And the winner is....ME!

Well look at me.

I won a blogging award!

The Liebster Award, which is, uh, an award for those who excel in the art of, um, blogging.  Sensibly.

No, it's not. 

Well, it might be.

Natalie from The Cat Lady Sings nominated yours truly because I fit the criteria of 1) must be under 200 followers (check: I have four) and what I assume to be 2) because I really am part of the cool kids club.

Also, because we're soul sistas from the LBC.  Represent.  Except, if we were real sisters, she would be like the older prettier one who has all the boyfriends because she's the super volleyball star and doesn't say awkward things when nervous.  In other words, she's like a much better version of me.

Hmmm, and why is it you only have four followers....?

Anyway, with this award, as many of you may already know, comes a few stipulations: like offering up firstborns and running around my house in my underwear, but because it's a little chilly up here in the frozen tundra of upstate New York I'll settle for following the following:

You must thank the person who gave you this award.

Thank you, Natalie.  This is fun!

You must display the Liebster heart on your blog.

Check.  See above.

You should nominate 3 to 5 up-and-coming blogs (with less than 200 subscribers).

Sassin' Southern Style Erin is funny, people.  The witty kind of funny that only smart people can master, smart people who take chemistry classes on purpose.

Something Different This Way Comes April has adventures of the kid kind, and since I can now say I know these little animals, her stories take on a whole new life!

Married Filling Joint Kathryn's posts are all over the place with books and food and whatever pops into her head, which is just what my scattered brain needs.  Plus her husband is a band director, which allows me to relive my days as a marching trombonist.

Post 11 things about yourself.

1) My hair is pretty long, you wouldn't know it b/c I wear it up every single day.  2) My sisters and I don't look anything alike.  3) I have an addiction to nail polish.  4) My middle name is Jo.  5) I just realized my dream career is anything that doesn't require eight straight hours of work.  6) In other words, I need variety.  7) When I was younger I thought two men lived under my bed: one small brainy man and his big, brawny sidekick.  They had machine guns.  Every night I would run and jump onto my bed and I'd picture the little guy smacking the big guy for "missing her again!!"  8) I have a vivid imagination.  9) I'm hard on myself.  10) I'd like to live in a foreign country for a year.  11) My favorite TV show is anything science fiction.

Answer the questions the person giving the award has sent you.

Did you ever have a teacher who yelled at/embarrassed/totally ruined you for life? If so, tell the story.  My second semester design teacher in college would yell at me for not being prepared class.  Like I should have known I was going to have an idea that required black doll hair before going to class, for cryin' out loud.  She is part of the reason I changed my major.

What is your dream career?  Making stuff.  All kinds of stuff.  A variety, if you will.

Unicorn or Sasquatch for president? Sasquatch for so many reasons: he can physically beat the snot out of our enemies, all of them; he doesn't give a hoots patoot what you think of him; and I doubt he'll cave to the demands of special interest groups.

What is your most embarrassing habit? I tend to "check out" from time to time.  I have a blank stare that one friend told me was creepy.

If you could have one talent that you do not currently have, what would it be? Oh how I wish I could sing.  I mean, I do sing, but I think I'd like to be good at it.

Last meal on earth: describe in detail. I’m hungry.  Pulled pork nachos with jalapenos.  No details, I'm full.

If you could only bring three things on a deserted island, what would they be? A ship, a ship captain, and a book.  I'm not a big fan of being deserted anywhere.  At least without something to read.

Favorite guilty pleasure? RomComs.  Maid in Manhattan, I die.

What kind of car do you drive, and what do you think that says about you? Hyundai Tucson, it says this girl likes to drive a car that no one will ever notice.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would be less thinky.  I over analyze every. single. thing. an. y. one. says.

Favorite Disney movie? The Little Mermaid, although those little swampy people still terrify me. 

Create 11 questions for the people you will be giving the award to.

 1) What did you want to be when you grew up?  2) Are you...that?  3) Favorite book and why?  4) If you could have any accent, what would it be?  5) What food can you just not stomach?  6) What is your favorite chore?  7) Least favorite chore?  8) What would you do with $10,000?  9) If you had an unlimited supply of empty toilet paper rolls, what would you do with them?  10) Favorite childhood memory?  11) Where do you want to be in 5 years?

Choose 11 people to award and send them the link to your post. Go to their page and tell them.

This feels redundant, so I'm going to skip it.  I hope that doesn't jeopardize my award....

....

Speaking of redundant, this was fun!  Enjoy your Wednesday everyone!

Wait, it's Thursday....enjoy that too.

The business of being scared

If you live out west, my apologies.

Over here in the Northeast we kinda hijacked all of your national news programs.

You know, with this little Hurricane Sandy business.

Trust me, we wish it didn't have to happen either.  But you know how much say we have in weather patterns....

A lot, if you believe the government is using jet trails to affect climate.

Let's pretend I didn't go there.

Luckily, where Corey and I live we didn't see much more than a little rain and at times some heavy wind.  So no limbs sticking out of car windows, flooded basements, or overturned grills.  Phew!

But our power did go out for five hours.  At night.

This was a major problem.

I'm afraid of the dark.

As in, if I have to potty in the middle of the night I run from the bathroom to the bedroom afterward.

The bathroom is five feet from my bedroom.  Sad.

On top of that, I am married to someone who is not able to sit still.

As in, when the power goes out he has to get in his car and drive around to see who else doesn't have power.

I don't mind so much when it's 5:30pm and I can still see my hand in front of my face.

At 7:30pm I mind.

It's dark at 7:30pm.  And there are just some areas a candle flame does not touch.  Like corners.  And closets.  And under tables.  So there I sat. In the apartment, by myself.  Paralyzed with fear at every creak, because our apartment creaks.  Paralyzed even further, if that's possible, when the dog started barking at the creaks. 

In the light, creaking is just creaking.  Old buildings settle, I get it.  But in the dark creaking is....

...something coming to get me!?  Something ghoulish and gross that has one desire in this world and that is to claw my eyeballs out and feed them to my dogyesIreallydobelievethisjunk.

On Corey's last trip out of the apartment to pick up our dinner I went with him.  It was safer to be in a car driving under and around large trees in heavy winds.  Definitely.

The rest of the story is uneventful.  Not like the beginning was a real page turner either.  Went to bed, woke up when the power came back on, cursed out loud that I lost an entire evening of work with the craft show just four days away.

Then I saw all the damage in NYC and New Jersey.  Yikes.

I'm sure some people there are afraid of the dark.

And raw sewage.

And cars floating into their living rooms.

Guess I had it easy.

.....

Send prayers to those who were really hit hard.  People have died fighting Sandy and that's much scarier than the dark!

My 70-year plan

I would call myself a grown up.

At least at 30 years of age I should possess some level of maturity in, well, all areas of life.

Like knowing I need a well balanced meal of meat, veggies, and milk shakes.

And watching scary movies at night is going to jack up my electric bill.

I keep the lights on to ward off serial killers and zombies, if you didn't follow.

And in the arena of what-do-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow-up I think I have finally narrowed down my selection.

Finally.

People, I would be very, very, very happy to make felted wool beads for the rest of my life.

I can't say that about too many things.  My attention span is the size of why does my office smells like cereal?

....

........

Where was I?

Yes, wool, my forever career.

But if felted wool beads were to become the most hated product on the planet I feel confident now that I don't need to be in some 9-5 desk job where I am connected to a phone and some cranky crankpot on the other end and that I can find some other way to create and make enough money to support my slight addiction to Essie nail polish.

And maybe help with our electric bills.

However, should I run dry on the creativity I always have my other career choice finalists to fall back on:

1.  Junior High art teacher

I actually went to college for this purpose.  Mouthy pre-teens are my forte, I find them hilarious.  However, after one semester with a very angry, small manly woman and another semester drawing an eyelash curler three hours each class for eight weeks I became a tad disenchanted.  I regret this decision often.

2.  Tour guide in Italy

While studying in Florence I found out one of our school's coordinators just picked up and left her home in SanFran to do her thang in Italy for an undetermined amount of time.  This greatly appeals to the hopeless romantic in me and I was actually trying to learn Italian when I met Corey just in case I worked up enough nerve.

3.  YMCA front desk worker

This is for a free membership.  Don't judge.

4.  Graphic designer

I would do this now if I knew how these blasted computers work.  But if I ever find the time to learn and a 12 year old to teach me, I would do freelance work for churches and non-profits.

5.  Food truck owner and operator

Specifically a breakfast food truck that serves cupcakes.  Breakfast cupcakes.  This whole food truck fad was made for people like me who can't be tied to one place for-ev-er.

...

See?  Grown ups also have Plan Bs.

But for the sake of 12 year olds, travelers, weight lifters, 12 year olds and people who like pancakes let's just cross our fingers that this wool thing is gonna stick.

Otherwise I'll never get this cereal smell to go away.

I work hard for the money

Hey-o!

Here I am.

Alive.  And well.

And not in an abandoned pit somewhere, thrown there by my crazy sister.

Because that's not real life.  It's All My Children, 1991.

Truth is, I've been pret-ty busy.

Time flies when you're felting your fingers to the bone for a two-day craft show in just two weeks.

Two weeks.  TWO.

Can you feel the urgency?  In just two weeks I have to make all the jewelry. 

Nope.  No.  I don't want to talk about it.

But I will show you my studio.  Because I think you're gonna like it.

I love it here.

I love it so much I've begun to fill it up so that it doesn't look like this anymore.



This is the clock I hit my head on every. single. time. I come up here.  Half the year it's set to the wrong time, the other half the year it's not working at all because the batteries died. 



I stole borrowed this lamp from my sister, Katie.  And then it broke.  Now I'm hoping she doesn't read this and remember that she wanted it back when she moved into her own house.

This is the little nook where I read every morning.  My favorite spot in the entire apartment.  It's also where I store my library book sale finds.  Also known as the books I will probably never read but will keep anyway because I only paid 50 cents for crying out loud.

I had high hopes of getting a nice futon for the occasional guest to sleep on, but now those hopes have turned to bigger purchases.

Like a house.



One of two easels.  You would think I was a painter, but you'd be wrong.  I just dabble.

Badly.



And then there's some junk.  Random things that just can't seem to find a home.

Whaddya know, more things without a home.

Months after I took these pictures I found a shelving unit by the side of the road.  Knowing how Corey feels about me picking up strange pieces of furniture I made sure to swipe it while he was gone.  Getting it up two flights of stairs by myself was a challenge and I do still strategically hide the candle wax damage but problem almost solved in the junk department!

Did you notice the humongous skylight?  This is pretty much the best room in the entire building.

My favorite.

But right now it's reminding me of all the work I have to do so this is where I call it quits to go browse pictures of celebrity pets.

:)

It's all fun and games

Well hello there.

Nice to see you.

If you're new here, welcome.

If you're old here......welcome.

What do you think of the digs?  My home sweet new blog home.  I've got the the pink with the banner and the stuff on the side.  It's much improved from my old place where there was just blue and writing, and I talked about my misadventures on the radio during colon cancer awareness month and how my husband thought pee came out of my uterus.

You might want to take my word for it.   We are in a much better place now.

Although I do still share my misadventures, just not those that involve public speaking on a massive scale as I have banned myself from all extemporaneous speaking opportunities.

Yes, here at SJL Original we get into the adventures of daily life with a little "what's that smell the dog carried in" and a dash of behind the scenes of my growing business.

What's the business, you ask?

I'm sorry, bidness?  Is that what the cool kids say?

Well, my bidness is makin' stuff.

Like with my hands, I'm a crafter.

And felted wool jewelry is my game.

Lightweight.

Bright, happy colors.

My dream job.

But there's a lot that happens behind the scenes to influence and inspire what I do.

So here I am using this space of the internet, this little iddy biddy blog to connect with you my friends, family, customers, future felters of America and to show you what life is like for this whimsical crafter.

Thanks for stopping by!

Your life depends on THIS post. Srsly.

This is your lucky day.

No, really.  It is:

Reason number one:  I am about to clue you in on something you didn't even know you were missing.

Reason number two:  I am going to give you 10% off something you didn't even know you were missing.

Last month in my email inbox I had a message offering me 100 absolutely free business cards.  There was some cross-promoting going on between this business card company and Etsy, the e-marketplace where I sell my jewelry, and the only string attached was my cards had to include the Etsy logo.

Free business cards promoting Etsy where I also have a shopmmmmkay.

I hear what you're saying.  Business cards, schmidness cards, right?

But just hold on to your britches, these aren't your typical business cards.

They are Moo cards.

Say wha...?

Specifically they are Moo MiniCards.

Let's just say for a sec' you have a little business, some side project you're busy building that will soon take over the world.  You first need some interest.  Actually, you probably are gonna want a lot of interest.  These Moo minicards are nothing if not interesting.

The packaging is sturdy and cheeky.  I keep my little Moo box with me wherever I go.

....because I like cheeky.

The details.  Oh the details!



Moo MiniCards are squatty versions of a regular business card!  They're made from a strong card stock with a smooth finish that make them stand out from that average-Joe card you got from your electrician.

Bonus: use your own photos of your work.  People eat this stuff up, it's like a grown-up trading card.

I have a JTT Photography, I'll trade you for an SJL Original.

Ok, but not the one with the hot girl sitting on the couch pretending to work.

...so embarrassing.

Simple, simple, simple. 

But, of course you can opt for one of the hundreds of designed themes that give you color options and swirly patterns.

Me, I'm a simple gal.

Unless we're talking about my eating habits in restaurants.

But in my defense I don't see anything wrong with making local proprietors aware they have a customer who prefers her meals to be prepared using local ingredients most specifically free range poultry and grass fed beef on the rare occasion I choose to eat red meat.

But I digress.

Now it's time for you to scoot on over to www.moo.com to claim your 10% coupon off your first order.  And while you're there, check all the other ways you can use MiniCards.

(make sure you click on the link above...that's the only way you'll get the discount)

Tell them Stacie sent you.

I mean, you can just say that to your computer screen because it's the code in the link above that's going to do the telling.

.....

You're welcome and enjoy.

Dwayne Johnson in 2016!

Today is Monday.

I mean, I know it's actually Tuesday, but I was vacationing yesterday so that made Monday feel like Sunday which would make today Monday and tomorrow Tuesday.

Wait.  Now I'm confused.

Regardless of what day we woke up to, this day is the day I need to physically jump start my brain.  Reset its features.  Git 'er going.

Step One: coffee break first thing in the morning.

Check.

Step Two: three immediate potty breaks.

Check.

Step Three: meaningless blog post that takes us nowhere.

Check. 

Step Four: contemplate what life would be like if The Rock was president.

Check.

Step Five: eat.

Check.

I believe with that I'm ready to work!

...starting first thing tomorrow.