Craft Night It's Finally Here!!

I want to touch on 2 main things in this blog today, first what I've all been up to, and second, CRAFT NIGHT (can you tell I'm excited?!?!)!

What I've been up to, craft-wise, anyway! After 2, yes, 2 years, I finally finished a quilt for my most beloved niece, Bianca. Sept. 29th was her 6th birthday. She has always loved horses, so of course I made here a horse quilt. I was my very first quilt, so even though I've finished others, this one holds a special place in my heart! Awww

I also made the cutest tote bag. I found some festive and colorful material. It's Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos themed fabric. I like this bag so much I don't know if I can even put it up on etsy to sell it... We'll see! I also bought fabric to make another tote, this one with trees and leaves. The liner will be plaid, I seem to really be into plaids lately.

I have two more projects in line for family members, okay, wait that's a lie, I have all these Christmas projects swimming around in my head, but actual projects, I have 2. One for a cousin, it's a long decorative pillow to sit on her bead. It's aqua and lime green fabrics and I'm appliqueing all these flowers on it. It's mostly done, and I hope to finish it up this weekend! The other project is a Packers quilt for my brother. I have the fabric and the pattern for my blocks I just need to get started, which I am super pumped to do. But first, there is one thing I NEED to finish first.

What could that be? My Halloween costume, of course. I've been putting it off like it's got the plague. I'm actually very excited to have my costume, but the making of it, yuck... I'm going to be an Ol West Saloon Girl. I can even wear the costume again for Steamcon. I need to JUST DO IT!!

On to Craft Night!

What is craft night? Let me tell you, craft night is when I get together with 5 friends and we do crafts.

We select someone to host craft night, they then find a day and time that will work for everyone else (typically via email, so everyone is in on the planning thread). We show up at their house and we are greeted with 'snacks or light refreshments' aka a ton of super yummy food. Even if my friends were shitty people, I would possibly keep them around for what amazing cooks they are! (But they are all super amazing outside the kitchen, too!) There is normally a wine or a select cocktail. We get some munchies, pick a movie to watch, and get to work. We tend to talk the whole time, so we usually pick a 'chick-flick' we've all seen before. Some favorites are: Never Been Kissed, Mean Girls, Bridget Jone's Diary, 2 Week's Notice, etc. Or we pick funny movies, like Wayne's World or Dodgeball, a True Underdog Story!

It's so nice to connect after a couple of weeks at our busy lives and just relax. There are 6 of us, and none of us do the same thing, we have a knitter, a crocheter, scrapbooker, jewelry maker, and 2 of us that do all sorts of things. When I host, I'll sew, otherwise I bring a more portable craft with me. I'm just learning to knit, so it's nice to have an expert right there to ask questiong and give guidence. I think the jewelry makers can borrow tools and teach each other techniques.

I finally broke down while hosting this time and made craft night a pot luck. I tried my darnedest to come up with a clever theme, but it never came. So our theme is DIP. I asked my friends to each bring a dip and the dippers to go along with it. We have a bottle of sparkling wine and a rose. My roommate will pick up 2 six-packs, one PBR or Coors Lite like beers, and one a mirco brew.

We've even set up a 'play-date' for the boys. All the spouses, are gathering at a different house for Scotch and Cigars???? Our goal is a craft night about every 6 weeks or so. Over the summer it was impossible, but now we're back on track to craft away!

PODCASTS! I heart podcasts!

A few years back I saved and got an iPod nano! I loved it! Then the iPhone came out and I wanted one soooo bad, I had to have it. About a year ago I got one! I was so excited and I still am. One of my favorite things to do is to listen and/or watch podcasts. I wanted to take a few minutes and mention the ones I listen to on a regular basis. I'm gonna list them in alphabetical order so I don't play favorites. They are all from iTunes (I don't even know where else to look for podcasts...) Let me know if you check any of them out and what you think. Also, let me know about some of your favorites.

Best of YouTube: video, they show all kinds of things, usually entertaining, funny or educations ranging from about 30 sec to 10min

Brian Stuff: audio, from How Stuff Works (Love these guys!) host answers a daily question, Why do some doors open inward? is in my que right now, usually less than 5min

The Coolest Stuff on the Planet: video: again from How Stuff Works (HSW), sorta a travel and mini history lesson of places all around the world, it is a slide show format not an actual video is the only think I don't like about it, typically 5 to 10 min each segment at end for viewer mail

The Crafty Pod, audio, host typically interviews someone that works in the craft field and is an expert in their field often topics are how to create or run your craft business, this host seems so helpful and personable, I want her to be my friend! 20 to 30 min

Easy Entertaining with Cindy Harris, video, host select a dish and very thoroughly takes the viewer step by step also gives helpful hints and tips. The few dishes I have made from the podcast have been super! 5 to 10 min

Farmer's Market Gourmet, video, also with Cindy Harris, she selects a product that is in season and bases her dish on it, 5 to 10 min

Gardenerd Tip of the Week, audio, quick gardening tip or idea, have been pretty useful in my gardening, 2 to 3 min (I wish they were longer!)

Get Fit Guy: audio, from the Quick and Dirty Tips folks (Q&DT), host discusses exercise techniques and common misconceptions about fitness, 5 to 8 min each

Get It Done Guy: audio Q&DT, host gives tips on how to be more assertive and organized in the work place setting (I think a lot of it applies to life also) I also in enjoy his quirky humor and examples, 5 to 8 min each

The House Call Doctor: audio, Q&DT, host is a doctor and discusses common health issues and diseases explaining the condition and treatment, he is very down to earth and practical, 8 to 12 min sometimes doing series on more involved topics

Let's Quilt, video, host selects a project and breaks it down into steps, several steps are in each podcast, 10 to 15 min

Matt's Today in History, audio, host selects historical topic and discusses it, I like the podcast buy find the host tends to spend a lot of time explaining his format, 10 to 20 min

Modern Manners Guy, audio, from Q&DT, I love this podcast, it's about how to be polite and proper etiquette in modern times, there is a new host and I have yet to listen to him... 5 to 8 min each

The Nutrition Diva, audio Q&DT, host talks about eating and food- awesome! Topics often discuss diet or food fad and how our bodies use those foods, she is very good at telling listeners both sides of a health argument and lets you decide what's best for you and your needs, 5 to 10 min

One Minute How To, audio, each week the host has a different guest talking about a topic they know something about, topics really vary anything from how to invest in stocks, to making stock (soup), to surviving a zombie attack, I always expect the podcast to only be a min (it's in the name!) but they are around 3 to 5 min and the guest is almost always plugging something

Podictionary, audio, hosts selects a word and give the background and origin of it, 2 to 5 min

Quilting... For the Rest Of Us, audio, host discusses her quilting progress and selects a topic to discuss, usually pretty educational and thought provoking, considering. She also has a lot going on with the web (facebook, twitter, newsletter, webpage, blog, and forum) if you want to get involved with a web based quilting community, 1 hour talks about listener feedback (which I like!)

Stash Resolution, audio, host kinda talks about life and crafting/quilting, easy to listen to and gives useful tips. She seems to be a very DIY kinda gal. 1 hour

Stuff from the Science Lab, audio, from HSW 2 hosts and they select a topic in the science field and talk the heck out of it. I find I only listen to things I find interesting, 20 to 30 min segment at the end for listener mail

Stuff Mom Never Told You, audio, from HSW 2 hosts discuss women's and gender issues, sometimes serious, sometimes playful, 20 to 30 min segment at the end for listener mail

The Stuff of Genius: video, from HSW, quirky short videos about inventors and what they did that was so awesome, 2 to 5 min

Stuff They Don't Want You to Know, video, HSW, conspiracies from secret government agencies to UFOs, some times creepy but thoughtful and entertaining, 3 to 6 min

Stuff You Missed in History Class, audio, HSW, 2 hosts discuss historical figures or topics. They explain complex issues very well and topics are always interesting, I usually want to find out more or look at pictures afterward, 20 to 30 segment at end for listener mail

Stuff You Should Know, audio, HSW, 2 hosts are very entertaining and select interesting and intriguing topics, by the end of the podcast, you may not be an expert buy you could hold your own in a conversation with an expert, 20 to 30 min with a listener mail segment at the end

Threadbanger, video, this was one of my first podcasts and favorite, DIY fashion how tos, I'm not sure if they are still at it or not, haven't had a new episode since May, they were changing the format and getting at least one new host (I should re-subscribe?), 5 to 10 min very viewer based, it was cool to see the viewer submissions

Vegetable Gardening, audio, hosts quickly discusses one garden topic, 2 to 3 min

Weird Worm, audio, wacky topics in a list, for example 6 Weird World Championships, always entertaining, writers are very witty, 5 to 10 min

60 Second Civics, audio, in less than 60 seconds one topic of civics is discussed, often segment are spread though out several episodes, not that much info but educational none the less, 1 min

Yikes, that's a lot!! Again, let me know if you listen to any of these or if you check em out, what you think! I'm always looking for new things so let me know your favorites!!!

What I've been up to...

I was house sitting for two weeks, so I was really able to work on much while I was away. Now that I'm back home (yay!) I've been working on a glittery Mother's Day project. I'm making my mom two fabric covered scrap book albums. I think it has been more work than what I bargained for, but she is gonna love them. I'll post pictures on FB after next week Sunday.
In addition to that, I've been making a lot of homeade bread, and will most likely make another batch today, with whatever flower I have on hand. A mix of white, whole wheat, and spelt flours. Yum, yum. I have also been working in the garden plot. This week I planted some parsnips and beans, and repotted some tomato plants I started a few weeks ago. I need to get out to the garden and weed it, plus plant some some lettuce! I can't wait for summer and to be eating my very own fresh, organic veggies!!
As for as etsy, I've renewed a few items in my shop, and I'm looking and joining etsy teams. Hopefully this will help promote and get my items out there! Also a huge benefit of join teams are the meet ups. I'm really looking forward to meeting some super awesome folks that are doing what I'm doing!
I think that's all for now, I have some sewing to do!!

First Blog...

Hey,
So this is my first blog via Blogger! I'll tell you a little about myself and the purpose of my blog.
I'm currently 31 and trying to start a craft/sewing business from my home. I mostly make tote bags, quilts, feather and flowery hair pieces along with dabbling in many other things. I have an etsy shop, and that is where I try to sell my wares. So without further ado, here is my shop address: etsy.com/shop/yellowlinedesign. Check it out. I started by teaching myself to crochet from library books a few years ago. Since then, I have taught myself to sew, saving my Christmas money to purchase a 'cheap' but new sewing machine. I also own a glue gun, lots of beads, tons of fabric, zippers, and feather!

The main purpose for this blog is to express where I'm going and what I'm doing with my creations and business. I also hope to get inspiration and inspire others with ideas and techniques. I would love to hear your comments and share my blog with your friends!

Here is an actual link to my etsy page
http://etsy.com/shop/yellowlinedesign