Thank you Jared and the Friday Night Chatters!

I did it again. Friday night one of my pieces was chosen to be featured on the Etsy homepage. It was up all day Saturday and doubled the hits on the bracelet. Sometimes it really pays to be in the chatrooms.

Green "lettuce" shawl 

Pink "cabbage" scarf 

Aw Hail!

This is a picture I took tonight of the biggest hail I have ever seen in my life. This stuff littered my front yard and pelted my VW Beetle. When it was falling it was the loudest, scariest storm I've been through in a long, long time.

What I'm working on now

I just finished putting together 2 new sets of magnets that I will hopefully be able to put on my shop tomorrow. If I were playing Trivial Pursuit right now both sets of magnets would belong in the "sports & leisure" category. I've also been very busy knitting a scarf and a shawl (yes, simultaneously...I'm just that good) by special request from Draco. Both are like the lettuce scarf that made it to the Etsy homepage a few weeks ago (check below for a pic) but this new scarf is pink instead of green. I've never made a shawl before so it is a little slow going but progress is definitely being made. I switch to the scarf when I need a bit more instant gratification. Twelve or fourteen stitches wide goes much quicker than 60+ stitches! I have to watch TV while I knit so thankfully there has been a Project Runway marathon on all day. I only started watching at the very tail end of this season so catching up on the episodes and contestants that I missed has been very entertaining. I'm off now for I must keep knitting!

Welcome!

So, I just added a link to this blog on the public Etsy forum. If you have come here because you read the very last post on the very last page of that thread, leave me a comment before you leave to let me know that's why you were here.

Thank You Laef Lazlo!

Holy crap! One of my scarves made the home page of Etsy. I took a screen grab as proof!

Bottlecap Magnets

I've seen many a shop around etsy selling bottlecap magnets and they are so cute and creative and unique. When I have made bottlecap magnets they haven't been as cute or creative or for that matter unique. I've always just stuck a magnet on the back and called it good. As you can see from the photo, I have accumulated quite a few of these magnets. I DID NOT drink that many beers, I swear! Nat Light? C'mon! I have made probably 4-5 times as many than you see here because I gave them away. If someone I know has a favorite drink of choice I will give them magnets of that brand. I got a TON of caps from a local beer tasting event. It's safe to say I probably made a fool of myself trying to discreetly manuever caps from under tables while also trying to navigate around the rather large crowd. Most of the magnets in the pic were taken off of my very own fridge for the picture.

Stuff I Bought from Etsy, Part 3

This is the cutest little tin of lip balm that I got from girlscantell. I keep it right by the computer and I use it all the time. Geez, my keyboard is FILTHY. Yuck!

girlscantell

Stuff I've Bought from Etsy, Part 2

Here's a magnet made from a poker dealer button that I got from Smiffs. It will be the perfect small present for a friend whose big day is coming up later this month.

Smiffs

Stuff I've Bought from Etsy, Part 1

Here's a bottlecap magnet that I got from GeminiBelleDesigns. It is up on my fridge right now but it will soon be headed over to my sister's house for my niece and nephew.

GeminiBelleDesigns

Saturday's alright for business cards

I finally got my business cards finished today. It took me forever to cut them when I was at the copy shop but I think it is worth it. They aren't the best design in the world and the resolution isn't great but they will do. I only made 60 of them and I have given away almost 20 already by sticking them into shipments (FOUR went out today!) and to family members.

I really like this set and I think it is because of the colors. I got all of the pictures out of magazines that I scored from the community pile at work. I first discovered this craft a few years ago when some people from work showed me some magnets they had made with product logos on them. I took it in a different direction and used more art/design/pop culture references and not advertising.  

Here's my Cher magnet. I made a TON of these types of magnets last year and they covered my fridge. I seriously could not see the exposed side of my refridgerator thanks to marble magnets, magnetic poetry and my niece's pasta artwork. Until Wednesday all of my magnets have been living in a brown paper lunch sack. I had intended for them to be part of my first batch of Etsy items but I couldn't get the photos right.

This is a preview of a scarf that I will be adding to my shop in a few days. This pic didn't make the cut to be included on Etsy but I will add it here. 

Here are many of the pieces I have for sale in my shop. They are waiting patiently in their little cubbies for the perfect person to wander into my Etsy store and pick them up. 

This is where I do much of my work. Designing a simple pair of earrings is easy but thinking of an interesting description is many times the hardest part. The past few days I have been listening to The Who's "Tommy" almost non-stop as I sit at the computer.  

This pic is of my bead collection. I am always looking for new and unique beads to create jewelry out of. Sometimes though I just go for what's on sale and many times I get the best stuff out of those.  

new & improved

So, if you know me and had been reading my other blog you may have discovered that it has been deleted. It was lame, boring and irrelevant and is, thankfully, no longer. This is the new and improved blog and it will be all about me and my "craft" projects. I don't know why that word, craft, bothers me right now. I guess because it conjures up images of country and Americana. What I do is make jewelry, knit scarves, design purses and bags and a bunch of other stuff that as I write this defies categorization. I have been selling my creations on Etsy since November and even I have been surprised by my success. I will be using this platform to go behind the scenes to show you how I work and preview works in progress. If you want to check out my little shop click on the link to the right.

Coming Soon!

More about me and my business coming soon!