Love and Hope

I love Etsy and have had three separate shops since beginning there in November 2008.  Originally had jewelry and handcrafted fabric items in my first shop.  I eventually separated out the jewelry into it's own shop.  That shop struggled--so much jewelry online to compete with so, I changed the emphasis to a romantic theme with pillows and a few other fancy items.  It still struggled. I took one long vacation from it and then, finally ended up closing it last December 2011.  I guess I am a glutton for punishment or I'm eternally hopeful, because I have re-opened it! Take a look at a few of my new items:


Brocade zipper pouch in Hot Pink



Faux Fur Zebra coin purse

And there are several items brought back from the inactive file.  Pretty items for pretty ladies!

So . . . .to celebrate, I will be giving away this cute little necklace that exemplifies my love of Etsy and my hope in the future of this shop.  (Also will giveaway a pair of earrings of my choice to a second person- two winners!!)



Here's how to enter:

1)  Visit my shop, Pruitt Design, and take a look.  Come back here and comment telling me which item is your favorite.  Equals one entry

2)  Follow this blog.  Equals one entry. (If you are already a follower, please remind me in a separate comment to make sure you get your entry for being my follower.)

3)  Follow me (Like me) on Facebook.com/PruittCreations.  Equals one entry.

4)  Tweet about this giveaway using this URL in your tweet.  Equals one entry each tweet. Be sure to comment here about your tweet.

5)  Follow me on twitter.com/thepinkgrammy

Giveaway will close on May 9th, with winner to be announced here on May 10th by random selection.

Thanks for your entry!

REMEMBER--I am adding items everyday, so visit often.

 PruittDesign.etsy.com

Two Baby Quilts

I have been staying at a friend's house--house and pet sitting for her.  She has a huge sewing studio (see previous post about it) and I get to use it when I am there.  So, last week I took advantage and finished up some quilt projects using her Pfaff quilting 2027 machine. I had finished piecing them previously and was waiting to have them quilted or be able to quilt them myself with a good machine--I am sorely in need of a good quilting machine!  But Oh Well . . . . that's another story!

I quilted and finished the edging of two baby quilts. One in greens and yellow; and the other brown and pink.

The green one is to be an heirloom quilt for my family.  It is made of scraps that are from a larger quilt that I made during my recovery from breast cancer surgeries.  It has special meaning to me and my family.  It will be kept in my legacy box for my grandchildren until such time as I want to give it away or the contents will be given away at my passing.  I want to leave some of my creations to my family, so I cannot sell them all!

The pink and brown one will be sold in my shop, to be listed sometime later this week.  It is made of a minky and flannel panel that I found on sale and I added the cute pink flannel backing. Doesn't it look so soft and cuddly!!

Sure was fun to use a good machine!  Thanks Sharon!!!!

Pansy Wordless Wednesday

Seeking the Sun

Personal Creativity Goals Recap

Last week I discussed by business goals here and promised to discuss my personal creativity goals at another time. I think I will continue this discussion today, since it forces me to look at my progress or lack of it.  It also inspires me to move onward and upward toward obtaining my goals!

To quote myself, I wanted to go . . . . . extravagant this year!
I tend toward practical, utilitarian projects, like this one that I did for my granddaughter--a t-shirt rag quilt.   That is not to say that all of my projects have been like this quilt, I have done more intricate designs, but I'm trying to branch out with prettier patterns and techniques.

In my post at the first of this year:

1)  I talked about trying some new fabrics, not just cotton, for quilting.  I haven't tackled this yet. When ones stash is all cotton, it is difficult

2)  I wanted to do an appliqued quilt, getting away from lattice and square designs. I wanted to try applique, curved piecing and textured trims couched on the quilt. I have not tried the couching technique yet.  These techniques are embellishments that add interest to the quilt and I am anxious try them. But, I have done a couple of appliqued and quilted table runners.  One I liked and one that I didn't like so well.  This is just the precursor to doing an entire appliqued quilt.  I still need to decide on a particular design for the larger quilt. I found a great site, blockcentral.com, with some applique tips.  I want to save it here for my own future use and maybe you are interested too! 

Here is a couple of samples so you can see what I am heading for, although I would like a more contemporary design:



Applique with stipple quilting



Applique with Echo quilting

**Both of these examples can be found on allpeoplequilt.com on this page.  Scroll thru the gallery to find them.

3) I have been experimenting with specialty threads.  Blender threads are my first attempt.  These threads change color every 2 to 2 1/2 inches.  They come in several thread weights and the first spool that I bought was too coarse a thread for my project. I have purchased a second spool and will try again and maybe even do another post about these threads.

So far I have not been extravagant, instead I have been adventurous in trying new techniques and supplies.  I hope this leads to a more extravagant frame of mind that will lend itself to better creativity!

Magnolia Rain

We are staying at a friend's house--house sitting again!  My friend has a magnolia tree in the back yard that is loosing it's blossom pedals like rain.  It's amazing to watch. Enjoy!

I'm linking to Pink Saturday. 

Go on over and see what others are posting! 

Daffodil House Wordless Wednesday

Goals Recap

Early in the year, I made some goals for my self, creatively and for my business.  I thought it might be time to revisit these goals and see how I am doing.

1)  I wanted to raise my ratio of Favorites vs Sales.  A quick look at this tells me that I am not doing very well, it has dropped about 5 % although my views are up!  I still have my suspicions that other Etsians are clicking favorites to get them into their activity feed as a way of promoting their friends and things that they like. This is not bad if it gets more views, but the goal is sales.  My views have been up for the first quarter and so have my sales, so that is good, but still not where I want them.

2)  I wanted a venue for unloading my existing jewelry.  I have been giving away, mostly to family, my jewelry.  I still need to approach a local craft and vendor brick and mortar shop about carrying my jewelry.  Haven't done that yet. 

3)  I wanted to add a few new coaster designs.  I have added a few, like this one in the triple patchwork design, but still need to work on something new and creative for that line.

4)  I have not done well on adding new vintage fabrics in my supply shop.  I found a contact that was interested in looking for fabrics for me, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet.  Here's hoping!

Now, after this evaluation, I need to look at my individual items and see what is being viewed and favored.  That should take a while, but worth the time in purging stock from my shop.  I may report back on this, we will see.  And for my personal goals---I'll save my personal creativity goals for another post.

 How are you doing with your goals?

chalk fun!

Spending the weekend playing with two of my grands who live out of town.  They have come to visit while their parents have some time away. Wanted you to share in the fun!


Fun with sidewalk chalk and cheerios!



Vivi is drawing with me on the driveway pavement while

JuJu eats Cheerios!

  P.S. Picture taken by my daughter, Suzanne.

Vivi's Pins

Seems like all my posts lately have been about my grandchildren.  Oh Well, they are great subjects and there is always crafting to talk about later.

I am helping babysit two of my grands this weekend, while their mother and dad (my second son--"Number 2 Son" as Charlie Chaplin would say!) have a much needed weekend away.  They have four children all under the age of nine!  We have the two youngest here this weekend. In fact, my youngest daughter just texted me: "Are you coming over after lunch? Vivi is asking for her grandma."  So I need to finish this post and get going for a day of play with Vivienne, age 3 and Jubilee, age one.

I leave you with one "grandma story":

Recently Vivienne was found, at her home, sitting in the window atop the buffet table with a pillow in her lap.  She had been quiet for quite a while and so when we investigated, this is how we found her:

She had no explanation, was just sitting there quietly sticking pins in the pillow.  Her mom says that she loves crafts!  That's my girl!

Spring Hike with GrandPa WW

NEW crayon roll-up!

I found this cute kitty novelty fabric that I just loved. 

It put away in my stash and I forgot about it!  Pooh!  Why did I do that??  Anyhoo, I found it again, last week, and made a cute crayon roll-up to put in my shop.





Flat out!



Fold over to protect tips!







All rolled up!

Now it's all ready to pop in mom's purse or diaper bag for those out of the house excursions.  Crayons won't mess up the inside of her purse nor will they fall out of the carrier!  Great idea, huh?

Available in my PruittCreations Etsy shop!



Monday Sunshine

It's Monday and I'm up early on this beautiful day! It's sun shiny outside and that is a huge welcome change from the previous month of rain--the most we have ever had in a March month!  It's still a bit cool, but I don't care since the sunshine is warm.  I'm going out on the patio to enjoy!  Taking my coffee cup, of course!

I am also taking a quilt top that needs a little hand sewing to cover my lap and it will hang down over my legs as an extra covering from the cool air--just staying busy and warm!  

The outdoors affords me great sounds too!  I hear several birds, tweets and caws, along with the breeze in the trees.  Aw . . .  what a wonderful morning!

Hope your week turns out to be as nice as mine is starting out!

Resurrection Sunday

Most people call this Easter Sunday, but I, I call it Resurrection Sunday.  Because of what happened on this morning several thousand years ago, the fact of an empty tomb, I have faith in a God that is able to do anything. 


Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."   Luke 18:27 NIV
Mt 26:32


And Jesus said to his disciples:
"But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."  Mt. 26:32  NIV


The Deity that I serve says what He means and does what He says.  He has done something that no other "deity" has done: He has risen from the dead.  On that morning, the women came looking for the body of a dead man, they met an angel: 

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.   He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead . . . '"  Mt. 28:5-7  NIV


And this rising was not only the proof of his Deity, but the down payment for what could happen if we just believe.  He has paid the price so you and I can raise from our wrong doings and our sins and He can put us on a new plain to start anew.   This is the basis of my faith.  Spiritually, a way has been made for for me to be clean of my sins and I will always be grateful for His love and His sacrifice.  And best of all, He has paved the way for me to know Him  because He is alive!

He is risen!  He is risen, indeed! 

Dark Day

I don't say much here in this venue about my faith, but this weekend marks the most important day to those of us who call ourselves Christians. For us, it is not about Spring, bunnies nor colored eggs to hunt, although we do those things for our children's delight! It's all about the basis of our belief.

Yesterday was Good Friday, marking the day of Christ's crucifixion.  Today would be the full day that He was in the tomb.  I am reminded of a old song about that time called 'Christ Arose' by Robert Lowry.  We sang it every Easter time in church. I  miss those 'ole times of good singing in church, standing right beside my mom and dad.  Anyway, the song goes like this:

Low in the grave He lay--Jesus, my savior!
Waiting the coming day--Jesus my Lord!

Vainly they watch His bed--
Vainly they seal the dead--

Death cannot keep his prey--
He tore the bars away--

Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose!  He arose!  Hallelujah! Christ arose!

This song reminds me that there is hope! 
 What seems lost, can have a different outcome.  It bolsters my faith.  

And as a post scrip, I like this quote by Joan Chittister:

“Holy Saturday is not about counting our blessings; it is about dealing with darkness and growing in hope. Without the Holy Saturdays of life, none of us may ever grow up spiritually.

Today, the church is empty. Today, the loss finally sets in . . . heavy-hearted from the reality of yesterdays, of Good Friday and its dashing our securities. Today, alone and bereft, we come face to face with the question we try so hard to avoid the rest of the year: how do we deal with the God of darkness as well as the Giver of light? Have we been abandoned? Are we left now on our own in this world? Is there nothing else? Was all the rest of it pure fairy tale?

The important thing about Easter Saturday is that it is precisely when its emptiness sets in that we begin to understand there is as much voice of God in emptiness as there is in anticipation. It is now, when we feel the absence of Jesus most keenly, that we can find ourselves listening to Him most intensely.”

Multi-Tasking

Multi-tasking is a highly sought after trait required for most jobs.  As crafters, or knitters--any artisan, we all seem to do many tasks in a day.  For most of us who also sell online, we must be masters of many different duties--photography of our product, online skills, marketing for proper presentation--not even mentioning our skills as an artist/handcrafter.   And we need to be able to manage all of this so we are productive!  So, how do I multi-task? 

I know most crafters have several projects that they are working on at one time.  I do.  Since I love several types of textile mediums, I have them scattered (but not disorganized) all over my apartment at strategic places for their appropriate working times.  At my sewing machine, I have several stacks of pre-cut projects that are ready when I sit down to sew.  In this picture you can see a stack of coasters  on the machine and a stack of crayon roll-ups on the desk top.  Also there are a couple of floral mauve cup cozies ready to be sewn.

 
When do I have time to cut and ready these components?  I often cut  out a piece of fabric fully when I have it out, rather than putting it away for another time.  I assemble the ribbon, batting, and some companion pieces of matching fabrics all at once and pin them together.  This is what you see in the photo.  They are waiting to be sewn. (Three different sets of roll-ups.)

I also work in the living room, at my easy chair. I cut out fabrics at night when I am watching television.  Simple cuts, like the coaster squares.  I also cut out squares for yo yos for my supply shop and trim them down to circles. When I get tired of cutting, I will often sit and sew yo yo's and drop them in a little basket at the side of my easy chair or I will sit and embroider. 

My ironing board is right next to my easy chair and the end of the board is usually stacked with projects in progress so I will have a selection at hand to work on at all times.  I have spread them out, so you can see what I mean.

There is also some finished coasters that are ready to be photographed!

P.S. Don't look at my burnt ironing board cover--I need a new one!!!!

I did get the coasters photographed and I will be listing them later today!  Here's one set:

Cupcake coasters

How do you multi-task?