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January 25, 2023

Happy New Year to you! For this months blog bit, please read this piece I wrote on how to adjust your thinking while living with chromic pain and illness or disability.

What if? Vs. Right now?

“What if?” It is a short question with many ways to flush it out. It is full of wonder and possibly. What if I tried a new sport? I’ll have fun and I might get good enough to go pro! What if I took up a new hobby? I might be able to start my own small business! Or I might fill my time with something that brings me joy. What if I worked harder? I might get that new promotion I’ve been wanting. What if I said hello? I should! Maybe this is the person for me!

Ah yes, a new world can open up to you with “What if?”! If you are healthy that is. 

But that same question when seen through the lens of chronic pain and illness becomes loss and despair. What if I could have played sports? I’d have been a normal kid! I could have had a happier childhood. What if I take up a hobby? What if I can’t put in the time or do the things my new hobby requires? I’ll never be good at anything or successful! What if I could work harder? I know I could, if I had the energy but I’m spent from dealing with my chronic pain and illness all the time. I’m just so damn tired! I feel worthless! What if I said hello? Then there would be conversations and my chronic illness and pain would come out. No one wants to be in a relationship with someone like me.

The “What if’s?” are enough to crush your soul and drown you in a sea of your own tears. 

While dealing with my own “What if’s”, I found a new question “Right now?”. Right now? I can get out of bed. Right now? I can brush my teeth. Right now? I can make dinner. Right now? I can do my laundry. Right now? I can spend time with friends. Right now? I can do my shopping.

“Right now?” Is the life preserver in my sea of tears. It lifts me out of loss, out of lament. Right now? Becomes a powerful affirmation of what I can do, in whatever moment I happen to be in. 

Living with chronic illness and pain demands different questions than those of a healthy person. It demands a mind set change to get the most out of life. To have a quality of life. To feel successful. To feel powerful and capable. To maintain your self control. To keep your self respect.

My solution is the question of “Right now?”. Even writing this is an answer to that very question. Right now? I can write that thing I have been wanting to, as in this moment, my brain is clearer. 

“Right now?”, allows me to focus on my needs in the moment so that I can for fill them and move on with the next task that I can do, right now! It helps me to know what I can do. It also holds possibly, as each hour of the day my state is changing. My right now is forever shifting and I want to be able to recognize those moments when I am doing “better” and can be more productive. Right now?”, gives me that power. It lifts me from the sea of “What if’s?”!

December 23, 2022

Some very cool things to report this month. 10 copies of my ACB made their way into “The Peculiar Platypus” gift shop here in Campbellford, for your buying pleasure. I also updated the “Freebies” page with an all ages colouring page download called “Mash up party”. My gift to you all this holiday season. May you all have a gentle holiday.

November 12, 2022

Years ago while I was visiting my aunt and cousins, I was showing off my superior candy tastes by sharing a bag of “Fruit-Tella” with them. Much to my shock and amazement my youngest cousin started to fold his candy wrappers and tell everyone to pass theirs over. He made me this bracelet (picture at bottom of this months post). 

Now, years latter, a FB page did a flash back post with one of these and some one called it a “gum chain”. Finally, I new what to google to learn how to make one for myself. Which is good, because I have been hoarding Fruit-Tella wrappers all these years 😂

How to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQvXV8U2mxw

October 22, 2022

This month marks my 14 year anniversary of stuffie making! Wow, time flies. Some times it buzzes too (haha). Anyway, I did a contest thing on my Facebook page. My first ever. It was a hit. The prize was an octopus made from the first pattern I ever made. Just new of course, with my today skills and not my just starting out skills. Here is a picture. Pretty cute, huh? And of course the winner is crazy happy! This pattern is found in “Tiny Yarn Animals” by Tamie Snow. If you want to see what my first stuffie ever looked like, keep scrolling as I did a blog on “Octave” as well. This is that pattern, just done right 😅

September 14, 2022

Hello Fall! Well, almost, the calendar and I have words this time of year…heheee. With that comes the return of the “All Things Local Market” on Facebook. This months market is September 22 at 8pm to September 23 at 8pm. There are 25 vendors with lots of locally made goods. And stuffie love too, of course. Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/545922969654002/

Fall also means the return of special orders. I am working away at the list. Lots of fun new stuffies to be made. My pattern writing for my book went well over the summer, 30 of 40 planned patterns done. With the holidays coming this is my busy time of year, so pattern writing has been moved to the back burner. It should pick up again in the new year.

With the cost of paper having gone up, my Sweary Adult Colouring Book, “What Cheek!” went up on Amazon. It is now listed at $10. Still a good deal and lots of fun to colour. When people swear, my photographic mind sees funny things. In this book, I drew those out for you to enjoy and laugh at too (hey, I shouldn’t be the only one in the room laughing). I am old school, my pictures are drawn on real paper with pencil and then inked and scanned. It makes for a more nature feel as you colour 🖍

That’s all for now. Have a great fall, folks!

August 15, 2022

I did a thing! A photographic thing, that is. Once upon a time, I used to direct live TV and work on Indie films in Kingston, ON. I loved it. Making the magic happen, setting things up just right, it was my jam. My disability took that away. Something I never liked was being in front of the camera. But last week, I met with a young photographer. Kylie is starting up her business and to help promote this, we did a photo shoot. While I started out a basket of nerves, Kylie was a pure delight to work with. I was able to relax and just enjoy myself. I have posted the “best of” to my FB page (Rose Neumayer). And for this blog post, here is a sample collage for you to enjoy. These pictures will be making an appearance in my forth-coming pattern book as well. Very exciting! A fabulous job Kylie!! 😍

August 1, 2022

“Art in the Park” was such fun! Thanks to everyone who came out. Seeing you all was the highlight of my day! I have updated the “for sale” page with the stuffies who are still looking for homes. Pick up from me for free or I can ship to you at cost. Shipping has gone up because of the price of gas, so my recommendation is to stuff a box! Get your money’s worth out of the shipping, if you need it. Now it is back to pattern writing. So exciting.

June 28, 2022

An announcement. I posted, yesterday on FB that I am taking the summer off from “Special Orders” and the “All Things Local Online Market” on FaceBook. This is because I am busy making for “Art in the Park” and am working on my first pattern book! Haha! Yup, I just dropped that little gem on you all! The book is coming along but I need time to finish writing the patterns, so I am making it. Very exciting! If you would like a special order made, I am keeping a list of making for when “Special Orders” start up again in the fall (September). Have a great summer, everyone! ❤️

June 25, 2022

Summer is here! The heat is on! With summer comes my one and only in person art show. I am busy making stuffies to fill my spot at “Art in the Park” in Stirling. This is happening on July 30 at “Farm Town Park” just behind the Stirling Arena. It is a lovely family friendly show with so many vendors and you also get to tour the park with your donation at the door. And it is such a quiet spot! Which is why I am out for the day. Come and meet this eccentric stuffie maker for yourself, with my awesome family helping me out! I take cash for this event. Here is the poster for more info…

May 26, 2022

A few months back, I started peppering my stuffie pictures on my Facebook page with “Pocket Philosophy”. I love the term! It means to boil down a truth to it’s most simplest form while keeping it as short as possible. A sentence or two. This is harder than it looks but is something I love to do. I have been sharing my own truths with my “followers” as making stuffies give’s a gal a lot of time to think. Feel free to follow me for pocket philosophy and cuteness, on Facebook (Rose Neumayer).

April 20, 2022

Been busy hooking (hehehee) and 10 new pictures have been uploaded to the “stuffie” page. From mods to fan art, I am so happy with them all! And of course, the promised mythical creature from last month’s blog had dropped. Drum roll, please…daaaadummmmm…it is a “Jackolope”. Legends of the Old American West tell tales of a horned rabbit that would sing along to campfire songs, keeping the lonely cowboys company. Here is a picture and you can find another picture of it “in the wild” under the “mythical creatures” section of the “Stuffies!” page. Enjoy!

March 29, 2022

Spring is sort of here. At least it is trying for a comeback. Much like me actually. After a full week of immobilizing arthritis pain in my left hand, I have motion again! I am so excited to get back to my hook. And I have big plans for an American fantasy creature. The pattern picture will drop here and on my FB, along with the name. If you are looking for Easter goodies, the Market on FB has all of my “Bunny Madness” up and ready as of last night. Happy Spring everyone!

Feb 22, 2022

For this months blog, I am doing some shameless self promotion. I did a pairing of my ACB with a tiny purple monkey for this months market (Feb 24-25) and it just looks so cute together that I am sharing it here! Enjoy! And here’s to next month and the end of all this snow! ❄️🤞

Jan 14, 2022

Happy New Year! Some bad news and some awesome news. Let’s start with the bad news, I have had to up my prices a bit as materials have gone up. Now for the awesome news! I have partnered with Dizzy Goose here in Campbellford. This means my stuffies are in a shop again!! Yuppie! Happy dance time! Come in and see them for yourself and check out all the cool things in store 😃😁💃🏻

Dec 27, 2021

This year is almost done! Thanks to all of you for your support! It means the world to me. Hope you had an awesome holiday time and all the best for 2022! 🥂⛄️😀

Nov 21, 2021

I love making stuffies! They make me happy and bring joy. I am very lucky to have my work so well received! People always say that they love them and wish they could crochet like me. This always makes me think of when I first started to teach myself crochet. So for this month’s blog, I am sharing that memory.

It is the Fall of 2008, I am in my local book store starting my Christmas making plans. I have 3 younger cousins that I adore and always make them something special for Christmas. This year is a bust, I have made them everything I know how to make (even a Gryffindor scarf that is longer than the boy was tall, another story). Sigh…what can I make them?

I look to my left and there on the end cap is my solution! A book called “Tiny Yarn Animals” by Tamie Snow. The lemur, koala, and lamb seem to look at me like “Ya, you can make us! It will be fun!” And suddenly I think that I can teach myself to crochet. After all, I can knit. Yes, with just this book, I can teach myself how to crochet stuffed animals!

If you talked to me during that first week, I was tossing it all out. Crochet was impossible! There is no way to knit with just one needle! Madness! Sheer madness! But I am stubborn. And the idea of giving up on homemade stuffies when the cousins and I all loved them, was not an option. 

The fix? How did it all come together? Well, after reading the instructions and looking at the pictures and making so many attempts! I just said “F*ck it!” and picked the easiest looking pattern and made it. Was it right? Did it look awesome? No! The octopus that I named “Octave” is a sad, pathetic, little lumpy thing. And I could not have loved her more! My blood, sweat, tears, and pure stubborn will made her. She is perfect to me.

Technically speaking, Octave is all wrong. I could not figure out how to “single crochet” so I ended up slip stitching the whole thing! This was before the days of wonderful people posting “how to” videos on YouTube. The poor little thing is much too small for the pattern. And lumpy. I improvised the “feet” as I could not get the pattern right. But that is what beginnings are. They are messy, imperfect, small little things. So I learned a lot. And not just about crochet.

Oct 5, 2021

Two new things to report. The first is that I have opened up my facebook page to allow “following” for people who are interested in seeing what I make, on that platform. I post my special orders as they are done and when I am in the market. I use the short form of my name there (Rose Neumayer). Feel free to message me there with questions as well.

The second thing is that I came across a coloured and framed picture from my ACB (adult colouring book) “What Cheek!” This was done as a motivational gift and I just love it! Thank you Shannon!

Sept 8, 2021

I have decided to put up a “Blog” for all my random bits of news and aimless ramblings. My first thought with this is “yuck” as blog sounds well, gross. It reminds me of vomit. But it does have a purpose. And it can not help that it sounds gross. My next thought was that I am not found of the busy layouts that are offered and often seen. So this will be a clean and simple thing. Just words on a page with the occasional picture.

I am a avid reader. My favourite author since I was a teen (and read my first Xanth novel) is Piers Anthony. He is the one responsible for warping my sense of humour. If you like my adult colouring book, you can thank him. Like wise if you don’t. I sent him a copy as thanks and he was kind enough to review it! I am posting the screenshot of his review below for your reading pleasure.