simpletruths

The i-cord

Quite a while ago I posted a video tutorial on how to make a crochet i-cord, and recently someone asked me what I did with the icords I made.  Purse handles? pillow edging?  Nope.

love it.

Pride

When was the last time you were this proud of yourself?

 

Little Mr. just finished that dinosaur puzzle pretty much by himself.

Thumbs up indeed.

Crochet doily rug

 

yup...

 

I'm pretty proud.

 

OK - full disclosure.  I'm not actually FINISHED, finished. I only need about 3 more yards.

So if I want to make another rug like this I'll have to remember that I need 203 yards of cording - that's awkward.

I might be hooked on XL crochet for a while, but not exclusively. I mean I don't see this being a very viable commuting project. I've gotten pretty good and knitting and crocheting while standing on BART but I think a rug might be doing a little bit too much - even for me.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The holidays are coming, the holidays are coming!!

    When you hand make many of your gifts that's about how it feels - a date that suddenly looms dangerously close.

But I have a plan this year - I'm starting with  the gifts that need to be sent the farthest - so to my NY folks be excited - be very excited ;)

What's going on?

So much has been happening I barely had time to write any of it down

The shop:

I sold two items in my first month over at Modern Mouse in Alameda (yay!).

The ladies that run that store are  great and I need to figure out a way to hang out there more; Oh yea-I'm trying to be a Modern Mouse groupie.  Plus, on top of having amazing merchandise, they have a monthly craft night. I think it's perfect for anyone looking for a craft night that's not in San Francisco.

(hmmmm ...sideways iphone photo)

 

I've been working on a few new things for the shop.  More of the beaded necklaces in awesome color combos like this one

 

also, lots of tiny crochet

 

one done...more in progress

 

Then there's Little Mr and Ms Lady

 

Oh, and I have to update you on the Craft Hope bracelet project.

 

So come back soon (maybe even later today), and often, for updates on all of that plus a new tutorial I've been working on that's magical.

 

 

 

Modern Mouse

Do you see what I see??

 

That's right, those are my neclaces in an almost professional looking display tag.

Why?

Because simple truths is in a store!!!!! wooooo hoooooo!!! do the running man, do the running man...uhh uhh yea!

OK - I just had to get that out. Here are the specifics - for those of you who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, if you haven't checked out Modern Mouse in Alameda, you should. Everything they sell is handmade by (mostly) local artists - now including ME!

The first batch of merchandise includes: spiral (regular and mini) and hoop crocheted earrings

 

and my beaded necklaces.

I'm hoping to also add my recycled T accessories and the coffee cup cozies later this year.

The packaging part was somewhat difficult. I knew that I wanted the necklaces to hang, but finding hang tags for necklaces is not easy. So much so that I ended up making my own. For the earrings I used my tiny hole hole-puncher and turned my moo cards into earring cards.

The best thing about the earring display is that when someone buys my earrings they automatically have my business card and a photo of another type product I make.

winner!

Thanks for hanging in through a few weeks of spotty posts while I got everything prepped.  

In other news - why is it still raining? We doing usually get rainy, hot chocolate weather in the middle of May, but that's exactly what I'm about to make; a mug of spicy hot chocolate mmmmm

New rings and a clean table

Two of my favorite rings sold a little bit ago and that left my ring selection lacking so I put together 6 more.  Here a some picures of a few.

 

This is one of my new petite blooms

 

 

 

In completely unrelated news, this is my last week of maternity leave.

I know right? Adorable.

 

AND

I am not even responsible for this awesomeness. Mr Man lets me sleep in with Little Ms while he hangs out with our early riser (I used to be a morning person, honest!).  Well, one morning I finally make my way out of the room and I'm greeted with this  beautiful table.  I immediately picture baked goods that can be prepared, pizza dough that can be topped....but the real wonderfulness is just being able to sit down with a plate of food without having to excavate a space.

New in the shop

granny charms galore

 

I'm still loving these little granny squares.  I've got one on my key chain and a couple on my favorite purse. They make me smile.

 

coffee cup sweaters

A quick word about the CC sweaters; I've been making these for a while now - It actually started out as something I wanted for myself. Then I made one for my sister and mom.  Since then, almost every month or so I have a new request from a friend or someone my mom or sister works with.

BUT, I've only sold one in the shop...just one, in the past year.  Maybe virtual interest is just lagging behind real life.

Recycled T-Shirt cowls and necklaces

More colors are on the way - moss green, cobolt blue, bold red.....and wait until you see the bracelets.  These are one of my favorite summer accessories because they're so light.  Who wants metal or plastic against their skin when it's hot outside?

Granny Square Charms

So I've been addicted to granny sqaures lately - especially little ones;  about the size of a half-dollar.  After a couple of late nights I ended up with a small stack of them.

 

now what?

 

Well, I'm part of the California Crafters Club of Etsy and this year I'm participating in this great cross-promotional effort that I'm hoping will at least increase the traffic to my shop.

I've also been brainstoring for new items for the shop.  This covered both categories.

I was just going to make them as key chains but then I found some ball chain laying around the house and realized that my mini grannies made great little charms.

Look.

 

I have a few of these in the shop right now and more are on there way.  Playing with the color combinations is the most fun - any suggestions?

 

There's more granny square love still to come.

Everyday is earth day!

Last year, for earth day, I whipped up these cotton rounds for a custom order I recieved.

Then a few months later I made another batch for a friend.  Then, just a few weeks ago we ran out of cotton balls. Instead of buying yet another plastic bag (boo) full of cotton balls or rounds that would be tossed after one use (double boo), I decided to spend an evening making some reusable cotton rounds for myself.

I made 8, in two different sizes and I really like them.  They don't absorb liquid and quickly and easily as an airy cotton ball, so for some things I get them wet first.  But aside from getting used to that, they're pretty great.  I only toss them in the washing machine every few weeks because I typically just rinse out the one I just used - maybe even use a little hand soap - and let it dry over night.

easy, peasy

plus they look great in my bathroom

More photo props

A couple of weeks ago I discussed my new found photo prop for my scarves and cowls - the wooden hanger.

 

Now here's another photo prop that I use (and a new product for the shop)

yes, an envelope

 

Nice right. But if I flip it over to the other side....

(don't worry - I'm not planning on using that picture in my etsy shop).

 

Now - I wouldn't ever ship something to someone like this.  When it comes to shipping, this felt ball garland will be wrapped around a piece of nice white cardstock.  But for now, thank you junk mail!

 

 

New life, new year, new goals

This is what's been going on over here...

 

we celebrated a first Christmas

 

getting aquainted

 

checking out the outside world

 

being amazed - or maybe bored...

 

And after they all go to sleep I've been finishing these

 

I'll be back with regular posts soon.  Something new I'm going to be doing this year are occasional how-to posts.

Stay tuned!

 

 

Siblings

<whispering>  see the bear?

Mommy, put blanket on her

 

<whispering again> see the bear?

 

Little Miss was born this past Monday evening after a very short labor.  She met her big brother on Tuesday. They are already quite a pair.

 

Shop Note:

Orders placed at the shop over the weekend were shipped out on Tuesday

 

 

Merry Christmas Eve

 

 

Coziness

Just added to the shop:

 

coffee cup sweater

 

 

perfect red blossom ring

 

 

A sample of the wonderfulness yet to come:

 

 

 

So many pretty colors :)

I've been spending most of my crafty time on the table I'm going ot have set up this friday.  But I was able to post one new thing just for the shop:

yay for bitty nest rings :)

 

Here are a few pictures of some of what I've been working on for Friday...

I made several of these little earring holders from regular note cards:

 

My mom came over this weekend and helped me with massive earring assembly - this is just a sample.

These are some of my favorite beaded crochet strands that can be worn as either a necklace or bracelet.

Given how far along I am, right now I'm just hoping I can make it to (and through) Friday's event.

Mini Crustless Quiches

In preparation for Little Mrs. arrival I've been thinking of things that can be made ahead and frozen both for me and for the boys.

These little guys are my favorite so far:

Mini Crustless Quiches - one batch with just zucchini, another with zucchini and smoked turkey.

The recipe I ended up going with is actually a mini frittatta recipie  that was less recipe and more hmmmm what's in the fridge...

One downfall to going the muffin pan route (both mini and regular) is cleaning.  There's just no easy way to clean a muffin pan.

 

I've also gotten a bunch more button scarves finished and folded, and I just finished a couple cowls - one blue and one purple that aren't pictured. I feel like, come 10pm - I do nothing but weave in ends for an hour...and I haven't even started adding the hooks onto the earring yet...

 

Newly added

I've added a few pretty things to the shop.  Take a look.

Working in miniture

Recently, I've been using my tiny crochet hooks recently to make these tiny little treasures...

bitty nests

rosette rings

 

pint-sized butterflies

 

  making things into rings

shhhhhh.....

shhhhhhh......

everybody is asleep.....

not that there isn't stuff to clean...

 

but this is what I worked on instead

 and this

 and this.  I need to take some photos of these without the house clutter in the background before I can post them to the shop.

I'm not really sure about this last one. 
I was playing around with some chain and yarn and this is what I came up with.

All-in-all it was a very productive nap time :)

I think he likes it

 

A perfectly imperfect hat I recently finished for Little Mr.

 

 

The decreases are a little off, but it's soft and stretchy so he's set through the winter no matter how big his head gets :)

Hard work pays off

Remember the bin of craziness that needed to be taken care of?

 

I decided to use my craft time (read: nap time and bedtime) during the holiday weekend to finally put the finishing touches on as many half-done projects as possible. And I'm actually very proud of how much work I did.  Take a look!

First the earrings:

 

 

Then the hair clips:

 

and the rings:

 

and a bracelet

Yup - I put in work this weekend. Now I have to see which ones I'm going to put in the shop.