A WIP, A WIP! And more

I had to go grocery shopping today, which is of course, loads of fun. I was up too late last night and up too early this morning. I'm exhausted and think I'm going to take a nap, but first, I figured I'd update both blogs, as it is my MISSION.

I have cleaned up several of the shoes and these two are painted and ready to be adorned with beads and such.
Also, I started cutting out a leather purse, I'm thinking I'm going to at least use up the tooling leather I have and if I decide to quit after that, so be it. For now, I'll at least make something!

Maybe I should make that breastcollar that is on my 101 Things list.
I might try that.

Anyway, I am tired, so this is just a short entry with a photo of pink shoes!

Horses and leather.

So, I'm thinking of getting out of leather craft. As much fun as I used to have with it, I've lost a lot of the enjoyment now. I will still keep my Etsy and Artfire shops if I decide to do this, but they will be crochet and knit focused. I would like to learn to cold process soap, maybe I'll get into that and sell those down the road, all I know is I'm rather burned out with leather.

If I stop the leather I will shift my focus to making way more dreamcatchers and horseshoe related stuff. I will also probably knit and crochet more.

I feel like I shouldn't stop doing the leather, because lots of people love it, but then again, I haven't had the best luck selling it, and its a lot to invest in if it doesn't sell. I got into leather to make horse equipment, and I'm not sure I'll have time to do that either, although I think I'm going to give it a whirl before giving up entirely.

In other news, I'm starting a new blog all about horses and barrel racing and training. Find it here. There will still be horse and animal pictures here, of course, but the new blog will give me a chance to blog about all things horse related.

Buy Handmade, particularly if its from me!

What is better than free gift wrap?
Could it be free shipping?

How about 20% off?

What about all of them together! That's right! My etsy shop, will be having free shipping and 20% off Black Friday through Cyber Monday (12/1) as well as free gift wrap if requested! This is a great time to buy handmade!

I know I just totally did some shameless self promotion, but really, buying handmade this Christmas is the best way to go! Think about it. If you spend $50 on a necklace at the mall, that money goes to the store thats carrying it, the place that made it, their employees, as well as any distributors or middle men that are in the way! Your $50 becomes small when split into so many pockets! However, if you buy handmade $50 goes directly into the hands of an artisan, that will in turn hopefully purchase Christmas presents themselves! Doesn't this seem more economically beneficial?

hmmm?

OK, Etsy.com it up for Christmas people!

Youtube!

Long time no post! Yikes. I need to start posting in this blog more. Today or tomorrow I'm going to post a vlog on my youtube channel. It will be about horses and crafts. I will hopefully start doing how-to videos and show some of how I work.

My youtube channel is here.

I'm also working on building a website, I will post it when it is ready to be viewed!

So I come bearing more pictures of Deek and a photo of my recent Etsy listing!



Deek meeting Dakota
I made a leather cuff to match a knitted scarf. They are for sale as a bundle in my Etsy shop!

Barrette in the desert

I need to work on my edge skills. I've gotten much better than I used to be when I started. But a bit more polished would be nice. Also, isn't the hair stick neat? I got it at the Tucson Bead and Gem Show in September. Its carved bone and I think its so cool.

In other news I've become addicted to Starbucks. Starbucks is commercialization, tasty tasty commercialization. I can't drink coffee if its not very very sweet and milky, so thats where frappachino's come in.

I'm also going to go get a sewing machine today! I'm very excited about having a sewing machine so I can make different bags! I'm in the process of knitting a new bag and I'm going to crochet a bag as well, with leather handles. I'm also thinking about making a new leather bag. I just listed that dragonfly one, so now I should work on a new one, right? I have to be ready for my second craft show on the the 1st of November. I got new business cards too from Vistaprint. I got free ones, and they almost look like they have nightshades on them (its not quite the right plant, but close enough). I had to get the 7 day shipping, but it cost about $13 total for 250 cards and a free pen!

Ideas and a couple of products

Work is making me too busy. I don't get enough hours, but the pay is good so it makes up for it a little. I could use a heck of a lot more money coming in though! Argh. Its not like I work that many days, so I don't know why I don't do much crafting now a days. I've been crocheting a scarf. I think I'm going to start including crochet with leather items and making "leather and lace packages" or maybe "leather and fiber" but to me lace just sounds cooler, even if its not really lacy. I don't know. I think a crocheted scarf or bag with a matching leather cuff or belt would be really neat!

I need to advertise more for my shop. Its not easy when you're paying off debt to do some advertising and some craft fairs.
I have one fair coming up on the 4th of October, and one in November. I made a new horseshoe dreamcatcher today for the show and I also made a belt and two hair pieces.

Here is a photo of the belt and one of the hair pieces.


These aren't going to be in my shop unless they don't sell Saturday. No point in paying 20 cents when I might just sell them in a few days!

Time for Project Runway!

Leather and my first needlefelt!

A recent keychain I listed on my etsy yesterday. I currently am up to 41 items in my store!

I've been having a leather rut lately, which is also why I haven't been posting much. I've been wanting to go to a horse show and I'm sort of going insane. But I have listed something new every day this week so far. Except, I haven't listed one yet today, YET.


Here is my first 3-D needlefelt that isn't a bead. He's a cute little snaily guy. :)

Treasuries and Cuffs a-plenty!

I got in TWO treasuries last night! The first one is by MissKnits and can be found here.
Its an absolutely gorgeous treasury isn't it?



The other one is an EFA August Challenge Treasury. My little cow magnet is in the bottom left hand corner. This treasury is by DogonWear and is here.

And here are three leather cuffs I made recently. The bottom two are in the shop, the top one will be eventually.
In other news, I'm ill with a respiratory infection of some kind. I get to go to the doctor tomorrow..yay.
I haven't been doing a lot of leatherwork lately. Last week I was busy working and this week I'm sick and for me, making leather items just doesn't fly when I'm this ill. I have been working on repairing an old saddle. Thats new uncharted territory for me!

A couple creations

First off, I made a new horseshoe dreamcatcher. Its called "Fire and Brimstone".



I also made a new leather cuff. Its a dragonfly and some flowers. This one is a large size.

I'm in the process of making a large purse. Hopefully it'll be done by the end of the week and ready for posting on my Etsy!

Honeybees!

This is my honeybee bracelet.
I made this for the bee challenge over at Etsy Honeybee Helpers
it is currently featured in their blog.

I'm in the process of making a purse, a larger one than the past two I've made. The two leather side panels are tooled dyed, and ready to go! I just need to make the bottom and sides and straps, which I'm knitting!

I also knitted a dishcloth. It will be listed for sale in my other shop, Craftyequine!

Also, I'm looking at creating a website. :)

Necklaces and other fun stuff

I made a new necklace, I call it "Oh Inverted World" and if you get the Shins reference, you're just plain awesome!
Our foster mare is here! She's just a pony, but so sweet and cute! There will be more pictures, I'm sure!

In other news, I got a book on leather purses and totes and its got some awesome ideas. I think I may make a purse or two out of it! Its called Making Leather Purses and Totes.

Great book! If you're into making leather stuff at all, check it out for some great ideas.

Check out some of my favorites at Etsy, I'd love to buy some of these items, if only I had money!
I have a job interview on Thursday, so we'll see!

New uncharted ground

I made my first bridle, I'm very excited about this.
Oh, and I found a fat lizard, he was drowning and I saved him, and he clung to me for dear life.

Rescuing horses and nature

My newest craft items. The first is a recycled leather bag. It is upholstery leather from an old chair and I used all scrap leather to add the decoration collage.

Obviously the second is another keyfob.

I'm working on a horse bridle and a new bracelet. Again, I'm trying hard to post more.

I will be donating a portion of my proceeds to Care for the Horses, a local horse rescue.

Also, Blog readers, if you'd like to purchase anything from my shop, I will be running a sale until the end of July for anyone who reads my blog. Convo me with the words "Blog Reader" and I will take an additional 15% off of your purchase!

A compulsive person, I am!

My new leather supplies came in today! I'm very excited. I have new patterns and plenty of leather to last me a while! So, expect to see more crafting!

This is my newest keychain. Mostly dyed for color, but a little bit of acrylics to make it pop a bit.

Also, we got a new cat in the family! Her name is Ava and she was adopted from a shelter, after having five kittens of her own and being a foster mom for 4 more. She really hates the dogs at the moment though, so I'm working hard to get her used to them. Her and Banjo are on occasional sniffing terms, but if I get close to them he hisses and chases her away. She's really sweet though, I hope they'll be friends, and hopefully she'll get used to the dogs quicker than Banjo did.

I've been doing a lot of horseback riding with my husband, but monsoon season is bringing lots of storms, which will give me some photography practice, but may cut back my riding a bit. Hopefully, I can craft it up. I'm knitting a scarf that I think I may list on my Etsy. I'm feeling just that adventurous.

Some crafting, some photos, some stuff

The sunset was gorgeous, and I took this while I was horseback riding :)


The newest bit of leather craft. I ordered new leather, so expect to see some purses and tots!


Also, I crocheted my first scarf. Its for my little cousins birthday.

I found crocheting to be easier than knitting. And quicker. Even though it was a lot harder to learn. Regardless, it turned out great. I'm going to try felting up some bags to and using my leather crafting to add leather trim and straps.

Meanwhile, I have a lot of animals running around here and so much to do. Especially find a job. I'm going to work on posting in this blog more than once a week! I can make the time.

Keychains and features!

Team Ecoetsy featured me on their blog.


I find that cool.

Also I finished some custom keychains. That are going to Gemsformom on Etsy.

Dream dream dream, dre-e-e-eam!

Alright, first off, crafting has been going really well! I got an Alchemy request on Etsy, so I'm making two father's day keychains and they're really pushing my limits a little, as I had to draw mermaids and now I get to carve and paint them! I'm excited to see how it turns out. Hopefully I won't disappoint!

I made a necklace based on the Mourning Cloak butterfly. :)

I also made another horse shoe.

So, I'm up for a ton of link exchanging! If you have blog links or myspace, facebook, shops, whatever, I'd be willing to exchange links, just comment here! My links are all on the side of this blog, check them out.

Step 1...Add silly.

Since I should be studying for a lab final, but I'm having a much better time singing songs from Across the Universe, I've decided to blog! Woot.


First off, I made an Etsy sale! Its my third one!
It was this lovely bookmark seen on the right. The colors are gorgeous, I'm happy that someone else liked it.

Anyway, I figured I'd show one of my dreamcatcher shoes in progress. Here are the first stages below.

First off, I cleaned and painted this shoe black with acrylics. Then there was the artificial sinew-ing, which I did more randomly so it wasn't such an even spiral this time. I added a few random beads that are purple. There are reasons for that!









The next step will be adding some other things to it, to dress it up a bit. Heres two of the things I'm going to add to it on the left. Now, I will post pictures of the progress tomorrow. I've almost got the darned thing finished!

Purses and Bags oh my!

I know this isn't really horse related, but I wanted to show my blue floral purse. Its available on my Etsy. I've been exploring my leatherwork and this was the first purse I made. Its just a small one, but I'm thinking this will be what I make the most, purses and handbags. I really enjoyed putting it together.

Mostly I'd like to get to making horse equipment down the road, but for the time being I can't afford the leather to do it. So, I'm busying myself with smaller projects.

Thats all for now, I'll hopefully update again soon. I'm moving to Arizona in two weeks and finishing up my last semester of college, so forgive me if I'm busy!