Feature Friday

Alright, so I think to spice things up on my blog (and to get some awesome artists' creations out there) I'm going to feature a few pieces from a couple shops on Etsy. There will be a theme each week to narrow down my choices --otherwise I'd go crazy. Here are a few super cute hand crafted paper products to kick off this new tradition!

These are "The Written Bird Gift Tags" featured in pinktwilight's shop! I love anything with cute little birds on it. These are great for those of you who make your own gifts but might not be super talented in the paper creation department...*ahem* me.

Ok so you don't make your own gifts or need some awesome gift tags for anything? What about for those super organized folks who are tired of the drab mega store planners? Search no more! PriaVanda makes these super cute planners (which you can customize)! Behold:

It's purple too which means I automatically like it!

What's that you say? You're preggo or you know someone who is preggo?! I have found the perfect invitations for the baby shower! Check out these awesome baby shower (or announcement) card by GGsTreasures:

who said it's hip to be square?! I absolutely love these cards. It almost makes me want to get pregnant so I can buy some of these! The best thing about these is that these cards fold up, come with their own envelops and can be made in different colors. Yes please!

Alright last one, 888gifts makes some baller photo albums that, I promise, you won't find anywhere else. Check this one out:

It can hold 72 3x5 and 4x6 pictures! Not to mention the fact that it has these gorgeous pink and purple-y leaves on the cover. If you didn't know or couldn't tell, my favorite season is Autumn, so anything with leaves on it is a win in my book.

____________________________________________________________________

In other news, I went job hunting today! Old school job hunting. Out of the 2 hundred (I'm sorry I like to exaggerate) stores I went into, one was hiring. So I turned in my application and said a little prayer. I defiantly didn't want a part time job after spending 40 thousand dollars and the last 4 years of my life on school, but I guess a crappy job is better than no job at all. We might be going to Savannah tomorrow! It's supposed to rain and I think it's only going to be about 40 degrees but I guess I'll finally get to see the ocean after waiting for so long! Brett is the deciding factor on this issue so Billy and I are waiting to see what he says. I'm just excited at the thought of being outside of the apartment all day. It's just so boring here!

Etsy-ing About

So the past few days I've been glued to Etsy trying to make my shop better and become more active in the community. So far I think I'm doing well, but I also think I'm annoying Brett. He told me that I was "glued" to my computer. I know I haven't been as exciting the past few days but I really want this Etsy thing to work out so I'm working hard at it. So, I just tell him "I'm at work right now" and that seems to help a little bit. I have a bunch of new merchandise in my shop! I started carrying stitch markers and I have received a lot of good feed back about them (thanks to the Etsy community members)! Networking wise, I have finally set up a Twitter account (@AutumnFibers). As lame as this may sound, I'm excited to put some twitter apps on my iPod. Haha

As for life in Georgia, I still haven't heard from Health Qwest yet. They told me that they'd get back to everyone by Monday, when I called (again) today they still hadn't decided. I guess I'll just have to wait for them to call me and offer me my first real job! I think after getting my bills paid up I'm going to make a huge yarn purchase so I can dye a new line of yarns. I'm hoping I can some how make them southern themed or maybe super mushy since Bretters and I moved in together!

I think Brett and Billy are planning a trip to Savannah this weekend. I'm not really sure how that's going to work out considering Brett and I still have no jobs, but I guess it doesn't cost money to par-ooze around the beach! Perhaps I can find some inspiration for my new yarn line!

I'm a Georgia Peach!

Well me and the boyfriend made it to Georgia! The drive from Kansas City Missouri to Middle Georgia was 14 hours long. We went through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The first day we were in the process of traveling for about 8 hours and stayed in Murfreesboro, TN for the night. Second day was 6 hours of driving through the rest of Tennessee and half of Georgia. Needless to say I was very happy to finally see my new apartment!

I was able to finish dying two more yarns before we left though, my silk yarns! I took pictures of the dyeing process for Amy's Azzurro (which can be purchases here) just in case anyone was interested in how I dye my yarns!

(the yarn was pre-soaked before this).

Step 1: Mix up your dye in awesome old school jelly jars with Pooh characters on them

Step 2: Dump yarn dye in pot of water and yarn. Mix!

Step 3: After dye exhausts (water turns clear), put out side in the snowy Missouri weather to cool off.

Step 4: After the dye pot is cool rinse in warm water with Synthopol.

Step 5: After rinsing yarn throughly and running it through the spin cycle of the wash, hang to dry!

Finally, pictures of the knitted gifts!

I knitted a few gifts (3) for my two sisters and my ma. I wanted to make something for my dad as well as my grandmother but I started in late October and didn't have time to complete all of them. So, without further ado....

This the "Spring Beret" that I made for my little sister. I knew as soon as I finished it that I needed to knit one for myself. I wore it around work for a day to test it out. The link is for the pattern on Ravelry, I couldn't get the web link to work properly.

This is the "Super-Fast, Ultra-Cozy Scarf" that I made for my baby sister. It's a very pretty periwinkle color (Lamb's Pride). Very fast knit, made most of it in my class.

This is the Chunky Beanie that I knitted for my mother. It's baby alpaca yarn and so very soft. Easy pattern too!

Now I'm working on the 10 in 2010 so far I'm working on The Boneyard Shawl.

So far it's a great pattern, something you can knit in front of the tv or in class! Westknits has a lot of very cute patterns! Lots of hats and shawls.

A Christmas to dye for?

This year I got tons of stuff to improve my yarn dying. Most of which was Jacquard acid dyes, which are amazing by the way. My lovely boyfriend bought me three awesome hanks of merino to dye from knitpicks (good choice)! I am super impatient so I ended up dying all three hanks in three nights, they turned out great but now I don't have anything to do. I should probably start knitting items to post in my shop. Since I gave so many knitted items away from Christmas (which still need to have their photos taken), I am kind of on a knitting hiatus. I'll get started up again soon! Also, pictures of my knitted gifts will be up soon!

Christmas Haul

I'm knitting everyone gifts for Christmas this year. The kicker is, I didn't start until late October and I have 6 people to knit for. I'm working on my third project (scarf for dad) and it's going to take forever since I won't be able to knit at home because everyones there. There goes my Thanksgiving break! I also just taught my baby sister how to knit and she's addicted, I'm sure I'll end up teaching my little sister too after she has the baby. Pictures of the gifts coming soon!

I have a few of my first handpainted yarns for sale! Please see below or check out my etsy shop if you're interested in purchasing anything. Also, if you have any requests for colors/yarn types you want to be dyed let me know, I'd be happy to help you out!