Crafting and starting a biz

 It has been a bit longer (ok...waaay longer....) than I had planned since I last blogged.  But lots of things have been happening!  First, I have been working hard on starting my own business.  It is a consulting group with 2 of my very talented friends.  www.mycconsultants.com! 

 Together, we are working to help non-profits and small businesses with their online presence, outreach and media and graphic design work.  

Yay! In related news, one of my colleagues and I have already been helping with a couple websites, one of which is for the lovely Bed and Breakfast on the ranch we are stating at.  That website is now up, so if you want to check out a little of what we have been up to and where we are, go to www.theinnatworkfamilyranch.com.

And, of course, I am always crafting!  We needed new curtains to replace the blinds that did not match our little RV home at all.  So over to Birch Fabrics I went, and found the best fabric for them!  I am pretty darn pleased with the outcome.  (Sorry, not the best pic though.)

One of my great friend’s is having a little one, and I just had to make a little cute cardigan for the little man!   I had a ton of fun whipping up this little project.  I think it came out so cute!  I found the pattern here on Ravelry.  I have to thank Linden Down for making such a cute pattern free!

I am also super excited about an upcoming project.  I think I am overly excited for the new knitting needle set I just ordered.  Check these out!  I got them not too long ago and love them!

And with them, I have started this awesome project....

My first knitted dress!  I can’t wait to see how it comes together. It is from Modern Top Down Knitting and I have been kind of working on it in every spare moment I have right now!  I will share the final product soon.  I am knitting it in a turquoise.  

We have been working on all kinds of other things, so more to come soon! (And I promise sooner than this post!)

Ash 

My new toy....

Well, new to me, but definitely not new.  I am so excited!  A friend of mine found this beauty at a thrift store in her area, and knew I wanted one.  So she scooped it up and delivered the lovely Royal typewriter with metal typewriter stand to me recently.  And then just a few days ago I got a new ribbon for her.  And even my hubby agrees that it is so much fun to use.  

Love!  I plan on printing off my logo for my etsy biz's cards and tags, and then use the typewriter to stick in my info.  We will see how it goes, but right now, it seems like a fun way to add an interesting touch!

Ash

Things to fill my 3 day weekend

I am excited, as I was just reminded by our CFO that Monday is a holiday!! So...this made me think about all the things I'd like to accomplish this 3-day-weekend...

Here are several things I think I might try:

Need to do some baking...maybe try these yummy sounding Nutella and Sea Salt Stuffed Sugar Cookies at Cooking Canuk.

Some sewing....Maybe this wonderful dress I found at Needles, Thread and Love?

Fun repurposing/upcycling....like finding some cool, old furniture to make one of these wall mounted cabinets  I found at Plow and Hearth or...

Maybe one of these awesome globes from Blue Velvet Chair's blog (which ties into my new biz...I am getting close to rolling it out...really!)

Which reminds me of something else I need to work on this weekend...my biz! But more on that very soon.

Happy weekend!

Ash

Why I craft....

I have been working on what I would like to do for my crafting business.  A while back my sister and I worked on our own local crafting where we made recycled goods.  I made bags crocheted out of plastic grocery bags and ones that were the grocery bags melted to create 'fabric'. My sister made jewelry from bottle caps and wallets from the melted plastic.  I loved making these items, but we'd primarily sell at our local Saturday Market and last year we both started working much of the weekends.

But in the meantime, it has helped me to re-evaluate what I want to do with my crafting and how much I enjoy crafting for others.  And I know that the environment is a big factor in why I craft.  I want to make things that are original and are sustainable, upcycled and generally take away from the super-commercialized world with too much packaging and non-personal, cheaply made, mass produced items.

So is born my upcycled fashions.  I am in the re-birth stage and am still developing. But I had to share some of the beginnings....

Here you can see my 'new' yarn from old t-shirts.  I am using the 'yarn' to create new, bulky fashion items like this...

A chunky, fun scarf for the quickly upcoming fall days.

More to come soon...I am developing skirts, panties, headbands, and more.

Ash

My hubby's jump into the food cart world...aka starting his own business!

I am super proud of my man.  After his trip to China about a year ago, he fell in love with steamed buns, or as they are known in Beijing, baozi.  After talking about how good they were, finally he found a recipe to make them for me, and they are delicious!!

He kept talking about how cool it would be to sell these little round creations on the street with his own food cart, as he can rarely find the kind he liked here in America.  After talking about this to a friend of a friend, serendipity struck.  This person had made himself a Chinese style food cart (the three-wheeled bycycle-turned-cart kind) that he was no longer using and would let Ric use it until he could buy it from him!

Isn't it a cute little cart?

Then Ric found out about this neat website that let's you do your own fundraiser for your small business.  This very cool site is called Kickstarter, and we have set up a page for Ric.  He has 8 days left to raise $600 to help .    And they make it to where you can get goodies for your donation!  Check out his page here!

He looks good on it!  So exciting!  

Ash