Sunday, October 25, 2009

Old and New

I want to start this beautiful Sunday by saying that I wish I had the time to write on both of my blogs every day, and that is my goal, but right now I just don't seem to have the time.  I have to admit, though, that I just realized that between my two sites, this is now my 102nd post.  It adds up in six months.

Yesterday, Mom and I took the day to go furniture shopping, new and antique.  She's looking for new furniture for her family room and an antique night stand for her guest room.  I'm looking for an antique small coffee table for my tea room.  We struck out on all counts.
But---I was very excited about the teacups and vases that I found to either make into pincushions or just to add to my collections.

Antique tea cups (I think the little one in front is fairly new, but it's so cute)


I believe the one on the left is a small vase, as is the Imperial Glass
on the right.  The cup in the middle is a chocolate cup.


Here are the other teacups I've made into pincushions.



And miniature shoe


This little one is only about 1-1/2" high and 2" tall)

There's also the one from my previous post of October 10 (I can't believe it's been that long since I last wrote).  I'm having so much fun making these.  Picking out the fabric that best goes with the cup and choosing the different laces, ribbons, buttons and charms that seem to belong.

I  just finished another framed mini quilt.

This little quilt size is a little over 3" square, then mounted on linen, with the title "Reach for the Stars" cross stitched, bordered with lace on the top and bottom and framed in a 5x7 silver frame.  There is a star charm in the middle.

And I  finally finished my pastel rainbow scarf.


I made it 72" long and 3" wide so that there are many different ways of wrapping it or even making it into a bow.  This is a washable wool, very lightweight, so it lays so nice.  The knit stitch is a mock cable on one side.  I originally planned on putting this in my Etsy shop, but I think I might have to keep it for myself now.  I loved this yarn so much that I got some more and just started a "Kisses and Hugs" cable pattern headband to go with it.

 
It's a good thing this is only a headband and won't be very long because I really have to pay attention to the pattern.  I've torn out many times already.  TIP - don't knit complicated patterns late at night when tired!

Each night I decide what it is I want to work on for the evening.  I have to have several different projects going at once because I tend to get bored easily.  I think I'm going to sit and knit tonight.


Saturday, October 10, 2009

What Was I Thinking?

I was barely awake this morning, my eyes still closed, and I layed there thinking about my Etsy shop and how I needed to re-do my pictures.  I read a tip from someone on an Etsy forum yesterday that said she uses the same background and lighting for all her pictures so that her shop looks more uniform with a similar theme.  After looking at her shop, I could see what she meant.  That was my goal today, and that is what I've been doing all day.
My style is very feminine and lacy, so I needed to make this more of a theme.  I'm using a lace background now for all my pictures.  Now I need to re-take the pictures of all the items on there.  It's going to take a while.  Today I re-did my banner from this

to this


I re-did my avatar from this


to this


And I'm now using the lace background, for example:  this

to this

When I started this Etsy thing, I thought I would just take a picture of what I made, put it on the computer, and people would be flocking to my site to buy.  What made me think that?  Not happening!  The more I get into it, the more I learn and realize it is much more complicated than that.  The pictures have to be of excellent quality, so I now edit all my photos through Picnik, which is a great tool, by the way.  Very user friendly, fun, and it does an excellent job.  This is time consuming, though.  Then you have to have good descriptions, and tag the items with the right words so people can search it, and then promote and market yourself.  This really could be a full time job.  That's not considering the time making the stuff you make.  Why did I think this would be easy? 
But you know what?  I'm having fun.  I've made no money.  I'm spending an awful lot of time with it.  But it's fun.  Right now, though, it's still a hobby.  And I know I can't be spending eight hours a day on a hobby.  So little by little I'll just keep playing with it, and if I start to sell things I'll up the time investment.
A little bit of encouragement came my way today by way of a fellow Etsian and Blogger, Julie, at http://juliesbits.blogspot.com/.  She posted one of my pincushions on her blog as one of her favorites Etsy finds.

 I was very  touched and excited by this.  Thank you Julie.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Making Progress

I've put myself on a semi-time schedule and it has helped me stay a little more organized and not feel so overwhelmed.  I actually wrote down a weekly schedule so I have particular things I need to get done each day.  Such as:  Monday is laundry and ironing day.  Tuesday is the day I send out mailers for my husband's business, etc.  Then I have a daily schedule where I give myself so many hours on the computer, so many hours updating my Etsy site, so much blogging time, etc., and I don't allow myself on the computer after 8 pm.  From 8 pm until I get tired I work in my sewing room on my projects while I watch TV.  Of course, this can all vary slightly when grandkids are here, or the phone rings, or someone shows up at the door.  Anyway, it's still helped me a lot. 
I got Riley's pink sweater done Monday night.  It turned out pretty good.

 I haven't seen it on her yet, but I think it will fit now.  Riley and Dee got here Tuesday and it is so nice to see them and to hold that beautiful little granddaughter again.

I listed my first pincushion on Etsy today.  I finished another one that I made out of a little antique china shoe.  It's so cute.  I know it's hard to tell from a picture, but this is only about 2" x 4".


I did make it to the flea market on Saturday and found several tea cups for more pincushions.  I got this little shoe there, too. 
I'm not sure if I'm going to knit tonight or make a tea cup pincushion.  Maybe a little of both.  First I have to look up the TV Guide and then get myself settled in.  My favorite time of the day.  Watch TV, get a snack, and do my thing.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Computer Catch Up Day

Our lives are so computerized now, aren't they?  It's a rainy, cool day in Pennsylvania, My Bob is on the road today, and no grandkids today.  I've been sitting at my desk all day, getting papers organized, and caught up on all my web sites, e-mails, etc. 
I also finally got the quilted Guardian Angel change purse listed on Etsy.  (see previous post) I thought I'd get that done a week ago, but -----.
I finally finished the other green baby booty.  Dee, DIL, and Baby Riley, granddaughter, will be here on Tuesday.  I'm making progress on the pink baby sweater.  I HAVE to have it done by Tuesday, too. 
You would think that was enough to do, but Oh No, I have to always start something new!  I saw this yarn at my yarn store and had to have it.

For all you knitters out there, I'm sure you can relate.  Once I got the yarn home it kept staring at me as I was knitting that booty, so I had to pick it up and start the scarf I wanted to make with it.  This yarn is called Mini Mochi.  It's a thin, washable, wool.  I'm using two strands to mix up the rainbow colors and make it thicker.  It is so soft.  The pattern is a mock cable.  I love this yarn and colors.
You'd think that was enough going on, but Oh No.  I saw this insipiration for pincushions and I just had to make it last night. 


Isn't this adorable.  I'm hooked.  I'm looking through my teacup collection for my next future pincushion.  This particular cup is an antique shaving mug.  You can tell by the base.  It was made in Germany.  I'm going to get pink pearl head pins for in it. 
The last local Flea Market for the year is this weekend and I'm hoping to go tomorrow in search for perfect tea cups/soon to be pincushions.