A little bit of everything

Today I have a few things to take care of. I'm usually running around on my day off trying to catch up with friends or visiting family. For once I'm going to start the day off right with breakfast. My favorite breakfast place for vegetarians is in Vermont, Burlington to be more specific. It's a restaurant called Sneakers that my boyfriend, Jim introduced me too. The first time was amazing. They served me a tofu scrambled omelet with veggie sausage pattie. I can't remember what exactly was in it but I just remember all these different flavors in each bite. They had actually forgotten to call us for a table so we got free coffee cake with some sort of sauce that had been warmed up served on top of it. I know this is very vague but trust me, it was incredible. Now Jim is moving down to Connecticut so I won't be able to visit him up in Burlington and score these delicious breakfast meals. It makes me a bit sad inside but that just means that I need to figure out how to make it myself. This tofu scramble was delicious with green peppers and onions. It wasn't the same flavor as the tofu that the restaurant cooks up but it was good nonetheless.

It's been a while since I posted anything knitted related so here is what I've got done so far on my Isabella top. I casted on for the front yesterday and am past the picot edge on the bottom. I can't wait to finish this so I could wear it closer to those cool summer nights toward the end of summer. It is wool so it should be cozy. I know the pattern calls for cotton but when i went to La Casita yarn shop they unfortunately did not have any in stock but staff was so incredibly friendly which I find hard to come across. It really compelled me to give them some business. Usually yarn shop staff that I have come across are a bit snobby and don't really like to converse with you since they have their circle of friends that seem to hang around the shop. I can't wait to go back and if the friendliness continues, I'll be a loyal customer to them.

The Etsy shop, ZentasticThings is coming along. I haven't set aside much time for designing and carving stamps as I would like but I've just been busy with my regular full time shop. I have got one sale and two potential customers e-mailing me for more custom jobs and I know I have another sale coming up. Usually when it comes to carving up the stamps I think about my own interests and the passions of others I know. My brother is actually quite passionate about cycling. Not only does he enjoy it in his leisure time but he also teaches kids and adults how to ride bikes. He does presentations on how to ride safely to and from work and school. I've met several of this cyclist friends and since moving back to New York City I've noticed the community of cyclists and how active they are in our communities. For this reason I came up with three bicycle stamps and are now on sale. I'm going to be working on some more stamps today and editing the site so it becomes easier for others to find me out there in the Etsy World. Also, one of my projects that I'm going to be working on is hand printed stationary. Be sure to keep and eye out for that. I usually post on the Zentastic Things Facebook page first once I have posted something on Etsy. I post on the blog later on when I have time to write up a post.

Lastly, I leave you with a picture of my two goddaughters. This was while I had brought over a project to their house. I picked up some dollar socks and began to make sock monkeys. They had so much fun learning how to sew but just to warn anyone who want to take this project on with kids in their life, they do get bored eventually with all the hand sewing. My cousin (their mother) and I ended up having to finishing the arms for them. It was fun to work on with them so I suggest this project to anyone that wants to teach kids how to sew.

ZentasticThings is now open for business on Etsy

Yes! I'm so excited. I've carved up my six stamps and posted them in my Etsy store. Feel free to stop by, check it out and perhaps even buy some awesome stamps. Right now. I'm working through my aquatic theme but I have so many ideas rolling around in my head that there will be a lot more to come. It's been a day so far but I'm so excited that I've actually gotten it out there. My boyfriend Jim has really helped me out along the way, he even drew up the Angler fish design. He is as enthusiastic about it as me. He's constantly tossing ideas out there on what I could carve or how I can go about it. He's sent me links to materials and has proposed that he wants to set up a splash page that can be found on Google a lot easier and will link customers to my Etsy store. I HUGE thank you goes out to him (even though he doesn't read my blog). Who knows how many grammatical errors he would find in just one paragraph being an English major and all. Hehehe. Either way, I already know that my blog is not perfect but it's really out there for me to express myself and for others that are interested in what I do to keep up with it. I'm not sure how many of you are out there but I appreciate you guys keeping up with me. I see those page views rising every week.

Thank you.