Housework or Stitching?

I'm so torn between doing my housework or stitching.  Cleaning house on a Sunday seems like a doomed effort with everyone home.  Seems like my family lives to undo my work as fast as I can get it done.  On the other hand, my cross stitch is calling out to me to come sit for a spell and stitch.

After thinking this through, I've decided to compromise and do the bare minumum of housework.  Clean the bathrooms, throw on some laundry, and vacuum up the visible dirt.  Then sit and stitch until dinner time.

Happy Crafting everyone!

Just Listed a Brand New Card

I've been busy stitching but took some time off today to complete some of my projects.  I just listed this beautiful flower card on Ebay.  I think it turned out really pretty.  Hope you think so. Check it out at the link below.

http://bit.ly/amfqX5

Now I think I'll get back to work on completing another project.

Happy Crafting everyone!

So much to learn!

I considered myself pretty computer savvy over the years but now I realize that there is so much still to learn.  Since opening my Etsy shop, Stitchcrafts, I've come to realize that in order for my beautiful handmade cross stitched items to be seen by the endless scores of people on the internet I've got to promote.  Wow!  I've got a whole lot to learn about promoting online. 

Forced by our poor economy and limited finances I'm having to learn how to promote my items without spending any money.  I now know how to tweet, am becoming better at using Facebook, and as you can see, I even have a blog.

Who knew it could be so much work.  Better go see what else I can learn to help my own cause.

Happy crafting! (and promoting)

Figuring out my Etsy shop

Here we are in the new year and I'm ready to work hard on my Etsy shop called Stitchcrafts. I opened my shop in 2008 but I admit that I didn't work at it. In 2009 I worked harder at my shop. I listed items, renewed items, took new photos, promoted it on facebook, twitter, and my blog which led to some sales but not as many as I had hoped.

But what to do? I've tried asking for advice in the forums but feel mostly ignored. I'm working on my photos but need some actual sunlight to get brighter pictures. It's hard to take a good photo when it looks like you live in a cave and it's snowing and 10 degrees outside. Now what to do?

Crafting is definitely the easy part of this endeavor! I have gotten about 14 items listed in my shop. Is that enough? We'll see. Back to stitching because if I ever figure it out, I'll hopefully need lots of items with which to stock my shop.

Happy crafting everyone!

Another snowy day in the midwest

Another day and more snow. Supposed to get 3 - 7 inches by Tuesday morning but if that is going to happen it better pick up the pace. We got a meager 1/2" overnight and they called off school. Now the sun is shining and it's not snowing. Kids are happy to have another day off. They had an early release on Friday because of the snow we got.

I did manage to get some cross stitching done in between
shoveling snow and unloading firewood.
These are 2 flowers I stitched.
I'm hoping if I stitch flowers it
will soon be spring.

Now I need to finish them into some kind of card or something.

Stay warm & dry and Happy Crafting!

Polar Bear Plunge

Yesterday my husband and I took my mom, sister and her hubby along with us to watch our daughter do her first polar bear plunge. The Polar Bear Plunge was done to raise money for the Special Olympics. My daughter raised $262 dollars.

It was 37 degrees outside by the time the people took the plunge. The water temperature was 36 degrees and as you can tell by the photos, we had snow on the ground. The looks on the faces of the hearty souls who were "freezin' for a reason" was priceless. They were all so shocked by how cold it really was in the water. It was so much fun to watch and I'm so glad we went.

My daughter and her friend both seemed to have fun because they were smiling from ear to ear when they came out of the water.

What a great thing to do for a good cause.

Now we are bracing for another snow storm tonight and all day tomorrow. Supposed to get 7 more inches of snow. Where's spring?

Snowing and Stitching

Another snowy day here in mid-Missouri. We're supposed to get 2 to 4 inches but after 7 hours of snow fall I think we have about an inch. Thankfully it's just warm enough that it melts as it falls and just can't seem to accumulate. I used to love the snow but now that I've got a teen driver, not so much.

Got up at 4 a.m. this morning with my hubby so I spent a few hours working on finishing a pattern I've been working on. I got 2 really pretty flowers stitched this week and will post pictures this weekend. I also spent a little time (okay, a lot of time) going through my patterns to pick out my next project.

Stay warm and dry!

Looking forward to a good year!

I'm looking forward to a good year with selling my cross stitch items. Cross stitching is a huge passion of mine and I love to turn the patterns into beautiful keepsakes. I'm hoping that this year I can get a following so I can share my creations with others.

My favorite patterns to stitch would be Prairie Schooler. I'm a country gal who loves her antiques, primitives, and country stuff. The Prairie Schooler patterns are just simple, rustic, beautiful patterns that turn into great home decorations.

I also love to stitch smaller patterns that I can place into cards that anyone can give as a gift. These can then be framed as a keepsake. I've given many of these away over the years to my family and friends.

Keep doing what you love to do!

Rabbit & Flower cross stitch card

I currently have this Rabbit and Flower card listed for sale on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160398815696&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Check out my other items too.

Thanks for looking.

New Year

I sure hope everyone is having a great start to their new year. Somehow I just completely forgot to blog for the whole first month of the new year. Wish I could say I've been too busy making and selling my craft items but that isn't the case. Just plain old forgot!

I have been busy stitching a few things but mostly been busy with the after Christmas cleaning that taking down the tree seems to spark in me. At least my house is cleaner.

Here are a few things that I did find the time to stitch. I think
these 2 turned out pretty cute.

Keep crafting!