Hey, check it out!

I crocheted this little guy. My first go at Amigurumi, and I think it came out O-kay. I made him for a craftster swap, so I really hope my partner doesn't think it's the lamest thing ever :)

I'm also working on some dishcloths/washcloths which I am much more pleased with, and I started on some baby booties tonight for my coworkers baby on the way. I'm like a crocheting fiend!

Also, I sold two of my sweater guards today! Super excited, and working on making more.

Marketing and what-not

I've come to realize that marketing is probably the most important thing that I can do for my etsy shop. Sales have been slower than I like lately, so today I ramped things up a little. To start, I updated some of the pictures in my shop (including the action shot of the sweater clips below). Next I posted in the forums, and listed a buy one get one half off sale for all my bobby pins. Third, I posted an add on the Buffalo craigslist, offering free shipping to all WNYers. Craigslist has gotten me customers in the past, but I try not to post too often so that people don't see it as spam. Some jewelry artists on there post 15 items at a time, every day, and that kind of bugs me. Anyways, I'm hoping that sales pick up, as my paypal account is starting to feel lonely :)

On a related note, since I'm feeling kind of poor, I've decided to try to DIY some of my Christmas presents this year. I haven't done much of this in the past, so it will be interesting. Crocheted dishcloths will likely be involved, as well as shrinky dink ornaments and maybe some coasters. I still need to think about it a bit more. Suggestions for awesome and easy projects are welcome!

LOL

I just realized that I totally posted a boob shot of myself! Creepy dudes, leave me alone. :)

New Product

I just listed the first sweater clip, as promised, in my etsy shop. More will come, depending on the interest I get with this one. Comments are welcome and requested!!

mmmmm... apple crisp....

The smell of baking apples on a cool Sunday afternoon... nothing beats it! I made a whole pan of this last night and I'm just finishing up the last bowl right now (Tim ate most of it, but that doesn't mean I didn't contribute to it's dissappearance!) I found a recipe online and then tweaked it to my liking:

Topping:
1 cup flour, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1 cup quick oats, 1tsp baking powder, 1tsp baking soda, bit of cinnamon, 1/2 cup melted butter

Apples:
5-6 cups thinly sliced apples, 1tbls flour, 3/4 cup sugar, Bit of cinnamon (to taste) 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tblespoon water.

Mix apples with flour, sugar, juice and water in a baking dish (I used a 2 quart oval corningware)
Mix up all ingredients for the topping, adding the butter last. Still until it looks crumbly.
Put topping on apples and bake at 350F for 45minutes. (It should just be bubbling, and the top should be brown.

New Product

I've been working hard on developing some new and unique items to sell in my shop and on consignment. Ready for liftoff are some really great sweater clips (so retro and adorable!) Look for them in the shop later this week.

New Blogette

For anyone who's interested, I started a separate blog to talk about my wedding planning. So far I think it would only be interesting to others planning a autumny wedding, but I thought I would link to it anyway.

It Feels like Fall Today!

I know it's not officially autumn yet, but I don't care. It FEELS like fall, and that's good enough for me. This is my favorite time of year, time to buy new clothes, wear sweaters, curl up with a good book, admire the trees... I found a link today on preserving fall leaves with floor wax. I might try this for my wedding, and use them on the tables.

I still haven't quite nailed down the color scheme for my wedding, but I'm thinking about this pallette that I found at Coulourlovers.com. Only problem with this one is that it's a little too Pink for my liking. I want to go with warm orange and gold colors, and an ivory dress. It has to be an ivory wedding gown. If anyone has any tried and true fall wedding suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Happy Hump Day.

I updated the shop last night, and the new rings are flying off the proverbial shelves! Be sure to check them out before they're all gone!

Also, it's wednesday. 2 more days of work until another fun weekend!

That's all I've got for now, have to get back to work!

Labor Day Weekend is almost OVER!!

Long weekends are the greatest thing in the whole world to me. There's something about having 2 days free of the going back to work woes that just makes me fall in love... Anyways, this weekend was extra fantastic. Tim and I hosted a party yesterday that was a combination housewarming/engagement, and it went so well! Seriously, I amazed myself. I decorated with Martha Stewart's tissue paper flowers, and served all kinds of fabulous food including the Chowder that my parents spent all day making. Everyone ate a lot, and drank to excess and had a great time; I couldn't ask for more.

Now that the party is all cleaned up, I just finished working on some new things for the shop. A crop of new vintage buttons arrived at my doorstep on Friday and I couldn't wait to make jewelry out of them! Look for them early next week.