Gift Reveal and New Shop Item

My day job just keeps getting crazier! If you saw me at work, you would not believe my title is "Receptionist" lol. Between work and school there has been very little time for samples, and the orders I am getting are keeping me pretty busy n_n

I know I still owe you guys some pictures of old custom orders. As they were local orders, they were handled in person and never posted to etsy. Once I figure out where I put the camera with those pictures on it, I will post them here and on Facebook for you to see!

Last week, I was working on a gift set for my friend's two year old daughter. She loves bags and will abscond with yours if not watched. She usually doesn't take them apart, but just carries them around very happily. Last night she was adorable with a bag that she kept "hiding" behind her back, despite it being larger than she!

So, back to the point, I made her a small purse complete with stuffed cell phone, coin purse/wallet (with coins!), and a key:

This gift set will be posted for sale in the shop shortly. I may make up some samples and post those for sale, and there will definitely be a made-to-order listing. As I currently do not have samples, the made-to-order listing will have swatches for you to choose colors from. I will likely include a list of adornments as well (so you are not stuck with flowers, but also to insure adornments that would not look good aren't picked). And, as always, you can contact me for custom orders to meet your specific desires.

I was also playing around with the idea of making the phone capable of ringing, etc. Unfortunately I did not have the custom sound buttons on hand like I had thought, so that did not come to fruition for the gift. However, if I can find a decent priced supply, they may be available as an add-on for a small additional fee in the shop!

I was inspired by some various patterns and projects, but ultimately I created the patterns for these items on my own. As such, I cannot point you in the right direction to craft your own, but should there be enough interest I may list the pattern for sale as well n_n

I am trying to get back to my regular schedule of posts, and possibly add to it as I am getting into other all natural and DIY facets that would fit in with my "usual" posts. Until then I am going to try to post at least once per week.

Thanks for stopping by! Keep an eye on my Facebook and Twitter to see when this toy set is listed for sale. 

Shop Update! and some other stuff

Whew...it's been quite a while! The holidays always get super busy for me between gift knitting and the increase in orders (and some last minute orders lol). My online presence always seems to disappear at that time, but I promise you I am still here and will reply to any of your messages/comments.

I wanted to get a ton of samples done before posting more items to my shop, but time is getting away from me. So, I have gone ahead and made some listings with swatches for now (I will update when I get around to making all the samples). This has resulted in 4 new listings, plus another that I don't think I highlighted very well before the holidays:

Choose from 11 accent colors!	Choose from 11 accent colors!	Choose from 10 shoe colors!
Choose from 18 shoe colors!

I don't always make posts like this, but you can usually find links to my new listings on facebook, twitter (and Google+ when I remember...heh). You can also always find my new listings on the New & Upcoming items page (click the link or use the tab at the top of the site). The New & Upcoming items page also lists products I am working on currently and hope to have listed soon, as in within a month. You can also find a list of future items, which are products I am planning out but currently do not have the time to sit down and make samples of. If you see something listed that is not available, but you are interested in, please just let me know and I will be happy to give you a description, mock-up, whip up a sample, or list a reserved item for you n_n

So...now the reason for why samples have been super delayed. Christmas, predominantly. I finished my last needed gift Christmas morning. In fact it was lace and never even got blacked (not that my sister much cared, in fact she is a knitter herself and I don't think she has even bothered to block it since!). Then I was trying to finish the same sister's gift from last year (I ran out of an expensive yarn) before she flew back to Japan, which did not happen. It almost did and now it is waiting to be bound off and blocked because she said to hold off on sending it as she may be ordering stuff to the house and then I can make 1 shipment. I also basically finished my boyfriend's blanket! Finally! The backing is only sewed to the two  long sides, so when he comes home for spring break I will need to seam the top and bottom, and tack it down in some places as it gets billowy, but it is useable and awesome.

So that takes us until 3 weeks ago lol. Now I am working on new samples for the bridal party mittens (the original yarn did not make a mitten as nice as I wanted for wedding pictures), this includes one full mitten to make sure the bride likes the look and to decide which of the 3 button options works best, and 4 swatches just to give an idea of how the other patterns will look once knit (as currently we had been working with mock-ups in excel). This is taking most of my free knitting time as she and the bridesmaids are going dress shopping this month! I want to make sure she likes the look so that once dresses are picked I can find matching yarn and get moving. I am also in the midst of designing a gift for my friend's two year old daughter, so that project is currently a secret but you will see pictures in the future and it may even become a purchasable item in my shop. I've also had a few non-official requests, so if the requesters follow up with details of what they want you could see some fingerless mitts, slippers, and maybe a Pokemon plush soon!

Well back to knitting, work, and school! See you guys next week n_n