The Cozy of the Day is a cup sleeve that I pick to be discounted.
Today it is this cute Christmas cozy. I have about three of these left so get them while you can!
Cozy of the Day! $5
https://www.etsy.com/listing/86197917/coffee-cup-cozy-coffee-cup-sleeve-fabric
See you later,
Karen
This beautiful blanket has been finished for quite awhile. I have some great photos to share of it as our oldest son had time in his busy schedule to take some photos for me. It is beautiful shades of grey and purple. The colors vary from deep purple to magenta.
Just gorgeous and 54″ square. A perfect size for a throw on the couch. You can find it in the ChocolateDogStudio etsy shop. The pattern is also available on Craftsy and Etsy so you can make your own.
Talk to you later,
Karen
One of my favorite photographers came by and spent several hours visiting and shooting some photos of my Etsy products. We had a great time drinking coffee and eating some cookies while he worked.
Here is one of the photos he took. This almost represents a whole years worth of blankets I have crocheted. I love the fluffiness of the yarns in this one.
You can almost touch and feel the softness of some of the yarns. Â This photo is missing the red granny square and several other blankets that sold.
Talk to you later,
Karen
These boot cuffs are the perfect DIY gift. Lovely chunk soft boot cuffs, they make a perfect gift for family and friends.
They are super quick, easy, and fashionable. You can crochet a pair in a weekend. The super chunky yarn makes up quickly. You can find the patterns here: craftsy and ChocolateDogStudio.etsy.com
Visit chocodogstudio’s Craftsy Pattern Store »
I love them and you can crochet them in the perfect color for your friends and family!
Talk to you later,
Karen
The Serape Stripe Blanket is now available for purchase at either
craftsy or Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/163785028/blanket-hand-crochet-blanket-pattern
Talk to you later,
Karen
It’s the beginning of November, what are your business goals for the month?
What is it you want to accomplish? I have been wondering that every month so far this year. I have been setting vague sales goals on a post it note. The post it note is a program that came with this computer when I bought it. I love the post it note program but my family hates it. (Please forgive any un-techinical terms or if I use the wrong techie vocabulary, I am not a tech geek.) Â When my computer boots up all the way it looks like this….
Yes, I did add some post it notes to cover up some vital information, but I usually have about 10+ post it notes up on my computer at any one time. I was keeping my sales goal on a post it note. Along with other household notes, phone numbers, home repair checklists, and a running list of completed projects for my peace of mind.
I realized this year that I needed to start setting goals or I would never really get this business of the ground. So, I started tracking sales for the past three years for each month and then setting goals based on those numbers.
I found this great short article:Â http://www.notredameonline.com/setting-business-goals/
“ It’s important to set clear goals; you should know exactly where you want to go and you should not waiver from your target regardless of failures along the way. Be as specific as possible, so you are able to determine when you’ve reached your goal.”
I knew this was important and back in March, when I started really tracking the sales of the business and where the sales were heading.
Here were the unspecific goals:
The goals are pretty clear but still a little foggy and they leave a lot of room for interpretation. Reading this article by Notre Dame has really focused my vision. There are habits that I need to develop that will give my business a boost.
“Make sure your goal is worth your effort.”
What is the purpose of my business? Why does it exist? Tough questions to answer. My business started like most home businesses as an effort to ease the family budget in tough times. It is time, however, to decide if it is to continue as a sideline venture or does it need a re-interpretation. Since the business started in 2008 many things have changed. Our family is restructuring as kids are leaving the nest, getting married, going to college or tech school. The marketplace has changed drastically. Items that were selling are not selling as quickly, so some restructuring of the shop needs to happen. I am having more free time and less free time all at the same time. So the bottom line here is what is the purpose of my business?
2.  “Define your end goal and create a road map for exactly how you’re going to reach your goal. “
I am still working on defining this goal and I have it in mind. You will forgive me if I am not quite ready to share that goal with the world. I need to make a more focused goal listing and probably not put it on post it notes on my laptop. I need a written quantifiable business plan. This means that I need to be able to measure my success at following the plan. Like a runner tracks his time for the mile, I need to be able to see that I am making progress.
Here is a goal that I’ve me in the past three days!
“3. Commit to your Goals
Seeing the progress written down on paper will help me to realize when I am off track. Flylady.com does this with her cleaning methods. You have a daily to do list that varies by the day of the week that rotates some chores daily, weekly and monthly. She also has blessing days where you take care of yourself. I need to set some rewards at the end of my goals. Simply saying “I will pay more down on such and such bill” isn’t much of a reward. Knowing how I work, I will need a daily, weekly and month goal to keep myself on track. I am wearing (like all women) about 7 different hats. Four of these hats are more important than any job, career or goal that I might have. These are my faith, my husband, my family and keeping the house running. Letting any of these  slip lower on my priority list affects my creativity and also my productivity. These four things are more important to me than making money or creating anything.
Action: I will set 12 rewards for myself and my business for reaching goals. One goal for each month. I will also set faith, family and house goals. This will help me keep work in its place, though inspiration waits for no one.
Maybe some new styles and colors of yarn!
4.Make your Goals PublicÂ
An extremely effective technique for achieving business goals is making them public. Invite a team or even a single person into your plan; you’ll face accountability which can be very motivating. Once you share your goals with someone, you can determine what sort of involvement they will have with your plan. Will you ask them to check in with you every so often or not? What their role entails is up to you.
I share my business goals with my husband. He has a good business head and we are opposites. He is not emotionally invested in my business like I am and will give good, truthful advice. I also often get advice from my Mom. She gives great construction and sewing advice that I don’t always want to hear. She is an expert seamstress  with many years of experience. I also get good business advice from a close high school friend that is personally involved in the sewing industry and has been since college.
Writing a pattern for this blanket is one of my goals this week.
5. Set deadlines for your goals.
This I haven’t been doing at all. My goals tend to be too emotional and totally dependent on everything from the weather (photography, arthritis), health (running errands etc..) and everything else. So I need to set a daily schedule and treat work like work and home like home but maybe not for 8 hours a day. We are still homeschooling so I need to break my day down into smaller time bites and there is nothing wrong with setting an alternate goal for the “in case of” situations that happen. When I was teaching art I had a folder of a weeks worth of work that any substitute could assign. I need a list of things to do for the “in case of” times.
Action:
1. Make a list of things for the “in case of ” situations that happen for business and home.
2. Make Freezer meals as it frees up valuable time and makes life easier for everyone and keeps us on budget.
Somehow, I think these two things will free up valuable time.
Reward Yourself
I need to remember to have fun! I need to do things that are fun as a family, as a couple, with friends and by myself. I tend to get rather driven and forget to have fun. This is a sure way of burning out in all areas of our lives. Do the things that add a sparkle to your life! When I figure what this is, I will let you know!
Talk to you later,
Karen
Are you feeling a bit stressed lately. I know I have, I have been a bit frustrated the past month or two.  I could list my frustrations out but I think it is counter productive. I have been listing them over and over and then expecting them to go away. Since doing the same thing repetitively and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. I have finally decided to list out ways to overcome frustration. The first step is to decide which frustrations I can personally change and which I have absolutely no influence over.
Frustration seems to come from a feeling of lack of control. Its root is either anger or fear. I have been feeling both emotions in abundance lately. So rather than take you into the dark places that I have been travelling lately. I am going to walk us through an exercise of how to overcome.
Remember that frustration is born of wanting things or people to be a certain way that is fixed in your head. Your expectations of others and of how the world works is formed over many years of experiences and sometimes your personal overlay is defective; it might have been a source of self-protection once but when it continues to advise you poorly for future experiences, then it is stuck in time, and generally plain wrong. When you cease to expect other people to act in a certain way, when you start to look at the world with fresh eyes again and expect nothing apart from the fact that you are a member of a community of individuals and a world of many happenings, then you start to realize that things happen, people are the way that they are, and most importantly of all, how you react matters.
http://www.wikihow.com/Cope-With-Frustration
Ok, so my frustration is born out of the expectation that the surgery I just had would give me greater mobility, not less. Is there anything I personally can do to change this mobility issue? What would help me?
1. Exercise (which in itself is frustrating as all the written information talks about going for a walk!) Are there other types of exercise that I can do? Yes, I can start swimming, even though it means that I will swim differently now. I can also do Pilates which requires nothing more than a clear space and a tv.
2. Clearing your mind (I don’t know what I think about this. People with clear minds often have empty minds devoid of creativity) I think they mean that you stop thinking about what you can’t do and instead focus on what you can do! Like a camera that can take close up photos. If I focus on the things I can’t do then I forget all of the things that I can do. I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason, which I may never know. It is our choice to either allow that “thing” to destroy or refine us.
3. Change how I react to what I can and can’t do
http://www.bitrebels.com/lifestyle/10-tips-to-overcome-frustration/
Frustration usually occurs when our intended personal goals and dreams are not met. We may feel frustrated when an outcome of what we wanted to happen simply did not happen, or when we meet challenges. There are so many things that can cause us to be frustrated. Some people act on that feeling, while others do not. More often than not, the cause of our frustrations can be attributed to external forces that we do not have control over. It can be triggered by a situation like a gadget not working, or even by another person. Frustration can block us from feeling motivated. We can react by trying to solve what is causing the frustration, or we can just simply give up.
4. Giving up is not an option. I am not a quitter. I do not give up. I am as my Mom says a fighter. She says I have courage, actually, I am too afraid not to take the next step. I tend to do what I can to keep from thinking about what is happening or going on around me. Pain refines and challenges every aspect of our lives and frankly I would rather have the physical pain rather than emotional pain. Time doesn’t dull pain acceptance does. We allow the paint to infiltrate and diffuse into every part of our lives until it has been with us so long that we have a hard time even recognizing it. Until it is gone, well and truly gone. Â Then only by concentrating do we see that there is pain and that something needs to be done.
I had a long talk with a long time friend last night. We had both had amazingly frustrating weeks and it was nice to talk to someone and get a different point of view on things. She helped me immensely. It was nice to be able to say what has been on my mind and have someone remind me that things really are better than I think. I think I was able to do the same thing and encourage her to look past her frustrations. So, my last piece of advice would be to find a close friend and really talk to them about your frustrations, if you can. We don’t often share like we did last night but it really helped to talk about our fears and get them out in the open. Fear really doesn’t like the light of day and sharing about your fears often makes them go away. Remember that there is a difference between sharing and whining!
The photos are of some new blankets that I started this past weekend. They are beautiful and I can’t wait to share the finished patterns and product in the shop! The pink and brown one is already for sale in the shop and I love this close up of the border. Â You can find it here:Â https://www.etsy.com/listing/165023172/blanket-crochet-granny-square-baby
Talk to you later,
Karen
p.s. I am also assuming that you have already prayed about your frustrations.
I just have to show off the green blanket, even though it isn’t going to be in the shop. It already has a home.
It is a beautiful color and the texture is wonderful! To think, that I almost quit crocheting it early on in the project because it was a little boring to crochet all in one color. The good thing about creating a one color blanket is that you don’t have all the ends to weave in! It ended up being a gift for family and it was a joy to be able to give it.
Talk to you later,
Karen
I must start a new crochet afghan. I finished the last one a week ago and also some new baby blankets. I haven’t crocheted much since. Secretly, I am exhausted. Getting well and healing is hard work. I had my first physical therapy appointment today. Wow, I am tired. I will admit that I have lost some inches while on the crutches. I noticed this when I cinched up my belt yesterday. Crutches are just a whole body workout for the arms, upper body and abs. Not to mention, standing on one foot while doing everything that requires standing. So, over the last three months I have lost about two inches overall but, I am tired, deeply tired. I hope the tired phase passes quickly and that I never find the inches I have lost. While I am resting,  I need to start another crochet blanket. If I had my choice I would go buy some more yarn in addition to the large order I just had delivered via the USPS. It is a chunkier yarn somewhere between the Stylecraft I have been using and the Lion brand chunky of the boot cuffs. The pattern is cool and I am excited to get it kicked into high gear. I started it about four months ago, trying out a new pattern and it has this wonderful visual texture of skinny and thick stripes.
We will see how I feel later today about shopping and buying new yarn. Here is a look at what I have finished this past week.
It is gorgeous and I love the textures in it. I am really tempted to make more just like it in nice wonderful solid colors. I also stitched up some baby blankets.
This one has a nice lacy border that I was trying out.
I love the colors in this baby afghan. It is just so bright and joyous!
Here is the last one. A pretty blanket for a baby girl.
Well, I shall go off and think about which blanket pattern I want to try! I hope I get it settled pretty soon.
Talk to you later,
Karen
p.s. I’m sorry I wasn’t blogging more last week. The shenanigans in Washington D.C. had me really angry. So, while I blogged a lot to burn off some steam, I decided not to post any of it. The rest of the blogosphere was really doing a great job talking about it on their own without my 2 cents.
These have been sitting around waiting for the dressmakers dummy and the opportunity to take the photos.
talk to you later,
Karen