I got my contacts yesterday before the I Made It show in the SouthSide! ^_^ Not only was the show a lot of fun, I could see well enough to write and do some work. I apologize if I was squinting or blinking a lot at you guys yesterday. I have to wear the hard contacts, and they actually take a week or two to “break in”. Bu at least I can start updating this again like I used to. I had trouble seeing the keyboard even with my glasses on. Although I have to say the best thing is that I can finally get back to my silversmithing. Wonky vision + Fire = Singed eyebrows at best.

Speaking of updates, I’ve got a decent amount of them for you! Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be at several events. The first one, coming next weekend, is Animazement in North Carolina. I’ll be at Moon Bunny Imports, which a Japanese import company that my husband and I run. We have a corner booth right when you come into the Dealer’s Room! ^_^ There’s a good chance I’ll be bringing my maille with me, or at least the miniature doll stuff.

Next month is the Wild Rose Renaissance Faire! ^_^ Three weekends in June, I’ll be at the Faire, with maille, silver, and I’ll be bringing my smithing supplies with me so I can do demonstrations and such. It’s the first Faire of the seaon in the area, so if you need a Ren Fix, you could come by and say hello!

I do have an open commission queue at the moment, so if you saw something yesterday that you liked but it wasn’t quite perfect, just send me an e-mail and I’ll see what I can do. ^_^

Yes, that’s right – I had to walk around blind for a little while, which sucked. :/

I fell asleep with my contacts in (of the hard variety) and when I woke up my eyes were in terrible, stinging pain. When the pain didn’t go away after a few hours, we went to the eye doctor and I found out that I had severe abrasions on both of my corneas. To combat them, I was given antibiotic eye drops that at first felt like iodine, but as my eyes healed up the pain downgraded to lemon juice.

But that’s not why I was blind. I was blind because I didn’t have any glasses. The Little One got to my old pair and mangled them long ago, so I had to go get a new pair ASAP. Unfortunately, my eyes are so horrible that without any corrective lenses I’m legally blind. Yeah… Lenscrafters was the only place in town with lenses in stock that came CLOSE to a working perscription. So I’ve been unable to do a lot of chainmaille because I haven’t been able to see.

But things are going better now! I have my proper perscription in my new frames now (more on the frames later) so I can get back to the making! ^_^ Which is good, because there’s a show coming up this weekend.

Well, the workshop isn’t entirely together yet but at least I can share a few of my in-progress images. Lemony was in there to help me out. She likes sneaking up to watch me work. ^_^ These were taken before the holiday madness, so it actually looks a bit better now.

Also, classes will resume at Zomburgh at the end of the month! I’ll let you know as soon as the regisration page on their site is up.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks over here in Pittsburgh, readers. I just now got my computer up, running, and back on-line! *faint*

Anyways, here are the haps – We’ve moved into our new house and are now in the long and confusing process of putting it all back together. I’ve been very careful while moving my maille supplies and finished pieces, so I’ve been able to keep easy access to my work. I can relax from time to time between moving heavy things about and pulling things out of liquor boxes thinking, “Where does this go?” At least we’ve got most of the books unpacked, which takes care of a small mountain of boxes.

I promise you guys that once we’re all done unpacking and the place doesn’t look like a cardboard box factory I’ll go ’round and take some pics to post. ‘Tis a very nice house, and I’d like to show it off. It wouldn’t have happened without you guys, seriously. Just wait’ll you see my new work rooms! THIS IS SO AWESOME YOU GUYS ROCK!

Sorry, had to get that out. ^_^ Little squeeing fangirl moment. I have times where I look around and think, “I live here? How did that happen?!”

I’ll tell you more about the misadventures of The Move later. There are stories to tell, believe you me. Anyhoo, I’m off to lug around some more boxes. Later!

Things have been quiet on the blog of late, and it’s because life has been coming at us in many different ways, both good and bad.

First off, there’s been a death in the family, and that’s required “arrangements” to be made and family visits to be scheduled. Nothing unexpected, to be honest, but even then it’s still a surprise when you hear it, and taking care of things from hundreds of miles away isn’t easy, to say the least. The dates still aren’t set in stone, so if I disappear all of a sudden and can’t be reached via e-mail, phone, or IM, then that’s why.

But on the brighter side of things, I’ve been doing shows left and right (including some still upcoming) and have been contacted about doing chainmaille classes! ^_^ I’ll give those their own post as more details become available. Add to that the insanity of Labor Day weekend and another HUGE personal happening, and you can imagine how hectic life can get. But what’s the big thing? The biggest news that effects both our personal life and Rabbit Dance Designs?

WE’RE BUYING A HOUSE!

It’s a restored Victorian in the Bellevue section of Pittsburgh, and if things go as planned we’ll be moving at the end of October/beginning of November. I can’t begin to describe how excited we are over this! It’s a very kid and pet-friendly house, with a nice lawn and in a great neighborhood with good schools. The bottom floor is the main living area, with the kitchen, living room, etc; just perfect for Lemony and the bunnies to run around in. Second floor is bedrooms, one of which we’re going to turn into a proper study (ie Computer Room – With doors, no less!) But the best part is that the attic has been finished, like many of the Victorians in this city, and that top floor is mine, to do with as I please.

I will finally have a workspace that is totally my own, and I’m glad that I won’t have to meticulously stow away and childproof everything each time I make something. The time constraints of carefully cleaning and going over things when I finish has actually prevented me from doing work on many occassions, simply because I would end up spending more time setting up and then taking down my work area than I would get actually working, even though I do have a dedicated work bench. Problem is, it’s currently in a throughway area of our house, so it has to be kept pretty clear because she’s pretty tall and has a good reach. I can’t wait to have a bench that’s ready to go, each time I walk up to it! ^_^

So keep an eye on our calendar, and check back on occasion. Once we’ve confirmed moving dates I’ll be posting shop closure times to account for the move.

But before I sign off and get some sleep, I have to say that this move and upgrade in our quality of living wouldn’t be possible without you guys. Thank you for supporting my art over these many years, both financially and through your comments both on-line and at shows. I’ve got some new ideas that I think you’re going to enjoy, so don’t forget to poke at the shop… Next month. Things should be ready by October. I think you’re going to like what you see.

PS – I’ll post pictures of the new place when I can, I promise.