Craft Show Season is Almost Here

My how time flies!  It's almost Halloween!  And it's almost craft show season.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the beautiful fall colors, crunching through the leaves and the weather.  We didn't have a lot of pretty color here in the Twin Cities because all the leaves just seemed to blow off the trees right away.  We had a stretch of really nice temperatures though. Now the temperatures are cooling off and it seems winter might be working it's way here. Fall inspired me to do some autumn themed dish towels and of course Halloween themed ones.  Some of the autumn ones were even featured in a treasury on Artfire!  You can see that here:


  http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=28939

I'm also the featured artist for October on Kris Miller's blog.  Please check out her blog and her other featured artists.
http://www.dustpanproductions.com/News__Events.php

I also tried another Halloween item--a candy corn pillow.  It was fun and easy to do and is a cute Halloween decoration.

 
I've also been busy doing some custom orders for customers.  It's been fun and I like it because it makes me try things I might not necessarily have done.  Here's one of my creations:

With craft show season coming up, I've been burning the candle at both ends trying to get enough made so I have a good showing at the boutiques.  I never feel I have enough or have the right stuff.  I've been trying to make some of the ruffle scarves I talked about in one of my earlier posts, but I keep selling them as soon as I make them!  (Good problem to have.)  So now every one I make I'm just going to keep and not show it off or list it in my shops.  Hopefully then I'll have several to take to the shows.

I also want to get a few hats made and some neck warmers and wrist warmers.  I spent a little time collecting some new patterns so now I want to take off of work and go home and crochet!  Does anyone else ever feel like that?  I'll also have some jewelry, dish towels and dish cloths at the shows.  A couple afghans.  I never did get around to socks and slippers though.  But I'll get there eventually!

I'll be doing 4 craft shows this season.  The first one is November 5 at Rosemount High School in Rosemount, MN.  The second is November 12 at Eagan High School in Eagan, MN.  The third is November 19 at Faithful Shepherd Catholic School in Eagan, MN.  All of them run from 9am-3pm.  If you live in the Twin Cities area, please stop by. There are always great crafters there and concession and lunch sales.  They even all have a raffle.  The money raised goes to support the choral program at Rosemount High, the band program at Eagan High, and various activities at Faithful Shepherd--all great causes. 

Then in December I'm traveling to Ft. Scott, KS to visit my sister and we're going to participate in her local craft show the weekend of December 3-4.  The show runs Saturday and Sunday at the local high school.  So if you live in the Ft. Scott area, please stop by.  I understand it's a great show!

The only bad thing about being in November craft shows is that I don't get to go to any shows myself!  November is a big craft show month here in the Twin Cities and I'd love to go check them all out.  I encourage everyone to go check out craft shows in their area this fall and holiday shopping season.  There are always so many great items to buy for yourself or as gifts and the money raised by the sponsoring groups such as schools and churches is really helpful.  And there's nothing better than supporting your local crafters and helping the economy!

What Happened to Summer? Or What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Summer's over. And once again I don't know where it went. I should have so much more done! After all, I had a whole summer. We should have gotten more yard projects done. We should have traveled more than just a two day trip to Wisconsin. And I should have a lot more crafts done.

Instead, we basically just maintained the yard. It pretty much rained the entire month of June. Then came July with record heat and humidity. And by the time August rolled around we just didn't care anymore.

My husband was out of work for 3 weeks while our state government shut down. Unfortunately, my job was really busy all summer and my boss was gone for the month of July, so I couldn't take time off while my husband was off. Hence, 2 days in Wisconsin.

And then my crafts. I did many things, but not all the projects I dreamed of. I never did get a special project done for the State fair. I did do a couple things for the county fair though. I also started making some items for a local boutique and that's really exciting. Sales in my on-line stores have picked up and that's exciting too.

I know I'm not the only one who thinks summer went too fast and didn't get everything done. But I feel sad. I want more playtime. I want more travel. And I want more more accomplishments.

But fall is a beautiful time of year. And maybe we'll fit in a fall vacation. And I'll get all those new projects done before craft show season. And maybe.....

A Fun Blog to Check Out

I've come across a fun blog to check out.  It's called Artsynina.  She does a Friday shop hop where you can link your on-line shop for others to check out and you can check out some great shops.  I've seen some really nice work through it.  Go check it out!  http://artsynina.blogspot.com/

Ruffled Scarf with Red Heart Sashay Pictures

In my last post I talked about the scarf I made using Red Heart's Boutique Sashay yarn.  Well, I've finally gotten some pictures taken and here they are.  I've also listed it for sale in my Artfire shop at http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/3722889.

How to Make a Ruffled Scarf Knitted with Red Heart Sashay Yarn

I took my knit and crochet entries to the county fair yesterday (I hope I win some blue ribbons!) and one of them was my latest creation--a ruffled scarf made with Red Heart Sashay yarn.  It's a new yarn put out by Red Heart which creates a ruffle as you knit.  It doesn't come in a lot of colors, but the colors they have are pretty.  There is a little bit of metallic thread in it to add some glitter and the yarn itself has several different shades of the color in it.  I used the blue called "Rumba".  I couldn't find the yarn in any of our local stores (Michael's or Jo-Ann's) but I did find it on-line at Mary Maxim for $4.99 a ball.  The scarf only takes one ball.

You will need one ball of Sashay and a pair of Size 9 knitting needles.  To use the yarn, you first need to open up the mesh.  Then to start, you put your needle through the open blocks in the top of the mesh. The metallic edge should be at the bottom.  I cast on 6 stitches.  Then you start to knit each row, knitting in the top of the mesh.  Red Heart has an excellent video on its website which I watched several times.  Their free pattern also has good pictures.  The video and pattern can be found here:  http://www.redheart.com/learn/videos/learn-how-knit-sashay.  Once you watch the video, you can really get the hang of it.  It took me a little while to get used to it, but it's not too hard.  I did have to stop every several rows to open up more of the mesh though.  It works better if you've opened it up.

I was really pleased with the final results and friends I showed it to liked it a lot.  I didn't get any photos done before I took it to the fair though, so I'll post photos when I get it back.  And I'll report whether or not I win a ribbon!

I just came across this adorable quilted chess set and I just have to share it with everyone.  It's in Rebecca's Touch on Artfire.com.  I think it's absolutely wonderful.

The link to it is http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=3242879.

I found this in a collection in which my tic tac toe game was featured.  That collection can be viewed at http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=24285

I also had a trellis necklace featured in another collection.  You can see it at http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=23967

Pricing Tips

I see it's been awhile since I posted something.  My, how time flies!  I'm not even sure where it went or what I did.  Not a lot of crocheting or knitting, unfortunately.  Work has been busy.  There have been many projects at home.  My rhubarb and strawberries have been going crazy!  I've made strawberry rhubarb pie, strawberry rhubarb jam, strawberry bread, and rhubarb crisp!  The jam turned out very good I must say.  I've never made jam before.  We spent time with family on the 4th of July.  And I think somewhere in there I actually took time to RELAX.  Not a word I'm very familiar with.

So tonight I've spent some time reading some various forums and I ran across this post on Artfire by the Faded Leaves shop (see her shop here:  http://www.artfire.com/users/FadedLeaves).  She posted an ebook about pricing your products.   I pretty much follow the formula where you take 2x the cost of materials and add 20%.  I also try and compare my item with similar things in stores and on-line.  It was good information to read again.  You can find the pricing tips at:

http://meylah.com/public/files/ebooks/meylah_ebooksupplement_1.pdf?utm_source=Meylah+eBook+List&utm_campaign=273a066ebd-Meylah_eBook_Supplement2&utm_medium=email

Some of my items have been featured in some collections on Artfire and I made a couple of sales (thank you buyers!)!  You can see the collections at http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=23864 and http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=23726. I particularly like the pink and yellow collection.  My dish cloths are the first item pictured.  One of my trellis necklaces is featured in the other one.


Artfire is also having their Christmas in July sale.  I've added a promotion code for 5% off my clearance section and the Christmas section.  This will get you some very inexpensive items in the Clearance section which will make great gifts!  Here's a couple:

Waterfall Afghan $20.00

Beaded Bracelet $2.50

 

Fuzzy Blue Scarf $7.50

I hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th and will get some more vacation time this summer.  I'm aiming for August for vacation.