Road trip. Major roadtrip.
May 7th, 2009Finally. And I mean, freaking finally.
This road trip has always been predicated upon the idea that my baby sister was moving from Georgia state back to Washington state, from whence my family originated.
However, this road trip was in plans for more than a year now. First we had to wait out a knee replacement surgery (not mine). Then mouth surgery (not mine either). Then implant healing time (also not mine). And then…I am not sure anymore.
So, three intrepid travelers are we, setting out to take Sis from the coast of the Atlantic literally to the coast of the Pacific. To the point where the shoreline inhibits further travel. My purpose on this trip is basically historian. And driving duty.
Dad already has a list of sites that he wishes to visit as we go, so from what I understand, the trip stands to take anywhere from two to three weeks. All this is wonderful as far as I am concerned.
For example, we know a few of the stops already: Dad wants to hit the UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico, and of course, Sis and I are completely behind that! I want to see the Grand Canyon again, and try my hand at walking the Sky Walk (and with my agoraphobia, this should be highly interesting.)
Sis has on her list an afternoon of throwing away cash in Las Vegas and seeing our great-grandparents’ then-farm-now-oil field in Oklahoma
Leaving the family for what could turn into two months leaves me nerve racked, but hubby is a resourceful fellow. I know he can survive.
As for Kattitudes, this actually means two things: first, I am going to have a veritable plethora of ideas for projects that can travel. Gift creations that you can take along with you. I have to populate my etsy store and my ebay store at the same time, so handmade jewelry gifts are going to be a screaming priority. I am bringing more jewelry pieces than you can shake a stick at because I intend to create and list as we travel! (Well, you know what they say about good intentions….and how coincidental that I will be on the road already….).
As some of my plans are already in place, I know that I will be carrying (of course) an extensive selection of jewelry findings, and will spend the majority of my time creating new one-off pieces for sales. However, I also have a fabulous collection of silk ribbon flowers, and have had ideas for how to embellish with them forever. I already purchased a supply of silk scarves for use, and intend to get a head start of not only a number of upcoming gift-giving occasions, but also to work on adding to my store. Things have been selling well locally, but I absolutely must get accustomed to sales online and producing enough to cover my bases, both locally and online.
I finally found myself a perfect teach-yourself to crochet kit, and when I need some monotonous relaxation time, I plan on pulling out my practice ball of yarn, and sitting down to crochet. The instruction book I have have some plans for just marvelous little projects, and things that would make actually quite wonderful gifts in and of themselves. I want to take the opportunity to find some videos of needlework and/or make some videos so we can all hop on board and start creating!
There is so much more I could do, but I am determined to limit myself to 1) projects easily transported and 2) projects that could legally go through an airport security search (be it in checked luggage or carry-on). If I am not cautious, I can significantly overpack. What I mean by that is that whilst my clothing selections are spot-on and easy to transport, when it comes to my crafting and gifting tools and supplies, I always significantly overpack. Then I am stuck lugging all these pounds of craft items without the opportunity to sit and turn all the pieces into an easily transportable gift. So another goal for me is that at the end of the trip, I will only be transporting finished items and absolutely no stock findings or parts and pieces will be left to overfill the corners of my suitcase.
OK. So now we know what to expect. Oh, I know what I forgot! Giveaways!
Giveaways. In the process of organizing and simplifying my life, I have discovered stashes of craft supplies and items from which to make enough gifts to entertain a small country. I am never going to be able to use it all in this lifetime. As a result, I have decided to start implementing some giveaways on kattitudes. I haven’t decided exactly how to do this yet, but I will start about the time we pack up and get on the road. I’m taking a number of items with us, pre-packed in mailing boxes already, and as we go, I’ll drop the winnings in the most convenient mailbox.
This way everyone benefits! My house gets cleaned out and someone gets a chance to express their creativity with something that might not have been available to them before.
I think that is pretty much it. There was one last thing tickling in my memory as I was typing that last bit, but it disappeared. Ah well, thus is the illustrated benefit to the edit function of blogging software. I will obviously need to use it this time.
I will start adding gift ideas again later tonight or tomorrow. Interspersed with them will be my blog entries for my road trip. I’ll tell you a little more about blog plans for the roadtrip later. Hopefully you will find yourself as interested in the cross-section of America that we will see as I am.
Ah, I remember what I forgot. If anyone has ideas for vacation type projects, please feel free to leave a comment. Keep in mind that the focus of kattitudes has always been on handmade gifts, and projects you can make and share to show the love you feel for your recipient. I am hoping to keep all the projects on this trip items that I can then pass on to friends and family (and a lot for sale for other people to give away). Anyway, if you have suggestions, please leave them for me!
Thanks. Have I mentioned lately how excited I am for this road trip?
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