Ready or Not, Here it Comes...

New Years.
I'm ready, but not so willing to leave 2008 behind. At least, not with a nice looong look at the year that has passed:

January: Spent New Years Eve with my Costa Rican exchange student and fourteen other host families.
February: Valentine's Day.
March: Spend Spring Break on a road trip to Indiana with my cousins, aunt, uncle, Bubba, Dad, and Tara
April: Art Class Trip to the Art Institute of Chicago.
May: Finally get my Driver's License. Done with school!
June: My spanish club leaves for Costa Rica, I see them off tearfully. June 6th, Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs goes live on Etsy. June 7th, Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs goes live on Blogger.com
July: The annual Aldersgate UM Church Corn Boil
August: Back to School
September: Audition for the High School Play, rehersals begin
October: Performance of Oklahoma! on Halloween weekend. My second-to-last High School Play EVER. *sadsadsad*
November: November 14th, Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs sells it's first item!! I turn 17
December: Second and third sales at Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs. Christmas, joy, love, and New Years Eve-Eve (today)

It's crazy how it feels like just last night I was in a house crowded with Costa Rican exchange students, counting down to the new year, dancing to salsa music and snowmobiling across an opened field. Time really does fly. Oh, how it flies.

I have a few tradtitional New Years Resolutions I want to make before I wrap up this post.

1. Take Luck, Love and Hedgehogs to it's first events. Really get the name out there more. In conjunction with that, host more Fiber Freaks Gatherings. Being with Crafty people really makes me more creative and feeds my soul.

2. Be more opened with my faith and more passionate in my relationship with God.

3. Bring more positive people into my life. I have a ton of them but you can never have enough.

And finally:
4. Tell more people that I love them.


That's all I got, people. Have a super-wonderful new year. I'll be talking to you soon with the update about Fiber Freaks.

Love,
Carolyn Michelle

Christmas wonderment

Christmas was full of wonder this year. It was such a joy seeing new members of my family get to participate in the traditions I have grown up with. My favorite being the annual sharing of the cheesy tates. You really can't beat something like Grandma's cheesy tates. yumyumyum. I have some cheese tate leftovers in the fridge right now. I'm thinking lunch.

I really hate to go off and list what I got for Christmas (because that's really not interesting or even polite) but I would like to tell you about one key gift: a sewing machine.

I GOT A NEW SEWING MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is the best gift ever ever ever on the face of the earth ever. EVER.

You get it.

It's a Brother brand machine, Project Runway Limited Edition spiff-tacular beast of computerized stitch selection glory. Yes, glory. It even automatically adjusts the stitch length, width, and tension for me when I change the stitch. Thank God above who created such clever sewing machine engineers! I am really really stoaked about this.

Thank you bubba, Tara, and Daddy...if you guys read this. <3>

In other news, we are one day away from one HUGE explosion of creativity in the Hedgehog household. Fiber Freaks!!! I can't believe it's already here...

In case, somehow, you missed the e-mail and previous posts and would still love to join us, here's the 411:

Where: My house (directions through e-mail)

When: 11am-10pm come as you please

What: FIBER FREAKS!!! Crocheting, knitting, and sewing like madwomen (and men)

Bring: fiber of any sort, an opened mind and FOOD!

See you there?

Hope you guys are feeling as blessed and fuffilled as I am. May God guide you throught this crazy weather safely!! Have a wonderful day, enjoy your gifts :D

All my love,

Carolyn Michelle

Winter, as I know it

On December 20th, I completed my secret mission: the Toy Society Christmas Toy Drop. Read all bout it on their blog here and see if my toy has been posted/found yet! I'm really excited about this, I actually cannot wait to see if I hear from anybody.(:

The Christmas season in officially in full swing here in Hedgehog land. The 20th was my first "Christmas" celebration of the year. I partied with my dad's side of the family at the famous Grandma Kay's house. Sadly, Tara and Bubba were sick and stayed home to rest. The snow is really drifting and blowing here, making life crazy. More crazy...I suppose...





Also, my cousins Alicia and Joel are back. Visiting and such. I really miss seeing them with more regularity, even if it was only ever once a year. I haven't see Alicia since 2002. That's a loooong time when you think about it. In five years I've gone from middle school to high school, from riding to driving, from single to...wait, no, I'm still single. Okay so some things never change.






One thing that I wouldn't mind a change from is this super-deep-crazy-lunatic cold weather. Ug. It is so cold here that my pipes froze! Yup. You know the water pipes leading to the washing machine? Yeah. Frozen. My poor father is working on them right now. I have no idea where this winter season thinks it's headed with this sadistic weather. Definatly not winning any points with ME. And just when I was getting into the whole snow thing.





Hope you guys are warm, safe, and festive.





And crafty. Very very crafty. :D

Today I:

Today I already:
rejoiced about the snow day!
did the dishes.
shipped a cuttlefish (and it only costs $5 for priority shipping, who knew??).
got stuck in the driveway (twice) with my dad driving the truck.
wrapped all the gifts for the kids at Saturday Kid's Club.

Later today I will:
decorate the tree with Tara.
wrap MORE presents.
not be going to ring bells for the Salvation Army ):
play in the snow.
clean.

This weekend:
is the Toy Society Christmas Toy Drop! Check their blog to see what I drop!
is the Christmas Party for Saturday Kid's Club, I'm excited.
is my family Christmas party with my dad's side of the family. :D
I get to see my cousins that I haven't seen in...forever.
is going to be cold.
is going to be spiffy.

To those in Northern Illinois, enjoy the snow!!! It's very pretty. I'm finally getting in to this whole winter thing again.

More Information About Fiber Freaks:

What: The first ever meeting of the Fiber Freaks Group
When: Saturday December 27, 2008
From: 11am-10pm open house style
Where: My house (directions when you rsvp)
Rsvp: ASAP

So, as you know, the Fiber Freaks are just a group of freaks like me getting together to learn and teach crocheting, knitting, sewing and what not. Now I have more information as to what the Fiber Freaks will be doing at our first ever meeting-thingy...

Got some extra yarn that you'll never use? Bring it along for a yarn swap! If somebody else has some yarn that you like perhaps you can convince them to trade with you. You never know! So bring along some yarn and swap to your hearts content! Other things you could bring to swap: old clothes, fabric, felt, hooks/needles, misc. craft supplies, sewing machines (like I said, you never know!), pretty much anything...

Also, what's a crafty party without food? When you come be sure to bring some snack-type food or dish to pass to share with the group. That makes it easier on me and Bubba, preparation wise. I'd rather be teaching you guys how to crochet than slaving over a hot stove.

Know how to crochet, knit, sew, or what not? You might be called upon to teach some newbies. It's no big deal, I'll make sure they play nice.

Remember to bring you latest project! I can hardly wait for this EPIC event...it's gonna be good.

Good things that I have failed to mention...

Good Thing Number 1:

I'm participating in my first ever toy drop with The Toy Society this Christmas. *points to button on the right sidebar below the mini shop* You'll have to check it out on the weekend right before Christmas.

I'm super excited about this. I love doing random acts of kindness and what better way of doing it than leaving a cute little hand made toy for somebody to take home? This is such a great project, I plan on participating in more toy drops after the crazy-time ends.

Good Thing Number 2:

Guess who is back? Thar't riiiiiiiiggggggghhhhtttt...
The cuttlefish is coming back to the Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs Design Shop. I got a request for on earlier this week and that request go me thinking, why haven't I made more cuttlefish? Hmmmmm, I don't know. So I have another project! Yay! Seriously, no sarcasm whatsoever was intended there. I love making stuff for people.

Good Thing Number 3:

As you can see from my Etsy-mini over there to the right *pokes sidebar*, I finally updated the shop!!!!!!!! YAY!!!! It's only two more items, but hey, I'm making progress...

Good Thing Number 4:

It's a SNOW DAY TODAY!!!!! YAY!!!!! I've gotten so much stuff done already. My room is all decorated for Christmas, I vacuumed, I did the dishes, and I updated the shop. Later Tara and I are going to make sugar cookies :3 I love the holiday season so much...

Good Thing Number 5:

I'm going to the Art Institute of Chicago tomorrow with my art class. Which means I'm not going to be at school, which means I'm not going to stress too much which means I can seriously enjoy the day in my favorite city. I do love winter in Chicago: The snow, the bell ringers in front of every shop, the cheeryness, the sales, the decorations, did I mention the snow? I mean, honestly, the flakes are GIMONGOUS there. Must be the Lake Effect...or something...

Hope you guys have tons of good things to list. Enjoy the snow, but stay safe. The roads are super super bad (hence the snow day, I suppose). Just stay home, put on your pjs, sip some cocoa, and get crafty.

All my love,

Carolyn Michelle

Luck, Love and Hedgehogs Design (and Bubba) are hosting...

...The first ever meeting of the Fiber Freaks group. What are the Fiber Freaks? I'll tell you! The Fiber Freaks are people who are obsessed with the art of manipulating fibers into wonderful creations. (Aka, people who crochet, knit, sew, embroyder, tat, felt etc etc etc).

Basically, the story goes something like this, there are a ton of people at my school and in my family who are interested in learning to crochet (or knit or sew or what-have-you) so I have contrived this sort of...club thingy called the Fiber Freaks. There are at this point no "meetings" or "memberships" for the Fiber Freaks, just a group of wierdos getting together to get crafty. Care to join us?

Saturday, December 27th
At my house (I'll give you directions when you RSVP) near Durand
From 11am-10pm, open house style
Rsvp asap by e-mailing me for more details...

Luckloveandhedgehogs@hotmail.com

There will be people to help you with the basics of crocheting (or knitting or sewing or what-have-you) as well as plenty of opened electrical outlets if you care to bring your sewing machine. All ages and experience levels are welcome.

What better way to spend the Saturday after Christmas than crafting with your favorite silly people?

In other news, I got my car stuck on my road last night after babysitting (yeah, I'm fine Jen, it was no big deal). The road was really drifted over and stuff so my dad had to come and plow me out. Praise God for trucks! Hope you guys are liking this cold weather...I'm not enjoying it too much. Coldcoldcold. Perhaps I need a coffee...

All my love,
Carolyn Michelle

Oh, December!

It's cold here. Very very cold. I'm fairly certain that I'm one hundred percent NOT a polar bear.

Anyways.

Last night was quite an adventure since I went on my first ever college-type visit. Bubba picked me up after school and we drove to Northbrook (outside of Chicago) for the School of the Art Institute Chicago's (SAIC) Information day thingy at the Renaissance Hotel. It was splendid. Splendid, I say, splendid. I've been seriously considering going to an Art school for a while now and after this visit it seems like this actually could happen. I actually could go to school for the thing I love, get a job doing what I love, and make a living (you guessed it) doing what I love. Does this happen in real life?

I got some information on Summer Courses that SAIC offers. I think...I hope...I'm goint to be taking a course in fashion design this summer....

I am beside myself with giddy joy. School girl-like joy. Summer...in Chicago...studying fashion...and getting college credit...as a junior in high school. Like I said, does this really happen in real life???

In other news, tomorrow Tara and I are going to do a fun sister-bonding-and-shopping-for-Christmas-stuff day. I'm pretty pumped. We just have to babysit from 10:30 am- Noon for Eliana and Dylan. Not bad. We sat for them again tonight..and now I'm sitting for Riley and Shelby and Avery. Not going to lie, I love using Jen's laptop. (if you are reading this Jen, thanks!!!)

In other other news, I have my whole Spain/France 2009 trip paid for. THANK YOU MRS. WEBB FOR YOUR AMAZING FUNDRAISING POWERS!!! Seriously, my art teacher is brilliant. My whole trip, totally paid for, thanks to fundraising. Wow. Lot's of work, but oh so worht it. I can't wait for the moment I see the eiffel tower all lit up in all it's glory in the Paris night air. Oh, poetic.

Crafting has been s.l.o.w. thanks to the ever-time-consuming skeleton project for Anatomy and Physiology. It's due on Monday so hopefully that'll clear up my schedule a great deal. What a shame I am. Not updating my shop and such. Lame child I am. Mhmhmh.

Okay, that's all the stuff I've got for now. Stay warm guys, drive safely and avoid telephone poles. Please.

All my love,
Carolyn

Busy...

....is an understatement. Happy December, everybody! And to all those with snow outside, enjoy it. It sure does make my lawn look pretty, although it makes my house COOOOLLLLDD.

Hopefully they'll cancel school tommorow, the roads are bad out here.

Upcoming events (I actually have one to list!!):
The First Meeting of the Fiber Freaks Crocheting and Knitting Group
On December 27th
More details later if I get some free time. Ha ha ha...funny. Free time?? In December? Hahaha! Get it?!

Okay.

I'm crazy.

And loving it.

Happy December, again.

All my love,
Carolyn Michelle

Thanksgiving Weekend in Pictures:

Hey guys.

I've been noting how short on pictures I am in this blog. This weekend I made a special point to take lots of pictures to documant the good times had by all. Here they are!! Nothing terribly craftey this time. Like I said, I'm WAYYYY behind on listing stuff and getting stuff done and man, I don't wanna stress right now. Without further ado, the first 'This Day In Pictures' post:


November 27: Thanksgiving
This year was my family's year to go to Cousin Mary's for Thanksgiving Dinner. We had a lovely time with Grandma Kay, Grandpa Tom, Mary, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Ed, Cousin Rachael, her husband Jaben and their kids Elianna and Dylan. The food was splendid and the crocheting after dinner was just as good. Especially thanks to Elianna's entertaining antics. She's such a drama queen! Wonder where she get's THAT from. hee hee...must run in the family. Left to right: Festive place settings, bubba crocheting a pillow, Eliana telling a story, Grandma Kay in the kitchen.

November 28: My 17th Birthday & Black Friday Shopping

Grandma Beth, Tara, Bubba, Aunt Michelle and her two boys, and I all braved the stores on Black Friday. Or as Bubba calls it, Black and Blue Friday. Kohl's wasn't so bad when we went at 10 am. Got some good deals and such. After shopping we stopped at Grandma's for Turkey Day leftovers and I made myself a little Birthday Treat...candle-lit mashed potatoes. Yummmmmyyy! Left to Right: The sales, my potatoes, and making a wish.

November 29: (Today) Babysitting & Minty Hippo

This morning I woke up bright and early to go with Tara and babysit for our cousins (Rachael's kids, Elianna and Dylan) in Rockford. It was quite a blessing to have some peace and quiet while the kids napped. Plus I was a super sneak and got this cute shot:

My friends and I like to do strange, surprising, wierd celebration-type things to each other on our birthdays. I thought I had escaped my 17th unscathed but...I was wrong. This evening, about an hour ago, I was 'Belated Birthday Kidnapped' by my friends Kera and Sammi. They showed up at my house (wearing masks) and forcably escorted me to a car. They then drove me down my road, turned around, and took me home for frozen strawberry pie. Yum. My parents were in on the whole thing, of course. Earlier today, it was dubbed: Opperation Minty Hippo. Left to Right: My pie, Kera cutting my pie, and Sammi decorating my kitchen after the kidnapping.

Whew! What a weekend! Hope you guys are less tired than I am!!!

All my love,
Carolyn Michelle.

[Edit-The pics are really poorly aligned because SOMETHING is messed up. I dunno what it is. Rawr, computers.]

My head in a tube, Turkey Day, and something splendid

Last night was my MRI and it was pretty intense. I've been in quite a mood lately. You know how sometimes you are in a really really really bad mood and you are totally aware of it? Yeah. That was me. Not pleasent. I didn't even want to be around myself. ANYWAYS. Went in for the MRI at 7 pm. Yeah pm. Kinda awkward, but oh well, right? They do the talking thing, "blah blah blah sign this blah blah.." and we go down to radiology. I lay down (blindfolded because of my claustrophobia) and the scans begin. Twenty or so minutes later, they pull me out and inject the contrast (aka dye) through my hand. OUCH. I'm so so so bruised on that hand now. Gross.

Two more scans and I was done. I walk with the nurse out to the waiting area to meet up with Bubba. Well, apparently the nurse presiding over my MRI had been on the phone chatting away about lip balm, parties, and her friends in LA. Nice. Seriously, Bubba was so incredibly mad...she chewed the nurse a new one right there in the waiting room. I had no idea what was going on since I had spent the last half hour in a tube. When I finally figured it out I was pretty heated, too. Seriously? Personal calls while you are doing somebody's freaking MRI? What's with that??

I digress.

Tomorrow is my favorite holiday of all times, Thanksgiving. Mhmmm. The food, the weather, the people. It's just all so good. Bubba and Tara have been doing fall-colored crocheting lately. Both of them are using the same yarn: Incredible by Lion Brand in yummy maroon-brown verigated. Very autumnal of those two, indeed. It puts me in the mood to cozy up on the couch with them and make lots of scarves. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a ton of time between eating and improv games with my cousins to do some serious crocheting. The shop is soooooo far behind and oh-dear-goodness it's almost Black Friday.

And my 17th birthday, at that.

Ooooooohhhhh boy.

All I can say is:

!!!!!!!!!busy!!!!!!!!!


In keeping with my title, the 'something splendid' would be going to see Twilight in about...twenty minutes. I'm pretty stoaked, actually. Lately I've been so FED UP with hearing about squealing fan-girls, Edward, vampires, Twilight and (gah) Bella. I mean, come on! I read the book when it first came out and I was obsessed then. Now...it's so overdone and popular theat any desire for me to obsess about the film is all but gone. I've heard it wasn't very good. But at this point, I don't really care. I'm getting out of the HOUSE!!!!!! YAYYYY!!!!

I've gone a bit stir-crazy over the last week.

Maybe I'll take a project or two in my purse in case the movie really blows. Hahahaha. I think I will.

Okay,
Happy Turkey Day! Gotta go.

Love you guys,
Carolyn

Funny story...

I'm not at school today thanks to an odd misunderstanding with the MRI department at the hospital. Apparently I did not have one scheduled for today although we got a call saying that I did...I don't know. Who knows?

Regardless, I'm in Rockford all day with my Bubba..chilling and trying not to be mad at her for pulling me out of school for a non-existing MRI. Seriously, I keep telling myself it wasn't her fault. hahaha, it's actually kinda funny.

There are bigger problems in life right now. My girl Shelby is in the hospital again. Poor baby, she has a liver condition that is wreaking havoc on her body. I have no clue what's going on beside what her mom, Jen has posted on their blog. I've babysat for their family since...forever, pretty much. Those girls are my sisters.

I just. Don't know. They are so strong. Please, even though you may not know her, say a quick prayer for Shelby and her family. They really need it. Really.

Okay. I'm done.

Love you Shelby.
-Carolyn Michelle

The Flu

I. Hate. Being. Sick.

It's horrid, and yes, I'm ranting.

I hate the flu. As if having the worst head cold known to mankind wasn't enought, today I got the FLU. Yay. Joy. And that meant that I didn't get to go on the Spanish III&IV field trip to an art gallery and Dos Reales. What do you expect? I was violently ill...and I'm sure you don't want to hear all about it. So yeah. I digress...

I'm getting a bit behind on listing stuff in ye-olde-llhDesign shop. Mhmhm. I need to get on top of it, really. How does one go about balancing their personal holiday preparartions with the preparations for their business? Is that one of those questions you never really get the answer to? I hope not. Anybody? Anybody? Who has the magical answer?

Oh wait...it's time travel, isn't it? hahaha, shoulda known...

The joys of growing up. Hope you all stay SUPER SUPER healthy. Go take vitamin c. Right now. Do it.

All my love,
Carolyn

The finished hoodie

So, since I was feeling miserably sick and pathetic today, I stayed home....and finished the hoodie I've been working on for about forever and a half. It's DIVINE, my friends, divine. All done up in double crochet with 'Sky' 'homespun' yarn by Lion Brand and caron 'naturals' in lavender for the cutsey scalloped edging. Sooo soft, sooo warm. I just kind of made the pattern up as I went...not thinking to write it down. Can you say, duh?! What a foolish move. Regardless, this hoodie is epic-tastic. The pics really don't do it justice because my camera is crap and I am not allowed to use the oober nice one because I'm "sick." Uh-huh. Sure. I just think Tara doesn't wanna share. :P

Being sick is worthless. My nose feels like it's gonna 'splode off my face any second now. uggggggg. I'll be going to school tomorrow, though. I can't afford to miss Art III. We're doing our annual self-portraits in oils this year. If you get behind on the portrait you are SOL for the rest of the year. Seriously.

Shipped off the cuttlefish yesterday, can't wait for the lucky customer to get it!!!

Hope you guys don't get anything like I've got. *sneeze* It's not worth it.

Love,

CM

FIRST SALE!!!!!!

It happened, it finally happened!!!

It is official, dear readers: the Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs Design shop has made it's first sale ever.

Today (during school, slightly undercover, in my Consumer Economics class) I listed Paypal as a payment option for the shop. Later in the evening, while I was working on my oil painting after school, Bubba calls me:

"You sold something."

HORRAY!!! Let everybody rejoice. Haha.

The beige crocheted cuttlefish plushie is going to be shipped off to his new home. Yay!

In other news, I have a cold. But that is inconsequential compared to the joy of making my first sale.

I'm on my way to Etsy stardom!!

...Or at least mild non-anonymity, anyways.

Tell all your friends and family about the Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs Design shop!!!

Hope this weekend is restful and enjoyable for you,

Yours,
Carolyn Michelle

I Love:

Stitcher Scribbler

Masquerade.

Zakka Sewing

Roman Sock

Little Odd Forest (and hedgehogs in general)

Gleeful Things

The Needlings

Sewing Stars

LoveAndASandwich

I also love free online classified ads. For all of you who have online shops, I suggest you go post a classified or two on Walmart.com's free classifieds. It was super easy and (ta-da) I got to post pics with the listing. Same with the Myspace.com Classifieds. Hopefully this mild publicity will result in a first sale?? It's been so long since I started my shop...

Inspiration, glorious inspiration. I'm off to stitch myself silly.

All my love,

Carolyn Michelle

A story about my head, and MORE new items...

Last time I updated, I neglected to mention a slightly strange story about my head:

Monday I woke up with an odd, pounding sensation in my cranial region. I get frequent migraines, but this was quite different. Almost like I'd been bashed over the head, which I hadn't (to my knowledge). Hmm. Took some generic Advil, went to school. Pain and suffering. Complained a little to Bubba. More aspirin, went to bed. Tuesday...woke up, the pain was STILL THERE. Greeeeaaat. More pain killers and off to school. It was atrocious. Whenever I laughed, spoke loudly, turned my head, sat up, or yawned I got a ridiculous painful sensation in the right side of my head. That evening my dear friend Sammi drove me into Rockford and I went to Physician's Immediate Care. Fun fun. They gave me an injection for the pain (which, at that point, was very mild) and a prescription for ketorolac, aka toradol (aka tortellini, if you are me). Major pain killer. I picked up my prescription and went off to lalalaland. Wednesday came and went. School was out for the week, so I just chilled at home. Blah blah blah...the pain in my head continued through today, and now the toradol has stopped dulling the pain. My head doesn't hurt SUPER bad...it's just annoying. We'll see. I have a consultation with the pediatric neurologist coming up as well an MRI. Joy, joy.

In other news:

The two items I finished last night will be posted tonight...if all goes well. In addition to those new spiffies, we have a debute designer contributing her first work to the LLH Design shop! Give it up for Tara Lea! She is a well-versed fiber artist specializing in thread-crochet (ie- doily making) as well as a budding photographer. And, for the record, she's my sister. :D

Check out her first piece in the Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs Design shop later this evening!

Another wearable has been finished by yours truely, but that piece won't be listed until later tomorrow. Lil Miss Photographer needs to take some pics of it before I can list it.

Go look at the goodies!!!

All my love,
Carolyn Michelle

A few good days

It's quite nice to have time off from school, especially after such a huge massive controvesial event in history. It's probably for the best that I don't really have to be around all my peers who will no doubt be beside themselves with giddy joy about the president elect. It's just comforting to have a few days to gather my thoughts, relax, craft, and prepare myself for Monday. I'm not going to be bitter about the whole thing and this is not going to turn into a huge rant on woulda-coulda-shoulda politics. I'm just saying, I'm thankful for the "me time." Ignorance is bliss, however temporary it may be...

Today was very nice.

I wore one of my favorite outfits as a bit of a moral booster and spent the majority of the day perusing crafty blogs on the good old Internet. I also picked up the Lion Brand Homespun I needed to finish off the hoodie I'm crocheting. Hobby Lobby had some spectacular bamboo-blend yarn on sale so, what the heck? I got two lil skeins, justifying it as "edging for the hoodie." Ohhhh it's so lush.

Two new items have been finished since last night (I'm in hyper drive): A new plushie and a new wearable. Hopefully Miss Tara Lea can take some spiffy snapshots of them tonight and I'll get them listed by mid-day tomorrow. Hopefully. There's a few things I kinda have neglected to do...homework...dishes...make my bed...

Oh the joys of being a high schooler.

Hope you guys are all have splendid evenings!

Happy early Friday,
Carolyn Michelle

Welcome Back, LLH!

Yes, the shop died a little there for a while. It makes me incredibly sad to think about how dead it really was. But, but, but, BUT the high school play is done and I have a few goodies I've been neglecting to update, list, fix, tweak, make prettyful etc. That's my plan for the FIVE DAY WEEKEND (be jealous, go ahead), to update the Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs Design shop. It's going to be epic. Yes, epic.





In other news- I've been getting lots of requests around school for a certain hat. I made this puppy a while ago and it seems like just about everybody thinks it's the bee's knees:

Once I get all caught up on the requests from school, perhaps I'll make up a couple spiffy lil newsboy hats for the shop. Who knows?! I have so much time on my hands now...

Don't forget to check the shop for the spiff-tacular updates!

luckloveandhedgehogs.etsy.com

Thanks guys, hope to hear from you soon!

Yours,

Carolyn Michelle

It's been so long, my love.

Here I sit: keyboard in lap, chapstick, cell phone, and now empty bowl of popcorn near by, Queen playing peacefully in the background. Today is already a good day.

The recent days have been intense. All week I rehersed for Oklahoma! at school. Let me confess a tiny thing: I love the stage at my school. But get this straight, it is the crappiest, lamest stage ever. It's lanolium tiles are unforgiving and slick. We never have enought room to do large dance numbers on it so people always end up dancing off in the back corner where nobody can see them (ususally me). There aren't actual seats, the audience sits in what is commonly known as the 'little gym' on chilly folding chairs. Most of the curtains are ripped and discolored. And still I love the stage. It is by far, my favorite place in the whole school. The set pieces have messages from casts and crews past scrawled all over the back sides of them. There are a million and one places to hide backstage and ambush fellow cast members, or sleep. It is like a home filled with all my peers. The drama, energy, and pain resulting only makes the stage more magical for me. Every moment on it makes me smile.

But that doesn't mean rehersal was totally enjoyable.

Also, I have a job now. Two actually. One goes directly to my pocket and the other is for the upcoming Spain/France trip in Summer '09.

This weekend has been really really strenuous. Bubba is sick, so she has been staying home and going a little crazy with the house cleaning thing. As I type, she is upstairs above my head unpacking the rebel boxes from our moving day....three years ago.

Where does the time go? Two years living here already?? Wow. Anyways...

Today I plan on avoiding housework and totally vegging out in front of the computer. i want to catch up on my story that I'm writing. Perhaps I'll do some sewing later.

It's gotten hard to do a ton of crafting, as predicted. Hopefully I'll get a brillant idea for a product that will be small enough to take in my purse and work on at school. lately all my ideas have involved intensive amounts of sewing.

I'll have pics of my latest endevours soon, hopefully my dear sister will let me borrow her AMAZING camera. It's disgustingly good at taking better pictures than my poopy little thing.

Okay, enought rambling. hope you all are doing well, I just wanted to post an update!

All my love,
Carolyn

And We're back!

Yesterday morning, I finally got the guts to re-connect our computer. Yup, it's back with a new hard drive. Hooorahh for that. The printer is now on the fritz though. If it ain't one thing, it's the other!

And that brings us to the Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs Shop News! Da da dumm!
No new items have been listed at the moment. Although I have two new spiffies that are ready to be sold, but I need new pictures of them before they are listed.

Also, some concerns were voiced about my lack of a PayPal option for purchase from the shop. I'd like to say, I am working on it in my round-about way. I can make no promises on a specific date upon which I'll have it up-and-running, but I want you to know, it's in the mix.

On a side note, I started my Junior year in high school today, meaning insanity shall follow making it mas dificil to post updates and make items. Sad sad sad.

So, to recap, things in the shop will be slowing down even more (boo), Blog posts will be getting more sparse (hiss), and my crafting will draw to a near close (other angry noises).

Kids, seriously, stay out of school...

Just kidding, stay in school. But only if your teachers let you crochet in class. (wink wink)

All my love,
Carolyn

Houston, we have a problem...

Our home computer has literally blown up. The hard drive as been dignosed as completely corrupted with most of the files on it being unretrievable. Yikes. That's a major problem for me, because not only do I have my crochet patterns saved on that hard drive, but also all the pictures of my creations, all my pictures of Italy, Prom, and well, everything. And let me tell you, it is driving me bonkers not being able to post pictures or check my etsy. I'm bumming the Internet off of my cousin right now...

In other news, it's straw bailing season here on the farm and you know what that means? Manual labor. I over worked myself yesterday so being the whimp I am, I took the day off of bailing to babysit Eliana and Dylan, my cousin's kids. Tara is doing most of the work, because she's in training to take over as chief babysitter when I go away to school. Fun, fun.

I want my computer back. 

All my love,

Carolyn

Playing Operator, Among Other Things

Since I haven't sold anything at the shop yet I have been forced to get a job. *gasp gasp gasp* At least I'm keeping it in the family, haha. I'm working at my mom's office, probably only for this week. I've got a huge ream of contacts to call and ask them if we have the correct addresses on file in addition to answering the phones here. I know, you are all jealous of my super exciting job. NOT. But hey, it's only temporary and it gets me out of the house. Hooray for that.

In other news, I've been working on the Aardwolf, he now has two legs, eye patches, a detailed tail, and half of his stripes. But no name. Help me out here peeps.

Yesterday I made two new fused plastic bags which will be in the shop soon, I hope. Our home computer has taken another turn for the worst. It won't even start now, and yes, it is plugged in. So, unless it decides to pretend like it's acting in a soap opera and come back to life, I'll have to upload my pictures to this computer at Bubba's office. Don't know how well that's going to work. Oh my, what a luxury technology is.

Hope you all are having an easier time than I am.

Happy hooking,
Carolyn

Mysteries of the Deep, and others

I felt that it was indeed time to get myself in gear and post more stuff in my shop! So, on that note, I've been very busy this morning posing my items and snapping pictures for their Etsy profiles. I even got Tara into the act and had her pose with 'the mystery creature.' Have you guessed what he is yet??

This is my second 'mystery creature.' This time he's beige instead of peach. Fun fun. He's also going to be listed in my shop by the end of the day, be sure to have a look!

Here's my Aardwolf-in-progress:

He's only got one leg at the moment. Along with no eyes and an un-fluffy tail. But I'm working on the lack-of-stripes. He's got a few:

I'm working on it.

Don't forget to check out the shop and see all the spiffy new goodies for sale! Enjoy summer and tell your friends about Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs!!

All my love,
Carolyn

Stuff and stuff

Oh the spiffy-ness abounds! Here's some 'comming soon' stuff just to keep you all on your toes and guessing. Okay, so it's only one thing, but it's really spiffy, I promise:

Care to guess what that was? I'd love to hear it. The answer will be revealed in a later post. Muahaha, I am evil.

As you can see, I've been ever-so-busy. I got inspired to start making some rather...offbeat plushies. Guess what I was inspired by? The National Geographing Big Book of Mammals. I'm working on one right now, it's an 'aardwolf.' Never heard of it? Google image search it. I call it a Zebra Dog, because that's what it looks like. I'll have to post some 'work in progress' pics after dinner. I'm working on thinking of names for him. Maybe after I post pics, you guys could give me feedback? Pweeze?

Speaking of inspirations, check this one out:

It's crocheted! And edgey! Yarn grafitti, if you will. Check out the culprits of this brilliance. Their blog is linked in my left-hand 'Other Awesome Blogs' list, the title is 'Masquerade.' Click the link, and revel, I say, revel. What a crazy way to use up scraps!

That's it for now, I'm hungry and my sister cooked noodles. Hope you are all having fun!!!

All my love.

Carolyn

Lurking

I've been doing some lurking around Craftster and Etsy. During these 'lurking sessions' I've become suddenly inspired to get off the computer and go make stuff gosh darn it!

But first, some craft-related updates:

I received a package in the mail last week from New Zealand. Why, you may ask, am I getting stuff from NZ? Because I met an amazing girl on Craftster who makes pulshies and she and I did a personal swap. And oh boy did she ever deliver!! Bubblegum_Pheonix (aka Sasha) sent me a mini plush version of a Kiwi bird, a hedgehog hook holder (OMGYAYYYYYYYYYY), a nice little post card and a bracelet made of shells (which she bought, but it's still epic).

And I'm closing in on that last few projects from my first swap. I'm sorta stuck on the last large project. My hands keep cramping up and dying a little.

Oh, and I sold something! Not in the etsy shop but at church! My youth director bought the fused plactic bag that used to be listed in the shop. So now I have a little money to treat myself to some new yarn. Horray for yarn!

Other than that, it's beautiful outside and I think I just might go crochet in the sun. Ahhh, the joys of summer.

All my love,
Carolyn

Inspiration and daily life

Good times in the Glenny household. First there was my movie party on Friday night, it went really well. Good fun was had by all. Didn't get to sleep until 2 AM, so no crafting was done Friday. *sadness* Saturday a high school friend of my dad's came over with his family in tow. That was interesting. Got to hear many many stories from 'the golden age' of my father. haha, what a rebel.

And today, no crafting will be done unless I get off the computer right now. Tonight I'm going to say ta-ta to all my friends who are headed to Costa Rica for three weeks. WITHOUT ME!!!!!! *cries a little* But it'sfine, I suppose. I'll just tell them to bring me back crafty stuff...like yarn and beads and loteria cards. Or is that in Mexico that they have loteria?....hmmm.....

The purse show was SPECTACULAR. I was spazzing out at suffering from sensory overload in that exhibit. Lol, Jen you would have done the same. The bags were to die for! Maybe I'll post pictures soon...

Still have three items listed in the shop! Be sure to let me know if I can make anything for ya!

Lots of love and crafty-ness,
Carolyn

Get Well Soon, Computer!

Our home computer has taken yet another nose-dive. The Internet has been s l o w beyond all meaning of the word. This means I will not be able to get on until someone fixes it. I think it might be a virus. Oh dear.

No sales yet, but that's okay. I'm just starting, after all!

Today Tara and I are going with Grandma Beth (sewing hero) to the 'Purses Through The Ages' exhibit at Midway Museum. This is going to be really fun! I hope to get some inspiration for new designs of LL&H purses.

But tell me, is this sad? I'm using my really super spiffy purse made out of old vinyl records when I go out today. Know why? Because I get insane amounts of complements on it. And since we are going to a purse exhibit, there will be purse junkies there who will comment on it, and then I can give them my business card and get more people viewing the shop!!! Bruhahahahahaha I shall conquer the world with my marketing schemes! *ahem* yes. Okay...

So guess what I got today? Sewing Hero Grandma Beth has struck again, this time as the Yarn Hero. She waltzes in to Bubba's office with a Target bag full of beige yarn. Guess how much? Four skeins weighing in at one pound each. WOW. I'll never have to buy skin-tone yarn again! Horray for Yarn Heros!

WoOt!

Two items posted! I'm not going to tell you what they are, though! You'll have to go to the shop and check them out yourself!
What are the first two items??
I'm working on posting other goodies like, oh, say crochet patterns. Intriguing, eh? Hmmmm...I'll have to see what I can dig up. *big grin*
I cannot find the words to tell you how happy I am about this my etsy is ALIVE!!!!
Can't wait for my first sale!
Hope summer is being good to you!
All my love,
Carolyn

Night Update: Etsy Etsy Etsy Grand Opening!!

It's here!!! The official Luck, Love and Hedgehogs online Etsy shop!!!!!!! And yes, that did deserve seven exclaimation points! Horrayyy!!!!
Click here to see the shop front in all its shimmering glory!!
But, there are no items posted yet *group awwww.* Keep looking back in the coming days to see what spiffy new things I post-ificate to sell!
I am sooooo excited about this!!!!!!! And of course I shall be making a lot of hoopla about my new items, maybe even teaser pics. Who knows?
Happy summer, everyone!
Love,
Carolyn

Etsy Etsy Etsy

I need an Etsy! Need need need need an Etsy!
Yesterday I got something that I rarely ever get, MONEY! Horray money! I sold a painting for $125. Nice, eh? I'm pretty pumped about it. It was the same (exactally the same) as one I sold at my school's Art Auction back in March. That was to raise money for my trip to Spain and France in '09. Mrs. Johnson (the Junior High librarian and my friend's mom) liked my painting but didn't win it at the auction. She asked me to make another one and I did. So, she got the 2nd edition of my painting "Muse." It rather ticked me off that I had to repeate myself, but beggars cannot be choosers. And besides, she seems so pleased with it!
So. Since I liked getting that check so much, I feel new motivation towards my launching my Etsy shop. I hope (hope hope hope) that I will have it before the day is out. Cross your fingers for me!
Yours,
Carolyn

Housebound

For the past three days I have been stuck at home. Stranded, really. It's kind of annoying knowing that in my wallet lies my driver's license, the key to freedom, which I cannot use. Both my parents have been leaving early in the morning so that means no car, no truck. The tractors are still here but, tractors are a bit of a stretch...especially driving the 30+ minutes into Rockford.

So here I am! At home, with my younger sister. Sometimes the most random things can come from the boredom of homebound-ness. For example, yesterday I spent the entire day cleaning my room. I mean the entire day. It was...odd, actually. I kept finding yarn under my bed, even after I thought I had it all rounded up, more yarn appeared. Strange, no?

In other news, I'm joining my first ever swap on Craftster.org! After, what, a year or so of lurking? Haha. The name of the swap is 'The Completely Random Swap' so it has the making to be a fine first swap for me. Huzzah for random!

And wow, I was just checking my Craftster account ant you will not believe how many people commented on my prom dress!!!! AHHHH!!!! I am beyond words! People are so freaking nice...it's unbelieveable. It just makes my day that much better. It's...so...great, yeah...great...to get lovely praise and words of encouragement from people you don't know, have never met, and never will meet. It's so reassuring to know that people are supportive of each other, even if they have nothing in common besides the desire to create. That is magic, pure magic and grace. It makes me so thankful that I have some remote talents that I can share...

Okay, I'm rambling. It's just so hard to put down in words how lucky I feel everytime someone looks at my work and says "now that is amazing." I feel so....proud and complete. When you make something, you put part of yourself into it, and when people affirm that what you have made is beautiful, it's sort of like being told that you, yourself are beautiful. I don't know, it's just nice to hear. Maybe I'm self-centered, but this certainly makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Alright, that's enough for now I suppose.

All my love,
Carolyn

Today's weather:

....A chance of not having the Etsy store up and running yet. RAWR!! I need to know if I can use a debit car instead of a credit card for the seller shop thingy-ma-giger. I'll have to look into it...
In other news, my sister is on a dishcloth crocheting frenzy, I guess she's getting ready for the flood, hahaha. It has rained soooooo much here! Perhaps I should build an ark? Can you crochet one?
Just got another bank statement this week, and may I say, yikes? If I don't get this Etsy off the ground successfully, I might have to get a *gasp* job. Ewwwww, jobs. Isn't this supposed to be easy? Trillions of other people just pop onto etsy and get an account and sell stuff in seconds! Maybe I'm just over complicating this....
And just for fun, here are some pics of my latest creation: Kon the stuffed Lion from the Anime show, Bleach...



I posted him on Craftster, too:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=251840.msg2801564#msg2801564

Please post a quick comment if you are reading this, it'd be nice to know I'm not alone...

All my love,
Carolyn

Welcome!

Horay! You are reading the blog!!!

Okay, this is the Luck, Love and Hedgehogs' Official Blog!! *fanfare, trumpets, and confetti* Which is kind of ironic because, technically, Luck Love and Hedgehogs doesn't even exist yet. Heh.

So, here's the background information all in one convenient place for those of you who have never heard of Luck Love and Hedgehogs (which is probably all of you, unless you are some freaky mind reader or something):

My name is Carolyn. I am 16 years old and I have been making stuff since I was born, pretty much. My mother dearest (who is known as Bubba, by the way) is all about the self-employment movement and after some pressuring from her (and people who saw what kind of things I make), I came up with Luck Love and Hedgehogs. It's my business that I will be using to sell my handmade goodies. The products range from crazy little crocheted stuffed animals to pendents made from shrink plastic. It's quite a range, let me tell you!

You may be thinking, "So where does this blog come in to play with this whole...hedgehog...thingy?" Well, I have been raised on the mantra "You gotta get your product out there, or it won't sell" so that's what I am doing. I'm spreading the word! And, once I get the Etsy shop up and running, this will kind of be a little behind-the-scenes place for my rantings about life, money, and anything else that relates to crafting and selling. Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a ton of help from experienced entrepreneurs/crafters, since I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into. Yeah....

Thank you for reading and please keep checking back for more updates on the will-be shop and/or craft shows I might be at!

All my love,
Carolyn