It's July Already?!?

Hello!

This year has flown by for me. It has been a hectic whirlwind, and....

I'm tired.

It is so amazing that little Penelope will be here soon, and I am clearly nesting. I made new curtains and some decorative pillows for Autumn and Penelope's room, and re-coverd the rocking chair that we got in a very impractical light color because I am to frugal to spend twice as much on the same thing in a dark practical color.

I like how it turned out, I think it is cute. The pillows and curtains match, and the cushions are actually reversible. It was also a pretty easy thing to do that really made the chair look much better. The cream was a beautiful color, but not appropriate for an item used by a baby or a toddler. It is kind of like white and pastel baby clothes- which for some reason are available in abundance- but not good for more than a few wears because they get so stained. Which makes me want to run off on a tangent about baby clothes, but I guess I have digressed enough. Back to nesting.... I also really want to replace autumns bed. She has been sleeping on a futon mattress, because although her crib turned into a toddler bed, she does not like sleeping in it because it is a "baby bed".

Since we have another baby coming, we will certainly be keeping the crib, but it is really crowded in there with a futon mattress on the floor, so I would like to get autumn a proper bed. Either a toddler bed, or a proper twin bed... or what would be really cool would be to build her a loft that can be transformed into bunk beds later. I have a cool design in mind, that includes turning the bottom portion into a playhouse. Adam is not a fan of this idea, since it is likely that he would be making it. I also really want to paint the walls in thier room.

Oh... and the carpet... I want to steam clean the carpet- but not just in autumns room... in the whole house.

I am also finding that when I am working on orders for Caustic Threads, my mind is really wandering. I have so many fun items I want to make for autumn and Penelope, that it is hard to stay on task. Despite this, it seems like I am doing a better job of juggling orders, helping my dad at the shop, and taking care of Autumn, I just wish I had a little more free time to spend with Adam and Autumn.

Autumn has been pretty difficult lately. I am not sure if it is because there is a new baby coming, or because she gets less attention from me now that I am a little overloaded. It is probably a combination of things. I know why kids this age are so damn melt-your-heart CUTE at this age though.

Finally, speaking of being overloaded, Caustic Threads had a record month in June. Amazing. It was the best month ever, we even beat December of last year. It is exciting, and gratifying. I am not sure what kind of goal I should have for July though. Not only do I think expecting to beat June is a little unrealistic as far as actual sales are concerned, but with a new baby I know that the amount of work I am able to do right after she penelope is born will be limited too.

And to say Adieu, here is my newest design in Caustic Threads.

Tiger RAWR Onesie $14.00

Have an excellent weekend!

♥Erica

Happy New Year!

Lets start the new year with a look back! So much happened it is hard to remember everything! It feels like the days passed in seconds and I expect this next year to be equally busy.

This past year I was travel team captain for The Munecas Muertas roller derby team along with my friend Killer Queen. That was one of the most interesting and challenging experiences ever. I probably should not have run, but had so many people tell me they thought I would be good at it that I ran anyway. I am not one of those people who loves power, or leading things, or anything like that. I am even kind of shy, so the whole experience was way outside of my comfort zone, and the job came with a ton of paperwork. BOOOORRRIIINNNG. I became pregnant, about two months before the season ended so I removed myself from the travel team and then almost as soon as it was too late to put myself on for the last tourney, I had a miscarriage. I had a dream recently that the current travel team went to nationals! That would be so exciting!

I also opened my store, Caustic Threads, on etsy. ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/CausticThreads ) I started my account at the end of last year, but didn't actually list anything until April of last year, and since I have started listing things I have been really thrilled with how things have been going in that store. I have another store where My husband and I sell other items that we love to make, mostly Fine Art and Knives. That store is called Acrylic and Steel ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/AcrylicAndSteel ), and have to admit it has been pretty neglected since Caustic opened.

Those are the two things that stand out the most, but I also: had my gall bladder removed, started selling items on consignment, had a pregnancy, and a miscarriage, started running, lost 35 pounds, gained 40 pounds, had my blood tested A LOT, stopped eating corn syrup,traveled all around the US, played a lot of roller derby, had a great time with my husband Adam and daughter Autumn (pictured above) , went to visit my mom, laughed, cried and loved.

It has been quite a year.

I am also very excited because I am pregnant again, and things seem to be going well.

Thanks For visiting!

♥ Erica

NEW CAUSTIC THREADS:

• 
  dia de los muertos Sugar S...

  CausticThrea...
  $14.00 USD
• 
  Long Sleeved Cruiser Bicyc...

  CausticThrea...
  $22.00 USD
• 
  Sugar Skull with rhineston...

  CausticThrea...
  $12.00 USD
• 
  Key to my Heart Skeleton k...

  CausticThrea...
  $3.50 USD
• 
  Womens Octopus cotton tee...

  CausticThrea...
  $18.00 USD
• 
  Crochet Love ladies Tee Sh...

  CausticThrea...
  $18.00 USD

Lose Weight, eat more... and random pictures as usual.

To start off... a picture of my daughter, autumn:

A dietitian I know online asked the general public "what do you find to be your biggest challenge when you are trying to lose weight?" possibly not verbatim, but that was the gist.

and my response was something like "My biggest problem is that I am pretty sure there is something wrong with my body. I eat well most of the time and exercise daily and I am still overweight"

When I had my miscarriage recently I gained more than I think most people can gain if they are TRYING to gain weight, and I continued to exercise daily and didn't eat any differently. When I told my OBGYN about this he suggested reducing my sugar intake, even from natural sources like fruit, and also cutting back on simple carbs. SO, I have cut back on fruit as well as other sweets, and gone back to only using whole grain pasta and brown rice (with the exception of rare special occasions-like getting home made pasta this past weekend) . My body went crazy when I had Autumn too, and I have not understood anything it has done since I got pregnant with her. I have received lots of advice, some good- like keeping a diet and exercise journal, and some VERY bad advice, like skipping meals which most people know is one of the worst things you can do when you are trying to lose weight since it not only slows down your metabolism because it puts your body in starvation mode but it also makes it more likely that you will overeat later in the day. Many people think that the formula is as simple as eat less, and exercise more and you will lose weight. If that were the case I should wear a size 2.

and to be random, a picture of my cat sleeping in some poly-fill:

Anyway, after I sent that to my online friend she asked me if I was eating enough. I generally feel like I eat enough. I told her that currently I am exercising at different intensities but always with an elevated heart rate for about an hour a day and take in between 1100 and 1600 calories, depending on the day. (Probably averaging about 14oo, I cook from scratch so it is hard to be exact). She said that I was not eating nearly enough and that I should be eating a little less than 2000 calories on a day that I am physically active to LOSE weight. Obviously this is very counter intuitive, but it really goes back to how dumb it is to skip meals when you are trying to lose weight. My friend thinks my body is in starvation mode. I am not convinced. I still think that there is something else wrong, BUT the only time I have lost weight since I had my daughter was when I started eating more, and since it was post surgery I was exercising less, too. Anyway, I can't say I am convinced, but I am willing to try to eat a few more healthy snacks through out the day.

Sorry for everyone who is tired of hearing me talk about this struggle, and I have much meaner things to say to those who think that I am overweight because I am lazy or I eat too much... but I wont today. Most people cant understand this sort of thing unless they have gone through it, and I try to keep that in mind.

Have a good day everyone, tomorrow I will bring you some projects from my workbench!

Here's what's new in caustic threads today:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58793276/sugar-skull-tee-hand-dyed-and-printed

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58791936/squirrel-nuts-tee-shirt-hand-dyed-and

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58790455/paper-airplane-tee

♥Erica

Thursday Thoughts

Autumn can say her first AND her last name now when asked. And she can count to 11... sometimes 12.

SO, day four of working exclusively from home... well, that is except tomorrow because my former co worker has an appointment and I agreed to go in, so not only am I working at my day job tomorrow, but I am working at my day job ALL day instead of my usual 12-5 shift. Cest La Vie... as I am pretty sure I mentioned earlier it is actually like a break to go in to my old job.

I made some sandwiches.

Here is a random picture of Autumn.

I am making a sign for my spot in the consignment shop, and there are some easy ways to do it, like finding a local printer to do it, or painting the font I use onto something, or maybe even printing that font onto transparencies and then attaching that to something. I have an idea that is really awesome, and really ... kinda hard... and I have my heart totally set on it. We got a scroll saw not long ago that has been used pretty minimally. I REALLY WANT MY SIGN MADE OUT OF WOOD LETTERS...

Like this... of course my obsession with this time consuming sign may be slightly higher because Adam is the woodworker in the family, not I . I went out with him to see how to do it, tried to do it myself, and got mad because the scroll saw cuts too slow. UGH. Maybe I should do an alchemy request on etsy. Probably not. I dont think I can afford that request.

I also finally made a first print of the drawing I digitally colored and posted on Monday. was that Monday?? Anyway, I like it. A lot.

I also am sending a donation to Australia for a breast cancer benefit. I hope they raise a lot of money. This is what I sent.

Anyway, back to it being my 4th day working from home... I feel STRESSED! I am not sure if I am just not getting enough done or if I am being unrealistic with my goals but I almost always don't get done nearly as much as I wanted to get done. Even my daily goals are hard to maintain, which is why I am sitting here writing this blog entry at 10:20 PM.

Ok guys! have a great one!

♥Erica

Craft Inc.

Hello!

First of all, Thank you to Jacki over at ChristieCottage for featuring two of my shirts in her two for Tuesday blog post... also, if you already visit Jacki's blog you may have noticed that she hosts giveaways AND that the two for Tuesday is a hint about who's Item she may be giving away! Make sure to go back to her blog tomorrow to enter to win your choice of $16.00 and under tees in my store!

I recently read a book in preparation for jumping into the uncertain waters of being a business owner and entrepreneur. (by the way, day two of "quitting my day job" is going pretty well, though I still don't work fast enough to keep up with my to-do list! )

I really enjoyed craft inc! It has a ton of information that I didn't even know to look for! It is also surprisingly well written. This kind of book has the potential to be a borefest but it was fun to read in addition to very helpful. I definitely recommend it to fellow crafters, weather they are interested in making their craft business a their full time job or not!

Also, I burned some new screens recently, and I thought I would share one of my drawings (this was scanned at the photocopy setting and then colored in with bucket fill for fun)

... and what kind of blog post would it be without some pictures of autumn to satiate the grandparents who read the blog!

Thanks for reading! I think you are extra special fancy!

♥Erica

Summer Fun With my Family

I love summer in New Mexico... but then I suppose I love most seasons in new mexico.

There is something about the dry heat and the way the hot hot sun penetrates your skin that just makes me happy.

We got autumn a cheap 3 ring pool that she REALLY enjoys...

Though I guess her expression does not indicate that.

Every day she asks to go out and play in the water. She splashes and plays with a little cup, dumping water on to the ground, and like anything she loves these days, she WAILS when we take her out, even if she is shivering and blue.

This weekend we have a roller derby game in taos, and that should be fun, though lately I have been more interested in spending time with my beautiful daughter and wonderful husband.

Have a great weekend!

XOXO

♥Erica

Planning a first....

Autumns first birthday is in about a month! I am planning a party but I have never done this before! I would love suggestions!

Also, I am interested in buying gifts and party supplies but just searching on etsy is like an abyss, so any suggestions there would be highly apreciated!

Also, she is a very big, TALL baby.

Oh! last night was exciting! She WALKED! She has taken a few steps here and there many times, but last night she walked about 12 feet! She was trying to chase a cat!

My cute baby!

Pictures of Autumn

Autumn is Crawling...er walking... like a cat. Silly little cutie.


Autumn is a future roller girl, no doubt! The first picture she is checking out my skates, and in the second picture she is trying on daddy's new helmet. Adam Also got new skates and will be reffing when he gets back to Albuquerque. I LOVE DUKE CITY DERBY! Also, the cute headband that autumn is wearing is available in our store http://AcrylicAndSteel.etsy.com Autumn is an excellent model.



Aren't autumns little teeth amazingly cute? I made the hat that she is wearing as a gift for someone.



Autumn loves her Paddington Bear Mobile. She looks like she is going to be blond, at least in the early years.


Autumn is modeling a bag for mommy. She looks so sophisticated. This cute outfit is from Grandma Ginny. This bag is in our etsy store. http://AcrylicAndSteel.etsy.com

I am really confused about my post baby body. I work out really hard, and often. I exercise daily. I include aerobic and aerobic activities into my exercise routine almost every day. I eat a pretty balanced diet. I am about as healthy as I was Before Autumn was born... yet I am still really fat. I don't get it. I am not sure how much of the baby weight I have lost, or how much I have left. I gained about 90 lbs during my pregnancy, which I also can't really explain. When I went in for my 6 week check-up I had lost about 40 lbs. Now I know I am have lost at least 10 more pounds, and possibly more, but I am far to active to be retaining weight like this, and really, the extra lbs are getting in the way. I am not as flexible as I used to be.

On top of all of this, I am severely depressed and very moody. I also got a sunburn for the first time in about 10 years last week. I can't think clearly most of the time. I feel dizzy or disoriented when I try to move fast, or get up quickly. I feel painfully tired all of the time.

I have been guessing that my hormone levels were a little off after having a baby, and wasn't sure if that was normal, as it is only 7 months out. I don't know what exactly the conversation was based around, but Adam's mom suggested that I see an endocrinologist, or hormone specialist. That is a good Idea, but I am not sure when that will look feasible now that we are moving back to Albuquerque.

Stopping to Smell the Roses

Looking in to the tree!












"Boo!"

Adam and I went to the Portland Rose Garden this weekend. It was the first time we have been there this year since the roses started blooming, and they were definitely in full bloom! It was such a beautiful place to be on a (rare) sunny Portland day, and we all had a blast!















autumn on daddy's shoulders




"the smell yummy, even up-side down!"






Autumn looking cute, as usual, and sitting in a tree.




Autumn Enjoying the roses!