Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

I want to thank everyone who commented on my contest post.  I really appreciate all of the comments, suggestions and encouragement.  It is nice to know that people agree that these are a cute and unique idea. 
 
Based on comments, I've made a few changes to the listing.   One of the most frequent requests was that you don't really get to see what you get.  Since these are custom made as you order, that is a bit tough, so I made a set and I made them to the size that I would probably use the most.  And photographed them how they would be arriving to you.

 And as much as I love the artsy, fartsy picture of all the beads together, I think people are right in that it might be a bit misleading.  So I've replaced it with a not quite as pretty, but much more informative picture of the different styles I can do.  (and it includes the snagless style this time)

  I would love to have all of the pictures on there, but Etsy does limit me to 5.  So I added a link to a Picasa album that has more pictures.  As I take pictures of different sets I make, I will add them as well.  I always feel that more pictures are better.

 So now, for all of your hard work, the winners. 

Wait!  There are two numbers generated!  You guys were such a great help I wanted to send everyone a set, but I will have to settle for 2.  So Quinn (15) and and KnittingViolets (6), congratulations!  I will be sending you an email to find out what styles you would like.  Thank you all again.  Keep an eye on the blog, you never know when I will come up with something new and need to do some consumer research. 

Birthday Weekend

 I went to my Mom's this past weekend.  A bit of Thanksgiving and a birthday celebration. 

 We arrived to delicious cake.  Apples and cream cheese.  

 Zach tormented Tesla.  And then we went shopping  Lots of shopping.  We went to Ewes D'Bleu and Fine Points.  Such lovely yarn stores.

Malabrigo- Rios in Playa.  This will be fingerless mitts for mom.  Not all of the yarn was for me.  Most of it was.  But not all of it.  

Madeline Tosh- Pashmina in Cosmos.  This is mine, all mine.  Mwah ha ha ha  ::cough, cough::

Frog Tree- Alpaca Chunky.  These two skeins are being made into the Cupido Cowl.  So soft and scrumptious. 

Schaefer Yarn Company- Nichole in Indira Gandhi.  Just so pretty.

Colinette-Jitterbug in Toscana.  Again, so pretty.  Probably socks.

And finally some Claudia's Handpainted yarns- Fingering in Collards and Grits and two coordinating colors.  This yarn is for a shawl for my mom as well.  This yarn has a fun story with it.  When we walked in the owner greeted us and introduced herself (as Liz) and another lady behind the counter (as Claudia) and said that Claudia's yarns were up front.  It didn't really register.  So we finally made it to the front of the store and I started looking at all the yarns in several large containers.  When I pulled one out to look closer, I read the label and it said Claudia's Handpainted yarns.  At which point I put two and two together and had myself a bit of a fan girl moment.  So I got to buy some of Claudia's yarns from Claudia.  ::squee::

So an excellent birthday weekend.  :)  I would say.

This is why I am diligent

I sometimes watch Hoarders and recognize those tendencies in myself.  The "I might need or use this someday" mentality is hard to shake.  Add on to the fact that I am crafty and you can make something with just about anything.  Well, you see the problem. 

So what happens when someone has a box of fabric scraps.

 Scraps that are too scrappy to even make it into your scrappy scrap quilt pile.

 If you said throw them away, you are wrong!  I see you non-crafters there shaking your heads.  What in the world would someone do with a box of pieces of fabric that are too small to do anything with?  Use it as stuffing for a bed for the pets.  That piece of fleece is leftover too.  Shoved in the bottom of my fabric stash.  I'm sure I used the rest of it for something. 

 I mean, how could I deny this thing a new bed.  Poor thing has to sleep on her own couch, wrapped up in her own blanket.  Doesn't she deserve a bed when she has to lay on the floor so she can be close to us when we play on the computer?  Doesn't she?

At least I used them for something.  Now I need to start thinking about all of the other stuff sitting in my craft room. 

New item in the Etsy store

Contest Over!  Winner here!

So I have a new item in my Etsy Store (finally).  Well, this is actually the second new item that has made it to the shop recently, since the box bag design worked out well.  But the newest item are my Paper Bead Stitch markers. 

 They are made from the pages of old yarn catalogs such as Webs and Knitpicks.  No two are exactly the same.  But I love how well they show off the pretty colors that you often see in the catalogs.

 They come with different sizes and styles of finding.  And since they are made to order, you can request what you use the most often.  You could get them so you can use them for crochet.  Or even the snagless kind. 

 You can even pick out what size bead you want to go with the finding you want.

Small

 Medium

 Or Large

 Now since I have this new item, I have some questions that I hope my readers can help me with.  If you could take a look at the listing and let me know what you think.  Is it good?  Does it make sense?  If you like crochet stitch markers, what type of finding do you like?  Should it close, be open, big, small?  Do you like the lobster claws?  How do you like to receive your stitch markers?  I am going to make a card to attach them to.  How to attach them; small plastic bag, sewn to the card, set into holes cut in the card?

What is your motivation to help me out?  A free set of stitch markers!  So leave your comment here, on Ravelry, or on Etsy and I will add you to the list.  I will do a drawing by random number at Noon (EST) on Friday, November 18, 2011.  Good luck and thank you for your help.

My week in pictures (with some explanations)

Did something last weekend that made me decide to have long hair like this. 

Unfortunately that same thing made my face do this.  Stupid makeup.

But I totally fit into these!!!

And I took pictures of water on my yard.

And played with a new bag design.

And I plan on doing this to my dog this weekend.  She will get me all the candy ever.

Nail Polish

New obsession?  Yeah, just a bit.  I blame Haley.  I have become obsessed with painting my nails.  Actually I blame Haley and Pinterest.  Lots of very cool pictures and manicures.  You should have seen the crazy that occured while I was trying to find the Hard Candy Matte top coat around here. 

It has hooked me up with a few blogs to read.  For ideas and pretty colors.  Although some of the best information has been on how to take care of my nails so that they grow out long enough to do stuff with and what the best products out there are.  For example, I found Seche Vite.  The angels began singing the first time I used it as a top coat.  Super fast drying.  I didn't have any trouble with bubbles or weird texture.   My only gripe (and only because I'm cheap) is that it is a bit pricey (I've found it between $7-9).  But I just plan on keeping an eye on sales flyers and stocking up a bit when it is on sale.  I also do a base coat and try to use cuticle oil whenever I think about it (i.e. I set it out in the downstairs bathroom so everytime I go I use the oil)

Blogs I read:
Nail Polish Art Addiction
Nail Slide
Polish Amor
The Manicured Monkey (actually where it started, with the water marbling.)

yay pretties!

My first attempt at water marbling.  Done for the Pumpkin Run.  I think it turned out great.  It was a bit time consuming and messy.  But worth it.  Next time I am using vaseline instead of tape to keep the polish off of my fingers.  I also found a tutorial for doing a dry water marble. 

A gradient.  I need to try this again.

Possibly my coolest mani so far.  Inspired by this picture.  I feel cooler just having tried this.

My polishes.  I have filled up 3/4's of a 4th wheel by this point. 

A touch of crafting fame

I'm feeling a bit of pressure to be witty and brilliant today.  If you are a crafter, you have probably heard of and read Craft Magazine.  I know I do.  75% of the time if you see a random craft on my blog that doesn't fit into my normal range of crafting or is out of the blue, it comes from there.  For example:

This sideways, plush wookie (stupid Blogger won't let me rotate the picture).  The tutorial came from here.  So lots of fun stuff.  It is a lot of links to how-to's and articles about cool crafty stuff.  Being mentioned on there is sort of like an athlete being featured on ESPN.

Why do I mention this?  Something I made, made it to Craft.  My Tulle Dishscrubber pattern.  Mad props to Lindsay at A Wooden Nest for the much better picture than the one in my pattern.  Which is actually a funny story.  I was reading Craft (shocker) and came accross a chai tea concentrate recipe.  Yum!  So I wandered over to the blog to get the recipe and started reading because it was a nice blog and seemed interesting (great pictures!).  So I get a few entries in and there is her Dishscrubber post.  Now, 90% of the time when I am designing, I design for me and everyone else gets to take advantage of what came out of my brain.  So I rarely expect to actually see my patterns being used in the wild.  It was very cool.  Little did I know we would both be back on Craft in a few days. 

So, my brush with fame.  Not nearly as amusing as the time I flipped out because I thought that maybe the Yarn Harlot had ready my blog because I had commented on hers and it was showing that someone from Toronto had looked at mine.  I finally calmed down when I realized that I'm sure there are many people from Toronto who also read her blog who might have followed my comment back here.  But I still like to pretend it was her.  :)  I'm creepy that way.