Item of the Day

I've started a new (to me) feature for my Etsy shop...an Item of the Day.  I don't do these daily, but on a whim.  So I could have just one a week, 3 a week or if I'm feeling really saucy, 7 in a week. ;)  Today I do have an item of the day:

Fancy Jasper and Copper Bracelet

In addition to being a really great bracelet that is perfect for fall and could be for a man or a woman, I really like the pictures I took of this one.  Not so much because I think they're stellar art, but because the rocks came out of my daughter's rock collection.  I really like that she's gladly let me borrow her rocks (and shells in some of my other listings) for my pictures, so every time I look at this or the other pictures with her rocks and shells, I think of her. :)

Another Self-Portrait Project and Creativity

I've decided to start a 365 Days self-portrait project, again.  It's funny, I managed to stick with it and do the whole thing the first time I tried it out, but every time I've started it again, I've always stopped within the first couple of weeks (or, in some cases, days).  I'm up to day 18 (today will be day 19 once I take it), so maybe this time it'll stick.  At the very least, I've made it longer than past attempts. 

As I go, I'm hoping to take some more creative shots, not necessarily showing my face, or even most of my body.  My hand as been featured in two already, and today's will likely be my foot.  The last time I did this, I also did various themes for the week and I'd like to do some of that again to keep it interesting, both for me and anyone who looks at the set.

This one is from Day 11 and shows two charm bracelets I recently made (along with my hand).  I have not put them into my Etsy shop yet, but plan to do so soon.  It's the first time I've made charm bracelets like this and I'm pleased with the results.  I've also started making cell phone charms and am looking into other ideas for things to make with beads and charms that are not necessarily jewelry.  Although I enjoy making jewelry, I'm itching to make new and different items as well.  I may start looking into making more stamping/scrapbooking items as well.  So many crafts, so little time. :)

A New Year

I knew that I would not be ready to start any new goals over a weekend that followed celebrating New Year's Eve, so I resolved to start working toward my goals on January 5th, which is when my older daughter goes back to school and we get back into the "normal" routine.  So far, my goals are more ideas than solid goals with action steps.  I want to eat healthier foods, work on paying down debt, keep a cleaner house, and of course continue to work on building up my Etsy shop.

One thing I'm hoping to offer more of in my shop in the coming year is more chainmail items that my husband has made.  These have been really popular, especially at the craft fair we did in December.  I have one of his chainmail keychains on my keyring, although mine is a straight line rather than a celtic star.  I asked him to make it for me to "test" to see if the rings would hold up to being taken in and out of my purse, pocket, dangled from the ignition of the car, etc.  Yeah, I was just wanting to "test" it, that's it. ;)  I've had it for several months now and it has held up quite well.  I really like it.

So, now that we are 4 days into the New Year, what kind of resolutions have you made?  Have any of them already been broken? ;)  If so, I hope you don't throw in the towel, one of the things about goals is they are something to work toward, not something you flip a switch and have perfectly.  There will likely be bumps on the way, but as long as you don't let them stop you, you can still reach your goal.

Blog Feature

I just wanted to post real quickly to bring your attention to another blog.  French Revelation wrote a post featuring two jewelry shops on Etsy, and mine is one of them. :)  You can read the post here:

http://frenchrevelation.blogspot.com/2009/11/featurama-monday_16.html

We Feel Fine

A self-portrait that I took back in 2006 as part of a 365 day portrait project is being published in a book coming out in December. Even though I'm just one of thousands who are getting their pictures published in the same book, I'm really excited. :)

Yesterday they published a an online excerpt to their website, found here. The page with my picture doesn't appear to be on one of the pages that is clickable, though. I get a free copy of the book since one of my pictures is in it, which I will get in December. Yeah, I'm one of a large number, but still, I guess this means that soon I'll be a published photographer. :)

And, in case you were curious, here is my picture that will be in the book:

The title of the picture is "grumpy", but it's in the section of the book about being sick as I wrote about how I was grumpy because I tried to do a picture challenge of taking a picture of yourself upside down and didn't come out with anything good and ended up making myself feel sick in the process.  Hehe.  I had really long hair then, but I've had it cut a couple of times since then, including recently enough that right now it's slightly shorter than shoulder length.

I really enjoyed doing that project, and I like going back and seeing all the pictures I took and what I wrote about them each day.  This one is by no means the best of the bunch (nor is it the worst), but it's the one that caught their eye for their book when they did a search of "I feel".  I have been thinking about compiling all my self-portraits from that year into a book (for myself, I don't know that there would be much interest in that beyond me and my family), but so far haven't.  I've also tried starting a second year of self-portraits several times (and part of my latest attempt is here in this blog under the tag "365days" from when I first started writing in this blog), but so far have not stayed through for another full year.  I do still take random self-portraits sometimes though, just for fun.  :)

Anyway, I can't wait to get my copy of the book.  It looks like it'll be a fun one to look through!

Where The Wild Things Are

My "Wild About You" marble magnets are in an Etsy treasury! This is the first time, that I'm aware of, that something in my shop has been included in a treasury, so this was a nice surprise. :) The treasury, called Where The Wild Things Are, can be found here. It expires in a couple of days, so after it's gone, if you still want to see the listing for the magnets, you can click here .

On a roll

I wrote not too long ago about some sewing I did, including a knitting needle roll I'd made for myself. I am happy with it, except that I wish that the top folded down more on the knitting needles. This one would be better for short knitting needles (which I don't have) or crochet hooks (although it may be a little big for those).

I decided to make a second one for the friend who renewed my interest in knitting a few years ago and, for hers, make it long enough to cover longer knitting needles the way I wish mine did. I made a mistake in measuring the fabric (I didn't follow the "measure twice, cut once rule) so I didn't have enough in the right size/shape to line it with the same fabric. This turned into a happy accident as I had some solid color fabric that coordinated nicely with the print and, with my 7 year old adding her expert opinion, we picked the one that would look best with the fabric.

Here are pictures of the finished result:


I was really happy with how it looked when I was finished with it. I'm going to make another one for myself making it with a longer top like this one so it folds over the needles more. I think I'll use the one I have now for my crochet hooks even if it will be a little big for them. I have more of the purple batik fabric, but I'll probably use a different purple for the next one. So many purples, so little time. ;)

I did add a ribbon to her roll and mine, but the ribbon isn't pictured. Getting the ribbons sewn on was another adventure. I originally decided to just hand-sew them so I wouldn't have to get the machine out. After experimenting with that on my roll, I decided to use my sewing machine for her ribbon so it'd be neater, but mainly because pushing a needle through all that fabric and a ribbon was...challenging, to say the least.

This should be a simple job, right? Well, for most people, it probably would be. But I ended up in a fight with my machine to get it to sew right. Turns out, when I threaded the machine, the thread fell out of one of the little nooks and crannies the thread has to go through, but this wasn't obvious to the casual observer (me), so it took me several tries to figure out why it just kept knotting up instead of sewing actual stitches.

I have to say, I'm definitely enjoying sewing. I have a bunch of strips of fabric I cut out years ago (when I was pregnant with my 7 year old) to hand quilt a table runner. Needless to say, that project didn't get very far, but now I want to sort through the strips, figure out where I was, and then machine sew the pieces together. Since it's all strips and cutting into squares, it should go really fast on a machine. :)