Low Tech Person In A High Tech World!!!

I'm pushing myself too, TOO much. And I know it. Trying to learn all this technology is making my BRAIN hurt and my body ache. I'm taking an online social media marketing class that has been helpful but truthfully? I don't want to spend hours on social media marketing. Some of their methods can't see the trees for the forest.  Some of it I find useful, most I find a pain in the butt. If someone wants to do this marketing as a full time job, that's great. I don't...just pick up a few tricks and tools here and there to use and let this grow organically.  If I'd just post more and share those posts in links here and there, just what I've been doing, I think I'd accomplish the same thing. Alas I never post regularly and I forget to share what I do post!!  My bad.

Tonight I'm frustrated, I can't get their program to work...plus every time I learn a program, they change it!!! So I will do what I'm good at and that's put a blog update on here. People who are suppose to find me will. Still have to get this blog changed over to a website. Already have the name purchased. That will be another week in the future. These days it is just too much going on to shake a stick at. Friday night sat about 6 hours at the ER with my son. He's having vision and pain problems. ER's on Friday nights are really INTERESTING places. Bless those people manning those ER's. I'd of pulled my hair out I had to work that every weekend!!! Not sure what is going on with my son, he has a referral to an eye specialist. Blessings and prayers would be appreciated.

Wolf Creek Indian Village and Museum is having their 20th Anniversary celebration, Saturday September 17th and I've been trying to help on the history timeline and identifying pictures. Blasts from the past and realizing so much history because of this one little site.  Yep I've already caused an uproar with my Jenny Wiley posts. BUT dag gone it.... so many of the history books are WRONG and of all the stories that need to be told, the history of the early Europeans and Native Americans need MUCH more scrutiny in Appalachia than what has been written and taken as fact.  Especially when in fact, a lot of what has been passed as history of our area is absolute BS. WCIV is a place for those conversations and beginnings. So life goes on.

Next....When Appalachian Service Project crews were here, repairing my home, I felt so grateful, I made some corn husks dolls and such as gifts. They were not great and accomplished in a hurry and I used every dyed corn husk I had.  I had to get some more and dye them quickly!! I promised to try to demonstrate at the Mercer County Heritage Festival coming up here in a couple of weeks.  Here is one of the little ladies I made for a member of one of the crews.

This one went to a Pittsburgh Steeler's fan who saw what shucks were dyed in my box, wanted black and gold.  Did it, though the flash on the camera makes it look much lighter. Need to work on my photography too. 

So last week, I began the process of dying corn husks to replenish the supply. I'm trying to write a how to book on how I do this, and give directions on how to make all kinds of corn husk crafts. It's in progress!! Thus why I was interested in Social media marketing. I'm just not interested in going that in depth to spend days on it to do what I could figure out with a Google search! But it did get me to work on my twitter account, open a bitly account, get on Linked in and Klout and Hootsuite and explain the concepts which is a good background to know. I just don't like using the programs they want us to use. Big Data is a bit intrusive and scary...I just want to sell a corn husk craft book later! I'm one of those people that believe things will come to you when you want or need them. Don't need to push it, so much as let it be found. 

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Anyway, I use all kinds of things to dye shucks: Kool-aid, food coloring, cold water dyes, rit dye, natural dyes. The brownish black above was accomplished using black walnut husks.  What ever I have on hand. It's been so damp and humid, I was having a time after they were dyed, getting them to dry for storage on the dining room table.  Outside we kept having the "monsoons" every day so the ground was damp and the wind would pick up and then die down. Laying them out on the ground on black plastic usually works on a hot day....IF the wind is not blowing. I finally resorted and used the old pickup truck bed as a drying rack. THAT worked beautifully.  Hillbilly ingenuity.

I always use salt as a mordant. Think of dying Easter eggs, it is the same concept. So here are some pictures of that process and a flyer for the Mercer County Heritage festival. I'm going and will be demonstrating as long as I can hold out. I start getting veritgoey or washed out I will have to quit...but I think I'm in better shape this year than last. Last year I was VERY sick and I hope I hold up much better this year. 

BUT, I NEVER KNOW! Like I've said before, I can tell myself, "I'm going to do such and such today!" And my body replies, "HA! YOU WISH!"  Such is the life of chronic illness.  But it's always a good day.....I WOKE UP!!! Just have to roll with it. 

Took 3 days to dry these on the table.

Purple UNSWEETENED Kool-aid with salt as a mordant

Taking over the sink for a couple of days!

I use mason jars filled with water for weights.

Setting overnight.

BEST IDEA all year. Black Truck bed liner with sides, didn't blow away and dried in one afternoon.

End of POST. Blessing all and back to this CRAZY class. I'm so far behind.

Appalachian Bag Ladies - Dolls

Trying to be useful with this illness is trying beyond words. Trying to remain active. Keep my mind active and fight this illness is a full time job.  I have not the stamina nor the strength of what I used to but that doesn't mean I don't try to at least function on some level. Takes me forever to do what I once did quickly. Some days the old hands won't work. Some days it takes FOREVER to remember how to do things. The brain fog is truly a fog.

Bless my family. They do so much for me. My son and daughter take care of me in so many ways. Without my son I'd have no internet and he is my chauffer, the person that keeps me from burning the house down, forgetting things, on bad days so many things, making sure I'm ok.  They really come through especially when house taxes, insurance and the anniversary month for the electric are all coming due.

But it hurts me to see them struggling to take care of me. I rack my brain on how to help myself. I still have knowledge on how to do things. If I take my time, and have time to take, I can do things.  Wishing I would be strong enough to do a full time job again doesn't make it so. In my shape I would not hire me. But still I have hope that one day I will be well enough to function on a greater level because Lord knows, as anyone who became disabled and tries to live on disability does, I miss my job and my JOB MONEY!!

So what to do? Is there a way I can help them help me? I used to be quite a craft person. LOVE crafts. My son in law brought some corn grown from his parent's garden the other week for Sunday dinner. It was very good sweet corn.  I kept the corn shucks. I left them in a pan on the porch to dry.

I used to be known as the Corn shuck lady at Crab Orchard museum. I would take corn husks and demonstrate how to make different crafts with them. You can make dolls, hats, mats, bags, brooms all kinds of things out of just corn husks.

My goal was to make a doll or two and give them to my son to sell. They don't sell for much but it was a way to keep me occupied and anything is better than nothing.  Well that idea went the way of the wind, literally. I had a bad week and forgot the husks were on the porch. First the outside kitties made a bed out of them and then a good windy day blew them away through the yard.  Sigh!!!


I was telling my beloved partner Ed about it. (For those of you curious about that, we are an older couple with two separate houses. Works for us!!) He has watched me make these dolls. He said, "Doesn't it look like plastic grocery or garbage bags have the same consistency of wet corn husks? He asked me, "Do you think you could make a doll out of plastic bags?"

Wow, I thought that's recycling on a different scale. I took that suggestion, dug through the grocery bags and tried it. Took me about a week. I really notice the old brain drawbacks and muscle differences when I work on crafts. I used to make 6 or 7 dolls in a demonstration in an afternoon! It is so strange believe me. I get tired easily. BUT I DID IT!!! Really the pictures don't do them justice. Since it is before Halloween, I made a flying witch and the other just a doll with a broom. These two dolls are made like corn husk dolls but out of plastic grocery/garbage bags, string, little bit of tape, wood and some linen waxed thread. 

Both are made to hang up somewhere. The witch does fly, though I wouldn't leave her in a really stiff wind outside. Rather I would hang the witch over a table display like on a ceiling light fixture or by the door so that when you open or close the door she moves. Being light she flies pretty well. The little yellow dress doll will stand up. Some folks like to hang corn husk dolls on trees and I was trying to add something for her to do that. You can't tie it around her waist she is a bit top heavy. So there is a thin thread around her neck, that does not show too badly. This can be cut to just have her set on a table. I was going to put a rope but then it looked like a noose!! That's too morbid for me. We took a little video of them hanging on a tree in the back yard.  See video below.

I then gave them to my son to sell in his store on eBay. I think it's sort of crazy but then they sell some crazy stuff on eBay. I watched on a show where they sold a green pepper that looked like it had a face..... for $155? I don't understand buying some thing that would rot like that much less paying that much for it!! But each to his own. At least these dolls are made out of plastic bags and they say plastic bags have a life in the ground of 100 years.

Also Ed was sitting on the porch the other day and made a primitive wooden fish hook necklace. He carved and heated the wood into shape and made a corded necklace rope. He gave that to my son to sell for the cause. He's so sweet.

Appalachian crafters have a history of taking whatever is available and making something out of it. It's in our blood!
They sold very quickly. Need, I reckon to one day make a few more.