Hey, hey, we're the monkeys...

I've been in hat-making mode as of late... so much so that I've developed a slight case of tendinitis in my hands! Now that I've finished up a few projects, I think a little rest is in order... 

My latest project: another sock monkey hat for yet another little niece, due any day now...

 and this little monkey will be ready to keep her head warm! 

I used this pattern, which I bought off Ravelry. 

I slightly modified the flower from the original pattern. I made it smaller than called for, and I placed it on the top like the pompom, rather than on the front brim... I liked it better that way. 

If you'd like to "friend" me on Ravelry, here's my profile. 

And now, back to painting... 

Quotables: A. W. Tozer

Unsaintly saints are the tragedy of Christianity. People of
the world usually pass through the circle of disciples to reach
Christ, and if they find those disciples severe and sharp-
tongued they can hardly be blamed if they sigh and turn away
from Him... The low state of religion in our day is largely due
to the lack of public confidence in religious people.

    - A. W. Tozer, Of God and Men

In Which I Address the Entrepreneurial, Geek-ish Sort.

Do you do art & craft shows or run a small business of any kind? Have you ever missed out on sales because you had no way to accept credit / debit cards, or found yourself in a pickle when your friend owes you money for the pizza you just split, yet he or she is out of cash?

Fret no more. My cousin just introduced me to the coolest little gadget....

It's called Square Up, and it looks like this:

 This little joker plugs into the earphone jack of your ipad or smart phone, and it acts as a scanner for credit / debit cards! You simply sign up for an account at the Square Up website, install the software on your iwhatever, plug this doohicky in, and start zipping away. You can even have it calculate and include sales tax automatically. The funds are deposited nightly into your bank account.

The nice part is - you can get the attachment for free when you create an account. They'll mail it to you  - no shipping charges or anything. You are charged a very small percentage on each transaction (which happens whenever you accept a payment via credit card, Paypal, etc. anyway).

I'm really excited about doing future art shows with this thing... I've lost a bunch of sales because people don't always carry cash or checks with them - just cards. But no more.... and best of all, there's no expensive, bulky equipment to rent or buy (which is nice if you only do occasional shows, like me). You also don't have to worry about having electricity available for your tent. SO convenient! If you run any kind of small business, this is a great thing to have...

Now, the disclaimers:

1) I am not being paid or otherwise compensated to advertise this thing. Square Up has no idea I'm doing this post, nor do they probably care. I just think it's cool and handy, and I'm sure other entrepreneurial types will as well.

2) Although this allows you to accept credit card payments, I do not endorse using credit cards. They're an easy way to get in way over your head in debt, quickly. If you can't pay off your balance EVERY SINGLE MONTH, then you need to go all Dave Ramsey on those things and CHOP THEM UP. You might want to do it anyway, since research shows that people tend to overspend when they're paying with plastic rather than cold, hard cash. If you decide to chop your cards up, then fortunately, I will still be accepting cash and checks for any orders you place in my shop (and would prefer those since I don't have to pay the percentage for the transaction). Anyway, be responsible. You'll thank me later.