Summertime.....

Summer vacation is officially here.  Pie and Due are out of school and we are living it up.  I am not complaining but I thought that my hooking orders would slow down after Christmas.  I am still getting a steady stream of orders.  The thing about summer orders are they are always for new ideas.  Purses and lovies, summer hats and sensory toys.  I make so many hats in the winter, it is a nice break:) 

I have had a little time to try out some new ideas.  Some have come to me and some have found me on Pinterest:)  I found this awesome tutorial  on Pinterest to make a bowl with different mediums.  Instead of a regular yarn and hook.  I took on 300 feet of jute twine and some clothesline and made a bowl.  It is a simple upside down hat that comes out stiff and will serve as a great key holder.  

The bowl came out a little wonky but it isn't completely firm.  It is able to be molded and can be bent up to become an oval...or whatever:)  It is quite simple and all you really do is crochet around a thicker base.

The next time I try to make this I will not use this fine jute twine.  It rubbed my finger raw and took 

F-O-R-E-V-E-R!

I will go with a thicker medium in hopes of making the project go faster and less painful.  

I am currently working on a few projects using only clothesline; trivets, rugs, etc.  The rug is currently partially finished.  I plan on finishing the crochet portion this weekend and since it is made out of 100% cotton rope, it is dyeable.  My dear friend, Kelly, at SimplyTutu does hand dyeing and is willing to hand dye the rug for me.  EEEKKK!!!  I am so excited to see the end of the project.

My hopes is my next post will be regarding this fine rug:)

Confessions

I have dirty little secrets.

1.  The majority of my orders are made while I watch trashy television...and I pretend my job is hard;)

2.  I have more yarn than any one hooker can use in a year.

3.  If it came down to my yarn or buttons, My buttons would win.

I feel better with that off my chest.

The Pocketbook

Call it what you will; a clutch, purse, handbag, satchel, messenger, pocketbook.  Whatever you call it, I have been busy making them!  Lots of clutches and messenger bags.  I tried my hand a lining the bags.  What an adventure!  The zipper did me in and decided to go back to a great button for the closures on the clutches and a flap on the messengers.  Me + zipper = one big hairy mess.  It is times like these that I wish my mom was closer.  She could wrangle those pesky zippers so much better than yours truly.

I did a basic single crochet combined with a shell stitch to make the majority of the bags.  These are nice simple projects that are perfect for a new crocheter.  The linings can be done by anyone who can do a straight line on a sewing machine and simple hand stitch.  I used a tutorial by FutureGirl Blog.  She can explain it way better than myself and has TONS of great tips and tricks on her blog.  Check out the lining tutorial here.

Now take a peek at the great pocketbooks I whipped up.  Some of these are in stock and if you are interested, just let me know:)

I called this one the Kelly bag.  Once for the fabulous Kelly green color and secondly because my friend Kelly likes it and she does a lot for me:)

The yellow lining just makes me smile.  It really is a great bag.  The handles were a found treasure in a local thrift shop.  A great find that consisted of brand new purse handles, three pairs, zippers, lace, bias tape.  For the low low price of $2.00!

This camo messenger bag came out of yarn that I have been holding onto for a while looking for the perfect project. It has a long strap that can drape over one shoulder or across the body.

The purple lining really makes it a girl bag....but not TOO girlie:)



Made solely with the shell stitch, this messenger bag made me have to think.  I had a lot of trouble making the handle.  I ended up with trim that is usually intended for curtains.  It has a great adjustable strap.

I love the aqua lining and how it peeks through the pattern of the shell stitch.

Enter the clutch.  This little purse is posted on my Facebook page.  Check out the lining here.  It is a great complimentary color:)

The closure is a little nifty wooden two hole round button.  I picked it up from an Etsy shop.  Did I ever mention that I love buttons?

This isn't really a clutch but a clutch style wallet.  When you don't need a big bag but a small one will suffice.  The lining is two layers.  A solid orange that shows through the pattern of the purse and a pattern on the inside.  I love this little bag:)

This purse is HOT!  The hot pink was created by my friend Kelly, from SimplyTutu.  Her hand-dyed items truly make them OOAK (one of a kind)

Open up and the real wild side of this handbag shows.  Zebra print finishes it off:)

Last but not least is a child sized messenger bag.  Made out of 100% cotton yarn, it is made to last.  A simple braided strap and a vintage button finishes this purse off.  This purse is unlined as the stitching is tight enough that it is not needed.


This wraps up my tour of the latest purses coming out my shop.  Visit me on Facebook or on Etsy.

CRAPPY Feast

I know I have said this before but this time I really mean.  I will blog, I will create, I will make time to do what I love.  Truth is, it is hard to figure the whole no time left in the day thing.  Whatcha gonna do?

So recently I participated in a craft show in Columbia, SC.  What a giant disappointment!  I have several major complaints.
1.  The organizing "Featured" each vendor on their FB page.  They posted a little blurb about each vendor and how great their stuff is.  The day of my turn...they posted my link.  No word about anything else.  Just my link!!!!

2.  The day of the event the organizer walked around introducing herself to EVERYONE but yours truly.  Needless to say, I felt a little bummed that I wasn't considered in the trip around the building:)

3.  Their placement of vendors made zero sense what so ever.  Apparently they had no idea what I did because they didn't bother to check me out OR even take time to say hello because they placed be beside a person who did the exact same thing I did.  I don't say this very often but WTF?

I will not participate in any event by this organizer again but I digress.  There were LOTS of great vendors there.  I purchased some awesome handmade soaps.  My friend and helper bought too much to even list.  It stinks that a great group of vendors fell victim to awful organizing.  AWFUL.

I have gotten several orders from the event that I must work on though, so it wasn't a total bust.  Pictures coming soon:)