HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas season and New Years with your family and friends!  Sorry to be away for so long, but between the projects I was finishing for gifts [which couldn’t be shared at the time], and the hustle and bustle all through the month of December there just wasn’t time to write anything down!

What have I been up to you ask?

December 6^th – Jonathan had surgery on his wrist

December 7^th-9^th – weekend trip to Colonial Williamsburg, VA with our friends Aimee and Grant

December 14^th – our 8^th Annual Christmas/my Birthday party at the apartment

December 15^th – Jonathan took me to see “White Christmas” at the Kennedy Center for my birthday

December 18^th – Happy Birthday to me!!  We went to see the National Christmas tree after work, and then returned home where Jonathan made me a very yummy steak dinner

December 19^th – Jonathan and I did a Holiday Tour of the White House

December 21^st – drove home to WNY for Christmas (including the final stretch in Winter Strom Draco)

December 23^rd – family birthday dinner for my Grannie and I

December 24^th-25^th – traditional Christmas Eve/Christmas Day running around and general holiday merriment with our families

December 26^th – finally succumb to all of the flu/cold germs I’d been around over the past month.  Spent 4 days with a fever and chest cold doing next to nothing.  Thank goodness my Momma was there to take care of me.  No one can take care of you when you’re sick like your Momma.  By December 28^th, Momma was sick with me L

December 31^st – NYE dinner with Jonathan at Peek ‘n Peak Resort (where we had our wedding reception)

January 1^st – drove back to Maryland

January 2^nd – returned to work

Yes, I really did find time in all of that to crochet, and sew, and do a teeeeeeny bit of baking!  Even with a fever I was crocheting (I had to do something, I hated that I was “wasting” vacation days being sick!!)  It was a little slow going due to the napping and snotty/coughing situation, but I still managed to make 2 large cowls and started a scarf.

Every night this week when I have gotten home and I have pretty much crashed out the couch for the night.  My very sweet husband, as always, really knows his audience when buying gifts and he got me a Roku box for Christmas.  We set it up on Wednesday night and I just lay there nightly now flipping through everything we have access to watch [thanks to Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime]!

I hope to get my December/Christmas-time pictures organized on my laptop this weekend in order to order prints, so hopefully I will remember to post pictures of all the Christmas gifts I made and have now gifted and can share!

It's Official

I meant to write this post yesterday….but “work” got in the way!  Silly work

Anyway, as the title above states – it’s OFFICIAL!!  What’s official you ask?  Well my ETSY shop is up and running, with product listed as of Wednesday evening!!! 

Finally figuring everything out, and having the time to post some hats for sale was such a big, exciting, RELIEF! 

No online sales just yet, but I’m going to try my best this weekend (in between finishing some gifts, picking up and packing for Thanksgiving) to photograph a few more finished products, and maybe even start a few more.  I’d like to get to a “stock” point where I can post 1-2 new items every other day or so….

Until I see how sales go, I’m a little hesitant to jump in with offering custom orders.  If you haven’t all noticed just yet, I work insane hours at my “real” job, and don’t want to catch myself in a jam where I can’t get requested order ready, especially this close to the holidays.

For those of you who haven’t thought about it just yet, I realized on my way into work this morning that we will be driving home for Christmas exactly 5 weeks from TODAY!  Forget panicking about being ready to head home for Thanksgiving in 5 days (not including today), Christmas is a little over 5 weeks away.  I know, I’m terribly sorry for any panic I just caused you.  Please take a deep breath and enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with your families and friends J

Sorry for the short post, but between work and the fact that the little amount of crocheting that I’ve done this week has been on gifts, I have no fun pictures or silly process stories to share!

But, please, SPREAD THE WORD to anyone who’s looking for a unique holiday gift to give, or a little something for themselves – etsy.com/shop/craftyhollylouise is open for business, with new items added all the time!!

The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY

They say that when you have to give bad news, you should give good news as well (a bit of a silver lining right?) – so that’s sort of what I’m doing today, but I’d rather start with the good news (so the I’m not cranky for the remainder of my post)!!!

My good news is that I got to leave work ON TIME yesterday, and while it took me longer than usual to get home (almost 1 hour total), I was able to devote the entire evening to crocheting!

 I even had an unintentional, little autumn theme last night!

Bad news -

Option 1:  Have you ever ran out of yarn before you completed a project? 

Option 2:  Ever been trying to use up yarn from your stash, and find yourself having to purchase more of the stash yarn color in order to complete the project? 

I’m 99.99% positive that any and all crafters reading this have had both of the above scenarios happen to them one time or another (or multiple times)…am I right?

So I ask, have you ever had this happen to you? 

The yarn came from my stash, and while it wasn’t a complete skein it definitely looked to be enough for an adult man’s hat.  The tail is all that’s “left”, and the pink line indicates how much of my last.row I have left….

Really?!?!  I mean REALLY?!?!? COME.ON!!  Okay, I’ll buy another skein and make something else with it once those last 2” are finished, but still…..FOR PETE’S SAKE!, right?

The “ugly” part of today’s post is less ugly than it was an hour ago (lucky you)

Today is DAY FOUR of me attempting to understand and properly set up my ETSY account to charge and pay sales taxes as legally pertinent.  While ETSY provides lots of links and information, 90% of it was either useless, repetitive, or claiming that they can’t “offer tax advice”.  Last night I spent a little bit more time on the Maryland Comptroller’s website, which ‘thanks’ to a very limited amount of information provided upfront, I found the state of Maryland about as helpful as ETSY.  At Jonathan’s suggestion, I emailed the appropriate email account for the license I believe I will need (email vs. a phone call 1. Because it was after hours and 2. It proves a paper trail).  The response time was great – they emailed me back around 9 a.m. this morning…..and did nothing more than direct me back to their website (via a broken link)… Seriously, it shouldn’t be this hard right? 

I finally bit the bullet, and called the 800 number that was provided to me in the email for “additional information” fully expecting to spend about an hour on hold with an automated system.  The “good” is back because an actual person picked up after the 2^nd ring and they answered all of my questions for me within 10 minutes – it was a Tuesday miracle I tell you!  To keep this long story from getting any longer, I know what license and registration number I need to sign up for online tonight (no fees either, yea!!!), and then *fingers crossed* I may finally be able to post to my ETSY store - and feel good knowing that I’ve done everything right!

I know that I kind of, sort of now know what I need to do, but I had planned to ask for any advice and/or suggestions from my blog readers, so I’d still like to do that.  Anyone who’s reading who has an ETSY shop, and charges/pays state sales tax (esp. anyone in Maryland), I would LOVE any suggestions, tips, rules, requirements, etc., etc. that you could pass along!  I was very surprised to find out how difficult posting to my shop was going to be, but so many out there have successful shops, so I just know that some of you reading this have got to have some answers or suggestions for me…please???

I leave you today with wishing my beautiful Momma a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!  She’s more than awesome, and I can’t wait to be home for Thanksgiving next week so I can see her :-D

Saturday progress

I hope that everyone has been enjoying their Saturday with family & friends. I've been wide awake since a little after 6 am - this is what happens when I pass out at 10 pm on a Friday night.... Either way, been a fairly productive day so far! The picture above was taken pretty early on, once I'd had enough caffeine to operate my iPad. As you can see, last night was not as I had planned (again, that's what happens when you pass out at 10 pm), but today was a new day, right?

Just snapped this photo - as you can see I've made four woman's hats, one teen hat and that adorable mini sized hat will be a gift!!

Hope to officially launch my ETSY site tonight :-)


For now, I supposed at least an hour or two should be dedicated to housework!

My New Process

It's been discussed in the past, that I'm not exactly "the best" when it comes to finishing projects that I begin.  And in all reality I believe that ALL crafters have a hidden closet full of WIPs that once out of sight, are also out of mind so that they can pick up a new skein of yarn and start the next project that's already in their head, guilt-free.

While I’m being honest about my crafty process, I’ve also always had a difficult time making multiples of basically anything.  This includes making a scarf with a special stitch/pattern, or a blanket as a gift, loving the pattern, wanting one for myself, and never starting it again!  Same with anything in pairs like mittens.  I made a pair of mittens early last year that I LOVE, but I’ve never once started another pair – for myself or anyone else.

As you can imagine, this is possibly the biggest reason I have never sold my finished products on ETSY or otherwise.  I mean selling hats, scarves and gloves means that I actually have to make more than one of them at a time!!!  I mean if I wanted to actually make a profit!

Now that you know all of this, you may be wondering how I was able to make 8 hats over a 7 day period, or how I was able to have 16 adult hats, 3 children’s hats, and 2 baby hats ready, along with multiple cowls when I sent my first shipment to Vermont.

The answer is really simple – variety!!  I don’t pick up a skein of black yarn and just make black hats until the skein is gone.  Switching colors relieves the monotony, and since hats are such a small project to complete (around 1 hour 15 min for an adult hat) I am able to think about  my next color combination one hat in advance without the kind of crafty timeline to end product that creates the hidden closet of WIPs!

Naturally I take this one step further per the photograph below:

(if anyone is wondering, the purple hat with be a girl's hat, the aquamarine will be an adult hat, the aran tweed with be for a baby boy, and the autumn harvest colors on the far right with be a unisex adult hat)

As you can see, last night I started 4 hats!  No….really, it’s a good thing!  See, I’ll basically work each hat through the applicable number of increases, add a stitch marker, set it down and repeat!  I never (at least yet) go past 5 before I finish what’s started.  I think it really works well for my brain, and here’s why:

1. As mentioned above, constantly switching colors allows me to not get bored with what I’m making
2. If I spend one night “starting” all the hats, then all the hard part (i.e. the correct counting on the increases) is already done.  Anyone who’s crocheted a basic hat knows that once you’re done increases, and proper measuring,  the double crochets in a circle are as second nature as breathing!  This means that tonight’s crocheting will be SUPER easy!  After the busy work week I’ve had, nothing sounds better today that having an extra easy night of crocheting when I get home
3. By the end of tonight I’ll have 4 finished hats.  And for those of you who I know are thinking it, yes I’m aware that if I worked each hat from start to finish, I could have made 2 last night and 2 tonight with the same end result.  But I find it more fun this way, and guess what, as long as I do finish them in a timely manner, it should matter to no one J  Every artist has their process right?

  

Anyway, I’m now counting the minutes until I’ll be home again (210 until I leave work, ~255 until I’m actually home)….yes I got out a calculator and did.the.math!

I hope that you’ve all enjoyed a little additional insight unto my journey to recent selling of my crafties!

Here’s to a craft-filled weekend!

phew!

I've been a busy bee over the past couple of weeks.  As I mentioned in my last post, I have been working towards an upcoming project that would also bring a bit of an announcement… well, crafty blog friends, and other respective readers: I have officially sent my first shipment to Equilibrium VT!

Equilibrium VT is my sister-in-law Jessica’s new business venture in Brattleboro, VT!  Jessica and her boyfriend Jake have rented a warehouse space in Brattleboro where they have created a multi-platform venue, aiming to provide space for those seeking to live a more healthy, happy and harmonious life (something the whole world could use right??)  Within the space they have Superfresh OrganicCafé; The Healing Arts Sanctuary;  a large flexible Room for hosting original art, yoga and movement classes, small concerts, black box theatre, etc; and, of course, a Gallery and Marketplace – where by mid-week they will showcasing and selling some creations by your very own Crafty Holly Louise!

Here's everything tagged, before packing.  Many group/individual pictures were taken prior to tagging, but the photographs were taken with my camera vs. my iPhone for my own tracking purposes.

This has proven to be extra exciting for me as I’m not only totally excited to get involved with this family venture, but for all of the times I've talked about my goal to start up my ETSY shop, it’s never happened.  Now, I still don’t have a fully operating ETSY shop, but this really feels like a big step in the right direction.  I've been very focused over the past six weeks on making things to sell.  For two of the six weeks we were not in town and shouldn't really count towards the work I've done I’m now totally focused on what it takes to balance FT job work, housework and my “crafty” work! 

Just based upon the feedback I received on Facebook from a few pictures posted yesterday evening, I’m doing some serious thinking about starting up my ETSY shop at least through the holidays for those who don’t live in New England (and I hope that you find this as exciting as I do!!)  I may or may not be able to do custom orders through ETSY at this time, but I’d love to get a sense of the interest in being able to purchase hand-made goods by someone you know as you venture into this Holiday Shopping Season.  

For those of you who are unsure, here are a few more "sneak peeks" of the things I look to continue to see for the foreseeable future:

Adult Hats

Woman's Headbands

Friends – let me hear what you have to say!

P.S.  Anyone reading this who lives in the Brattleboro area, New England or will be traveling to either in the coming months, should 100% check out the awesome things that Jessica and Jake are doing at Equilibrium VT!

No really.....

I’m here I’m here!!  I’ve also been crocheting like a mad woman as I prepare for my next crafty adventure (more on that coming soon…)

As you can see, my Monday nights haven’t changed.  I’m still addicted to watching Dancing with the Stars.  This picture was from 2 Mondays ago – Jonathan was out of town, so I was taking over the coffee table a bit while I had a few hours of “yarn-A.D.D.” (this, of course, would be when you keep starting new projects, say hats, just so you can see how the yarn is going to look J you know what I mean, right?)

We all know that last Friday was “I Love Yarn Day” – here was my set up on Friday evening

And, if anyone was wondering, 7 days + a full time “non-crafty” job = 8 adult hats!

In non-crocheting crafty news, here is a wind spinner that was made and gifted last week: 

I will have more news to share in the coming weeks (has it really been a MONTH since my last post??? oye), but until then I will continue to read about your crafty adventures, and will try to do more than post bi-monthly photos updates in order to convince you all that I’m still here and still crocheting!!