An Idea Comes to Life...Thank you for your Support!!

An idea, a friend of ours had, has actually come to fruition. I had actually thought of this last year but didn't think I was "good enough" so never went ahead with it, nor even thought much more about it.

This week....that has changed.

We were tossing the idea around again and my (amazing) hubby says to me, "Okay just toss the idea that you're not good enough to the side and just go with it, if nothing happens, then we're not out anything (really)."

So, I did it.

I bet you're wondering what this is all about...?

I started my own Etsy shop!!!

For me, this is a MAJOR thing. To put myself (and my ego) on display, has always been very hard because I've never thought I was creative and I do not like rejection or the thought that someone may not like what I've spent a lot of time on...gasp!

BUT, I have done it. I did it. Something hard, something creative, something someone may not like....or may love!

I am proud of myself and I guess that's all that really matters.

Plus, I've already had two sales!! TWO!

I have made an Etsy button at the top if you'd like to check it out, just click the link there or you can click the link here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesertWrapper

I also have a clickable button on the right side of this post that says, My Etsy

I am super stoked about this and would love for you and anyone else (tell your friends) to stop by, look around and maybe even make a purchase!

I will be adding new things all the time, so please place it in your favorites and come back often to check on new items. EVERYTHING is a one of a kind and handmade with love & imagination.

In this life everything helps, so I truly thank you and I appreciate all of your support.

PEACE

Using our Skills Today (I wish I had nunchuck skills!)

Our very good friend, Bernie left today...b☹☹☹☹☹ There are connections that you make with certain people, Bernie was one of those people...he and J' hit it off right away and he treats me like a pretty pretty princess! haha He gives me cookies and food, he's a good friend! haha He is off to see ★Olivia Newton John★...lucky! (Napoleon Dynamite) I hope he has the greatest time!!

I would be sewing the rest of the comforter, piecing it back together. Today has to go better than yesterday...it was just thee longest day. I would have a few more helpers this morning though, which always makes for a better day right off the bat!!

[caption id="attachment_3588" align="alignleft" width="150"] Hello![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3590" align="alignright" width="150"] Squid's Turkey![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3587" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Bruce & Squid[/caption]

Bruce is a 10 month old, 60 lbs. Bulldog. His baby, Squid, is a 10 week old Chihuahua that's spring loaded as her mama would say! haha They do very well together with Savannah, so it's great to have great neighbors (Steven & Brie) with great pups!

[caption id="attachment_3591" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Rad Peeps[/caption]

J' said he wasn't going to let me go all day without eating today...like yesterday, I had cafe and whoosh, there went the day! He insisted on making brunch and wouldn't let me use the table, for sewing, until I ate my entire plate! He's so good to me.

[caption id="attachment_3593" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mah Schweetie![/caption]

After we ate, I started the last of the sewing and J' started messing with the antennae. It was kind of funny, he started messing with that thing and people were coming from all around to get a good look at it. It looks like we're honing in the Mother Ship....shhhh! Although big, it does bring in about 13 channels here in Quartzsite, with our rabbit ear antennae that we have been using we weren't getting anything, so 13 was amazing!

He must have tweaked that antennae many different ways over a couple of hours to get those channels, but he also had many different conversations during that time. Amazing!

I finished the comforter and it actually doesn't look totally terrible and I think it is going to last for a while...let's hope! It's just too much to do by hand so I'm hoping it lasts for a very long time! I was also able to finally give Trisha that haircut, it was another beautiful day, so it was perfect...crossing off that list one thing at a time. Trisha really wanted a haircut, so it was make-over time! I find a lot of women in this lifestyle have short hair (or end up cutting it like I did). It's just easier this way...for me at least. Anyway, some other gals saw that I was cutting her hair and asked for a trim here and a reshape there...totally fine. It was actually kind of fun (don't tell anyone)!

[caption id="attachment_3596" align="alignleft" width="150"] Before[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3597" align="alignleft" width="150"] After[/caption]

It's different when you're doing it because you have to and doing it because you want to. She loved it, said it was exactly what she wanted, so that made me happy!

[caption id="attachment_3598" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Busy day!!
haha[/caption]

After I 'closed the shop', J' and I went on a walk over to Jenn's camper to return her machine, it was nice to have an extra pair of arms for this! Usually it's Savannah and I, but lately she's on a leash...so ya got that, then I'm carrying the machine, the sewing kit and the cord. It gets a little heavy, due to the walk and Savannah pulling and all of that, so his extra arm was much appreciated!

[caption id="attachment_3599" align="alignleft" width="150"] Cool[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3600" align="alignright" width="150"] Babes![/caption]

We dropped the machine at her rig (she was work) and took the 'main road' back to the road that we're camping on, putting us right in front of Cyndi's rig. We had to visit with everyone and Cyndi was sweet enough to spoil all the babies!! You know Fenway and Stumpy have thee best mama!!

[caption id="attachment_3601" align="aligncenter" width="225"] The only one that has to eat her treat alone![/caption]

The last thing on our list today was to give Savannah a bath. Since she was tied up yesterday, due to a not so nice morning of her running after strangers, barking and scaring the hell out of them... she took it upon herself to do her somersaults all day in the dust and dirt. Thank goodness the weather has gotten better because she slept in her crate last night. It was too late to wash her yesterday so it had to be done tonight...it was an awful night for us all last night, no one slept! Don't tell me this dog isn't spoiled!

We messed with the antennae for a little while longer, I guess trying to pull more channels in. Had a few more conversations with a few more spectators, haha and finally got in the van to watch the tele tonight! How exciting!!

[caption id="attachment_3604" align="alignleft" width="150"] He's Hot![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3605" align="alignright" width="150"] Success![/caption]

We are getting quite a few channels and it's just fun to have tele back. We have come across a lot of people, out here, that really have something against T.V. It's just not us! We like the tele, we like to be able to have a couple of shows that we can 'unwind' to at the end of the day. I have to say it's nice to have something else other than books and the radio...for us at least, everyone of us is different. I'm totally stoked about getting to watch The Biggest Loser. It's my numero uno favorite show and I've missed almost every single episode, only catching up on them because they rerun them on Sunday nights...when we're in Ehrenberg for football...score!

[caption id="attachment_3603" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ✿✿✿✿[/caption]

Time to be a 'fort potato'!

PEACE

Sew Long!

Some people are leaving today, off to new adventures or back to work. Not us...not me. I have a few things I have not checked off my list, that have been lingering in the background ever since we got to the R.T.R. There were things I needed to cross off of my list at camp before we could move on. I needed pics of our friends,

[caption id="attachment_3563" align="alignleft" width="150"] Bernie & Birdie[/caption]

I needed to fix our comforter, yep it's totally massacred again, and I needed a nice day to be able to cut Trisha's hair. I think today might be the day...so I thought! This morning was absolutely beautiful, a good morning for a little walk over to Jenn's camper. Last night at Happy Hour, she told me to come over in the a.m., to borrow her sewing machine.

We chattied as she got ready for work, then I walked back to Joon where I set up my Sewing Studio for the day, along with Savannah's help of course!

I think today must have been thee longest day of my life...okay, that's what it seemed like. I'm happy the sun was shining and it wasn't windy and I'm almost done with the comforter. Yep, all day and it's not done...like I said, it was a hella long day! I guess the haircut is going to have to wait until tomorrow. Just as I was getting relaxed and comfortable, J' said, "The antennae came in...let's go get it!" I was like...Now!? I wanted to cry...okay I think I may have. I was just so freakin' tired and with Joon Van, we have to pack and repack the van when we move...that was the part that threw me into burnt out mode and tears. We drove to get the antennae and whoa babay, if we don't pull any stations in with this thing, then it's just not possible. (At the moment I'm trying to enjoy the thought of veggin' out to some tele and not the fact that this will have to travel inside the van...haha)

[gallery ids="3567,3568,3569"]

I'll let you know how it goes with this Clear Stream 4 antennae.

to be continued...

PEACE

Well, Aren't We A Talented Bunch!?!?

I noticed this morning as I was (trying) to walk Savannah, that she didn't want to go on a walk today... hmmmm. Something must be wrong! This little animal spirit of mine loves her walks. She was hobbling a little and after only walking about 15 feet from the van, doing her #1 potty she then limped back over to the van and stood outside waiting for me to open the door...weird. I thought I had done a pretty good job looking over her paw last night, after the evening walk, but maybe I hadn't. I picked her up and put her on her back in the chair, got my head-lamp out and checked her over again, even daddy did a second check. One of the gals here, Sara, is an E.M.T. and saw me checking her out and offered to wrap her foot up with some padding so she could at least try to walk on it without pain. What a nice gesture! She wrapped it up in this blue gauzey sticky tape stuff and gave me a little extra for later, in case it fell off...or she takes it off! When I put Savannah back on the ground, I'm sorry but I couldn't stop laughing.  She kept picking her foot up so far off the ground, it was almost like she was waving to everyone...poor baby! 

[caption id="attachment_3455" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Gimpy[/caption]

I think the blue tape stuff stayed on for about an hour before I was re-wrapping it...she does not like anything touching her feet...what a chore! I wrapped it back up and we went over to spend time with the ladies in another wire wrapping class. Daddy went with Bernard and Sara to town, so Savannah would be with mommy today...Girls' Day!!! I love Miss Cherry's wrapping classes, they are always entertaining and fun and you actually learn stuff! We did, what I'm going to call an Intermediate class...not basics! haha I think the other women can vouch for that! Luckily, for me, I've done quite a lot of wrapping lately so any class is just another step in the learning process. We learned some new twists and turns and loops and some other stuff that was not on the schedule, haha. Today was a much better day for wrapping then the first class, the sun was shining bright and I was definitely getting my dose of Vitamin D this afternoon! Savannah was such a good girl too, she sat the entire class in a chair next to me, looking off into the distance, waiting for daddy to come back. Even though the class was about three hours long this time around, it was great! Us ladies learned tons of new stuff, caught up on our lady time (& chocolate) and Savannah was able to rest her gimpy foot! Once J' was back with the tribe you would have never known she had an injury...I guess the downtime was needed.

To feel part of the experience, here are some pics of our wire wrapping journey...

[gallery columns="4" ids="3440,3441,3442,3443,3444,3445,3446,3458,3447,3459,3448,3460,3449,3450,3451,3452"]

 Pretty awesome, huh!?

After the class, everyone retreated to different areas to do different things...I came back to Joon Van to rest my eyes & brain for a bit. Staring at wire for three hours and learning new things as well is quite exhausting! J' and I visited and talked about our day, first time we've been apart for that long in a very long time! It was nice to get a little R'n'R,  for tonight was Talent Night! Yep, this R.T.R. has everything!

Talent Night consisted of a major variety of talent, it was very entertaining! The night started off with quite a few jokes...most of them J' had to repeat to me later because I couldn't hear, so I was missing out, haha. Lori sang a few of her songs and played the guitar getting everyone involved in the Chorus! Randy recited a few of his expressive and humorous poems. Laura sang us some Patriotic melodies getting everyone involved singing along...she even rocked an American flag! Lucy did an acting piece from RENT...she rocked that scene!!

[gallery ids="3472,3471,3475,3470,3473,3474"]

A talented bunch we are

at this here, R.T.R.

A fantastical night 

The Moon shining bright

Everyone here is a Star.

PEACE & LOVE EVERYONE

Send us thoughts of warmth and sunshine!

Today marks Day 4 of the Winter R.T.R. in Quartzsite...and about the second day of the wind picking up and the cold getting colder. We have been getting up (and out of the van) to go to the 10 a.m. circle in the morning but always come back to the van to warm up and then have a hard time getting back out to do...anything! 

[caption id="attachment_3281" align="aligncenter" width="300"] 10 a.m. circle[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3280" align="aligncenter" width="300"] View from the van[/caption]

We hung out in the van for a little bit drinking coffee and chatting each others ears off. Around lunch time we set up the table and grill to make lunch. It warmed up just a bit, but really only long enough to make our food and get back in the van...and Bob said this has been the warmest R.T.R. so far! My goodness...good thing we have our lil fort! I love our fort!

After we chowed down on sammies, we broke away from each other and the van: 

[caption id="attachment_3283" align="alignleft" width="150"] Prezzies!!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3285" align="alignright" width="150"] Sari girl[/caption]

I went to hang with Miss Cherry as well as wrap some prezzies for my nieces! J' went to hang out with a new friend of his, Brad & his pup Sari...sweetest dog ever!

Hopefully the weather will get a little nicer so we can meet everyone and spend more time out of our vehicles. I think if the wind would die down during the day it would make for much nicer conversations. One person wouldn't be out in the cold and one person in the van...it's rushed right now. I know the weather will get better...it has to, right! haha We are very appreciative for our heater... for all the room it takes up in the Summer time it's not even an issue anymore now that I know what Wintertime can really feel like!

I wish you a warm and fuzzy evening.

PEACE

That's a Wrap!

Today was another day that I had been looking forward to...Wrapping class with Miss Cherry! This class and time with everyone is so much fun. Miss Cherry & I had our own "private sessions" over the Summer...which I was happy to know the basics now, I could enjoy the company a little more! We spent the whole Summer together, it was awesome! So, Miss Cherry was having a basic wrapping class today at 2:00 p.m. It's been a pretty windy, chilly kind of day so a couple of people moved their vans into a wind block...it definitely helped.

Cherry walked everyone through the most simple basic directions, showed us by example and she teaches so well...it's very easy to learn from her and she makes it a little harder to get frustrated...It's Art!!

Take a little stroll through the art gallery of today...

[caption id="attachment_3256" align="alignleft" width="150"] Whirligigs[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3258" align="alignright" width="150"] Antennas[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3257" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Frigid Fun[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3259" align="alignleft" width="150"] Sculpting[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3260" align="alignright" width="150"] Success![/caption]

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_3261" align="aligncenter" width="300"] What a fun class![/caption]

When the class was over, everyone went running back to their vans to get inside...away from the breezy cold wind. It's much nicer inside! We can put the heat on, everything is warm, there's no wind! I give props to those that sleep in tents...I love my four solid walls!

 The little things people!

 

[caption id="attachment_3262" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Looks like rain[/caption]

I do not foresee us leaving the van for the rest of the day/night...it's biting cold out there. No thank you! Even though it was a little chilly, the wrapping class was entertaining, educational, and most importantly FUN!

Have you been a creative little dragon today?

 PEACE

Nippin' Cold in the Bud

January = Quartzsite

This has been our thinking since June 2012.

Now that it is January we are getting ready to move on over to meet with the rest of the gang, but first we wanted to take a trip to Parker to hit the Wal-mart and stock up before getting too cozy in Quartzsite (little more expensive there).

[caption id="attachment_3110" align="alignleft" width="150"] Gettin' jazzed[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3111" align="alignright" width="150"] Loaded up[/caption]

We woke up, morning rituals and packed Joon Van for the journey over to Parker.

[caption id="attachment_3112" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Blackbird ♪ ♪[/caption]

I like the drive from Ehrenberg to Parker, it's only about an hour away (45 miles) and it's a nice relaxing drive. We get to enjoy the ride with a nice speed and much better scenery than a rapid raging Interstate! There are farms up and down the road for miles and miles...with all of these hay stacks we see, you would think there would be tons of animals as well...nope. Not sure if they sell and truck out this hay or what, but they have a lot of hay!

[caption id="attachment_3118" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hay! Hay is for Horses[/caption]

While we are shopping in Wal-mart...well we decided we would shop in the morning, tonight would be our go-inside-and-look-at-stuff-we-want-but-don't-really-need trip! We did have some things we needed to get tonight though: Velcro and Glue. We had a project on our hands, thanks to the cooler weather we have approaching. We spent a good hour or so inside and went back out to start on our "The Warm Fort Project". **Remember that curtain I sewed velcro on and also put on the metal part of the back doors of the van? Well I did if you're not caught up... catch up!** That curtain kept falling down during the middle of the night, due to the stickiness of the Velcro wearing off already...the curtain is pretty heavy. We were going to glue that velcro onto the metal but then thought it would be best if we glued the rubber seal onto the metal and then glue the velcro onto the rubber seal, then stick it up onto the metal...make sense? haha Here are some pictures to make sense of things...

"The Warm Fort Project" took us about an hour, I only had to run in twice! haha I had to get the clothespins and a different kind of glue. We both think it's going to be one of the best things we could do to keep the cold out, for now at least. We are using curtains we already had instead of going and buying a bunch of Relectix (which I'm sure are worth it...but you get it). It makes a huge difference with the weather changing and now it won't fall down! We were so excited that we ordered ourselves a different kind of yummy dinner for celebration...Tuscani Pasta from Pizza Hut. Yes, please! haha

In the morning we will do the rest of our shopping and stocking and head out to Quartzsite to meet with Bob and get ready for the R.T.R. It should be a groovy time out in the desert creating new friendships, learning, sharing and just being. We are pretty stoked...it's finally here!

PEACE