Moving - What happened to my craft stuff?????

Last year we moved out of our house.  We sold the house and put all our belongings in storage.  We had lived in this house for 13 years and accumulated a LOT of stuff.  No big deal.  We can weed out the stuff we don't really need and have a yard sale.  So before packing a single box we went through the house and gathered all the stuff we didn't need and had a yard sale.  We got rid of a lot of stuff!  It was great.

Then we gathered some more stuff and had another yard sale.  We got rid of a bunch more stuff. It was good.

Then we started packing.  While packing we found that we still had stuff we didn't need so we had yet another yard sale.  After each sale we gave all our leftovers to the Goodwill. They loved us! :)

With each yard sale I got rid of my yarn stash, paper stash, and material stash. I still saved stuff but I got rid of a LOT of stuff.  Everything else went in storage.

This past April we came back into town and went through our stuff one more time.  We had the MOTHER of all yard sales and got rid of HALF of all our belongings, including ALL of my yarn stash (save a few hand dyed items), ALL of my paper stash (save for a few boxes), and ALL of my material.  We didn't want to move it 1000 miles away.  It is really far and the less we had to move the less money it would take. I was saving money.

Now plans changed and we actually moved back to our hometown and are in a new house. The reality has hit me that I no longer have my awesome yarn stash, my awesome paper stash and my awesome fabric stash.  I want to make curtains but can't because I have no material for that. I want to scrap a bit but am missing paper that I got rid of. I want to make some placemats but have no yarn to crochet them.  Oh and did I mention that there are only 20 weeks until Christmas???  I have no stash from which to make presents yet.

I have learned my lesson.  I will no longer listen to my husband when he says I have too much stuff and need to get rid of it.  I will no longer listen when he tells me that "we can just buy new later".

Do you ever????

Do you ever see a pattern and fall in love with it?

Do you ever know that this pattern is EXACTLY what will look awesome on you????

Do you ever choose a yarn that you love, but feel like you spend too much money on it, but realize it is worth it and you will LOVE the finished product and use/wear it all the time??????

Do you ever realize about half way through that you HATE this for you????

Do you ever just set it aside because it is no longer worth working on?????

This exact thing happens to me ALL. THE. TIME!

I love the yarn, I love the pattern, but when I am working on something, I begin to hate it, for me.  If I am making something for someone else I will continue to love it.  But if it is for me. Nope. HATE. IT!

Here are two of the many unfinished projects in my house right now.  I know I have at least three more but can't seem to find them right now. They are packed away somewhere.

This (above) is a pretty pattern, pretty hand dyed yarns that I paid $20 a skein for and bought 5 of them.  I loved the sample in the shop. It is a shawl. It looks so pretty on the mannequin. I am about 40% done and I don't like it anymore. I haven't worked on it in a month. I am thinking I should unravel it out and make a sweater or something for my daughter instead. Hmmmm......

This was going to be another shawl.  More of a wrap that would go over my shoulders on cold days.  Honestly, I end up wearing a sweater and I don't use wraps too much.  It is made with fun chunky yarn in a pretty blue and lime green pattern. I now HATE it. It is sitting on the floor in my closet and will probably sit there a while longer.  It is about half done and I have no intention of finishing it. I am thinking about ripping it out and making an afghan out of it. I will give it away or sell it if I can.

The only things I love and wear are socks.  I love my socks that I knit and I do wear them all the time in the winter. Other than that, I really hate the things I make. Maybe I need to make a sweater for me instead.

So tell me what do you do with your unfinished projects that you no longer love???

Cute little Hearts for Valentine's Day

I made a bunch of cute little hearts for Valentine's Day.  They are so sweet.  I used DMC thread and love making them.  They are about an inch in width and about 7/8 inch tall.

I am thinking that you can put a button in the middle or a brad in there and attached it to a cute handmade card or a sweet layout.

I am selling them in my Etsy Store if you want to purchase them. $5.50 for 6.

Yeah, I have been busy!  I love making these little embellies!  So much fun!

Have you ever looked on Amazon and found great craft books for FREE???

I have recently as I have been looking for some new ideas.  Yeah, I  know Pinterest is there but I like to look in different places too.

Here are a few books I found for the holidays.  These all were free when I posted them and when I purchased them.  Please check the prices of them before clicking to purchase.

Did you know you can read these books even if you don't have a Kindle or a Kindle app?  Yes you can and this is how I do it.  I downloaded the Kindle app to my PC and I read them right on my computer.  I also can read them "in the cloud" on the internet using no app at all.  How cool is that?




















This one looks interesting!

Crochet Scrubbie

I have been making these little scrubbies for a while now.  They are wonderful for the shower or bath.  They are similar to a netted scrubbie but work similar to a wash cloth.

I have several posted on etsy and am wondering if I should offer the pattern.  They are simple enough to make and take about 2 hours from start to finish for me while I watch tv.

You can make the inside a different color or make them all one color.  I like when I use a variegated yarn as they end up really pretty.  I use a 100% cotton yarn and they wash and dry in the washer and dryer perfectly.

I sell them for $5.50 on Etsy, here and here and here.  

So tell me what you think.  Would you want the pattern?  What would you be willing to pay for it? $2? $3? $5?

My New Etsy Store

I have been SOOOOO busy creating and selling items I have created in craft shows like this one here.

I decided that I would open an ETSY store to sell the items I typically sell in craft shows.

Without further adieu here is my ETSY store.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/wcsears




Please check it out when you have a chance.  There are a bunch of different things in there including jewelry, scarves, crocheted and knitted items, wine bags, dog bones and more.  I list many things each day so come back often.

Also follow me on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/CreativeHandmadeGoods

I post new items on Facebook to show you what has listed and what will be listing soon and other news.

An Apology. I am sorry....

I am so sorry that I have been remiss in posting for oh, the past YEAR!.

I have been quite a busy beaver with my hands and creating and I haven't posted a THING about them.  For that I am sorry.

Hang in there.  I am posting again and I will have a ton of new stuff and a new look to this blog.  I am trying to merge a few blog accounts together so this may be a bit of a rocky road for the next couple days.  But have no fear, I have a TON of new ideas and new crafts to show you.

Again, I am sorry.