...NuxieMade...

New NuxieMade website

2011-04-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

It was a sad day when I had to request to have my NuxieMade Etsy shop to be closed down. I've had that account since 2006 when Etsy was only a year old. But the theft on my images were getting out of control & I still had tons of photos from the sold section without watermarks that were still being lifted. So it had to be done. BUT I'm happy to announce that I have a new website: www.NuxieMade.com I'm implementing some new changes such as limited run on certain color schemes, more ready to ship items & I'm also going to try working with other types of yarn besides cotton! :o I'm also going to be expanding the clothing line with lots of one of a kind items. SO for the rest of the month of April, I'm celebrating with a sale, just use the code: NUX2011 during check out to get 15% discount off your total. Yay!

Oh, I still have the nuximadecouture.etsy.com shop but it's got limited listing. I just can't completely leave Etsy just yet :0

Did you know about the CPSIA?

2009-01-25T16:38:00.000-08:00

As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They're banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we've seen in decades. I'd like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.

Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.

The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.

How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students:
Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader:
Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there's always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.
Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist:
Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper:
Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur:
Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector:
Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy:
Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.

To the Worldwide Economy:
Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.

If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html

And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.

ice cweem!!

2008-06-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

I love this drawing by JP... check out more of his wackiness at: http://dishbot.deviantart.com/gallery/

And of course Santina's turn....

2008-06-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Santina did a music solo at Far Horizons Montessori's spring concert, her first violin solo.

James Rawks...

2008-06-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

James guitar recital at Cozmic Pizza on June 7th 2008. The other guitar guy is his teacher. It won't be long 'til he's better than his dad.

Late nights....

2008-06-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

I am tired! It's fiscal year end at work so I have been putting in extra hours then off to chaueffer the kids to wherever they need to be, after that I have to do my motherly duties of homework check, dinner, bath, cleaning up, laundry, bedtime stories, etc. then I'm up until midnight or so making hats. I've been getting about 5 hours of sleep evernight, so even tho I'm looking forward to this weekend, there' still no sleeping in for me. Santina's school ballet show of Copellia at the Hult Center is on Sunday so after her ballet class on Saturday, she has a tech rehearsal til 5:45pm and James has music recital around 6ish. So I have to haul ass to see him perform. Good thing, my mother in law is here from CA to help me out with the kids since Brian is enjoying his time off for a week from work & cycling hard with his stepdad at the Aids LifeCycle Ride. I will be picking them up at the airport at midnight on Saturday, just in time for Santina's show on Sunday. Yeay!

In NuxieMade news, I will have new colors in my store soon. Meanwhile, take a look at my new color schemes on cutie twin models (my hats are the pink one & white one)... http://www.twinklestarsphotography.blogspot.com/

Bzzz...

2008-05-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

I've been so swamped with work, kids, and NuxieMade is keeping me pretty busy as well but here are a couple of blogs that's featured my hats:

By KaraMay Photograhpy, I just LOVE her style and her kids are just gorgeous...
http://lifescapturedmoments.blogspot.com/2008/04/nuxie-made.html
there's also done some shots with another designer alongside one of my hats:
http://lifescapturedmoments.blogspot.com/2008/05/kait-emerson-designs.html

and one more:
http://wildwoodgirls.blogspot.com/2008/05/5-things-i-love_08.html

I've been forgetting to "blog"...

2008-04-01T09:33:00.003-07:00

But I have lots of new hats so go see them now: www.nuxiemade.etsy.com

Custom Order Cupcake Blanket

2007-12-12T16:59:00.001-08:00

This was a custom order. My last blanket order for the year. Santina wants me to make her one as well but that girl has tons of handmade blankets already.
By the way, I'm not currently taking anymore blanket orders. I have a Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas blanket that I need to finish up but I'm holding off on making blankets for a while as it takes forever to make them and I'm already tight on time as it is.

Silly Santina in a new beanie

2007-10-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

click on silly San to see more pics.

Breakfast is ready!!

2007-10-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

Custom made for my sis Candy- a bacon & eggs scarf in acrylic yarn. I listed it on Etsy.

Gwennies Kitties

2007-10-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

Last night, I finally finished Gwenn's requested cats. I probably won't get to upload it on Etsy tonight as my eyes are ready to pop out of its sockets. I need to get off the computer to rest my poor tired eyes, but I will for sure upload them tomorrow night. The kitties are ready to go home. Yeay!

2007-09-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

I've uploaded one more day from the Greece trip pictures on Picasa. I think the Acropolis trip has the most pictures taken so I should be able to upload the last 3 days since I dont think I've taken as many pictures after Acropolis.

I've been busy crafting all this week. I'm finishing up the 2nd amineko doll for my friend Gwenn, finished another crocheted beanie to put up for sale on etsy-I just need to decide wether to put a brim or leave it as is. I'm also working on a special request from my sister- a bacon & eggs scarf. I wrote a pattern for it last weekend & started working on it a couple of days ago. I also have a blanket order I need to start on soon. I'm back to crafting with yarn for the fall, I guess.

I thought I'd have more time...

2007-09-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

but I guess I'm wrong again.

Anyway, before I forget, here's a quick rundown on the Greece Trip:

Thursday Aug. 23-Get to Blue Palace Resort & Spa in the island of Crete.
Friday Aug 24- hung out at the resort, in the pool all day, 5 course seafood feast dinner at Blue Door Restaurant
Saturday Aug 25 - went to the Dikteon "Zeus" Cave
Sunday Aug 26 - hung out most of the day in the pool again, afternoon stroll in Elounda, dinner in town
Monday Aug 27 - went to Knossos Palace
Tuesday Aug 28 - Grande Britagne Hotel Athens, Greece, took a stroll at the Plaka
Wednesday Aug 29 - took the subway into town, went to the National Museum of Athens, then to Acropolis in the late afternoon.
Thursday Aug 30- visit family in Louka
Friday Aug 31 - went to Ossios Loukas Monastery, then Delphi,
Saturday Sept 1 - hung out in the pool, then Brian, Santina & I checked out the upscale mall around the corner from the hotel, stroll & dinner at the Plaka
Sunday Sept 2 - went home, arrived PDX late night.

And of course, the pictures that chronicles the trip (I still need to upload 4 more days).

This weekend, we are off to Portland to check out the Pirates Festival. And no, I'm not dressing up.

BTW

2007-09-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

We got a new dog yesterday. We renamed her Waffles. Her name was Abby but the kids wasn't too crazy with that name so Waffles it is. She is a 2 year old Beagle-Basset mix. She's a sweetheart and we are all in love with her already.

Greece Day 1

2007-09-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Okay so here's the short but sweet update:

Wed. Aug 22, Brian, James, Santina and I got on the plane at 7am, landed in Newark, NJ around 3:30ish, got on another plane with the rest of Brian's family around 5:30ish, got to Athens I think around noon (?) the 23rd, got on another plane for another hour to finally get to Crete.

Shortly after checking in at the Blue Palace Resort & Spa in Elounda, we all went out (minus Brian's sis Paula- she snoozed instead) to get lunch in town , checked out one of the grocery stores then headed back to the hotel and hit the main floor pool.

You can see the pictures here.

I think we were in bed around 9:00pm or so, trying to fight the jetlag and get into Greece time.

UPDATE:

Everyone is asking me how did the kids do on the long plane rides so here's the answer:
I'm one of the lucky ones. My kids were well behaved. James is 11 so he can keep himself busy. Santina is 4 and she did damn great! No complaints from her. She was fine watching the same movies & cartoons over & over & over. The rest of the time, she kept herself busy with her DS or playing with her doll or snoozing. She didnt need to be walked up & down the entire lenght of the plane or had to be hushed to be quiet because everyone else is trying to get some z's. And NO I didnt need to give her Benadryl or coughing syrup to get her to fall asleep. All I had to do was tell her to try & get some sleep & she did.

We returned!

2007-09-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

We've been back a week now. I wen't back to work Thursday. Greece was a lot of fun. But more details later. For now, I've uploaded photos of our 1st 2 days in Crete. More later, it takes forever for my internet to upload 5 photos at a time. grrr!
You can look here.

Anxious much?

2007-08-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

The answer is yes. I can't concentrate at work, which is where I'm at right now, because I'm anxious about our trip. We leave tomorrow early AM. The taxi cab we reserved will picked us up at 4:30 in the morning to take us to PDX. We drive for Portland tonight after work to stay the night at Brian's dad's house but we'll probably won't get there til 10 or 11ish at night, then hopefully be in bed by midnight then have to get the kids up at 3 freakin' A.M.!! I sure hope they sleep on the plane so I can sleep.

Okay I will do another attempt at being productive. Damn, my stats going to suck today!

Oooh... 20 minutes til lunch time.

Ovalteenies

2007-08-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

Santina is really addicted to Ovalteenies. I have to keep asking my mom who lives in CA to buy her Ovalteenies. She buys us the boxes & San goes through them pretty quickly. They are pretty good. James friend Max is also now addicted to it and have to hide the rest of the Ovalteenies when he's over or he'll go through several packets of them.

from wikipedia: Ovalteenies are round sweets made of compressed ovaltine. They are popular with children in Australia. At one point faces were imprinted onto the candies. They are still sold in many canteens in Australian schools.

Now if I can only get my hands on some Horlicks tablets, I loved it when I was little, esp. the chocolate flavor ones. It's not that easy to find & pretty pricey to get online but maybe I'll order some soon for the nostalgia kick.

wikipedia: Horlicks is the name of a company and a malted milk hot drink claimed to promote sleep when drunk at bedtime. It is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline in the United Kingdom, India and Jamaica. In some countries, such as the Philippines and Malaysia, Horlicks was also sold as milky-chocolate-flavored disks in paper packets, which were then eaten as candy.

And of course I still love Nestle Milo, it used to come with little wrapped toys or games inside them and my brother and I will always try to get to it first. I also just love to eat the mix & not necessarily mix it in a drink form. The reason I got addicted to Java Chip Frappaccino with malt last summer was because it tasted so much like Milo. mmmm.

wikipedia: Milo is a milk beverage with chocolate and malt, produced by Nestlé and originating from Australia. Milo is supposedly high in energy, because the drink has 1,760 kJ in every 100 g of the drink. It is also for this reason that it is also marketed as the "Energy Food Drink". It is also supposed to have a low Glycemic Index (GI), that is, "33 made with whole milk, 36 made with reduced fat milk". This lets the energy stored in Milo be released slowly throughout the day. The Milo website states that the drink "is high in calcium, iron and the vitamins B1, 2, 6, 12."

One more week...

2007-08-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

In 7 days, my family and I will be lounging at the Blue Palace Hotel in Crete, Greece for one luxirious week:

And then we're off to Athens for another luxurious week:

Yup, it's going to be heavenly.

2007-08-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Just getting started... I'm at work so time is short, real short.

so more later...