It's Friday night. I just got home a little bit ago. My new phone cost 238 bucks since I was mid-contract. It would have cost 100 if it was 11/08 and I'd lost my phone. Good news? I have 30 days to return it for full refund if my old phone turns up.
I called Lost & Found today, I had to be patched through via the Security Console. The first time I called, nobody picked up when they transfered the call. When I spoke to Security again, they said "We can't find the Lost & Found employee, can we take your number?" I wanted to be a smarta*s and ask "Did you look in the closet?" (That's where they keep all of the items they find, a huge locked closet.)
When L&F finally called me back, they hadn't seen my phone. None of my coworkers have seen it either.
::sigh::
It will keep me listing new things regularly in my shop, that's for sure!
Tomorrow? I list my apple & pear zipper pouch! I also have to do laundry and sew more things.
I'm super thirsty, I'm going to go drink a few glasses of water and fall asleep early.
<3 Always,
Taina
Friday, January 25, 2008
Happy Friday!
Happy Friday, everyone!
Because I don't my workplace is busiest on weekends, my schedule is Su-Th. I have Fri/Sat off. This means today is a sewing day.
I was an emotional mess yesterday, went to bed early, woke up at a decent hour, called MoMA's lost and found, but nothing. I called my boss to see if they'd found my phone, but again, nothing. So I called my cellphone company and suspended service. After I post this, I will be going downtown to the phone store to pick up a new phone. The good news? I have 14 days to find my old phone and return the new one for a full refund.
So today I made items 7 and 8 for my goal of 20. Two zipper pouches, the perfect size for makeup or pencils/pens/art supplies.
I photographed and listed 7. I will photograph 8 while it's still light out and list it this evening.
Here's January's item 7:
It's a koi pouch, made of my all-time favorite fabric. The fabric has been discontinued and I have such a tiny amount left that I couldn't even make two pillows for my own couch out of it. I do have a coin purse I made out of the fabric that I use as a wallet, business cards, credit cards, ID, coins and cash all fit comfortably in it. I hope someone finds this pouch as thrilling as I do!
Since I know practically no one's numbers by heart, I figure I will be staying in for the weekend until my friends text message me once my new phone is activated. This means way more sewing/knitting time than expected! How very exciting!
<3 Always,
Taina
Because I don't my workplace is busiest on weekends, my schedule is Su-Th. I have Fri/Sat off. This means today is a sewing day.
I was an emotional mess yesterday, went to bed early, woke up at a decent hour, called MoMA's lost and found, but nothing. I called my boss to see if they'd found my phone, but again, nothing. So I called my cellphone company and suspended service. After I post this, I will be going downtown to the phone store to pick up a new phone. The good news? I have 14 days to find my old phone and return the new one for a full refund.
So today I made items 7 and 8 for my goal of 20. Two zipper pouches, the perfect size for makeup or pencils/pens/art supplies.
I photographed and listed 7. I will photograph 8 while it's still light out and list it this evening.
Here's January's item 7:
It's a koi pouch, made of my all-time favorite fabric. The fabric has been discontinued and I have such a tiny amount left that I couldn't even make two pillows for my own couch out of it. I do have a coin purse I made out of the fabric that I use as a wallet, business cards, credit cards, ID, coins and cash all fit comfortably in it. I hope someone finds this pouch as thrilling as I do!
Since I know practically no one's numbers by heart, I figure I will be staying in for the weekend until my friends text message me once my new phone is activated. This means way more sewing/knitting time than expected! How very exciting!
<3 Always,
Taina
Thursday, January 24, 2008
What a crazy crazy day...
Today while I was at work, a contractor fell, broke his neck and died.
I was so spacey and distraught that I somehow lost my cellphone. I don't have a landline, so now not only am I really upset about the loss of this guy, but feeling quite anxious and naked without my cellphone. My mother is undergoing a series of neurological tests, so I would like to be her emergency contact if she starts really worrying. She's more worried about the tests than the results at this point. I am worried about her because I don't have a phone tonight. I am so thankful I have a roommate! I used her phone to tell my dad I'd lost my phone and if there is an emergency, to call Federica. My mom was sleeping, as I'm sure it's been an exhausting day. Today was her MRI and some other test with initials.
Tomorrow I will call Lost & Found to see if they have it, and if not, I have to buy a new one. I'm not thrilled about this, as I was hoping the money I had saved up so far from Etsy would go towards a laptop, not a replacement cellphone.
I really hope they have my phone when I call tomorrow morning.
In other news? I got my internet up and running and better than ever, so here is the 6th item I have listed in January:
A tattoo makeup/pencil case! Hooray!
I was hoping to come home and make things tonight, but after spending an hour turning my entire work world upside down looking for my phone, I'm completely exhausted and probably should not be operating a sewing machine. Tomorrow! Tomorrow I will make a bunch of things. I have 7 days left to make 14 items. We'll see if I can do it!
<3 Always,
Taina
I was so spacey and distraught that I somehow lost my cellphone. I don't have a landline, so now not only am I really upset about the loss of this guy, but feeling quite anxious and naked without my cellphone. My mother is undergoing a series of neurological tests, so I would like to be her emergency contact if she starts really worrying. She's more worried about the tests than the results at this point. I am worried about her because I don't have a phone tonight. I am so thankful I have a roommate! I used her phone to tell my dad I'd lost my phone and if there is an emergency, to call Federica. My mom was sleeping, as I'm sure it's been an exhausting day. Today was her MRI and some other test with initials.
Tomorrow I will call Lost & Found to see if they have it, and if not, I have to buy a new one. I'm not thrilled about this, as I was hoping the money I had saved up so far from Etsy would go towards a laptop, not a replacement cellphone.
I really hope they have my phone when I call tomorrow morning.
In other news? I got my internet up and running and better than ever, so here is the 6th item I have listed in January:
A tattoo makeup/pencil case! Hooray!
I was hoping to come home and make things tonight, but after spending an hour turning my entire work world upside down looking for my phone, I'm completely exhausted and probably should not be operating a sewing machine. Tomorrow! Tomorrow I will make a bunch of things. I have 7 days left to make 14 items. We'll see if I can do it!
<3 Always,
Taina
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
computers...
Oh! I am so proud of myself for keeping up w/ my blog this week. So exciting.
So I am up to my 6th item to list on Etsy for January out of my monthly goal of 20 this year. My fifth item was listed two days ago:
(Click the photo for the listing and more info.)
I made my sixth item last night, a makeup pouch out of the tattoo fabric. I was hoping to list it this morning but my internet connection has been wonky for the last 12 hours. Quite frustrating!
I spoke to the cable company after being on hold for an hour (no joke!) last night and they ran a speed test and said there was nothing wrong. My complaint was that my roommate's skype video chat w/ her mom in Italy gets disconnected and that occasionally even the shortest youtube video stops loading. They said streaming video wasn't really their problem. What???
After speaking to them, the internet gave out altogether. At this point, it was nearly midnight and I was too tired to be on hold for yet ANOTHER hour. I figured maybe it would fix itself by morning. No such luck. After work today, I intend to go home and sit on hold for another hour. I really wish I had a handsfree headset for my cellphone, so at least I could sew. Maybe I will try putting the cable company on speakerphone until someone actually answers the call. Hopefully I can get some more work done in the meantime.
I am feeling quite impulsive and looking at my favorite fabric suppliers for buying more fabric. It's very addictive. I still have two full yards of fun prints I haven't used, so I will try to use those first. I need to buy some more blue sugar skull fabric, as items made from it sell almost immediately through my shop.
If I can't do the speakerphone sewing, I will at least unpack my new harddrive and start moving all of my etsy photos and spreadsheets over to make room on my archaic desktop.
Here's to hopefully making items 7 and 8 tonight. I have 8 days to make 14 items and keep up my etsy new year resolution!
Time to go back to work at the fulltime job!
<3 always,
--Taina
So I am up to my 6th item to list on Etsy for January out of my monthly goal of 20 this year. My fifth item was listed two days ago:
(Click the photo for the listing and more info.)
I made my sixth item last night, a makeup pouch out of the tattoo fabric. I was hoping to list it this morning but my internet connection has been wonky for the last 12 hours. Quite frustrating!
I spoke to the cable company after being on hold for an hour (no joke!) last night and they ran a speed test and said there was nothing wrong. My complaint was that my roommate's skype video chat w/ her mom in Italy gets disconnected and that occasionally even the shortest youtube video stops loading. They said streaming video wasn't really their problem. What???
After speaking to them, the internet gave out altogether. At this point, it was nearly midnight and I was too tired to be on hold for yet ANOTHER hour. I figured maybe it would fix itself by morning. No such luck. After work today, I intend to go home and sit on hold for another hour. I really wish I had a handsfree headset for my cellphone, so at least I could sew. Maybe I will try putting the cable company on speakerphone until someone actually answers the call. Hopefully I can get some more work done in the meantime.
I am feeling quite impulsive and looking at my favorite fabric suppliers for buying more fabric. It's very addictive. I still have two full yards of fun prints I haven't used, so I will try to use those first. I need to buy some more blue sugar skull fabric, as items made from it sell almost immediately through my shop.
If I can't do the speakerphone sewing, I will at least unpack my new harddrive and start moving all of my etsy photos and spreadsheets over to make room on my archaic desktop.
Here's to hopefully making items 7 and 8 tonight. I have 8 days to make 14 items and keep up my etsy new year resolution!
Time to go back to work at the fulltime job!
<3 always,
--Taina
Monday, January 21, 2008
Handmade and DIY culture
I love to do things myself. I am a proud owner of a closet just for hardware. Drill, hammers, screwdrivers, lightbulbs, screws, dimmer switches, pull switches, you name it.
It may stem partly from my being a feminist and my desire to not ask a man for help around the house. I think most of it comes from my father. He raised me to be as independent and self-sufficient as possible. He taught me not to be afraid of electricity, how to change fuses and bulbs, and even gave me my first drill w/ brand new set of drillbits. He also taught me how to use a soldering iron to fix wiring problems. I loved installing my own curtains, putting together furniture, and last year finally installed a dimmer switch in my livingroom.
I love the sense of accomplishment. Most of my apartment is DIY decorated. I bought cheap frames from Ikea and stained them with a deep cherry stain. Then I bought a bunch of b&w postcards of Jazz musicians and cropped them to fit in my frames. Hung them all along the hallway in my apartment. I bought cheap mirrors and spraypainted them brick red and gold (alternately, not the same colors on each frame) and made a mod-type design out of them in my livingroom. It's totally exciting to do these little projects.
My roommate is completely the opposite. She constantly makes "Where's a big strong man when you need one?" references. She was shocked I owned a drill. Her wireless connection has been faulty lately, so until we get the cable employee to come check it out, she bought a very long cable. The router is in my bedroom, so obviously holes needed to be drilled above each of our bedroom doors.
I pulled out my trusty drill, changed bits to 3/4" and went to work. Unfortunately, I hit a snag when I realized the wall I was drilling into was brick. My roommate said "where's a strong man when you...?" and before she could complete her sentence I finally said something. "It's a brick wall, it has nothing to do with my being a female." And I pushed ahead w/ the drillbit, and after a few minutes, had the perfect hole for the ethernet cable.
I also have found that most NYC building management companies hire people who aren't great at their jobs. Because my apartment building is pre-war, the threat of lead-paint is very real. I had cracking paint on my hot water pipe in my bedroom and called the management company to have them fix it. They called the Super, the Super called the Porter and the Porter (who I love dearly but is not the best handyman) proceeded to scrape some of the cracking paint off and then put a coat of paint over just the cracking part.
The porter left all of the paint that had chipped off on the floor of my bedroom, and now the top half of the water pipe is a shiny semi-gloss white and the bottom half looks like it could use a coat. I was left to dispose of the lead paint shavings. It made me grateful I don't have young children. I definitely could have done a better job and the next time I have a problem I probably will photograph it, fix it, and charge my building management.
I spent the rest of my day sewing and knitting and doing things that, in my youth, would have made me feel like less of a feminist. I don't feel that way anymore.
I signed up for a Marketing class at Hunter College. It's called "Successfully Promoting and Marketing Any Business". I'm super stoked. It's 6 weeks long and starts in Feb.
I finally listed my fourth January item yesterday! Click it for more info:
Here's to making my quota of 20 in January!
<3 Always,
--Taina
It may stem partly from my being a feminist and my desire to not ask a man for help around the house. I think most of it comes from my father. He raised me to be as independent and self-sufficient as possible. He taught me not to be afraid of electricity, how to change fuses and bulbs, and even gave me my first drill w/ brand new set of drillbits. He also taught me how to use a soldering iron to fix wiring problems. I loved installing my own curtains, putting together furniture, and last year finally installed a dimmer switch in my livingroom.
I love the sense of accomplishment. Most of my apartment is DIY decorated. I bought cheap frames from Ikea and stained them with a deep cherry stain. Then I bought a bunch of b&w postcards of Jazz musicians and cropped them to fit in my frames. Hung them all along the hallway in my apartment. I bought cheap mirrors and spraypainted them brick red and gold (alternately, not the same colors on each frame) and made a mod-type design out of them in my livingroom. It's totally exciting to do these little projects.
My roommate is completely the opposite. She constantly makes "Where's a big strong man when you need one?" references. She was shocked I owned a drill. Her wireless connection has been faulty lately, so until we get the cable employee to come check it out, she bought a very long cable. The router is in my bedroom, so obviously holes needed to be drilled above each of our bedroom doors.
I pulled out my trusty drill, changed bits to 3/4" and went to work. Unfortunately, I hit a snag when I realized the wall I was drilling into was brick. My roommate said "where's a strong man when you...?" and before she could complete her sentence I finally said something. "It's a brick wall, it has nothing to do with my being a female." And I pushed ahead w/ the drillbit, and after a few minutes, had the perfect hole for the ethernet cable.
I also have found that most NYC building management companies hire people who aren't great at their jobs. Because my apartment building is pre-war, the threat of lead-paint is very real. I had cracking paint on my hot water pipe in my bedroom and called the management company to have them fix it. They called the Super, the Super called the Porter and the Porter (who I love dearly but is not the best handyman) proceeded to scrape some of the cracking paint off and then put a coat of paint over just the cracking part.
The porter left all of the paint that had chipped off on the floor of my bedroom, and now the top half of the water pipe is a shiny semi-gloss white and the bottom half looks like it could use a coat. I was left to dispose of the lead paint shavings. It made me grateful I don't have young children. I definitely could have done a better job and the next time I have a problem I probably will photograph it, fix it, and charge my building management.
I spent the rest of my day sewing and knitting and doing things that, in my youth, would have made me feel like less of a feminist. I don't feel that way anymore.
I signed up for a Marketing class at Hunter College. It's called "Successfully Promoting and Marketing Any Business". I'm super stoked. It's 6 weeks long and starts in Feb.
I finally listed my fourth January item yesterday! Click it for more info:
Here's to making my quota of 20 in January!
<3 Always,
--Taina
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Happy New Year!!!
Happy New Year, Bloggers!
I was side-tracked with my fulltime job, putting in extra hours, holiday chaos on the homefront, family obligations, the works! Then I battled being super sick for 10 days. But...
I'm back (and hopefully better than ever!)
I sold my first item of 2008 a couple weeks ago. It was to a new Etsy user, her first purchase. She sent me a really sweet convo (short for conversation or private message on Etsy) saying she was thrilled with the makeup bag. It was this one:
I get so excited when people leave me feedback or go out of their way to send me a 'thank you' note!
This year I've listed 3 things and in the process of listing my fourth. I'm a little behind schedule, as I am aiming for listing twenty new items each month. I have set a goal of 5 completed items before bed tonight. We shall see! Thankfully, all the fabric is cut already.
Just because I haven't been listing things as often as usual doesn't mean I haven't been making things by hand. I've actually been quite busy!
I made my friend Dorian a squid coin purse, since she's obsessed with squid. I also made her earrings out of scrabble tiles: D & V for her initials, that she loved. I've been working on a knit tie for my dad, made out of a silk/wool blend yarn, on tiny size 1 circular needles. I only have a few more inches to go, then I have to block it and line it. He has no idea I'm making it for him.
I also have been switching it up, I'm working on a headband for myself, based on the Calorimetry pattern from Knitty's Winter 2006. I made one before and loved it until one day it went missing. It's great for covering my ears and not messing up my hair in winter weather.
My computer is about 6.5 years old now. It's super slow, so uploading photos takes a bit longer than I'd like. My Etsy goal is to buy a fancy new laptop w/ my 2008 sales. I should probably start backing up all of my files now, though, in case it spontaneously combusts. le sigh!
Here's to a new year, and hopefully some great sales, good etsy friends, and keeping it Handmade!
With <3,
--Taina
I was side-tracked with my fulltime job, putting in extra hours, holiday chaos on the homefront, family obligations, the works! Then I battled being super sick for 10 days. But...
I'm back (and hopefully better than ever!)
I sold my first item of 2008 a couple weeks ago. It was to a new Etsy user, her first purchase. She sent me a really sweet convo (short for conversation or private message on Etsy) saying she was thrilled with the makeup bag. It was this one:
I get so excited when people leave me feedback or go out of their way to send me a 'thank you' note!
This year I've listed 3 things and in the process of listing my fourth. I'm a little behind schedule, as I am aiming for listing twenty new items each month. I have set a goal of 5 completed items before bed tonight. We shall see! Thankfully, all the fabric is cut already.
Just because I haven't been listing things as often as usual doesn't mean I haven't been making things by hand. I've actually been quite busy!
I made my friend Dorian a squid coin purse, since she's obsessed with squid. I also made her earrings out of scrabble tiles: D & V for her initials, that she loved. I've been working on a knit tie for my dad, made out of a silk/wool blend yarn, on tiny size 1 circular needles. I only have a few more inches to go, then I have to block it and line it. He has no idea I'm making it for him.
I also have been switching it up, I'm working on a headband for myself, based on the Calorimetry pattern from Knitty's Winter 2006. I made one before and loved it until one day it went missing. It's great for covering my ears and not messing up my hair in winter weather.
My computer is about 6.5 years old now. It's super slow, so uploading photos takes a bit longer than I'd like. My Etsy goal is to buy a fancy new laptop w/ my 2008 sales. I should probably start backing up all of my files now, though, in case it spontaneously combusts. le sigh!
Here's to a new year, and hopefully some great sales, good etsy friends, and keeping it Handmade!
With <3,
--Taina
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