the ear as well).

Stuff a piece of roving up top above the eyes after you get around the top to make stuffing easier later.

Sew around the eye holes after you sew the top half, before you stuff the rest of the face.

Once you've sewn from snout to snout, you can stuff the rest of the mask, not too much. I put very little between the eyes. Sew it shut!

NOW cut the eye holes. Make a starter hole with a knife or rotary cutter. Then carefully trim around using the eye piece as a guide.

This pic shows both masks, As you can see, my method is kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants. For an experienced seamstress, not an unusual method. Had I had more time and knowledge of PDF I would have provided a pattern, my apologies!

If any of my instructions are unclear PLEASE email me at ka_boogie@sbcglobal.net and I'll be happy to walk you through it. This is my first real tutorial so I hope it's clear and well layed out. Thanks for reading, would love to see any that are done!

Have a ball!