Wow!

 Hey!  Remember that Maker's Market that I had a display in for a few months?  

Turns out that guy that runs the place, has been up to no good.  From what I can gather he's been getting a little friendly with  probably under age girls that come to his arcade (which is now in the same building as the Maker's Market).  Apparently someone came forward yesterday, and you know there are usually more than one.     

I am glad that I got out of there before this came to light.  I am so thankful that I will probably not run into him any time soon.  I knew he was immature, and looking back, I can see this being a possibility.  

This also makes me realize that I need to look at people a little more closely, instead of taking them at face value.  

On another note, I have been in contact with another venue, about 30 mins from here.  From what I hear it is quite busy and quite successful.  It's in a little artsy-fartsy area, with antique/flea market type stores.  They may have an opening in December, which would be a great place to be during Shopping Season.  

I have also been working on my listings, and if you follow Handmade by Cosmo  you've seen some of them already.  

This one is one of my new favorites.  I made this one out of faux suede, with the hand embroidered and appliqued swirl patch.  I love the look and the feel of it for sure.  

Doing these listings in this way is much quicker and allows me to be more creative, which I do enjoy.

Play Nice!  xsoo

P.S.  Greg and Brad are doing well.  

(Please read to the end.)

Tomorrow is my birthday, level 65!  

Because of attaining this milestone of life, at this moment I am stuck in a boggy mire of medical insurance,  Now I have medicare but I have to pay for it, applied for medicaid but for some reason the forms I filled out at the office were not turned in.  (The girl behind the glass doesn't care for me).  Had to reapply, which takes 90 days to be approved.  No doubt I will be approved, but until this situation is handled I am a couple hundred dollars short on my monthly "paycheck."  

When something like this happens, something that is completely out of my control but has everything to do with me, I tend to retreat back into myself a little bit, to ponder about the situation, and my possible ways to resolve it.  

I had my budget pretty well worked out, and was covered by insurance with no cost to me, so what I'm needing to do is find a way to supplement that couple hundred dollars back into my pocket.  It's not much, and honestly I can get by without it, but it's a "bare bones" existence.  I'm very familiar with this existence, only recently feeling that I was doing much better.  The amount of $$ in my bank account at the end of the month was bigger every month...so, I need to do something to bring that amount of money in to continue to move forward.  I don't want to stop, and I don't want to move backwards.

I applied for a job here in town, checked in on it this week, but haven't heard from anyone,  I'm sure my age could be a red flag, but trust me, I have plenty of life left.   

So...my point.  While I ponder, I stitch.  

The first of  these are not stuffed yet, stuffing comes tomorrow.  These will all be available next week.  If you want to dib one of them now, feel free!  I'm selling them for $5 each + $6 s/h.  Just a note, I believe I can get 2 in a box without the shipping going up.  

This one is made of faux leather, that looks like its been tooled.  The brown eyes and the inside of the ears are brown velvet.  Very textural.  

 

This one, too, is faux leather, in a woven look, in various shades of blue.  Beautiful blue eyes and inside of ears are a lighter blue felt.  Again quite a nice texture.

All wrapped up with a bow on top...this one is red velvet, with white felt eyes and ears.  The appliqued gift is an ivory colored felt with a green felt ribbon.

Almost Halloween!  Black felt with bright yellow felt cat shaped eyes, orange ears and appliqued pumpkin.  

This cutie in gold velvet with appliqued felt leaves.  The appliqued acorn is pleather and felt.  

(This one is stuffed)

And this crazy little one with the tuft of hair.  Pink and black and cute all over.

I hope you have read this far, because in re-reading this is sounds like I am trying to use your sympathy for my financial troubles to make a sale.  Not the case!  Not at all.

I only told you the part about the insurance because it was on my mind and I tend to just let my fingers fly.  It was/is not intended to try to get you to buy a Critter.  I mean, if that were the case I'd be asking more than $5 each, right?  I ponder, I stitch, and the Critters pile up, you know?  I'd much rather you have a little Handmade by Cosmo cutie perched somewhere in your home and/or office that brings a bit of joy to your day!   

Financially, I'll be fine.  Not to brag, but I have been landing on my feet for 64 years and 364 days so far, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.  

Play Nice!  

xxoo

Summer Stuff

 First, here's the obligatory, "Phew it's been so hot!" exclamation.  Get that out of the way, being Summer a person would expect this to happen, but for some reason it is announced multiple times a day.  

Yesterday and today, though, it's been so pleasant.  No A/C needed, which you know that tickles me.  

So, I took my display out of the Maker's Market, with no hard feelings on either side.  As it should be.

I have also drastically reduced my prices.  All my Critters, my Fairies, Folk and Imps are a mere $5 each, with a $6 s/h charge...

I have cleaned up my shop on FB, which for some reason was restricted exactly the day after I started cleaning it up.  I think it looks better, and I had some fun with the descriptions.  Oh, and it's unrestricted now.  No reason give for why it was, nor why it isn't.  So many glitches.

They are so much fun for me to make, and because I listened to some well intentioned advice, I had a lot of inventory here.  What fun is it to make something cool if it is just gonna sit in the closet?   

Being in the Maker's Market, I learned a little bit, and got a little exposure.  Just this week I was commissioned to make 3 small pink bunnies for a girl at the library.  They are going to be incentives for a reading program.  Hopefully they will use me for more projects in the future.  She had seen my display at the Market.  

While I was making the decision whether to leave the Market or not, I whipped up a few mini kitties.  They are going to be featured on my pages on FB and Instagram next week.  

    

 

You may wonder why I have so many (I had 90 in this house) Critters, there are a couple reasons.   

Busy hands are happy hands, and when I am pondering on things, I stitch.  I have been doing a LOT of pondering over the last couple years.  I had lots to ponder over, and thankfully, I am feeling more reconciled in myself than I have in a long, long time.  There's more about that "stuff" on another blog, if you are interested let me know.  Some of it's kinda personal, so I don't let just everyone see.  

So, if you aren't following me on FB and Insta, why not?  Probably the same reason I don't get any comments.  

It's all good.  Sometimes I just need to get some thoughts outta my head.  And maybe someday someone will read it.  I've stumbled on blogs before.  Remember "Stumble Upon?"  It used to mess my computer up, but I loved the random sites it led me to.  

Speaking of random, don't do Randonautica.  It looks scary.

Gonna have a fresh cuppa coffee, and wait for my sister to get here.  We're going to Hobby Lobby!  

Play Nice! xxoo

Handmade by Cosmo

PS, Greg and Brad and doing great.  Both had birthdays in June.  We had a big party.  

Maker's Market Update

Well!

I changed up the display, used my own stand, and got a banner..."they" keep shifting my stuff, so this is how it looked last Saturday.  

Probably going to pull my display at the end of the month.  I've broke even the last two months, and while I'm not depending on this as my living income, I would like to get a little bit of cash for my talent.  Why am I helping him pay rent, when this is how my product is treated?  

Nah, I have another plan.  

There is an online site called Mercari.  It's like any other online site, with a few differences.  I have sold quite a few items there, so I've taken some of my latest creations and listed them there.  Prices are great, if I do say so myself, and hopefully I'll be successful.  I'll keep you posted, but if you haven't, click on that link, I'm listed as Cindy Durnell Friend, come take a look!  

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow I got the idea to make something different, started messing around with some patterns, fur, pleather and felt, and these are a few that I have come up with.  There are more, trust me.  When I get started I can't stop until I am finished.  That's just how it goes.  

That's where I am now.  I have a lot of Critters made, and now I need to find good homes for them.  

I haven't added anything to my FB shop in awhile.  It's very hard to get exposure over there with all the bot-made posts flooding the view.  I'm about done with FB pretty much, just still holding on, I have a lot of friends out there that I've had for a long, long time.  Not willing to cut those ties.  

So yeah, if you are reading this, would you click here, that will take you to my FB page.  Take a look, click a like to two, but even better, share it with some friends, &/or in a group!  That would be the best!

Play Nice!  xxoo

P.S.  

 

They boys say, "Hey."

Maker's Market

 I did it.  I have a bunch of Critters up at the Peculiar Maker's Market.  And I have already sold a few.  One being a custom order that was picked up yesterday, and she loved it. 

This is my little area, mirror not included.  I do intend to doll it up a bit, of course.  I have a vinyl sign coming, and some more business cards.  

Velvet Purple Lion.  

I have my prices set pretty low...I really just want to make enough to pay for the booth rental and maybe a little more.  For me, this gives me a reason to create more.  It has crushed the creative block I was suffering from.  It also gives me a place to go that isn't very far from home.  I can go hang out for a minute, get a cup of "fancy" coffee, then come back home and create some more.  

I've made 3 new big cats, a custom dog, and have another cat cut out ready to be stitched and stuffed.  

Lot's going on in my brain these days.  So much it's hard to keep up.

Play Nice!  xxoo

Weird Week

 I don't know if it's the Lunar Eclipse tomorrow that's got me a little off balance, but I've been kinda scattered in the brains and emotions since Thursday.  

I've done a little hand stitching, mainly just to keep my hands busy, no real project to work on.  

I took a few of my Critters to a new Maker's Market that opened here in town, ran by a local guy and his wife.  Hopefully I will sell them and be able to rent a booth space.  That's how I am picturing it in my mind, that people will see my Critters and/or my burnings, and want to own them.  

That will give me the incentive to create some more, right now I have too many that need homes.

It's always important to keep our vibrations high.  

Say your prayers, and Play Nice!  xxoo

Handmade By Cosmo 
Come see, say hey!

P.S.  Greg and Brad are doing great!  

 

Slow Stitching

 I have done this all my life, well, since the age of 12 I believe.  I don't know all the embroidery stitches, but I can wield a needle and thread pretty well.  

What I love about hand sewing is all the thinking I can do as I get into the rhythm of stitching.  Lotsa introspection, self realization, etc...

This time of seclusion has been good for my soul.  And I am happy.  

Play Nice!  xxoo

It's March!

I made a couple of Critters in February.  I made a solo trip to Hobby Lobby one day, honestly I was going that direction anyway for another errand, so why not?  I was just going to shop the clearance and sales, which I pretty much did, but I splurged on a couple pieces of faux leather.  Yes, I have faux leather at my house, but this was the perfect color, I thought, for this.

It's a Great Dane!  

I love this breed, and would have one again if I had a yard.

Then I made another one, in felt.  

I call her, Posie.

There is a new Maker's Market in my tiny town, but it's right off the freeway, so I'm thinking about setting up a display there.  I have this rack that I used with my burnings, so I thought I would try using it for my Critters.

I wasn't quite happy with that, so I cut some strips of felt to line the racks, I haven't set it up again, as I, for some unknown reason, put it back in the very back of my storage closet, so I gotta drag everything out again.  Ugh.  I don't know if I have brains or oatmeal sloshing around in my skull sometimes.  

My computer monitor glitched after 25 years of faithful service, so I've connected my computer to my TV.  It'll do for now.  Better than nothing, and I'm not a fast phone typer.

Greg and Brad are doing so great, I got them a cat tree and put it together by myself! 

So, that's us pretty caught up.  Leave me a comment, please, if you are here reading this, and do a little clickety click over to  my FB page, Handmade by Cosmo.   You can click on my shop, too, if you want.  

Play Nice!  xxoo

Taking a Break

Going to put aside my wood burning for a bit.  I think I may have burnt myself out on Christmas Gifts this year!  Not sorry...I was happy with everything I made.

I'm just in one of those creative slumps, where I'm not inspired to work on the things I've been working on.  I put my Critters away for a year before, and came back to them even better.  So, for now...

It's called Slow Stitching.

I use canvas, but you could use fabric, of course...if you're interested, you can Google it.  It's just hand stitching using scraps, different elements, different stitches in a free form style.  Very relaxing.  This was my first one.  

Other than the deep freeze of weather which we are finally, slowly warming out of, all is well in my world.  Greg is not as much of an asshole as he has been, but he's still an ass.  Brad has become a "teenager," and he's learning asshole tricks from Greg.  Brad's demeanor is diff, though.  Greg doesn't give a shit when he's in trouble, Brad is immediately sorry and goes into his "limp and purr" posture.  But...we all love each other, they're 'rasslin' right now. 

I am going into town tomorrow.  I haven't seen anyone since Christmas!  Run some errands and get back home before dark.  

Play Nice!  '

xxoo