I was so excited to get snow on Friday. I live in Murfreesboro, TN and we never get more than like 1/2 inch of snow each time. I was excited to actually see a lot of white on the ground. These pictures were taken about an hour after it started on Friday. We ended up getting quite a lot more since then. I always want one good snow and then I am ready for summer!

Here are photos of all of my creations so far!

I thought that it would be nice to put a post of all of the creations that I have made so far. These are all on sale in my shop

Twiddle Blankets:

Babies love to cuddle & squeeze soft toys and blankets. They also love to keep their hands busy and twiddle constantly. My Twiddle Blankets are the best of both worlds. They have lots of textures & Twiddle tabs to keep little hands busy while still being soft and cuddly.

Your baby will love to feel the textures of not only the multi-textured blanket but also the numerous Twiddle tabs that surround this blanket on all 4 sides.

"John Deer" Twiddle Blanket

Unisex Twiddle Blanket - (doesn't have the twiddle tabs)

Unisex Twiddle Blanket

"Ladybug Surprise" Twiddle Blanket

Pacifier Clips:

Pacifiers are almost as critical to have as a bottle at times. There is nothing worse than your baby crying in the store because they dropped their pacifier. Don’t let that happen to you again. Purchase this pacifier clip and your baby’s pacifier will be within reach at all times.

Diaper Wipes Holder:

"Tweet Dreams" Diaper Wipes Holder

Diaper Wipes AND Diaper Holders:

These are adorable wipes AND diaper holder. How perfect for those quick trips into the store when you don't want to carry your whole diaper bag. never have to dig around in your diaper bag for wipes and that loose diaper in the bottom again.

"Pink Polka Dot Dream" Diaper wipes AND diaper holder

"Take me to Zoo" Diaper wipes AND diaper holder

Infant Quilts:

My infant quilts are lovely patchwork quilts. They are backed with soft and cuddly white fleece. I zigzag stitch all of the seams for added durability. These quilts are warm and cozy to snuggle up with or make a great play mat with all of their various patterns, colors, and textures.

White and Black Flowers Cotton Infant Quilt

Lime Green with Red Ladybugs and Black with Lime Green Polka Dots Flannel Patchwork Quilt

John Deer Cotton and Denim Patchwork Quilt

Another sale ! WoooHoooooo

I have had my second sale on etsy.com! I am so excited. Someone bought my "Bold Dreamer" Twiddle Blanket. I hope that they like it. It is my favorite one that I have made so far so I am excited that it was my 1st Twiddle Blanket that sold online. Having another sale has gotten me in the mood to create again. To bad I have homework that has to be done :( Boo hoo. Hopefully I can get my homework finished early so I can work on some new creations tonight when he goes to bed.

I cannot even begin to describe the excitement and feeling of pride that I get when something that I took the time to create sales online. It is so rewarding to know that someone appreciates the time, effort, and skill that you have. I get comments from family and friends all the time on my creations but it is so different to have someone who you have never met to pick your creation out of the numerous other creations out there!

I am crossing my fingers that this keeps up :)

I Need Inspiration!

So, I have been in a mood where I haven't been wanting to sew or create anything. I need some inspiration. What do you do to get into the mood to create? Is there a series of actions that you have to do like cut on music, clean space, etc? I just haven't wanting to pick up a piece of fabric and thread in a few days. Maybe I'll get more in the mood.

Anyone want to share their ways of getting their creative juices flowing?

*Any websites you go to?

*Any particular music you cut on?

*etc

DIY Magnetic Board for Organizing Your Odds and Ends

So I was reading through the bloggers that had to do with etsy.com. I saw a fellow blogger that had this link on her blog:

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/01/how-to_make_a_magnetic_organiz.html

I am so going to make one of these magnetic organizers.

It looks very simple and since my crafting area is TINY it would help out a lot I think. I will probably use it more for an inspiration board but not sure yet. I will hopefully get it finished in a week or so. I am not sure how much time I will have on my hands for now but it is definitely on my to do list.

1st Sale on Etsy.com

So yesterday I had my 1st sale on etsy.com. I sold my Georgia the Giraffe that is posted in the previous posting. She is going to a great home in Georgia to a little baby that was recently adopted from Ethiopia.

When I got the email that my 1st item from my shop was bought I got a rush of emotion. I was very touched and extremely excited. I have sold items in the past but man what a rush to sale something online. Hopefully it is the start of something great.

For all those who make homemade items hang in there. Your 1st sale will come. It took me almost a month before my 1st item sold. I do have some tips though for those who sale on etsy.com. Repost and renew often. Join in on the forums, especially the critique board. This is a great way to get fellow etsians to take a look at your shop. Also, ask others to critique your photographs. I thought that I had some decent ones at first until I had others critique them. I followed a lot of their guidance and direction and noticed a huge difference in the amount of views and hearts that I got. This is especially true for the items that I photographed using my light box that I made. I have a link to a tutorial in one of my posts labeled light box. Good luck everyone.

Finished my light box

So I finished my lightbox. I really like it. I used this tutorial http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent . Thanks to the author of this tutorial. I like how it turned out but next time I will make it much bigger. I spent $10 total on making this box because I already had a box and I used an old white sheet. The only thing that I purchased was the light and a 100 watt bulb.

Here are my before and after pictures:

Before:

After:

There is a big difference in the looks. I do need to purchase 2 more lamps though to make it bright from the top and both sides.

Going to try to make a light box

So after two days of requesting and getting critiques about my shop on etsy.com, I have definitely came to the conclusion that I need to change my photographs. There is definitely not enough light in my house. I got some great advise from fellow etsy sellers. Thank you everyone who has helped me. I love that about etsy.com. There are tons and tons of fellow sellers that offer encouragement and are willing to share their advice and experience. That is very different for me. I am very grateful. I am going to make a light box tonight. I think that it will help my photos tremendously. I have never even heard of a lightbox so thank you http://www.etsy.com/shop/Zafras for all of your help and links. Hopefully I'll get it finished tonight so I can take new photos tomorrow. We will have to see how my son acts tomorrow. It's hard to get things done with a newly mobile 1 year old running around.

I hit the Motherload

So, I am all about upcycling anything that I can use. I hate to see anything go to waste when there are so many things that ordinary items can be turned into. I have had several books of fabric samples and wall paper samples given to me by some of the local stores here. Big thanks to The Peddler and Bella Vista Fabrics in Murfreesboro, TN for the books. Between the two places this is how many fabric samples that I was able to save from the trash. I do still have to peel all of the paper from the backs of each piece of fabric. I will try to save as much fabric as possible but have found last night that some of the fabrics are just not savable from the paper so I just had to cut around them.

I don't know exactly what I will do with all of this fabric but I do have some ideas. I would love to make hang tags for my items out of them. I think they will be great sizes for that. Other than that, I am not sure what I will do with them. The sky is the limit though. Please feel free to comment if you have any suggestions on what to do with this fabric. Since it is mainly upholstery and drapery fabric, I am kind of limited since it is all spot wash only.

But the plan is to finish up taking off the paper and go from there. Wish me luck