Handmade The Hippie Way :)

Ok so beyond heading up the D lister squad i'm also a member of the create crochet team. This month they are doing a swap, I of course excited about the idea of trading items with someone else! It just so happens that my swap partner Mamta is from India which makes it even more exciting. It just blows my mind that something I made with my two hands will be going all the way to India for someone to enjoy :) I've been trying my hand at some new methods of crochet and even trying to read patterns. Both of which i've not tried before, so I was a little nervous at first. I couldn't really figure out what to make for her, I looked at many different patterns and of course I needed to do something that would be rather easy due to my lack of skill. I decided on a purse, it's cute, practical and something that almost every woman uses. This one can be used as a clutch by tucking the short strap I attached inside the bag itself. The one thing I think that excited me the most beyond trying something new was using some eco friendly yarn. 20% of the skein is post consumer recycled bottles, appx 6 bottles were saved in this yarn! There goes my inner hippie :) Besides that it's crazy soft and I used two extremely beautiful shades of purple. When I finished the purse I was very excited to see the final product and want to share it with everyone! So good job on my first try at a crochet purse!

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So I finally got around to posting my coffee lovers gift basket and i'm really happy with the way it turned out. I've been contemplating different ways to make the basket with different items for the upcoming christmas season. I'm also really excited about the thought of getting a new sewing machine so I can really step up my towel game by making sports team related items. I'm also considering doing "grill sets" where it'll be an apron with a team patch, two matching towels and some sort of hot pad/oven mitt type combination.

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So i've been reading other very well known blogs and there's one thing they all have in common, they provide good information and good resources. I feel that at this point that's one thing my blog is lacking. I need to start posting how-to's, links, and giving more information beyond just talking about what i'm doing on a regular basis. I also need to keep up with doing a daily blog instead of just doing it when I remember. That's where my dailies spreadsheet comes in. I finally sat down and organized what I need to do on a daily basis and set it up in a checklist type format. Today is the first day that i've put it to use and so far I think it's really helping. I do need to work on items for the shop today like my crochet edged washcloths, I think those are going to be really great :) I'm going to sit down and research some stuff tonight after my kids go to bed and hopefully will have some good info for the blog tomorrow. I'm also going to try to work on a video possibly showing how to do something...who knows.

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So after today and yesterday i'm feeling a renewed sense of spirit with my shop. I made two sales, which was great. One was a custom order and the same woman purchased a towel set that i'd already posted in my shop! I'm currently working on a towel set for a high school friend of mine, she may buy multiples :) So i'm fairly excited about that too! Things are starting to look up. My shop views are doing pretty well, i'm about to give up on these picture frames. I'm just going to leave them up for now until I can get some more towels and other things stocked into the shop. I don't want to drastically drop my stock because i'm just frustrated with them. I'll probably just end up pulling them if I don't sell them by christmas and give them as gifts LOL. Overall i'm feeling good about the progress that has been made.

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So on wednesday I receive a message out of nowhere asking me if i'm able to fill a custom order. Of course i'm not going to decline! So I ask a few further questions to make sure that I correctly fill this woman's request and make her the happiest I can. Happy customers mean return business :) I receive the final correspondence thursday and happily truck it down to the store to find what I need. I find the most perfect towel in the world, yarn that matches perfectly in the color that she wants and the most awesome buttons. What she had requested was a Rooster towel set with autumn/fall type colors with a sage colored yarn. The buttons I found at JoAnn fabrics couldn't have matched better, they were cute little roosters that matched the rooster on the towel almost to a T. What kind of luck is that? My husband even said that these are my best ones yet. I'm really excited for the person to see them I hope she gets as excited about them as I am. Sorry about the crappy photos I took these with my phone...but will have the clean clear shots in the shop posting tomorrow.

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So after the series of events that happened yesterday (read previous posts) i'm happy to say that so far so good with the message board, we just need to get everyone there. A few have found it and we've posted some great questions and resources and i'm very excited about the things to come. I submitted to Etsy the team request with 112 names on the list...holy cow. I was so proud :) I learned some new things today thanks to my fellow D Listers, call me greatful! Anything new that can potentially help is awesome. I also posted my "Berry Sweet" Towel set today and started on what i'm going to call my "Dia De Los Skeleton" towel set #1 in black for my halloween items. I bought two sets, one orange and one black and both are extremely cute and i'm excited to get them finished and in the shop. I decided to do the black towels with orange yarn and the orange towels with black yarn FUN!

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So today i'm sitting here participating in forums and out of the blue I come across this post called "Etsy "D" List Blog, for those of us still not selling." So curiosity strikes and I open this thread. To my surprise I find a super nice chick that's in the same boat as I am and she's promoting her "D" list blog. I read through her posts and realize that i'm able to relate to her in many ways. So I start posting away and by the end of this posting session i've made a great Etsy friend and we're going to start a team compiled of fellow Etsians in our same situation. Not to mention i'm going to be taking on the endeavor of starting a Treasury for those same folks to help us all promote and grow. How amazing is this? I'm seriously excited about things to come and i'm feeling really focused and jazzed about this whole idea. So cheers to "A Few of My Favorite Things" Treasury and the band of misfit Etsy sellers we're grouping together as a team! Oh and here's the URL to that wonderful thread that moved me so much!

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6291125&page=1

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So after much consideration and trial and error I decided to change my avatar and banner for the shop. I feel that it looks much better and the forum also provided some much needed support for both. Where it's at now is probably where it will stay seeing as though i'm creatively out of gas when it comes to those things LOL. I will probably be looking for some ways to work with the shop today as far as getting the word out there. I learned that providing helpful links in my blog would be a positive thing and will probably gather together a list of links that have helped me out in my etsy endeavor :)

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Ok so since i've had children i've always had an issue with losing baby socks in the wash. It frustrates me because I know that when I put a whole pair in and only get one sock back, it makes me curious as to where it went. Sock limbo? hanging out with the other lost clothing items? Well they have those zipper bags that you can throw in the wash to keep things like baby socks and unmentionables together, but i've decided that i'm going to crochet something much cooler. LOL Well...I have an idea lets see if I can execute it :) I'm also thinking of devising something to hold all those shopping bags in my kitchen. I know they sell dispensers for them...but again I want something much more personal :) On another note I was sitting with my youngest daughter Daisy this morning and she just turned 7 months. Well she recently started doing this "kissy" thing lol it's the cutest thing and it looks and sounds like she's making kisses. Guess I'll share a video

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So I just posted a "wine basket" towel set tonight that comes with a potholder. It's super cool and i'm pretty proud of it. I'm also doing a clearance sale on my photo frames and moving in another direction with my shop. Hopefully it'll be a positive change in direction :)

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Purchsed some new towels yesterday, some came with pot holders as sets! I'm excited to dissect and reconstruct these towels and get them up in the shop! I think they'll be fun and will look great once they're completed. Currently working on a chili pepper towel set :) Spicy!

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I added a widget to my blog page for everyone to become a fan of my facebook page. Hope y'all do it :) Also i'm working on some things today and hopefully will have some pics taken and some new listings on Etsy. The project to come is another set of my crochet towels in the "Sweet Shop" pattern :) Hope you enjoy! Have a wonderful day!! Don't forget to follow me on twitter!

http://twitter.com/HippieChkBoutiq

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