MKDesigner's Blog

It's Taking A LONG Time...

2012-01-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

I'd posted information about the Bonanza RenFaire back in early October, 2011. Well, so much has happened in my life since then that has delayed any posting to my blog. My hubby, Jerry, went into the hospital around the middle of that month but was able to come home in a few days.

Then, at the end of October, the 27th, he had a massive heart attack and back into the hospital he went. It was not looking good at that point. They thought he may have a blockage, but then they determined he did not have that, the angioplasty was cancelled. So they had to do a Hypothermic procedure (not sure of the exact name of that) on him which basically froze him for a couple of days, to help his body heal. He was there, in CICU for a few weeks.

He was there for several weeks, then he went to a transitional facility (Tahoe Pacific) for a couple of weeks, then on to Renown ReHab for several more weeks. He came home on December 21st and was back with yet another heart condition on the 23rd. Days later, he was transferred to Life Care here in Reno. He's doing quite well now and we have high hopes that he'll once again be home within a week or 10 days.

This has been a bit of a rough time for us, so knitting and designing has not been at the forefront of my mind. Until shortly after the first of the year, when I decided I NEEDED to get back into my fiber crafts in order to keep my sanity. I've been able to get a lot done and have many more things on the drawing board.

My sincere thanks to all my fiber friends for their continued emails of support and their prayers. God has been watching over us all through this and frankly, Jerry's continued progress has amazed his doctors. Thank you!

Marge

MKDesigner on Bonanza - Sewing Goodies

2011-10-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

Knits 'n More Handmade Items Available

2011-10-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

This Coming Sunday -- 9/11/11

2011-09-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

I will never forget where I was on that terrible morning in September, 2001. People around the globe remember exactly where they were when they heard the awful news. Just like, for others of my generation, I'll never forget where I was when I heard JFK had been assassinated.

My husband came and woke me saying I had to come see what was on the tv. The urgency and sheer pain in his voice struck me so vehemently that I made it down the hall to the living room in record time. Earthquake? Floods? Fires? Where were our grown children and their families ... was something happening where they lived? What? A million fears fought for supremacy in my sleep-fogged brain.

I was NOT prepared for the horrific images that were on the tv screen. Where? What country? Then the announcer said New York.

OUR NEW YORK? THE U.S. NEW YORK??

It was a good thing I was already sitting down. Fleeting hopes that this was some sort of a movie preview were completely dashed as I glanced over at Jerry, my husband, and it hurt so much to see the silent tears streaming down his cheeks. His lips tightening, seeing his jaw clench in anger as facts started to emerge about this terror attack. I started crying and didn't stop for quite some time. Minutes? Hours? . I still cry to this day when I think of that devastating point in history.

We prayed so hard that day, silently and out loud. For the victims and for the families of those victims! I couldn't imagine the fear, pain, confusion, horror and disbelief they must have experienced in those dark hours. And oh, those HEROES who selflessly went into that fiery fray to rescue those who were trapped and injured. So many lost their lives. The sadness of that day was overwhelming. God bless them all.

We sat there for hours, our eyes glued to the tv screen, listening with baited breath to the stricken voices of the newscasters. It was all so hard to take in and process. For some reason, I had a fleeting memory of my father teaching me the Guy Fawkes poem as a child. Shoving that to the back of my brain, wondering what brought that on, it was back to all the newscasts and the hideous images that were flooding the screen and jumping right into our bodies and stabbing at our hearts. The rest of that day was somewhat of a blur. We got through it, somehow. And we were on the other side of the country. I had to rely on my faith. And it stood me in good stead.

It was months later I remembered that fleeting thought I'd had about my father. So I 'borrowed' the tempo of the historic Guy Fawkes poem and came up with this ...

Ever remember eleven September

For hijack, terror and plot

There is no reason this hijack & terror

Should ever be forgot...

And the Parker family won't forget. Ever.

Follow @mkdesigner

Latest Machine Knitting Projects

2011-09-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

Wow! Nothing like taking 2 months to get back into my blog, eh? :) Lots of things have been happening, had a great Christmas in July sale and some fab auctions in August. We're having the Rib Cook-Off here in Sparks, NV this weekend and since we live so close, it's an easy walk of 3 blocks.

I wasn't able to attend, illnesses had me under the weather, but all seems to be under control now. :) Son and his lady went rib-shopping for Jerry and me ... oh, the beef ribs were ENORMOUS and soooo tender! YUM! Wasn't that thrilled with the pork ribs at the vendor he got them from, didn't come off the bone easily. Great taste, looked fantastic, but a bit tough. Now the Pulled Pork, that was super-yummy too. Great beans and cole slaw.

On to other things ... between the illness bouts, I've been making up some lovely tuck stitch gift bags in various color (more to come) once I figure out which yarns I want to use. :) This pattern is from the Toyota 901 punchcard set, #11. My many thanks to my fellow machine knitters on the Yahoo Group for letting me know which machine had these cards. :)

and I've added to my Soap Sliver Saver Sacks ...

I have 3 or 4 more that are completely different to finish sewing up today. Mostly cotton, but one is an acrylic, I think. Might try to add to my crochet scrubbies inventory, too.

Uh oh, just looked outside and the cars are beginning to gather, snagging what parking spaces are available. We've got the orange cones on either side of our driveway to prevent folks from parking so we can't get out. I really hate to call the tow trucks, but it's illegal to block a private residence's driveway. We end up with wall-to-wall cars around here, especially since we're so close to Victorian Square.

That's all for now, more in a day or so.

Happy knitting, crocheting or whatever craft you enjoy! :)

Marge

Pictures At Right

2011-07-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

Hey, folks --- See the pictures at the right? Mouse-over the items and a larger picture will appear with the title and the price.

And don't forget, with the CHRISTMAS IN JULY COUPON, it's 20% OFF THAT PRICE SHOWN!

Christmas In July Celebration!

2011-01-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

There's a LOT going on at Bonanza!

Hundreds of booths are participating in the Annual Christmas In July Sales. Discounts range from 10% OFF up to 50% OFF. The coupon code for all these booths is July.

Each of my booths MKDesigner and Knits 'n More has 20% OFF and there's a link just below the LIVE Chat window to view a list of all the booths participating.

Enjoy armchair shopping during the hot summer and get started on your holiday gift list!

Miniature Footed Gift Basket!

2011-01-25T17:30:00.000-08:00

If you've never tried knitting and starching with your machine knit items, here's your chance to give it a whirl with our sample pattern for a Miniature Footed Gift Basket!

This pattern is under copyright and may not be reproduced, distributed or otherwise ‘shared’ without specific written permission from the author.

Yarn: Ticaro Flake or any cotton yarn of approximately the same thickness.

Materials Required:

Cotton Yarn in various colors Aleen’s Fabric Stiffener

6 oz. Clear glass custard cup 1/4” ribbon

Chiffon or Ribbon flowers Hot glue gun

DULL table knife Embellishments: lace, pearls, etc.

4 Glass or Plastic beads for feet

A small flower pot will work as well for your starching form.

Weave cast on over 59 needles (or sufficient for circumference of the top rim of cup – this will vary depending on your yarn’s stretchiness.)

Knit total of 30 rows in any eyelet pattern desired.

Make eyelets evenly across work (must have even # of eyelets if you wish to weave ribbon around rim)

Knit 2 rows and Latch work off the machine.

Pull weaving thread taut and sew up the side seam. Hide yarn ends.

Assembly:
Cover cup with plastic, saturate work with the starch, squeeze out excess, work over cup form and allow to dry overnight. Remove from form, decorate. Glue beads onto cup base, place decorative guest soaps or bath pearls in dish.
This little soap dish is also excellent as a small token gift item. Fill it with some festively wrapped holiday candies or some fudge or even a miniature well-wrapped mini-fruitcake (make them in muffin cups).

Here are a few of the ones I decorate.

If you enjoy this little pattern, our other basket patterns are available at my Website

Keep on Knittin'

Marge

Some Of The Crafting Supplies We Have...

2011-01-25T17:01:00.000-08:00

These are all available in my Bonanza Booth's Craft Supplies Section If you don't wish to sign up for Bonanza to purchase, that's okay. :) Just let me know which items interest you and I can send you an email quote or a PayPal invoice if you prefer. I do combine to save on shipping! Can take PayPal, Google Checkout, Postal Money Orders and personal checks (slight delay in shipping on personal checks).

by mkdesigner

Online Sales During The Season ...

2010-11-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

For the most part, online sales for 2010 were great for my types of merchandise. Especially the ePatterns for machine knit, hand knit and cross stitch. The hand-crafted items I sell always do much better at Craft Fairs & Special Orders and last year is no different - so far. I'll have final tallies in another couple of weeks.

This year, however, I do intend to advertise my hand-crafted items more since I've now got them on BONANZA in my Knits'NMore booth. Here's a few of my advertising plans ...

Tweeting items ( @mkdesigner )

Posting on various YAHOO Groups where they allow ads of items for sale

Facebooking more than I have been lately - once I figure out how to utilize it better!
I'll be advertising and participating more on all the various Yahoo Groups I belong to as well.

Being more active in posting comments on all my favorite blogs

Advertising on Craig's List (this always gets me sales on hand-crafted items & ePatterns)

Promoting my two booths more on Bonanza's Promote Your Booth Forum

I'm also on ETSY so will be promoting there as well.

And last but not least, my KABOODLE

These are my main promotion ideas. I'd like your comments on how your online sales are going thus far and do you have any special promotions in mind to help boost sales?

Thanks for your input!

Marge in Sparks, NV

2010-11-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

Christmas In July

2010-07-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

I've written to you before about BONANZLE. Well, I'm having a dandy time over there and am making sales. The friendships I've gained through that site are precious to me.

Right now, we're having a Christmas In July Special Sales Event. There are almost 300 booths participating in this great themed sale. This is my cat, Taggy (short for Tag-Along). :) My special pal. She's my avatar in my booth at Bonanzle.

You really should stop by Bonanzle and check out all the booths that are participating. I have a link on my page to that HUGE list! Each booth has their own special offers/discounts since we're all independent business owners. Each booth has a LIVE CHAT window so you can ask questions or ... just chat! :) It's so nice to see that a Seller is ONLINE and we can get instant answers ... that's a HUGE plus over a lot of other selling sites. Best of all, we're a friendly bunch.

For my booth, I have 15% off your total purchase! Now that's a real bargain! Anything in my booth is eligible for that discount. Even my OWN original Machine Knit ePatterns and any of the Machine Knitting Supplies & Tools I currently have in my Bonanzle Booth. Including the Double Bed Colour Changer and the Brother 890 Lace Carriage ... even the Kathleen Kinder Techniques In Machine Knitting hardback!! Now this sale makes some really good bargains! Shipping remains the same as in the listings.

Marge

Woo Hoo ... FINALLY!!

2010-04-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

I do believe SPRING has finally sprung in the Sparks/Reno, NV area! This was just before I took our Gr-daughter to school. So nice to see it will be in the 60's today and the rest of the week.

Happy REAL Spring, everyone!

Marge

Oh, Great!

2010-03-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

We had such lovely, sunny & warm weather just yesterday. When I took my grand daughter to school about an hour ago, it was raining off and on. Then, on the trip home, it started to mix some snow into the rain. THAT was not due to hit Sparks until this evening, according to the weatherman. So much for having the yard sale I'd planned for this weekend! Even if it goes back to rain only as they've predicted for the weekend. Can't quite trust that, though.

The last time we had snow in April (2005 - pic at left), it was quite a good sized storm. I have high hopes history will NOT repeat itself!

Ugh.

Gonna go console myself by delving into one of the yarn tubs and knit something warm. Like maybe a pair of socks. And if this dratted snow doesn't stop, a hooded parka!

Hmmmm ... maybe I'll put a bunch of my yard sale stuff up in my booth on Bonanzle. That might work.

Hope everyone else is have much nicer weather than we are at the moment.

Marge in NV

Designing Patterns

2010-03-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lapse in getting a posting up online. I've been busy working on some of those new designs I mentioned in my last post. Got so caught up in all of it that I've neglected you, and I apologize for that. The latest one I've been so engrossed with is one called Bird of Paradise (the flower) in Design-A-Knit (DAK) format. I'm working it in 6 colors, measuring 198 stitches wide by 300 rows in Double Bed Jacquard.

It's been a bit of a challenge to say the least. There's still more work to be done on it, but I'm getting there. I chose the more 'jungle' colors for it with just the bright yellow/rusty orange for a focal point against an almost camouflage background. Not sure WHY I chose that color combination, but it sorta just 'happened'.

One of the things I love about designing in DAK is I can replace the colors throughout the pictures with a couple of clicks. And if I don't like that, I can put 'em back.

Oookay. Break time's over, time to get back at that pattern!

Marge in NV

Okay. I'm Impressed.

2010-03-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

I had my very first BONANZA sale at my online booth on Bonanzle. It began at 8:00 a.m. and ended at 10:00 a.m. (Pacific Time). For someone not being on there very long (less than 3 weeks), I think it went very well! Sold 5 items, all of them my ePatterns. Here's a pic of them ...

Made $20, even after the 25% discount that was running during the Bonanza time. Not bad for 2 hrs for a first-timer! I'm happy.

I've got 27 brand new patterns in the works and the next time I do a Bonanza, I'm hoping to have all those ready to go.

One of the nicest things about those Bonanzas is you cannot run them all the time. I think there's a limit to no more than 2 or 3 in any one month. The Bonanzas do get listed on their front page so that's especially nice. Good exposure!

They update the booth and item stats each evening. It will be interesting to see those figures later tonight or tomorrow.

~Marge in Sparks~

Online Marketing So Many Venues!!

2010-03-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try various methods to get my patterns out there for sale and earlier this month, I ran across several folks on Etsy saying how much they liked Bonanzle. Who?? What's a Bonanzle? I signed up for a booth and ran across some of the NICEST folks on there. Very friendly. Very helpful. Just the sort of thing I was looking for and I couldn't be happier. There's about 200,000+ members on Bonanzle, many of them with booths, and a HUGE variety of items available for sale.

Not just hand-crafted, but all sorts of things. Sort of like the early days of eBay (I have some fond memories of those days before they corporate-ized and morphed into gargantuan proportions).   I won't buy nor sell on there again. My choice.

On Bonanzle, I was able to buy some great little miniature pitchers (collection passion of mine) and was surprised at the low pricing and lack of garrish ads one used to see so often on eBay. Yes, they can customize their ads with HTML which is nice. I'll be working on some custom listing templates myself, very soon. The under-stated kind with pleasant colors & moderate fonts.

That's one thing I detested on eBay in recent years, the IN YOUR FACE listings.    If you're on eBay and you prefer those, that's fine. It's just not my cup of tea.

The 'ZIBBET' site is nice, but does not seem to be a site for my types of products: ePatterns for machine knitting, hand knitting & cross stitch. Those are my mainstay and my income. I did pay for one month of their upgrade, but rarely saw any activity so I'm back to having the freebie account.

I'm about to get rid of my Artfire account, I go there, nothing happens, I look around a wee bit and I go to another site or two instead. Where I'm getting some activity. I've had one sale on Artfire since starting there over a year ago. Not worth my time checking my account all the time. More than likely, I'll keep my MKDesigner store on Etsy, but will fade out the Knits-n-More store there.

I do have many other sites I belong to and I'll be keeping several of them, I think. Not sure yet. :) Family, age, medical issues, expansion of interests and time factors seem to be directing me in more defined directions.

I've been so enamoured with Bonanzle that I may pare my online marketing down to 2 or 3 selling sites as well as my website, making Bonanzle a primary selling site for me.   I cannot recall when I have met (online only) such a diversified bunch of folks who don't pre-judge you, have many of the same interests that you do, are polite and helpful without any ascerbic slams like I see so prevalent on a couple of other sites in their message forums and bulletin boards. I'm having a great time on Bonanzle and will probably be there awhile.

Okay. Time for some blatant self promotion here, folks.

Speaking of Bonanzle, I am having what they term as a BONANZA online tomorrow morning, Saturday, March 20th from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. The idea is to put several of your items into a 'Bonanza' and offer a discount for your specified period of time. Cool idea!! Customized online Craft Fair / Yard Sale!    Would love to see you there.

Marge in Sparks, NV

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

2010-03-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to cleaning up my computer files, which I've managed to put off for several months. And I ran across this ...

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--- your family, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained , your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad! you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Think about it. What are YOUR priorities in life?? I wish I knew the origin of this fabulous 'reality check' piece. I'd love to give credit to the author.

Marge in NV

Weave Cast On With 3 Variations

2010-03-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

Wow, here it is the 10th and I've not posted anything since the first of the month. Sorry 'bout that. I've been re-vamping a lot of my little tutorials on my website. So I thought I'd share one of them with you. Samples on KnitKing CompuKnit III Electronic (same as Brother 930).

Sample #1 - All needles are in work after the intial weave cast on. Weave on in "D" position, remainder needles in "B" position. This does have quite a bit of bulk and tension on the gathering thread.

Sample #2 - Leave EON in "A" (non working position). See layout below for EON of EON. Purl bar is used to fill empty needles when it's time to pull them forward to working position. Less bulk at gather, with fairly solid fabric.

Sample #3 - This has a nice eyelet effect around the top of your knit item. This also leaves EON in "A" as in Sample #2, but the empty needles are simply pulled out to "D" position (make sure latches are OPEN) and then the main fabric is knit.

This is the basic weave cast on needle layout. I used this one to create the Sample #1.
It does have a lot of bulk in it when you pull the gathering thread, so you may want to consider Sample #2 or Sample #3 needle layout. See next picture.

This is an example of the EON of EON (Every Other Needle of Every Other Needle) layout for doing Sample #2 and Sample #3.

Unless I'm doing a very thick fabric where it doesn't matter if I have a lot of bulk at the gather, this is the method I use.

Lay the yarn across the needles in "D" position (tail of yarn on the LEFT). Hold the yarn at the junction. The yarn can become caught in the brushes or over a gate peg if you don't hold onto that yarn 'triangle'.
You can also put the "D" needles out to "E" if you wish, I just leave them in "D" position. Be SURE all the latches are open in both the "D" position needles and the "B" position needles.

Knit across. See that yarn 'loop' that was formed when we held the yarn at the junction? You will need to put a clip weight on that. Even a clothes pin or two would work.

It has a nasty habit (at least with me) to get caught on gate pegs, in the carriage brushes, etc. Better safe than sorry! I'm holding the weaving 'pull' thread at the left.

Knit a few rows so you get the 'feel' of what this will be like (Sample #2). Take the purl bar from the stitch to the left and place it over the hook of the empty needle to the right.

If you wish to have the 'eyelet' effect we have in Sample #3, then don't fill the empty needles with the purl bar. Just bring them out to "B" position and when you knit across, you'll have eyelets.

This picture shows the 'empty' needles have been filled with the purl bars from the adjoining stitches and I have knit several rows. This is Sample #2.

One of the things I like about using the method in Sample #2 is I can have as many or as few of the knit rows on EON (acts almost like a 'mock rib') as I wish before starting the full fabric. Experiment for each project. I use 12-14 rows for tops of ski hats. I like having the breathability at the crown of the hat.

That's it for this visit, see you again soon!

{{Hugs}}
~ Marge in NV ~

Time To Craft Again

2010-03-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

I've been so enamored with the Olympics that I've neglected my usual crafting schedule quite a bit. Usually, my evenings are taken up with sewing knits. And I've done that. A lot. Just not as much as I should have, but what da heck, the Winter Olympics only come around once every 4 years.

I did a lot of work on the Brother 390 Knitting Machine today (in 4.5mm mode) and have a huge amount of swatches done up and will get those onto the blocking table tomorrow once they rest overnight. Then it'll be time to make decisions on what I will knit with those yarns and the various stitch techniques I used on the swatches. That's the hard part for me ... too many ideas pop into my head!

This diagonal stitch (basically, half of a herringbone) is nice and adds some nifty dimension into the middle of a plain knit sweater and makes a beanie style cap look like it's swirling around. I did summer beach caps with this about 3 or 4 summers ago. Simple lacy top 'cap' with a band of the diagonal going around just above a narrow, mildly ruffled brim. I'll have to make one up and show you what it looks like soon. Once I find the pattern, that is! It's in a box. Probably in the basement. Where there are tons of boxes & several large, 48gallon sealed yarn tubs still lurking after our move in November. Ugh. I've GOT to get working on my knitting room!!

Then I played around with some knitweave on an 8/2 backing yarn of Stonewash Denim with a Ticaro Flake (about 8/2) as the weaving thread. It has a nice slub to it and I do like the textured look. Since they're both very thin cotton yarns, they're lightweight and airy enough to let any body heat escape but still solid enough not to cause any ... ummm ... shall we say ... embarrassing moments! LOL

Happy Knitting!

~ Marge in NV ~

Crochet Dishcloths & The Olympics

2010-02-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

I really got 'into' the Olympics late last night and again this afternoon. Boy, that Biathalon was really something, wasn't it?? I was cheering both Norway and Austria on and crocheting like crazy! They were neck & neck and it was great!! 1 1/2 dishcloths later, it was time to go to bed. Norway won and the finish was superb. Then this afternoon, after the little in-home 'show', I flipped over to the Olympics yet again and went right back to crocheting more; completed the half-done one and another, too!

I'd completely forgotten about this pattern until I saw the pics of what one of my favorite bloggers had made. Her blog is called BusyHSMom. She homeschools seven! Wow, that's what I call busy! And I just love the motto in her banner --- "Would someone else be the responsible adult now???"

So I was tired of making scrubbies (yes, they were all completed well in advance of the in-home show today) and have decided to delve into making a couple dozen dishcloths. The 'in-home' was sort of a brunch thing. I took scones. All my scrubbies are now gone so will have to make more soon.

Here's a closeup of one of my dishcloths.

BusyHSMom's stitches are sooo nice and neat, perfect tension and alignment --- not mine! But I've got an excuse ... my enthusiasm for the Olympians overtook my usual attention to stitch size and such. Well, I didn't want to miss something important, now did I? So ignore the rather uneven stitches in there. They're for home use, anyway. I had several oldies that really needed to head to the garage for oil rags and such. I like the way the Lily Sugar & Cream variegated cotton yarn seems to make a diamond type of pattern.

That's it for this visit ~ time to go watch more about those fabulous Olympians!!

Marge in NV

More Scrubbies

2010-02-25T09:52:00.000-08:00

I did get more of my Facial Scrubbies done up for the local special orders. Ended up being able to make a dozen out of the remainder of that cotton yarn. They turned out quite well, I thought. This one at the left is the same yarn I used for the set of 4 I have in my Knits 'n More Etsy shop.

I was going to do more colors since I seem to have a LOT of the Lily Sugar & Cream balls of 100% cotton yarn! LOL ... but, my arthritis began to bother me last night so I quit until today. Thank goodness for AsperCreme!! Works wonders for me and I had my finger dexterity back in the a.m.

I've got some lovely Sugar & Cream in white and shades of pinks and I'll be using that one next. Here's a picture of one of them. Now to do about 14 more so I can have 5 of sets of 3 for my local customers. I'm going to a small in-home show this weekend and I know two or three who have requested the Facial Scrubbies will be there.

Best to go armed with bunches. :)

This Pinks Sugar & Cream is 189823 and the Dye lot is 19144 in case you want to take a look for it. I usually wait to order online until I get a coupon from Joann's in my email and there's free shipping and good sized discounts they're offering.

Bye for now, have to get that crochet hook working!

Marge in NV

Latest Crochet & Knit Projects

2010-02-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd just chat away about what little (and a couple of BIG) projects I've got in the works. I've finished up seaming a couple of knits and have them on the blocking board. Will get some pics up online once they're blocked & dried in a couple of days. I like to let my machine knit items 'rest' for a few days. Some folks just take them off the blocking wires the moment they're dry to the touch. I think that's the wrong thing to do ... knits need to 'rest' quite a bit. Even after the blocking wires are removed, I'll still leave some of the T-Pins in and let it rest even more. Nothing worse (to me) to have knits not properly blocked.

Now to get some crochet done up - that's on my list of projects for today. I've got orders for crochet pot holders (from locals who have purchased from me before) and more of my little Facial Scrubbies. Strange, but sellers on Etsy seem to list them in quantities of 4 or 6 or more. Locally, they seem to want them in a set of 3. Not sure why. I have finger-loops on mine, much easier for me to hold onto when they're wet and soapy. See picture at left.

I've also got a new item I'll be putting up online in a few days once I fine-tune the pattern; probably on Etsy, or perhaps one of my other selling sites. No, I'm not going to tell you what it is ... something I made to make my own life easier and hopefully buyers will feel the same.

Speaking of selling sites, where all do you market your crafts? Believe it or not, I've got 7 besides my main website, MKDesigner, and my Etsy Shop. I know, sounds a bit 'much', doesn't it? Not really, though. How do I keep up with all those sites? It's not that difficult for me since the majority of my items are ePatterns (digital downloads) and the quantities available are infinite. For my hand-knits / hand crochet, I generally use Etsy in my 'other shop', Knits 'n More.

Some of the selling sites I utilize are more like re-directs rather than actual sales on that site. For instance, my Kaboodle listings, have a link to the item in my Etsy Shops so folks can purchase. Kaboodle is more like a networking site rather than a selling site. I love many of the groups in there.

On Ravelry, I can 'share' patterns and I can also sell patterns or crafted items. Lovely site, I read through a lot of their forums & groups regularly. Never know what words of wisdom I'll pick up! I only have a few of my freebie patterns up there right now, but plan to put many of the items for sale later this week.

Enough meandering for now, will post again soon.

Happy Knitting, Crochet & Cross Stitch

Marge in NV (where the snow is starting to melt away -- somewhat!

Taking Forever!

2010-02-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that way! The Power Co. (NV Energy) didn't make it out Sunday as they'd 'promised', but did come Monday afternoon. They got the branches off the wires and then informed us that we had to get an electrician out to put the junction board thingy back in place and reconnect wires. They said there were exposed wires and if we didn't get it done right away, he'd have to declare it a hazzard and cut off our power! EEEK!

Lemme tell you, I didn't know Jerry (hubby) could dial that fast! LOL Took a contractor to put the board back up (electrician doesn't DO that part of it ). So the contractor and his crew came promptly at 8:00 a.m. $300 and 4 hours later, the board thingy is up, called the electrician but haven't had a call back yet. Hopefully he can get here this afternoon. Sigh. His quote was $200.

So. Here we sit, with about 75% - 80% of the house with electric. By the end of the day, we'll be $500 poorer. Ugh. Such is life, I guess. And there's even more snow due tonight ... oh, joy.

Hopefully the winds will be light and the snow won't be so heavy and wet. Don't wanna have to go through this again.

I think I'll just sit here and dream of spring,

~Marge in NV~

The Weatherman Was WRONG!

2010-02-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Oooookay, we were SUPPOSED to get anywhere from 2-3 inches overnight, with *possible* snow flurries this morning of maybe another inch or two. Uh huh. Sure. I was actually counting on that little bit of snow to justify NOT going grocery shopping today ~ I wanted to KNIT!.

The ground was dry and almost bare at 7:00 last night. Some itsy-bitsy snow flakes coming down, but hardly enough to do more than 'dust' the ground with maybe half an inch. This greeted me at 6:30 this morning as I looked out the den window on my side of the room.

And this is out our front door ...

Those branches on the other side of the mailbox came down in the night. Had several branches on several sides of the house come down. One is resting on one of the powerlines that comes into the back of the house. Yes, we've already called the power company and we're on their fix-it list. Should be here in about 3-4 more hours.

And we're supposed to have 45-degree temperatures today.

So. What's your weather like today?

Marge in snowy Sparks, NV

Drat

2010-02-20T20:39:00.001-08:00

It's snowing. Shoot. So much for the planned grocery (ugh) shopping day tomorrow. Guess I'll just have to stay inside and knit ... gosh, golly, darn. Woe is me ... just have to suffer and force myself to play with my newest acquisition of mohair.

Marge in NV

To Zibbet or Not To Zibbet

2010-02-20T13:35:00.000-08:00

I decided to ZIBBET my crafts. Started with a freebie account earlier this month, then once I heard from several others who display on ZIBBET, I decided to go with a Premium Account. Only $7 per month. I'll try it for the next few months, see what transpires and will post about my experiences every now and then.

I've only put up a few of my ePatterns and now will start to put up some of my custom knit items as well.

If you're on ZIBBET or have been thinking about putting your items up for sale on that site, I'd appreciate your comments.

Marge in NV

Machine Knit Easy Casing

2010-02-19T12:19:00.000-08:00

When I need to pull elastic or ribbon through a narrow casing, I do it while I'm closing the casing on the machine.

This example at the left has waste yarn, then ravel cord and then 6 rows - it needed to be very narrow for the elastic.

The thread in there is what I call the Pulling Thread. I laid the Pulling Thread in the 'trough' between the stitches on the machine and the stitches I was hanging onto the same needles when closing the casing.

Keep the Pulling Thread in the trough as you go along, making sure you do NOT let it catch on the needles or with the yarn. Every once in awhile, I'll pause my work and make sure the Pulling Thread is still free of any catches by taking both ends and sliding it back and forth. It's a LOT easier to correct any issues with the Pulling Thread as you go along rather to find out once you take the work off the machine that OOPS!, it's caught!!

Once you're done, just attach your elastic, Icord, drawstring, ribbon or whatever to one end of the Pull Thread and you'll be able to easily pull it through your casing.

I've got several other little How-To's on my main website, MKDesigner.

Marge in NV who is whistfully dreaming of ...

Have You Hugged Someone Today?

2010-02-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

Did you know that hugs comfort not only the recipient, but also do wonders for the giver as well. Why do you hug (assuming you do, that is)?

* I feel sorry for that person - they need my sympathy
* I like to give something more personalized than a pat on the back
* It's expected in our - team / group / organization / work
* I guess I'd better since everyone else is giving him/her a hug
* I suffer through the indignity of superficial hugging - I need to keep my job
* I do hug, but wish I could put on noseplugs to mask that perfume/aftershave

Have other thoughts you'd like to add to the list??

Moonangelnay said...
i love to hug to show how much i love my family and friends :)

Awww ... that's neat. :) Thanks for the comment.

Marge in NV

Happy Heart Day!

2010-02-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I'm late in putting this up online for Valentine's Day crafting, but hearts are so popular year 'round that I wanted to include it anyway. Mother's Day isn't that far away, y'know! This is a graph for knitting a heart. You can see that I have very few rows where there are more than about 6 stitches of a color. This makes it easier to carry your other color of yarn in the back of the work. This one works very well when charted on a knitting machine or input into an electronic.

Please remember that this is my own original design and you may ONLY use it for personal crafting or for selling crafted items at craft fairs, consignment shops or through the various online venues. So please honor my copyright and do not sell this pattern. I wrote / designed it, I own it. Simple.

St. Patrick's Day is getting closer and closer ... how about some free graphs for 3 Shamrocks & A Lucky 4-Leaf Clover?? Same request as above for © on these Shamrock & 4-Leaf Clover knitting patterns. I designed / wrote them. I own them. Simple.

I've got them available (for FREE!) at my MKDesigner website. They are also in my Etsy Store under the Seasonal Section. Lotsa nice little freebie patterns in there. True PIFs.

These are all knitting patterns, mostly machine knit, although several have graphs for hand knitting.

{{Hugs}}
Marge in NV

Hearts For Haiti

2010-02-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Did you notice the link on the right at the top of this page?? Helping Haiti ~ Etsy Charity Shop Benefiting Doctors Without Borders

And all those fabulous items for sale? They're doing wonderful work in this Etsy Shop!! ALL of the merchandise in that shop has been donated by Etsy sellers to benefit the relief efforts of Doctors Without Borders as they deal with the horrid effects of that devastating earthquake.

ALL of the money raised from that shop (less Etsy fees and PayPal fees) goes directly to Doctors Without Borders. There is an 'army' of sellers who donate their time to 'man' the shop, 24/7. They answer emails, post new items, process the orders, post in the forums and so very much more ... all without ANY compensation except the feeling of love in their hearts for helping those in need.

Please click on the link in the title of this posting ... read the shop announcement and you'll see as of today, we're rapidly closing in on donation totals of $30,000.00 !! This is all since about the 14th of January. Now how cool is that??? Browse through their vast array of items and know that your purchase will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

I'm so very proud to be even a tiny, tiny part of this effort.

Marge in NV

Machine Knitting - Part 1

2010-02-09T05:11:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are machine knitters like I am, here's one of the little mini-videos I have on my main website, MKDesigner and click on Videos.

This one is titled: Basic Latch Tool Cast-on Hobby Machines

I'll be working with this knitting machine which is a plastic bed / hobby machine, shown in the video later on today. It's a Brother 390 'Convertible' machine which means it can be converted to either 4.5mm standard gauge or 9mm bulky.

{{HUGS}}

Marge in NV

Spring's Not Far Away

2010-02-07T07:53:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow 5 days ago, letting us know we're in for 6 more weeks of winter. And the Mid-Atlantic is really getting hit ... hard. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone facing nasty, cold weather, power outages and storm related illnesses. I'm in Northern Nevada where we're having fair temperatures when you compare to the rest of the country!

Whenever Phil does his 'more winter' routine, that's when I like to get prepared for Spring with my crafts. Somehow, Phil's prediction gives me some peace of mind that I've still got plenty of time to get my Spring Crafts act together. But I need to start now.

While the guys watch the Super Bowl, I'm going to be making sure I've got everything I need for my usual Spring line -- and also for the new items I've come up with over the past few months. I went through 3 of the craft supplies tubs yesterday afternoon and boy, am I ever low on some of my basics!! Hey, can you say ... CRAFT STORE SHOPPING TRIP??!! One of my favorite 'outings'.

Only one medium bottle of Aleene's Fabric Stiffener & Draping Liquid. Well, that will never do! I'll need to get at least 3-4 of the large bottles for all of my planned baskets.

This is one of the little decorative soap or jewelry dishes (I have one on my dresser where I put my favorite locket & my rings).

These are knit on my standard gauge (4.5mm) knitting machine. The lacy stitch pattern is hand-manipulated. Then they're starched and embellished with chiffon roses and ribbons. The little 'feet' you see on the base are simply beads that have been firmly glued to the bottom.

This picture at right shows the various Medium Sized starched baskets that I make. They measure approximately 4 1/2" across and are about 4-5" in height. They are made with crochet cotton and again, knit on my knitting machine. All the lacy stitch patterning is hand-manipulated. Takes some extra time, but I prefer to have my own unique lace designs on my baskets. Besides, I enjoy graphing them out.

From experience over the years of making these dainty little baskets, I know how much of the various supplies I will need. Just a matter of ordering the items I can get wholesale and hitting the craft stores for the rest. I have the machine knitting ePattern book (WORD or PDF) available in my Etsy Store ~ A Tisket A Tasket Machine Knit A Basket SIX Different Sizes ePatterns

{{HUGS}}

Marge in NV

Busy Day !!

2010-02-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

Every time I turned around today, something else cropped up that I had to attend to ... right then. LOL -- got a cellphone call from a longtime customer wanting to order a set of 8 knit & starched napkin rings ... for next weekend. In blue, like the picture, but variegated with greens ...she has blue & green dishes. So a quick trip (yeah, right) into JoAnns and I had my yarn. Then we ran into friends about lunch time and ended up yakking with them over salads for much longer than we could afford, timewise. Was just ONE of those days!!

Nothing drastic, just stuff that kept intruding on our well-planned day of upgrading insurance policies, Dr's checkups, bill paying and grocery shopping. We were supposed to be home by 2:30 or so. Walked in the door at 5:15. Threw a frozen casserole in the oven and plopped down in my recliner. Whew! But everything got done!

So. How was YOUR day??

Marge in NV

Good Grief!! TEN Months??

2010-01-31T06:54:00.000-08:00

Yep, 10 long months since I last posted. How embarassing!! I've been quite lax in all this, but now that my life has somewhat settled down, I can get back at this on a regular basis.

I have my Computer Cat here with me at the moment ... Taggy. Short for Tagalong. She rarely leads when the other cats are going anywhere in or out of the house ... she follows. Hence, the name, Tagalong. Usually, she's in my lap when I'm on the computer. This morning was no different. Silly me, I went to get another cup of coffee and when I came back, there she was ... sound asleep on my keyboard!

We have 4 cats - Buttons, Tagalong, Socks & Princess. Love 'em all. Well, most of the time.

I'm finally out of the dratted 'walking boot' and wheelchair. It's been a long haul getting this spiral fracture of my left fibula to heal -- 3 months and 3 weeks! Thankfully I didn't need any surgery. That terrified me, since I'm diabetic and we diabetics don't do well with surgeries and healing. My oldest son knows that all too well. He's also diabetic and has had multiple amputations but is now in his new prosthesis' and there's no more sores. Praise the Lord for that!

I was finally able to go down the stairs to the basement the other day sans boot!! -- we recently moved here last November -- and ALL of my crafting supplies were down there! Had a great time going through boxes and plastic bins, getting much of the stuff organized. Craft-withdrawl is NOT fun.

I'll be 'creating' a regular craft room down there, hopefully by spring or early summer. In the meantime, I'll be working with some of the craft supplies up in the den/computer room. Crafting, here I come!! WOO HOO!

Time to grab more coffee -- uh oh -- Taggy's eyeing the desk again.

{{Hugs}}
Marge in Sparks, NV

Odds & Ends ...

2009-03-30T18:43:00.001-07:00

Froggy On The GO! Pattern Currently Available in DAK .pat file OR Hand Knit Graph OR Hobbyware's Cross Stitch .pat file. Check it out at our Etsy Store!

I've been very busy on my main website, MKDesigner, the past couple of weeks. There are now more How To's up on our site and some new patterns. We've revamped the Patterns Pages to make viewing our patterns much easier.

Other projects I'm working on include trying to find the back wall and floor in the walk-in closet. Trouble is, there are 5 huge (48 gallon) tubs of yarns in the way. :-) I've been needing to get to that 'stuff' for quite some time. Now that SPRING is finally here, I can't avoid it any longer.

I'm also going to be expanding items for my Knits 'n' More Gift Shop on Etsy. There was a discussion thread on Etsy a couple of days ago about our monthly goals and how we're doing. My April Goal for Knits 'n More is to have 65 items in stock. Currently, it's at a very modest 37 items so that needs some attention too!

My MKDesigner Etsy Shop is going great! I do need to add more patterns or perhaps some stash items. Maybe a couple of vintage goodies as well. My goal is to have 100 listings. I currently have 78. So that should keep me busy when I'm not knitting ... and it may help reduce the 'stuff' in that darned closet!

~ Marge In Reno ~

Hmmmm .. Rude Awakening This A.M.

2009-03-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

It's MARCH! And we have snow.

Not a heck of a lot, but it was still a bit of a rude awakening this a.m. when I'd planned on going out and doing some craft shopping. Although I'm very well versed in driving in the snow, I still don't like to get out there much if I don't have to. There's some crrraaaazy drivers out there! :-)

How's the weather in your area??

~ Marge in Reno ~

What a LOVELY Happening ...

2009-03-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to have received the Kreativ Blogger Award TWO TIMES for my post on Out Of The Closet! My sincere thanks to Baroness Bijoutery and Haru-Dori. Please do visit their blogs, you'll LOVE them.

I'll get to work on narrowing down my list of 7 Things I Love (not an easy task, let me tell you) and will post sometime tomorrow evening.

Thanks again! ~ Marge in Reno ~

Out Of The Closet

2009-03-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

Monsters lurk in the darkest regions of my closets. I know they do. And if I dig in there, I know they’ll get me. But ... but ... I NEEDED things that I KNEW were in there ... somewhere. It had to be done. I couldn't avoid it any longer. I gathered up my tools ...

Pith helmet, whip, chair, canteen …. oops, sorry, wrong list! Lemme see … where is that list?? Ah, here we go:

#1 Priority – GET HELP! When I clean closets, the first thing I do is coerce … er umm, bribe … find some help. STRONG help. I know that I probably put those now-two-ton boxes in there by myself when we moved here, but I sure can’t seem to lift them now! So I snag a hubby or son or son-in-law to give me help - whoever is handiest. Promises of a pan of brownies or homemade bread usually is sufficient around my house.

#2 Pull EVERYTHING out of the closet, hanging clothes and all. I don’t know about you, but when we moved into this house in the mid-90's, I was exhausted most of the time to the point of really not caring where everything went. My only criteria was stick it away somewhere so long as it wasn’t left out for someone to trip over.

#3 Get a couple of large boxes or lawn/leaf trash bags. You’ll be filling these with items you really don’t want anymore but are in good enough shape to donate and the other will be out-and-out garbage fodder.

#4 Take a good look at the mounds of items now on your bed and covering probably every spare inch of floor space. All that came out of there ??? We have a large walk-in closet so not only was the king sized bed filled, but floor space and I had to set up a couple of card tables in the hall. Thankfully, it's a wide hall.

#5 Sort items by person. If that person doesn’t live/sleep/reside in that room, tell them to come get it, or better yet, deliver it to their room / house. Preferably if they’re not home … makes for less hassle. My favorite thing is to wrap a piece of Christmas ribbon around the stack/pile/box and tell them Merry Christmas.

#6 Now draw a quick sketch of your closet space. If there’s a deep dark corner way in the back that you don’t get to very often, how about putting seasonal items back there? Or perhaps old sentimental items such as high school yearbooks, bowling trophies, boxes of baby clothes (my youngest ‘baby’ is now 34). If you have a partner you share closet space with, eyeball how much each would need and draw a line down through your sketch. Ours is 70/30, mine being the 70%, naturally. We've been married for 40 years ... he'd probably faint if I made it 50-50!

#7 Thoroughly clean every surface in the closet.

#8 Begin re-packing the closet with the items you have determined can go back into those dark corners. And for heavens sake, MARK the boxes you stick back there (REMOVE old labels - boxes get turned) so a quick scan with the flashlight will tell you what is in the boxes a year from now.

We’re getting down to the end now … you’ve thrown away, donated, returned to owner all the extraneous stuff you had gathered in there. If you’ve done it diligently and ruthlessly enough, your pile should be drastically reduced by now and everything will fit into place like it should.

#9 Take a bubble bath with candlelight and a cup of herbal tea or perhaps even a glass of wine.

Marge in Reno

Craft Sales & This Economy

2009-03-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

There's an interesting topic just started on the Professional Crafter's group I belong to about the economy and how it is affecting our business.

Until the president announced his latest 'stimulus' package, folks were buying just about like they usually do.

I've not had a single sale online - new stuff or stash reductions - since that announcement. None. Nada. Zip. And that's highly unusual for me since I'm marketing not only on my website but 7 other online selling sites and belong to numerous Yahoo groups that allow selling.

I did a 1-day in-home show last weekend with lots of St. Patrick's Day and Easter stuff and my sales were down almost 50% less than last year, same in-home show with just about the same customers. This home-show is hosted by a lady who always has successful shows and she was amazed at the low sales myself and the other 3 crafters had that day. And I had a ton of new stuff they'd never seen before as well as old standbys which have always held me in good stead.

There was a lot of angst, frustration and some anger in the various conversations that day about the state of the economy and all this bail-out stuff & the latest stimulus. I'm not looking forward to the first 2009 quarterly profit & loss of my business, that's for sure!

Marge in Reno
Comments on this topic appreciated.

CPSIA Update: February 20, 2009:

2009-02-20T21:20:00.000-08:00

S.374 -- This bill is STILL in committee!! If your senator is a co-sponsor or on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.(see list below), I urge you to write to them and tell them about the impact the CPSIA will have on you!

Title: A bill to amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to provide regulatory relief to small and family-owned businesses.
Sponsor: Sen DeMint, Jim [SC] (introduced 2/4/2009) : Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Cosponsors [as of 2009-02-14]
Sen. Thomas Coburn [R-OK]
Sen. Roger Wicker [R-MS]
Sen. David Vitter [R-LA]
Sen. James Inhofe [R-OK]
Sen. Michael Crapo [R-ID]
Sen. Saxby Chambliss [R-GA]
Sen. Samuel Brownback [R-KS]

ALL COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Chairman John D. Rockefeller, IV (WV)
Daniel K. Inouye (HI)
John F. Kerry (MA)
Byron L. Dorgan (ND)
Barbara Boxer (CA)
Bill Nelson (FL)
Maria Cantwell (WA)
Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ)
Mark Pryor (AR)
Claire McCaskill (MO)
Amy Klobuchar (MN)
Tom Udall (NM)
Mark Warner (VA)
Mark Begich (AK)

Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)
Olympia J. Snowe (ME)
John Ensign (NV)
Jim DeMint (SC)
John Thune (SD)
Roger Wicker (MS)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
David Vitter (LA)
Sam Brownback (KS)
Mel Martinez (FL)
Mike Johanns (NE)

If your senator is on the above list, CONTACT THEM and urge them to get the darned bill out of committee and get this law fixed.

~ Marge in Reno ~

Update: Feb. 12, 2009:

2009-02-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

The House of Representatives has also introduced a bill to help with the CPSIA problem facing small business and crafters.

H.R. 968: To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to provide regulatory relief to small and family-owned businesses.
Sponsor: Rep. John Shadegg [R-AZ]
Introduced: Feb 10, 2009
Status: Feb. 10, 2009: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Cosponsors [as of 2009-02-14]
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD]
Rep. Ronald Paul [R-TX]
Rep. John Linder [R-GA]
Rep. Joseph Pitts [R-PA]

More tomorrow ... ~ Marge ~

CPSIA Update!!

2009-02-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

I've been terribly busy writing emails, making phone calls and posting in numerous forums & threads around the net. So have literally hundreds of thousands of other crafters who are very concerned with this new law.

There's been progress!! Read about the latest information on my MKDesigner Website. There's a bill, now, in Committee to amend this ridiculously written law. It's sponsored by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and it can sure use our help! From the Etsy Thread:

S.374
Title: A bill to amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to provide regulatory relief to small and family-owned businesses.
Sponsor: Sen DeMint, Jim [SC] (introduced 2/4/2009)
COSPONSORS(3):
Sen Chambliss, Saxby [GA] - 2/4/2009
Sen Vitter, David [LA] - 2/4/2009
Sen Wicker, Roger F. [MS] - 2/4/2009

The following are on the committee -- WRITE TO THEM, whether they're your senator or not. Show 'em how important this bill will be to crafters!
Chairman John D. Rockefeller, IV (WV)
Daniel K. Inouye (HI)
John F. Kerry (MA)
Byron L. Dorgan (ND)
Barbara Boxer (CA)
Bill Nelson (FL)
Maria Cantwell (WA)
Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ)
Mark Pryor (AR)
Claire McCaskill (MO)
Amy Klobuchar (MN)
Tom Udall (NM)
Mark Warner (VA)
Mark Begich (AK)

Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)
Olympia J. Snowe (ME)
John Ensign (NV)
Jim DeMint (SC)
John Thune (SD)
Roger Wicker (MS)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
David Vitter (LA)
Sam Brownback (KS)
Mel Martinez (FL)
Mike Johanns (NE)

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marge In Reno

Who Is Affected ???

2009-01-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

Others that could be affected:

Fundraisers - school craft fairs, booster clubs, non-profit 'silent auctions' & many more

Hospital Auxiliary Gift Shops - All the ones in our area have handmade items for gifts for Moms, Dads & Babies in the maternity wards

Senior Citizen Centers Gift Shops -- many communities have Sr. Citizen gift shops, we have at least one here in Reno

Church rummage & craft sales -- there are several churches in the greater Reno area who have rummage sales that also have crafts made by either the children or the adults as part of a fund raising effort for things like the Heifer Project, Feed The Children, etc.

What about the SCA and RenFaires that are all over the country?? Other organizations where folks craft items in the manner of their time period?

SOOOOO many organizations are covered under this ridiculous blanket of 'the law' as it is written right now.

Marge in Reno

Countdown to CSPIA New Law

2009-01-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

It's amazing to me how many hand crafters are unaware of the new law that takes effect on February 10, 2009. Or they tell me ... "It doesn't affect me, I don't use any materials that have lead or phthalates." Wanna bet???

The government 'goofed up' on this law they formulated in August 2008 and it will have a negative impact on many hand crafters around the world, not just in the U.S. This new law is ambiguous at best and so very confusing to not only the crafters but also to the buying public. Certain children’s products manufactured on or after February 10, 2009 cannot be sold if they contain more that 0.1% of certain specific phthalates or if they fail to meet new mandatory standards for toys. Granted, we ALL want safer products for our children & grand-children. This law stems from the problems with lead paint on toys imported from China. They threw the blanket over all items that could be for children under the age of 12. Hmmmm. NOT just lead and plastics.

There has been some progress. But the clarification of who can sell what is still pretty fuzzy. Do you spin, dye or otherwise manipulate fibers for sale?? Better be careful. Right from the CPSC pages in their library: "The staff recommends that these findings only apply to a material that is untreated and unadulterated by the addition of materials or chemicals including pigments, dyes, coats, finishes or any other substance, and has not undergone any processing that could result in lead content that exceeds the CPSIA lead limits"

This is ONLY a recommendation. See the links below, especially the one for Call For Comments. Get your two cents in!!

Here are some links ...
Buy Handmade.org
CPSC
Call For Comments on CPSC Deadline Jan. 30, 2009
Bloomberg - Panel on Exemptions
Etsy Article on Resources for Action
Discussion Threads for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)

If you're not sure how your Representative or Senator voted on this bill, I was able to ferret out the following Legislative Info on WHO voted for the H.R. 4040 Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act:

Senate
House

Let's Talk PROFITS!!

2008-08-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a short break from the 6-part series and will get back to that this weekend or early next week.

Let's talk PROFIT!!

There's an interesting thread on Etsy right now about the percentile of sales $$'s that go to fees. I thought you might like to see how it works for both hand crafted items as well as eBooks /ePatterns that I market which are in my MKDesigner store on Etsy:

First, an eBook ...
Craft Fair Survival Guide: $ 4.00
40% Ad Budget: - $ 1.60
Base Profit: $ 2.40

Listing Fee: $ .20
Etsy Transaction Fee: $ .14
PayPal Transaction Fee: $ .42
Base Fees: $ .76

40% Ad Budget: $1.60
Less Base Fees: - $ .76
Additional Ad Budget $ .84

For each sale of 1 Craft Fair Survival Guide, I can renew it 4 times on Etsy at $.20cents per renewal. If there are special promotions going on at Etsy, I may renew more than that. At times, I've offered my Craft Fair Survival Guide as an SNS Secret (Saturday Night Special) either totally free or maybe for 50% off. Granted, I don't make as much, if any, profit on that, but usually other sales accompany or follow closely to that special.

Now for Hand Crafted items like I have in my KnitsNMore Etsy store:
Water Bottle Cozy: $5.00
25% Ad Budget: - $1.25
Gross Profit: $3.75
Materials: - $ .45 (minimum 10 out of 1 extra lg ball yarn - on sale)
Misc. Supplies & Expenses: - $ .65 (average per 1 machine knit item)
Net Profit Per Cozy: $2.65

Listing Fee: $ .20
Etsy Transaction Fee: $ .18
PayPal Transaction Fee: $ .45
Base Fees: $ .83

25% Ad Budget: $1.25
Less Base Fees: - $ .83
Additional Ad Budget: $ .42

I can renew this item 2 times per single sale. Granted, there's not as much in the ad buget for a hand crafted item since it's at 25% as opposed to the 40% for ebooks. BUT, I do more aggressively market the hand crafted items on other venues to drive traffic to either my KnitsNMore Etsy Store or my website where I have an Etsy Mini with these items in my Gift Shop.

Some might think ... "YIKES! That's an awfully small profit for all your work." Not really.

On the eBooks/ePatterns, it took me hours & hours & hours to do all those patterns up and write those ebooks. Granted. BUT, in just 2008, I've already sold 103 of my Craft Fair Survival Guide through various online venues, so that's $247.20 in profit (103 x $2.40) for that ebook alone. Sales of that eBook, which I update on a regular basis, have consistently averaged around 100-125 per year. I can live with that.

What about the Bottle Cozy? I machine knit those using my Brother 390 in Bulky Mode. I can easily knit up 8 in one hour with minimal interruptions (our cats love to watch me knit - and ~'help'~) so that would come to $21.20 per hour (8 x $2.65 profit potential each). Not bad. I can live with that, too.

I normally knit 12 with NO interruptions - 12 x $2.65 = $31.80 per hr -- I can definitely live with that!

I don't count the final sewing time since I take those along with me to appointments so I've got something to do in waiting room.

I sell my items on numerous online venues, (as well as locally/regionally) many of which do not have a listing fee nor final transaction fee. Free is good. :-) Etsy's a tremendous place, but it's not the only game in town. Expand your profit potential by exploring other venues.

Creating an Effective Online Ad - Part 3 of 6

2008-08-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

Tags are The Key!

How many times have you wandered through the listings on Etsy or any other keyword based selling site and found totally WRONG tags?? I do just about every time I look into the items on Etsy. It's nice to have several bases covered for keyword / tag searches, just don't run amok with tags! I see that soooo often in listings and they put me right off purchasing. You've already used the description to give good, solid info on not only the item but also its uses. You don't need to slip those uses into the tags as well. It's bad form and can get your item flagged quickly.

Take a look at the tags/keywords used by successful sellers on Etsy or whichever site you are selling on. Or get into the forums and look at some of the threads that talk about over-tagging. Take a look at some of the shops for those sellers who applaud the use of proper tagging in your category. What did they use? And what was the order in which they used them? That can be very important to buyers searching for items such as yours.

Another online tool you can use is Google AdWords. No, you do NOT have to sign up with them, you can have limited use of their keyword program to help find what folks are searching for on the net. This can assist you in determining some of your keywords in your ad text as well as possibly the order in which you will be using the proper tags.

Open up one of your inactive listings and head to the tag section. First thing to remember is, the FIRST DROPDOWN MENU IS THE CATEGORY!! It is NOT a tag!! Folks get very confused with that. I wish Etsy would make that crystal clear. We've asked for it in the forums, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears. Sigh. We'll keep on nattering at them.

Now, once you've chosen your primary category, take a look at the structure of subsequent tags and their sub-headings. Which one suits yours the best? When there are more than one ways to do tags for my product, I'm apt to put up one product with one way and another product another way ... keeping a close watch on views can tell me which way is best.

Is this against the rules? Certainly not! Not if I am sticking strictly to Etsy's Tagging Guidelines. If I'm not sure, I've brought up the quandary in the Critiques forum. Lots of good advice in there. Sometimes that advice is not germane to my product, but usually I can get a general feel for what I should be doing.

Along with tags, make good use of your Materials Used section. Why? As a buyer, I like to know what you used to construct your item. If it's paper, put acid free if that fits. If it's yarn, put acrylic/wool/silk, etc. I want to know that too. Sometimes the materials used gets lost in an over-enthusiastic description so having those materials noted down in that section is a big help. Having NOTHING down in the Materials Used section of your listing could tell potential buyers that you don't care enough about your product to let the world know what you used.

I keep hearing from sellers that 1. - they don't have the time, and/or 2. they simply forget. If you want the sales, TAKE the time and make it part of your routine. Surely you have already done up your ad ahead of time so all you have to do is copy/paste, right?? So add a section in your text file for tags and also for materials used.

Properly tagged items mean searches will result in increased page views.

More traffic to your other listings!
More HEARTS!
More sales!

Next time ... Pictures!

~ Marge ~

Creating an Effective Online Ad - Part 2 of 6

2008-08-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

Anatomy Of An Item Description

I've been lurking on not only the Etsy forums, but several other message boards for crafters / sellers around the net. It amazes me the number of artisans who claim they just can't think of anything 'neat' to put in the description and they let their pictures do their talking for them. Phooey. I feel that is wrong-wrong-wrong.

What do you do when you display at a craft fair? Slap your stuff out on the table, cross your arms and sit in your chair in the back corner of the booth, put up a sign that says:

"Don't Talk To Me, I Won't Tell You Anything Of Importance About My Craft, Just Look At My Superb Quality, My Items Speak For Themselves.
Can't You SEE THAT???".

THAT will not work! Either in person at a craft fair or online in an ad.

Keep it simple and FOCUSED on your item's merits! Not sterilized to the point of losing the potential customer's attention, though! You want to inform them about why they should buy your item by giving enough detail to answer possible questions the buyer may have. If one of your pictures highlights a specific feature of your item, be sure to tell them so and point them to that picture as well.

If there are multiple uses / occasions for your item, this is the place to let them know alternatives to fire up their imagination ... and maybe put a few of your items into their shopping cart! They're redundant in the title and will get you flagged if you put them in your tags.

What's crystal clear to you as the crafter, may not be at all clear to the potential buyer. Assume they don't know much about your craft and are 'thinking' about buying from you. Be concise, give details and enough information for them to make an informed decision, but don't talk down to them. That's a good way to lose a sale.

Mention the construction materials (be creative - BUT HONEST - in how you tell them about the materials.) For instance, I use some high-end chenille yarns in my wine bottle bags in my KnitsNMore Etsy store.

"These elegant bags are knit with Dutton Mills top quality Rayon Chenille yarns. The color is a deep, Matador Red and it is embellished with a thick white polyester blend cord. These beautiful bags are available in assorted colors in Rayon to give it that super-soft, slinky feeling of luxurious velvet."

See what I've done? I've painted a picture in words that tells the buyer I used top quality products, that it's Rayon, is a dark red color and it is akin to velvet in its texture.

Pretend everyone's pictures in their ads have suddenly disappeared (I know, horrid thought, but bear with me). A buyer for JUST your type of craft is online for a very short period of time and doing some serious shopping. You've created a spot-on, attention grabber title. They click on your listing. WOO HOO!! Is YOUR description sufficient to paint a picture in their mind so they'll add that item to their shopping cart?

Add complete specifications (when applicable) - sizes - length - width - weight (important for heavier items and postage determination for the buyer's budget). For my medium sized wine bottle bags, it's not enough just to say 'medium' ... you need specifics. So this is the portion of my text that deals with that:

"The MEDIUM Wine Bottle Gift Bag is suitable for a wine bottle that is up to 10" tall and approximately 10 1/2" to 11 1/2" in circumference."

If possible in your craft, give them some choices. Do you offer other colors? Perhaps alternate sizes? Do you have additional items in your store that would compliment this item? Tell them! What about custom orders? Are you 'open' to that? Do you have the parameters of your Custom Orders policy in your Profile page? Or in your Shop Policies page? Specify ANY added charges for those choices - if you don't charge extra, TELL THEM that in your ad!

One last thing ... I have cats. If you have any possible allergens in your workshop / home that may transfer to the item(s) sold, be up front with potential customers! Numerous times I've had emails / convos from buyers who thanked me for letting them know in the ad. This is what I have:

"PLEASE NOTE: We have cats. 4 beautiful, aggravating, adorable and nosey felines. If you or the person you are buying for has allergies, we strongly recommend you do not purchase."

Next up will be TAGS!

~ Marge ~

Creating an Effective Online Ad - Part 1 of 6

2008-08-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

An extremely successful and savvy online seller once told me years ago,
"If you want $ALE$ - DO IT RIGHT!"

The title of your ad is vital in driving traffic to your shop. Use pertinent keywords that are directly related to the item. The title you choose is the description of your item in its shortest form. You need to tantalize those potential buyers with that title.

With that said, this doesn't mean you should have 3 lines of text as your title! Pare it down to its MAP (Most Accurate Part). You can start out by writing a loooonnnng title, then go back and choose the most relevant words you really NEED to get the point across. Be sure to make that title make SENSE to the buyer. You don't need grammatically correct sentences in your title, but at least have it in long-hand, not short-hand. I saw an ad recently that had text message short-hand words! I don't have the time to translate so I moved on to another shop.

On the reverse side of titles, too FEW words can also put me, as a buyer, off. There are ads on several sites that just have something like: Pair of Earrings as the title. Well, I'm in the jewelry section and chose a sub-section of earrings. So ... DUH. A buyer wants to know more and may pass up some lovely earrings because they have this preconceived notion that a poor title may equal poor quality product.

Try to avoid the 'fluff' words if at all possible. First of all, I can probably tell by the thumbnail picture that it's cute/adorable/sensational/etc., you don't need to tell me that in your title. DON’T try to pack all of your possible categories and tags into the title – it’s sloppy and unprofessional. You can tell the potential buyer about the possible uses of your item within your description section.

Next time we'll talk about descriptions

Marge

To Swatch Or Not To Swatch!

2008-08-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Swatches. So many new people tell me they don't see why we need to do swatches - whether you're a hand knitter or a machine knitter. I'm a firm believer in swatching and yes, it uses up yarn, but there are numerous things you can do with that swatch after you've done your pattern testing.

What are some of the things you do with swatches?

Afghans
Pillow Tops
Doubled-Up & lined for Pot Holders or hotpads
Doll Cloths / Doll Blankets
Cut 'n' Sew Quilt Pieces
Scarves
Hats
Doll Hair (kill & ravel out for great krinkle doll hair!)
Pet Blankets / Bedding / Sweater Pieces
Placemats
Casserole Carriers (great with knitweave swatches)
Ravel out the knitting, wind it firmly into a ball, then use it for creating I-Cord.

Those are only a very few of the wonderful things you can do with your swatches. You'll notice that many of the items require certain sizing. Well, if your gauge is not going to be compromised by making that swatch wider or narrower or longer, then pre-plan to use that swatch in something else from our list above.

~ Marge ~

Giddy-Up ~ In Style!

2008-08-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

From a bygone era, steeped in elegance and partially for show as well as transportation, horse drawn carriages were commonly seen in cities around the country. Now you too can have a taste of that splendid time. When searching around the net for something ENTIRELY unrelated, I ran across one on Horse Drawn Carriage Rides. That one link led me to so many more and I thought I’d list some of them here for you.

In Alabama, step back in time to the era of the Southern Belle in the carriages provided by folks at Five Point Carriages. The pictures on this site are to die for and you’ll be wanting to step aboard for one of their special package offers. They have carriages for just about any occasion. Ooooh, I wanna go there!

Horse drawn carriage rides in downtown Chicago, Illinois? You bet !! With J.C. Cutter’s, Ltd. They not only do special occasions, but they have half-hour and hour tours of Chicago. What an elegant way to view that historic city! This site is very diversified and extremely educational. Do wander about. Hey, you can even BUY a carriage from them! They also do outlying areas around Chicago, so click on that button too.

If you’re planning on travel to the New England area, then you must put this place at the top of your list for a carriage ride! Wood Acres Farm in Connecticut has it all. Carriages, sleighs … oh, boy! You’ll get to wander the backroads of picturesque and historic Connecticut. What a lovely addition to any vacation plans!

In Ocala, Tennessee, you'll find a plethora of fabulous carriages for just about every occasion. Take a look at their Cinderella Carriage!! WOO HOO! At Ocala Carriage & Tours, you can take a horse-drawn trolley or carriage ride through some of Marion County's finest horse farms. See Thoroughbreds, Tennessee Walkers, Paso Finos and Quarter Horses and much more.

Step back in time in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when you contact the folks at the Philadelphia Carriage Company. Ah, the City of Brotherly Love and the seat of our very freedom! This site is fabulous. They have a great list of links for their city that will help you in any travel plans. Planning to drive to Philadelphia?? They even have online maps! They offer tours of just about any length and can customize whatever you want to see. The rates are extremely reasonable. Put this down on your list of to-do’s if you’re ever in the area.

Planning to make Honolulu, Hawaii your vacation destination this summer? Well, don’t overlook their horse drawn carriage rides. Check out our link to Honolulu Horse & Carriage! An elegant way to keep the tradition alive. Click on their link of Tours and take a look at that spectacular pic they have of their Honolulu City Lights Tour. Oh, boy!

Do a Google Search for Horse Drawn Carriage Rides ... bet you'll find something very close to where you live!

~ Marge ~

Right In Your Own Back Yard!

2008-08-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

I live in Reno, NV. Now you might think that with all of our casinos and nightclubs, we would have an endless source of amusement for out of town visitors. That was the usual fare folks wanted when they came to visit us. It was a scramble then, when friends were due in from out of town recently and they’d indicated they did not want to do the casinos this time around. (whew!) It certainly made us happy not to squire them through an endless sea of casinos. We've been known to gamble a bit, but when our $20 is done, so are we. :-)

Besides sports (which didn’t interest them), what else did we have to offer? A bit of research was called for and we delved into many resources we hadn’t previously considered. The first thing I did was call my Chamber of Commerce. They generously sent me numerous brochures, maps and information on a wide variety of events. There are 6 Museums within easy driving distance, we discovered. We’d only ventured to 2 or 3 ourselves in the 14 years we’ve been here. What else did our community have to offer that we’d missed before? The Native American Cultural Arts center, 3 upcoming flower shows, numerous art exhibits, the symphony was putting on a special program, several sporting events, Hot August Nights would still be in full swing, and so very much more jumped right out at us from the brochure pages.

Oh, we were “aware” that some of these things went on, usually after the fact when listening to a news reporter’s segment on how wonderful it was. We’d go next year. But somehow, ‘next year’ never materialized.

We’re fortunate to have a large convention center here in town and we looked their schedule of events up online. Two events would be held during our visitor’s timespan. Good! Those went on our list too. All these were only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

Once we found that online resource, we began delving more into the information on the web. Our local newspaper had a site with a wealth of information on upcoming events. As did the sites for local television and radio stations. Then we started looking up non-profit agencies within a 50 mile radius. Several events not mentioned through other resources began to surface. Even more goodies to put on our list.

When our guests arrived, we sat around the kitchen table pouring over all the brochures and our list which had grown to 6 pages. It was such a treat to decide on an itinerary, filling our days with spectacular, innovative activities and events from dawn ‘til dusk.

The best part of all was re-discovering our own town and the wonders it holds.

Maybe it’s time you began re-discovering what’s in your own back yard?

~ Marge ~

Online Craft Profits

2008-08-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

With my crafted items (baskets, whatsit bags, scarves etc.), I am making a moderate amount, probably in the range of $12 - $17 per hour. Those are all machine knit and take a minimal amount of time to produce. My best place to show & sell the baskets is at Craft Fairs. I almost always sell out of them and they range in pricing from $5 to $35 for larger ones. They're no filled, I leave that up to the customer. They are decorated only. This is one example of my larger basket. It is oval in shape and measures a good 10" across, 7" deep and 6" high. Perfect for a lot of gift giving which is why I have that size. When I first started out selling my knit and starched baskets, I had tons of small ones, figuring they would be more of an impluse buy. Not so! I kept receiving custom orders for large baskets and when I started displaying that size at craft fairs, sales took off like a rocket! The larger baskets do fairly well online, but the small ones ($5) sell like crazy. Then, a repeat customer will often come back to buy the larger ones later on.

With my original designs I sell to other machine knitters, those are making a very good wage for me. They're constant sellers on my websites and I add new items all the time. They're also ePatterns, where the machine knitters download them. I'd cleared this with Lori (Thanks, Lori !!) at Etsy before listing any of them since some sites don't allow ebook stuff. I was thrilled to find a wealth of talented designers who were marketing their ePatterns on Etsy! I try to have something for each season year-round in my patterns and it has really helped to give a decent profit margin.

Over all, I'm making a fairly good wage off of my knitting machines and hand knits as well as my newest line of Cross Stitch patterns (also ePatterns). I try to target market the Cross Stitch (like the one at the left) to Renfaire folk, SCA, Historical etc. They are the most likely to consider purchasing these patterns. Some are extremely large, like the Celtic Harp and the others are much more suited to banners or an addition to clothing. But I also have Cross Stitch for the standard seasonal market such as Halloween and Christmas. This gives me a much broader range and a better profit margin.

The profits are good ... until you factor in the odd and end knitting machine I buy or when I order large amounts of yarn just 'because' I have to have it!! .

Many times, I see listings with lowered prices that don't really have much of a description and I try to have good descriptions of my items. Poor or incomplete descriptions and dark pictures are a sure way to NOT sell your items online. Especially on Etsy since there is a good deal of competition for most types of items. Buyers scan the listings and only have a small thumbnail to look at as they go down the list of items in a specific category. So if your pictures are not going to catch their eye, you're not going to catch the sale.

Pricing can also be a factor in sales, which in turn will impact your profit margin. If your prices are too high, buyers may do the 'double-blink-I'm-clutching-my-wallet' mental notation, then move on to other listings. And if your prices are too much lower than your competitors on whichever site you sell at, there is a possibility the buyers may skip over your items, thinking "Oh, nice low price, but it must be made of cheaper materials." and they go on to the next listing. Or if you're displaying at a craft fair, they go on to the next booth.

As crafters, we know that a lot of our time and effort which goes into making such lovely items is not compensated well. We know that going in to the whole crafting world. But our love for the craft keeps us plugging away and sometimes selling at a profit, sometimes selling at a loss. Each individual item you produce should be priced on its own merit. Just because you have earrings that sell fairly well at $10 a pair which have silver plating as their key element, doesn't mean the same design in earrings with STERLING silver needs to sell for the same price as PLATED silver! If you do have different components (i.e. Jewelry's Silver, Copper, Silver Plated, etc.), have different sections in your shop so those who are looking for sterling will easily find it ... and purchase!!

I do different hand-knit scarves for craft fairs as opposed to the ones I sell online in my Etsy Store. The more expensive yarns (Alpaca, mohair, etc.) are displayed at craft fairs. Not online. I make up swatches of the various yarns I use for craft fair scarves so they can do the touchy-feely thing. THAT sells scarves!! My hand-knit scarves are in plastic bags so they don't get soiled at craft fairs. And I get my pricing, too. With specialty yarns, I have a general rule of $1 per inch. So a 50" Alpaca scarf is $50.

Find some of your own 'general pricing rules' and try your best to stick to it.

~ Marge ~

Basic Copyright Legal Info

2008-08-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

From: http://www.copyright.gov/

©Works Originally Created on or after January 1, 1978©

"A work that was created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. In the case of “a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire,” the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter."

©Works Originally Created before January 1, 1978©

"Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published with a copyright notice or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The Copyright Act of 1976 extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were subsisting on January 1, 1978, or for pre-1978 copyrights restored under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), making these works eligible for a total term of protection of 75 years. Public Law 105-298, enacted on October 27, 1998, further extended the renewal term of copyrights still subsisting on that date by an additional 20 years, providing for a renewal term of 67 years and a total term of protection of 95 years."

~ Marge ~

Unconfirmed Addresses

2008-08-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

On a PayPal transaction, I don't ship to an unconfirmed address. I have the following in my ads, no matter which site I'm listing on:

"If you purchase through PayPal, PLEASE be sure you have your current mailing address on your account. I only ship to confirmed addresses. I value your business. This is for your protection as well as my own."

Also, when I send an email acknowledging their order, I double-check to make sure the address on PayPal is where they wish the item sent. That extra little bit of courtesy is not wasted. I've had numerous 'Thanks for checking.' types of comments from the buyers. And a few -- 'Oh, I forgot to change my address on PayPal!' Then they will very often go into their account and make the change right away, giving me a heads-up that the item(s) can now be shipped.

I realize that many feel the Etsy address is the most current and go with that. But I personally prefer to use the address that has some sort of protection for me, which PayPal does. I've had to use that protection a couple of times in the distant past on rather expensive transactions (i.e. knitting machines & supplies), hence my reasoning behind only shipping to confirmed PayPal addresses. But it's to each his own, this is just my reasoning.

~ Marge ~

Craft Fair Tips

2008-08-03T17:08:00.001-07:00

Go vertical in your displays as much as possible. All flat and horizontal is NOT GOOD. People will stay at your space longer if there are more levels for their vision to go to rather than a quick sweep of the eye along a long flat table neatly stacked with the items. Angle things. Add dimension. Accessorize your display. If you have all Baby items, get a baby doll and a small cradle and play up on that baby theme.

I generally do juried shows now - they can cost a bit more, but why waste my $$ on competing with the mass-merchandise crowd?

Or, I'll sign up for organizations doing fund-raisers. Schools, Non-Profits, that sort of thing. Their space fees are usually very low, we have a lot of fun and they have a huge database of folks who support their causes, so it's usually a good turn out.

At those ones, I always have lots of little things that are for sale for anywhere from $.50cents - $3. Those non-profit fund raisers usually want donations for raffle items. I always give them at least 2 items, one in the $25-$50 range and one in the $10-$15 range. That donation is tax deductible for promotional purposes.

These raffles lead to additional sales for me since I attach/include a percent-off gift certificate to the donated items for additional purchases at my booth and my mini-flyer is also included with those raffle items with ALL my contact information.

Let them see you actively involved in your craft. They will often stop and make comments on something they are currently working on if they also do a similar craft, or they will ask you questions which can lead to sales. When you’re working on bits of your craft, it can help relax customers.

[Excerpts are from my eBook: Craft Fair Survival Guide]

~ Marge ~

Dropshipping ~ Good Or Bad?

2008-08-01T04:08:00.000-07:00

Dropship is a fabulous way to increase sales ... someone else is doing your selling for you! BUT -- It is NOT for everyone. And my first words of advice which I hope you will follow are ... "DO NOT OFFER EXCLUSIVE MARKETING RIGHTS!". Yes, I'm yelling that. It ties up your inventory with NO guarantee that they will sell all your items.

Think carefully and don't get yourself locked into a timeframe deal like 6 months or some such thing. You are in charge. You determine the parameters of the dropship agreement. NEVER sign one of those boiler-plate agreement forms you can pick up at the local copy store. They're laden with lots of language which may not be relevant to your city/state/country and could create problems.

Just be sure your contract / agreement is clearly spelled out for the shipping fees for US, Canada and overseas and that it includes delivery confirmation or insurance if you usually require those.

Your dropship agent is responsible for getting the right mailing address to you. Be sure THAT is in there somewhere! Only once have I been bitten by that and I had to send another items out -- thankfully it was a medium sized basket and I had another in stock. Now I make sure THEY are responsible to either refund the customer or re-pay me if they screw up.

Most dropship agents don't want you to put any info in or on the package so their customers can bypass them and order directly from you. If that's the case, then they need to supply you with business cards to tape to the return address place on the package and put inside as well. Some will email you an invoice to put inside the package. I make my tags for dropshipping very plain so all it has is fiber content, etc., and my copyright symbol for instance: (c) 1990 MKD. I use the initials since I've also got that registered with the state of NV as mine in my DBA.

Like I said earlier, it's not for everyone. You are the only one who can make that final decision. It can be lucrative IF the marketer knows their stuff and advertises/promotes vigorously. Think carefully, get opinions from your friends, relatives, online friends you can TRUST. Then sleep on it for a day or two before making that final decision.

~ Marge ~

Buying & Selling To Competitors

2008-08-01T03:29:00.000-07:00

It doesn't bother me in the least to buy from crafters or to sell to them. I've been buying custom soaps and several other items from crafters for years to put into my baskets. This one is an example of some items I include that are purchased from other crafters who are not fellow knitters.

When I get inquiries on wholesale purchasing of my baskets, it depends on the quantity they're requesting. I give them a fair market discount for bulk purchasing of just the plain ones, with no ribbons or flowers, etc., so they can decorate as they wish. Do I mind if they re-sell? Nope, don't mind that at all.

And they often do the same for me. I can often get the 'brick' of soap from them and then cut to fit what I want to display with my baskets. I do advertise their soap company on my price tags and generally they do the same for me.

Cooperation and networking will not only net you more sales, but more importantly, great friends.

~ Marge ~

Credit Cards At Craft Shows

2008-07-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

Sometime last fall, the following question was posed in the Etsy forums. My response is below the question.

Q: Do you require a minimum purchase for credit cards at craft shows?

A: I don't. I can generally use my laptop and have PayPal available for them. Wireless is all over the place these days and my laptop's set up for it.

They don't have to have a PayPal account nor do they have to start one to use their credit card. I have a how-to on my main website. I always try my best to get a booth with electrical so I don't run down the laptop's battery.

I also have ClearWire available to me and can use that if the craft site does not have wireless in the area for free.

~ Marge ~

If You're Considering Creating Your Own Website

2008-07-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

My main website is my mainstay in all my crafting. It has evolved as I have evolved in my machine knitting online business. It's WELL worth the effort. I use MacroMedia's DreamWeaver web development software and it's wonderful!

You can learn HTML or other forms of programming, it depends not only on your computer skill levels, but also how much time would you be able to devote to that site. It does take a considerable amount of time when you start out, but if you're diligent in your updating and tweaking, you can get a full site's maintenance down to a few hours every week or so. Discipline is the key for that.

I learned HTML because my kids were encouraging me all the time. "You can do it, Mom, you're computer savvy." I really think (although they didn't SAY it) they were tired of answering all of Mom's questions and having to fix her 'oops!'.

It's actually quite simple to learn and do. There are also programs out there called WYSIWYGs (What You See Is What You Get) that have numerous templates, styles, themes and can get a website launched in short order. A lot of it can be simply fill-in-the-blanks. Now some of the other programming (cgi or php) are not my cup of tea. I hire someone for any of that. I have several websites I own and designed all of them. They all have a specific purpose in my online businesses.

Online courses are marvelous, as are ones at a community college. Here are some sites I pop into now and then when I need some info:
http://www.dynamicdrive.com
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/
http://www.webdiner.com
http://www.2createawebsite.com/build/html.html
http://www.pagetutor.com
http://www.htmlprimer.com
http://www.pageresource.com/html/index.html
http://www.htmlgoodies.com

~ Marge ~

Older Than Dirt Quiz

2008-07-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'd posted this in the forums on Etsy and thought I'd share it here, too:

Older Than Dirt Quiz:
Count all the ones that you remember during their original era, NOT the ones you were told about and not ones you've seen in some sort of 'retro' 'vintage' store/display! Your ratings are at the bottom.

1. Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (OLive-6933)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16. Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulb
20. Packards<>
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt !

I might be older than dirt but those memories are the best part of my life.

Marge (who ranks as Older Than Dirt with a score of 24 - didn't know what PF Flyers were until I asked hubby)

2268 Hours Left

2008-07-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

As of right now, there are 2268 hours left before all the little ghosties and goblins will be knocking at our doors with the aged old greeting: "Trick Or Treat!" That's NOT a heck of a lot of time when you realize it's a mere 94.5 days.

I was going over my calendar and stock lists for the fall and that's when it hit me. I've been knitting up all sorts of items for Christmas & Thanksgiving and could easily handle 2-3 Craft Shows .... after November 1st. But my stock of Halloween items is .. ummm .. lacking. Lots of little things; lapel pins, coaster sets, bottle cozies and some cuffs in orange & black. But none of the more substantial items I have for Halloween. Those sold out so quickly last year.

I'd had good intentions of getting a good sized stock built up for Christmas, Thanksgiving AND Halloween. Hmmmm. Not anywhere near that. I know why, well at least it's the excuse I'm hanging onto, I've been devoting too much time to pattern development not only for my machine knitting but also cross stitch.

This is where the discipline needs to come into play. I'm now limiting my design time and expanding my crafting time for Halloween items. Wouldn't ya know it ... I've got a HUGE amount of new pattern designs ready to develop and they're NOT for Halloween. Aaarrrrgh.

Now to find the yarns in my stash, the patterns from last year ... which are 'somewhere' around here and get on with it.

How's your Halloween stock doing?

~ Marge ~

Changes & Upgrades

2008-07-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

I've been revamping my main website, MKDesigner today to give it a cleaner, more streamlined look. It was getting 'stale' and everything was blurring together. When the OWNER of the website has a tendency to yawn and say "That page will do. I'll get to it next update.", then it's time for a change.

Until I started updating some of the deeper interior pages (you know, the ones you don't visit very often and get shoved to the back of your mind) I'd not realized that SOME pages hadn't been 'updated' since 2006 !! Eeeek. Maybe that'll teach me to follow the site map a bit more closely when I update. When I first started doing HTML back in the mid-90's, I always printed out the site map and crossed each branch off as I updated.

Evidently I've become lazy over the years. It's probably been 3-4 years since I printed out the site map. Hmmmmm. Lesson learned.

The banner I'd made for my Etsy Shop is now on my website. It was a real personal joy making that banner and I fell in love with it. So onto the website it went. I've already received somewhere around 50 emails from fellow machine knitters that they love the new look! So gratifying to hear from them. It lets me know I'm heading in the right direction.

Several new How To's have also been added to the site under its own section. If you're a machine knitter, please do visit our website and click on the How To's button. Plus, I've started expanding my Cross Stitch designs. I love working with HobbyWare, great people and super support for their Cross Stitch Pattern Maker program.
Would love to have you visit my site and let me know what you think.

~ Marge ~

What a Week ~ My Bank CLOSED!

2008-07-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

Can hardly believe it's been a week since my last post. So many 'things' going on that it's been hectic to say the least.

And to top the week off (or end it may be a more accurate term) Logged into one of my bank accounts very early this a.m. and SPLAT - this notice came up on the screen:

"On July 25, 2008, First National Bank of Nevada, Reno, Nevada was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Subsequently the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed."

Completely caught me off guard. I was in the 1st National Bank of Nevada earlier in the week and didn't see / hear anything amiss. Wow. We only had a small amount in that bank - we were planning on closing the account anyway - and I can still get my money out so no worries there. Mutual of Omaha is buying the bank and all the funds are completely secure (FDIC). Since I don't have over $100,000 in that, or any other bank for that matter, all is well. Wish I did!!!

Makes one wonder not only about the economy as it currently stands, but where it will lead us in the future. Kinda scary thoughts fleetingly darted through my head when I first read the notice on the screen. But I have faith. Lots of faith. Now I need to get another cup of coffee.

~ Marge ~

Cross Stitch - Irish, Scottish, Welsh

2008-07-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

I've had a wonderful day of designing. You know, those days when all seems to fall into place and you actually have TIME to do what you want? That was today.

Creating new patterns and designs is a major part of my crafting life. I'm a firm believer in letting my imagination go in all that I do. Whether it's for knitting machines or hand knitting, crochet or cross stitch. It's a real passion with me. The Irish Harp has a great meaning for me since my Mom's family was from County Armagh, Northern Ireland and they were all a very musical family with the harp playing a great role in their lives.

I've had the basic graphic designs completed for an Irish Harp, Scottish Thistle and the Welsh Red Dragon for quite some time. This was the day when I could import them into Hobbyware's Cross Stitch Pattern Maker and get them all set up. It felt so darned good to complete all three in one day. Our Welsh connection is through my Great Grandmother on Dad's side. I love that dragon!!

No interruptions, only one short 1 hour break to go up to the clubhouse for my daily swim with my hubby, son and one 6 yr old grand daughter. She's part fish! She's gotta be. Once we got back to the house, she declared the Scottish Thistle as her favorite. It's mine, too. My Dad was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland and he always wore a silver Thistle in his lapel. So that design was for him.

I thought of adding something for England, but just couldn't decide which emblem to use so those will be in a later collection. The ePatterns are now up in my Etsy store in my Cross Stitch section.

~ Marge ~

I Wanna Vacation!!

2008-07-18T11:44:00.001-07:00

Wow! Talk about a busy week. Grandkids staying over; gr-daughter on Monday-Tuesday, 1 gr-son since my birthday last week, another gr-son (other's brother) since yesterday, 6 trips to the pool, shopping, playing all sorts of board games (cribbage, Sequence, dominoes and Jr. Scrabble), trip to the Farmer's Market yesterday evening ... laundry, laundry and more laundry. I'm pooped.

The grandsons go home this afternoon, then we have son and one of the gr-daughters for the weekend and I think there are some friends from out of town planning to descend on us. Or maybe that's next weekend. My mind is still spinning right now.

I'm ready for that vacation.

~ Marge ~

Doppleganger? Deja Vu? Coincidence?

2008-07-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

There's a current thread on Etsy about whether it would be considered copying if two designers came up with close-to-identical items around the same time span. Interesting thread and several good ideas about what to do.

I created an abstract graphic design of a Bird of Paradise flower after I'd wandered around the mall one day and stopped in to a florist's shop. There was a distortion in a mirror they had on display and when I saw that Bird of Paradise flower reflected in that mirror, I knew what my design was going to be. This was a commission work, knit in Double Bed Jacquard on my electronic knitting machine. It ended up being the central portion of a wall hanging for their vacation home.

Other than the colors and the medium (hers was screen printed), I saw darned near the same thing on a pillow in a little boutique the following year and when I inquired, the shop owner told me it had been brought in by an artist the previous year! Coulda knocked me over with a feather. And this was right around the same time I was slaving over those graphs to get it 'just' right. No one had seen my work other than the original customer. I'd not even shared it with my online friends, which is unusual for me.

It can happen. To anyone. I like to *think* I'm unique in my crafting life, but if I can think of it, so can someone else.

~ Marge ~

Crochet Hooks Galore!!

2008-07-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

I've spent the better part of this morning going through a couple of boxes of sewing supplies that were my Mom's. I found a HUGE stash of metal crochet hooks among all of that. She used to do a lot of thread crochet (doilies, antimacassars, etc.) but I'd not realized she had such a great collection. That's my Mom circa 1932 - 1935 at the left.

Found several Milwards ranging from size 1 down to size 12. And one cutie that is only a tad under 3 3/4". It's a Morrall's and is size 2. No country of manufacture listed, though. Will have to see if I can research that brand online. There's even some stamped Mexico!

LOTS of Susan Bates and numerous Boye. Several of the Boye have the price stamped on them ranging from 10cents to 25cents. I wonder how old those are??

I'd given my daughter a lot of my own thread hooks when she renewed an interest into getting back into thread crochet, along with some bone ones and several bakelite that my Grandmother had used quite a bit. Her crochet work was superb ... all her daughters could do thread crochet with a great deal of expertise, including my Mom.

This forage into these boxes had been a great trip down memory lane.

~ Marge ~

I Was Kidnapped Yesterday ...

2008-07-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

by my two sons, daughter-in-law, hubby and 2 of our grandsons. You see, yesterday was my birthday. Wasn't sure if I wanted any sort of celebration for my 60th birthday, but they wouldn't listen. I was 'forced' to go to a fabulous dinner at the Olive Garden.

Oh wow! I stuffed myself silly and wondered if I would go into a diabetic coma with that cake they ordered! And a huge bunch of the waitresses / waiters gathered around our table and sang the cutest chanting style song for me!

~ Marge ~

Private Showings

2008-07-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, which was annoying, but necessary. So much going on and so very little time. Around 7:00 p.m. yesterday, I was wondering how I could possibly squish in another 2 hours into the day. There were 7 projects I had slated to finish that were barely started. They were knit, but nothing was put together, stuffed or sewn.

Gone are the days when I could pull an all-nighter with little effort and no side effects. Never thought I'd miss those after my life started to settle down and I got organized more, but I do. They were fun!

So bright and early this a.m. (5:30 Pacific Time), I was sewing & stuffing my little Santa Dolls for the upcoming Christmas In July local show I'm involved with for the weekend of the 19th & 20th. It's a private, in-home show hosted by a dear friend and the 4 of us always have good sales.

I've found that the invitation-only ones are by far the best for my merchandise. I'm more in control, it's not outside in the weather where I would be battling wind, dust and heat. And it's a much more relaxed event.

~ Marge in Reno ~

Portable Crafts

2008-07-07T05:10:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite portable crafts since they can go just about anywhere with me. Tatted Flowers. I have a mini pair of fold up scissors and along with 2 or 3 'loaded' shuttles, they can tuck into a small zippered coin case with ease. It's great way to pass the time in waiting rooms and gets all sorts of crafty conversations started.

I love making these little tatted flowers to add to stationery, business cards, gift tags and all sorts of 'stuff'. They're just a nice touch. I'm starting to fiddle with ACEO's for relaxation, and have put 'bouquets' of these little flowers along with snippets of silk leaves onto the cards. Not ready to show them to the world, yet, but maybe someday.

When going through my 'stash' of craft odds & ends, I found a couple hundred I'd forgotten about. So I've listed some of them in my Etsy Store in the Supplies section.

Another larger, but still quite portable craft is cross stitch coasters and coffee mug inserts. They're already pre-cut and I like to use a large pin to hold the floss which is hitch-knotted over the pin's bar. Everything I need slips into a flat cosmetic bag and tucks into my purse.

Do you have a portable craft? Please tell me about it. I'd love to hear from you.

~ Marge ~

Another PIF ...

2008-07-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've put up another PIF (Pay It Forward) in the Seasonal Section of my Etsy Shop. This lovely little dove pattern is 48st x 44 st and is perfect for adding to any of your holiday cross stitch.

It was created in HobbyWare's PatternMaker software and you can choose from the graph or the .pat file.

~ Marge ~

Flickr

2008-07-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally added some more pics to my Flickr account. Recently, there was a thread on Etsy about Let's See Some More Flickr Pages. That's when I really got into my account, cleared out a lot of old stuff, revamped and then added some family pics. And it has helped traffic tremendously to my MKDesigner Etsy Store and also my Knits 'n More Etsy Store.

I'm going to be building a better profile page on Flickr since that's the only spot you can have a link to anything you sell. I didn't know that, until that thread above started. So my Flickr now meets the requirements. If anyone has some nifty tips for what makes a great Flickr profile, I'd appreciate any comments.

~ Marge ~

On July 3rd, 1776 ...

2008-07-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

... John Adams wrote the following to his wife, Abigail:

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not. "

(The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784, Harvard University Press, 1975, 142).

More information is available at: http://www.american.edu/heintze/fourth.htm#Beginning

Just thought you'd like to know.

~ Marge ~

Craft Booth With PVC Pipe

2008-06-28T21:26:00.001-07:00

Here's one I used several years ago at a craft fair where you could not have side walls over 4' high. They wanted a more 'open' concept rather than have a bunch of Ez-ups with side walls blocking views. My hubby graphed out the display in PVC pipe and I used sheer curtains threaded onto the pipe sections.

It was very easy to put up. The second pic is a wider view, during setup. In the right corner, I set up 2 of my knitting machines and did demos. It still allowed me to hang some of my lightweight sweaters and such along the back top bar (not shown).

It wasn't my preferred way for display, but it worked quite well. The shorter side walls were very nice for most of the crafters.

~ Marge ~

There are days ...

2008-06-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

... when one should not even step out of the house! I've had more than my share of those lately. All the horrid California fires have created a huge amount of smoke over here in the Washoe Valley, Nevada. We actually hit Stage 2 Alert for health problems here, something we've not done in 20 years or so.

I feel so bad for everyone over there in California and the destruction they are dealing with each day as the fires spread. My son and his family live in the Sacramento area but they are currently down in Disneyland. They will be returning home very soon and so far, they have not had any major problems at their condo. I'm praying for ALL who are affected by this devastation.

Could you possibly help?? The Red Cross has put out a plea for donations. Please help them if you can. Put a link on your blog, in your email signature file, anywhere you can on the net to help this most worthy organization. If you can't give cash, perhaps you could donate blood?

Please think about it.

~ Marge ~

PIFs - PIFs & More PIFs

2008-06-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

I've been busy putting up several PIFs in my Etsy Shop.

These are TRUE PIFs, completely free. My gift to you. You can find them under SEASONAL. They are all knitting patterns and I have them available in both hand knit graphs and machine knit .pat files using DAK (Design-A-Knit) software.

~ Marge ~

Knitting For Profit - How NOT To Be Discouraged

2008-06-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

So many times when I teach machine knitters about realizing a profit in their knitting business especially for craft fairs / shows, one of the major comments is that they get discouraged trying to build up their stock. The following is a short excerpt from my eBook, Craft Fair Survival Guide which is available in my Etsy Store ...

Get pieces/parts knitted / constructed. Stacks/bags/bins of items knitted, but not necessarily blocked & sewn.
Doing something from beginning to end can actually make you feel like you’re not getting anywhere and can put one off when the stack seems to grow at about the speed that rocks erode!
Plot out your yarns you’ll need and figure out how many items (say sleepers) you can get from each cone. Sit down with that cone on the machine and don’t start another cone until that one’s finished with those sleeper parts.
And if there’s some on the cone left over, remember my own method of knitting some quick-fix items before switching. You’d be surprised how efficient you can become when you want to get on to another color of yarn -- you get sick of that color after awhile when it sits there facing you each time you sit down to knit.
You’re in this for a profit, and we all have to do things we really don’t like if we really want to realize a good, solid income goal.

~ Marge ~

Budgeting Time Just For YOU!

2008-06-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

Time is precious. It can also mean money for your crafting business. But without some time for your personal life, what good is it? 'Pay' yourself some time as well to explore your inner self, embark on a new hobby or sport, or perhaps resurrect one that’s been lying dormant in your closet for months or even years. Why? To hedge against burnout. Statistics show that people who are driven to devote every waking hour to their business often experience severe health or psychological problems and thus sabotage their own efforts or business goals in the long run. The sad part is, they often have no idea ‘why’.

By scheduling personal time, you have the opportunity to relax, set aside any business worries and discover new talents within yourself. Fitness levels or previous skills needn’t be a factor in deciding what you want to do with this time you now have available. Check with your local community college or adult education office. They have numerous non-credit courses available for reasonable fees that will help you flush the worries and stress of the business world out of your system … even if only for a few precious hours.

It only hurts for a little while to carve a few hours out of your busy schedule. C’mon, give it a try.

~ Marge ~

Blog Block

2008-06-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

Have you ever 'run' to your computer to blog with a super idea for a post, had something distract you, then come back and can't, for the life of you, remember WHAT you were going to write about???

That's my quandary right now. Whatever BRILLIANT post I was going to make has completely flown out of my brain.

Sigh ...

I Know It's Only June, but ...

2008-06-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

... I'm already gearing up for Christmas. I'm involved in a Christmas In July private show here locally as well as participating in the Etsy Christmas In July promotion that several sellers are putting together.

This little Rudy Lapel Pin is a huge seller here locally. I've already got orders for dozens and am JUST about done with the knitting. The machine knit pattern for this little cutie and several other Christmas items is available in my Etsy Shop.

And of course, little mini-stockings for ornaments or to put a luscious DOVE chocolate or Hershey's Kiss inside as a package topper. I've also rolled up money and tucked it inside for the grandkids. They love those! Always a pleaser.

The little sleeping bags are so quick to knit up on your knitting machine and kids just love them! Those shown are with a few of my grand-kids stuffed characters/animals they collect. If you have kids who collect these types of cute little characters and animals, consider making little sleeping bags or pouches for each them!

I also do up a bunch of Barbie Doll and American Doll sized sleeping bags in velvety soft Rayon Chenilles. The little girls who come to the shows really love them and often a parent will 'signal' me to put it aside and then pop back to my table without the little girl and buy it for a gift.

I've already purchased all my yarns, have cleaned and thoroughly oiled the main knitting machines I will be using and am ready to knit! If I can get my schedule to settle down, that is ... easier said than done at times.

~ Marge ~

Gas Prices & Crafting

2008-06-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Has the rise in gas prices affected your crafting?

I've had to curtail browsing & shopping for craft supplies not only within, but outside the Reno/Sparks area. No longer can I just get in the car and visit several stores on a whim. Any driving I do has to be planned to include craft stores while I go about my personal business. And since the craft supply stores aren't that close to my Doctor's office, or places like that, it does put me into a quandary.

Why not do all my shopping online? Well, I DO a lot more online now, but it's the personal interaction with shops that I miss. I had to be down in the south end of town not long ago and 2 of the employees at Michaels hailed me by name and asked how I was doing and why hadn't they seen me in 'forever'. The store wasn't half as busy as it usually was on a Saturday. Sad.

Sometimes I only need a few items, and I need them right away (special orders, building craft fair stock). Not everything I do in my crafting allows me to stock up with case lots of items, just from a 'Where do I put it?' standpoint.

I've also had to curtail a lot of yard saling and thrift store adventures. That bites. Maybe I'll put wheels and a little battery motor on my rocking chair!

~ Marge who is pondering what she can do about it ~

Out Of The Closet

2008-06-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

Monsters lurk in the darkest regions of my closets. I know they do. And if I dig in there, I know they’ll get me.

Well, that’s the excuse my kids used while growing up and I thought it was so reasonable that I used it for years to avoid cleaning out closets myself. When I say cleaning the closet, I mean right down to the carpeted floor cleaning. Not just move a bit here, move a bit there … nah, that’s not cleaning; it’s cosmetic re-arranging to make you feel better about the mess (monsters) you know are still residing in there.

I was wanting to become more adventurous in my life, and in order to do that, some of my home-front life needed some drastic changes. Number one on my list was the dreaded bedroom closet. I knew I had items nestled away in there that I would need on some adventures, but they kept burrowing deeper each time I did a cursory search. So it was time to stop procrastinating and get down to it! Tools needed …

Pith helmet, whip, chair, canteen …. oops, sorry, wrong list! Lemme see … where is that list?? Ah, here we go:

#1 Priority – GET HELP! When I clean closets, the first thing I do is coerce … er umm, bribe … find some help. STRONG help. I know that I probably put those now-two-ton boxes in there by myself when we moved here, but I sure can’t seem to lift them now! So I snag a hubby or son or son-in-law to give me help. Promises of a pan of brownies or homemade bread usually is sufficient around my house. And they have to keep their mouths shut, offering no opinions or suggestions in order to get those brownies. That is a major rule.

#2 Pull EVERYTHING out of the closet, hanging clothes and all. I don’t know about you, but when we moved into this house, I was exhausted most of the time to the point of really not caring where everything went. My only criteria was stick it away somewhere so long as it wasn’t left out for someone to trip over.

#3 Get a couple of large boxes or lawn/leaf trash bags. You’ll be filling these with items you really don’t want anymore but are in good enough shape to donate and the other will be out-and-out garbage fodder.

#4 Take a good look at the mounds of items now on your bed and covering probably every spare inch of floor space. All that came out of there ???

#5 Sort items by person. If that person doesn’t live/sleep/reside in that room, tell them to come get it, or better yet, deliver it to their room / house. Preferably if they’re not home … makes for less hassle. My favorite thing is to wrap a piece of Christmas ribbon around the stack/pile/box and tell them Merry Christmas.

#6 Now draw a quick sketch of your closet space. If there’s a deep dark corner way in the back that you don’t get to very often, how about putting seasonal items back there? Or perhaps old sentimental items such as high school yearbooks, bowling trophies, boxes of baby clothes (my youngest ‘baby’ is now 33). If you have a partner you share closet space with, eyeball how much each would need and draw a line down through your sketch. Ours is 70/30, mine being the 70%, naturally.

#7 Thoroughly clean every surface in the closet.

#8 Begin re-packing the closet with the items you have determined can go back into those dark corners. And for heavens sake, MARK the boxes you stick back there so a quick scan with the flashlight will tell you what is in the boxes a year from now.

We’re getting down to the end now … you’ve thrown away, donated, returned to owner all the extraneous stuff you had gathered in there. If you’ve done it diligently and ruthlessly enough, your pile should be drastically reduced by now and everything will fit into place like it should.

#9 Take a bubble bath with candlelight and a cup of herbal tea or perhaps even a glass of wine.

You're done.

Kiddie Kuffs Has Launched!! WOO HOO

2008-06-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

I bit the bullet, got the paperwork online and finally registered my Kiddie Kuffs as a service mark with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. So now, I've got some of my Kiddie Kuffs up in my Knits-n-More Etsy Store! WOO HOO! I've been marketing these little cuffs for umpteen years and finally made the name legally mine. All mine.

I should have done it years ago and there's really no sane reason why I didn't! I've copyrighted patterns and my short fiction and so many other things for years, trademarked my MKDesigne r name, but for some reason, I just didn't get around to registering the Kiddie Kuffs. How silly of me! Well, now they're there on Etsy.

They've always been something I'd whip up quickly on the Brother 390 knitting machine (bulky mode) for craft fairs that are held at schools or where there will be high children traffic. So now I have to get my knitting act together and make a bunch more.

~ Marge ~

My 2nd Etsy Shop Now Participating

2008-06-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

I've entered 4 of my handknit scarves into the mix for the Yart Sale on Etsy under my 2nd Shop, Knits-n-More.

Please come visit ALL the shops on Etsy who are participating in the First Annual YART SALE. Soooooo many lovely items by such talented artisans. There areYart Sale stores listed in Handmade, Supplies and Vintage! Something for everyone. The specials they are offering are wonderful -- don't miss out on all the fun! It runs from today, June 11th through the 20th.

YART SALE!

2008-06-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

No, that's not a typo --- many of us on Etsy are having a YART SALE from June 11 through June 20th. Gonna be a real kick! We're making up little logos to have on our blogs and websites as well as creating 75x75 ones for our avatars for that time span.

I've put up all of my zippers and plastic canvas pattern leaflets into my YART SALE section. Some really great bargains in there, so click on this pic & check it out!

Supplies & Where To Find Them

2008-06-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

It's not easy, sometimes, to find the RIGHT crafting supply at the RIGHT price. My first stop now is on Etsy, doing a search under Supplies; tags & titles for items (i.e. beads, yarn, etc.) where you will find hundreds, if not thousands of items. I like to check out any specials they may have (i.e. SNS - Saturday Night Specials) listed in the Forums under Promotions. Usually some great bargains there!!

Here are some other sites I like to visit as well:

Create For Less - Wholesaler of sewing, scrapbooking, quilting, decorative painting, floral and garden, and other general crafting and hobby supplies. Also offers online shopping and craft advice.
Norden Crafts, Inc. - Supplier to the needlecraft industry.
eBottles - Offers a selection of bottle, jars, and closures for various crafts.
Duncan Crafts - Hobby ceramics and craft paint and glue manufacturer.
Dai Jewels - Supplies semi-precious and precious gemstone beads.
Hats By Leko - Supplier of millinery supplies such as: hats, trims and flowers.
Bead Corp - Distributor of imported and domestic beads, charms, findings, and tools.
All Star - Eyelets, conches, settings, nailheads, acrylic jewels, sequins, and caviar beads.

Several of these do require registration with your business licensing, so be prepared with your documentation when entering the sites. I'll add more from my mega-list as time goes on.

Marge in Reno

Yikes! Got Behind Again

2008-06-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

Where did yesterday go ??? I know we must have had a Saturday, unless there was a tuck in the fabric of time. Ah well. Time to get caught up and get on with life ...

We had an earthquake here in Reno, NV just about 45 minutes ago (10:53 a.m.) Only registered 3.8, but was enough to shake things up a bit ... like our nerves. We used to live in California and were living in Northern California when the 7.1 quake hit back in the 70's. So it always rattles my nerves a bit, wondering if a larger one is coming. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I'm not. Only made the whole house seem like it was rolling a bit, more side-to-side rather than a bang then up and down. Rolling ones are easier for me to handle.

Ah HA! I 'found' yesterday !! No wonder it seemed to disappear on me, I'd been stuck in our walk-in closet trying to sort through several small tubs of craft stuff for HOURS. By the time I knit up some more bottle cozies and some wristlets a customer ordered, I took a nap and literally slept through the dinner hour. Good thing hubby can fend for himself and our son and grand-daughter weren't due back from one of their mini-trips until quite late.

Other than waiting around for aftershocks (which WILL hit - according to the news report, we've had 15 quakes so far today, many of them we don't feel), I'm going to be reveling in the fruits of my labors yesterday (closet cleaning) and start up some more hand knit items for fall shows, sew up the cozies and the wristlets and then make hubby take us all out to dinner. Sounds like a plan to me.

~ Marge ~

Easy Casing 'Pulling Thread'

2008-06-06T04:22:00.000-07:00

I received an email from a lady who had attended one of my little workshops about 12-15 years ago. One of the small how-to's I showed was putting a Pulling Thread into a casing as you knit. I no longer have the handouts available (2 computer crashes in the ensuing 12+ years) so while I was knitting the other day, I took a few pics as I was doing the casing. If you need additional details, please feel free to email me.

When I need to pull elastic or ribbon through a narrow casing, I do it while I'm closing the casing on the machine. This example has waste yarn, then ravel cord and then 6 rows - it needed to be very narrow for the elastic I was using in that project.

The thread in there is what I call the Pulling Thread. My Mom called it that in her sewing so I've always just used that term. I don't know how many times she'd be sewing a casing and lay a piece of yarn or cording in there before sewing.

I laid the Pulling Thread in the 'trough' between the stitches on the machine and the stitches I was hanging onto the same needles when closing the casing. Keep the Pulling Thread in the trough as you go along, making sure you do NOT let it catch on the needles or with the yarn. Every once in awhile, I'll pause my work and make sure the Pulling Thread is still free of any catches by taking both ends and sliding it back and forth.

It's a LOT easier to correct any issues with the Pulling Thread as you go along rather to find out once you take the work off the machine that OOPS!, it's caught!! Once you're done, just attach your elastic or ribbon or whatever to one end of the Pull Thread and you'll be able to easily pull it through your casing.

~ Marge ~

Youngest Grand Daughter Graduates ...

2008-06-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

... from kindergarten. Wow! I'm getting old. Her teacher informed us that our kinder-grad would be graduating High School in the class of 2020 .... EEEEK!

I'd meant to get this up online yesterday, but life got in the way.

Isn't she ADORABLE???

~ Marge ~

Grandmother Sproule's Knit Edgings:

2008-06-03T04:56:00.000-07:00

© MKDesigner for Millicent Amelia Jane Montague Sproule

I found these patterns among my Grandmother's belongings, and they were written in her lovely, spidery handwriting. I have a few pieces of the linens she embellished with these edgings and I treasure them. ENJOY!

Pattern #1:
Starting at short end, cast on 6 st and knit across.
1st row: K2, YO, K2 tog, YO, K2 (7st)
2nd & all even rows: P across
3rd row: K2, YO, K2 tog, YO, K3 (8 st)
5th row: K2, YO, K2 tog, YO, K4 (9 st)
7th row: K2, YO, K2 tog, YO, K5 (10 st)
9th row: K2, YO, K2 tog, K3, K2 tog, K1 (9 st)
11th row: K2, YO, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, K1 (8 st)
13th row: K2, YO, K2 tog, K1, K2 tog, K1 (7st)
14th row: P across
Rows 3 thru 14 are one pattern, work in pattern for desired length.

Pattern #2:
Starting at end,, cast on 11 st and knit across.
1st row: K3, (YO, K 2 tog) 3 times, YO, K2 (12 st)
2nd and all even rows: P across
3rd row: K4, (YO, K2 tog) 3 times, YO, K2 (13 st)
5th row: K5, (YO, K2 tog) 3 times, YO, K2 (14 st)
7th row: K6, (YO, K2 tog) 3 times, YO, K2 (15 st)
9th row: K7, (YO, K2 tog) 3 times, YO, K2 (16 st)
11th row: K8, (YO, K2 tog) 3 times, YO, K2 (17 st)
13th row: K6, K2 tog, (YO, K2 tog) 4 times, K1 (16 st)
15th row: K5, K2 tog, (YO, K2 tog) 4 times, K1 (15 st)
17th row: K4, K2 tog, (YO, K2 tog) 4 times, K1 (14 st)
19th row: K3, K2 tog, (YO, K2 tog) 4 times, K1 (13 st)
21st row: K2, K2 tog, (YO, K2 tog) 4 times, K1 (12 st)
22nd row: P across

Rows 3 through 22 constitute one pattern. This one is especially lovely, I had trouble stopping, made 8 inches and it pressed up so pretty.

Pattern #3:
Starting at end, cast on 15 st and K across.
1st row: Sl 1, K1, K2 tog, YO, K2, YO, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, YO, K2 tog, K1 (14 st)
2nd row and all even rows, Knit across
3rd row: Sl 1, K2, YO, K2 tog, K4, K2 tog, YO, K2 tog, K1 (13 st)
5th row: Sl 1, K3, YO, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, YO, K2 tog, K1 (12 st)
7th row: Sl 1, K4, YO, (K2 tog) twice, YO, K2 tog, K1 (11 st)
9th row: Sl 1, K3, K2 tog, YO, K2, YO, K2 tog, incr in last st (12 st)
11th row: Sl 1, K2, K2 tog, YO, K4, YO, K2 tog, incr in last st (13 st)
13th row: Sl 1, K1, K2 tog, YO, K2, YO, K2 tog, K2, YO, K2 tog, incr in last st (14 st)
14th row: Knit across.

Rows 3 through 14 complete one pattern. I had the 'devil' of a time with this one, kept getting lost, but after about 4 false starts, it worked out. Quite nice looking.

Hope you enjoy these. I've already made plans to use them as embellishment on some of my machine knit sweaters in fine yarns. They are all straight edgings.

~ Marge ~

Quick Machine Knit Tips

2008-06-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Tip #1 - Avoid Disasters!! Remove all dangly jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, even watches) before sitting down to your knitting machine. Needles get caught and you KNOW they'll break at the most inopportune time! Even high profile rings can be a problem. Wear short sleeved (or at the most, 3/4 sleeve) garments when knitting. Tie or clip back long hair.

Tip #2 - If your knitting machine seems to grind its way across the bed after you've knit several rows, more than likely static has built up. I keep my can of LoriLyn spray at hand and spray a soft, lint-free cloth and run it over the bed 2-3 times after the carriage has made a pass and the noise goes away! BEWARE if you use some of those static-free dryer sheets! They can disintigrate easily causing bits to get into the needle channels. They can also leave a residue on the needlebed which can build up to a real 'gunky' mess after time passes.

Tip #2 - Marking Your Seams – if you’re knitting a fairly long piece, place a marker thread on each end needle each time you move your weights up (I do it every 30 rows). When you get ready to sew up those seams, just match up those markers and pin so you can have neat seaming.

Tip #3 - Pre-Shrink Notions – I learned this tip from June Reed umpteen years (decades??) ago – If you’re using sewing notions such as bias tape, braid, ribbon, zippers etc., pre-wash and shrink it before attaching it to washed and blocked knits. Nothing worse than all your hard work puckering!! Guess I'm a skeptic, but I don't necessarily believe labels that have ' pre-shrunk'.

2x3 Gathered Scalloped Rib

2008-06-01T06:27:00.001-07:00

2x3 Gathered Scalloped Rib – A Variation - By Marge Parker

One of my grand daughters likes sleeve cuffs to be wide ribbing and have a bit of a ‘gathered’ or puffy look when the sleeve starts above that rib. I dug this pattern out of mothballs and she liked it. Originally, I’d developed this rib when doing those ‘mutton chop’ sweaters that were popular in the late 70’s. She didn’t want it quite so pronounced so we shortened the ribbing for her. This is my method of doing this instead of ribbing of perhaps 1x2 and then increasing stitches evenly across the work. I really hate doing that. By having an open stitch on either side of the latched up center stitch, there’s less bulk and more stretch to the ribbing in my opinion – and it makes the grand daughter happy.

Sample knit on Brother Convertible ‘Bulky’ 9mm mode – Yarn: Red Heart 4-ply

Basic Needle Setup: (X=In Work O=Out of Work)

XXX OOO XX OOO XX ….OOO XX OOO XXX

You have 3 Working Needles on each end of the piece.

E-Wrap cast on over the In Work (X) needles.

Knit as many rows as you want your ribbing to be high.

First latch-up: Go under 2, grab the 3^rd ladder, pull it under and over the 2 stitches. Go under 1 ladder, latch up the 2^nd ladder and continue to the top of the ladders.

Place stitch onto the center empty (“O”) needle. Continue doing the same across the work.

Go back to the first latched up ladder and put the purl bar from the closest right “X” stitch onto the right “O” needle. Put the purl bar from the closest left “X” stitch onto the left “O”
needle. Continue across the work.

Now all your needles are ‘in work’ and all have stitches. I personally prefer to do the central latchup first, let the work rest for a couple of minutes and then go back and fill in the other “O” needles from the purl bars. You can do it as you go across the work, this way is just easier for me. Knit rows for remainder of sleeve or whatever it is you’re making. The picture below shows the purl side of this ribbing.

Nifty Worm Trim Variation

2008-05-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

Time for me to get back to machine knitting on this blog!
DOUBLE WORM TRIM

This easy trim is a variation on the standard worm edging commonly put around knits. Its uses are many … from necklines to hems, to placemats and embellishment on clothing. I would not suggest this be used for baby items since the loops are quite long and tiny fingers can become entwined easily.

My apologies for the colors in the picture. It was the only way I could show the contrast with the two rounds of knitting this trim and more readily explain the technique. Let's get on with it and begin making this trim! You'll need a swatch of knitted fabric and for the purposes of our demo, pick a contrasting color of yarn for the worm edging.

Pull out 3 needles on your machine. E-wrap those three needles with the contrasting yarn. With the wrong side of the swatch facing you, hang three edge stitches on those needles. Set machine to do I-Cord and (*) knit 12 rows. SKIP three edge stitches and hang the NEXT three edge stitches on those three needles. Repeat from (*) along the edge. End off.

Again, pull out 3 needles on your machine. E-Wrap those three needles with your contrasting yarn. Again with the wrong side of the swatch facing you, hang the first set of 3 empty stitches. (*) Knit 12 rows, hang the next three empty edge stitches onto those needles. Repeat from (*) around.

Here are some how-it-looks in stages. The first picture shows the first round of 'worming' and the second photo was taken after the second round was formed. On the sample, I added another variation to the pattern and moved the looped I-cord to the front when picking up one set of stitches and then moved it to the back when picking up the second set of stitches. This gave me a much more intertwined look as you can see.

A variation on any kind of worm edging, is to spin your fabric full circle a couple of times as it hangs on the machine after you've knit the 12 rows (6 for standard worm edging). this little twist to it is quite firming to the edges, and causes a different look. The trim no longer lays as flat, but has even more depth which can be a nice addition to edgings of knits.

Another twisting one to try is one 12-row piece twisted to the right, then the next one twisted to the left. You'll see quite a difference as opposed to twisting in one direction. Whether you do single or double worm edging, this very simple technique can add a lot to your knitting. Enjoy!

Spice Up Your Dinner Menu

2008-05-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

Is your life feeling ‘stuffy’? Stale? Mundane? Can’t figure out what to fix for dinner that you haven’t fixed umpteen times before? Ever notice when you go to the grocery store for the big shopping trips, you buy the same things? Week in, week out … month in, month out. Boredom can set in quickly with that routine.Time to dig yourself out of that rut. Here’s just one thing you can do to put some pizzazz back into your life.

Break out of that confining mold. Let someone else do up your grocery list and plan your menus! No, seriously … it can add some real adventure into your culinary arts. I was at a group meeting a few years ago when we all were moaning and groaning about having to do the biggie shopping the next weekend.

Suddenly, one member of the group suggested we trade shopping lists for a one week period of time and when we met next month, we’d compare notes on the outcome. Now we’re all two-person households, our kids are out on their own, so quantities were going to be about equal. Our income levels were also approximately the same, so it wasn’t going to be a heavy strain on anyone.

I was so excited about this! We all went home and began working up a week’s worth of menus. Then we created the shopping lists. We met for coffee two days later and swapped lists. We confined our lists to dinners only for this first venture, and would include a salad or soup, a starch, a meat dish and a veggie dish. Nice well balanced meals. What a kick this was going to be!

Another thing we’d agreed upon was to provide as many coupons as possible for our counterparts to use. I went online and snagged all sorts of coupons for groceries right in my own area.

What all was on my new menu? It was like dining out at a new restaurant every night. Here are a few of the items … I’d never had baked chicken chili with sour cream & mozzarella cheese before – Sheila informed me that she makes it at least once every couple of weeks – I can see why! Not only is it inexpensive (uses wings, drumsticks and/or thighs), it’s downright scrumptious!! Then there was the Waldorf Salad … I’d not made one of those in eons! Orange & Cranberry baked ham slices went with that salad. Oh, the list of yummy, mouth-watering, delectable culinary delights goes on and on!

We’ve done this same thing numerous times now over the years, but with a new feature – we could add new recipes we’d never tried before. And our husbands are actually looking forward to the next time! Hmmm … wonder if that’s a commentary on …. nah, can’t be. I always have fascinating, innovative food to put before my hubby. Don’t I?? Maybe it’s time for another menu-swap.

~ Marge in Reno ~

Getting Organized! Har Har Har

2008-05-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

This is kinda long ... but misery loves company and I'm in the throws of getting my craft materials in order.

I've received confirmation of my applications to 3 craft fairs this fall. So out come the craft tubs / bins / boxes, wanting to get a head start. But what have I got and better yet, where are they??

I don’t necessarily sort by season. I prefer to sort by colors and also by material category (yarns, fabrics, florals, ribbons, lace, wood, plaster, felt, styrofoam, etc.). Whatever your preference, start making piles of your various crafting materials. Once you know the sizes of these categories, it’s much easier to gauge exactly which container will better suit that amount.

Being an avid crafter who displays at craft fairs, future inventory is also in the forefront of my mind as I do my purchasing and my organizing. Many times I will sort out ‘sets’ of crafting materials that become kits in a way, for next year’s stock. These will probably go into a tub all their own, rather than be mixed in with other supplies.

I'm also an inveterate list maker, I also keep a master list going of all my crafting supplies. Not necessarily counted down to the last safety pin, but a good, over-all idea of what is available to me when the crafting bug bites. My receipts from the various craft stores help me make my lists out. Speaking of pins, my very favorite container for all those itsy-bitsy items is found in the sporting goods section. Fishing tackle boxes! Especially the double-sided ones that have clear amber-colored plastic sides and a handy carrying handle. Don’t overlook the automotive section when hunting up containers too!

If the tubs / bins / boxes you are using are not see-through, for heavens sake, mark the outside of them with a few keywords that will tell you what is where. If you take on a new method of sorting, ( for instance if you used to do it by season and now you’re doing color), it might be wise to make a note of that somewhere visible on your containers. Until I settled on my own preference of color/material sorting, I was continually pawing through tubs and boxes, only to find the item I needed at the bottom of the very last one. Naturally.

Remember to set aside plenty of time when you begin organizing your craft materials. When you search the net for ideas, here are some cool sites to get you going …

Get Organized Now! Woo Hoo!! A site totally dedicated to getting organized! And she covers so many subjects, such as home, office, school … your life! Nice pages, easy to navigate, lots of great ideas.

Lowes Perfect place to start in your quest for getting yourself organized. We live only a few blocks from a Lowes (which can be hazardous to one’s budget) and they have a wonderful staff who have never failed to give us good advice.

Home & Garden This is one of my very favorite sites on the web. Oodles of information here, much of it dealing with organizing our lives. Check out the various crafting sections!

Organized Home’s Site Cute. Thoroughly enjoyed wandering about their site. There are lots of good ideas on these pages. Navigation is quite good. Take the time when at this site to thoroughly explore all they have to offer.

Organize-Tips.com Lovely site full of information for just about anything you’d need to organize! And a few I hadn’t realized needed organizing! Very pleasant looking site, easy on the eyes, which is nice after looking at dozens of rather garish sites lately. The multiple pop-up screens are a tad on the annoying side, but the information at this site can make that worth your while.

I'd love to hear your comments on how YOU organize your crafting life.

~ Marge ~

Keeping Track Of Listings!

2008-05-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

There's a current discussion on Etsy about how to keep track of your listings OFFLINE so you can edit, etc. Many are using WORD or another word processor. I prefer to use EXCEL for all my online selling sites, such as IOFFER, BluJay, eCrater etc. One spreadsheet per site and one page per my shop's category (sections on Etsy).

Each site has its own forms you need to fill out and it gets very frustrating when you can do HTML on some sites and none on others, title lengths very often vary from site to site. Or the layout is different and you need to refer back to something else in order to get the info needed. Some sites have a timeout built into their listing form ... that can be annoying, if you're not prepared with your text written out ahead of time.

Here's a link to show you the style I use on my spreadsheets ... Excel Example

The example file is downloadable.

Marge in Reno

Advertising / Selling Sites For Crafters

2008-05-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

As you can see in the right column, I've started listing some sites that were recommended by various Etsians when I started a thread in the forums. I'll be adding to that list as time goes on and will archive any that I delete due to space restrictions.

If you have a site to recommend for crafters to list and/or sell their items, please send me a link along with your 'review' of the site. Don't forget to include your Etsy Shop URL (or your website) so I can make sure to have the link in there to you.

Here's the direct link to my website where I have ALL of them listed. Selling Sites.

~Marge~

PIF's

2008-05-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've been putting up some PIFs on my Etsy Store. So far, 5 of the vintage sewing notions have been requested. 2 more left in my Etsy store and a bunch more to list over the next few weeks. For those of you who may not know what a PIF is all about, here's a brief explanation: PIF = Pay It Forward. It's doing a good deed by giving something away totally free. Seller pays the listing and the postage. No strings. That's the way it's supposed to work.

You will, on occasion, see PIF's that want the postage or perhaps a reimbursement of the listing fee. To me, THAT is NOT a TRUE PIF. Yes, I feel strongly about that. Others have differing opinions. :-) This one happens to be mine.

Have you ever listed or received a PIF? I'd love to hear your comments.

~Marge~

Memorial Day

2008-05-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Quick craft for Memorial Day ...

These are my little crosses that I knit on my knitting machine, then starch them, glue them together and on a craft stick that I've dipped in verithane.

You don't have to have a knitting machine in order to do these, find some firm lace at a fabric store. Cut pieces 6" long and 4" long (cross-bar). Firmly starch them FLAT overnight on a corkboard you've covered with plastic wrap. The next day, take them off your board, then dip in verithane, let that dry completely and then glue together and then onto a craft stick. They're a nice touch to an arrangement of flowers.

Marge