My Attack Plan

So I saw this sweater wreath on apartment therapy from Viva Terra. It's $69 which really isn't that bad but, as they said on AT, it's so easy to picture doing this yourself. I'm going to try it. I even drew up a little plan. I'll let you know how it goes! I do this before a lot of my projects. Kind of draw up an outline of pieces I need and how it might all go together. Sometimes it's my favorite part of creating. You know, before I get frustrated because my sewing machine is being bitchy or the fabric isn't acting the way I want it to. In these drawings, it all seems so simple.

Handmade!

Alright so I didn't REALLY post on Friday, but there's new stuff up there now! I was way too busy this weekend to do any posting. I'm planning on gettting more craft stuff done this week especially since it's raining and I don't want to even look outside.
Currently I'm working on getting some more business cards together and writing a small card to go with each of my gifts explaining why I chose to do everything handmade this holiday season. It will basically say that as time passes we are moving further away from the orgins of the products we consume (food and material objects) and I think that the result of that disconnect is an atmosphere where we consume more because we don't think about the energy that goes into those things and thus consuming them does not mean as much. So it's that and also when I use recycled materials, it's a teeny way to keep our landfills a teensy-bit less full.
Alright, so I'm done with the preachy-preachy! ON with the craft porn. Check out my etsy shop for more!

Happy Thanksgiving...

I'm going to be spending the holiday with family but I will be updating my etsy shop on Friday so people who are getting their holiday shopping done early can indulge... Here's a sneak peak.
Have a good one!

New Items Up in Heeeeeer!

I figured out the most efficient way to regularly post on etsy. You know, lots of crafters don't do well on etsy and honestly, it hasn't been the most successful outlet for me either, but posting regularly definitely gets me sales. Anyway, it's hard to get out the camera each nite, take the pictures, edit them and then go through the posting process so instead, this weekend I took a ton of pictures of stuff that's ready to sell and got them edited and sized. Each day this week, I just have to go through the posting and description process on etsy and then I'm done! It definitely makes it easier to post.
Here's a new wallet I posted tonite. I love this one!

Button Button, Who's got the Button?

This weekend we went to a really great estate sale. I guess I kept referring to the woman who had died, like she was still alive and we were buying the items directly from her. The boy kept being like, "Wait, who are you talking about? Who's 'she' ?" I guess I felt connected to her. She must have been a crafter and she had all these amazing crocheted afghans and boxes of old sewing patterns. We both got some great things. It's strange being in a house full of someone elses memories when they're no longer alive but these people were truly interesting. Old train sets with boxes of train tracks, a basement with Schwinn bicycles and old dusty plastic bottles of water. What an interesting experience. I love all things vintage and even though we have no idea where all our new treasures will go, I'm so happy to have found this awesome stuff.
I also updated my etsy shop today and will be putting more stuff up all week to get ready for the holidays. I've got so much to do to get ready for my craft shows too but it's going to be so fun! I am going to take pictures of the gifts I'm making as well but those won't get posted until after Christmas since people recieving those gifts may be taking a look here!
Yay for the short work week too! I can't wait to head up to Seattle on Thursday!

Owl Time!

So, I've been obsessed with making these little owl guys for the last week. I found them on craftzine.com and they had a link the Moonstiches website where there's a tutorial to make these little guys. They are super easy and look great! I will definitely be giving them to some family members for the holidays as decorations. I added the window suction cup parts but they could also hang on the wall with some nails.
Finally, I also wanted to put a new picture up of my clothespin santa elves. I love them so much so I decided a proper picture was necessary.
I've been so busy lately with crafty stuff and I also got a cold so I've been trying to heal myself. I'm almost done with a couple Christmas gifts and I got my swap stuff out to my Secret Santa at Jane's Design blog. I'm also doing an ornament swap at Cake and Pie so I need to figure out what my ornament design will be. I love this time of year! Next week we're heading up to Seattle for family, turkey and friend time too!
This weekend there will definitely be an update in my etsy shop. I plan on adding a large amount of stuff over the next week so people can get there Christmas shoptime on.

This Weekend...

Come say hi, this Sunday 11am-4pm! Next month's is going to be crazy so now's a good time to purchase some early holiday gifts. I hope to see you if you're in the area.

Little Santa

Here's a little Santa wizard. Some stuff I'm working on for Christmas. I think I'll add a string so he can be an ornament too! Sorry for the bad picture quality. I was too lazy to track down the nice camera. Still, I think he looks mysterious. I like it. Inspiration from the Rosy Little Things blog.

Autumnal Inspiration

Secret Santa loves Gocco

So I have been a bit quiet about what I've got planned for my secret santa from Jane's blog. I recently got a gocco printer shipped to me from Japan and I couldn't wait to use it so I decided to make a little something for my secret santa victim. I drew this image by hand, including the "happy holidays". They could be sent out as holiday postcards or put on top of gifts with a handwritten "to" and "from" added. I can't believe how easy gocco printing is compared to silk screening. It was worth the cost for sure, especially if you live in an apartment because everything just packs up into this case it came in when you're ready to put it all away. I read a few helpful hints on printing here and here but the book it came with was incredibly helpful too! I've wanted this machine for so long and I'm so glad that I finally went for it! So Secret Santa participants, are you hoping your my victim?

Costume Making (a bit late...)

Oh! If I was on top of things, I would have posted this on Halloween. Here's the boy as Kanye West for his office costume contest. We made some of it and the rest was just clothes he had in his closet. We bought a pink polo at Ross and since he's a slim guy, I brought the shirt in a bit with my sewing machine. This is a super easy thing to do but I was in a hurry and didn't shorten the sleeves so it looks a little funny.
In order to make the Jesus chain, we printed out a picture of a blinged Jesus that we liked, glued it to cardstock, let it dry and then cut it out. To make it extra durable, I also modge podged the front. I left some room on the top of the Jesus to fold over, then I stuck the "gold" chain through the loop and glued the loop to the back of the Jesus.
The boy made those glasses all on his own. Aren't they great? He downloaded a pattern from the internet and glued it to some cardstock, then cut all the slits out with an exacto knife.
He only got one vote for best costume. The person put "I vote for Dan because I hear it took him 3 hours to make those glasses." It was probably more like 2.