Winner!! I have chosen to name my shop "Ruby's Circle of Friends" Crafts & Consignment! the winner of the purse is Debra with her Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6238436 Now she will get to choose her purse. Will update when the choice has been made.

As for the shop, the electric is on. Now I need the water on. I had no idea the water had been shut off. A call to the village tomorrow should be all it takes. I have taken some of my handmade items down and different things for displays. Once I get it all set up I will post some pictures. Will go get my insurance this week too. Getting closer all the time. Have my first classes scheduled with a Girl Scout troop so that should be fun. Check back to see how things are going!

Help me name my shop!

Lease is signed and first month's rent paid, have the key! I need a name for my shop. I have thought about it a lot and nothing really comes to me that is an "oh wow thats it!" idea. So asking for help! Post it to me on twitter, convo me on Etsy or leave a comment here. Look at my shop description in the previous post and fire away! The name chosen will win their choice of the purses pictured here from my etsy shop. Contest will end 9/8/09.

Brick & Mortar Shop

Okay so tomorrow I go to sign a lease for a brick and mortar shop. My plan is to have a craft consignment shop but to also offer crafting classes for all ages and all types of crafts. I plan to have quilting, spinning, knitting, crocheting, stamping, felting, stained glass and more for classes. Also hope to bring in younger people by having all inclusive birthday parties with them making crafts to take with them, include the cake, invites and balloons/decor in a one price package. I think the idea is a good one but I do worry about being in a small town. I will have to work hard to pull in people from neighboring towns and word of mouth will also hopefully help spread the word. I hope to post here in my blog the steps I will take. Before the rental space I have had to find insurance and inquire about a dba and tax numbers. I plan to use the consignment items as decor as for the space. It is on the main street in town and is visible to anyone that passes through town. I will say I got the space at a reduced rate for the first 6 months, after that I have the option of walking away or going on with a year lease. Im hoping with the holiday season coming and people wanting things to do in the winter months it will help people to choose to come check out my class offerings. Any ideas from blog readers or tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Craft Festival and Stamping cards

Went with 3 great friends to the http://villageofremsen.org/content/Generic/View/2 Remsen Barn Festival. It is a really nice outdoor show. The weather was perfect, sunny with a slight fall chill in the morning but warmed up very nicely way before noon. There were vendors up and down the main street in this little town. There were quilts, pottery, art work, spice mixes, food, fiber arts and beautiful alpaca and wool yarns. There were plenty of food venders and even a few yard sales thrown in the mix of people that lived right in the town. Lots of beautiful eye candy!!
If your in the neighborhood it is worth a look.

After that we went back to one of my friend's house to stamp. A fourth friend stopped in too. We have kind of gotten away from making cards on a regular basis and wanted to make an attempt to get back into it. We had lots of fun using the stamps we had bought but not yet used. Used some embossing plates and the sizzix machine. Hope we can do it again soon. I have posted some pictures of the cards I was able to finish.

Fair events and winnings

Well I got the afghan done, I had hoped to blog about my progress but that didnt happen. I completed it the morning it was due to be entered. Tying in the last few ends and pressing it slightly for a finished look. It won first place! I also entered a crochet purse, sew purse and a few other items. Two more days and the fair has come and gone for another year. Now is the time to think of what I can make and enter. Maybe I wont have to scramble the morning of to get things done.... but probably not LOL!

Starting an afghan to enter in our county fair

Just started an afghan to enter in our county fair. My goal is to someday (this year would be nice!) win best of show to follow in the footsteps of my mother and grandmother. Third generation winner would be pretty cool. I wil post my progress here and get some pictures too. I have 3 squares done so far out of a probable 20 needed. Im using Red Heart yarns. It is a pattern from Crochet Fantasy October 2001. Check back to see how Im making out!

New Purses made on Vacation

Went to Myrtle Beach for vacation and the first few days were a bit cold and rainy. Went fabric shopping and ended up making 4 purses for my Etsy shop. Here are the pictures

Daylight savings?

It takes some time to adjust to this time change thing. It is nice that it is daylight longer in the evenings but the sleep pattern takes a beating. I teach preschool and it does a number on them too. Parents say they cant get them to bed then cant get them up either. Hoping I finally settle in to a better sleep pattern after the weekend! Need to get some crafting done. I do have a new pair of little chunky slippers pictured here. I have purses I want to sew and design but just can't get in the frame of mind to do so. Anyways, here is what I have to share for today.

New slippers & Stuff

Two new pairs of slippers made with double strands of acrylic. Made up the patterns which I may post once I get it written down. They are quick and will be super warm. Great for using up stash of one skein leftovers. Single crochet makes the stitches nice and tight too. I love the way the colors look when you blend 2 different yarns together. The purple pair is made with what is now probably considered vintage Dazzleaire and the other purple is Sears brand also possibly vintage! You never know what I will pull out of my vast stash as I have bought out sales from several previous yarn store owners. I figure I can consider my vast stash saving for retirement! Even if I have no money I will have yarn LOL!!

Newest Mary Janes

Here are my newest Mary Jane slipper made from my own pattern using double strands of acrylic yarn. Super thick they will be warm and durable. A great pattern for stash busting too! They can be purchased from my etsy store by clicking the link to the right.

Preparing for a scrapbook adventure

Tomorrow I'm off to a scrapbook fundraiser. I have been trying to get the pictures and such ready so I know what I'm working on and will be prepared. There will be people with Sizzix machines, Cricuts and other vendors too. To prepare I have sorted pictures and put paper and maybe some embellishments in separate sleeves. This works pretty good as when your done with the page you can just slide it back in. Being prepared with pictures sorted helps to make the most of the day. Some of my friends have done their pages according to the time the event happened and keep them going in order. As I have not been doing this for very long and my oldest is 21, I have some catching up to do. I tend to do what ever strikes me for the day. I figure when I'm caught up I can then put them in order of time. Hope to be able to post some pics of my completed projects tomorrow night.

Craft Night

Wednesday evening is the night a group of my friends and I get together at our local public school and craft. Some crochet, some stamp, some paint, some scrapbook. We are working on a 50 card day. This will be a day we have set aside in April to make 50 different greeting cards. I volunteered to create the guide for the 50 cards. I would like to figure out a way to turn that into a "Stamp a Long" for my blog. I will certainly post on twitter and my blog here as well as other places so that people can join. If any readers have tips or ideas on this please post here!

It is warming up here today and suppose to be mid 40's this weekend. Truly wanting it to be spring!!

Getting there

Well my page is getting there! Still working my way around the extra features and how to download. A learning experience.
I hope to eventually have some Crochet A Longs and free patterns to go on my blog. I hope you will join me and help me to make this a fun place to check in and be crafty with me!

I also have a lot of projects that I want to get done to add to my Etsy shop for spring. Will post my progress and hope others will share too.

My First Blog

Okay so Im just trying to figure out this whole blog thing. I hope to be able to use this to share my hobbies and maybe be helpful to fellow crafters. I love to crochet, sew and scrapbook/stamp. I have many other hobbies too which may pop into a blog at any given time! Be patient as I am new to this game LOL!