Flitteriffic!

This was not a craft, per se, but it was a good bit of procrastinatory fun! I was looking at the Disney Fairies website for fun activities for the Tinkerbell-themed birthday party I'll soon be hosting for my three-year-old. Oh, I found some cute things ... and then got sucked into their design-your-own Fairy application. Ridiculous waste of time! But quite absorbing finding just the right style of wings. :-) So that's me, as a fairy!

Glue, by any other name, is just as sticky.

I can't take credit for this idea, but it's such a good one I wanted to share it! At a recent crafting event, the glue for the kid's project was set out in individual "servings" via bottle tops and Q-tips. The containers really set a cap (ha!) on the potential mess factor, since each child no longer had access to an entire bottle of glue. And the provided tool made it a lot easier for my 3-yr old to make precise applications. (No more giant glops that will never, ever dry no matter how long you wait!)

And maybe my favorite bit? This finally gives me a useful way to recycle all the milk gallon and other bottle tops that the recycling place won't take, even though they take the bottles. Hooray!

Instant Art Gallery!

Ah necessity, the mother of invention! :-)

My daughter is at the age where "ART" features prominently in her life - be it crayon, stickers, packing peanuts dipped in water and pressed on to poster board - you name it! I was starting to feel awash in her various creations, and growing increasingly tired of protecting her art from the exploratory nibblings of her 10 month old sister.

So today during the "something different" that used to be her nap time, we created an art gallery for the playroom. Voila!


I grabbed some stick-up hooks from the garage, a box of brightly colored binder clips from the desk, and a stretch of yarn from the sewing stash, and that was it. We threaded the clips on at regular intervals (about 14 inches apart), and I simply tied them off on loops to keep them from sliding around. I tied off two more loops at the ends to stretch between the hooks.


Super simple! Delighted child! No new slew of nail holes in the walls! So simple, and best of all - very nearly free! :-)

Product Development Does Not Produce Pretty Pictures

My major problem these days isn't a lack of ideas for projects to work on. It's that when I've finally scrounged enough little scraps of time together to start working on one project, I have ideas for three others - all of which will require prototypes and tweaking before they can be finalized, and during which I will think of yet nine more things to make or do! I have to keep reminding myself that I don't actually have a deadline for any of these things, other than my own desire to be productive and generate a little income.

Ultimately I'd love for the shop to be successful enough that when the girls are both in school, the shop can be my job. But for that to happen I need to have popular and profitable products, and for that to happen I eventually need to finish a whole bunch more of these "proof of concept" projects and figure out which to pursue and which to abandon.

Right now my three main areas of focus are crochet, flannel baby items, and recycled/upcycled/eco bags. I'm in the middle of too many projects to count ... and have very little by way of tangible evidence to show for it! :-) But I keep scribbling in my notebook, and working up samples, refining my ideas, and hoping and praying that by God's grace I'll be able to transform this enterprise into a Proverbs 31 kind of thing.

First (Real) Hat - 3rd try is the charm!

So I did finally manage to make a real hat using an actual crochet stitch! Of course, it took me three tries, but I got there eventually. Fortunately crochet is easy to rip out, and then you can just keep re-doing it until it's right. :-) The above hat is the result - made with a single crochet stitch in a spiral pattern, and using yarn by Vanna White. (Who knew?! But it's good to see that she's diversifying her portfolio.)

I'd originally intended it to be a hat for my hubby, but the sizing never quite worked out (and he thought the hearts were somewhat girly, I suppose), so I finished it in a scalloped edge for myself. It's a little snug, and a little long, but it covers the head. Success! And evidently, it's also quite tasty. :-)

And they said it couldn't be done!

I've been teaching myself to crochet. So far I know three stitches: single, double, and half-double. And that's plenty, evidently! You can make a lot of things with just three stitches, so I've been having some fun.

I started the grand crochet experiment with a skein of yarn that my mom left at my house after doing some crafts with the girls. It seemed such a waste to let the yarn just sit there, and crochet only takes one hook - how hard could it be, I figured.

I started, where I start most things, on Google. :-) Found a page that described how to do the most basic of all crochet, the single crochet stitch, and I was off and running. At my local supermart I found a free (yay!) pattern for a hat using the single crochet stitch, and I was good to go! Figured I'd use the yarn I had on hand and the one crochet hook I purchased to make my brother a handcrafted hat and scarf set for Christmas.

So there I was, happily crocheting away ... except the further and further along I got, the more and more it was plainly evident that my creation did not look anything like the picture. But it did look vaguely hatish, so I kept doggedly on. (The scarf I'd already given up as a bad job and renamed it "scarflette" so it would sound intentional.) Finally I finished, tied the ends off, wrapped and shipped it. Merry Christmas!


Remarkably macho brother models the impossible hat and scarf. Um, scarflette!


So it serves the general "hat" function, in that it covers the head and whatnot, but it's not what I was thinking of making ... well, not exactly.

Come to find out, I'd not actually been doing crochet at all! The entire hat and scarf were constructed completely through the use of the slipstich. (D'oh!) And how did I figure this out? I was looking at an actual crochet book which helped me discern my error (and also why the hat didn't look right when finished). But what got me was their description of the slipstich, with the explanation that it cannot be used to create fabric. Ha! Guess I showed them.

"Did you crochet a coozie for the flashlight?"

me -- "Um, yes."

him -- "Why?"

me -- "Well, clearly because I could!"


"Let this be a light to you, when all other lights go out, even though you are trying to read, while your husband is trying to sleep!"

So welcome to the world of crochet! I've only been doing it for a couple months, but already obsessed. :-) I love that it can be very portable (unlike the sewing machine), and can also spawn lots of other projects. My mind is just spinning with ideas of things to make, patterns to create, and lots of new bags and goodies to sew to store them all in!

The last few months have not been super-productive, crafting-wise, but I'm hoping to get back in gear. Tons of flannel to whip up into baby sets for the shop: wraps, burp cloths, toys and the marvelous X-bag (post to come soon). Several things I'm working on with crochet that I want to list as well - mostly baby items. And a spattering of beaded baubles to toss in just to liven things up. I need to unload the fabric (and now yarn!) hordes ... so I can justify shopping for more things. :-)

Just when you think Etsy can't get any better ...

So I'm browsing Etsy the other night, because that's what I do, and I see something on the front page that catches my eye ... then I see something that person has "hearted" ... and so on, until I stumble on a PIF.  Pay it forward.  On Etsy, this ridiculous little phrase (based on a MOVIE, remember?!) has a whole new, wonderful meaning.  Check it out for yourself HERE.

As for now ... I've already wasted more than enough time online and I need to call it a night!

Ebb and flow ...

So I keep saying, maybe tomorrow ... maybe tomorrow ... maybe the tomorrow after that!  Finding the time (and energy!) for creative, non-essential pursuits is beyond difficult with a toddler and a baby.  Whew!  But the first time for "adult playdate sewing party" has been set, which means now I have a deadline for getting my projects to the hand-finishing stage, or at the very least tidying up the project corner to make it somewhat presentable.  Explain that to my 2 1/2 yr old who spent the entire weekend pushing the bounds of every conceivable limit while refusing to nap and catching herself a lovely little cold in the process.  (Good times!)

How do you like your minky?

One of my favorite things to make is minky pillowcases. Minky is just so delicious, it washes really well, and to get to sleep on it every night - heaven!

At right is the minky squares king sized pillowcase I made for my husband in maroon and navy minky dot. I really like how well behaved the minky is, even in semi-quilting applications. I just single-stitched the blocks; didn't have to press the seam allowances down or anything. The blocks pattern wraps all the way around the pillow, front and back, with a simple blue border at the open end.

At left is my maternity pillow that I used through my entire second pregnancy. The pillowcase that came with it was terribly thin and somewhat scratchy. So I stripped it off and used it as a pattern to make a new one ... in minky of course! The upper portion is in a cream minky dot, and the feet are in faux leopard velour. (It reverses to a cream fleece on the underside.) Delightful! I even caught my hubby stealing catnaps in it from time to time.

One of the First Projects

This group of hats and scarves is one of the first projects that I set about and completed. They were Christmas gifts (2006) for my husband's several young cousins, and they were quite fun to put together ... once I got the spring-opening scissors to assist with cutting all the fringe. 

The three bigger girls got hats and matching scarves; the baby got a hat and patchwork blanket. I tried to pick complimenting patterns for the two sets of sisters that tied together with the shared use of green. (The color balance on this photo is just NOT quite right; it wasn't that garish!) 

The blanket is true patchwork, in that I cobbled together the various scraps left from hats and scarves and stitched them as I went. I was pretty proud that it actually laid flat when finished, especially since I'd only started sewing at all a few months earlier.

I had a lot of fun with this project, but quickly realized that in order to be successful with making "all" your Christmas presents in any given year, you really need to start working in February! 

Grown-up Playdates

Since when is going to the grocery store by myself a treat?  And how telling is it that when asked to describe a "fond memory" from university (for a class reunion survey), the only thing I could think of was laying down on the lawn and getting to take a nap outdoors?!

But grown-ups get to have fun too, and right now I'm trying to schedule a craft party with two girlfriends to help us all make some progress on our sewing and other projects.  I've got several items nearly ready to go up in the shop, but haven't been able to force myself over the inertia hurdle to complete the final steps.  So many chores and clever ways to procrastinate.  And excuse making - did I mention that?  For example, if only I had a dedicated sewing space, I'd be able to get more work done ... blah, blah, blah.

Problem is ...

Just when am I supposed to find time to sew exactly?! I have so many ideas for things that I'd like to make for the shop - especially my big baby set: 2 burp cloths, change pad, blanket and travel toy - but haven't yet been able to. A few things are posted (and two sales!), but most are not what I would consider my "core" business products. It's frustrating, yes.  But being a mommy is my first job ... so I just need to do a better job of managing my time otherwise to make room for the hobbies.

It was love at first click!

I discovered Etsy on a Thursday - thanks to good friend "bearchick" - and spent every waking moment for the next four days online.  Every waking moment that the girlies were sleeping anyway.  It was pure ecstatic delirum, but in a very good way.  :-)  A few days later I emailed bearchick to fill her in on my new obsession ...

"Reasons I'm falling in love with Etsy"

• you can search for items by color
  
• you can search for items by birthday!
  
• they use the word "Etsians"
  
• I've been on the site non-stop since Thursday, and I have YET to find someone with other than 100% feedback
  
• the things these people are making are just so amazingly cool
  
• I am utterly addicted to this site, even though most of the things I see I'll never ever buy - it's all the great artistry of a really good craft show, with out the hassle of having to get dressed or wash my hair
  
• I think I'll have a corner on the minky Texas flag baby lovey market!  :-) 
  

Entering the world of Etsy blogging!

Well, so far tonight I have done the dishes, completed 2 1/2 loads of laundry, and re-discovered and re-animated the remains of a long forgotten blog! All part of the grand Etsy experiment, I am re-designing this blog to support my Etsy shop and share a little bit more about my crafts. It is now 11:03 p.m., precisely three minutes past my self-imposed bedtime, and I have NOT accomplished the significant list of "actual" work that I needed to do tonight ... but I sure did have fun!

Sigh, this Etsy thing (and the accompanying sewing, blogging, shopping, etc.) is going to be the absolute ruin of my to do list, I can tell.