Update and New Items in My Etsy Store

Well it's been awhile since I last posted. Things have been pretty crazy here for the last month with Pete having to go back in for more surgery and being bedridden for quite a few weeks. It's meant I have had to take on everything at home which I'm not used to as Pete helps out a lot. I'm so tired!! It was also Max's 5th birthday last weekend and I was busy whipping up a cute little chef costume for him.

Somehow in all of that, I have managed to list a few new items in my etsy store and have sold out of all my pre-made sets of hair ties!! A huge thank you to all of my lovely customers!! Here's a few pics of the new items.

Sweet Baby Headband

Sunflower Earrings

Resin Cabochon Bobby Pins

Resin Cabochon Rose Bobby Pins

Fold Over Elastic Hair Ties - Choose Your Own Colours

I decided to try selling the hair ties in this format so customers could get exactly the colours they want. It seems to be popular as I have already sold a few. What do you think? When I get lower on my elastic stock, I will look at ordering new colours and try to get some more neutral elastics like a few of my readers mentioned during the competition that was run a little while ago.

Now that Pete is beginning to become more mobile, I will hopefully be able to start doing a bit more crafting again....and posting here too!

Getting Back Into Things

Well it's been awhile. I did return from holidays...a month ago actually!! It's just taken that long for me to get back into the swing of things. The boys started day care 2 days a week when we got back so that has been a big adjustment for all of us and despite now having 2 days a week to myself (until I get my teacher registration done and start working), I have spent most of them helping out at Pete's school or catching up on some much needed sleep. I can't believe how much I have slept!!! I must be catching up on the past 5 years of sleep deprivation. Ha!

Anyway, I did buy lots of goodies while I was away. I think I filled about half my new suitcase with fabric! There were also a bit of crafty bits including some needle felting items. When we flew home, it was an effort to balance out all of our stuff so we weren't over the weight limit!

I have started pulling it out and pre-shrinking/washing the stuff I need to use pretty soon but haven't gotten much further than that. I'll take a few pics of some of the really cute stuff for another post. Instead, I've been distracted by Mother's Day and getting some hats made for my boys. I can't post about my Mother's Day gift for my mum yet because she might see it but here's a little teaser.

I also received this exciting bundle of fur from my friend Emma at Fur Addiction.

It was so exciting pulling all this fur out of the box. It was literally stuffed to the limit with all of this furry goodness. I can wait to start using it for some projects I have in mind.

Well that's where I'm up to for now. I'm also waiting on an order from my favourite covered button store, Jackobindi. I have some new hair ties, earrings, cabochons and hair clips coming.

I will be doing my best to get some new items up in my store over the next week. It seems sooooo much easier to make them than to list them on etsy!

Happy crafting!

A Sneak Peek and My Improving Photography Skills

I just wanted to share some gorgeous new hair accessories I've been making over the past week. The hair accessories below are made with resin cabochons set onto bobby pins. I can't decide whether I like the filigree bobby pins or the plain ones best!

There is also a cute little pair of earrings that has snuck in there. :-) Cute little sunflower cabochons mounted on sterling silver plated studs.

I have had so much fun making them although I think my favourite part was photographing them all and learning how to get some great (or at least better) shots out of my little point and shoot camera.

I finally figured out how to get more depth of field with my little point and shoot! Yay!

I've been having trouble getting the lighting right and I'm still not 100% sure it's ok half the time but I think it is an improvement at least.

I watched this wonderful tutorial I found through the Etsy seller handbook. It gave some wonderful tips on how to get the most out of a point and shoot camera, which is what I have. I would LOVE a digital SLR but that is something I will have to save for.

Things have been slow going cause we have all been sick over the past week and a half but I have a bunch of new things to pop in the store that are super cute! Hopefully they will be up soon health permitting!

A New Year with New Adventures

This year is full of new things for our family. A new house, new hometown, new job, new kindy, new friends, new church, new goals, and lots of other new things.

Something new for me is that I have finally decided to go ahead and start creating some things to sell! That right! I am opening up an Etsy store!! I have thought about this and wanted to try it for such a long time and have finally decided to do something about it. I also need something bringing in money so I can buy more fabric and craft supplies. ;-)

I am also learning how to source craft supplies and fabric in the country. It is proving quite tricky! We moved to Mt Isa in Queensland's north west and sewing supplies up here are scarce! I am getting very good at scouring the internet and the best source of fabric I have found here so far are op shops! I bought this gorgeous vintage flat sheet last week.

Isn't it sweet?? I have lots of ideas running around in my head for this!

I also got this beautiful fabric! 

I'm not sure what I'm going to use this one for but I absolutely love asian prints and fabrics and couldn't pass it up! I am hoping to create lots of asian inspired items for my shop. 

Anyway, as you might have noticed, I love to try lots of different crafts and sewing projects so to start off with, I will be selling quite a variety of items while I discover my style. I am also fitting in my crafting around my 2 little boys and helping out my husband by creating teaching resources so I will only be listing items as I can make them. This might mean that some weeks it will only be 1-2 new items...other weeks it might be 10! Hopefully there won't be any many weeks with none.

I don't have the store open yet as I am doing some final touches but will let you know as soon as it opens! Keep checking back for updates!!