How did I do?

 Last week I had a big list of things I needed to do.  Let's see how I did!

1.Last week I talked about how I needed to do some major organizing in our basement.  That didn't happen.  👎

2.  I wanted to get more shelving for our basement organization and for our pantry.  I thought about it and the husband and I talked about it while we were at Costco.  We even looked at the shelving, but decided not to get it right now.  👎

3.  I wanted to put the "general store" back together and organize it.  That didn't happen. 👎

4. I needed to stock up on a few things we were getting low on.  I got everything on my list except sugar and flour. 👍👎

5.  I made my bed every single day. 👍

6.  We ate at home each night (which is a big deal for us), because I had menu planned.  One meal we didn't like at all and opted for leftovers instead. 👍

I pretty much failed last week, but I have to say, that was a pretty big list.  However, it got me thinking about what needs to happen and how it needs to happen.  And that is a big start.  

This week the weather looks yucky.  So I am thinking that I will be able to get some of the organizing done in the basement while it is rainy outside. That is the plan.  We will see how much I get done. 👍

Plans for week of 6/12

 We got some news yesterday and we will be having our son and his fiance moving back in with us temporarily while they save for a house and wedding.  Soooo......that means a whole household of stuff will be moving in with them too.  This means I need to get on my basement organization.  I have a lot of things that are just laying around down there that I don't need or want and I just need to get that stuff gone.  I also have a bunch of my daughter's stuff that has been just sitting in piles from when she moved home from college a few months ago.  That needs to get put away finally and organized as she will be moving overseas in a couple months and won't be needing any of that stuff for a while.

We also just was gifted a TON of emergency gear from a "prepper" who prepped for his family of 12 for 3 years.  He is active military but moving and can't take this with him.  So he gifted it to us.  We have 4 to 5 pick up truck loads of stuff that I need to go though and organize as well. 

I am thinking I need more shelving at this point. Shelves on wheels so I can move them around too.  I a thinking 4 will help. I plan to double my pantry storage in the basement, reorganize our "general store" with some smaller totes and organizational boxes. 

This is going to be a big undertaking but I think I can at least start on it this week.  

Also this week I need to stock up on a few items. We are running low on sugar and flour, salt, pepper, and spaghetti sauce.

I will be, as always, making my bed.  I meal prepped and grocery shopped yesterday for this week until Thursday or Friday.  I am hoping we will have enough leftovers to carry over to the next night once or twice too.  

Where have I been???

Where have I been, you ask?  Well, I will tell you!

I have been right here.  My husband lovingly convinced me to buy an embroidery machine the end of October and it arrived mid November.  Since then I have been embroidering away.  One of the main reasons for purchasing a several thousand dollar embroidery machine was that we would start a "little" business with it.  I immediately began making and selling embroidered towels.  I sell them on etsy.com and in a local storefront. For a start up business we have been busy.

Here are a few of our towels:

You can purchase them here: www.etsy.com/shop/wcsears

You can like my facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/byathreadembroidery/

Prayer Shawls - a Free Crochet Pattern

And now for something completely different!!  :)

Did you know that I love to create?  I crochet, knit, quilt, sew, scrapbook, and cross stitch.  I love to make things with my hands.  It is relaxing, satisfying, and helps me relieve stress.


I enjoy making prayers shawls.  I give them away always.  If I have a friend struggling with illness, grieving, or just needs some comfort I tend to lean towards making them a prayer shawl.  I also make them for others who I don't know.  While, creating them I pray over the stitches, think about their needs, pray for comfort, strength and healing.  The shawls that I don't give to a loved one or friend I donate to my church for their healing ministry. (No we don't "heal" people, but help and comfort them while healing.) 


I have another blog where I share patterns and such from time to time.  Here is the link to the prayer shawl pattern I created.

https://whitneyshandwork.blogspot.com/2015/03/jacobs-ladder-prayer-shawl-free-pattern.html

Enjoy!

Quilted Place Mats

 I had this bedspread I bought and my husband doesn't really like it.  So it has been sitting in the linen closet taking up space.  I keep meaning to take it to Goodwill when I had this brilliant idea to cut it up and make place mats out of it.  It is quilted on both sides with two different patterns.  This is the same style of fabric I have bought in the past at Joann's to make place mats.  We use place mats all the time at all our meals.  It makes clean up so much easier and gives the plate a place to stay.

The first thing I did was make the pattern.  I don't want huge placemats but ones that will hold the plate and the fork, knife and spoon.  I used a paper bag to cut my template.  I used my plate as a guide and cut about an inch above and below the plate and about two and a half inches on each side.  Again, not too big.

Then it is a simple process. You can take a permanent marker or a fabric marker and trace the template onto the fabric, but in my case I just held it in place and cut around it.  I am lazy like that.

Once you cut them out they will have an open edge on them so we now have to sew it up.  You can take double folded bias tape in a coordinating color and sew it around the edges, but I didn't have enough in one color to do that so I just used my serger and serged all around it.

Voila!  Here the are all done and ready to use.  If you have stray strings or if it looks like it is going to unravel, put a bit of fabric glue on the stray threads and that will hold them.

It is a perfect size for my plates.  If you want it bigger to fit a glass on it then make the template bigger.  If you want to make smaller coasters then you can do that too. You can also make a table runner. Oh the possibilities!!!

The opposite side.

Okay, here is the best part of this whole thing.  I bought this king sized quilt for $24.99 which came with two pillow shams as well.  I made 10 place mats and still have a TON of material left over.  I can buy a yard of this same stuff at Joann Fabrics for $14.99 to $19.99, but not have near as much fabric as I have here.  My thought is that I am going to get a quilt in a Christmas pattern, maybe just buy a twin sized quilt, and make more place mats for the holidays.  This is the cheapest way to get this material. 

Have you ever looked on Amazon and found great craft books for FREE???

I have recently as I have been looking for some new ideas.  Yeah, I  know Pinterest is there but I like to look in different places too.

Here are a few books I found for the holidays.  These all were free when I posted them and when I purchased them.  Please check the prices of them before clicking to purchase.

Did you know you can read these books even if you don't have a Kindle or a Kindle app?  Yes you can and this is how I do it.  I downloaded the Kindle app to my PC and I read them right on my computer.  I also can read them "in the cloud" on the internet using no app at all.  How cool is that?




















This one looks interesting!

Crochet Scrubbie

I have been making these little scrubbies for a while now.  They are wonderful for the shower or bath.  They are similar to a netted scrubbie but work similar to a wash cloth.

I have several posted on etsy and am wondering if I should offer the pattern.  They are simple enough to make and take about 2 hours from start to finish for me while I watch tv.

You can make the inside a different color or make them all one color.  I like when I use a variegated yarn as they end up really pretty.  I use a 100% cotton yarn and they wash and dry in the washer and dryer perfectly.

I sell them for $5.50 on Etsy, here and here and here.  

So tell me what you think.  Would you want the pattern?  What would you be willing to pay for it? $2? $3? $5?

My New Etsy Store

I have been SOOOOO busy creating and selling items I have created in craft shows like this one here.

I decided that I would open an ETSY store to sell the items I typically sell in craft shows.

Without further adieu here is my ETSY store.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/wcsears




Please check it out when you have a chance.  There are a bunch of different things in there including jewelry, scarves, crocheted and knitted items, wine bags, dog bones and more.  I list many things each day so come back often.

Also follow me on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/CreativeHandmadeGoods

I post new items on Facebook to show you what has listed and what will be listing soon and other news.

Knitting Addiction

I have a favorite yarn store. It is in Kill Devil Hills, NC and called Knitting Addiction. I love this store because the owner is incredibly nice. She didn't bat an eye when I told her that I also crocheted. Then again, I was telling her of an experience with a lys in my town where the owner of that store DID bat an eye. I told that lady that I knitted and crocheted and she got all uppity with me and was really rude. Apparently you can't switch hit with yarn. LOL

Anyway, back to my favorite LYS and the owner Jeanne. She giggled a bit when I told her the story of my hometown LYS and the crochet story. I don't know if she didn't approve of crochet or not because she didn't let on. Good thing because if she had I would have to hate her too. People can "switch hit" with yarn, and I think it is a good thing. There are things that are better crocheted than knitted and things that are better when knitted instead of crocheted. If you can do both then you can have the best of both worlds. Right? Say 'right'.

Moving on. I don't get down to the Outer Banks but a couple times a year and I always try to get to the yarn store. She carries so many yarns that you just can't get in the big box stores. I love to touch and feel the yarns, wools, silks and cottons. They are just so yummy. Jeanne also displays incredible projects with the yarns that you need to make it as well as the patterns right there. Her patterns are $4.95 but if you buy enough yarn to complete the project the pattern is free. It is so good to actually see the project in true form so you know what it will look like before you begin. Jeanne is also so nice that she will sit down with you and teach you what you want to learn. Then help you with any problems that you have (knitting wise). She used to be a teacher so she is great at teaching knitting too. One can't help but fall in love with this store when they walk in. And if they don't then there is something wrong with them. LOL

I walked out with $113 worth of yarns and new knowledge of how to make cables. (Did I say I love this woman???)

Here is my first cable pattern that I made. It is a coffee cup cozy. It still needs a button and then it will go around a coffee mug. This will be so much fun to use in the winter time.

I made the cozy out of Peaches and Cream cotton yarn that I got at Walmart, in purple. I thought it would be a good practice yarn to use and I had just enough to make it. This pattern doesn't take much yarn. You could probably get at least three out of a skein of Peaches and Cream yarn.

I also bought these yarns: (sorry these photos are so dark and blurry. They were taken with my phone. It is all I have today)

Knitcol is a favorite yarn of mine. It is a little thicker than regular sock yarn but it feels so good. Knit them with #3 dpns. These skeins will be socks.

I really wish that these photos were a bit clearer. This yarn is so fun. It will also become a pair of socks. This is fun pretty colors AND sparkles. I love that I can make sparkly socks and with pretty colors. So fun! I had to buy it.

This is Princess by Elite, and it feels so snuggy. It is really soft yarn. Unfortunately Jeanne told me that this is discontinued by the manufacturer. I immediately went into mourning. I might need to get some more of this stuff.

This Mission Falls yarn is also being discontinued. I love this yarn too. I made a gator scarf with it and I love the way it feels. These skeins will become a pair of socks for my hunny.

This Merino 5 yarn is also soft but not fuzzy. Love it. It will be some more coffee cozies. I hope people like purple!

And finally, this is what I have been working on recently. This is a pair of socks using Red Heart Heart and Sole yarn. I love self striping/patterning yarns. I love to knit with them and see the pattern emerge. It is very motivating. I am knitting on #2 dpns and it seems to take forever to knit with #2's. I am about two inches from the end and then I have another sock to make. Then I can start playing with my new yarns I just bought.

I am hoping that I can make a bunch of presents for Christmas this year. I really want to make this a "handmade Christmas".

Ugly Paper Challenge

participated in the Ugly Paper Challenge at Scrap Sisters Studio, a message board I love. Anyway, the challenge was to find, cut into 4x6 inch rectangles and send four of your ugliest papers to another participant.

Here is the "ugly" paper I received with a very cute card.

That card is so cute.

When I saw that grass paper I immediately thought that I could do an Easter card with the other papers as Easter Eggs "hiding" in the grass. This is what I came up with.

The idea was a good one but the execution wasn't so great. The papers that I was working with weren't really "Easter" colors which hurt the total effect of the card.

So I moved on and made a few other cards with the scraps of paper I had left. Separately the paper wasn't so bad, together they don't match.

This was a fun challenge.

Mixed up media!

Hee hee. I played with paper and paint and mod podge last weekend and made this:

And this:

They were fun to make, but I need a lot of practice. One thing that I have figured out over the years is when it comes to "real" art, I am not so good. I can copy ideas well but those ideas are really the ideas of someone else. I don't come up with my own ideas very well.

Still it was fun. Oh, I did not copy these from anyone in particular. I took the ideas of others and sort of combined them and made my own. Does that make sense?

What do you do when you need a photo album but can't find one for a big boy?

Just change the ones you find!

My son likes to put his photos in little albums. We used to be able to get them that had a pretty generic cover on them, but in the past year or so we haven't been able to find ANY that were big boy appropriate. I don't like to spend too much money on them either. I can usually find them in the dollar range. That is a good price to me.

The other day I was at Walmart and found the albums I wanted but they all looked like this:

They were not big boy appropriate. I couldn't find any with a cover that was even decent for a boy at all. Or an adult for that matter. I was frustrated but looking at them anyway, when I opened the cover and I realized that these you could take the cover out! BINGO! I can use my scraps and make a cover to his liking and not embarrassing to pull out with his friends and show them the big fish he caught or the latest Boy Scout camping trip. Three albums hopped into my cart. They were also on sale for 67 cents a piece. BONUS!

I got home and showed him my find. He of course turned his nose up at them until I told him that we could change the cover. He went with me to my scrapbook paper and we looked through and found some paper that he liked. I went immediately to work as he gathered his photos.

This is what they look like now!

I used a piece of cardstock inside under the patterned paper to give it some stiffness. Inside the cover and the back I placed a journaling card so he could write what the event was and the date.

I also put patterned paper on the back too so it matched the front but not exactly the same as the front.

I was thinking that these would be great little gifts for grandparents, family, friends, etc.