Wednesday 18 April 2012

Scramble

A week and a half from now is the Arts and Scraps sale here in Ottawa. I hadn't heard of it until this year, but it seems to be a sale where people, mostly crafters and artisans, can destash supplies and show off their work. And seeing as my work is largely producing supplies, I booked a table, and mentally reserved this week and next for prep.

Yesterday and this morning, I've been going through my stash of craft supplies other than yarn, and doing a lot of culling, sorting and labeling, and now have a box full of stuff to destash. Pastels, paints, beads, findings...things I've had for years, sometimes decades. I'm figuring if it hasn't had much use since I moved here in '03, I should probably pass it on. I'm a pack rat at the best of times, so it's a bit of a wrench, even if there's no reason I can think of to keep what must be a litre of pearl beads, or a packet of flat wooden shapes for painting.

And there will be dyed fiber and yarn to bring, both stash and this week's work. My box from Catnip Yarns arrived yesterday, so the mordant pot was going last night, and today will be dividing of things into quantities ready for dyeing and putting in kits. I've been planning to put together kits with my patterns and dyed yarn for the Etsy shop and for the sales I want to participate in this year.

And it's going to be perhaps doubly important that I get as much dyeing and fiber stuff done this spring and summer as possible. It's been close to 5 months I've been hunting for a job since finishing the last one, and the conclusion is looking like I may have to go back to school and get a diploma in something a bit more practical than biochem. Sigh. But financially speaking, the sooner the better, I guess. So I put an     application in for a horticultural program - with a co-op placement, so there will be some income in the second year. I've made it this far without student loans, and it rather galls me to think of needing one now. If I'm careful, and do well at craft fairs and such this year, I may be able to do without a loan, or with only a very small one.

Kinda wishing I'd listened to that voice in my head several years ago, which was suggesting that maybe I should get out of graduate school and do something else. But it was at least a steady salary, and Mom was encouraging me to stay and finish. Now she's the first one to suggest going for something else. Well, I guess I have to have something between now and whenever I get to be a famous designer and dyer...

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