04.23.08
Having a break
I’m a bit like the camel at the moment…. and there is a haystack on my back 
I’ve had a few orders go missing in the post (so I’ve had to redo them), I’ve had some custom orders to get done, some admin stuff on CPS, a market, a birthday, car repairs (which meant I lost a day while waiting around for it to be fixed)… and I’m still a bit behind on getting orders sent out and e-mails dealt with, which is terribly slack and stressing me out more. I’m working on computer stuff late into the night, so not getting enough sleep (had 3 hours the other night)… So a bit stressed and exhausted at the moment.
Yesterday I managed to go out and leave my front door standing wide open for like the 4 hours I was gone!….. so that was the last straw in my haybale. My brain has turned to mush – I need a break, so I’m taking one. So while I’m not going anywhere (though we do have plans for a weekend visit to my inlaws nice country farm one weekend and we’re celebrating out 5th wedding anniversary the next weekend, so are having a nice romantic get away)….I’m “away” until about the 8th May.
So I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I seriously need a break. I’ve got a couple of orders not sent, and I’ll try and get them sent out ASAP, but any new orders will have to wait until I am officially “back” from my break. Its unprofessional I know, but I’m a person, not a machine, and people have people problems and sometimes we just need to take a step back so we can deal with them. I’m sure nobody begrudges me that.
04.07.08
Natural Dyed Pantyliners
Finally got around to making them up I’d had them cut out for a while, and not done anything with them, but a recent thread on natural dyes on a forum I’m on prompted me to sew them up
The cream one is the natural unbleached cotton, the coffee coloured one is Henna, the yellow one is Turmeric and the purple is Alkanet. I’m pleased with how they turned out.
I also made an apricot fabric I wasn’t going to include in the set because I’d used the whole seeds when dying the fabric, and where they touched the fabric, it stained it darker… but then I thought this set wouldn’t be complete without it, so I made it up. So we now have:
Unfortunately the Turmeric is not lightfast, and washes out. A shame, since it’s a beautiful colour and so easy to dye with! I’m not actually sure how quickly it fades (though I know that less than an hour in strong sunlight fades it to almost white), but I imagine not many washes. My testers did 10 washes before sending back the swatches and they show the same fading you get from sunlight:
The faded and non-faded fabric
So handwashing would be best. But, to get it back yellow again you just need to simmer it in some water and turmeric, so it’s easy to dye it again to keep it the yellow colour. So it fades down to a sort of yellowed version of the coffee coloured one… Still, I think it’s pretty and I’d be willing to keep re-dying it to keep it that colour. In the 10 washes on the Henna and Alkanet ones, there was virtually no fading. The Annato one does fade more than the other two, but less than the Turmeric.
So, they are on offer at CPS right now if anyone wants them I’ll be making more up singularly, so you can choose your colours (though I expect the purple will be most popular haha). I’ve also got Indigo that I keep meaning to play with, but I want to use the more natural fermentation method rather than the chemical version, and it’s more complicated, and I haven’t had the time to do it.
Menstrual Jewelery
I’ve added some menstrual jewelery to my Cloth pad Shop store. I thought it might be nice to have some special pieces that you would wear only when menstruating, and it could almost be like a public display to the world, that nobody knows about (in that you’re showing you’re menstruating by wearing special red jewelery, but nobody would know that’s what it was for).
I’ve also made a Menarche one, but I wasn’t happy with how it turned out, so I’m restringing it. I’d wanted to make it a cheaper one, but I think it didn’t work well like that…
I’ve got another set of the alphabet charms for each “Menarche”, “Menses” and “Aunt Flow”…. and if these sell then I’ll get some more…. Perhaps I should make some with “AF” beads, so it’s a bit more subtle… and perhaps some that are plain red with no words…. Any thoughts?
I’ve also made some earrings, with plans for more to come. I was going to make bracelets, but they really need to be custom made for the right length, which I’m not sure I want to do at the moment…
The photos don’t really do them justice, but here they are. Click for larger pics.
04.01.08
Harlequin Stuff
For the Harlequin theme stocking at Cloth Pad Shop, I’ve made up a couple of themed pads.
First off, a new pad size, based on a custom order I had, and I’ve got these available only on the US side at the moment. 6.5in (16cm) Mini pantyliners (the black is a bit hard to see).
And some of my g-string pantyliners (which can double as a normal pantyliner)
Then almost medieval looking bamboo velour topped pads.
And some Black masks:
They are the wider ended versions of my Nymph length pads.
I also have that same fabric made into Priestess and Goddess length pads.
And I even made some patchwork pads!
To be honest I wasn’t as happy with the patchwork ones as I hoped I’d be (after spending so much time on them), and I have no idea what to charge for them (should they be more than I’d normally charge since it’s a patchwork I put a lot of time into, or less because it’s perhaps not as appealing as other pads I’ve done?) and since it’s a Once off, something you won’t find anywhere else…. So I’m auctioning it off.
