Halloween

  I have been going back and forth on what I want to make for my shop since I seem to have problems making things before the season is over.  For example, I always want to make cute Halloween things on November 1st.  It's a little late at that point.

  I have a cute idea for some hair flowers that are Halloween themed.  My only problem now is trying to find the right button for them.  I can find cabochons, but no good looking buttons.

   Here is a little preview.  The cotton fabric is drying right now and though I will have to re-do the small poof, I like how the large patch of lace turned out.

More larger sized earrings.

  I finally found the earring finds that I like with these.  The shape is kind of unusual, but I like how it looks with the dangles.
  It seems, however, that all I can make these days are large dangle earrings.  Is there some sort of group I can go to for this?  I do still like them, though I have plans for some smaller earrings in the near future.

Needle containers.

I mentioned last post about making some of my earring styles into necklaces.  I have a good picture of them now and the listing is now up.
I also have been collecting my earring crochet cottons so I will be able to make more.

I was at my day job and found this weird tube.  Since I was in the middle of doing something I just grabbed it to look at later.  It was a Singer brand sewing needle recycle tube.

Well, I have similar containers, only the ones I have come in fun colors and are less expensive.  I also give the option of having a fun little stripe of pretty tape in case they are too plain.

Matching necklaces.

  I had a vision that I would list my crochet flower earrings and that they would just fly off the "shelf."  This has not happened.  As of right now I've only sold one pair of earrings.  I don't think it is because of how they look, I get lots of compliments when I wear the pair I made for myself.  I think the size is the problem.  Not everyone likes big earrings.

 

   I already made one pair of rainbow flower earrings, but I also wanted to make a pair with my blue gold-stone beads.  I couldn't tell which I would like better, so I decided to make a pair of each.

  When I went to go put them on the hoops I realized that I had no idea where I had put the two new bags I had purchased when they were on sale.  I was able to find one of the older ones that I hadn't put rubber bands on yet.  As I was looking at the single earring it occurred to me that they would also make very pretty necklaces.  This will let people who like the look of the items, but who don't like big earrings, enjoy them too.  It is also a good excuse to find more thread/bead combos I like.

Knitting designer problems.

  I also finally got my cascading leaves and vines shawl blocked.  I had a lot of fun with the other test of a pattern, so I am excited to get another going.  It helps people to have a picture to know if they want to test it or not.
  I'm also having some designer issues in my head.  I thought of a fun shawl idea, but it was so easy I figured someone else had already done it.  Then I thought about it more and thought of a variation on it.  I have been checking to see about the original on Ravelry, but so far I have not seen it.  I tried "block shawl" and found nothing.  I have been browsing through "stripe shawl" but there are over 100 pages of patterns to look at.  I'm on page 51 and so far I have not found the original idea I had.
  So now I'm wondering if I should make two patterns, one pattern, or a two-in-one pattern.  I also need to get my hands on some yarn in the weight I want before I can do any of this.  It will give me some more time to think it over. 

My first knitting pattern is live!

I'm so excited right now.  The pattern test went really well, only a few things needed to be changed. Ribbed Owl Mitts is now listed on my Ravelry page for sale.  I'm debating if I should list it on Etsy as well or not.  I haven't fully decided yet.

Back in the button game.

I forgot how much I like making pin-back buttons and playing with different materials to make them with.

I love the look of x-rays.  The way the light makes the pictures glow is kind of magical looking to me.  I took some lightly colored images of flower x-rays and made them into buttons.  I like the metallic effect lets it look like they are back-lit.

Hopefully there will be more buttons in the future.

I think I also forgot to mention that I made more flower earrings.  Spring brings out my love of flowers.  The rainbow also makes me super happy.

Some things have been falling through the cracks.

  I know I am horrible at time management.  Lately some things have been falling through the cracks.  One of the things that have been lacking lately has been real blogging.  I have been trying to keep the Facebook page updated, but often I have been choosing to work on items over talking about them.  It doesn't help that they have been giving me more hours at my day job.

  Owl stitch markers seem to be the most popular things in my shop this year.  So I decided to use the multi-colored ones and my black cotton cord to make some more.

  I have not listed these before, but this style of stitch marker were the first ones I have ever made.  I thought it would be fun to bring them back.


  I saw someone on YouTube make some super cute glass pebbles where they colored the back with nail polish.  The only problem is that then she didn't show what to do with them.  Most people make them into magnets, bit that idea didn't appeal to me.  Some more searching showed that a lot of people glued ring backs or flat-back bails to them, but I am a super paranoid person when it comes to trusting just glue on non-porous items.
  I had considered using a bezel, but the ones I have are from the craft store for floral decor, so they are all kinds of different sizes and shapes.  I even tried to make my own bezel out of polymer clay, but I ended up covering more of the front than I wanted to before I felt like they would really be safe in there.

  I then though of how I love making beaded netting, but how it usually takes too long to easily make something.  I combined that with the idea of a bezel and these are what I came up with.

Pink and Yellow Beaded Pebble Pendant

Pink, Green, and Yellow Dot Beaded Pebble Pendant

Blue, White, and Black Dot with Purple Beaded Pebble Pendant

Blue and Gold Beaded Pebble Pendant

I'm tired of winter!

I am tired of it being too cold out.  I like having the option to just decide to run around outside.  To combat the cold I have made some nice and cheery bracelets.

I think though I used black cording for the knots that they are all so happy and cheery.  We got about six more inches of snow yesterday.  While it was fun to watch while drinking hot chocolate, I'm excited for the flowers to come back.

First Etsy sale of the year!

I have been a bit slower than I had planned on listing things, but I made my first Etsy sale of the year.  I shipped it out yesterday.  It was the yellow owl snag free stitch markers with green beads.
I celebrated by making myself some fancy tea.