Treasury Wednesday 4: Hoot Hoot!

Happy Wednesday Evening!  A beautiful day in Arizona, away from the snow and rain.  ;)  Not very productive on the crafting front--a 17-month-old boy with grabby hands is not conducive to knitting!  I am slowly creating knitted amigurumi patterns, and am very happy with how they are turning out.  I am hoping to streamline my amigurumi line, and have picked 3 (o.k., maybe 4) "themes" to stick with.  Hopefully this will help me in creating more items on a regular basis, instead of spending so much of my time trying to create new patterns.

On to the Treasury!  This week's theme: owls!  This week I was thinking about how much I missed the woodland areas of Michigan (where I was born and raised), and the sounds of birds both day and night.  Owls are an uncommon thing in this part of the country, even more so when you live in the city.  So to celebrate the owl, here are a few owl-themed items!

Hoot Hoot! on Etsy

Micro Gray Owl by Su Ami

Almost unbearably adorable, and totally mind boggling!  I squee involuntarily every time I try and look at this little guy.  He measures less than 1cm tall!  The very fact that someone has the time and patience to crochet these tiny animals is amazing to me.  His perfect little details makes him that much more amazing!

Owls & Hearts - Valentine Cookies - 2 Dozen by Sweet Art Sweets
Adorable and delicious!  These little cookies are wonderfully detailed and sweetly petite.  These would make such a creative Valentine's Day gift.  Because let's be honest, roses are romantic, but you can't eat them.  ;)

Owl Art - Spotted Owl by amber alexander
Amber Alexander has been a member of Etsy since 2007, and has sold a staggering number of original paintings and prints.  When someone has 100% feedback after over having 9,000 sales, you know that she must be doing something right!  This owl print is a beautiful contrast; the detailed face with  wonderfully smudgy feathers; his charcoal back fades to soft tan, surrounded by stark whiteness.  So often in paintings, the eyes of the subject lack liveliness; in this painting, they draw you in.  They're fixed, yet softly staring, as if he's daydreaming.  It all adds up to something lovely and wonderful.

Life Sized Needle Felted Barn Owl by Handmade by November
When I showed this photo to my husband, he thought it was a real barn owl.  It's amazing to me what someone can do with raw wool and a simple barbed needle.  I love needle felting, and with my somewhat limited experience I can appreciate the time and care is put in to a large piece like this.

Treasury Monday 1: Soft Tones

As promised! 

A day late, but better late than never, I say!  Every Monday here on Stitches & Stuffing I will be posting a new treasury that I have compiled on Etsy.  Today my treasury theme is Soft Tones.  The past few days here in Arizona have been chilly, cloudy, and at times even foggy, which has put me in a relaxed mood.  Here is where you will find the actual treasury, and below I'll give you some sneak peeks!

Classic Brass Accent Lamp Set by AMRadio
I am a nut for Mid-Century pieces, and these lamps are right up my alley!  If I could afford them, I wouldn't be showing them off here, I'd be enjoying them in my new living room!

 N'est-Ce Pas French Stamped Eco-Friendly and Recycled by I RECKON.
I love it when people use every day materials in such fun and creative ways, and I love that it even more when people do it with things destined for the trash heap!  And a little bit of Down South decor never hurt nobody!

 Autumn Bee and Tortoise Short Shawl Pin by GardenOfWeedinGirl
I am crazy for shawls and stoles.  I adore wearing them, I love making them, and I really love buying pins for them!  So an entire shop dedicated to pins I can use for my shawl is heaven!



I'd also like to say that I finally got a few new items up yesterday in my shop, so head on over and let me know what you think!  I am making it my goal to make and list a new item every other day, and hopefully I will succeed!

Been Away Too Long!

I find it so hard to keep blogs updated!  Between caring for my Little D (currently 15 months old and always in to everything!), working part time at my family's flower shop, and trying to make items for my Etsy store, life has been hectic lately!

I am pleased to say that since Black Friday, I have had 4 items purchased from my shop, and one custom order.  :D  I am very excited that everything seems to be going so well, especially since I have only had my shop open for 2 weeks.  It gives me great hope for future success.  Right now my shop seems a little bare, but I have two items that are ready to be photographed, one in production, and a few sitting in the back of my head ready to come to life.  So until I have something new to show you, I'll just add a pic of my first completed hat pattern, the wool beret.

I am hoping that, in addition to updating when I list new items or have discovered some fabulous new yarn (more on that to come soon!), I will be able to make an Etsy Treasury to share with you every Sunday.  That is the only day that both my husband and I do not work, so hopefully it will mean I can sneak away for an hour or so to talk with you all!

Getting On, Going On....

Day 3 is here, and I am still feeling the euphoria of new Etsy shop-ownershipness.  I've been listing new items each day, and this weekend hopefully I will have a few more to add for the weekend browsers.  :)

I am the type of person that always wants to try new things, new patterns, new ideas.  And from the moment I decided to open this shop, I realized that this would probably be my biggest obstacle to being successful.  When someone browses your shop on Etsy, they don't want to see 80 completely unrelated items all crammed together (unless you sell supplies, perhaps!).  So at first, I was going to totally limit myself to making my stuffies (what I always call my little amigurumi animals).  But I really love making wearable crochet and knit.  There is something different about making items that a person will wear, hopefully so often and for so long that they wear it out.  It becomes a part of their days, of their lives, and I think that there is something powerful and touching about that.  

After thinking hard, and long, and going back and forth over the pro's and con's, I have decided that it is OK to sell stuffies and wearables in the same shop, as long as I don't get crazy with different wearables.  Stuffies can only be worked in season themes so many different ways before you end up with items just like everyone else.  For fall and winter, people need gloves, stoles, scarves, wraps, cowls, and all sorts of warm items that I adore making but have no use for in Arizona.  And in spring in summer, we ladies love little cardigans over our tank tops, and delicate lacework scarves and little wraps.

So, there are my plans laid out for you.  Below I'll stick in a couple of pictures of my Tiny Amigurumi's.  :)

stitchesandstuffing.etsy.com

Day 1!

Hello Blogland! 

This is (obviously) my first post, and I am very excited about it!  Today I opened up shop at Etsy, and this blog will chronicle my ups and downs trying to run a business in such a competitive market.  Here I will keep you up-to-date on my newest listings, patterns I am developing, and hopefully some tutorials on how to do what I do.  :)  For now, I will keep this short and sweet, as I need to go and photograph a few more items that I have made for sale in my shop.  Please take a look at stitchesandstuffing.etsy.com, and let me know what you think! I'll add some photos to entice you in to coming over..... ;)