Save this Link

I have had an etsy thread bookmarked for months and never went back to it until today when I was looking for another bookmark. It is a list of really amazingly helpful links to navigate etsy.com that you won't actually find on etsy. Make sense? Others have compiled a resource of tools and information here.

Great for both searching/shopping and for sellers =)

reminder : shipping deadline

this was one of my favorite baskets i think? and a metal watering can.




so yep, the shipping deadline for this year is december 19th. anything ordered from my etsy shop [handmade.etsy.com] will be shipping after january 1, 2009.


my hands need a break. and i am really looking forward to enjoying this holiday season.

handknit latte sweaters revisited

happy thanksgiving!



now that the holiday shopping season is officially upon us, i would like to reintroduce the latte sweater as a marvelous little gift idea. i was amazed at how quickly these little beauties were snapped up at last weekends handmade market, so as i sit here, knitting some more, i thought i would remind everyone that these exist.







if you have a friend or co-worker or someone that is a regular coffee drinker who often uses take-out cups, you might consider giving them a handknit latte sweater to re-use instead of throwing away cardboard sleeves or double-cupping. i knit these with little bits of handspun and other bright, colorful yarns, and dress them up like little tea bags. see?

they dont have to be for lattes, just any warm drink, like hot chocolate or apple cider. they will keep your hand burn-free, are helpful for distinguishing which cup belongs to whom, and would make great little stocking stuffers =)

i love how they look in their little display box!

Cleveland Handmade Market November 2008

Cleveland Handmade Market November 2008
Originally uploaded by virtuallori

what a great group we have! the show was so much fun and sooo many people showed up! you can tell that i pretty much abandoned any thought of sleep the night before [too much to sew!] but it was worth it to spend time with these awesome ladies! thanks to everyone who came out and shopped! and thanks again to the awesome musicians who provided christmas music for us!

grapes!

i have been working on a custom project that i will blog about when i have more photos to share.

in the mean time, i will give you a peek at some grapes i have been working on,

a package i am sending out,

and a new recycled paper notebook i made and listed in the shop today!

the grapes are extra special because they are sewn completely by hand =)

clevelandhandmade.com

make sure you check out the clevelandhandmade.com page and read the artist interview for fellow Clevelander/Etsy artist SaraKate!

etsy love

here are some of my purchases from etsy artisans.

L-R : the smashing earrings were actually purchased at a craft show in bay, but her work is on etsy. tilly bloom finch earrings that i love but am afraid to wear because my right ear sometimes rejects earrings - even silver ones - and these are so light that i keep finding one on the floor! i love them anyway. jacqueline knits apple jackets! blue shed crafts brown and green dachshund hat. she custom knit an awesome blue and orange one for me to give matthew for christmas! much love to all of these etsy artists!

notepads continued.

i made some more matchbook notepads today and they look so lovely together!

i also typed up some little messages to tuck inside some of them and many photos later, they were ready to list in the shop. i hope they find good homes!

i sent a prototype home with nicole the other day and she said her mom loved it when she showed it to her. i made up a floral printed one for her to give to her mom, and she almost didn't want to let go of it. aw! i don't know which one to feel bad for, but i guess nicole felt guilty and came off of it eventually. her mom loves it, so yay! spreading the crafty recycled love all over northeast ohio.

recycled fabric pretties

i made some pin cushions! or pincushions. or soft sculptures. or paper weights. or pretty desk items. or recycled fabric pretties. or whatever you want to call them. i will probably experiment and make some more. i did a lot of cutting of fabric scraps the other day, which resulted in something like this :

i love seeing them all laid out like that! it makes me want to quilt, until i think about how totally complicated and involved quilting is, and then i just put it all away.

ice storm!

hello!

it is time for a quick update.

i made some smallish brightly colored cards that are roughly the size of moo cards, but obviously much simpler.

i love the colors and wanted something besides my moos to hand out and attach to things. i think these will work quite nicely for now.

i took heidi out for our evening walk a little while ago, and the trees were all covered with ice! the sidewalks were thick and frozen over with snow that would crunch and sink if you stomped really hard or jumped just so. it was a very interesting texture and i snapped some photos of the ice trees because they looked so pretty.

i tried taking some video of the interesting crunching noises the branches made when the wind blew, but all i could hear on the audio was the strong wind against the microphone and a man whistling in the background.

a new look

I decided to try out a new banner in my etsy shop, and changed my blog banner to match. I think it is pretty cute, and since I have been focusing less on screen printing t-shirts and more on sewing playsets for kids, I thought my banner should reflect that. I still looove the rainbow of bright t-shirts, but maybe I'll have to save that for another venture.

Here is the before banner :

and here if the after banner:


Don't worry, I'm not over screen printing! I may soon be sharing my printing knowledge at a gallery workshop near you. Stay tuned for news on that!

Check out the new Yellow Stripes Kids Basket in the shop too. I have been finding the most amazingly cute, brightly patterned cotton for the placemats and I thought they would make great suprise, educational Easter baskets! What do you think?

finished projects

I finished the black scarf I was working on.


I also finished the fun fur scarflette. I added the bright blue button and I think it works well with the colors and is easy to find when trying to button and unbutton it.




I have been reading a bunch of tutorials about using Kool-aid to dye your own wool/cotton yarn, so I will be trying that next!

I learned to knit from this guy.

I knitted my first scarf over the weekend. I have made several failed attempts to learn how to knit in the past, but the other day I was determined, and learned from a You Tube video that this guy posted. Was it the combination of orange yarn and teal needles? Perhaps.

I watched it several times, and his second video, and then I finally got it.

At this point, I can only garter stitch, so I was pretty limited as far as patterns go. I went with this pattern, and used black super thick wool yarn and size 17 needles. It came out pretty well, though I only used one skein and so it is not very long. It is pretty stretchy and soft, so I think it will make a nice gift for my dad.

I also knitted a scarflette for his wife, using a blue yarn and a novely fun fur yarn together. I still have to sew the buttons on, but it came out looking really fun and different, which is what I wanted!

I haven't stopped there, either. I knit a headband type of thing that will felt when I wash it. I fell in love with the colors of the yarn, so I needed to see it as something, anything.

Ditto with this gorgeous shades of blue, white, and purple "licorice" yarn that I have started knitting a thinner scarf for myself with.

I need to learn another stitch, quick!

Citrus Lime + Neapolitan

Hi there! I'm Nicki.


I have a webshop on etsy called HandMade Goods where I sell my HandMade Kids Plush Fruit and Vegetable playsets, cat toys made with organic catnip that I grow, and t-shirts that I screen print by hand.


The holiday orders certainly kept me busy from November until this week. I am excited to take a few days off and give my terrible eyes and sore fingers a much deserved rest! I definitely put my Grandma's old Singer to good use. I'm sure she would be very proud.


I am also eager to expand my product line. I have had ideas for weeks now with little time to do much else but fill orders and even more rarely, print more t-shirts... which is another thing I would like to do more of in the very near future.

In the mean time, I just listed two new Kids Plush Playsets - Citrus Lime and Neapolitan, which are featured in this blog. Each playset includes a combination of six handmade fruits or vegetables, a handmade placemat, and a small wooden picnic basket. I figured, with all of the last minute orders I was getting, I'd better have at least two baskets ready to go in case I needed to rush off to the post office immediately. I love love the stripes in the Neapolitan! When I see the colors together it just looks yummy to me. The bright lime and kelly green Citrus slices are nice and bold. Quite a contrast to the near white-out blizzard conditions we were having here as I was sewing it!