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Introducing the Red Granny Square

Here it is… I have given you brief glimpses of the red granny square blanket. I have finally finished it and here it is!

 

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It is beautiful, warm, cuddly and bright! I love the bright red around each square. I started it wondering if it could possibly be as pretty as the others I have seen on the internet. Yes, yes it can! This afghan is crocheted out of soft acrylic Stylecraft DK yarn. I am not sure how many skeins I used since I started the beginning rings ages ago. It is a bit of a scrap afghan but the colors are beautiful. You can find it in the shop here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/160856722/crochet-blanket-red-granny-square-afghan

Talk to you later,

Karen

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What’s in the future?

Right now I have about five crochet blanket ideas running around in my brain. One is definitely on the hook and progress is being made. One in in the design mode, two are definitely going to be crocheted as I have all the supplies and the shop needs them. I am thinking about several more scarves and tossing color combos around. Some scarves like this…

IMG_2672 I want to make another one similar to this… IMG_2911-001

Some more baby receiving blankets like this..

So all in all I guess I have about eight or more crochet ideas percolating. Then there are a bunch of new baby bib ideas plus some coffee cozy ideas. All with a autumn/winter feel to them. Most of them are for boy babies as I feel like the guys get slighted when it comes to cute boy things.

I would like to make a couple of quilts for the house on the home front. We are redoing a bedroom and it doubles as a guest room. It needs a little spiffing up as it feels dark and outdated. It has some really bad wallpaper that is almost ten years old now. I am also working on some pinterest ideas here and there. So those are also rolling around in my brain. We will see what happens when I actually get up off this couch and start walking! Planning is great but the proof is in the doing. Here are the quilt ideas that I am thinking about. Aren’t these beautiful!

http://pinterest.com/pin/210121138837676517/

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/210121138837661811/

Yes, these are off of Pinterest and if you find the original page please let me know. I searched but didn’t find the page to be able to give credit to the design work. I’m off to eat lunch and do more crocheting. I have been going slow on the crochet this week as the crutches are hard on my hands, on the plus side, my arms and shoulder muscles are getting a great workout off and on all day.

Talk to you later, Karen      

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Un-complicate Your Crafty Business Life

Yes, it is something that I have been trying to do this summer. I have felt overloaded for years, home schooling the kids, running the house, running a home business, being taxi driver for the kids. I am sure that your life is just as equally busy. I ran across this blog post http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/03/08/11-easy-ways-to-uncomplicate-your-life/ and decided that I can come up with a list of  ways to un-complicate my crafty/Etsy life.

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Here are the 11 things to un-complicate your life adapted and changed to apply to your crafty/Etsy life.

Learn from the past, and then get the heck out of there!

Learn from your mistakes and then MOVE on. Remove items from your shop that cause less than positive feedback or gives you excessive stress to create it. I am no longer going to carry these egg cozies!

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Focus on what’s truly important

Why do you create? Is it a good reason? Do you really need to be able to do this? My big thing that I don’t do is fancy  decorated cakes. Everyone assumes that since I am a creative person that I can decorate cakes and make them really cool. NOPE…I do not do cakes. I also do not do rubber stamping, yes, I have tried and NO I prefer not to rubber stamp. I am never pleased with the result.

Focus on being productive, not being busy

Time in the studio for me is precious. I want to be able to get things done when I am actually having time to sew. It is easier to be productive if I keep a running list of what needs to be done. I also will spend time cutting out a bunch of bibs or cozies one day so that I can sew a bunch when I get the chance. I sew all of the items that take the same color thread at one time. That way I don’t change thread color all day long.

Give what you want to receive.

If you would not want to receive some product of  yours as a gift then do not sell it, except as de-stash! If you want happy customers than make them happy. Give refunds when you need to.

Stop trying to be everything to everyone.

You need to make what you are best at creating. Create what makes you happy and causes you joy. If you are selling something that is more hassle than it is worth, stop creating it! Do not accept custom orders to create items that you don’t have the skills or time to make. Evaluate each custom order request; do you have the time, energy, desire, does it take skills you don’t have?

These give me the most joy!

 

Do what you know in your heart is right.

Price your product so that you make profit not sales! You do not want to be the Dollar mart of the arts and crafts world. Sell quality handmade work for a fair price. You are an expert, you do have experience, charge a reasonable amount for the work you do. Everyone comes out better in the end. Along the same line of thought; if you are run off your feet from sales and don’t have enough profit; you might need to raise prices a bit to slow down the sales.

Organize your space.

Keeping your supplies orderly will save you time, money and heartache. Knowing where your products and shipping supplies are, make it easier to ship your product. If you have to stop and find scissors every time you need to pack a box then you are adding frustration to your day.

Be efficient.

Learn new ways of doing things. Research how to be better at your business, follow trends, customer requests. Order your supplies wholesale instead of from the neighborhood crafts store. You spend less time in the car, you don’t pay sales tax and you don’t over buy.

You need to have a routine. It makes it easier to find time to do the little things that need doing.  Plan to spend times developing new ideas, cleaning, paperwork, new products, restocking your shop, creating old favorites or just thinking about making new things.

Let go of needless drama and those who create it.

Do your best that you can do at the time and let go of any sales drama that comes your way.

Forget what everyone else thinks and wants for you.

People have told me for years to open another online shop front so that I have one kind of product in each shop. I know my limits. I only have time to promote, stock and keep up with one shop.

What would you add to this list?

Karen

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Start Where You Are!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/103937992/quote-pillow-hand-stamped-linen

This is my theme for this year. I really don’t have a better way of saying it than this. No matter what you are trying to do. You can get some part of it done! Is it organizing? Then use the boxes your food comes in or roll newspapers and make newspaper baskets. You don’t have to wait to go to the store to get all pinteresty on it. YOU don’t have to have a beautiful pantry. IF it is organized for you and you can find what you want then it is beautiful. Do you need a new planner? Then print one down off the internet and get on with life. Are you wanting to start crocheting a granny square blanket but think it is going to take too long? It surely won’t take 20 years which is how long I have been working on the cross stitch from the post before this one. Just start. NIKE: just do it. Life is too short to wait for the perfect moment or when you have lost enough weight for family photos or a beach vacation! DO it anyway….unless you have debt and it means putting it all on the credit card and Dave Ramsey has your phone number. Then by all means wait until the right time and when you actually have money to do it, But plan it and start saving. There is never going to be a more perfect time to tell someone you love them or write that letter or finish that project. Do not put things off that are important to you. Learn to speak another language, knit, or paint if you have always wanted to know how. Don’t wait, life is too short!

What have you been waiting to do?

Karen

 

P.s. I featured the pillow cover above from Casa and Co. You can find the Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CasaAndCo

I have never bought from their shop nor are they paying me for this feature.

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Long term projects….1 down and several to go!

I have had a busy six weeks. It is incredibly boring to sit around doing nothing for six weeks while you recuperate from surgery.  I can say that I am working on my list of boring hard things to do; finish the AARP defensive driving course, finish up the sequin stocking kit that I started in 1999. Yes, I did finally finish it, minus the instruction sheet and cover sheet. I found a photo of the complete kit on E-bay. Printed that picture out and went to town on it yesterday. It is now just waiting on me to put the embroidered name on it for my sweet new daughter in law. She and our son will now have matching Christmas stockings. I am now on to the dreaded 1994 cross stitch project. I have finally found all of the parts, pattern, cross stitch, missing threads but I am missing a cross stitch needle. It will turn up quickly and I will get this done and marked off my list. I am  sorry about the size of this photo but I took it with my phone and it is just not working quite right I can’t figure out how to resize it today. Tomorrow I will have more brain power I am sure. I do know that if you click on it, it will take you to another window and show the a bigger photo if you are really want to see it.

So we will see if I get to show you the finished project. I will have to say in my self defense that having four children under nine is not the time to be doing counted cross stitch anything. So now that they are older (23,20,18, and 15) and we have moved four times. I think I can get it finished.

See you later,

Karen

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Boot Cuff Tutorial

I am unveiling my boot cuff tutorial. Leave me a comment and I will send the pattern free to the first 4 comments with e-mail addresses.

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The pattern is great for beginners as it uses only simple stitches.

I am going to be selling it on Etsy and Craftsy! Here are the links for Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/159774357/pattern-boot-cuff-boot-topperdiy-boot

and Craftsy: http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/accessory/boot-cuffs/65117

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Granny Square Bulls Eye Blanket!

Finally, It is finished. This blanket has taken me longer than any other. It has been frogged not once but twice. Here you go the ta da photos. It is now listed in my shop and ready to go to a new home. It is 100% wool. You can find it here in the shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/159280644/crochet-afghan-hand-crocheted-blanket

IMG_2572 IMG_2590 IMG_2591-001 IMG_2593-001My wonderful, oldest son took these photos for me as I am still on crutches. He did a great job and I am really thankful that he helped me out!

Thanks, Mark!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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The “To Do List”

Here is what I have been working on these days.

The red granny square blanket only needs 21 more squares and edging to be completed.  Let’s not forget that I will need to weave in, sew down and clip all these long threads.

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The brown granny square blanket needs  more yarn. I am almost finished with this. I lack about 10-12 more rounds and then edging. I won’t have many yarns to weave in as I carried my yarn from one row to another.

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Boot Cuffs

I have tons of yarn that I bought to crochet these. I have about eight that need to be joined and finish work.

Scarves

I have one dark green scarf that needs to be completed. It is wool and a joy to crochet. We cleaned up prior to the wedding and it was tucked away.

There is also one dark blue cotton yarn scarf that needs to be completed.

I am also wanting to crochet a bunch of granny stripe scarves for the shop. I think they would make great stocking stuffer gifts for my girls, but I think that they are overloaded on yarny things.

Patch blankets

When my kids were in scouts I started making patch blankets. This is a blanket with all of their patches sewn on so they don’t get lost. They would look a bit like this. I also sewed his favorite  t-shirt fronts to our oldest’s blanket. Needless to say, the others now want theirs finished as well.

(You can find this patch blanket here: http://www.streamwood.net/scripts/prodList.asp )

So this is my to do list at present!

What is on your to do list?

Karen

 

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Tutorial: Carrying Colors in Granny Squares

My first Tip and Trick that I want to share with you is how to carry your yarn up a row when you crochet Granny Square blankets. I have been working on this granny square blanket this week. I love crocheting Granny Square blankets, I love all the colors, the patterns, using up bits of yarn. The thing I hate about Granny Squares is  weaving the ends in after it is crocheted.

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It has grown from an idea to almost 5 ft square.  It is a simple color change pattern of two rows of a variegated yarn and one row of the cream color. I have used American crochet terminology in this brief tutorial. I decided to carry the yarn on up through the crocheting to the next row. It works like this.

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Here is my finished row of beige yarn. I am getting ready to join the end of the row to the beginning.

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I use the purple yarn to join because the next row is going to be the purple.

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I have started the chain three for the first post in the double crochet group.

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I then make each chain around the beige yarn so that it is inside the purple chain three.IMG_0021 IMG_0022

Then you simply hold the beige yarn out of the way and start your regular double crochets around the granny square. Here is the back view of the granny square with the beige yarn at the beginning of the double crochet group.IMG_0026

 

You can see the yarn a little from the back but it is much easier that tying off, weaving in ends and then sewing them down so they don’t pop out.

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That is a very close up image and it is hard to see where the yarns were carried up.I apologize for the photos, I am still in a cast healing up from surgery. It is difficult to get into proper daylight with everything I need for the tutorial as I am still keeping my foot up and on crutches. This also explains how quickly this granny blanket has come together. I do not have as many pulls on my time.

Talk to you later,

Karen

PS. Please let me know if you have any questions or don’t understand what I did. It seems pretty self explanatory from the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cleaning the studio Part 1

My studio is in  super sad shape. I haven’t really cleaned/organized it since we moved last July. There are/were things in there that could find a home in another storage area. So, with some incredible help by my family as they were my arms and leg. I did some searching on Pinterest to come up with some good ideas of craft room storage.

Here are some of the great ideas that I found.

This photo is from Pulpsushi. You can find the whole blog post here. http://pulpsushi.typepad.com/index/2013/04/guest-post-craft-room-organization-made-easy.html She has tons of great ideas on how to organize you craft space.

This photo of the pegboard is from Apartment therapy.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/wallmounted-craft-stations-100835  The pegboard looks planned not haphazard and the shelves for the cone thread are so necessary. we hung pegboard back in the Spring and it has been useful but I think it can be so much more!

http://debscountrycrafts.blogspot.com/2009/02/craft-room-inspiration.html This is just gorgeous. I like the lights under the shelves the jars of buttons and the magnet stripes under the shelves. It looks handy and easy to keep clean.

http://fancyfrugallife.com/old-headboard-to-craft-nook-my-new-craft-space/ This is from Fancy Frugal Life. I love the splash of color that she uses and the mix of patterns.

http://www.madiganmade.com/2011/08/my-colorful-ombre-basement-craft.html

Madigan did a great job transforming her basement into an easily cleaned, well organized, super pretty space. I love the labels on everything. I will need these so that the we can all find and return things to their proper places.

Here is how bad it was yesterday:

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It was out of control. This is an example of what happens when you have a craft area that four people use and no one knows where anything should get put away. I shared this room with some furniture items that are in long term storage; the kids rocking horse, the baby rocking chair, the girls tea table. We moved them to another storage area.

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That is a pretty bad photograph. I apologize for the bad photo but the kids were using my phone to take the pictures. Here is what it looks like after working on it all day yesterday.

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You can see the carpet and there is a clear walkway through to our bedroom.2013-08-04 19.49.21

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You can see that there is still a bunch to get done, hopefully it is going to only improve with more effort. IMG_0015There is the big comfy chair and ottoman. It works well in this room as I like to sit down and put my feet up when I hand sew. You can see the carpet and the fabric is now mostly contained. I am off to do more work today, hopefully the kids will continue to help as enthusiastically as they did yesterday.

Talk to you later,

Karen