On fire!

   As per my goals, I am back with another blog post! Do you like the look of the blog? They have a fancy new app where you can design and backgroud of your blog. I really wanted an image of my own work but the file was too big. I need to play around with it more.
    This week I made a Dual color bath mat. I found a new way to cut strips of cloth which in the long run I think saves time and there seem to be fewer threads sticking out of the mat. I sold the other one I made last week to a woman in Santa Barbara and she seemed interested in possibly buying another one if she liked the first alright. Whether she does or doesn't I just really felt the need to make another mat. Here are some pictures of the finished product:

   I am on fire because I have already finished my product for this week! And I took pictures! I haven't uploaded them to my laptop yet but hopefully I will get that done in the next couple of days. For now I will bid you all good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.

What's on for this week

Now that I'm home from camp I've decided to set goals for myself in terms of my Etsy bussiness. Some how being at camp helps me to become more focused on my own life goal and opens me up to new possiblities. Every week I will set goals for myself for what I want to do with Morgaine Le Fay and in my own personal life.
      Every week I will try to post 1 item in my Etsy shop. It doesn't sound like much but I have ADD when it comes to crochet projects and tend to take on massive projects. I really need a place to work in my house so my goal is to my desk which is currently serving as a storage shelf into a workspace. So everyday I will find a new home for 5 things in my room so I can clear a space. And lastly I will actually try and post something once a week in this blog. Even if it is just pictures or a video of something I like. Hopefully it will pertain to crochet.
        So this week I have been working on 2 projects. I sold the bath mat I made from sheets which inspired me to make another one, only bigger and with more color. So far I have finished the first layer of colors and have to make the strips for the next color. Hopefully there will be three. I'm also working on a sweater in pumpkin yarn. The yarn is a cotton/Viscose Microfiber/Silk and I got a great deal on it when I was at camp! And I also got a friend of mine to agree to take pictures and her twin sister to model so it should be great!

A song that's been stuck in my head all week:

Shopping local, supporting handmade.

A perfectly lovely way to start my day is shopping for yarn. I think I have a problem: I had a mini panic attack when I thought my credit card had expired and I couldn't buy yarn :). But all in all I love to buy yarn, and I love to buy it from small local shops. I know they are more expensive and people might feel that they are getting less bang for their buck. But what you are paying for is higher quality yarn. Even the acrylic yarns are softer where I shop. But I think is most important is that you are shopping local, supporting small business similar to the ones you see on Esty. I think on a way I'm paying it forward. Shopping local, supporting handmade.

My soon-to-be baby sweater. I wasn't even planning on buying and making this but I saw the yarn and had to have it :)

Support your local hooker! Week 1

And this time I'm not talking about Rugby! Although I do it there too :) So my Etsy team has decided to post blog questions/topics for team members to answer in an effort to bring more readers to our blog and to learn more about one another.

Here is the week1 question: When did you start crocheting? Did you teach yourself or did someone teach you? Tell us the story of how you became a hooker.

   My sophomore year of high school, I joined the fiber arts club. A couple of my best friends from high school were in the club run by  Ms. Taylor and they taught me the basic stitch and I loved it. My first project was a pretty sad, although Ms. Taylor told me it was beautiful ha ha.
   My mother had taught me how to knit when I was in elementary school and while I enjoyed it, I didn't take to it like I did to crocheting. Seeing this, she bought me a book of stitches and I would just sit there with the book and practice the different stitches. Somehow during that time I taught myself how to read a pattern but I'm not really sure when I learned that.
   I think my first major project was a blanket for my twin bed which I never finished ha ha. I think I bit off more than I could chew with that one but it did turn into a lovely throw. I love crocheting. I get so excited about new projects and ideas that I tend to jump from project to project. I'm trying to work on that :) Hopefully I will be crocheting long into the future. I would love to own a boutique with my friend Dan that includes unique hand-made items, but I'm still working up to that. Hope you learned a little something about me :)

A Foray into Book Making

I have always been interested in paper crafts. I have kept old magazines, books, wallpaper samples, in the hopes that I could make something out of them. And I finally am! I enrolled in a book making class and I am loving it! I have listed my first journal with coptic stiches and I couldn't be more proud. My favorite part of the book are the inside covers. I used pages from a 1947 copy of Nancy Drew and the Clue in the Jewel that I've had for a few months and was falling apart. I love that I could use it to make something new instead of throwing it out. I also used the orginal covers from the book to make a journal for myself. But that's just for me! Ha ha. I have no plans of selling that one :) Check out the picture below. I can't wait to share the box I made using old wall paper and the tape bound book I'm making now. :) Until then check out the photos of my first journal.

Manayunk Eco-Arts Festival

I guess I'm not really a blogger. I've always like the idea of keeping a journal or blog of my witty private thoughts that are now public to the world, but I am not good with the follow through. But I got something in the mail today that I thought was pretty interesting and I think I want to participate in. The festival is called the Manayunk Eco-Arts Festival and it's all about "celebrating a healthy and earth friendly lifestyle". Seems like a great place to showcase my new eco-friendly items. Like my up-cycled bathmat crochet from bed sheets:
   I've also been taking a bookmaking class where we are learning to make hand bound book and gift boxes. Every part of the books or boxes that I've made thus far are from recycled objects or paper that have just been sitting in my house waiting to be turned into something else. So hopefully I will be churning out new paper products for my new shop :)

Frogs

So the Create Crochet team is having a frog-a-thon. Meaning this week we will try and finish up all of the projects that we have started but have not finished. I'm posting my before pictures but I don't have a great deal of faith that I will finish considering most of my projects are massive but we shall see.

A set of earrings for a friend.

A ladybug baby sleeping sack

A cell phone case

A blanket that will probably be ripped out and look totally different

A cotton Groccery bag.

I have a lot of work to do!