A Sin, A Vow, and Other Stuff

 One party down and one to go for the weekend. The Special Ed Department at my school has an epic holiday party every year -- and last night it did not disappoint. We do a hilarious White Elephant Exchange. I schemed to get the item I wanted, but can't show it yet as it's a gift.

So, on to the sin:

I swear this is the last skein of yarn I'm buying until 2019. OK, I am making an exception for my guild's Knit-In and the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. But that's it! I've decided that 2018 needs to be the year of stash busting. It's not like I don't have plenty of yarn right here.

The little needle has been busy, too. Now there are two bird in my Happinest cross stitch. This will be a holiday gift in 2018! This shows an unusual level of organization for me.

And I've been photographing jewelry for my poor neglected Etsy store. There are some really cute knitting earrings, like these:

If you have a minute, check them out at www.etsy.com/shop/caffeinegirl1.

Enjoy your weekend!

Let's Hear It For Etsy!

I opened a store on Etsy (a web site for artists/crafters to sell their goods) in 2009.  I never found the time to market it. Besides, I am a horrible salesperson. I hate promoting myself. So, of course, I never sold anything.

Then out of the blue, after six quiet years, I get two orders!

It took me about 10 minutes to figure out what had happened when the first one came through last week. I was checking my email at work during lunch, and there was a message saying that someone had sent me money through Paypal. What? At first I was totally stumped. When I figured out why I was getting $14, I was thrilled.

And another order came through this afternoon -- for the button earrings pictured here.

So, I guess I need to get serious about stocking and marketing my Etsy store. I don't think I really believed it would work for me.

Which is kind of funny because I have bought a lot of stuff on Etsy over the years, mostly materials for arts and crafts, but also finished jewelry. Just last week I bought this iron-on cross-stitch pattern from the 1940s and the vintage buttons.

So, maybe by next fall I'll be posting about my Etsy store.  It's obviously too late for holiday gifts this year, but if you want to see what some of my jewelry looks like, you can find my store here.

In the meantime, I hope you are not tied up with last-minute shopping!

Making on Monday

I haven't posted anything about jewelry for a time, so I thought I'd do a quickie. This is one of the things I've been working on lately:

Just a simple Peyote base with disk and seed beads added. I love doing these. There is something very soothing about these, especially when I follow a path like I did this one this one. Color hooks me with both jewelry and knitting. There is something so satisfying about holding color in your hands and making something.

I haven't paid any attention to my Etsy store for months, but I think I'll put this up for sale there in a couple weeks and see what happens. I'm so much better at making things than selling them!

Very Dramatic Colors

My latest piece of original jewelry:

Don't those colors just pop? I love the way the whole piece came together.

These are not "my" colors. I tend to stay with the traditional jewel colors, which is a mistake. Working with a different palette is fun. It's also got to be a good business decision. It's not like the whole world shares my taste!

This piece was inspired by the beautiful glass disk beads I found on Etsy. They are handmade by Patty Miller of CabariBeads. She does beautiful work in metal as well as glass. I'm quite sure I'll be ordering more from her!

BTW, the piece will be up in my Etsy store later today. Just saying.

Back to Beading

It's been quite a while since I beaded a peyote-seed base, but I've actually sold out of them! This is the one I'm working on now:

Working with a free-form, as-you-go pattern is quite meditative, although it does take concentration. I'm enjoying the color combination of purple, lime green and orange.

The fabulous focal disk beads are from Etsy seller CabariBeads. I love finding components on Etsy and buying from Etsy sellers. It has a great community feeling to it.

Monday Mistake

Here it is: the first Monday of summer vacation. And it feels ... odd. I forget from year to year that it takes a good week to switch to a vacation mood. It still seems like there must be children at school waiting for me!

The weather yesterday was beautiful -- warm, blue sky, not too humid -- so I spent a chunk of time sitting on the front porch and working on my Garland Shawl. Apparently I was a little too relaxed because I knit a few stitches of garter stitch into a stockinette section. Can you see it? I'll have to go back and rework those stitches.

Note: I tried to circle the mistake in Photoshop Elements, which I was able to do. However, Blogger wasn't able to upload the altered photo. I wish they'd come up with a Photoshop Elements for Dummies program.

I know I don't thank my readers often enough for their comments, so let me do that. You guys are awesome. And you help me so much. For example, Alicia of Woolen Diversions pointed out that I should provide the link when I mention my Etsy store. Duh! How did I fail to think of that?

At any rate, my Etsy store is right here.