Meet our Newest Critter Creations

I am pleased to announce that we have recently added our own line of sock critters. From left to right are Mojo the monkey, Harley the moose with a 'tude, and Poco the pony. These cuties will be available at both our JustPokingInFun Etsy and ArtFire stores. I refer to these as our signature line and they will be continually offered. Each will come with an adoption certification that will include the number (of the animal made in the series) and date each animal was created. The adoption certification will be signed by the critter's creator, LVS.

Mojo the monkey is a variation using the traditional sock monkey pattern. Harley the moose and Poco the pony are my originals and there is no pattern for them. Please respect the artist and do not copy them.

Each one is made by hand. I only keep a small quantity on hand. I prefer to take orders if you are requesting more than one of each. I also sell my sock critters at local craft fairs and shows so I am kept pretty busy with orders. I do my very best to ship all orders out within 48 hours, unless it is a large order. In this instance I will send you a convo or email and give you an estimated time on when I can ship your order off to you.

I also make traditional sock monkeys as well as traditional sock stick horse heads. I have a link on my blog that has detailed instructions on how to make the stick horses. I also have the pattern for the traditional sock monkeys available to anyone who wants them or you can click on this link and print it.

In the future I may be adding additional sock critter creations but for now my plate is full. I am thinking perhaps after the first of the year. The holiday season is a very busy time of year for me and Christmas is fast approaching. Less than 8 weeks of Christmas shopping everyone..... Ho Ho Ho!

If you have any questions please send me an email. Thanks for stopping in and visiting us.


Ciao,


LVS

Making a Traditional Red Heel Sock Stick Horse

I tend to prefer the more traditional sock animals that were made years ago. Maybe it's because I am older than dirt and I remember them as a kid? I like to use the original Rockford red heeled socks or boot socks for the majority of my sock animal projects. I have friends that use bright and colorful socks with strips and designs. You can use the whatever type of socks, colors, yarn, and materials that you prefer. These are fast and fairly easy to make and take between 1 - 2 hours to complete, depending on how much yarn you use for the mane. Attaching the mane is what took me the longest. The rest of the sock horse goes together very quickly.

For my stick horse I used:

1 Original Rockford Red Heel Sock (You can make 2 stick horse heads with a pair of socks)

Brown felt for the ears

2 black buttons for the eyes

beige or off white thread to sew horse together

Brick colored embroidery floss for the mouth

Black permanent marker for the nostrils (or you can glue on felt nose)

1/2 skein of white yard for the mane (more or less will be used depending on thickness desired)

Polyfil craft/doll/pillow stuffing

Jute (leather, ribbon) for the bridle and reins

Note: Because I wanted a traditional look I used a sanded and varnished tree branch for the stick but you can use a wooden dowel.

I took pics as I completed the steps so that anyone can easily follow and make your own to give as Christmas, Birthday or any day gifts for kids, Grand kids, loved ones.

Putting it together:

1. Stuff the sock with polyfil stuffing and place rubberband around the bottom to keep the stuffing from falling out. Push the nose of the horse towards the neck until the head and neck are at about a 45 degree angle. Hand stitch sock at the newly created bend so the head stays at this angle (similar to what mine looks like in the first picture.) You can click on the 2nd photo to enlarge it and see the stitching that I am referring to if you need more detailed instructions.

2. Cut ears from felt in the shape as shown in my picture, fold in half at the bottom and attach by stitching the bottom of the ears to the horse using thread or glue gun. I prefer thread myself. If you are using red heel socks they attach at the bottom front of the white around the red heel.

3. Take the embroidery floss and tie a knot in one end and attach it to the end of the sock outwards and slightly below center at the outter edge of the white toe on red heeled socks. Pull the embroidery thread across the front to form a mouth and pull slightly taut so the sides pucker a bit. Secure the embroidery thread and trim off.

5. Sew on your button eyes (or embroider, make felt eyes.) Draw (permanent marker) or paste on felt nostrils.

6. Attach a yarn or rag mane. I used white yarn. The mane is about 2 1/2 - 3" long in the front and 4 - 4/12 " on the sides that come down the horses neck. I stop about 2" before the b0ttom of the sock and before the ribbing. Now I am sure that there are lots of ways to attach a yarn mane, but the easiest and most secure method for me is to take the yarn (on a darning needle) and draw the needle and yarn through the sock. Leave the desired length hanging out on one side of the neck, come through the sock and out the other side, form a loop (making sure it is the loop hanging is the same size as the piece of yarn that you have left hanging out on the other side. Repeat and again, come out the other side, coming back and forth and leaving loops until I have about a half dozen or so. I then snip the loops at the end, bring up two pieces of yarn at a time and tie a square knot. This keeps the yarn secure and it will not pull out. I do repeat this process until I have knotted all of my trimmed loops, and then I repeat this process until I have the desired length and thickness of mane.

A second method is to take a group of 10-12 pieces of yarn that have been cut the same length. Tightly wrap a piece of matching yarn around the center of the bundle, then tie a tight knot to secure. Attach your thread bundle (where you have tied the knot) to the neck of the horse. Start at the top of the head and continue adding additional yarn bundles down the neck until you have the desired amount. This method is faster and works better if you want a thicker mane.

7. Attach a bridle and reins made out of ribbon, leather, jute, rope, or whatever you want to use for rein/bridle materials.

8. Slip your horse head over a piece of wooden dowel (I use 2 3/4 - 3' stick) You can secure the head with a glue gun, rope, yarn or leather strip. If you use yarn or a leather strip cut a notch in the wooden stick or dowel for the yarn/leather strip to fit into. This will keep your horse head from falling off of the stick.

There you have it. Your completed stick horse. I hope you had fun making it. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

Is this amazing or what!

I found this picture on the internet last night while doing a Google search for Moose pics. The caption on the picture was "Alaskan Clydesdale." ROFLMFO. Only in Alaska! Unreal.

What's new Pussy Cat?

Egads, I will be humming that tune now all night. Tom Jones! Remember him? My Mom had the biggest crush on him. I will have to remind her when I talk to her tomorrow. Well that was then and this is now, lol.

Oh my, what's new? Life has been so busy and full. With huskies, puppies, craft shows, the Earth Mart, and recently our local OctoberFest, I was pretty busy creating, and happy to say that I almost sold out on everything that I had made (and I thought I had lots!) There is one more Christmas craft show at the end of November, but truthfully I don't think I have enough stuff left to sell and not enough time to make up mass quantities, but I'm not too worried if I don't make it this year. My local sales have picked up and I've been doing pretty well. I hope that's a sign that the economy is turning around? I sure hope so.

What's new with the huskies? Aleutia is in a motherly way and should be having pups within the next two weeks. That means cute little cuddly Christmas puppies! Sweet! I love having puppies and puppy squeels filling the house. I can't wait!

Winter is fast approaching. The weather sure changed suddenly.... like overnight! One day it was sunny and warm. The next day it was cold and they were talking snow. Wow! I thought winter gradually settled in. I have a feeling it's going to be another cold winter here... UGH.

The kids are good. My Grand kids are growing like weeds. Steve, Kiersa and Cohen came down and spent the day with me at the Priest River Octoberfest. We had a blast! Good food, good beer, great band, good company! It just doesn't get any better than that.

In a nutshell that sums up what's been going on around here. Things will slow down now that summer has ended. The craft shows are done. Soon I will be snowed in. I will have 3 or 4 months to build up my jewelry and craft supply to get ready for next years Earth Mart. I did really well with my sales there this year.

Ok, I guess it is time to call it a night and shut down the computer. I hope everyone is happy and well and enjoying all that life brings. Until next time,

Ciao.
~LVS

Surviving a hack attack!

Have you ever had your computer hacked? Someone, an unknown person, hacks into your computer and completely takes it over. They change all of your settings, you can't even turn your computer off (except to unplug it.) All of your configurations and settings are changed. They now have access to all of your files, your passwords, personal information... anything that you have saved on your computer is there for them to see (and use!)

It started out simply enough. One of my Etsy girlfriends asked me to join her Mafia on Facebook.com. Now I am not an online game player. Years ago I used to play games at Pogo.com with my Son and Daughter-in-law, but since I opened my Etsy stores I found I didn't have time for that anymore so I let my Pogo subscription run out.

Facebook was different though. It was a social network. A perfect way to meet new friends and share my Etsy stores with, or so I thought at the time I joined it. Little did I know it would turn into one of the worst nightmares of my life. I thoroughly enjoyed playing "Mafia Wars." I built up my character over the course of a month and I put in a lot of time and effort in doing so. I was getting by on little or no sleep, wacking other Mafia families, having friends and family join my Mafia family and by the end of a month I had over 1000 people in my happy family.

Perhaps that is where I got in to trouble? I didn't know 90% of these people. I didn't really know anyone other than by their Mafia Family screen names. I joined a couple of Mafia Wars groups and before long I had more Mafia Family friends than I could shake a stick at.

My Mafia Wars character was hijacked, as well as my Facebook account. Try as I might to report this to Facebook I wasn't having any success. I was locked out of my account so I couldn't access it to tell anyone. I created a second Facebook account and reported that my friends account had been hijacked. I tried sending them emails to no avail. I finally reported it to the FBI. In the course of the hack/hijack I was hit with numerous viruses and I am sure it was "their" (whoever took over my account and character) way of ensuring I couldn't get back online for awhile. While I was knocked offline my back account was drained. This person was playing Mafia Wars (as though it was me) and paying to play! It went through my PayPal account and although I reported it to PayPal, paypal treated it as a "household" problem. Although I told them I live alone, with 3 huskies, I couldn't make them understand or listen, but perhaps they didn't want to? I was small potatoes compared to the gaming company and owner of this Mafia Wars game. I am sure PayPal made some hefty revenues off of others who played this Mafia Wars game, both on Facebook and my Space and Twitter too.

I could go on and on and on and explain my month of turmoil and personal H*LL. Once you are a victim of identity theft life doesn't feel the same. You feel victimized, violated, unsafe, terrorized. I had nightmares for almost a month. It cost me almost $500.00 in repairs to fix both of my computers, not to mention the money that was drained from my account. I haven't seen my credit cards statements yet.... yikes!

My word of warning to all of you out there who have joined one (or more) social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, My Space and others, be careful what you share. Only share within your private network of friends. Be sure you have all of the latest Windows updates and patches. Use a good Antivirus program and run regular scans. Be sure your antivirus program is updated daily. Use several good (free) malware programs, like Malwarebytes, Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware, etc. Run these regularly and search for any unsuspecting malware and spyware that has infected your computer, and DO use a good Firewall to block intruders.

I thought I was well protected. The first thing they did when they took control over my computer was disable my firewall, antivirus program and disable system restore.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

Ciao,

LVS

Trojan Vundo and 360 Virus

I just spent 4 days, (IM'ing, emailing and phone conversations,) trying to help my Mother remove Trojan Vundo (virtumonde) and the 360 virus from her computer. I researched online and found lots of suggestions..... and I think we tried most all of them. I will tell you what they suggest does NOT work. Symantec's virus removal tool will not delete it. Nor will all of the other programs that they tell you have free downloads. We actually bought one, webroots SpySweeper. It will find them sure enough and tell you to delete them you need to register the program. Once you buy it, run it, it finds the virus, when you try to delete them it says that the files can not be deleted. You just bought a program and are still left with the Virus. Both my Mom and I have requested refunds, which they have yet to do, so buyer beware!

Now before you spend days of needless downloads and try this, that, and all of the things that we tried, there was only ONE thing that I tried (and it is FREE!) It will not cost you a dime to get rid of both Trojan Vundo and the 360 virus. It is called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. It can be downloaded from here:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Download this program and save it to desktop. You do not have to be in safemode. I turned off System Restore when I ran it.

Run the program to install it. Update the program to make sure you have the latest spyware definitions. Run "quick" scan. Once it finds the files, select "delete." It will remove all of the files it finds there.

After I ran Malware Byte I also ran Spybot's Search and Destroy. http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html
Again, update this program before doing the scan. Also "quarantine" your system after doing the updates and run their scan to pick up any other unwanted cookies and tracking software. When finished run a full virus scan. I suggest doing this for a few days just in case. It is better to be safe than sorry. Then set these programs to run on a regular schedule.

I use AVG's Free antivirus and I swear by it. http://free.avg.com/ Although it didn't catch all of the Vundo and 360 virus files it did find most of them and put them in the vault. Neither Norton or McAfee's Anti-virus programs found these viruses either. This trojan and it's variants seems to have slid under the nose of all of the anti-virus programs.

For years I have run my computers with AVG Free (Anti-virus,) System Mechanic (keeps your computer running smooth,) Spybot Search and Destroy (Spyware removal,) and will now add malwarebytes.

Happy Bug FREE computing!

Ciao,
LV

Catching up on things........

Life is so full and a bit hectic these days. So much is new! New puppies! I studded Yukon out to John and Kim's (friends) two female huskies. They live in Newport, a couple of towns over. Both have now had their pups. Wanda had 5 (2 weeks old) and Molly only had one, (a few days old) although she is the larger female of the two. I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover.

The October Fest came and went and it rained the whole day but I did manage to sell a few things and have fun too!

I am going to start giving wire wrap classes at our local bead shop, Turtle Beads. The first class is October 6th, so if you live close by and you want to attend either email me or sign up at the store.

It is really getting cold here! Although it is fall it sure feels like winter is settling in. Thank goodness Steven (Son) restocked the wood pile and brought me a cord of wood.

That's about all that's new for now so I will go back to creating. Have a Happy and safe Halloween everyone.

Ciao

What's up?

Summer finally arrived with a bang! It's been in the 90's! We've had some lightening and thunderstorms the past few days. My power blew, briefly and it started a couple of fires, but nothing like what's going on in northern California. I feel so sorry for my friends in that part of the state. With the 4th of July holiday here it will only get worse, I fear.

Besides the change of the weather, Aleutia had a litter of summer pups. Both Mom and Pups are doing just fine. They are such cuties! All girls this time, which is a first. I am posting a picture of a pose I just had to capture. Remember when life was this easy? Lol.

I am still doing the crafts and getting ready for our Lavender Festival, which is being held in Newport this year. It's in 9 days so I have been applying most of my energies to puppies and making things to sell at the craft fair.

My Goji berry bushes have blossoms!

That's about it for excitement around here.

I want to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th!

LV

So waz up?

THANK GOD winter is over and summer is just around the corner. That is the longest winter I have ever endured in my lifetime. Yikes! With 10' berms and 4' of snow, it was pretty brutal.... but the dogs sure did love it. Silly huskies.

My two Etsy stores have really taken off and that has turned in to a full time job. If I am not busy filling and packing orders, I am busy creating and making new stuff to list.... but, no complaints here. It's all good. I am really looking forward to the Lavender Festival in mid-July. I will have a craft booth there. It is being held in Newport, WA this year so it will be nice and close.

Life with the dogs? They keep me busy and on my toes too. Yukon and Aleutia have been busy making bacon in the doggie love shack and I will have June husky puppies. :)

That's the latest news for the moment. I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day, and out having fun! Happy summer everyone. I will check back and post more news as the events occur.

Hugs!
LV

Is that sun I see?

The sun has finally decided to peek through the clouds and brighten the gray skies here In no Idaho. It hasn't snowed in over 3 weeks.... does that mean spring is finally here? I sure hope so!!!!!

All of the winter husky puppies have now gone to good homes so the house is empty again......

but I do think that Yukon has been a busy boy in the "hen house." He and Aleutia have been making bacon I do believe, so that would mean June puppies!!!!!! Oh boy!

I have been passing time (while snowed in for months,) creating all kinds of unique, one of a kind, gift items and jewelry for my two Etsy stores. Although I love gemstones and making the gemstone wire wrapped jewelry, my love is needle felting. I took my first needle felting class in December and made a bear. A friend saw it and asked me if I could create a likeness of her Sheltie for her (which was featured on the livingfelt website.

http://www.livingfelt.com/index.html?photo=8

Since then I have made several other felt animals for my Twisted Whiskers Etsy store. My latest felt creations are these two hummingbirds. If you would like to see all of my felt creations please click on the link to go to my Etsy store.

http://lvsbeadsnthings.etsy.com/

Thanks for your interest in LV's Beads n' Things.

There's a Moose on the Loose!

The dogs were barking up a storm and going nuts! I decided I better go see if they ran the neighbors cat up the tree or had a raccoon cornered again. After investigating further, I noticed a large, dark, mass, right behind the husky compound. They were in the back corner barking furiously at whatever it was. Through the dense snow I really couldn't make it out but I thought perhaps someone had broken down and there was a vehicle stuck in the snow. I got closer to check it out better........ the vehicle had a BIG snout and little stubs where there used to be horns. It was a MOOSE!

I grabbed my camera and ran next door and banged on the neighbor's door. When the door opened I said "Jackie, have you looked out in your back yard?" She said, "yeah, there's a moose back there. It's been there for a few hours napping." "I want to get a picture of it, I said." She lead me to her back porch and we turned on the porch light as it was now getting dark. Try as I might the pictures would not turn out. Even with the flash it was too dark and I was getting nothing but a black frame. Drats!

Two days later our town moosie appeared in our local newspaper. It seems he has been a town resident for a couple of weeks now. Strange that a moose would wander around in town. He isn't afraid of people at all and is very comfortable to just hang out, munch on tree branches, and nap in who evers yard he feels like napping in.

My Son and Daughter-in-Law came over last weekend. They were taking me to lunch for my Birthday. As we headed down the road my Son slammed on the brakes and exclaimed "Look! A MOOSE!" He was lyng down, napping, in someone's yard a block over. My Son grabbed his cell phone and snapped a picture.

Yep, there's a moose on the loose in Priest River. I hope he hangs around for awhile.

Ain't life grand?

Happy new year everyone. I wish everyone nothing but the best in 2008. I know it is going to be a good year and lots of changes are taking place.

The jewelry sales have taken off. I have puppies! Yes, again!!!!! I survived the holidays. I am working on some fun jewelry and craft projects so I am keeping busy while I am socked in. YES! I have snow..... lots of snow!!!!!! Well at least I am not in California. I think I prefer the snow to the heavy rains and winds that they are having. My g/f (Sister) Sandy called and said they have been without power for two days! Now I remember why I left.

Life has been busy, hectic, full. I barely have time to take a breath, yet along keep up with the blogs and all of the sites. I do promise to try to do better. It has got to slow down here soon...... but, don't get me wrong. I am not complaining. Life is good.

Hugs!

December news....

Gosh, this year has flown by. This month has been a rush! Of course winter has settled in and snow is on the ground. It looks like I have two pregnant doggies (not expected or planned!)

I am getting jewelry orders up the Kazoo..... and that is a good thing. The craft fairs? Mostly a zoo! We won't even talk about the Dec. 1st Stratton Elementary school one. Let's just say that I heard it wasn't worth attending this year. Good! Now I don't feel so bad that I missed out because I didn't know I had to arrive early and set up. I was pissed, of course. They should really send out this info when you get your confirmation letter, but I guess they figure everyone has already attended and they pretty much know the drill. Well I didn't..... so I didn't. Oh well, another $15.00 down the drain.

What else is new? Hmmmm...... ????? Oh yeah, getting a new laptop on Monday. The mother board on this HP is dying a slow death. Before it does a complete crash I want to transfer all of my files, pics, programs, etc. If you don't see me online for a couple of days don't panic. I am just configuring and loading the new laptop and setting it up with everything I need. I will check in as soon as I am up and running again.... but, if worse comes to worse (since Windows Vista is installed in it,) I do have my trusty desktop pc as a back-up. It really pays to have two these days.

Ok, no other earth shaking news to report. Here's wishing everyone safe and happy holidays and a bright and prosperous new year.

xo's

Lady V

Beads n Things jewelry now listed on Etsy.com

Lv's Beads n' Things jewelry is now listed on Etsy.com, a great place to buy hand made crafts and jewelry. To go to Etsy store click on the following link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5351467

Check it out!

Lady V's Beads n' Things

It will be snowing here soon and it will be time to bunker down. I needed a winter project, as permanent make-up really slows during the winter months. I have been busy at Ebay, buying up all kinds of "one of a kind" and "hard to find" gemstones and beads. I am making custom semi-precious gemstone jewelry, beads, and beadwork. I have started a new blog page for my projects and have posted pictures of some of the jewelry. I will be adding pictures of the newly created pieces. If you would like to see them go to:

http://lvbeadsnthings.blogspot.com/

There is also a link to my other blog pages to the right.

If anyone is interested in a custom jewelry piece just shoot me off an email. They make great gifts.

~Hugs~
LV

The Budweiser Clydesdales

http://www.budweiser.com/index.html

The Budweiser Commercial that never aired!

The link below will take you to a clip of a commercial Budweiser produced after 9/11. It is so beautiful. It gave me goosebumps up and down my arms. It was aired only once because Anheuser-Busch did not want to benefit financially from it - they just wanted to acknowledge the tragic event. This is so consistent with a company who always does things with a ton of class!! Can you imagine what the cost was considering . . . With the recent anniversary of this horrific event, it is a good time to keep this circulating. We will NEVER forget.

Click here: LiveLeak.com - Budweiser commercial that was only aired once

Life's a ZOO!

I know everyone likes to hear what's going on with the huskies. The dogs love no Idaho. The weather here suits them better than the California sun. They aren't much for sunbathing! Aleutia and Yukon have a new litter, born on 9-3-07. Here is a picture of the newest kids on the block.

Life in general

First, let me say hi to everyone. It has been awhile since I have posted any updates or recent news. Life has been busy and full but I realize that is no excuse. I promise I will try to do better and at least post a monthly update to keep my friends and family up to date on what's going on in my life. I love and miss everyone!

I have been here in the north country for over a year now. I survived my first winter! My Grandkids are growing like weeds. The dogs absolutely love the snow. No Idaho is beautiful and although I miss my family and friends back home in Ca., I have no intentions of moving back there.... but I wouldn't mind winter vacations in Palm Springs, lol.

I pretty much bunker down during the winter. All of the snow keeps me somewhat home bound and that is when I find myself with lots of time on my hands and when I usually do most of the updates to the websites and web blogs. By the time the sun finally decides to show itself and the snow melts in the spring, a good case of cabin fever has set in. I crawl out from under my rock and I am outta here! I try to get out and see as much of the country as I can before the weather turns to shit again!

I hope that all of my riding friends are busy going to rallies, runs, bike weeks, and taking weekend trips of their own. Please send photos!

Well time for more coffee.......

Will post more after I am awake this morning.

Hugs to all!

LV

The Latest News from Lady V

Here friends and family can check in to keep up with my latest news and happenings. Since my family and friends are spread all over the countryside, this was the easiest way to stay in touch. Please bookmark this site so you can check back often. As always, stay safe out there and ride free!