Tea Time Feature!

I got a message on Friday that one of my mug cozies was featured on a blog post at Glue and Glitter! I love the other items that she's paired with my mug cozy for this feature--a lovely ceramic mug and a chai kit. So check out the feature, or check out all of my mug and take-out cup cozies!

Crocheted Wedding Flowers

Yesterday, the lovely ladies at This Charming Candy mentioned that you could find their lollipops on a site called Shop Then Wed, so I popped over there to see what it was about. It's a lovely site, some handmade and some commercial, where brides (and grooms) can find things that they might want to buy for their wedding. I liked this idea, so I contacted the site owner to find out about getting listed there as well!

And now Scary White Girl Designs can be found at Shop Then Wed. You'll find crocheted roses in the bridal hair accessories, flower girl, and decorations sections. But the crocheted roses can also be made into boutineers for the guys or corsages for the mothers. They could be in bouquets or as centerpieces. Really, they can pretty much be used for anything you can think of! (At my wedding they were only on the bouquet fans and in the tossing bouquet, but I thought about adding a couple to my dress or hat! I just ran out of time with all of the other wedding prep!)

If you're interested in crocheted flowers for your wedding, check out some of what I've done in the past at Shop Then Wed or Scary White Girl Designs, and let me know what you're looking for!

Now with 100% more substance!

I realized that pretty much all I've been posting here is End of the Work Week Wisdom, and while that is entertaining (at least to me), I should really post something of substance.

Crocheting has been a little bit on the slow side, as I haven't had a lot that I really NEED to be working on right now. My shop is more than well stocked, and we're entering into the time of year when sales are slow for me. When it starts to get warmer, people look at yarn and just sort of shudder. (Not all yarn is ridiculously warm! Really!) I started working on a couple of new things, but decided that the legwarmer idea was right out, and the patterns are taking me longer to deal with than I had hoped as well. I'm beginning to think about working on some new amigurumi stuff to pass the time, though today I was having fun trying out a couple of different star ideas on the bus. There's a plan for those, but I haven't quite gotten the star how I want it yet.

I've been trying out a lot of new recipes, though they've mostly been recipes that come from the internet. Last night, we had homemade mac and cheese that ended up a bit soupier than anticipated. I've got leftovers in my lunch today, so I'm going to see how those turned out before I start tweaking that recipe. I'm planning on jambalaya for dinner tomorrow night, which seriously already has my mouth watering. :)

Been doing a bit of writing and editing, which you can read more about at my writing blog. The short version, however, is that right now Jeremy is reviewing my novella. When he's done, I'll make some revisions based on his suggestions, and then it will be going out to some beta readers. Then it'll undergo another round of revisions, and then I get to start shopping it around. This is going to be all new to me, because I've only shopped short stories previously, and that's a very different sort of process. So fingers crossed that it works out!

Roller derby is still going strong, though we have a couple of weekends with none. This is planned, however, since we'll soon have three weekends in a row with bouts, followed by a week off, followed by four weekends in a row with bouts. Whee!

Guilt-Free Cupcakes!

I love cupcakes! But sometimes, you want something that's cute like a cupcake but that you won't regret later. Enter crocheted cupcakes. Sure, they don't taste as good as real ones, but they're just as cute, and they have 0 calories!

These cupcakes also last a long time. They're great for decorations, or they can be used for pincushions (they're stuffed with fiberfill). And if you'd rather have a slightly more unusual cupcake, I make Cthulhu cupcakes (tentacles and all) and the ever popular Jayne cupcakes! I also have Halloween cupcakes, but those are seasonal, and not in the shop at the moment. (But if you're interested in Halloween cupcakes now, be sure to let me know! Otherwise, they'll be back around August.)

I'm always looking for ideas for more unusual cupcakes. I still want to make a Dalek cupcake, and I'm happy to hear other ideas you have!

+++++

And in other news, my ice cream cozies were featured in a blog today: check it out!

Sekrit project done!

I knuckled down and finished my sekrit project on Saturday! (And no, you still can't see it. I can't show it to you until April 2nd, at the earliest!) This means I'm back to making the usual stuff for my Etsy shop for at least a little while. Which is nice, because I found out today that I'm going back to longer commutes for a while... probably a few months.

Projects for the immediate future? A couple more coffee mug cozies and a hat or two. Then I'll start on the longer arm warmers and maybe leg warmers. I've got Decapitated Dollies and rose hair accessories in the works as well, but those aren't as easy to work on while busing, because they involve stuffing or sewing (or both). And while I'm fine with my hooks and large needles on the bus, tiny thread needles are just begging to be dropped in the semi-twilight of the bus.

I'm also trying to figure out how to handle the pattern that I wrote up while I was working on the sekrit project. Unfortunately, there's one REALLY complicated portion that I kinda had to make up as I went. But I think that there are parts of the pattern that can be turned into something similar, so that might work out alright. :)

P.S. Longer commute also means not in my office, which means less posting here. :(

Keeping your arms warm

I started out making arm warmers for myself, because we have strange climate control in our office. (Seriously. The AC kicks on regularly in the winter.) My first desk was in the coldest part of the office, so there was a lot of bundling up. Now I'm in my own office, which tends to be warmer, but still oddly variable. Also, there are days when I just don't feel like wearing long sleeved shirts, but then I realize the error of my ways when I get to the office. So I like having a pair of my arm warmers close at hand.

They're perfect for wearing with short sleeved shirts or 3/4 length sleeved shirts, and they can be worn over a tight fitting long sleeved shirt as well. I'm planning to start making longer arm warmers soon to go past the elbow, which I plan to wear with the massive quantities of cap sleeved shirts that I seem to have acquired. The past the elbow arm warmers should also work well with short sleeved shirts.

In recent months, the color selection for the yarns that I use has expanded greatly, so there's a good chance that I can put together nearly any color combination you can dream up. Most of the arm warmers are made of acrylic or other synthetic yarn, but I can make them in wool blends as well.

Love is a Warm Scarf!

It seems like the weather has been a bit wacky all over the place lately, so it's hard to say if winter is coming or going! I've got friends who had snow and ice yesterday and are expecting a warm day today. In Seattle, we've got the cold rain that's pretty typical this time of year. I'm sure I know someone who lives somewhere that spring is already sprung, though that doesn't mean it's here to stay quite yet.

A warm scarf is a good way to beat the cold days, no matter what time of year they appear! Soft and fluffy, the scarves in my Etsy shop are skinny (2-4 inches wide) and LONG (some of them up to 9 feet long), so you can wind them around your neck a few times, or just wear them long and decorative! They're also all machine washable and made from a wide variety of fibers!

New in the shop: Coffee Mug Cozies!

While lounging around watching the Lord of the Rings movies, I wanted a crochet project that would not require me to work on the pattern as I went. I needed something that I could work on without thinking too hard. So I decided that it was time to launch the coffee mug cozies!

The coffee mug cozies are similar to the coffee cozies I already made, except that they can be used on a mug that has a handle. There's a button on one end and a loop on the other. They still wouldn't work on a mug that has two handles, but since I haven't seen a lot of those, I think this is a versatile enough design. You can also use them on a disposable coffee cup from the coffee shop.

I'm making these in two different types of yarn. The acrylic ones are great if, like me, you work in an office that likes to make your hot beverage cold before you've really had a chance to enjoy it. They will help retain the heat of the liquid in your cup. The cotton ones (which I haven't listed any of yet) will insulate as well, but they're also absorbent. So if you slosh liquid out of the mug, the cotton coffee mug cozy will hopefully catch some of it! Perfect if you're a little messy. Now, I need to figure out how to combine the two so that I can have an all in one coffee mug cozy... :)

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Sometimes, you just have to have some ice cream. The cute little pint sized containers are great for this, especially if you like one kind of ice cream and the people you share your home with like other kinds. The pints also just scream to be eaten straight out of--why bother to dirty a bowl with such a small amount of ice cream, right? But those suckers get COLD if you hold them for too long.

Enter the ice cream cozy. It helps to keep your hand warm while you're eating your ice cream, and it also helps to keep the ice cream itself insulated, so that it melts a little less. Plus, they come in a whole lot of different colors, so everyone in your home who likes ice cream can have their own personal ice cream cozy.

Of course, you don't have to eat ALL of the ice cream in one sitting, but these ice cream cozies still work if you're only having part of the pint. Because again, who wants to dirty a bowl when you don't have to?

Still busy!

I haven't had much crafty stuff to blog about recently because I've been working on an order of soap sweaters for Seattle Sundries. Anne makes this wonderful round soap, and I make little sweaters to go over the soap. The idea is that the sweater acts as a washcloth, and as the soap gets smaller over time, you can tighten the drawstring at the top, so that you are able to get the most life out of even the tiniest slivers of soap. Pretty awesome! :)

Assuming all goes well, I'll be finishing these up this weekend. Then I get to move on to my next big project, which is a super sekrit custom order. I won't be able to share what it is until April! All I can say is that I've gotten about 1/3 of the way done, and it looks AWESOME so far. The next step is going to be the most difficult one, so I'll be glad to figure that out and then get it out of the way, because finishing the rest will be smooth sailing after that!

Sorry for the vague teasers! I can only promise that if you're a fan of video games, you will love getting to see what I'm making!

Roses Everywhere!

Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching! If you're looking for a good gift for a loved one that lasts longer than flowers or chocolates, a crocheted rose pin or hair accessory is a good bet! These roses will stay vibrant and beautiful for a long time, and act as a perpetual reminder of your love! I have two styles of pins (some of which would be great for a man or woman) and three styles of hair accessories, all in a wide array of colors, so no matter your loved ones' styles, there is likely something to match them!

I originally put these roses on stems, but over time, I thought that rose accessories would be far more popular. Many of the funky color combinations that I make are the team colors of two of our local roller derby leagues, but they also match up with the school colors of various high schools and colleges. I can also make roses in pretty much any color combination, so if you don't see what you're looking for in my shop, please contact me for a custom rose!

Rose Pins
Rose Hair Accessories

Ah, life!

Life means that this blog tends to come and go from time to time. Especially when I spend about 3 months working out of an archive with no internet, as opposed to in my office, where I can blog during my lunch break. :)

So let's see here. I spent most of December crocheting until I thought my fingers would fall off. I got a brief respite from that when we went down to California to visit Jeremy's family, but then I had more things to make when we got back. I haven't actually slowed down yet, either, as I'm working on a couple of custom orders.

Around February, when I think my actual production schedule should slow down a bit, I'm planning to work on some new stuff for Scary White Girl Designs. One of the things I'm hoping to branch into this year is crochet patterns. I've written up one already, and I'm halfway through writing up another one. I'm hoping to find someone who can beta test the patterns for me. My mom has offered, and I may take her up on it, but I have this sneaking suspicion that she'll finish making the items and then say "what did you just have me make?!" They're a wee bit on the super duper nerdy side. :)

I'm also planning on making some new products, many of which are just variations on things I already make. One thing that I know that I'll definitely be doing is both shorter AND longer arm warmers, as I've had requests for both. I've done one pair of shorter ones (wrist warmers) before, but longer (past the elbow) will be a new thing for me! But I'm excited about that one, because I wear a LOT of T-shirts that have very tiny sleeves, and having arm warmers that cover my whole arm would be epic! :) Also, I think that super duper long arm warmers in the style of the Fourth Doctor's scarf just seem RIGHT. :)

Scary White Girl Designs is 5 years old!

My Etsy shop, Scary White Girl Designs is 5 years old as of tomorrow, November 30th! To celebrate, I'm offering a discount to readers of my blog, fans on Facebook, and followers on Twitter! To receive 20% off of your order on Etsy, use the coupon code: 5YEARSFANS. (The coupon code is good on 11/29 and 11/30.)

Here's to another 5... or 10... or 20! :)

The Wedding Shop Recap (cross-posted from Shop Etsy)

I got married on Saturday. During the wedding, several of our guests asked me about various items I was wearing or that were a part of the wedding. There was at least one person who I promised to E-mail with the Etsy seller information, but I promptly forgot both the question and the questioner. (I have an excuse. All of the crazy adrenaline had drained by that point, and I was a bit out of it.) So here's the list of everything that we bought from Etsy for the wedding, along with sellers. :)

After Jeremy bought me my engagement ring, I told him that I thought boys should get engagement presents as well. He happened to be in need of a new wallet, so I found a local seller, Moxie and Oliver, who makes handmade leather wallets and brands a message onto them. So I wrote a little lovey note to Jeremy for her to brand into his new wallet. Now he has a little reminder of my love that is always with him.

My necklace pendant (the "Something Old, Something New" bit in the shape of the TARDIS) came from Imagination Emporium (which I mentioned in late June). She had done a different, much longer, Doctor Who quote in that shape, which I thought was brilliant, and so I contacted her to see if she could work a shorter quote into the same shape. The reasoning behind this, by the way, is that the TARDIS itself is arguably old, new, borrowed, and blue. :)

My earrings (which were not bought for the wedding, but I got a lot of compliments on them) came from Frozen Fire. They're solid glass, with dichroic coloring. The smallest size he makes are 3mm (I think that's 6 gauge), so those of you with standard piercing sizes are out of luck.

My dress came from Kimmi. She is a local dressmaker who I had bought another dress from previously (which I wore to a wedding where I was a guest a couple of years ago). When I started thinking about dresses, I was looking at rockabilly style dresses, but I couldn't find anything I loved. So I went to Kimmi's site instead, and found the dress I wore straight away. I didn't think it would fit me, but she had me try it on anyway. Once I had it on, I was sold. I tried on two others, but then went back to the lovely crocheted dress. She made an alteration to the lining for me to help with the fit, and I crocheted the shoulder straps.

Our rings came from Marlo at I Make Cute Stuff. Marlo is one of my good friends from EtsyRain, and she was happy to work with the unusual shape of my engagement ring to make a ring that can be worn with it or without it. These rings are based on her Secret Promise Rings, which means they do, in fact, have messages inside of them.

The flower fans were a collaboration between me, my friend Kayce (Nue to Me and several other shops), and Patty at Full Blooms. I crocheted several blue roses, Kayce made hers out of scraps of T-shirts and buttons, and Patty made hers from silk. Patty also assembled them and attached them to the fans that Cindy and I carried. I took a few extras and bundled them together for the tossing bouquet.

The garter that Jeremy tossed came from Kizette. She makes pairs of lace and satin garters with d20s attached to them--one to keep and one to toss. Of course, the dice don't really roll any more, but that's okay!

The wedding favors, which I talked about last month, were made by Recycled Ideas. She makes handmade paper with flower seeds in the mix, so that the paper is plantable. I had a stamp made by TerBear Collectables, and stamped all of the flowers with a water soluble ink. The stamp (which was a little off on some of the favors) is of a pair of hands in the shape of a heart, with our names above and our wedding date below.

We also got gifts for some of the people who helped out with the wedding on Etsy. My best woman, Cindy got a necklace made by my friend Tricia, Pequest Designs. Andrew (the best man) and Kindred (the officiant and also a good friend of Jeremy's) got engraved flasks from Precision Engraving. And I had 4 My Angels make a custom apron for my Uncle Joe, who was our barbeque chef, that reflects the several names he's known by in our family.

And we're to 17 days!

In a week, I can start obsessively checking the weather! :)

Recap of the to do list:

• Finish all of the flowers
  
• Finish the tossing bouquet - almost there, just need some glue to finish the ribbon part.
  
• Stamp all the favors
  
• Get the last wedding party gift
  
• Get Costco membership
  
• Send UJ the headcount
  
• Buy all the picnic stuff
  
• Get the marriage license
  
• Make appointment for nails
  
• Make appointment for pictures (after the wedding)
  

Added to the list are:

• Write vows
  
• Finish figuring out transportation arrangements for the guests who are flying in
  
• Print up cards related to the favors and our planned photo site
  
• Clean the guest room
  

I sent an E-mail to Etsy today to see if they're interested in doing a feature on the mostly-handmade, mostly-EtsyRain, super low budget wedding. Fingers crossed. Of course, if they don't want it, I'll find somewhere for it to go. I'm very proud of what I've pulled together (though I'll be more proud when it's all said and done!), and I want to show it off! :)

37 days and counting

Yup, I've reached the point where I start counting down to the wedding. :) And no, I haven't done a whole lot since my last post. Well, I made some leaves for the roses. That's a good start. :)

But I did pick up the rings last night, and they are spectacular! :) Mine matches up with the odd shape of the bottom half of my engagement ring perfectly, and it also looks neat even if I decide not to wear my engagement ring with it. So win on both counts! :) Thank you, Marlo!

Okay, to do list time:

• Finish all of the flowers
  
• Finish the tossing bouquet
  
• Stamp all the favors
  
• Get the last wedding party gift
  
• Get Costco membership
  
• Send UJ the headcount
  
• Buy all the picnic stuff
  
• Get the marriage license
  
• Make appointment for nails
  
• Make appointment for pictures (after the wedding)
  

I think that's all. :)

Two months and counting!

So I've finally gotten back in the swing of posting to Shop Etsy. There are new posts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, which is a good start. Now, to see if I can get back into the swing of updating here...

Monday marked two months remaining until the wedding. Things are coming together quite nicely. We're going to see Marlo tonight to see the progress on our rings, and I'm picking up the flowers from Patty on Sunday. I still need to figure out what on earth I am going to do with my hair (I'm still not sure if I'm going to get it cut before then, or just grow it out for two more months), and I need to sit Jeremy down and get him to commit to what gifts he wants for his best man and our officiant.

I've also got some crafty work to do, like putting together the tossing bouquet. I have the pieces, I just haven't done anything with them. And I need to work on the favors. I got plantable paper flowers from Recycled Ideas, and a name/date stamp from Terbear Collectibles, but I still need to actually stamp all of the flowers. :) I keep telling myself "I still have two months," and then I go "TWO MONTHS?! That's crazy talk!" Yes, I really do often have conversations like this with myself. :)

The only other thing I'm still working on is someone who can make a small-ish gluten-free, vegan cake. My best woman is gluten-free, so I want to have cake for her to eat, because she won't be able to have the normal wedding cake. And I figure vegan because that way any vegans in attendance will also have something to eat. (I'm slightly willing to bend on the second point, because I don't know that anyone coming to the wedding is full vegan.) If you've got any thoughts on local gluten-free cake makers, drop me a line or leave me a comment!

Exciting and new

I haven't had much to post lately, because I haven't been working on much new stuff. I did spend a chunk of Saturday working on some costuming stuff, which I'll be sure to post here 1) after we've worn the costumes and 2) after the desktop is back in working order.

I do have one new thing for my Etsy shop in the works--coffee mug cozies. These are not like my coffee cup cozies, which go on disposable coffee cups that you get at the coffee shop. No, these are meant to go around ceramic mugs, in an attempt to keep the contents warm for longer. I'm planning to do an experiment to figure out what type of yarn is the most insulating, and use that to make the cozies from. :) More on that 1) after I've done the experiment and 2) after the desktop is back in working order.

It never fails to amaze me how one computer being problematic can screw up my life so much. But more specifically, it's because it's the desktop that it screws up my life. I can't use it for iTunes or my craft photos until we get it fixed. :( I could load new photos onto my laptop, but then I'd still need to get them on to the desktop eventually for storage purposes.

While I'm here, I should also mention that I think I'm back in the swing of posting to Shop Etsy. It's not every day yet, but I'm shooting for three days a week, and think that's viable. :)

Coffee Cozy Give Away!

Just a quick note today: Go check out Rose Works Jewelry blog, where I'm the featured artist this week! I'm also giving away one of my organic cotton crocheted coffee cozies. Check out her blog post to see how you can be entered to win it! :)

Works in progress

I've been plugging along with more scarves, and I have three more that are done and one almost done (it needs to be washed). I haven't posted any of them yet, of course, since I only just got photos of one of those taken. Yeah, I'm a wee bit behind on the photography front.

Tonight, we're going to work on getting part of the spare room organized. If it turns out that it's too crowded for both of us to work on the same area, I might try to get some pictures taken. :)

In the meantime, though, I got a custom order for a pair of Decapitated Dollies. Since they're a gift for someone I don't know, I'll refrain from posting who they are, but I will give you a hint: they're from a TV show that, somewhat inexplicably, I have never seen. It's next up on our agenda, however. :)