just for me

Well, I'm still waiting on one Christmas package to arrive at its destination, so I thought I'd post some pictures of things I've made for myself over the last few months.

This is the toque I knit on Christmas and Boxing day out of the yarn Chris got me for Christmas (picked out all by himself?):

This is my new mini-purse and camera bag. I love the camera bag, but I don't like the strap on the mini-purse. Live and learn, I guess:

I had to replace the little tray that came with our bathroom set because it got all warped and weird when it got wet. Like a tray in your bathroom that holds your soap and cup isn't going to get wet. Oh well, we can test my tile design to see how it holds up!
Finally, I made myself this needle holder (as seen on http://www.splityarn.com/). It was really fun picking out a book at Value Village for this project. Since I was only concerned with the size, I didn't even look at the title of it until I got to the cash. As the girl was ringing it in I realized it was called "Political Wives." I didn't read it first.


I have one sock and one mitten done for me too! I have to redo the cast off on the sock since it turned out too tight. I desperately need the mittens as it seems that the leopard print fleece mittens I've been wearing for the last two winters are shoddy merchandise. I wonder where I got them...

trip to ottawa!

Well, I'm home! While it's nice to be back, I seriously wish I could just bring you all back with me. It's so nice to be around people who love you all the time! All together now, awwww!
I've got pictures!

A very Manx brunch:

Lots of shiny hair at Patty Boland's:

Hugs!

More hugs!

Some fake measuring:

Self portraits galore:

Here's the whole set:
ottawa pics

I miss you all!

I can't wait to post all the presents, but someone hasn't recieved them yet, so I'd better wait!
m.

guess who got a scanner!

Now I can post all of the embarrassing photos I've taken of all my friends over the years! Just kidding, if anyone wants me to take any down, just let me know, I don't want to humiliate anyone :)
Here's a preview:


Here are the photosets!

old school
new school
high school
horsin around
animalz

Enjoy!

I sold something!

My first internet sale...the coasters and trivet set. I plan on making more of those since they were pretty popular at the craft sale, and I'm planning a few different styles (different types and thicknesses of wood). But that won't be until I get back on the horse (mitre saw). On the plus side, I can knit again, even with the stiches! I've got lots of gifts in the works, and now I'm only a week behind!

mitre saw 1, fingertip 0

So, now I know that this symbol means DO NOT put your fingers under the blade. I must have misunderstood this before, because that is precisely what I did today. How it happened is kind of a blur, but 45 mins in the emergency room and 3 stitches later, I have learned my lesson. And that lesson is that your index finger is crucial for typing. From now on in this post, I will ignore my typing errors (and you should too!).

If you're keeping the real score, it's:

mitre saw 1
kitchen knife 1
margot's pride -2

I also plan to lose one fingertip for each province, just to check out the emergency room wait times. So far PEI is WAY ahead of Ontario, but that's probably because I actually needed stitches and not just tape and a tetanus shot.

So, on to the real business, and that's that I'm in business, for real this time! The craft sale was a huge success, I sold all but one frame, lots of purses, all but one set of coasters, two trays AND an ottoman! The magnets, while completely unoriginal, were great because everyone leaned in close to see them, thus examining everything on the table on the way back up! Oh, and someone offered to buy my ratty old screen that's been moved, painted and broken more times than I can count! I couldn't in good conscience sell that to someone, but now I know for next time: make screens to sell!
I made a few contacts with shop owners in Charlottetown, as well as ACOA's Women in Business Initiative. I was debating whether to enter another sale next weekend to see if I could sell my remaining items, but I think I'll give it a rest for a while.

Here's my final setup (well, it changed each time I sold something, the table was pretty bare by the last day!):

I'll be putting the remaining items up for sale on Etsy tomorrow, I think I've had enough typing for tonight. Work on Monday's gonna suck :)

Oh, one final funny thing...here's a picture of the truck I was following on my way to Summerside on Saturday:

Three Oaks Craft Sale!

If you've been wondering where I've been for the last 3 months, it's locked in the workshop getting ready for this craft sale! Getting down to the wire I start to get so stressed out about having enough stock that I have to remind myself that I actually LOVE making crafts. Actually, one day last weekend Chris was the one to remind me, that's how stressed out this sale has made me.
Then this Sunday, I realized that I'm pretty much ready! I have a few last minute things to finish, and I'll be bringing some hand-sewing to finish while I'm there, but I actually have a lot done! I set up my display on the dining room table, and it looks so much better than I was expecting. Lise loaned me some tablecloths, so I won't have to use my bedsheet for a table cover. My poor old screen is getting lots of use as a backdrop/hanger, and I fashioned a purse hanger that I'm pretty proud of (that's the empty black thing on the left).

Here's a little preview of the items I'll be selling:
Craft Sale Photoset

Wish me luck!

slippers for the mom

how far can you stretch a metre?

I fell in love with this fabric at the 50% off sale at Fabricville this week. I was only supposed to be buying supplies for my upcoming craft sale, but I couldn't resist (it was 50% off!). I had a little fabric left over, so I made 2 purses and cut out 4 more! I wasn't cheating after all!




Here's a close up of the bags:
And yet another handbag:


This project has been on the table for a while! I started cutting out the stencil last month, but the writing was so tiny and I kept making mistakes, so I shelved it for a while. I got the urge to finish it last night, and it turned out great!

I finished one more project this week, but I can't post it until it has been received by the birthday girl! Happy birthday to The Mom!

Funny story...the power went out at 5:00 today, no big deal, it's pretty bad weather. We got out the candles, ate hummus and pasta salad for dinner and started a game of Scrabble. I kept looking out the window to see if any of the other houses on our road had lights on. Every time I looked, someone was flying a kite at our neighbour Ricky's house. I didn't really think anything of it (windy weather is great for kite flying!) until it started to rain really hard. It didn't click in until the Maritime Electric truck came down the road. They stopped about halfway down the road, just past Ricky's, and got in the little bucket thing to get up to the lines. We couldn't figure out what they were doing. Then we realized the kite was stuck IN the power line! It had stayed up that whole time by itself! Chris was mad that he missed 2 hours of football for a stupid kite. I just felt kind of dumb for thinking someone would stand out there in the pouring rain to fly a stupid kite :)

how bout this new look?

Much easier on the eyes if I say so myself!

gonna sell some bags!

This is quite possibly the most anti-climatic grand opening ever! I've now got 5 bags up for sale in my new Etsy shop, which I'm secretly hoping don't sell because I want to save them for the craft sale I'm doing in November. I suppose I could just not put them up there, but I at least want to have something to show people when I hand them...my new business cards! I got 2 made, one for the handbag shop and one for the home furnishings shop (which is still sadly empty...and, oops, I don't have a copy of it saved on this computer).
So these are the latest bags I have made:

padded tote:

brown cordoroy handbag:

green and paisley handbag:

stencilled khaki knitting tote:

The link to Etsy at the right should be working now, but here it is again anyways:

inahandbag.etsy.com

Somewhere in the middle of all these bags, I've been finding time to knit too! Here is my latest work in progress (that I'm pretty sure won't be done until Christmas at the rate I'm going!):

And these little slippers only took 1 weekend! They are supposed to be a little more mary-jane-ish, but I got a little carried away knitting in the round (which I finally get now!). Now I know for next time!