{*~Bye Chop~*}

(Porkchop & I in Nevada a few weeks ago)

Porkchop left & went back to Eureka. I'm not going to lie, I'm a mess. I miss him a *lot*. Since May we've only been able to spend weekends together and now we are going to see each other only here & there until December when he graduates. I know, I'm being a weenie and a wimp. Lots of people have husbands in the military or far away from them, I should be counting my blessings. But it is rough!

I'm planning a few packages and little things I'd love to send to him, I purchased two patterns tonight, one knitting, one sewing with him in mind, I'm excited to make them & show you guys. It's kinda hard finding rad guy friendly patterns right?!

I'm still bummed out and missing him though...

But what do I do when I'm bummed out? Clean.

If you know me in real life, you'll know that for the first 26 years of my life, I was a messy person. Lately it seems like when things happen that are beyond my control...I clean.

My bedroom right now is insanely clean and organized. The air conditioner is out of the window (crosses fingers that it doesn't hit 100 degrees again ;)), there is a great breeze coming in!!! I washed all my sheets, pillowcases and quilts. I did laundry. I framed some photos. I organized all my clothing in color chromological order (I think I made up that word ;))...even down to my underwear and socks. I threw out a bag of old mail. I scanned receipts into my financial software. I went through magazines & ripped out the good stuff, stuck it in my binder, recycled the rest. I organized my circular knitting needles (in case yours need organizing too, I have 12 of pairs and they all fit in one of my pouches! Like this one!). I put all my small craft-y stuff, like aida cloth and whatnot into my metal picnic basket. I cleaned out my scrapbooking paper. I dusted everything, including my blinds. I made plans for new pillowcases so my bed will look more fall-ish....that got me all jazzed for work tomorrow, I gotta pick out some great new fabric!

I felt a little better for a few hours but I have a feeling by the end of the week the house is going to be so clean you'll be able to eat off the floors. ;)

Also, this weekend I updated the pad shop. I've been wanting to for a really long time but truthfully? It's something I debated.

Hear me out k?

I've tried to not be upset about it but I had a few people buy pads from me, trace them and sell them as their own design. That sucked to be blunt. It discouraged me quite a bit. Especially when it happened over and over and over.

Also, I'm sorry but selling pads for $2-$6 is really upsetting to me. Granted, when I first made them, I sold them cheaply as well because I felt like my sewing skills definitely weren't up to par, but as time went on and I got better and used better materials, I raised my prices. I take time with the things I make, always, I don't rush anything. I pre-wash and shrink all my fabrics. I constantly work on the design to improve it, I draft these patterns by hand, including the grading up & down of sizes. It might not sound like a big deal, but think about the reasons why most disposable products shift & bunch...they aren't shaped correctly!

This is all stuff that's reflected in my prices and it makes me sad that other sellers value their time so poorly. You can buy ONE pad at your local co-op/whole foods for $13.99+ so why shouldn't we as a diy community price more competitively?! Not only that but the two products can't even be compared (turned & topstitched rather than simply overlocked, organic fleeces vs flannels, etc)., plus don't forget internet business fees!

I don't blog about my ecofriendly lifestyle simply because it's something I've sort of taken for granted that a lot of friends already know about it and it's kinda personal...some people are curious and positive, some people are completely negative. I'm an extremely non-confrontational person and lets face it, ladies have strong opinions about this sort of thing. I had a spike of traffic a while back and found a forum where someone had seen my shop on etsy and was bashing it, asking what kind of gross person would make something like this...and it was *pages* of talk like that. Not cool. I'm most certainly not a gross person and nor are my friends who also are into cloth! It's a lifestyle choice, I don't expect everyone to *get* it, but I do know that I've been making & selling pads for YEARS and when you think about that, I've made a positive impact on the environment! That is why I keep making them! And they are genuinely fun to sew. I like the challenge of making things better and better.

Phew! End soap box. Check out my FAQs if your curious or feel free to drop me an email. I get a lot of personal emails about this sort of thing & it doesn't bug me at all :)

Sheesh. This was an absurdly personal blog post...haha.

I hope everyone had a great weekend...I'll be posting some photos this week of some finished projects, some bee blocks & more!