cachet makes a hoop

I have made probably close to a hundred hoops now, i figured it was time to document it...

First, I picked up a lovely, compact coil of 100' 160 psi 3/4" irrigation pipe (in aisle 12 of my) Lowe's, along with a pack of 3/4" connectors.

You cut the tape and all hell breaks loose--it springs in all directions.

The custom hoop request is for a 40" hoop, so tape measure is handy.

I locate one end of the pipe and feel my way around to the spot I need to cut (which ends up being somewhere in the middle of the coil--there's no rhyme or reason).  I measure what I think (hope) is a 40" circle.

This tool is awesome--ratcheting cutters.  Cut through the pipe.

Oh, and i've boiled water and poured into the sink, because now I need to soften the ends to put it together.

This hooper wants a half of a cup of water in her hoop, so I pour that in...

Put the connector in

And push it together. Voila!  As it cools, it tightens up and won't come apart or leak.

I measure--whew--40"

Tape the connected seam for extra security.

And the fun part--picking colors.  I'll use a sparkly tape, electrical tape, and gaffer's tape (for stick).

This will be awesome I think.

I forgot to take a picture of this part--argh--but I put the sparkle tape on first, angling it just right so that I can then lay down the electrical and last, the gaffe tape.  It's a little tricky, this part, to get it smooth and even and pretty.

And here she is--pretty!

I hooped a bit with it, the water makes for an interesting hoop.  You can feel it swishing and shifting and it definitely adds a bit of weight.  I hope this hooper loves it!

new haircut & facebook hoop silliness installment 1

I've always had what I guess I'd describe as 'problem' hair.  Too much of it, too curly in an unruly sort of way to look good without straightening, too hard to deal with.  I never went to the same stylist twice, always hoping for a miracle when I went in and walking out disappointed.  As it turns out, I needed to find both a cut and a stylist that worked for me.  I've been getting some variation of this haircut for a few years now (and going to the same stylist) and am pretty happy with it.  I'd been waffling on trying to grow my hair out but, as evidenced above decided to go with the short stacked layers in the back again.  I just love how it looks, and I love keeping some longer layers around my face.

I've been having some hilarious facebook convos with my friends--specifically with Ernie.  Let's start at the beginning, because, make no mistake, I definitely saved these convos as blog fodder.  They are too good to be forgotten!  I'll be posting them in installments.

Early January:
Status: ohhh yeah! what we've been waiting for! hoopers (any level)--check it out--classes in the 'ville with the fabulous Lynn! Starting tues. 1/11--4 week sessions.
Ernie: oh sure it's just a fun little hoop craze. people gather in masses to hoop with each other. until one day they've got grape kool-aid for everyone to drink. i'm not buying it :)

Krista: Ernie, we were thinking cherry koolaid, but grape will work! ha!

Audrey: Since I have never hooped, I'm a little with Ernie on this one! Ha!

Krista: C'mon Audrey-ya don't know what you're missing :) oh, there will be a party sat. night, anyone 'on the fence' can come see and try if they want.

Krista: er..i'm getting events mixed up...the party is sat. 1/22

Ernie: Y'all are falling for it. Charles manson's a hooper I hear.

Ernie: Classic pied piper move. Stay strong audrey

Krista : ernie-shh! hoopers are gonna rule the world. hell yeah. hoopin revolution!

Heather: All I needed to hear was Kool-Aid....... I might be in!

Ernie:  they start talking about a fund raiser to Guyana and that's your cue to bail. that or they bring in a golden hoop and ask for donations. ask questions and stay thirsty my friend,

Krista: omg Ernie--you're cracking me up! golden hoop....! LOLOL


A few days later--

Status: Just burned the hell out of the grilled cheese. Why can't I get this timing thing down?!

Katie: Damn woman, where did u learn to cook? ;-)

Krista:  Katie--I'm sure my sister Katie could chime in here on my cooking disasters! I don't remember if you were privy to any of them.

Stacy: some of us just aren't cut out to be gourmet chefs.

Katie:  No sorry sweety, the only thing you made for me was a bag of doritos and our morning cereal! Lol best doggone cereal I ever ate!

Ernie: maybe you should try hooping while grilling.

Krista: Katie--omg, i really fixed you cereal? the doritos...yeah, i remember those. good lord, we ate so many of those! xoxo

Krista: Ernie--that's a good one. yes, i should try it! how will i get close enough to the stove though?

Ernie: I don't know. But if you do that...hoop and grill...have rob shoot a video. It'll go viral on youtube

Krista: Next thing ya know, I'll be on Ellen!

Ernie: You make the video and let the hoopn FB friends do the rest. Who here wants to see the queen of hooping on ellen? Bet we get u in L.A. by end of next week.

Krista: Lol! I want to go to LA! grilled cheese and hoopn will take me there! Can any radio dj's promote?!? :)

Ernie:  U don't need any jackass dj to help. All you need is the video on youtube and your Fb friends. You need me to shoot the video? My research team will get with u and rob tomorrow

Krista: Geez-I'm laughing so hard. Yeah - have your people get with mine, k?

So, I don't know if this translates well, or if only we think it's funny...but anyway, I love it.  There is more to come, fo' sho.  :)

okay, okay....comin' back around

Hello, February!  Hello, neglected blog!  Hello, a few minutes of peace and quiet, because we're digging out of 'icepocalypse' or whatever and have been stuck at home for nearly 2 days.  But the roads are pretty decent now, so I took the kids over to my friends for a few hours so I can start to catch up on some writing deadlines (gosh, I don't know, writing just does NOT happen well here with kids around...). 

So, I'm taking just a few minutes to center and then will dig in to writing, but I wanted to post my friend Mindi's blog, because she's one helluva crafter and a cool hippie chick (btw Mindi, I made my last batch of deodorant and put it in an old Tom's of Maine stick and loooove it).  Mindi and I met via the Current, and so did most of the 'wolves' (our Women Who Run With the Wolves bookclub) which is all sorts of awesome. 

So, I'm gonna be planning this year's (I'm not a) dirty hippie parties this weekend, please comment with any sort of body care/home care item you'd like to make, even if you're not local! 

I'll be posting some hooping pics here soon, too, because I just attended an awesome HoopPath workshop and friends Ernie and Aaron were there and took some photos at the party.  (LED hoops are mesmerizing, btw, I want one!)

Spring is around the corner, too, I love February.  Almost time for sowing seeds inside!

Night Air

I was introduced to an amazing song this week:  Night Air by Jamie Woon.  I was so captivated by it that of COURSE I had to hoop to it.  A lyric search turned up these lyrics (posted on someone's blog, the song is pretty new).

Night Air

Night air has the strangest flavor

Space to breathe and time to savor

All that night air has to lend me

Till the morning makes me angry

In the night air

The night air

I've acquired a kind of madness

Daylight fills my heart with sadness

Only silent skies can soothe me

Feel that night air flowing through me

In the night air

The night air

I don't need those car crash colors

I control the skies above us

Close my eyes to make the night fall

Comfort of a world revolving

I can hear the earth in orbit

In the night air

The night air

I've acquired a taste for silence

Darkness fills my heart with calmness

And each thought like a thief is driven

To steal the night air from the heavens

In the night air

The night air

Here is the hooping video I made to this song

Autumn Equinox and Harvest Moon Celebration

My friend Michelle took most of these photos, though I took the ones of her and Joni hooping.  I need to work on my camera skills.  We had a glorious evening--truly.  We ate autumn foods (the edible gifts of the Three Sisters)--beans, corn, and squash, hooped under the rising harvest moon, had music and wine...the kids played and played, and we made corn husk dolls.  Beautiful.

more hoopsession!

right now it's hooping...

I've found that I can only go in so many directions at once.  I might be on a sewing kick, or (once upon a time) a knitting kick, or a house project kick, or this or that...right now it's hooping.  In a big way.  I'm making hoops too, for a fall festival where Cachet Hoops will be a vendor!  Lots of exciting hoop stuff going on, more to come...

Land's End Hooping

Land's End Hooping

This photo of me hooping on the Maine Seacoast was published on hooping.org today!  And, my hoopin' friend is moving right near me!  She teaches hoop classes and I can't wait to partner with her to bring more hoopin' love to Noblesville (plus I can pick her brain about tricks...)

a little of the mundane (which is exciting in its own way) & more about hoopn

Tonight I cut up some of these containers into little food containers with flaps to fold down.  I always hate to throw them away, can they be recycled??  There is nothing on them to indicate that they can, so I thought it'd be better to at least let them get a little more mileage this way.  The little pint ones are GREAT for packing in lunches, and not a big deal if they get lost/damaged. 

You could put little velcro self adhesive tabs on, like above, but those aren't too cheap.  It works as well to just fold the flaps in, as shown in the top picture.

In other news, I had a really, really great time last night hoopin' at a Lite-Hearted meeting.  I did a demo and let everyone try and wow, they did great.  They were so enthusiastic.  I loved seeing all the hoops spinning around...and I wished I had my camera!  It was so awesome.  I loved spreading the hooping love!  I also sold nine hoops, bringing my total hoops sold count to 18!  That plus my other hoops in stock and the ones I own means I have made something like 40 hoops.  I hope to make many more.  I am just thrilled to get others introduced to the wonderful world of hooping!

I had an article published today about safe seed companies/avoiding GM seeds.  You can see it here.

another one bites the dust, and a copycat pillow

I forget about wool sweaters + warm/hot water washes.  This is the third sweater I have accidentally felted.  Oops.  Thankfully it was a $3.99 Goodwill buy and I will sew it up into something (maybe a bag).

I bought this cat pillow (possibly vintage, on the right) for $1 at a farmers market linens booth and tried to 'copycat' it (on the left).  It turned out 'ok', though aside from the ears which don't look like cat ears--a bit too narrow-- I think it looks like a bunny (though the ears don't look bunny-ish either).  The other side of each of these is a print fabric.  Fun to make!  I want to make dog ones, too.

This weekend my goal is to make and tape FIVE hoops.  Maybe six.  I have sold three in a week and am having a fabulous time with my hoop group pals.  Then in 2 weeks I have a demo at a weight loss group and will be selling bunches I hope.  Hooping is so fun and addictive, I want to spread the hoopin' love to the whole wide world!!!!  Wheeeee-- I love my life!

in love

february 2007

february 2006

It's February!  I love the month of February--it seems so close to spring.  I do hope we'll get more snow though.  The light seems warm and the days are noticeably longer.  Next month we will be sowing seeds inside--it isn't so far away. 

Yesterday was a pretty perfect day.  Somehow I got four, four! hoops taped which is awesome.  Usually I feel lucky to get one done.  I don't know how it happened.  I was totally in a zone.  I didn't do them all at once, but I kept coming back and doing more and boom, four gorgeous hoops!  I love it when that happens (and that synergy where it just all comes together is so rare).  So I'm excited for my hoop group to start, plus I'm doing a demo at a weight loss group next month.

Rob took Grace out for a bit yesterday for some one on one time and they brought me back a sweet vintage Pyrex refrigerator dish with lid from a downtown shop.  Aw!  Then I was going to take Eric out to Goodwill for some one on one but he didn't want to go!  Said he's tired of Goodwill, he just went last week (true, we did, but tired of secondhand shopping?  what?!)  So I took Grace and we were there 2 minutes before they announced it was closing time.  But I did get a cute sweater, half price.  Then we got a couple groceries and had a good time talking.  She's so funny, smart, sweet, and real and down to earth.  I'm thankful she's who she is and I really enjoy her.

We had a great evening together, all of us, and everything just rolled smoothly.  Lily ate supper as 'Fifi' in her pink poodle costume.  Love it and I'm so in love with my amazing family.

Hoop vid and etsy link

Short hooping video here.  Etsy link to hoops (and other stuff) here.

hoops up...at etsy

Red Delicious and Cosmo

Getting ready to churn out some more, too!

'Cosmo' Hoop

Enjoy being blissed out in this spinning sparkly circle.  Green, purple and silver holographic tape make this hoop something special.  It's an adult 39" size...stay tuned for more sizes and tape combos coming soon!  This hoop sells for $23.

Hoop Hideaway & Dyeing Rice

we made a hoop hideaway--hours of fun right here. http://www.mandalahoops.com/hoops-blog/2009/6/30/hoop-play-forts-for-kids.html

yesterday we dyed rice--so very easy and fun!

3 different times this week different people have asked me 'how do you do it' (meaning how do i manage a home & children and still be able to make things and do this and that) and 'do i ever sleep?' and things to that effect. Well, I do sleep plenty and wanted to talk a little about how i make time for what i do...and perhaps more importantly, what i DON'T do, since i by no means 'do it all'.

things i don't do:
--watch much tv, at all. the only time i have to watch tv is in the evenings, and usually we have other activities going on that preclude any tv watching. that's fine with me, i would rather be socializing, going on walks/to the park, playing, bike riding, etc. i do enjoy watching *some* tv though--usually it's netflixed movies or episodes of The Office, when i can stay up to watch it.
--go shopping. well, i *do* shop of course, but it's not fun for me, therefore i spend as little time as possible actually shopping. going to the mall is not recreational for me. not only is it pricey to buy things there, but it keeps me from doing other things and habitual buying of 'things' means more work to maintain, more clutter to deal with, and therefore less time to do the things that matter to me. for example--none of us has a *ton* of clothes, as i am constantly culling and donating them, plus i just plain don't buy that many.
--work full time outside the home. i did that for a time and was very stressed out. i truly don't know how *those* women do it!! part time is just the right balance for me.


so those are just some random thoughts. i am by no means where i want to be as far as discipline or time management goes, i'm always striving to be better. i also have a helpful husband and (usually) helpful children. i do love to thrift shop though, it's environmentally friendly, frugal, and simple. i also must make time to do the things i love--and i love to create, whether it be sewing curtains, planting flowers, baking a loaf of bread, or making my own deodorant. it connects me with the earth, with those who came before me, with God...it's incredibly centering for me. my children, then, when they see or think of something they want, ask me to make them one. and so we have this whole experience for them and for me, and this joy of making things together. wow, what a cool thing!

henna, hooping on the hill, a hat...and sewing paper

here is my henna--below is a blurry slightly faded pic of my arm....we love doing henna around here.

on a perfect summer day i enjoyed spinning round and round on my parents vermont hill--just up the road from where i lived as a baby/toddler.

i knit my first hat! ok, it didn't start out to be a hat--just a rectangle that would perhaps become a washcloth, but i couldn't bear to do another boring washcloth. so i kept knitting and made a long rectangle, sewed up the sides, and added little tassels. see it there? NOT on calvin's head? my sweet son apparently hates hats!

so here's a pic of it on the table instead.

i sewed up some sweet paper journals, loved by me and the big kids. super easy and fun to sew paper!