Aren't they beautiful?!?! I bought them from this Etsy Shop. I cannot wait for them to arrive!

I have not purchased any new yarn/thread/crafty materials since before December. YAHOO for me!! I haven't even missed purchasing anything new. I'm beginning to think that as long as I stay away from Value Village and Salvation Army I will probably be okay.

Things have been slow going...mostly because I am not usually in the crocheting mood right after the Christmas Madness. I have made 3 dishcloths so far out of cotton I had leftover and I have started a round ripple afghan. I'm so excited to start another one seeing as how I fell in love with pattern on the baby blanket I made.

It's going to be a mish mash of colours because I'm going to use all the old acrylic and unknown fibers I have kicking around and I have accumulated quite a bit over the years. It will be an excellent destashing project, freeing up at least half of one of my tubs.

I've got red, beige, grey, mauve, black, and green lined up so far. I don't tend to use that stuff for my projects anymore (aside from slippers). I think because I've become a bit of a yarn snob. Acrylic just seems so....unpopular these days.

I'm not very far in, only 9 rounds. I've got about a 100 more to go because I want to make this big enough for a bed. & if that becomes too ambitious (or I run out of yarn) I definitely want to make it a good sized lap blanket.

This project is for ME. That's right ME. It's been so long since I've made anything that is just for myself.

Little Spots has a little link love in her 'Whatcha Working on Wednesday' post. Thanks for the LOVE hon! Make sure you check out her Etsy Shop--AngelaSpots. It's a good place. My favourite is this upcycled Felted Market Tote. I wish I could felt the way she does. My felting experiments have always just been disasters.

In other Etsy News Thistledown & Finch had her Louisa Bag featured on the Front Page. Congrats to you T&F!

I think it's official. Celery has beat Cucumber. I asked a lot of people and it always seemed about even, so I'm going with the one that i like the sounds of the best. I really like the eeeeeeeee sound at the end and the soft c.

I've been working on some business cards. I've even found a font that has a celery stalk as one of the letters. I have a tagline 'fresh, green, crunchy. delicious handmade items'. I've got plans for an etsy store. At some point I'm going to work on a website.

It's all happening....at my very slow pace....

Another internet friend of mine is being featured on ETSY.

Thistledown & Finch has a great article on the Storque about how she takes Vintage Suits and turns them into wonderful mens wallets and bags.

Thistledown & Finch explains part of the process involved in (re)creating her gorgeous wallets, "the existing curves and seams make the design process an intuitive one. Not only is the fabric long off the market, but the motion dictated by individual cuts contributes to making each piece unique."


Not only does Thistledown & Finch have amazing creative talent she also shows her love and concern for the Earth in her brand of 'craftivism'. T & F explains:

"The exportation of our discarded clothing, as opposed to domestic re-use, contributes not only to dissolution of long-standing textile traditions in economically vulnerable cultures, but also to dependency situations which would take much longer to reverse than they did to establish. The transportation of these goods, by air, land, and sea, also creates copious greenhouse emissions which could be easily be reduced, were an effort made by each of us to step up and exercise restraint in our buying habits.

Supporting small-scale artisans, working in recycled materials, providing upcycled goods of high quality which will last longer than the season — these actions affect the local community, the country, and the continent. And further, as with any of our actions, our actions have ramifications which affect everyone: the whole world."

I love knowing that there are other artisans and craftspeople out there in the big wide world who share these same concerns with me.

Make sure to stop also stop by and check out Thistledown & Finch's newly created blog. Let her know how you support upcycling and craftivism or even better make a purchase from her ETSY shop

"there is one path for all, but each must walk it in their way"

for years i've had problems with goals. i used to be very good at ignoring my lack of follow through. recently, my quasi-add has really become more noticeable and has begun (i think) to affect my future.

the advent of my blog(s) has made me recognize my shortcomings in this area of personal development. we worked on goals in the portfolio course and of course it was a tough thing for me to work on and elucidate. i'm all over the place. one minute i want to go back to school and take my master's degree. another minute i want to work in a funeral home (long story). or i want to stay at home with andrew and work on my crafting business. it goes on and on for me. sometimes it feels like if i make a goal (ie. to make a post on my blog every day or exercise so many minutes a day) then it's the very next day that it all falls apart. how do i stop this? are my goals too vague? too specific? too unrealistic? too random? too everything?

i have worked on some stuff, and i thought i'd share it.

Craft Corner

In six months to 1 year I will have opened an Etsy Shop and created and launched a website for my business. I will also have researched owning a small business.

In 1 to 2 years I will have achieved 100 sales and instructed classes on how to make the plarn bags and frog a sweater. I will have also written a business plan for success!

As a long term goal (5 years plus) I will be on the road to doing this as my full time business.

In The Now Career

In six months to 1 year I will have completed my portfolio and identified which areas I am interested to pursue as full time employment (this includes recognizing any education or training I might need, any practical experience that I will need to gain, and a plan on how to go about the achieving the above).

At this point I am hesitant to make any more goals until I really know what I want to do. I wish to pray and meditate more on this subject. I want to ask God how I should be discerning.

Money Matters

In six months to 1 year we will have completely eliminated the need to use the overdraft. We will have well established our emergency fund and will have well established a fund to be used for big ticket items (ie. car repairs and house repairs.) We will not use credit anymore.

In 3-4 years well will be consumer debt free. We will have paid off our credit cards, car loan, and consolidation loans. We will also have begun an aggressive Retirement savings plan for Steve as well as myself.

Gail talks a lot about being financially fit--and in this area this is my long term goal--to be truly financially fit. We will maintain our lifestyle of not having or incurring debt, by being prepared with savings that will cover a variety of issues. We will be on a plan to pay off our mortgage quite early (20 years vs. 40 years).

Healthy Living Bandwagon

This is probably the hardest section to write. I make promises to myself all the time. Every minute of every day I am waging a war with my insides about what to eat and how to move and when to weigh myself.

In six months to 1 year exercise will become a part of my daily routine. Just as I surf the internet and watch tv, taking a walk or doing aerobics will become like that.

In 1 to 2 years I will run a 5KM race. I will have learned to run and will be healthy enough to run that distance for that length of time.

As a long term goal I will run a half marathon.

These goals need to be re-evaluated every month I think. I need to stay focused, I need to be checking in to ensure I am still on track and breaking large goals down into smaller, more manageable ones. If I accomplish a goal early, I also need to remember to set another goal to fill it's place! I don't want to not have a path to walk.

I need to recognize and appreciate the fact that things will change and my goals might change as well. Life is fluid. Nothing is set in stone.

Jehovah Shalom.

So many decisions and so little time. 4Star wasn't cutting it. One of the lovely Hitched ladies used some cleverness and came up with Cucumber (cucumber being cool, upcycled, crocheted, unique, made with love, bargain, earth friendly & reused--fashionplanner is indeed a genius!). Pazzo, yet another fantastic Hitched poster even devised the best tagline ever! Green. Fresh. Crunchy.

I was inspired. I was driven. I was excited. I was making plans. I even made a whole post about all the steps to take to open the etsy store. And then whammo! Glitch.

What's the glitch you ask? Cucumber, is of course taken. I should have seen it coming. So is Cucumber Designs and Cucumbersome. Now, it's back to the drawing board.

I sat and thought about this last & today. I started to think of other things that were green and fresh and crunchy and not taken up as a name in Etsy. The hubster and I went through every green veggie we could think of...broccoli, zucchini (both vetoed due to spelling difficulties), celery, peppers, and on and on. In the end I could be made to love and appreciate celery as a name. i like the eeeee sound at the ending and I really like celery.

So far, I've thought of the following solutions:

• Sliced Cucumbers
• Cool as a Cuucumber
• Celery
• Celery Stalks
  

Being creative is taking quite a bit of energy. As it stands right now it's Cucumbers vs. Celery. I wonder who will be the victor? It's a rumble. hah!

PS. It's quite disturbing what you see when you do a google image search for cucumber.I'd really rather not do that again. I hope some 7 year old doesn't do the same thing for his health project on Cucumbers. blech.

I've been saying this since...oh...last Christmas but I'm going to make it a reality. I am going to open an Etsy Store by taking the following steps:

• Research the Etsy Forums for steps to follow & ask on H and CA
  
• Make a banner
• Make a logo
• Write a shop announcement/description
• Write a shop profile
• Write shop policies
• register as a business with PayPal
• Improve Photography Skills
• Take Killer Photos
• Write Description of Listing
• Add Listing

To have completed all this by December? (or is that too ambitious--especially with the upcoming craft show and christmas.)

My very good internet friend Kasanika made it to Etsy's Front Page today! (the felted baby links in the bottom right corner).

her etsy store is very successful. she's been on the front page a few times and featured by etsy as well. it makes me a little star struck and envious of her crafty-godliness.

in her own words kasanika is "inspired by the natural beauty that surrounds me, I strive to create unique, beautiful and functional handcrafted delights. kasanika is a true craftsman.

make sure you visit kasanika's blog to keep updated on what is new and what wonderful ideas she's thinking of next and who she's blogging about.