Kickstarter nerves

My Kickstarter got off to a great start! I was at 14% within 24 hours! Now I just need to somehow keep that momentum going. I know it has only been 2 days, but I can't let things slack off now. I need to keep going, full steam ahead!

Here comes my shameless plug for myself. I mean, what good is having your own blog if you can't promote yourself?

I want to urge everyone to please take a look at my kickstarter. If you like what you see, and if you can make a pledge, that would be great! If you like what you see, but aren't sure that this is your thing, or if you don't have the funds to make a pledge and back me, that's fine too! I just want ask (beg) that you spread the word for me, instead! It would be awesome to see word of my Kickstarter project spread through blogland!
I would love to receive feedback on it, too. What do you think? Any questions? Things that are awesome? Things that could be better?

The best advertising I can get is word-of-mouth, and the more people I can get sharing my ideas and goals with others, the better off my kickstarter (and fledgling business) will be! I can't do it without everyone around me, and that includes my blog followers (You!) as well.

I will be posting periodic updates as to the status of my Kickstarter here. This is where we are so far:

Check out my Kickstarter here! 

Where does the time go?

It seems like I was just promising more pictures to you guys a couple days ago, and yet it has been over 2 weeks. Wow!

Things have been sooo super busy for me over the past couple months. I have officially taken the plunge and have begun turning this craft hobby of mine into a business! I have registered my business and gotten myself an EIN, sales tax permit, bank account, and even a credit card! My life has been so hectic getting all that setup lately, that I haven't had time to think. This is all in addition to the day job!

So, as promised, here is a sneak peek into what I have been making lately:

 

Chainmail! I have really been getting into making chainmail stuff. So far, I have made bracelets and ornaments. I'm also in the process of making a purse (for myself, of course) and a wall hanging for the husband. There are so many other things that I want to make, though! There isn't enough time to do everything!

I have been having so much fun with making all these things, that I am going to be opening a new line of these items in my Etsy store. To get things kicked in gear for me, I have started a Kickstarter campaign for the next 30 days to help me raise some funds for more supplies. Researching all that and putting it all together is yet another thing that has been taking up my time because I really want this campaign to work and get funded!

If you are interested, please check it out!

My Kickstarter 

Oh Goodness! I am the worst blogger ever!

There has been so much going on, and I have soo many things to tell everyone, that I will have to break things up into more than one post!

First things first, going to where I left off last. My craft fair!
Yes, I know I said that I would keep everyone updated with stuff that I was making for it, and I was so horrible about that! I just got so into making stuff, that I didn't even think about blogging.
So, my first post since my craft fair hiatus is some pictures of the things I made.

First, I made a lot (and I mean a LOT) of glass marble magnets. I used some old magazines to get images from, and got some scrapbook paper when it was on sale. I don't have any close-up pictures of the magnets, but here is one from when I was putting them on the board for display.

Next, remember my big pile of plastic canvas magnets I had made before? Well, I had them up on a display board, as well. Of course, I don't have a picture of that, but here is a picture of them while I had the glue drying after attaching the magnets.

I also had some plastic canvas barrettes. Some bows and some with charms. I had more with charms, these are just the ones I had pictures of.

I also made some corner bookmarks. I found the tutorial on these online and just had to make them.

And I made some necklaces. I don't have any pictures of all of them, but I do have most listed in my Etsy shop, now.
And, for a grand finale, here are the pictures of my booth (yes, we were in a corner). I shared the booth with a friend, since neither of us had ever done a craft fair before.

Whilst sales were not so great (I think everyone there had low sales), I still had a lot of fun and plan on doing more fairs!

I will have another post soon with some of the things that I have been making lately!

My Dalek army

I have been busy working on things for my craft fair table. I have come up with a couple patterns and I have been stitching on my Dalek army!
I went out of town for the weekend and became a Godmother! So, naturally, I didn't get an much stitching in as normal. But my godson is soooo cute!

I already have a co-worker who wants to buy one of each color of these Daleks, so that's why I am making so many. Here is where I am on the Dalek army:

One I get these finished up, I will be moving on to making a pattern for and stitching up an iphone case that I will be donating for auction.

I think I am most excited right now about the fact that I actually have a crafting minion! I have drafted my mom to make some magnets for me (OK, so I asked and she agreed). I already have made up the pattern, so this weekend I will take it over to her with some yarn and show her how I like my magnets made. This will save me a ton of time. I love my mom!

I am really looking forward to this craft fair! I am going to be keeping everyone updated on my stock-up craftiness, and will be sure to take pictures and let everyone know how it goes. I still have a couple months, but that gives me more stock-up time. Yay!

I'm back!

I know, I haven't posted in the longest time, but I am back, now. I promise!

Happy news! I passed my test that I have been studying for! Yay! I'm going to take a few weeks off to allow my brain to recover before I start working toward the next certification for my day job.

Happier news! I have my magnet mojo back! I'm so excited about that!
The high school that my husband attended is having a big festival that includes a car show, fun run, carnival, auction, and craft fair. I have been toying with the idea of getting a table at a craft fair just to try it out, and this one is perfect! My husband is part of the committee that is planning the whole thing, so I am definitely going to attend anyway.
So, I have been coming up with more magnet ideas the past couple days. I have come up with a pattern for one of the school logo letters, and I have plans to (try to) make a cross stitch pattern for my iphone cases for the school mascot. I want to donate a stitched iphone case for the auction, if I can, too.
So, the next couple months, I have the feeling that I will be making a lot of magnets and other items for stocking my craft fair booth. I've never done this before, so I am really stoked! For those craft fair veterans out there, any advice for a newbie?

And, last, I have that picture of the fabric I bought recently for my Sleepy Hollow project. The color is called "Haunted". How awesome is that?
The coloring doesn't translate as well as I would like through the pictures, but let me assure you that it is amazing!

Belated thanks!

I wanted to give a big THANK YOU to everyone. I started to lose my enthusiasm for the mousie due to the monotony of color so far. All of your encouraging comments helped keep me on track and renewed my interest in this piece. So, thanks everybody!

Now, I know that it has been a while since my last post. This is for 2 reasons. First, I did mention earlier that I have been studying for a test lately, which has taken away from my stitching time. I still have not yet taken that test. I had to push it back a bit due to reason 2.

I got the icky crud that has been going around. I was soo sick for a few days. I actually called in sick to work. I didn't even have the energy to stitch on my time off. I had taken Kyoto into the bedroom with me in case I ever felt up to it, but I never did. I just relaxed and watched Netflix all day. Since I lost all that study time, too, I pushed back my test to next Monday.

However, yesterday, I did decide to let my brain rest and I got some stitching in! It's just more of the same color so far, but here is where we are on the mousie.

OH! I almost forgot! I have gotten my beautiful fabric for my Sleepy Hollow project. It is amazing, and I cannot wait to start working on it! There have been several times I was tempted to put aside the mousie and start on Sleepy Hollow right away! I'm sure eventually my excitement will win out, but I will keep with my mouse as long as possible.
I will post a picture of the fabric later, it is certainly drool-worthy!

January IHSW

I had a great plan for the weekend. I would get in 3 hours of study and up to 5 hours of stitching done each day. Unfortunately, as always happens, life came around and this didn't happen. I did get some studying done, but I didn't get as much stitchy time as I would have liked. I'm not really upset about it, though, since I did get to study.

This is where I am now.

Still just a bunch of off-white. Nothing much to see. I'm starting to lose my enthusiasm for this piece due to the monotony and how close the colors are. I may decide to set this one aside for a while and use my randomizer to choose another project to work on/start.

Not much stitching done this week, but a good amount of progress!

I have been studying up for another certification for the day job. I have finally set a date to take the exam (Jan 30th), so the past week I have been cramming. I don't expect to have a lot of stitching time, but I will definitely fit some in here and there to let my mind rest every once in a while.

So, here we are on my mousie project. I have been working on it, but I haven't posted anything lately. Here he is after another 13-ish hours of work:

The darkness of the picture makes the fabric look off-white, but it really is white! Of course, you can't tell what the picture is, yet, anyway. I have a feeling that with this one, you won't be able to tell what it is even when it is completed until all the backstitching is added (there is a lot).
I found a way to sortof keep track of my progress on this one. There are 11 colors and 16 symbols (some use 2 colors) in this project. Since I am stitching all of one color at once, I can keep track of how many symbols I have completed.
So far, as of this picture, I have completed 2 symbols completely. I know, it's hard to tell, isn't it? I also have started a third color (not counting that little spatter of the darker brown in the middle, of course). These colors are so similar, that even stitched next to each other, I can't tell them apart. I know it will all be worth it in the end, but I am starting to get tired of this color(s).

I have been keeping track of what projects I work on which day, and the time that I am spending on it. So far, I haven't had any issues with keeping everything logged. My biggest issue is remembering to turn the timer on and off. I went to the dollar store and bought a pocket calendar to keep track of it all. I made the mistake of going right after Christmas, so their selection was practically non-existant, but this is my calendar!

I'm happy that it is a 2 year calendar, so I don't even have to worry about getting another one next year. Hooray!

Saturday SAL update!

This past Saturday, I was actually busy all day with studying and working on day job cert stuff, so I wasn't even home to stitch at all. So, I decided to stitch on Candy Cane Christmas on Sunday, instead!

Here is my last update:

And here I am now:

As you can see, I managed to get a lot of the beads around the outside done.

New Post for 2015! HAP beginning update

Happy New Year!

Earlier I mentioned that I was going to join a new SAL for HAP (Huge ASS Projects) for 2015. Crossed Stitches is hosting the new year HAP SAL. I only have 2 projects that qualify at this time (technically only 1, but considering the size, anyone in the world would consider the other a HAP). Here are pictures of  my progress on both of them, as of today.

 Qingming Festival

San Francisco

I think my biggest progress will be on Qingming this year, but you never know. San Francisco may start screaming at me the way Qingming did to finish page 2.

I don't have any progress to report on the mousie. I found an addictive game for my phone, and I had a sudden interview at work for a promotion, so I haven't been in the stitchy mood. More will be coming soon, though!