More new parasols

When I was cleaning the house a few weeks ago, I collected and put all the vintage umbrellas I've been purchasing over the last few months all in one spot and actually counted them for the first time. I've got 17 pieces waiting for me to repair and embellish them. Here's the first four, listed in my Etsy and Artfire shops:

Paprika Parasol:



Eastern Promise



Olive & Curry Parasol:



Brown & Black:

30 days hath September

From the A Frayed Knot blog:

I've been racking my brain, trying to think of ways to motivate myself to increase both my crafting and my blogging, and last night (or rather, very early this morning) it came to me: Make something every day AND blog about that thing. Remember when you were in grade school and you had Show'n'Tell and you brought your whatever in and told everyone a little bit about it? Pretty much the same thing here, except the whatever has to be created by me and the telling is done with pictures on this blog instead of in a classroom full of snot-nosed kids.

I have been rather unmotivated lately. Partly because I had either an event or a social engagement planned for every single weekend from the beginning of June till last weekend, but also just due to feeling like I was stuck in a rut. I took the first steps out this weekend, creating some new parasols, but it's been so long. This challenge seemed like just the thing.

Of course, the pictures will probably be slightly off, as I'll be taking them at night instead of the usual diffuse daylight, but maybe that'll motivate me to finally start using the light box I bought six months ago.

So starting Tuesday, September 1st, let's see if I can keep up with an item and a post a day.

New photo policy on Ebay, effective August 31st

Got the heads-up on this from one of my communities - please spread the word!


Starting on August 31st, eBay is going to institute a new policy where photos you upload to any listing are put into a "catalog" of online images that any eBay user can then use for their own listings. The default setting for this is opt-in, which is a problem if you, like me, consider your photographs your property and want to control how they are used and by whom. A copyright notice is posted with a link to your user profile, but no additional information is given, and the link is quite small. Edited to add: Ebay's policy makes mention of these images being used as part of a product catalog to highlight the best photography on the site. There is very little detail as to how the images will be used, however.

Since the default setting is opt-in, and eBay has not sent messages out about this, a lot of people are going to be caught flat-footed by this new policy.

Again, the default for this setting is YES, you have opted in.

Instructions on how to opt out, thanks to ebay user from-me-2u2

If you do not want eBay to make the photos you upload to all of your future auctions available to other users in a sort of catalog process, you need to go change your settings now, before August 31st. If you opt out after then, any photos you upload between the 31st and when you opt out will still be eligible for inclusion in their "catalog."

In order to opt out of this so-not-okay process, do the following. I've broken it down exhaustively. Hopefully your eBay pages look like mine.

1) Go to your eBay summary page ("My eBay").

2) On the left-hand side, there are three tabs that say "Activity," "Messages," and "Account." Hover over the "Account" tab.

3) A drop-down list will appear. Move your mouse down to "Site Preferences" and click.

4) You will be taken to a page with a list of site options for selling, shipping, and listing. About the sixth from the top is "Share your Photos." Click on the word "show" on the right hand side next to this option.

5) The box will expand, and if you are opted in, "yes" will appear. If you are opted out, "no" will appear. A small "edit" link will appear below the "show" link. If you want to change the settings, click "edit."

6) You will be taken to a new page with the following text: If you'd like to opt-out of this program, please do so by checking this box and clicking the "submit" button below.
(If you opt-out before August 31, 2009, none of your photos will be considered for inclusion in this program unless you opt back in at a later time. If you opt-out after August 31, 2009, any photos we select for inclusion in this program prior to your opt-out may continue to be used in the catalog)

7) If you want to opt out of the program, check the ticky box on the left-hand side next to the text, then go down and click the "submit" button.

8) You will go back to the settings screen you were just on, and there will be a green checkmark and a confirmation message. Go down to the "Share your Photos" option again and click "show." Your setting should now appear as "no."

Last weekend for faire, 2009

The last weekend of the first year at our new site, Maris Farms in Buckley, WA.

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Come see me - I'm in the middle aisle, next to the "Fight a Pirate" booth. Lots of pretties and shinies for your viewing (and buying!) pleasure, as well as many other treasures and sights to behold.

My newest Steampunk creations

New necklaces and a new parasol as well, the first of many in the next few months, as I've acquired quite a stockpile of pieces to adorn.