simply-crafting

So as you can see I haven’t been in here for a while again.  Time just keeps slipping away.  Most days I don’t even get time to craft and this really does displease me.

As you all know I was going to a craft fair.  Well I would like to say that I did alright.  I didn’t do as well as I had hoped I would but I made a few sales so I guess it was pretty good.  I really wish I had time to create more.  This way I would have had a wider selection to offer people.  I’m really hoping that during the next year I can create more handcrafted items and then possibly try to sell them during the next Christmas craft season.  But with the way life has been going these days I honestly think that’s probably a pipe dream.

But you never know.  So yes, I would do another craft fair again.

As most of you are aware, I am doing a counted cross stitch of a family tree for a friend for this Christmas.  This is a very detailed piece with lots of colors and I’m not even a quarter of the way finished.

I thought I would give you all a quick tutorial of how I go about creating a work of art using counted cross stitching.  First thing you need to do is find the center of the piece as well as the center of the aida cloth.  Then you start stitching from the middle out.  What I do is I will find the center and then work my way through the colors until I have reached the very bottom.  Once I’m at the bottom I will then work my way up the piece until it’s finished.

I have found this method to be the most effective on for me, as it seems to make the work go on a little more quickly.  So for all you counted cross stitchers out there, what’s the method you use to complete a piece?

As you can tell by my posts (or lack of posts) should I say I haven’t been accomplishing very much these days.  Between work, the house and the kids I’ve been pretty busy.  I haven’t even been able to squeeze much crafting during this time and this is really starting to get on my nerves as well.

As far as the posting, I haven’t been doing a lot of this either because I really have nothing to share.  I haven’t really worked on much during this time so of course I have no pictures to show you all.  Hopefully in the near future I can get on some sort of schedule and be able to get everything done that needs to be done.

Until then happy blogging and happpy crafting to those who have the time.

Well I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with myself today.  Normally when it comes to Christmas I am a last minute shopper.  Honestly guys I’m one of the ones that you see running into the malls on December 24 and I normally don’t even start shopping until December 1st.  Until this year!

We just got a brand new store in our area.  This store is a discount store and has tons and tons of stuff in it for very cheap prices.  So this morning I decided to take a look around to see what they have.  They have a ton of craft and beading supplies that would be very nice for my daughter so I just had to pick some of these items up.

All the craft supplies that I purchased today will go away for my daughter for Christmas.  It is because of these purchases that I can say that I have officially started shopping for the Christmas season.

Well I’m finally going to do it!!  After years of wanting to learn how to tole paint I have finally decided to take the plunge and to dive right in.  Last night I bought a couple of beginner magazines on learning to tole paint.  I plan on teaching myself how to tole paint just like I’ve taught myself to do every other craft I do.  I plan on reading this books from front to back and then go purchase a few small pieces to get my feet wet.

I know I should really finish the other projects that I’ve already gotten started on.  But I’m becoming bored with them and think it’s probably time for a change.  When I told my husband what I was planning to do, he just shook his head and started laughing.  I think he’s wondering how long I’ll stick with this until I get bored with it as well.  We will just see, now won’t we??

So as I said earlier, my crafting looks like it’s going to be put on hold for a little while.  I did in fact start my new (old) job on Sunday and have figured out that I’m probably going to run out of time to do as much crafting as I have been able to do in the past.  That’s the reason why I haven’t posted in a few days either.

Honestly even working part time has put me in a tail spin.  Between looking after the kids, doing the housework and working, there just isn’t enough hours in the day for everything.  And although I do love crafting and earning a small income from it, I have to figure out what my priorities are and unfortunately at this time crafting doesn’t top the list.

But no worries, once I have everything in my “real” life under control I am still going to find a way to try to fit a bit of crafting in.  So please bear with me until then and hopefully soon I will have some crafting results to blog about.

Well I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is, is that I was just rehired by my old boss to go back to work.  My work means more money.  Now on to the bad news.  Because I’m headed back to work, I won’t be doing my crafts quite as much as I have been.  With trying to divide my time between the kids, the house, the job and my blogging activities I can honestly see that some of my crafting projects will end up on the back burner.

Hopefully after a couple of weeks of working I will be able to determine where my time should go.  Once I get into a regular routine I should be able to squeeze time into crafting.  Oh well life happens.  Not crafting for a while won’t be the end of the world, but I know I’m going to miss it.  So I will have to try to find some extra time.

Well I haven’t been in here in a while.  And I hope you are asking why?!  Well I’m going to tell you anyway.  The reason for my absence is because I have been very busy starting a cross stitch for a friend.  When I finally found the cross stitch pattern, I took the finished product down to her for her to see if she liked it or not.  She liked it so much that she ordered two.  Thankfully only one of them needs to be completed for Christmas.  This particular pattern takes about four to six months to complete so I had to get started on it right away.  So for the past few nights I have been extremely busy cross stitching away.  When I get more done on the piece I will take a picture and post it.  I can’t wait for you all to see it!

It’s almost like the crafting gods were smiling on me.  On Friday I decided to spend some time looking for that pattern of a cross stitching project my friend was interested in.  I didn’t want to show her the finished project of one I did before I found the pattern.  If I had not found the pattern I did not want to get her hopes up of me being able to create this certain piece for her.

Well I’m happy to report that I did indeed find the pattern I was looking for!  And I found it in the first place that I looked.  So I took the finished piece to her to show her what it looks like and she loved it.  She loved it so much that she ordered two.  Thankfully she only wants one ready for Christmas.

So between these two cross stitching pieces I need to get done and the jewelry orders I need to get done, I’m going to be one busy crafter.

Well I have to say that I’m starting to get a little busy with all my crafting orders.  About a month ago I received some orders to make some jewelry pieces for people for Christmas and then yesterday a friend of mine ordered three family tree cross stitches from me.  This is super duper news for me!

There is only one problem with the cross stitch orders, I kind of lost the pattern.  Now I know it’s here somewhere, but where would be the big question.  I did tell my friend that I can’t find the pattern right now, but I also promised her I would look for it.  So can you all guess what I’ll be doing today??  That’s right!  Pattern hunting.  Hopefully I find it today so I can get started on these orders.  But if not, at least my craft stuff will finally be organized right??