Etsy Weekends - Felt Earrings

Sometimes I use Etsy as a drawing board for ideas. When Mom and Dad came to visit they brought the Purple Elephant Purse. (That's a story for another day!) I was looking in the box the other day and found jewelry stuff in the bottom of the box. I went through a phase when I was younger of making wire jewelry from notebook wire and beads...guess I've always loved the idea of recycling/upcycling. Anyway, I wasn't very good at it, so the ideas got shelved and the findings went into a container that went into a box that ended up here. I was thinking of giving them to the neighbor, since her daughters decided this summer to make jewelry, but then I thought...why shouldn't I try again? I remembered seeing some cool felt earrings on Etsy, so I did a search, and here are some really cool ones I may try to emulate! Then again...maybe I'll just make cat fur earrings...you never know what I might do! :)

 Felt Balls from KnitKnit 

Sheep from Coasty's Creations

Pink Earrings from Piece of Art

 Cat Faces from Pixie Paws Shop

Come back next week to see what else we're featuring from Etsy!

A New View

Today when Matt and I headed out to do our usual walk, we saw scary impending thunderstorm clouds rolling in over top of us, so we decided to take a new route. It was beautiful and interesting, and we got to see a deer! (Not completely unusual in Bozeman, but still fun to see anytime!) It just reminded me that sometimes it's nice to do something out of the ordinary and get a new view of life around you!

 

Two for Tuesday - Yarn Organization

Hello again from Pam and Kirsten!

We're back to talk about organization again, but this time we're focused in on yarn organization!

Let's face it. If you knit/crochet/sew you know what we mean when we say our stash is a little out of hand. That's because knitters, crocheters, and sewers are all hoarders - at various levels of course.

I wouldn't call it hoarding, so much as preparing for any and all knitting needs!

We have a lot of yarn. Between the two of us, we could almost open a yarn shop! Actually, we've thought of buying one in the future, but I'm not so sure how that would help our sanity.

I have been working very hard lately on my yarn, patterns, and completed projects organization. I've sorted finished projects in recycling bags so I can tell what I have complete. I have my loose patterns in three ring binders. One of my favorite past times is to sort yarn. I try to sort it by fiber and then color. There's nothing like an afternoon with yarn scattered all over the living room and then putting it all back into tubs! Most of my yarn is in tubs, those big Rubbermaid ones you can buy at retail stores. Other yarn is sorted into a big cubbyhole system in the basement, while still more yarn is in drawers in a dresser. 

For a while I had my yarn in huge toner boxes - I had put them there for ease of moving, but we ended up staying where we are instead, but I kept the yarn there out of convenience. The only problem was, that the boxes weren't terribly convenient. If I wanted to find a certain yarn I had to dig around the huge box, and sometimes the softer yarns would start to unravel from their balls. Very frustrating. In the last couple of weeks I've been rearranging the second bedroom (read: catch all room/sewing room/storage room/guest bedroom without a bed) as we are soon to get a new bed in the master bedroom, and will put the old one in the guest room so guests will finally have a bed to sleep on! In my rearranging I decided the big boxes had to go. So I bought a $20 drawer organizer in which to store my Etsy mice (they aren't stitched closed, I stuff the catnip and shakers in after they are purchased just in case the customer wants a bell or a silent "church mouse" instead) which then opened up the dresser. I was able to fit all of my wool balls and lion brand yarn in the dresser, leaving only the cotton and flash yarns to fend for themselves in a mixture of cloth, paper, and plastic bags in the closet...which is also where my wool skeins live. I also added one great feature just two days ago: an organizational shoe rack in which to place my needles and other odds and ends! I haven't even filled it yet, it's so new!

Those are our tips and tricks, how do you store your hoard? Er, stash? 

Etsy Weekends - Paw Print Necklaces

We love our pets at Hide & Hair. Sometimes we would like to show that love with more than just cat/dog hair all over our clothes! Here are some Etsy items that would be perfect for showing off!

Beach Pebble from S J Engraving

Silver Necklace from LuLuBug Jewelry

Green Glass Pendant from PokeyPotamus

Black and White Glass Pendant from Jane's Glass Art

Hope these items intrigued you as much as us! Come back next week to see what else we have for you!

Close Ups!

We all love to take pictures of our critters. Especially those really close up ones. :) They love it too right?

Norman's Chin Whiskers

Bernie the Bunny

Lela the Cat

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekends, I know I will...because I start back to school on Monday!

Peas

This year I'm trying something new with the peas. After the vines dried and shriveled, I planted new seeds in the shadow of the dried plants. I also learned that you cut the peas off at the base instead of pulling the roots from the ground, this way nutrients from the roots stay in the ground longer - way cool! I'm not sure if it'll work...but it was worth a shot, and I've already got little peas shooting up from the ground. Whether they will harvest a bounty before our early frosts, I'm not sure. I also planted a second round of green leaf and red leaf lettuce...but neither of those has popped up yet. I guess I just have to wait and see if it was worth it. I have ideas about a new location for my shade loving plants next year...and I'm already anxiously awaiting the spring! :)

Manly Mittens

A few weeks ago I picked up the last few Harmony Guides from Interweave Press that I didn't already own. One of the books was the Color Work book, and looking through it made me want to do lots and lots of colorwork!! I was digging through my wool the other day and came across some llama/wool blend and some dyed wool blend that I spun up about 6 or 7 years ago. If I remember correctly, the llama wool came from a local woman who told us she had been burning her fleeces because she didn't know what to do with it. We quickly volunteered to save her wool from the burn pile the next spring, and it was horribly dirty and full of guard fiber. I had to buy one of those bird flu/Michael Jackson face masks to wear while I was working on it out on my porch, and even then it made me sneeze out little black fibers. But, once it was spun it was beautiful, and is still one of my favorite hand spun yarns! The dyed wool came with the wheel I think as a free gift with purchase. After I spun them I immediately made these beauties:

I was pretty proud of those legwarmers, and I hope whoever ended up with them loved them as much as I did. I remember taking them to school with me at UWGB, and doing the orange overstitching leaned up against one of the triangles in the tunnels by Wood Hall (at least I think it was Wood Hall...it's been a few years now....) 

Anyway, fast forward to last week, when I came across the yarn again and thought, "I should make something with these two yarns again. They look great together!" So I brought them downstairs, and flipped through my new colorwork book until this celtic knot pattern leaped off the page at me, and I knew I must make manly mittens. 

I think they turned out pretty good. Lovely flecked stitch on the palm and climbing up the thumb, with plain brown patches on the thumb tip and mitten tip. Matt suggested a lady version, and I am currently working on those. (They also look great so far! I'm just hoping I have enough of the llama wool to finish the second pair!)

I will eventually put these up for sale on Etsy, just not quite yet. They aren't seasoned quite enough :)

Update: they are now available for Sale in our Etsy Shop!

Etsy Weekends - My New Kitchen

Today I'm going to feature just one shop, because I am fantasizing about my kitchen, and this shop has got my bases covered! The shop is Cattails Woodwork from Canada, and they do beautiful things with wood. I am envisioning all three of these items in the same area of wall in my kitchen. They will be handy to get to, and beautifully decorative! If I don't buy these for myself before I get married, you can expect to find them on my Etsy Registry! :)

Rolling Pin

Rolling Pin Holder

Breadboards 

100th Blog Post

This is our 100th Blog Post! It's only taken us three years! :)

I thought I would come up with something really clever to talk about to commemorate this momentous occasion...but I can't think of anything worthy. So here are some pictures of sheep and a llama!

Two For Tuesday - Garden Organization

Hello from Pam, and Kirsten!

We have a few thoughts to share with you on Organization, so you'll be hearing from both of us today! 

I've been thinking a lot lately, can the experts be right? Is there something to this idea of organization? I waste so many hours of my life looking for things I've misplaced. A knitting pattern, yarn, a certain knitting needle, a spice I need to make supper and flower seeds I bought on Good Friday!

I'm the same, and it doesn't help that Matt wants to help with the organization. We both think we're doing great things when we clean, but when you clean and organize without a good plan, or communication, it leads to even more items going missing.

The most recent incident that brings this to the forefront of my mind is from this weekend. Back on Good Friday I purchased some seeds and a few lily bulbs, when I couldn't find them again this past spring I ended up buying new seeds. Two nights ago I decided I would dye some wool, and while I was digging through my cupboards gathering my tools, I found the seeds and lily bulbs! Then wouldn't you know it, my dye pot had a pin hole in it.

Matt found a margarine bowl with onion bulbs in our dry food storage area the other day. I told him I knew they were there, but I'd completely forgotten. I've been keeping my seed packets in the pouch that they were initially shipped to me in. The bulbs didn't fit, so I tossed them in the margarine bowl after I finished planting the onions this year. Whoopsies! Glad I didn't have to replant any....

So, we have to think there is a better way.

Mom's story, and Matt's discovery, has me thinking that I might need some new organization as well. Especially if I plan on saving my own seeds this year. Recently I had a new infusion of seeds from Matt's Mom, so they have moved from their shipping package to a shoe box! Luckily, I have a great spot all picked out for my seeds and bulbs. In our dry storage area is a large plastic shelf system. It's taller than me (doesn't take much) and the top shelf is basically unused since I can't easily reach it. However, I am getting a stool soon, which will be helpful in so many ways, and will make that top shelf a viable storage option for the future. I've been planning on buying drawer storage containers for my Yarn storage, and now I'm thinking that a small drawer system could be great for my seeds too! I would just need to make sure the drawers are tall enough to hold an upright seed packet, and then put in some kind of dividers. Each drawer could easily hold three rows of seed packets, and they could even be organized by seed type! (The OCD tendencies are really kicking in now!) The other drawers could even hold vital garden information, like the three ring binder I started this year to record the seeds I grew, which includes in formation on how the seeds did, how long it took to germinate, how long it took to grow ripe vegetables, and plans/ideas for the future.

I'm still not sure what to do about my garden supply organization, but I have come up with a few new ideas in the garden itself, and the major one is that I stopped growing potatoes! I always planted them and then when the tops died off I couldn't remember where they were planted. So I stopped planting them and now I don't have to remember where they are! While the garden supply organization has moved to the back burner I have been working on the yarn, patterns and completed projects. I've sorted  finished projects in  recycling bags so I can tell what I have complete, and I have my loose patterns in three ring binders. Before our daughter Becky came to visit we found some of her treasures and then had her go through them. We carried two big bags to the trash and I have four empty drawers in the dresser in my craft room! We are still looking for her high school yearbooks...maybe in the next batch of organizing I'll find those!

What methods do you use? Have we inspired you to get organized? Let us know here in the comments, or on Facebook! Keep an eye out in the coming months for progress on our organizational trials!

A Hot Seed Mess

Etsy Weekends - Soy Candles

When I was going to college at UW Green Bay I had a part time job at the Bay Park Square Mall hawking cookies in a Mrs. Field's. One year during the Christmas season a new kiosk opened up selling Soy Candles. Peter, the man who ran the kiosk, was just about the sweetest guy you could ever meet. He had moved back from Chicago to take care of his aging mother, and was always upbeat and cheerful. He also had some of the best smelling candles ever! I was looking for extra cash that year, and Peter asked if I would like to work in his Kiosk selling candles. It was a dream job! I got to knit, and talk to people about the benefits of burning soy wax over traditional wax (healthier for you and your walls!) and I got to smell candles all day! Every time I see a soy candle I think of Peter and that great job he offered me at a time when I needed it. I think that's why it's so easy to sell me on any new Soy Candle I come across...like these!
 

Wood Wick from Green Bean Soap Co.

 Hemp Wick from Green Bean Soap Co.

  Magnolia Soy from SydneyHaleCo

Spiced Cider Soy from ThemeFrangrance

Square Votive from FireFlyCandles

We hope you've enjoyed our picks this week! Check us out next week to see what else we've found!

Family Visit

The grand kids came up to Wisconsin this past week, and they had all kinds of fun:

First at the Boscobel Civil War Reenactment, they got to pet horses and watch a Civil War Battle!

 Then they got to help Great Grandpa pick vegetables at "The Farm". (BTW, can you believe this man is 93 years old and still works in his garden every day?)

They also got to help Grandma Sheep feed the sheep and llama!

All in all, a great trip to Wisconsin!

Lucy and General Fancy Pants agree!

Tomatoes!

I am eagerly awaiting the ripening of my tomatoes, but none of them are very close. I would say the yellow pears are the only ones that look like they are headed toward being ripe. They all look great though and are filling their plants with more and more fruit! I can't wait to walk out to the garden and find ripe tomatoes...soon I hope!

Cherry Tomatoes

Glacier Tomatoes

German Strawberry Tomatoes

Stupice Tomatoes

Yellow Pear Tomatoes

I had been harvesting my peas like crazy, but it has gotten too hot and they have stopped producing. I've been trying to harvest beans, but it looks like the deer and the bunnies have gotten there ahead of me. I've still been finding a few bush beans those hungry buggers missed, and last night we had new potatoes with green onions and beans. It was tasty!!

While Matt's Mom was here visiting we discussed my pepper problems:

They are tiny! They haven't grown much in height since I placed them in their raised bed, even though they have been growing new leaves. We did some research and I have some ideas for next year, I'm going to start the peppers stupid early from seed, and I'm going to get water walls! It looks like peppers really want the night temp to not go below 70 degrees. It gets a lot colder than that here!! The water walls are supposed to insulate the plants, and hopefully keep them warmer at night! Check back next summer to see if I'm successful ;)

Have a great week, we're halfway through now! :)