All Sorts of Top Notch

So, there was a lot of work going on last week. Orders are picking up as the cold sets in. Some people are even getting on the Christmas shopping, which is super-wise if you're shopping small online businesses, by the way.

I added my first bota-styled slippers last week. Yayyyyyy! Wild cheering on this end. I'm super-proud of this design. 

In other news, I also added some cat-shaped coasters to the shop. I wouldn't say I'm a crazy cat lady, because I'm under the impression that 'crazy cat lady' is gaining traction amongst cool folks these days. I'm pretty much not cool at all. I celebrate my cat's adoption day and spend more cash money on her than I do on my brothers. I have also given in-depth consideration to scenarios in which I might have to rescue my cat from a wild predator (cougars feature most prominently). These scenarios always (and inevitably) end in death--either the death of a 200-and-some-odd-pound natural born killer or the death of the cougar, but never of my cat. 

Oh yeah, these are the coasters:

Games night included a fire this week, which was awesome. I briefly considered not posting this less than flattering picture of Jo, but I really liked the dark blue sky and tree thing going on behind her. 

No unflattering pictures of me this week, folks. 

All Sorts (of Top Notch from Last Week)

So, it's getting pretty crispy around here. I'm still not getting out and walking nearly as much as I ought to, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it when I do. We haven't had any snow yet, which is probably one of the scary gifts of global warming, but I'll take it! Mind you, I'm pretty stoked to start snowshoeing again, and I'll be choked if we don't get mounds and mounds of snow at some point this year. 

Coffee with Jo at Edgewood Farms has become a pretty regular thing now. This week, we had to pass a flock of scary fowl in order to leave the farm. Birds are the most terrifying creatures on earth (next to venomous snakes, large predatory cats, and starving bears), but I put on a brave face to snap this pic, because they look so quaint.  

I (obviously) didn't take photos of clay-time last week, but it happened, and it was pretty spectacular (as usual). Maybe I'll remember to take photos today? I'm working on a couple mugs, and the kid is working on about a million more imaginative items. You'll see. Maybe. If I remember. 

Another amazing thing from last week is that I finished the first pair of low boot/high top slippers for the shop! I'm stoked to have completed the patterns, and I'm aiming to have a handful ready to list on Molipop's anniversary (Nov. 17th). But I will probably slam the internet with hoards of photos before then . . . 

All Sorts of Top Notch and a Sneak Peek! (High Tops/Low Boots)

I've had a fierce cold for the last little while, but I still managed to fit in some pretty great stuff last week (between revitalising naps and sips of herbal tea). 

On Monday--before I got sick--I picked my bff's kid up from school and we hit the pottery studio at our local arts and recreation centre for some quality time with clay. She has some serious powers of imagination, so we had a killer time sculpting one-of-a-kind creations. When I say killer, I mean, she's inspired by the world's deadliest predators (think shark and bear-shaped mugs, fully equipped with teeth). We're headed back to the studio today, so I'll try to remember to snap some pics. 

Also on the list of awesome from last week was pattern-making! I'm working on a new design for the shop. It's a high-top/low-boot slipper, and so far I'm pretty much in love. I whipped up (and by whipped up, I mean slowly and painstakingly made) a couple pairs for my mom and I to test out. So far so good! 

Pattern Stage

First Finished Pair

We did NOT have games night last week, so I have nothing to report on that aspect of my life. Apparently for some of us, showing up for work and putting food on the table ranks higher than Settling Catan (I'm talking to you, Rick).

I'm really excited to kick this cold and accomplish amazing things this week. More clay! More boot-slippers! Maybe some baking or something. And there are lots of orders in the queue (I love the word 'queue,' but I have to spell-check it EVERY time). I live for lots of orders, so I can't imagine this week not being tops. How about you? What sorts of stuff are you looking forward to this week?

New and Exciting (All Sorts of Top Notch from Last Week)

So, on Monday, when I was thinking of what to put in my 'week in review' post, I realized that last week was very similar to the week before and the week before. Which isn't a huge problem, because I like me some routine. But knowing me, if I don't spice things up once in awhile, I'm going to start to get a little bummed out.

There were a few things that stood apart from the normal awesome things in my weekly routine.

One was multiple trips to Edgewood Farms/Foxtail Coffee, and discovering that my nose-grease print is heart shaped. C'mon, we all get a nose-grease print on our take-away lids, right?

A trip to PG for a Dr. Appt. that included my Dr. asking how my Etsy business is doing! She also remembers that my favorite forms of physical activity are snowshoeing and running. Best. Doctor. Ever.

Also included in the trip to PG was some value village shopping and some costume shenanigans.

Jo with old school safety glasses

Jo tried to get me to try on the costumes,
but I wouldn't take of my usual golden mask

Ok, nevermind. Nothing too routine about that! I do want to broaden my craft spectrum a bit though--try some new stuff and revisit old stuff (and hopefully not break the bank doing so). I'm going to make a plan. Or a list. And then I'm going to blog about it. (And then, when I only complete a fraction of it, I may regret publicly blogging about it?). 

How about you? What shape is your nose-grease print? Do you love routine or hate it?

All Sorts (of Awesome from Last Week)

Once again, the highlight of my week was games night with my closest friends. It looked a little something like this:

Is that a head-lamp on my head? Why yes, it is. Usually I take my head-lamp off for Settlers of Catan, but there was to be a ghost-hunting adventure immediately afterwards, so I just left it on. 

Ghost-hunting was a huge success. My bff had seen a vaguely kkk-like shrine-ish thing in the woods earlier that day and ran herself sick to get away from it. But then, after the sun went down, it seemed like a good idea to go in for a closer look. So, armed with our flashlights and head-lamps, we headed for the dark and twisted forest. Up close, what looked like a kkk hood/ghost was actually a bunch of laundry, randomly hung over branches in the woods, but it looked eerie as heck from afar. Also, we had a great time jumping out of bushes and screaming like five-year-olds (some of us more than others).

The soundtrack of the week was The Miseducation of Lauren Hill. I know all the words, and I like to harmonize like a super-dope backup singer (which in my case involves very little harmony, and a lot of shameless off-key singing with my eyes closed. 

What was super-amazing about your week? Don't be shy. The highlight of my week was a board game! 

All Sorts (of Top Notch from Last Week)

I'm not saying my weeks are consistently full of awesome and life is perfect all the time. But I'm pretty darn privileged, and it turns out that every week brings something worth writing home about. For instance, last week the fall colors really started to come out with full force. And I did not take any pictures of them. Ha! But I did take a picture of this really wonderful fall beverage. 

I recently took this recipe for pumpkin spice latte syrup from A Beautiful Mess out for a spin and it turned out pretty much awesome. The other day I was craving a london fog and a pumpkin spice latte at the same time, so I decided to make a combo london spiced latte. I was too lazy to warm the milk in a saucepan and whip up foam, so I just nuked nuked the milk, dunked a bag of David's "cream of early grey" tea and splashed in some pumpkin syrup. Yummmmm. I'm an inventor now. 

Another really great thing is that I'm taking a Skillshare course online. Specifically, I'm taking the "Design your own Logo" course, and I've been sketching non-stop. I like learning new stuff, but I'm not going back to school until I can win back a measure of my financial independence. At about $20 a class, Skillshare is pretty much my new best friend (other than my best friend, of course). And Skillshare has a lot of stuff that is relevant to small online business owners

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All Sorts (of Top Notch from Last Week)

So, here are some things that made last week super-fly. First off, this card from some good/great friends of mine, including Jo (the bff I always write about) and Dan (my friend/first ex-boyfriend--circa grade 6).

I made these cushions for the ol' bff, and they turned out pretty phenomenal. She's borderline obsessed with embroidery, so I made contrasting embroidered fabric buttons. 

I'm working on my first consignment order, for A Curious Collective in Ottawa. Their shop is at 159 York St., so go visit my slippers if you're in the area. 

I made these newbies for the order, and I'm a little bit in love with them. I'll be adding them as a regular listing to my Etsy Shop too. 

Also, I decided to make The Execution of Noa P. Singleton the first bit of reading material from my giant stack of borrowed books. It was so riveting that I had a hard time getting out the door to my weekly games night. That's saying alot, because games night is always the highlight of my weeks. Always. And this week I won all over the place, so I suppose it was worth tearing myself away from Noa P.