Tag: etsy shop

Posted on by

To Do List 3/30- 4/5/2014

The post about being overwhelmed has encouraged me to write my to do list each week. Last year I kept a running list on my computer. I had several lists that kept  work in the front of my mind. I stopped using them after several  comments from my family about how busy it was and overwhelming. Productivity dropped through the floor. So  I will start the perpetual lists back up immediately. Here is my To Do list for this week.

Home and family

Scrapbook page for Home school yearbook.

Baby photo of Sr. for yearbook

Meal with son and daughter in law

Plan meals for week

Mail sr photos out to family

Get Commencement invites out

Organizing

Create shopping list

Clean bedroom

Clean out front flower bed and plant irises in back yard

Work on organizing files (pick one drawer to work on)

Chocolate Dog Studio

Finish pattern for baby blanket

Create  last 10  items for the 100 day challenge!

Complete Calendar planning for shop and home for rest of year.

Plan vacation times and fabric shopping trip

Self

Exercise four times this week

Plan quiet times for re-energizing

Date night with Hubs.

 

I hope I can get all of these things done!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

Posted on by

Stripey Wool Stash Blanket #91

This is number 91 out of 100 items created from my stash! Woohoo!!

I finished this last week but I was waiting for our son to come and take these photos to show off it’s true beauty.

IMG_3689

It is crocheted completely of wool out of my stash yarns. I used little balls of yarn and whole skeins.  IMG_3695 IMG_3703

Some of the skeins were variegated and some were solid. I love it, it is warm and cozy. It was almost too warm to work on as the weather is turning to the mid 60s these days.

IMG_3709I like the peaked scalloped border that is a bit more masculine than I normally use. It is  59″ x 49″ on an average size.   I just love it and it is available in the Etsy shop!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

 

Posted on by

#77- 83 on the 100 Items in 100 Days Challenge!

Here are items 77- 83!

Two pillowcases in pink and purple. I love these as I was learning how to do French seams. They are great, but I think we will use them at home instead of putting them in the shop. I also made a  pillowcase in a brown stripe fabric but it has already been used. So these will be numbers 77, 78, 79

2014-03-25 08.24.18

I crocheted four pot holders with a fifth in the works.

2014-03-025The blue and yellow one and the blue, red and yellow stripe are both crocheted out of wool. The pink multicolor is crocheted out of acrylic yarn.

So these are numbers… 80, 81, 82, 83

There are only 17 items left to create. I have some more coffee press cozies in the works along with more quilted pot holders. These items all use stash fabrics so I can’t wait to show them to you and get them marked off the list.
I have been fighting a cold all week and the weekend looks really full so It may still be a week or two before I am finished with this challenge.

I have had some requests for crochet patterns, and help on some granny squares. I will see what I can do on those. It has been and will be an incredibly busy spring. We are preparing for a graduation and the college girl moving back home and probably back out as she heads off on a summer job.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on by

Confession

I have a huge confession to make!

I bought fabric this week and bias tape and lace and other supplies.

What caused me to fall off the Challenge Wagon? An business opportunity and my birthday. First, my birthday purchases were really bought by my Mom. I have never really sewn clothes for myself because I was too rushed and did an awful job as children kept interrupting. Well, they are much older now and don’t interrupt as much. I found some beautiful fabrics that will work well as a tops for me and I LOVE the fabric. It is soft, comfortable and 100% cotton which is needed in Oklahoma heat and humidity. I also blame my daughter’s sewing class as it kept throwing temptation in my path day after day. So I was quite comfortable buying the birthday fabric.

Second, I have a business opportunity that happened serendipitously. I am super excited and can’t share very much about it. So I bought fabric for the business opportunity.

2014-03-22 08.22.55

 

I am not counting these items toward the challenge. I am still committed to working hard on my challenge pieces. I have basted the quilt and just need to do the quilting. I am crocheting up a storm of pot holders out of the scrap washable wool yarns. I have made several pillow cases and just need to get them photographed. So, really I am down to about 16 items. Yay. The thing to remember about the challenge is that it is a challenge to use up my supplies for my business or crafting and not keep me from building my business. So, if you have an opportunity for your crafty business and you need to buy supplies: TAKE IT!

2014-03-22 14.39.13

talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on by

71- 76 of the 100 items in 100 days

Here are the other brooches that I have been working on.

Some Kandinsky inspired circle brooches. 2014-03-15 22.39.35

2014-03-15 22.38.58

2014-03-15 22.38.47

And some Spring Tulips!

2014-03-15 22.39.28 2014-03-15 22.39.20 2014-03-15 22.39.12

This is #71 – 76.

They were fun to make and something new for the shop. I still have a ton of felt left, though the bead supply is getting low. I started the challenge with this.

2014-03-15 12.47.50 2014-03-15 22.40.09

 

So, I am using up my bead supply with these pins. It is hard to imagine that I am only 24 items from being finished with the challenge. I started on January 17 and it is only March 17 now.  So if you count the days;15 days in January, 28 days in February, and 16 days in March, for a total of 59 days! I am super motivated as I really need to buy some critical supplies for the shop! : )

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

Posted on by

A New Wool Blanket!

This week I drive our daughter to sewing lessons at a local sewing machine shop all week. I am going to be fighting temptation all week as this shop is located near a major fabric/craft store and also near some other fun stores that I never get to browse. The sewing class is three hours long, not quite long enough for me to drive home and get anything done. The drive is just long enough to make me think twice about the drive in addition to the spending money on gas. I do need some supplies in the worst way. While I could, should and probably will wait this week is going to be a huge test of my will power.

I am only 24 items from the end of the challenge and I am wondering if I can really make it that long without some critical supplies. I do have 6 additional items completed and four partially completed. If I add that to what I have already finished it brings me down to 14 items! I am ready for the challenge to be finished. The four partially completed include some crochet blankets, and a quilt.

 

I started this as an exercise in procrastination. I have several blankets started and this one just jumped out for me to work on. I don’t normally work with wool at this time of year but the large skeins of yarn were calling to me. So I started this great scrap blanket.

2014-03-17 20.54.22

2014-03-16 12.32.56  Here is the other thing I was procrastinating on, basting this quilt. I am now about 1/2 way done. Oh, and the shopping thing, today I passed with flying colors. I didn’t buy anything at all! Yeah!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on by

Felt Brooches in the Works

I had so much fun sewing the felt brooches that I thought I would show you a bit of the process. I just love all of these pretty wooden beads. They came from my stash of beads left over from my daughters’ jewelry making.

2014-03-14 09.57.36

 

2014-03-14 13.42.56

I cut out the felt and decided on the design.2014-03-14 14.12.37

Then the stitching and beading began. It was so much fun to create something from start to finish in one day! I have some more in the works and I hope to show them to you later this week.

This is all that I have left of these particular beads, though there is a bunch of felt left!

2014-03-15 12.33.35

See you later,

Karen

Karen

 

Posted on by

Flannel Blankets

I love flannel blankets for babies. They are so warm, cuddly and comforting. These three were made for baby boys with their bright colors and woven plaids.

My favorite a Stewart plaid. #612014-03-01 13.30.15

This beautiful blue, black and white plaid. #622014-03-01 13.32.39

#63

2014-03-01 13.31.57I love the black in this plaid. These are pre-washed for softness and hemmed for durability. They are woven with the different colors so both sides are exactly the same print.  The shop has bibs to match and would make a great baby shower gift set.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

Posted on by

60 Items and Counting

I never thought that I would reach this number quite so quickly. I wondered if I would be able to create even 50 items. Here I am sitting at 60. Here is a quick look at them all.

I am glad that I challenged myself to the 100 items in 100 days Challenge. I have used quite a few supplies. I am also a little staggered at how much I still have. While I have run out of a few key elements like the batting I use in the coffee cozies, pot holders, and cup sleeves. I have used up three spools of white thread and quite a few buttons. I have given to a teacher friend my rubber stamps, stamp pads and card stock for use in her classroom. I removed several vintage tea towels to use in my kitchen. I still have an excess of supplies sitting in my studio. I am wondering if I could continue the challenge to use up even more supplies in my shop. I would need to buy the batting I need though, I would NOT need to buy any yarn for quite awhile. I have enough yarn to last until June, August or even October, barring any flights of creativity.

I have been challenged to think outside the box and to use what I already have rather than rush out the store when I am low on creativity. While, I do pin ideas to my Pinterest boards, I try to use those ideas as a spring board for my own creativity. I have three or four  several things in the works for the next couple of weeks.

  • I still need to baste and quilt the quilt top
  • I have at least two or three crochet blankets in the works
  • I have three or four crochet patterns that I need to write up and publish
  • I have the supplies to create another weekender bag and the pattern free from the internet
  • I can crochet a ton of fingerless gloves, scarves and maybe hats! I am not fond of hats as everyone’s head is a very different size.
  • I have some small sewing ideas floating around in my head as well.

We will see what happens as I will have a full house next week as it is Spring Break for the college girl and she is bringing her room mates home for the week. The other kids also have Spring break at the same time so it will be a  busy week full of food, fun and laughter. I hope the weather cooperates as a hot dog roast/marshmallow toasting are in the works, along with some trips to museums in the area and of course bargain shopping! May you have a great week! It is icy and snowing here today as I write this, but by the time you read this it should be warm and sunny.

Talk to you later,

Karen