Shawl Pins

I know, I know, I said that last post would be my last of the year. BUT I also said 'I make no promises' So here is me cashing in on that statement hehe.

I have been working on that project I showed you the yarn for back in this post and I love it and am so excited to show you all when I'm done! I have also been thinking about closure for the piece. I don't think buttons or a zipper would work, I think I want a shawl pin for it.

Since the colors are mostly a rich, dark, blue/turquoise type shade I really think a silver or red pin would just POP you know? I was just meandering through Etsy and found these lovelies which are all gorgeous and would all finish off the shawl/cardigan beautifully. Now the hard part: picking just one.

Which is your favorite?

Goals, Ideas and Hopes for 2010

Merry Eve of Christmas Eve to you all! This could potentially be my last post for the year (but who knows, I make no promises) and I wanted to let you know some of my goals, ideas and hopes for the next year concerning this blog and my shop.

In the shop:

• I want to bring more luxury knits, cashmere, silk, angora, etc
• I want to bring more patterns - since the patterns I have in there are doing so well I really want to bring more to the table.
• I want to bring better photos and descriptions

*Your turn: What do you suggest for my shop? Any items or materials in particular? A certain type of pattern you'd like to see? Anything you'd like NOT to change? Please help me out with this :)

For the blog:

• I want to engage my readers a bit more - I know you're out there, my analytics tell me that you read, but you don't comment so I need to figure out a better way to entice comments :)
• I want to interview some other bloggers or shop owners and perhaps do more giveaways (if you're interested, please let me know!)
• I want to know what you want to read - which features did you like that I tested out this year? The Monday Color? Tuesday Learn Something New Day? Friday Feature? Again, please let me know so I can bring you what you want to read :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season and that its filled with rest, relaxation, food, family and laughter :)

*and, as always, if you click on the pictures, it will take you to the item listing in the Etsy shop ;)

Oooh New Yarns and Coming Projects

I have a big idea for a project that I am going to create (hopefully during this winter break) and share the pattern with you all in my blog. Wanna see the luxurious yarn that its going to be made out of?

I got twelve (I think?) skeins of Berroco Vintage (above) in a very gorgeous, deep, rich, teal color (ok, super side-note - do you see whats behind the yarn above? My new toy! A skein winder! Thank you to my momma for an early Christmas present) and two skeins of Misti Alpaca Lace in the Jazz colorway (below).

What do you think? I'm going to use the two together throughout the entire piece and I am so excited to see the finished result!

What would you make with this yarn? Or, if you don't knit, crochet or otherwise play with fiber, what would you do with these colors?

Temporary House

Right now, Matt and I are living in a temporary house. We have moved out of our apartment but haven't gotten the loan for the new house yet so....we're living in another place for the time being.

Its an old historical house, some politician lived there a while back or something, either way, its super old, super neat and super cold. The house came complete with all kinds of vintage and antique goodies and I know you will all love them so I took plenty of photos for you to drool over :)

This adorable little dish sits on top of a dresser with a bowl of mints that have been here for who knows how long and the following awesome lamp:

I love white and blue porcelain pieces and this house is full of them, the large bowl below would make a great planter for a window of foliage:

There is also a range of furniture in the house, the rocking chair below is so cute and simple and I love it :)

And in one of the rooms is this built in wall-shelf with all sorts of goodies and knicknacks!

Let's take a closer look,

We found similar items in the basement along with tons of other neato stuff, but photos of those will come when I get some decent lighting, in the meantime, lets take a closer look at this gorgeous plate:

And lets not forget the chandeliers! There are two of the one shown below, and two others in the house that are different. I guess if you have ceilings so dang high you need chandeliers right?

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the $5 gift certificate to youvebeenupcycled is Aestraea! She will be contacted shortly.

Thank you all for entering and I hope to do more of these next year!

Recently Listed

These fabulous armwarmers (above) were listed in the shop today just as I sold these adorable booties (below)!

The photos of the armwarmers were taken during the shoot I told you about in this post, what do you think?

Recent Photoshoot

The other day (Sunday to be exact) my friend Sam and I did a small photoshoot with some of my knits.

She was a wonderful and gorgeous model and we had a good time feeling up all my projects hehe.

I took little miss Lisa over to play with her dog and we may have thrown in some studying for finals while the batteries to my camera were charging.

some of the new photos have been added to the shop already, but I will continue adding more periodically (and I may have a new item or two to add too ;) so stay tuned!)

Tri-Color Mohawk Beanie and Recipient

Remember that mohawk beanie I showed you last week? Well the recipient got it the next day and took some photos for me, wanna see?

And don't forget to enter this week's amazing giveaway for your choice of item from youvebeenupcycled! Just scroll down or click the button up in the left corner under the banner :)

Interview and Giveaway from youvebeenupcycled

Welcome to the last giveaway of 2009! The crafty momma over at youvebeenupcycled has offered to giveaway winner's choice of item from her shop!

She thinks it is important the reuse and recycle whenever we can and I couldn't agree more. In her eclectic shop you will find all sorts of functional pieces made from unexpected materials; vinyl records into bracelets, drink containers into belts, paper beads and record bowls just to mention a few!

Read on to find out more about this talented, eco-friendly artist and learn how you can enter to win one of her items!

What is one craft that you would love to learn to do?

I would love to learn to sew clothes... and purses. If you could become any animal, what would you choose and why?

A cat - because I have a Himalayan cat and his life is pretty awesome! He rules the house...

Where do you find your inspiration?

My kids! Give us your best greenie tip!

Reuse - reuse - reuse. You can make lots of things from stuff you throw away every day!

youvebeenupcycled is offering my lucky readers a chance to win a $5 gift certificate with free shipping! Considering that all of the items in her shop are less than $10, $5 is a very generous offer from this amazing seller.

To Enter:

-First and foremost, you must visit youvebeenupcycled and leave a comment on which item is your favorite from the shop

-to gain another entry, follow this blog and leave separate comments saying you are!

-to gain another entry, tweet or blog about this giveaway and leave the link in a separate comment so we can all see

with every comment, please leave a way for me to get a hold of you so I can notify the winner as soon as possible :)

The giveaway will end at midnight on Sunday, December 20, (also the sponsor's Birthday!) a winner will be chosen by random number generator and notified on the 21st. Go ahead and start entering!

Friday Flashback - Week 2 for me

I participated in ChristopherandTia's Flashback Friday last week and it got a good response and it was fun for me to do, so I'm doing it again this week!

I don't have too many pictures right now if things that I actually *remember* real well, but the pictures I do have bring back lotsa memories not associated with the picture, does that make sense? I promise if I do keep doing this, I will get pictures that I can tell you the story about next time I go up and visit my momma :)

Anyways, here is the picture for this week:

Those are my brothers and I as munchkins. The one in the headlock is my little brother, the one giving it is my older brother. Don't they look like they're having a blast? Hehe, well this only continued until my little brother got big enough to cause troubles of his own.

See that elephant I am holding? That's where it all started, I'm sure. My love for elephants. I didn't get a teddy bear as a baby, I got a teddy-phant. His name is Buddy and I do still have him and may sleep with him as a pillow on occasion...don't tell anyone. As far as I'm told, Buddy was originally given to my older brother when he was born but he didn't have any interest in it so when I was born I got it. So, my love for elephants was decided before I was even around!

Do you want to participate? Its easy! Just post up a picture from your young years and talk about it and post your link over on their blog :)

Good Gifts For Guys

If you haven't started your holiday shopping yet Shame On You! No no, I'm kidding, I actually just started mine the other day. Last year I did so much better, I started my holiday shopping in, like, June or something and I bought one present at a time so I had a wee bit more financial freedom when choosing gifts but this year I got a late start and now I have to buy all of them in a rather short period of time so...I don't have as much to spend. Also, I'm a broke college student.

But I digress, a lot of the people that I get to buy gifts for are of the male variety and, as we all know, as simple as these creatures seem, buying gifts for them is always a difficult task. I'm here to try to help make it easier on you all! Below are some my favorite items to get for guys, all found on Etsy of course ;)

T-shirts are a great, useful gift that won't get tossed in a box and forgotten about, this wind power themed one from happyfamily would be great for my eco-conscious boyfriend.

Has your guy seen the new terminator movie? Is he in love with the old one? does he like the original cartoons and such? Is he a geek? If you answered yes to any of the above, this awesome USB drive from jasonscreations would be a good small gift.

Can't forget the beer, beer soap is a quirky way to get your guy bath duds (hehe rhymes with suds) for Christmas without him giving you that "Did you just give me girly stuff for Christmas?" look and this soap from FloridaSoaps would be a viable option.

Is your guy a snow-sports type of person? Most of the guys in my life are and they are always in need of cool but warm snowboarding gear and this hat would be perfect for any of them ;)

What have you gotten for the guys on your list this year? Or last year? Leave suggestions in the comments so we can all find unique gifts for the guys!

Tri-Color Mohawk Beanie

I recently sent off this awesome hat in the mail and have to show you all about its awesomeness.

Its got earflaps with little circles of each color crocheted on (which actually makes it crazy warm!) and the mohawk has sections of each color tied in too. I knit it out of wool, two strands held together which will make sure the wearer never ever gets cold!

I hope to show you some pictures of her wearing it if she sends me any ;)

Interview and Giveaway from silhouettejewel

Sorry this is a day late, but to make up for it, we have some extra ways for you to enter this giveaway! First, the interview with our sponsor, silhouettejewel.

Silhouettejewel is the creator behind a line of unique and totally chic jewelry. After being introduced to this hobby, she has never looked back! Using raw materials and a "sprinkle of creatitivity" Sue comes up with the designs you see in her shop :)

Read on to find where this talented woman finds her muse and learn what she wishes she knew when she started selling on Etsy.

How did I begin making jewelry? Well I must confess it is all my friends fault! She decided to give it a try and I went along for the ride. But to be fair we have both been avid 'consumers' of jewelry so this seemed like a natural transition for us.

Where do I find my muse? Colour, colour, colour! That has got to be my first focal point a lot of the time. Then technique. As you can see from my site a have trouble confining myself to one technique. My original friend and I used to meet with a few like minded 'addicts' and we would teach ourselves new techniques. Wire wrapping, chain maille and simple stringing are a few techniques that I have developed a preference for.

My ideal creative setting - would have to include the internet - there are so many sources of inspiration there that you couldn't get in a single location. It would also include warm breezes, tropical beaches, pina coladas....... and someone to do the housework so I could focuse exclusively on my creative technique :)

One thing I wished I knew before starting Etsy - how to take better pictures. My pictures when I started really did not do my pieces justice. I was too impatient to wait until the pictures got better and forged ahead. I'm glad I did! I have learned a lot by running this business on the internet. The photography I still continue to work at and recently have felt like I am getting closer to where I would like to be with it.

Keep up with silhouettejewel on Twitter or over on her blog.

Silhouettejewel is offering up a pair of her Black Spinel Ear Threads to one of my lucky readers!

To Enter:

-First and foremost, you must visit silhouettejewel and leave a comment on which item is your favorite from the shop

-to gain another 2 entries, follow this blog and silhouettejewel's blog and leave separate comments saying you are!

-to gain another entry, tweet or blog about this giveaway and leave the link in a separate comment so we can all see

-if you make a purchase from either SillyLittleLady or silhouettejewel during the time frame of this giveaway, you will receive 5 extra entries! How cool is that?

with every comment, please leave a way for me to get a hold of you so I can notify the winner as soon as possible :)

That gives you 5 ways to enter this giveaway!

The giveaway will end at midnight on Sunday, December 13, a winner will be chosen by random number generator and notified on the 14th. Go ahead and start entering!

Winner!

The winner for Seababe's giveaway has been chosen and notified, thank you to all who entered! Everyone stay tuned for this week's giveaway which will be posted later today ;)

Flashback Friday

Over on ChristopherandTia's Blog she has a Flashback Friday post every week and I love reading them, its a great excuse to conjure up your own fond memories from the past. So this week, I decided I would give it a try :)

Obviously I don't remember how I felt at this particular time (probably sleepy) nor do I have any specific memories regarding this specific couch or even house (I am the little one you see), but I really do love this picture. Its so sweet, so calm, so warming. I'm sure once that little baby *cough*monster*cough* woke up the house was a war zone. But right here, in this moment that has been captured by some unknown, very awake figure with a camera (probably my dad?) all you see is the sweetness and love between mother and her newborn daughter.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Final Package!

So, I got this on...Monday? Or Tuesday? I can't remember, but I really was super stoked about it!

Its the final package from my Ravelry Swap! My Spoiler, who I found out was Rows Red (go read her blog!) really knows how to make a girl feel special :) She themed this package after my favorite color, yellow :)

I got 3 super sweet hand knit wash cloths that are already being put to good use, yarn and the pattern to make more (!) which came in a super awesome knitting bag that definitely ensures that nothing will slip out along with some wonderful smelling candles and great star shaped sticky notes which are also being put to good use already.

She informed me that she had the bag specially made for me by Etsy Seller Babylove Designs so if you are a knitter or know a knitter its a wonderful gift idea! *hint hint*

Thank you so so much miss RowsRed, you did a phenomenal job and its spoilers like you that make me want to keep doing this (not to mention all the great spoilees!) .

So stay tuned for the next swap I join to see all the other cool stuff I get hehe.

Oh, and as a side note: Its snowing in Socorro. And its sticking. :)

Recent Knitting

I know I have been so bad about posting lately, especially last week! The semester is winding up and with that a lot of time is sucked out my life into some academic-wall-papered black hole. I have had some time to knit (I have to keep whats left of my sanity somehow right?) and here is one of the projects I am working on:

Its a menswear-inspired scarf for my friend who's birthday is next week. Its her gift to herself, isn't that awesome? Do you get yourself stuff for your birthday? You should.

anyways, I've done a TON more since this picture was taken and I promise to show you pictures of the completed piece :D

Oh! And I got the final package for the Ravelry Swap I've been doing the other day, I PROMISE pictures will come tomorrow.

tartocstreasures winner!

Pam Hoffman is the lucky winner for last week's giveaway from tartocstreasures, she will be contacted today :D Thanks for entering Pam!

Interview and Giveaway with Seababe!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, I know I did, and I wish it didn't have to end. But alas, it does. To make this week back a tad more bearable, we are hosting another giveaway! This week's giveaway is sponsored by seababe, creators of fine, casual, beachy jewelry :)

Kristin and David run both Seababe and Seababejewelry on Etsy and the two shops, although both offering jewelry, offer very different styles and price ranges. Between the two shops, you are sure to find something that fits your needs.

Read on to learn more about the amazing couple behind this fantastic shop:

What prompted you to start a second shop? How is this new one different than the other?

We were prompted to start a new shop when Kristin started working with new materials like leather and glass. The new style was a little more casual than our Sea Babe Jewelry shop, so we thought it was a good time to expand. The second shop has turned into a more casual and inexpensive shop, while the original shop has all our gold pieces, and some items that have a higher ticket price.

Who started the jewelry making, Kristen or David? How did it begin?

We started making jewelry together. It all began as a hobby and escalated to more.

Where do you find your inspiration for your pieces?

We are inspired for our pieces by the ocean, surf culture, history, traveling, current fashion trends, and even our customers! We get our inspiration from many different sources.

What is the most valuable advice you have ever been given? About the shop, life, whatever?

One piece of advice that sticks out in our minds is to "mind your business." Meaning that we need to be aware of what's going in in all aspects of your business.


Seababe has offered one of my lucky readers a chance to win a pair of their Pink Posie Earrings:

To Enter:

-First and foremost, you must visit seababe and leave a comment on which item is your favorite from the shop

-to gain another entry, follow this blog and leave a separate comment saying you are!

-to gain another entry, tweet or blog about this giveaway and leave the link in a separate comment so we can all see

with every comment, please leave a way for me to get a hold of you so I can notify the winner as soon as possible :)

That gives you 4 ways to enter this giveaway!

The giveaway will end at midnight on Sunday, December 6, a winner will be chosen by random number generator and notified on the 7th. What are you waiting for? Get started!