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| strips of waxed canvas waiting to be cut into smaller pieces for pockets and buckets |
Monday I finished cutting all the lighter weight waxed canvas I have and ended up with 118 sets of pockets. I also cut all the heavier weight waxed canvas I have and ended up with 96 buckets.
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| the two humped piles are canvas for pockets (two sizes) and the smaller size pocket canvas is sitting on top of the canvas for buckets |
Between the pockets and the buckets I've decimated my waxed canvas stash. I only have some very stiff heavy waxed canvas (98% of my stash was light waxed) and the scraps from cutting the pockets and buckets (not a lot, all things considered, but enough to make some small zip bags). I was aiming for at least 100 sets of pockets and 100 buckets to take to convention, but I also need some to stock on my site and Etsy shop. More canvas is on order, but I have plenty to do in the meantime. Next up: cutting the leather strips for the pockets and the leather strips and circles for the buckets.
There's definitely economy of scale when cutting the canvas. Cutting so much at once went a lot quicker than just doing a couple. I was timing myself to get an idea of how much to pay a statutory employee (a class of independent contractor that does piece work). It went a lot quicker than I thought it would, all things considered.
We skipped scouts since Sunshine was feeling under the weather from her second shot. She didn't escape the reaction like Jeremy did, but she didn't feel as bad as I did.
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| the giant moth outside our window that had Maxi up in arms one night. not surprising, since it was the size of a small bird |
Tuesday we had music lessons for just the boys since Sunshine still wasn't feeling great. It gave them a little extra time to work on things. Mostly River, since Ocean's attention span isn't the greatest. River has made really good progress the last couple months and is becoming quite the little banjo player.
(the piano is inside, so rather than try to keep the boys quiet during Sunshine's lesson I've been taking them for hikes, which is why I don't have any pictures of Sunshine playing)
I did the grocery shopping after music lessons. Virginia dropped their mask mandate a week or so ago for fully vaccinated individuals and since I'm officially two weeks post-vax and thus considered fully vaccinated, I didn't have to wear a mask. It was a bit weird to see so many unmasked people in the stores after 15 months of masks. I'm not complaining, it was just a bit weird. And I had to keep reminding myself to keep a pleasant expression on my face so I wouldn't look like I was mad.
That evening we had karate class, then I did some more Pinterest keyword searching. I realized I can't really move forward with Pinterest until I re-do my product photography because I need a wide variety of photos to use in making pins. So I need to get some buckets and pockets made and photographed, then do new photographs of some of my other products. Then I can start making pins. It's a process.
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| this grubby little boy stole my phone and I found a bunch of similar selfies on it later |
Wednesday I went on a trail run with Max, then had my accountability call.
Afterwards, I cut leather for buckets and pockets. I ran out of leather after jigsawing my way through 3 sides of leather to make sure as little leather as possible was wasted. I ended up with enough pieces for 73 buckets and 35 sets of pockets. I ordered 2 more sides, which should cover the rest of the leather I need. The round bottoms of the buckets use the most amount of leather, so there's no way to do this with just a small amount of leather.
Thursday morning it was raining, so no run for Max and I.
After lunch we did our annual evaluation with a homeschool mom we've known since we started homeschooling. We actually skipped it last year since there was no end of year requirements for public or home schoolers, but everything's back to normal in that respect this year.
An order of leather arrived, mostly leather for the fall session of my course. It's time to start cutting and prepping for that as well. Busy busy busy. I also sat down to look over what leathers I need for the 101 and advanced courses so I can make sure I'm ordering the right ones and using up some of my stash. I have too much leather sitting on my shelves, unused. Ordering online isn't the best way financially to get better acquainted with leather, but it is educational. Some sites are really good at giving all the characteristics of a piece of leather, but some are not as thorough.
In the evening I took my class and Sunshine's class to the local climbing gym for YW. We had 2 leaders and 7 girls, which is a good turnout for us. One of the girls I was especially happy to see there as she tends to be very cautious and shy. I think only one of the girls had ever done any bouldering, and neither I nor the other leader ever had. We all had a lot of fun and it was a good challenge. We stayed for an hour, which was a good amount of time to climb around on the short wall, then try the taller walls, then be done. It was good to get a taste, but not overdo it.
Unfortunately, I still managed to over do it and felt super tired Friday morning. It's frustrating that I can't physically push myself too hard, even for a short amount of time.
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| Sunshine: let me crouch down and take the picture so it looks like you're up high 🤣 |
Friday it was raining again, so no run, which wasn't a bad thing considering how I woke up. I did not feel great. I did manage to cut some leather and start working on a bucket that needed to be shipped off.
I made it through karate class, but felt wiped out afterwards and I went to sleep earlier than I have in some time.
Saturday I was able to sleep in a bit, then I cut three sides of leather into dice tray blanks for the next session of my course. I then worked on some buckets. I had an order that needed to be finished and I have some new colors of canvas, so I need to take new product photos. Doing so will also allow me to finally update my branding on them and my Etsy shop (which still has the old branding since I haven't had time to do new product photography).
Sunday I was fighting a migraine since Saturday evening. Tight shoulder muscles are the culprit, which most likely came from skiving the leather for the buckets. As soon as I can afford it I need to get a mechanical skiver, but at around $2k, it's not in the budget just yet.
Despite the nausea and headache, I finally started catching up on old posts. I've been jotting notes throughout the week for the last few months, but haven't had the time to upload photos and do a final edit. Not sure where I left off? The March 29 post is the first of the catch-up posts.
Weekly Mileage
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