Chocolatedogstudio Archives - Page 4 of 26

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Karen Stewart

The Temperature Blanket

My etsy shop has been blowing up this week due to a little share about the Temperature blanket. I discovered this while I was on the phone with my Mom on New Years eve first thing in the morning. I receive the Etsy cha-ching on my phone when I sell something on Etsy. The phone cha-chingd three times in the space of one 20 minute conversation. That’s odd I thought. Well, it went on all day and then I started receiving requests to make a blanket that I had already sold. (I hardly ever go back and make the same blanket twice.) The blanket patterns kept selling all day long, and all day the next day. My views were off the charts. I have had 27,000 views in the last seven days. Yesterday my views were 12,323. I am blown away. It is a beautiful thing. I searched all through my analytics to figure out where the traffic was coming from with no luck. Finally, I questioned a customer and found where all the traffic was coming from. Here is the photo that was posted on Facebook

The Temperature Blanket

I quickly wrote the pattern for this blanket and posted it. It is doing quite well for pattern sales. I was wanting to sell more crochet patterns and less finished items. It fits better with my life goals and family needs right now. I have found a friend that will be glad to crochet this blanket for you. She is my Etsy friend Christie at Luvncrafts. I am going to stay out of the middle of those negotiations.

All because RepeatCrafterMe shared my blanket photo with the thermometer attached to it. It is such a lovely thing to happen.

The blanket above is not a thermometer blanket. It is just a blanket using the same lovely colors as are pictured in the thermometer. I really appreciate the shout out by Sarah. I know it will be a roller coaster ride that will end pretty soon but it sure is exciting right now.

Thank you Sarah. You have made my day and quite possibly my year.

Thank you to all the lovely people that are buying my blanket pattern. I hope you make a wonderful thermometer blanket that keeps you and your families warm.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Here are the links to the two patterns that will work well for this blanket.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/168162461/50-off-blanket-hand-crochet-blanket

https://www.etsy.com/listing/262182198/50-off-crochet-blanket-pattern-ombre

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Vacation time

This time of year I take someÂ vacationÂ time to enjoy my family and spend time not connected to a laptop or a project. Â I am pretty close to burn out by this time of year and it helps me to spend time with family. We tend to pull in pretty tight as a family unit this time of year. October and November are increasing in intensity and then add in the Christmas season, it is pretty overwhelming.

I have completed the bi-annual gifts for the dogs. I sewed new dog beds up for them. The one photographed above was created for Sebastian, our son and daughter in law’s dog. He is a little smaller than ours and fits quite nicely in his new bed.Â

It needs some paint but I liked the fact that it was printed with the bulb brand on the front so I left it.

Our dogs loved the new bed as well. Here they are testing the finished product.

My kitchen has been in a semi-useful state the past couple of days as we were changing out the lighting. The old fluorescent fixtures needed changing out as the ballasts were bad and half of the bulbs bad. Here is a photo in a half done state.Â

Removing the ceiling texture is next on our list. It is looking much brighter and I think the LED lights will save us some money. Â I was worried that the constructionÂ would put me behind on Christmas cooking and baking but I think it will be ok. I worked on some other things that needed to be done. This Christmas is just family and the kids are here to pitch in and help.

We have been watching The Great British Baking Show and I am inspired to try baking some new things. So, baking is in the plans for today.

There are great sales happening in allÂ shops and I will keep them open but they won’t be shipped until after Christmas from the Etsy shop. Vacation time has come and it is sorely needed. The time to putter in the kitchen, clean and decorate just a bit more is badly needed.

I will be back before the New Year with a round up post and then BOOM 2016 will happen. There are wonderful things in the works for next year and I can’t wait to tell you. There are new projects, new plans for both shops, new designs, tons of bright new yarn already waiting for the crochet hook! I pray that your Christmas is merry and bright! May you have the peace and joy of the season, may you renew old friendships and make new ones!
Talk to you later,

Karen

P.S. If you still need to shop you can find the shops here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChocolateDogStudio

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChocolatesBabyShop

http://www.amazon.com/handmade/chocolate-dog-studio

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Recover your Card Table Tutorial

It appears as though hubs and I have entered into the redo or maintain your stuff phase of life. My card tables were in sad shape after years of school projects and art projects. Simply covering them with tablecloths didn’t change the fact that they looked awful. I have had this little idea percolating in my mind for awhile. Â I have recovered a card table chair and there would be no reason why I couldn’t recover a card table the same way. All it would take is the laminated fabric or vinyl for the top. I already had the tiny staples and staple gun left over from the chair recover (or so I thought).

Doesn’t my table top look sad, ugly and dirty. I did cleanÂ it and it just doesn’t get any better.

Pretty much all card tables have a little layer of padding under the vinyl. You can see it in the photo above where it is cut. I saved this padding to reuse as it was already cut to size and not in too bad a condition. It is the thin packing wrap that

The supplies you will need are.

safety goggles
Staple gun and short staples
Enough vinyl for the top or laminated fabric
scissors
staple pulling devices ( we used everything from a staple puller to pliers and a flat head screwdriver)
2 small shallow bowls or jars for screws and used staples
scissors and craft knife
phillips head screwdriver

Keep in mind that small children and these tools do not mix well. This is probably the reason why this job didn’t happen any sooner.

Measure your card table top and while you are measuring check to see if your table top screws into the base and legs.

See the little brackets that are riveted to the table top then then screw into the metal table base.

Now you know if your card table is able to be recovered.

Buy your vinyl or laminated fabric for the top. Â I tried to buy a non- stripey design so it wouldn’t matter if I lined up the stripes perfectly. Un-aligned stripes drive me crazy over time. I chose vintage looking Paris postcards.

Put your card table upside down on your dining table or the floor. It is easier on your back and your knees. Using your phillips head screw driver remove all of the screws.

Take the legs off of the top and set them aside. Then start to remove all of the staples any way you can. Take a photo of the corner so that you can see how the vinyl was stapled in the corners.

It was stretched really tight and stapled a bunch.

Remove the vinyl and place your choice of top face down on your work surface. Place the padding on top and then your table top. It will make a sandwich with the top face down, then the padding and lastly the table top also face down.

Cut the top about four inches longer than you need on all four sides. This gives you something to pull on when you are stapling. We will trim the extra off later.

Staple one time in the middle on the first side.

Then I pulled the Paris fabric tight on the opposite side and put one staple in the table (through all of the layers) also in the middle. Then work one on each side of this first staple alternating opposite sides. Leave the corners alone for now.

Then staple the other two sides.

It will Â be stapled on all four sides with no corners done about 1/2 way through.

If your staples don’t go all the way in then you can get a hammer and tack them down firmly.

Then do the corners the same way as the photo stretching and stapling as you go. I tried to staple little bits instead of big folds of the vinyl.

Take the craft knife or scissors and trim the extra vinyl just on the inside of your staples away from the table edge.

Put the table base and legs back on your table top and put the screws back in.

See Tom put the screws back in for me. He also did most of the work but that happens at my house whenever I get out the tools. He did a great job and I just did other things.

I also have vinyl left over to do the chairs as well. So I am pretty happy about this project.

Things I would watch out for before starting.

make sure you have enough staples for the staple gun before you get started.
Make sure the staples you have fit the staple gun you own.

The top isn’t as tight as the original top but it isn’t wrinkled and the laminated fabric stretches more than the vinyl did. It looks good and is easy to clean. It gives new life to an old table and keeps me from wanting to buy a new card table. This is good since we have two tables and they both needed recovering. It keeps them both out of the landfill.

talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Karen Stewart

14 days left and two full weekends!

It is Friday and I have 14 days left and two full weekends. I am spending one day with my family, one day at Church and taking a date night as well. I was getting worried about getting everything done until I completed my inventory. I do have my back up help lined up for the show so that is a great thing.

I still have tons to do and today my focus is on boot cuffs and getting supplies for packaging. The image of what we buy is so much wrapped up in the packaging and styling. Things that look average somehow change their image with labels, tags and packaging. How can you tell the difference between a scarf, boot cuff, and infinity scarf when they are all set out on a table? This is what I am trying to solve.

These are a couple of pairs of boot cuffs in process.

Sitting here in my living room and looking at the trees outside my windows. There are about 20 trees out there but what do I see the red, yellow and orange trees. That is what I want for my products a chance to stand out from the crowd. Tags and labels help but packaging can also make a huge difference. I have been to craft shows where all the knit stuff blends in together. It is hard toÂ figure out what each piece is. Packaging and labelling is the way for me to solve that issue. It will also keep everything from look messy.

Talk to you later,

Karen

You can find my items on Etsy here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChocolateDogStudio

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChocolatesBabyShop

on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/handmade/chocolate-dog-studio

and at The Affair of the Heart in Tulsa on November 20-22

I am also found on Instagram Â hereÂ https://instagram.com/chocodogstudio/

but right now you can find me at home churning out lovely items for you and your family!

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Karen Stewart

The Craft Show Countdown

The To Do list for November is big, huge, and overwhelming as I am in the middle of the craft show countdown. I have very few creating days left before the big show and I am writing things on my list as fast as I can and I can and trying to mark them off just as quickly. I can’t keep up with this list too. It is just happening too fast. Throw in homeschooling, home maker duties, parenting and spending time with Dale, the kids and my Mom and life is WAY to busy. I wouldn’t have it any other way and I am sleeping all night long (read that as worn completely out!)

Here is the studio a week or so ago. I actually have cleaned it up last week and it looks pretty similar to this again. As soon as items are finishedÂ and tagged it moves upstairs. I do have about 40 projects in different states of completion that I need to just finish up.

I am working on scrap ornaments and quilted bibs in the photo above and it tends to get really messy when I am working with little bits of fabric.

You can tell that I am sewing and working diligently. The list was at this point at 2 pm yesterday when I stopped to run to Lowe’s for home repair items. I got back to it later and was able to mark a few more things off my list.

Yarntopia is also getting much slimmer these days. So, I can tell that I am making progress on using my supplies. I do wonder if it is actually smaller or does it just look that way since some of theÂ yarn is in different project bags.

It is 16 days to the craft show and I am in officially freak out mode. I wouldÂ also call it a creative frenzy, I think hubs would call it chaos. Today I paint the displays to make sure that everything looks fresh and clean!

The Craft Show Countdown

I’m almost finished but the paint is still wet and it looks like it might rain. It seems I take three steps forward and then two steps back.

Everyday has several jobsÂ and life keeps happening so for today I am going to work on doing the important not the urgent. Taking time out for family and life is so much more important than prepping for a craft show. I keep reminding myself… over and over… again… Family comes first, family comes first, family comes first.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Karen Stewart

What Did I get done in October

Last month I listed everything I got done day byÂ day for the Christmas selling season and in preparation for the craft show. It helpedÂ me keep track of how I wasÂ doingÂ and how much I had left. I always feel that I am not doing enough. This will be like a foodÂ diary; a true picture of how much I wasÂ getting done to prepare. I still have my to do list for the month.

~~Make Menu and Grocery list~~
s~~ew buttons on cup coziesÂ~~
Stiffen Â all crochet ornaments
cut out Tardis baby bibs
cut out flannel baby bibs
sew flannel baby bibs
~~sew 37Â cup cozies now cut outÂ~~
Sew Tardis baby bibs
add ribbons to all ornaments
Crochet 4 Â men’s hats
Crochet 2Â Women’s rose hats
Crochet 5 Granny Stripe Scarves
Crochet 5 Granny Square Scarves
Crochet stars
Crochet hearts
Sew 10 superhero capes
Sew 10 aprons
Cut out 8 Â aprons
Organize my side of the maker space
Sew 6 flannel baby blankets for crochet trim
Sew pillow cases for crochet trim
sew 3 craft show aprons
~~Sew 20 burp cloths Â~~ I’ve currently sewn 16
finish owl hats that need eyes, wings and beaks
Sew tags on all the scarves and hats
Anything else I can think of!

Oct 1. Â Thursday

Sewed, topstitched and buttoned 57 cup cozies
Sewed eyes on Minion 6 minion hats, and 1 ninja turtle hat
Did the hand work on 7 heart ornaments

Oct. 2. Â Friday

20 minutes posting on Hootsuite

October 3 Saturday

Posted on Hootsuite

October 4 Sunday

took the day off and made cake!
listed 3Â items on Handmade@Amazon

October 5 Monday

Listed 24 items on Handmade @Amazon
sewed patchwork bibs yellow 6 they are ready for batting and backing!
shipped order
dropped off hat…

Tuesday

sewed 10 patchwork bibs Â (lots of work but they are really cute.)

Wed.

Crocheted 2 hats 1 teal and 1 copper

Thursday

Cut threads and finished quilting on patchwork baby bibs
Sold two adult blankets and 1 baby blanket

Friday

listed 10 baby blankets on Amazon/handmade

Saturday!Â Tons done today.

Figured out the craft show display
started painting some of the craft show display pieces
watched more of the Influence/Impact summit.
we have watched about 10 of the interviews so far and the knowledge we have gleaned is incredible. I love the fact that it is free!

Sunday

Cut and pin Burp clothes
watch Influence and Impact Symposium
Crochet head band
work on crochet triangle scarf/shawl

Monday October 12 Columbus Day

Iron and sew burp cloths
I put the tags on and cut the threads
Finished three blanket scarves
watched Dave Ramsey on Influence and Impact
Started crocheting a hat
wove in the ends on the teal hat

And THEN the week happened….

Saturday and Sunday

worked on displays and floor plan for the craft fair.
Spent time with family and enjoyed the weekend.
Date night on Friday night and went to the Vintage Market Fair, twice! Once on Friday and once on Saturday.
I had breakfast with friends, lunch with my Daughter in law and Dinner with Dale. When I told him I had eaten every meal out. He said not to get used to it, Â but we had a great date night.

It is now Monday again, the 19 of October! Â :0)

3 headbands finished
1 scarfy shawl or shawly scarf
1 sweater/poncho in reds/pinks/brown
crocheted/finished three hats, black/white, red/white, black/white, rust,
finished one owl hat

Tuesday October 20

Crocheted three hats
sewed tags on 30+ hats
took inventory of hats completed and tagged 67 hats total

Wednesday

wrote blog post
working on crochet hats
posted on hoot suite

Thursday October

Tagged and inventoried hats
put belly bands on cup cozies
sewed 10+ coffee press cozies
sewed hot pads

The guinea hens stopped by our house this morning.

Friday

Dale picked up d rings for me… they were the wrong size

Saturday October 24

cut out 10+ aprons and linings
Sewed 2 aprons
sewed 4 pot holders
cut apron straps
sewed buttons on 8 coffee press cozies

Sunday October 25

Did absolutely nothing for the business.
Switched all the kids beds around in Preparation for Thanksgiving.
Cleaned and vacuum the guest room and closet.

Monday October 26

We are getting close to the end of this month. I am doing a bad job of documenting my work. I am getting loads of sewing and business things done.

I got Square up and running again on my phone. It allows me to accept credit cards
cut out linings forÂ aprons
cut out baby bibs
sewed 14 baby bibs
Set up Hootsuite for the week
sewed buttons on 3 coffee press cozies
received the order for d rings…. they were the wrong size
ordered more d rings online
crocheted one baby bow tie

Tuesday

top stitched 14 baby bibs
cut out baby bibs
sewed bow tie baby bibs
added snaps to baby bibs
Total number of bibs finished today (
cut out capes (
crocheted man’s hat

Wednesday

sew capes
sew aprons
cut out superhero capes

Thursday

Finished 12 capes with tags
Sew ties on aprons
Take a huge long nap followed by going to bed early and sleeping all night!

Friday the 30th of October

sew aprons
iron aprons
Compassion village
family game night with homemade pizza! The pizza was great and we started a new game. It was hugely funny or we were being silly.

October 31st

Here we are right at the end of the month. I did get more done than I thought I did. I am starting a new list for November and I will get that posted soon.

Talk to you Â later,

Karen

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Tutorial: How to Sew Bias Tape

I have found a secret for sewing bias tape to make ties or loops. I was sewing pot holders and I need to be able to sew the hanging loop. I usually use ribbon but I have a ton of bias tape. Both my Mom and my Mother in Law had tons of bias tape and I inherited it. I usually use wide double fold bias tape but this stash bias tape is really skinny. Here is my tutorial on how to sew bias tape.

You need one of these pressure feet for your sewing machine.

Here is the edge stitch pressure foot or the stitch in the ditch foot. Put the bias tape in past the feed dog so that it will be starting about an inch in on the bias tape. Adjust the needle until you get the stitching right where you want it.

I hold the bias tape down and do not pin. You can sew rather slowly and do a good job. Stopping for pins is a pain and makes your sewing a bit more jagged. I advise practicing on scrap bias tape.

I always sew the open edge first.

It is much better than I usually do sewing without this pressure foot.

Here are both sides sewn. You can see at the top of the photo that if you don’t pay attention the sewing can still get wonky. So, pay attention… the pressure foot isn’t a magic wand for perfect edge stitching but it does help a huge amount.

It has been a wild morning as we found our dogs roaming the neighborhood. After a mad dash for shoes, a quick trip in the car, they are finally both home. It gets the adrenaline running in an unpleasant way. We are all now WIDE awake and a tad bit grouchy. The dogs are happy as they have had an early morning run and breakfast!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Being Boss

Sometimes being self motivated and your own boss is an issue. This week I am doing a good job of being boss. I feel the craft show looming down on me. I am so worried that I won’t have enough stock that I feel like I am working overtime. Taking time off to play or be social is truly hard for me, so I tend to work all the time. Then I face burn out.

If I look at my work as play then my attitude is much better. So, this week while playing. I finished up these colorful and fun hats. I love them.

I sent my daughter in to yarntopolis (my yarn storage) to pick another color for the same style hat and she picked light blue. They are so much fun to crochet. The colors change all of the time and that makes it quick work. I have also been busy hand sewing the Â tags on a bunch of the crocheted items.

Today, I am cleaning in the makerspace and getting the next round of sewing organized. I am waiting on some supplies but I will sew pot holders and coffee press cozies today. I also need to do cut capes out so I can get them sewn. All this planning is overwhelming but I am using my Kanban board as a reminder of what needs to be done, what is in process and what remains.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Karen Stewart

The Sampler Blanket

I made time to block the sampler blanket this week. If you are following me on Instagram you will notice that I have also started putting a border around each square. Â Here are someÂ befores and afters of the blocking process. If you have never steam blocked acrylic yarns you really should try it. It does a great job of heat setting nice straight edges and giving the granny squares their final shape.

They sure look all wadded and out of shape. I started blocking them on my ironing board a few at a time.

They started looking so much better. I don’t always block my granny squares but these desperately needed it.Â I used a ton of pins and my steam iron. I was really careful not to touch the iron to the yarns as it would melt. the squares all turned out to be about five different sizes when I was finished blocking them. WhichÂ was a nice surprise. This was going to be one creamy sampler blanket with no other colors but I just couldn’t leave it alone. Here is one with the borders that I am putting on each square. It will be much easier if I end up with squares that are all about the same size.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Karen Stewart

July’s to do list

I am already writing July’s to do list. Yay, it is the first weekÂ of July and I am on a roll, actually I am on the couch resting my knee as it is not happy with me today.

I have hit a wall on being creative these days. I am tired and grumpy a lot of the time. I hate taking pain meds as they tend to drug me up. I have been up since early today and it has taken quite a bit of energy. I have spent Â huge amounts of time on Pinterest yesterday and today but I am not inspired to do much. So this to do list may be shorter than normal.

Here is what I have been working on and what I hope to finish this month.

My organization to do list. We have accomplished more than is shown on this photo. It is a much shorter list now.

My sampler blanket

I hope to finish about twelve to 20 crochet hats. I want some to look like these but I also have some new designs running around in my mind.

I am also wanting to finish my quilt before I have surgery. Â It is at this stage right now.Â

I have quite a bit of quilting left but if I work hard on it a couple of mornings I might get it finished. I have several patterns that I want to write. There is this granny square blanket pattern that I want to write. That is a ton of work for the next two weeks in July. We are still in the middle of changing around our den to a maker space.

Talk to you later,

Karen