pattern play

simple shell stitch pattern in 28G copper

I've been itching to try this for some time but as usual time itself has been conspiring against me! Finally I tucked a crochet hook, the 28G copper wire and the pattern details into my portable crafting pouch and set off for the great outdoors.
Feeling slightly rebellious, I left my crochet hook safely hidden as I knitted alongside other local knitters at the Rocky Point Knit in Public session held on Saturday. Yes, I knew they would be OK with me crocheting .... but with wire?
I held off with the wire until most had departed then built a foundation chain and started the pattern. It's really a simple trebles and DC shell pattern built up over a multiple of 3 chains (similar to the pattern rows here). I had tried this pattern earlier on some 'proper' fibre - the 28G copper was perfect to work with though I'm not sure how well the shell pattern comes thru.

crafting still going portable

batch of cute promo buttons and charms for the Handmade Nation premier

It's nearly the end of the school year and crafting has gone well and truly portable. I've been rustling up a batch of promo goodies for the film premier on July 9th. They're quick and easy to make and don't require much kit to finish off.

portable project kit;
wire and cotton yarn
rings and hoops (various from my stash)
clips
crochet hook
pliers and cutters

... and that's all

This weekend's inventory check was most encouraging and no frantic crafting is needed to build up stock for the Main Street car-free Vancouver festival this Sunday (I'll be between W20th and 21st Avenues on Main).

So, this week's portable crafting projects are a little more leisurely and introspective.

• silver wire beads (they went down a storm at the last craft fair so I'm making them again for this Sunday
• trying out a freebie knit pattern for a shrug, using some scrap yarn from my stash. front is on the circulare needles for portability while the back is on straight pins for at-home moments
  
• sleeveless cable waistcoat pattern from the Sublime aran knits pattern book (knitting up an absolute dream) - on circular needles = extreme portability

I also found out that nearly all my little felted bowls have sold so I can justify whipping out the crochet hook for these portable charmers too. Might just settle down to making some on Main Street this Sunday.

projects to go

clutch of wire crochet pendants for the Main Street car-free Vancouver festival

It was with some trepidation that I approached this morning's task - checking inventory for a craft fair. Not so bad, some of you might be thinking, but this event is only a week away and I don't have a whole heap load of time for stocking up! I was anticipating setting up numerous portable crafting projects plus some 'burning the midnight oil' sessions ahead. :(

Instead I was pleasantly surprised. Despite having what seems like all my inventory out on sale in local boutiques, etc. there was still quite a sizeable collection suitable for the street fair. (For you locals out there, this is the Car Free Vancouver festival being held next Sunday, 14th June - I'll be selling on the block between W20th and 21st). My huge workload vanished 'pooft' and was replaced by some relaxing afternoon crafting.I finished off some wire crochet bezels for sea glass chunks then strung them on pendant cords (see above).

There are still some important tasks on the horizon (bungee cords to hold the tent down, afix some nosestuds to business cards, and so on) but, on the whole, this week should be a leisurely trot thru some portable crafting while out and about. Might get to try some new ideas!

Phew!

speed and efficiency?

design-a-day April 08 set

Aim;

to promote to and share with a wide audience

 

Materials;

1 flickr slideshow (group photographs together in a set and then click on the slideshow function on that set's page, grab the embed this code)

1 ArtFire Rapid Cart

1 blog

1 ByHand account

1 Twitter account and associated twitterfeed from your blog

 

Method;

Create a new blog post on ByHand, incorporating your flickr slideshow (embed as html).

Below your description insert an ArtFire Rapid Cart with some of the items in the slideshow for sale.

Publish your blog entry on ByHand, checking the twitter and front page options if desired.

Check the 'publish to your own blog' option.

 

Summary;

A quick slideshow attractively presents your work, and the Rapid Cart provides a one click buy now option for interested parties. Your work is presented to three different audiences.

.... all in one blog post

ebbandflo

Buy Handmade

 

ferries - excellent for portable crafting

ferry line up at Horseshoe Bay, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

my wordless wednesday submission (or maybe i just want a holiday)

time goes by .........

 

... not slowly enough sometimes. How many other mums out there are trying to cram 27 hours-worth of duties into a measly 24 and still trying to grab some restorative shut eye too?

Although weekends are traditionally thought of as leisure time I've yet to met a mum who thinks on that wavelength. For me, it's just a time of the week when I have more family members in the house (and under my feet). Instead of having just one relative to wrangle, I have two. Now luckily additional family member J is quite handy at combining activities with junior member T so I can boot both of them out of the house at the one time, making space for such exciting projects as housework, cleaning toilets and floors, and homework from my further education course. Woohoo! I can also rely on Family Member J to come up with edible meals over the weekend too.

But this weekend was different. It was a long weekend for a start, then school decided to tack on a Pro D day at the end and Family Member J was jet-lagged so I felt guilty at throwing him into domestic stuff immediately (tho' if we'd all been flying back at the same time I guess I would have ended up being responsible for feeding us, jet lag or none!).

So I've had very little time to get anything done. If I'm working sensibly I try to kill many birds with one stone (squelch) so blogging via ByHand is a useful option in terms of getting my message out and reaching a wider audience. I still haven't cracked my marketing strategy but blogging is in my current armoury so I need to do it regularly. Once I blog it's tweeted out via ByHand, Blogfire (from my other blog, thank you Alicia for setting this up) and TwitterFeed, and thus appears on Facebook too. There is also a very useful function within ByHand which allows you to post from your account to you blogger or wordpress blog. So for one blog post I can potentially reach five different audiences.

An efficient use of my time methinks! (and I made a sale from my ecrater shop which I never really promote too!)