Sunday, November 4, 2012

A Working Weekend

My goal at the moment is to hold two jobs at once.

I have spent the whole of the last three weekends putting together embroidery patterns which will go up in my etsy store by the end of the week. I feel that with these, in addition to my adorable pin cushions, I can start to see some additional income that will make the craft room and all the puttering around justified. I am always so relieved to see something completed, some beautiful, something practically useful that I made. I can work with my hands. I am more than a brain, I am a body as well. (Because all my wild gestures while teaching never convinces me of that fact.)

There is a unique fulfillment in seeing these patterns come to fruition, but I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not just doing this for the warm fuzzies. I have a monkey on my back. His name is grad school loan, and sometimes I like to recite this little speech to him:

*modified from Taken, and please feel free to read in Liam Neeson's voice*

"... If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money [right now]. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; [sewing] skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people [loans] like you.... I will look [pinch pennies] for you, I will find [reduce] you, and I will kill you."

Oh but isn't it the great irony of my life and yours that the loans that we took out for things like grad school are not payable by the jobs that we got with them? Therefore, I add a little more onto my workload (though it is fun work) and I do so with the complete and humbling honesty of trying to meet a financial goal before it becomes too much of a financial burden. 


It is incredibly helpful that the second job is wrapped up in a second dream. In the Spring time I am going to be in a craft booth with family all around me, and so, I cut my scouting for new projects short. The question of what to do next is answered in another: what do I want to have in my crafty booth?


I have three of these already pieced into quilt tops, and much more material where these things came from. These precious little vintage sheet quilts are my big item for the booth, and I think their colors will be perfect for the Spring. For now, I will huddle in my house with my crafts, advertise my embroidery patterns, and  enjoy this amazing fireplace with my husband.


We dream big and we start small, and eventually we will get there.



To kick off the weekend, Mr. Kopf and I chaperoned a high school dance. The theme: any time period ever. Here's a peek of my homemade costume. Details and instructions for your own Bible times outfit coming soon!


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