Virtual Trunk Show

ATTENTION! ATTENTION!Roz's Sax will join Etsyrain in the Etsy.com Trunk Show!Etsy.com is going to make craft and internet history on November 13th at 4pm Pacific Time. On this day, Etsy sellers from around the world will get together to show their wares to a live audience in Etsy's Virtual Labs. Here you'll be able to meet the maker, learn about the process and even see them live in their studio via webcams! With the help of Etsy Teams, like EtsyRain, Seattle's Etsy Team, this is going to be the handmade shopping event of the season, and is not to be missed!

My inner packrat

What I mean by 'inner' is that it's something I try desperately to both hide, and stay in denial about. I do the obligatory "purge" of my closet, my junk room, and my refridgerator. Yet, somehow the junk trickles right back in. My mom is a neat freak. I'm talking you could walk through her front door at any given day or time and it would be SPOTLESS. No dishes by the sink, no discarded clothes near the shower, not even a pillow out of place. And junk piles NEVER seem to accumulate anywhere in her house. If she hasn't used or worn something in a few months, it's gone! So it's not like I picked up these bad habits from her. But I still have clothes that I haven't warn in years, stashed away in 'under the bed' storage or some box in the back of the closet. And the stuff I will never wear, you know those pieces that still have the tags on? They're taking up prescious space in my overstuffed closet. Did I mention I'm also a shopaholic? I'm guessing those weaknesses usually go hand-in-hand. My dream closet is one that is packed full of stuff for every occassion, lined up with outfits that will never let me utter the words, "I don't have anything to wear." But whose isn't right? Don't even get me started on my office/junk room/craft room. Sometimes I have to move stuff out of the room, just to be able to get in. Sigh... there's no hope! I think organization is a chip that I am missing --and will never be able to download.

My Olympic Experience RUINED!

My 'day job' is actually a graveyard shift. I'm a News Writer at KIRO Television. The hours make it much less glamarous than it sounds. What REALLY bugs me about it lately is that it's wrecking my Olympic Experience! I'm a big Olympics junkie. I watch all the major events, know the players ...even read the previews and bios. Unfortunately, because I have to go to bed early, I have to watch it all on a DVR-delay. For the past couple days ...that hasn't even been possible.

Let me set the scene for you ...so you can feel my pain. When I walk into KIRO, there's TV's EVERYWHERE!!!! There's a giant string of televisions mounted up high on the wall, can't miss them. There's also AT LEAST ONE on every desk. There's two at mine, and another one at the next desk. We're very 'plugged in' to what's happening on the tube.

So Monday, I walk in and the sight of Michael Phelps flexing his muscles and letting out a roar I could just image was heard throughout the The Water Cub (Beijing's new Olympic Pool) drew my attention. How could I turn away? The boy is CUT! Since he was standing with a few other guys in those cool NASA swimsuits --I could pretty much tell the relay team had 'done good.'

Then today, I come in and announce that I don't want anyone to tell me the results of the men's gymnastic team finals. It was bad enough those cute little Hamm brothers weren't competing. Then the men's team had been given slim hopes of doing anything worth anything. But I at least wanted to SEE them not do anything for myself. This time, I turned on the television at my desk and there was the men's team captain holding up his bronze metal. ARGH!

I guess the only good news is, it takes the pressure off and my nails don't get eaten off while I'm watching?

Smigel's New Haircut

My Chihuahua Smigel is just like a child to me. I take her EVERYWHERE, spoil her rotten, and I protect her at all costs! So, she's never been to the groomer ...because I didn't want to leave her there for hours while she's tortured with a shaver. But she's been panting like crazy in the last month of warm weather in Seattle, so I decided it was time! Luckily, our favorite groomer Kevin lives in my condo building and agreed to make a house call. It took a lot of patience on his part, and an hour of holding her down and coaxing her to lift legs and expose the belly, etc. Now she's BALD and lovin' it! The fur was everywhere and Smigel was a little traumatized, but she'll be so much cooler for the rest of the summer, and it'll all grow back by the time she needs it in the winter. The only thing is ...she looks so WEIRD! I kept asking her (yes, we talk all the time) who ARE you strange dog?

Fall Spiral

Ever since I thought up the idea to beef up my line of scarves and start a new website on Etsy JUST for that purpose ...I've been thinking about what fabulous new scarves I could create. The one that I dreamed of the most is a fall version of my spiral scarves that I've been making all summer in light-weight cotton. I picked three scraps out of the giant pile of yarn in my craft room ...and went to work. I'm SO pleased with the results. I like the combination the most --of the different colors that blend to together ...and of course the FUZZY piping I added to make it POP! I hope everyone loves this one as much as I do. I can't wait to make more!

Getting Started

A little more than a year ago I decided to turn my hobby into a business. My grandma grew up in Germany, where she learned needle arts in grammer school, and taught me how to crochet when I was about 10. It's been like a religion ever since. I started by making Christmas gifts ...potholders, slippers, scarves and pillows. Eventually I moved on to bigger projects! Then, when ponchos came back in style ...watch out! I learned how fun it was to wear something you've made by hand. Jump ahead to Christmas of 2006 when I made a couple of felted purses for friends. "You have to sell these," they raved. Roz's Sax Seattle was born!

Now I'm launching a new website in September for my most popular item to date ...SCARVES! Not just the boring ones that every first-time knitter makes. I've got Scarflettes, Boas, Cowls, and braids. The soft launch to www.scarfcity.etsy.com is already underway!