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My Needle's Song – Neulani laulu

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Home→Published 2013 → October

Monthly Archives: October 2013

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My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

joulua2How about shop news without the views? Let’s just say it has gotten pretty intense behind the scenes lately. I do have lot of new treats for everyone. Most  are still trying to think of what they are going to do for Halloween, and have no clue about Christmas yet. Well.. I try to have things available early for those that like to avoid the rush. This is a new design that is available in all of the shops. It’s also one of my own. I will probably not be selling this chart due to the number of fractional stitches. If you want this chart, leave a comment for me on Facebook, and I may be persuaded.

tonttu-2My Finnish tonttu is also stitched and in the shops. He was so much fun to do. I have released the chart for this one, but fair warning – it is not for the faint of heart. Just about every single row has some sort of fractional stitch! I will have an easier one out too.

I have other Christmas designs filtering into the shops as I get the stitching and finishing done. So far, it is the Finnish, French, and Italian greetings that are completed. I will have more before November 1st.

I do have more than one place to find my pieces now, each has their own features and strengths. The first 3 shops also have a promo going on through 10/31. If you use the coupon code HOMEATLAST when you check out, you will get 20% off your order entire order.

  • The Boutique has the most current releases and offers instant downloads of PDF files. This shop is in a huge marketplace, so if I don’t have what you are looking for, you do have lots of other choices. Be careful though – not everyone is handmade there.  You will see your selling price in the currency you set.
  • The Galleria has the full range of my items. This marketplace is clearly marked as to what is handmade and what is not. PDF Downloads are by email at the moment (instant to come soon). Selling prices here are in US dollars only.
  • The Showcase also has everything, much like the Galleria shop. The difference here is that if you don’t find what you want in my shop, there are very few other stitchers in that marketplace. Selling prices are in US dollars only. PDF downloads are by email only.
  • The Bazaar is the newest shop and not fully stocked yet. This one is based in Germany. The marketplace is geared a bit more towards fashion and accessories. I do have the Christmas ornaments there currently and will add more very soon. Selling prices are in the currency you set. PDF downloads are by email only.
  • Headquarters has all the products all the time. There is no marketplace here – this is the main location. If you don’t find what you want in my shop, there are no other shops you can visit. On the other hand, this is the only shop with everything I have stocked that is priced in Euros. PDF downloads are by email only.

 

So you see, I have been very busy. It is time for my little fingers to get back to flying on the fabric instead of across the keys.

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

 

The Fuss about Handmade

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

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So, what’s all this fuss? Why is everyone all worked up over handmade these days? Why should you care?

If you love going to the craft shows and seeing all the unique handmade treasures, you have probably noticed more and more manufactured items being offered. Some shows have stopped being craft shows all together. Artisans and crafters do the shows to offer their creations to the public at reasonable prices. We can’t afford to have a full time shop with staff for a hobby. We can afford to rent a space or table and spend time getting to know the public.

Handmade means someone (a human) created the design and had a direct hand in completing it. With my items, I do all of the stitching myself. I do some of the design work as well. I do all of the finishing. My husband does help with the photography. But, I do 90% of the process by myself. It is handmade. Where it stops being handmade is if I engage a factory to mass-produce my designs and represent them as being my own work. Or farm them out to a village of needleworkers and pay them pennies per item. If my husband creates furniture, it is his hands at the machines, his hands applying the coats of finish and not some employee or subcontractor in a factory somewhere else.

The internet has been a blessing for so many creative people. For many years, the only option to us was to list our goods on eBay and hope someone bid on them. The listing fees were reasonable and payment could be made through PayPal. It was better than nothing, but not much. We could also build our own site and then hope that someone found us.

Enter the marketplace sites. The biggest and best known is Etsy. Why? It focused on handmade items as well as allowing vintage goods and craft supplies. You could find all kinds of wonderful items there, most of it with that unique flavor. I have a shop on there for my finished magnets and ornaments and I help with another shop that sells stitching supplies.

At the beginning of October 2013, Etsy rocked our world and announced they would start accepting manufactured goods. Yep. This now means that people like me can go out and hire others to do the work for me and still call it handmade. Really? They are now allowing us to apply for approval. The very first one approved doesn’t make his bags at all – a factory in a different state does. Should he be competing with all of the sellers who do create fantastic bags by themselves in the same marketplace? I don’t think so. His items are nice… but they are now mass produced. You are not getting a one of a kind item. You are getting a quality item from a small business.

So, one very clever, driven lady decided to do something positive about this. Stacey Sobelman of SMARTdesigns by Stacey created the logo you see above and put the word out to other pure handcrafted sellers. In just two short weeks, over 400 have joined her team from all over the world. We proudly display her graphic to help visitors find the unique, one of a kind items they have come to expect from Etsy. If you see a shop using this graphic, it means they make everything they sell. It makes shopping for handmade even easier!!

Shop Handmade

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

 

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I think this is more important this year, more than ever before especially when you consider the state of the global economy. It isn’t as hard as you think and you will save time, energy, and gas by thinking ahead a bit and this is the perfect time of year to do it. So very many have lost their jobs (and hope) and have turned to alternative means of earning a living.

Here are just a few ideas for you….

  • Everyone has services they need. Buy gift certificates for oil changes, haircuts, and meals from your favorite local establishments. Hire a cleaning lady for a day to help your mom or grandmother. Have her lawn cut while you are at it.
  • Just about every single town has a local art gallery or shop where artisans in the area sell their work. Why buy copycat when you can have a real original, handmade, unique item?
  • If you don’t have one in your area, don’t fret. You have a HUGE online arts and crafts community in Etsy. You can easily find everything from vintage to downloadable patterns to craft supplies. Folksy in the UK is also great and iCraft in Canada sells only reviewed handmade items.

 

If you have been following this site for any length of time, you know that I actively sell on Etsy and Storenvy. I do highly recommend shopping on such sites for two huge reasons. First, you can use Paypal to make your purchase. This means your precious credit card numbers are never revealed to anyone. You do have Paypal watching over the transaction. If you don’t receive your items, you can get your money back by simply filing a complaint. Second, you have the site itself. Etsy is very proud of its customer service and fulfillment. Items listed are supposed to be accurately pictured and described or you can get your money back. It’s a double layer of protection that you don’t usually get shopping in a box store.

One other consideration – a good number of the sellers on Etsy do custom work for either no additional charge or very reasonable fees. You can easily afford to give something custom designed to everyone on your list, have it delivered to your door securely, and pay less money than you would fighting the crowds in your local mall.

Think about it.. shop handmade – support handmade!

 

A Start

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

There is just something so very exciting about taking the first few stitches in a new project. I do a LOT of smaller pieces for magnets and ornaments so it should not be a big deal.. but it is. I have two larger designs I have promised to do for a request quilt. Both are due next year, but… I don’t want to wait and it is their day today.

image2-300x275The challenge is to find a superhero chart that will be between 4 x4 and 9×9 inches when complete. The young recipient happens to like Superman. This chart popped into mind immediately when I signed up for the project. No, it will not be on black.

Today happens to be our 2nd wedding anniversary (Love you, Baby!) and we went to the neighboring town of Rauma. The local yarn shop carries some DMC colors and I wanted to be sure I had fresh skeins for the blue and red parts. Kajava doesn’t carry either blue called for on this chart!!! It is okay. I have a backup plan in place. I have a shop here in Eura that does carry Anchor and she has most colors. I do have full skeins of all the colors on hand, so I am good to go.

Image1Get the fabric out, make sure it is the right type and size to meet the guidelines for this project. Seal the edges of the fabric with Fray Check because I don’t have a sewing machine yet… find the center.. yes, the very very center. Now, count carefully to your starting point. Mark it.. count it again. Start your thread and breathe…. it’s on its way. I’m now about an hour into this one…

This is the left side of the neck (as you look at the chart). The reds tend to fuzz a bit, so they will be the last color to go in if at all possible.  I did want to stop and share the excitement of the first few stitches with you though….

I did complete the chart and file for the Finnish Tonttu from yesterday’s post. It is now listed on my Etsy Shop and available for immediate download.

Thanks for stopping by… and until next time, Happy Stitching!

A Triple Finish Day

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

Granted, these are not huge projects, but they are still things that needed to be finished. I have just gotten so busy lately that I went to scheduling stitching for certain groups on certain days. I work on projects for my two chosen groups 4 days a week, and have the balance – a whopping 3 days – to work on my things.

tonttu2cSo, today was a day for me to work on things for the shop. I have been working with this little guy for a bit, doing some revisions. Today I was determined to sit and finish…

I am putting the finishing touches on the chart, and it will be available as my first download in my Etsy shop very very soon. I will also have him finished as an ornament, and those will be for sale too.

 

csorn1Canada Stitches has asked for Christmas ornaments to donate to the hospitals and/or to fundraising efforts at animal shelters. I do love working on Christmas ornaments, so this is a fun challenge for me. I got the first one stitched today, and will finish it off as a flat ornament as soon as I have 3 more done.

It’s another one that has to be done on evenweave. This is from Lorrie Birmingham’s And Even a Mouse. I did a few last year as family ornaments and got a lot of smiles from them. And yes, I will be doing more. Some of these may well make it to the shop. In spite of all the fractional stitching, these are not bad to do, especially if you are addicted to evenweave fabrics.

q4ocI also have an ongoing commitment to another group. I just finished 4 Kitty Christmas ornaments for them, and have a Kitty Love square plus 2 quilt squares that I promised to do. I started the Kitty Love square on Thursday (their day), and decided to just go ahead and finish it today. I spent so much time working on this site over the last few days, I felt it only fair to finish these projects off!

So, there you have it. Tomorrow is my 2nd wedding anniversary. I am not sure yet what we are doing. I do know we are going in to Rauma for dinner, and my husband has promised me a trip to the thread shop. I need a couple more colors for the two quilt squares I have promised to do. Other than that, it is our day.

Until the next time (which will be VERY soon now that I have the new site done!) Happy Stitching!

 

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