Well seems the celebrate crochet month took a lot out of us and we haven't posted anything in over a month. Opps ;)! Well, going to start posting a bit again - Millie is going to be posting updates on her garden and a new goal - 101 ways to reuse blue jeans (ideas accepted send them over!) and Kristina will be throwing in some info on other crafters and some cool free crochet patterns, tips and tricks. Keep posted and let us know what YOU want to hear about!
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We may or may not have mentioned that we have joined a team called Acorn to Oak. Well this isn't about them; however, we recently did a like swap where everyone goes and "likes" everyone else's facebook page and makes a little post/comment. While that is swell and all I took it as a chance to meet my team mates. Now I'm passing on that knowledge to you. Yes I'm generous I know, lol.

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First off is Villainous Vixen. As you can see from the great pictures she has some really cool unique stuff. Ok so its not crochet, but I like more stuff than just crochet so I assume you do too. 

Each picture links to a different place so click them for fun.

She has rockabilly and goth mostly. Some cute aprons, great earrings, and neat brooches. She also has some great clutches and some neat headbands. 


I was enamored with this foam head.Sadly I thought it was a cool mask, but its not. The headband is cute but not as cool as the face.

PictureGothic Coffin Purse
Talk about unique! This little clutch purse is too neat! You could have your own mini coffin to hold your cashola, credit cards or just some pictures of the family! Couldn't you totally see yourself pulling this out at the store?

PictureRockabilly Pink Kitty earrings
These are my favorite item! They are just so cute! Who doesn't like cute little pink kitties! She has some other great earrings in her Etsy shop, you really should check it out. 

I was disappointed to not find a blog of any type to link here, if you find one let me know. Feel free to leave comments on what you think of the oh so cool Villainous Vixen.

Also remember to send your ideas for the reuse jeans project, crafters you would like us to meet, or a tutorial on a crafted item. Thanks for reading, Kristina

 
Introducing anther fellow etsian:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PooknflipProductions
Check out her shop, she has some cool and unique items in there! I was also checking her blog and found this cool blog post:
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Tarn! This is a picture from the post, basically she has taken tarn - yarn made from material like t-shirts, sheets, jeans, etc. and used her awesome crochet skills to make rugs and more.

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This shows her 'helpers' and the large circle rug that she may still be crocheting on! Wow! I love crochet and find it relaxing, I think Cassandra does too.
I miss my little helpers so will have to borrow hers!

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I know this isn't crochet and it is Celebrate Crochet month but I had to show this cool item from her shop: Gertie the Beaver - Plush Art Doll. A collectible, handmade plush animal.

This is so cute and unique! Not sure how she makes these, will have to search her blog to see if she has instructions.


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Here are some adorable earrings from Pook's shop as well. These are gorgeous! I love amber and these would look great on me if I had pierced ears! :)

Go check out Pook's website and store, let us know what you liked best! I hope you continue to celebrate crochet month with us! We would love to hear about what you have made with tarn or how you relax with crochet.
Have a great one, Kristina  
 
Pictureclick me to see visit Darn Good Yarn
Recently we opened a wholesale account with a great company called Darn Good Yarn. They are awesome because they like 3 of my favorite things: yarn!, helping the environment, and helping people. From their recent email:  "Darn Good Yarn, with your help, removed approximately 6000 pounds of waste from landfills last year. I want to knock that number up, up, up for 2012!" They do this by buying yarn spun from the leftovers from making the sari dresses. " This recycled silk sari yarn is handspun in women's co-ops and act as income supplements to farming families in non-growing season in Nepal and India and made from remnants of new silk. " 

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We bought the yarn pictured here. Its the recycled resolutions. Its really cool because it has one base color but then lots of colors blended in. As a beginning spinner it was really exciting to see and to handle. It is very twisty yarn. Not sure if that has something to do with the materials or the spinning process. I am having a hard time thinking of what to make with it. Suggestions?

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I did browse through their free patterns and I am leaning heavily toward making... and keeping for myself... this really great belt, scarf, headband... thing. Its awesome and very lovely. I will keep browsing but already I am finding more I want to buy. 

Pictureclick me for unspun banana fiber
Recently I have begun spinning and am greatly intrigued by these neat fibers they have. This one is banana fiber! How cool is that? They also have unspun silk left overs.   I think I may need to try some out soon!  I will keep you up to date if I finally make something with the recycled resolutions or if I break down and buy some fun spinning stuff. 


Check out the site, click the pictures to link over there. Its well worth the visit.
Thanks for reading, Kristina

 
Yes! Still celebrating Crochet month! We love the look of those lacy doilies but using those little hooks and fine thread just seems scary. So I wanted to share with you some people that aren't intimidated by the fine lace and the small hooks and make some doilies with style!
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Edangra, Lithuania, has several nice examples of lacy doilies and some other fun crochet items. I love the little basketball coasters! Go Tarheels! :) Gotta love March Madness!


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Mary in NY of MKCreations25 also boasts very lovely doilies. She also has some great quilted items and baby gear.

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Neleke, Netherlands is another Etsy seller with some beautiful crochet lace. She does have other handmade and vintage items for sale as well.

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Ini from Texas has such adorable trivets and doilies in her Small Stitches shop. I love the prices as well!

If you are inspired to try crocheting a doily here are some great sites with help, info and instructions:

http://crochet.about.com/od/freecrochetpatterns/tp/Crochet-Doilies-Free-Patterns.htm

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/doilies.php

http://www.free-crochet.com/list.html?cat_id=311

Well you can google it :)

Keep on celebrating, Millie

 
Both Kristina and I love Amigurumi! However, we haven't done so well with crocheting our own - all those little pieces to sew together. So let me introduce you to Tiffamis! http://www.etsy.com/shop/tiffamis
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One of Tiffany's creations, Pon, with his cookie. Isn't he the cutest?

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She has two different styles of love bugs. They are so adorable and deserve a loving home. Check them out!

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She has a friend for Pon - Little Zi! They look so adorable together. And their hearts show how much love they have for you!

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This is a cute little girl and she comes scented with either cocoa or coffee with a small dollop of non-fat whipped cream! Yes, no calories and an adorable friend too!

Go out and enjoy Crochet month! Check back soon, maybe we will give some ami's of our own a try. Share with us any cute little Ami's you find out there and visit Tiffany's store to visit her little friends!
Thanks, Millie
 
So it turns out that both Kristina and I are hesitant to crochet small things. I love crochet doll clothes but typically they are small, just like baby clothes. I thought  I would share with you some crochet doll clothes made by fellow Etsian, Southampton Creations.    
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Patricia, in Canada, is a member of the Crochet dreamers team (like us!) and has some oh so beautiful and intricate Barbie clothes she crochets. 

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Keep your Barbie warm and fashionable for St. Paddy's day with this so cute ensemble. 

I love how  Patricia really tricks out her clothes with little buttons and while the pieces all match they aren't monochrome. I want her to come dress me!

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Another adorable ensemble, all coordinated for your Barbie. I love when I can shop and find a couple matching outfits at one time. Saves thinking so early in the morning.

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Great Carolina Blue set for March Madness! Look at that oh so cute hat and a little matching purse! Has your Barbie ever looks so good and stylish?

While you are out celebrating crochet month stop by and say Hello to Patricia! We would love to hear what your favorite crochet items are! Drop us a line!
 
As you well know, March is Celebrate Crochet Month!! WOOT WOOT! Crochet is our first and favorite medium so we are sharing all kinds of crochet this month. If you have questions, comments or suggestions on what you want to see, let us know!!
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Kristina:
I was wandering around the inter-web (yes I was trying to be funny) when I stumbled upon a stubborn woman's blog. 
http://atkins-history.com/blog-me/
Being the nosy woman I am I went and checked out her Etsy page. 

Lo and behold she has some really great hat patterns on there! If hat making appeals to you but you don't know where to start her shop seems to be a good place to head (no pun intended lol)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/stubbornwoman?ref=top_trail 

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This, something she says on her blog, really makes me sit up and say yes!
"It seems most people think of hats as something you wear on a bad hair day or outside when it is cold. Hats are much more than this. Hats protect your hair, scalp and face from the sun. They are also important as the finishing touch to your outfit, whether dressy or casual. I design and make Crocheted Hats and Leather Accessories for women of style with a bit of edge. My hats flatter you and my leather pieces set you apart."



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There is a lot of great information on her blog, which has moved to here:  http://theoldhooker.blogspot.com/ and is more up to date than the one I stumbled upon. She has a great portfolio of some really great hats, tutorials, interesting tidbits, and more.

Finding her site has helped me to ground myself a bit. I always thought I made good hats but I am blown away by the great colors, the clean lines, and the attention to detail. The little details she adds, ribbon here, flowers there, really makes the hats sing (metaphorically of course)  

I aspire to have hats as amazing as hers! 

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Not limiting herself to hats, Ms. Atkins also has cool crochet bags that show her unique crochet style. This is a favorite one with the bright colors and attention to details.
She has some other nice and unique creations but you need to go soon as she has been ordered by her doctor to quit with the crochet. Once her store sells out she plans to close it.

Go visit her blog and her store and let her know how awesome her crochet is! Thank you for sharing your creativity with us Betty Atkins!

 
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March is Celebrate Crochet Month! One thing we want to do this month is intro some fellow crocheters. So let us introduce Pamphylian, a fellow Etsian and fiber artisit. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pamphylian)

Nehire Tosun is from Turkey which is totally neat. I am enamored with over seas crochet as it always seem to be more complex than the crochet I am familiar with over here.
I mean just look at these cute coasters with hearts on them. How did she do that?! 

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She has more really cool crochet stuff but I wanted to show that she can diversify. Here is a really cool quilt she made. It looks simply yet complex and was hand sewn. How cool is that? Quilting is something I've always admired but never had the patience to conquer. I love the optical illusion affect present in this quilt.

She also has a really cool mosaic tray, another thing I've wanted to try but haven't yet.

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This really cool necklace is... well... really cool. I understand she crocheted over a cord and then tied a knot, but that knot is just so cool and the color is great. I really love this necklace.

I just love her Etsy store and she has some really neat stuff so please check her out!

GO! Spread the celebratory word - Yeah!! Crochet!!!

 
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So you are a crafter and you want to start selling online? I was too and I have found that there are more sites out there than I could ever hope to list stuff on. So this will not be a complete list as they come and go but a list of my top favorites.

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Etsy, of course. If you haven't heard of Etsy yet I am surprised. 

Here is our shop as an example http://www.etsy.com/shop/2crochethooksbut I suggest you browse around and look at a lot of them. The majority of our online sales have come from here. It is easy to set up and manage which is always nice. They are also improving all the time and even have the shop stats (how many people have visited, purchased, ect) right on Etsy now where before you had to go to google analytics. The fees are reasonable and everyone is friendly and helpful. There is a wealth of information and plenty of people ready to give their 2 cents. 

The biggest down side/complaint I have about Etsy is that it seems to be mostly made up of sellers. It needs more dedicated shoppers. I am more likely to sell a supply (i.e. pattern or tarn) than I am to sell a finished project.  There is also the issue that I cannot update with my ipad, they have an app for buying and for looking at sold orders ect, but I cannot list new items with my ipad which makes me sad. 

I suggest selling here as the cost for one listing for four months is just 20 cents, which makes it well worth trying for sure. 

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 Ebay has been around.... forever. Just kidding but sometimes it feels like it. 

Ebay has never been my forte, mom has always done the Ebay stuff. My biggest complaint is unless you run a shop with buy it now prices or decent reserves then things have a tendency to sell cheaper than I'd like. I'm the type who'd rather wait for the perfect buyer who really values an item and is willing to pay what its worth than try to make a quick buck by letting people fight for it and see how low they can get it. 

Ebay shop fees are reasonable and if you want to manage a shop on there with Buy it now prices or are willing to gamble with bidding then ebay is a great place. Just remember most people on there are looking to get second hand stuff as cheap as possible. 

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Listia is my new favorite place to shop. Listia works based on points, sure you can buy points but when you start out you earn points for signing up and for learning the ropes. After that you earn points for selling stuff. The points don't pay for shipping so you are more likely to sell something with free shipping but then you have to cover shipping. I like to sell digital products, no shipping involved, but then you have to hope your buyer is honest and will say they got the item, so far so good. 

Listia is much like ebay where you can end up getting less than you want. The highest you can set the starting point is 100 points so just be careful you don't list anything you aren't willing to part with at whatever amount they buy it at. The other point is you cannot cash out so you have to spend your points on listia. Not hard for me, I've been buying all sorts of amazing yarns on there. The hard part is resisting the urge to buy more points, so far so good. 

There are no fees, in fact no money, involved at all. The only costs associated is with shipping and you can choose to charge shipping and have it covered or hope that it sells for enough points to make it worth shipping. It is very random how much you will make. Selling the same pattern I have made 700 points in one listing down to less than 100 in a listing. It depends on who wants it and how much they are willing to pay. As with any auction you need at least 2 interested parties. 

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Yardsellr is an interesting and another place where people want cheap items. Yardsellr's biggest and greatest plus is that it is totally free for the lister. 100%, no kidding. Its a great place to list stuff. 

Yardsellr buyers prefer no shipping (don't we all), especially on cheap items. This is because Yardsellr offers points for certain things and those points can be used to pay for the item (don't worry you still get cash when they pay) but not for the shipping.The best option is to increase the sale price of your item to cover the cost of shipping and offer free shipping and you will be fine. 

There is no charge for listing items for sale and you can re-list for free as well. The listings don't last long so expect to spend some time and effort on this. They have greatly improved their re-listing with a new bulk re-listing button, just be careful about re-listing items you do not want to continue offering for sale. The site also has an etsy importer, you may or may not need to make adjustments to your items as they have a word limit and you may want to roll shipping into your prices. 

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Bonanza is a nice site, its pretty and you have a shop where people can talk to you if you hang out in there. The items are free to list but you do pay a fair and nominal fee when someone buys something. You can sign up for a rush where they offer items at a discount and they promote to all their members. (The rush involves categories rather than individual shops so it is free to you and is optional if you don't like the idea of offering a discount.) The site also has an etsy importer but its very frustrating because you have to go into each item and tag it into the categories you want. If you are importing 100 items you have to go into each of those items and play with the tags (if anyone knows an easier way please let me know). 

I have only sold 2 items on bonanza but I have not been as active with it as I could mainly because of the issue with re-tagging every item. 

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Hyena Cart: we used hyena cart for awhile. It is a flat fee to list your items and if you don't pay the fee you can't mess with your listings but they will stay active for a month or so (don't remember exact amount) so you could have a month of down time if you don't have more listings. Generally we are adding new stuff all the time so we couldn't really let our membership lapse. No sales here but we only kept it a couple months. There is no importer so each item must be manually added. The listing designer is pretty unique and you can do some fun stuff with it. Its really great for customize-able options and you can add more options in there. Its less known so seemed to have less shoppers but it would be a great shop if you are doing advertising. 

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Artfire. We listed a few things when they were free but now they have a charge. I think they have a good customer base but I don't know much about their site. If you have any info please let us know and we'll include it in here. We'll even include a shop link if you have one.

Let us know if you have a favorite place to sell or shop. As always any hints, tips, comments or concerns appreciated!

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