Tag: sewing

Posted on by

Looking Back at 2014 and Looking Forward to The New Year

I get a little introspective as the New Year approaches. I have just spent the last twelve months zooming through the days to this day.

Then there are the many photos of our yard and landscape. We had snow and ice, beautiful daffodils, tulips and irises all in succession.

Then the beautiful summer flowers in the front flower bed, from gladiolus to Russian sage to Purple coneflowers and daisies.The many pictures of yarn and projects in process including the craft fair.

There are many photos of family and trips to museums and lovely memories to share but I will not bore you with all of these photos. I have been graced with a very full year. We moved one person twice and three people once, if that makes any sense. We moved our daughter home from college at the beginning of the summer. Our son and his wife moved into their new apartment. We moved two of our kids back to college and finally we moved my mom to her new apartment. So those were huge moves and took time and attention. I just cleared out the last box of sewing materials from my Mom, yesterday. I am working on cleaning up in the studio after all of the busy time this Christmas season.

Things I am looking forward to this year include the Use Your Stash Challenge, doing a craft fair or two, some time spent fluffing the inside of the house. Here is my list for the future.

  • Prepping for a craft fair this June
  • Creating some new products for both shops
  • De-cluttering my house and studio
  • Finishing up about ten works in progress
  • Finishing up the tree skirt. I want to add some trim to the edging and possibly a decoration or two.
  • Clean out Christmas decorations that we haven’t used in years
  • Do some dog training. We have four in the back yard right now as we are watching my brother’s dog.
  • Make a menu and grocery list every week
  • Our oldest daughter is scheduled to graduate from college this next school year. So while it she officially doesn’t graduate until 2016. I know the year will be full of getting her prepared.

This is fairly busy list. I know that we will be driving  our daughter back to college, and also bringing her home. She has a wedding this summer to go to and we might take a vacation. I would like to work in the yard and get some things cleared up. All of this in addition to living life and home schooling our youngest. The days and years just seem to get shorter and time seems to be a more precious commodity.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

Posted on by

Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop!

It is the end of year Clearance sale in the shop. It is my time to clean some things up and you get a huge savings. I do not price the blankets much lower than this, ever! So stock up on cup cozies as awesome teacher gifts. Buy some blankets for the wedding season coming up and they also make great housewarming gifts! Be sure to buy it when you see it as the items in this clearance sale will go fast!

Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop!

There are cup cozies marked down.

Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop! Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop!

Christmas ornaments are marked down.Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop!

Infinity scarves are marked down.

Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop! Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop!

Ponchos are marked down.Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop! Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop! Crocheted blankets are even marked down 25%.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChocolateDogStudio Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop!

Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop! Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop!

Pretty much everything is 25% off in this clearance sale!

Talk to you later,

Karen

P.S. Here is the link to my shop! www.etsy.com/shop/chocolatedogstudio

Posted on by

Dashing in and dashing out

These days it seems that I am just dashing in and dashing out. The days are overwhelmingly filled until the time I fall exhausted into bed. It is just for a short time and then life will sort itself out again into a more respectable and livable rhythm. I apologize for short and non existent blog postings. I have great peace and I am so thankful that it is NOT health matters, or personal tragedies that fill my time and life. So, all is well at our house and home. I leave you with these photos of some bibs that I had a chance to sew on this past Monday.

Dashing in and dashing out Dashing in and dashing out Dashing in and dashing out Dashing in and dashing out Dashing in and dashing out

My happy Autumn crocheted pumpkins.

Dashing in and dashing out

Some color inspiration for a blanket for the future. Such a beautiful aqua and orange and this would make a wonderful blanket.Dashing in and dashing out

Some lovely warm infinity scarves that I crocheted the past few nights. What are you working on these days?

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on by

Stacks of bibs

Today, I am getting stacks of bibs sewn so they can be available in ChocolatesBabyShop.etsy.com. I can’t wait to get to the photography part. I am adding a bit more to the geeky line of bibs and I actually found some Dr. Who Tardis fabric. I have so much to share that this post should really be two posts but I am short on time these days to condense this down any smaller. I will start with the blankets that I listed for sale this past week. These granny square blankets will be in both shops. This green and lavender granny square is throw sized. It is perfect for keeping on the end of the bed or back of the chair for quick warmth. Crocheted of soft, warm and washable acrylic yarns it is infinitely useful. It is 42 inches square.Granny Square blanketsThis beautiful pink granny square baby blanket  and the aqua and purple blanket are both be available in ChocolatesBabyShop. The pink blanket is 32 inches square and the aqua blanket is 27 inches square. They are both crocheted out of soft acrylic yarns. These washable yarns a great allergy solution to wool yarns. Granny square blankets Granny square blanketsI have spent a huge amount of time with family the past several weeks. It is just that stage of life, I guess. My Mom is is downsizing into an apartment from her house and is moving to town. I am excited as we will get to spend more time together. I have been adding her stash to mine and the sewing room is even more chaotic than normal. I feel a bit sleep deprived and I have been low on energy to sew so waking up this morning to a blast of energy is beyond my understanding. It has been one of those days. A day when I get huge amounts done.  I fixed a baby shirt a friend was having issues with. I also got all of this done this morning as well; before noon! This is the before photo.stacks of bibs I trimmed, sewed, pinned and turned right side out all of these bibs.stacks of bibsSince I seem to be accomplishing things, I am going to dash off before the coffee wears off!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

Posted on by

Great Fall Sale!

There is a great sale going on right now at Chocolate Dog Studio and Chocolate’s Baby shop, 25% off the Sale items!

All of my cup cozies are on sale for Autumn!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/200375673/sale-coffee-cup-sleeve-coffee-cup-cozy

 

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/185880098/sale-fabric-coffee-cozy-cup-sleeve-aqua

There are also bibs on sale in ChocolatesBabyShop!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on by

Quilted Hearts

I am sure that you remember these from my sewing binge last week.

2014-06-04 13.20.02

Here is the midpoint.

2014-06-04 15.39.04Here they are in all the beauty. These turned out so well that I can almost forget all the zip bag failures!

IMG_4088-001 IMG_4104 IMG_4099-001 IMG_4096

I spent a whole day piecing these together. Then the better part of a morning stuffing and hand sewing the opening closed. They are cute and lovely. They will also be available in the www.ChocolateDogStudio.etsy.com shop on Friday at 6 pm. There are all sorts of lovely colors in each one and they are stripey and fun. I am working hard on the fun part of the shop! When they are gone they are gone as I used bits and pieces I had been collecting for awhile. Each one is unique. These could easily have fit in with the use my stash challenge!

see you later,

Karen

 

 

Posted on by

New Aprons!

Here are some new items for the shop. I finished these last week.

2014-06-06 09.59.17

Do you remember these fabrics from Instagram and facebook? Here are the finished products.

IMG_4084 IMG_4060-002IMG_4067-002IMG_4072

IMG_4078

They are fully lined with a white cotton fabric. The neck straps are adustable with D-rings. Most of these aprons have the extra long ties like a chef’s apron so you can tie it in the front. They came out beautifully. I love them. I have three more that I need to cut out and sew but I couldn’t wait to show you these. These will be available for purchase in ChocolateDogStudio.etsy shop on Friday of this week!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

Posted on by

A New Challenge

I have been tinkering around with the idea of a new Challenge! Here are the ideas I have had so far.

2014-05-31 15.10.43

  • crochet a square a day
  • creating more things from the supplies on hand
  • Christmas gift ideas 30 gift ideas in 30 days
  • 1 new item a day
  • Cleaning something in the house once a day
  • cleaning, organizing and decorating the studio… (ha, who am I kidding.)
  • Create a new pattern a week?
  • 100 new items for the shops in 100 days? With a little twist that I can use new bought supplies?
  • A Pinterest board challenge pick 30 items off my boards and try to create them myself?
  • 2014-05-31 15.10.13

Can you think of any I have missed? What would you do?

Talk to you later,

Karen