Adventures with Craft-Related Injuries

Well I experienced my first *real* craft-related injury last week!  No, not the usual needle stab wounds to my fingers, sitting on my pin cushion, or slipping on a pile of scraps.  This time I had a brush with carpal tunnel!  All of the tendons from my wrist almost down to my elbow were so sore I couldn't do anything with my right hand for several days!  It was all the cutting involved in making several fabric flowers for my shop, as well as the hand-sewing.  I tried several remedies and checked with my trusty chat friends on how to address the problem.

One of the most successful treatments was wrapping the affected area in a "moist heat" producing heating pad - the one I normally use when I twist my ankle (a common occurrence).  I also tried splinting my wrist to limit movement.  It didn't really do anything other than abate my symptoms during the time it was immobile.

One of my jewelry designer friends told me about a therapy he swears by - contrast baths.  It involves 2 buckets of water, one as hot as you can stand, and one as cold as you can stand.  Dip the affected arm in the hot one first, wait, and then in the cold.  Repeat as necessary.  He tells me it feels "wonderful" but it sounds like some kind of torture to me!

I suffered with this injury for more than 3 days.  The symptoms finally began to disappear after a few treatments with the heating pad, a hefty dose of anti-inflamatories, and gently massaging the tendons on the rounded corner of my desk for about 4 hours!  The next day it was much better.  I'm happy to report that I've regained function in my right arm again!  yay!  Next time I will take precautions before I go on a cutting binge!  Feel free to share your experiences and remedies related to craft induced injuries!!

The Doldrums

Well it's already mid-August and summer will be winding down soon, if not the heat here in Maryland!  I suspect it's going to be an Indian summer this year.  Things are slowing down in my shop as well so I might actually make my goal of listing a hundred items!  13 more listings to go!  I've been busily rolling polymer clay beads in all sorts of different colors, and I finally baked a big batch of them last night.  I did list my first clay bead creation which can be found HERE .  Lets see how much I can make with them!

I also have supplies coming in from Fire Mountain Gems and Joann.  I ran clean out of clasps for my jewelry products so I had to place a large order.  I found some really cheap but great bead/craft storage boxes at Joann for something like $2.37 each!  And they are pretty big and quite sturdy.  I bought one earlier in the summer and came back for like 6 more!  So those should be arriving soon I hope, because I've got to get chugging along on my projects!  13 listings is closer than ever to my goal, but as any experienced Etsian will tell you, listing 13 items is such a daunting task!

In other news, I finally received a replenished supply of red Owl beads for my most popular pair of earrings !  they have to be shipped from overseas so it takes up to a month for them to get here!  Now I should have enough for 25 more pairs of these popular earrings.

Meanwhile, I have tons of beautiful fabric and I have no idea what to do with it.  I'm sort of afraid to start a project with them because I don't want to mess it up!  But if I'm going to make it to 100 items, I need to overcome my crafter's block and dig in!

I'm starting my day with a redbull in the hopes that it will get these fingers off the keyboard and into my craft supplies!  That's my update for now,  HAPPY CRAFTING y'all!!