2014 Craft Challenge and Project List

Happy New Year! I can't believe it is already 2014. Lots of exciting things are going to happen this year. I can feel it!

For me, I know that I'll be having a baby this year! I very anxious to meet our little girl. I know it'll be tiring and exciting to have a newborn again, but I can't wait to see how crazy things actually get and how our Little Man transitions into being a big brother.

I also have a lot of new things planned for my shop, and I have a mega crafty to do list. If you remember, I am a listoholic! Somehow, I didn't do a very good job sticking to my "crafts to make" list last year. Part of the problem is that I'm good at planning projects, getting the materials, and sometime even starting the project. Then, my crafting ADD kicks in, and I find something new that I want to start working on. In the end, I have a handful of complete projects and a bunch of "hibernating" projects waiting to be finished. I don't have any idea how many projects I completed last year, and that makes me sad. As a listoholic, I should have a list of completed projects to marvel at at when the year comes to a close, right?

This year, I'm going to use my love of lists (and especially of crossing things off of lists) and my Internet friends to keep me on track and motivated the whole year long so I can get my crafting goals accomplished! I have a few craft-related goals set for the year, and I'm challenging myself to complete 50 projects in 2014. I don't have all 50 projects planned yet, and the ideas I have now might change, but my list is a very good start (maybe even a little too long for a starter list).

I'll be posting an update on my goals and project challenge progress as each month ends. I can't wait to see my "finished project" list grow as the year goes on.

My 2014 Craft Goals:

1. Complete 50 projects
2. Try a new craft (stamp-making)
3. Build my fabric stash
4. Organize my crafting supplies and purge what I don't need
5. Design, stitch, and list two new cross stitch designs a month (crafty business goal)

50 Projects in 2014:

2013 Works In Progress

• Hand-embroidered ABC Quilt
• Summer Stitching Club Project
• 2013 Woodland Sampler
• Ship in a Bottle Embroidery
• Crocheted Ripple Blanket
• Eloise Baby Sweater

Planned New Projects

• Baby Girl's Tumbler Quilt
• Little Man's Tumbler Quilt
• Catvent Quilt
• Hexie Mini Quilt
• Quilted Tree Skirt for My Mom
• Quilted Tree Skirt for Me
• Triangle Quilt
• Baby Quilt for My Sister
• Hello Moon Quilt
• Autumn Stitching Club Project
• Winter Stitching Club Project
• Spring Stitching Club Project
• 2014 Once Upon a Time Sampler
• Gathered Fabric Bowls
• Christmas Stocking for Baby Girl
• Paint Name Letters for Baby Girl's Room
• Paint Name Letter for Little Man's Room
• Needlebooks
• Needle Minders
• Hand-carved stamps
• Flannel Board
• Felt Play Pieces for Flannel Board
• Social Tote

Do you have any crafting goals set for 2014? What projects do you have planned?

My Husband's Birthday Present

Every year, my husband and I have a three-day celebration. Well, the last two years we haven't actually been able to celebrate the way we'd like to because of my husband's work, but theoretically, we have three awesome days in a row where celebration is in order.

My birthday is August 19th and his birthday is August 21st (of the same year - I'm older!). We got married the day between, August 20th. See, three days of awesome.

I usually have a really tough time thinking of good gifts to get for my husband, which sucks a lot because he is such a good gift giver. Somehow, I've actually been on a bit of a roll for the last year and have had some great gift ideas for him. I even had some extra ideas, but I was worried about having them written down somewhere, so I forgot them! I was starting to get worried when August rolled around and I didn't have a gift idea, but then inspiration struck!

I don't remember the details, but my husband heard about a drink called The Last Word and was really interested to try it. It had a liqueur in it that neither of us had tried before, green Chartreuse. He kept saying that we needed to go get some at BevMo, but that never happened. A bit later, he was on a business trip and ordered a Last Word at a bar, and he liked it.

So, my idea for his gift was to finally get him a bottle of green Chartreuse. I didn't want to just buy him booze, so I went hunting online for the recipe for The Last Word and other cocktails he could make with the Chartreuse. I was having a hard time finding anything other that The Last Word that looked trustworthy, but then, I found some good recipes on Saveur (shared below). As I was going through the recipes, I noticed that most of the drinks used yellow Chartreuse, not green. The yellow Chartreuse is a bit harder to get (sells out quickly) and is supposed to be good for drinking by itself, so I decided to get him a bottle of the yellow Chartreuse too! I typed up recipe cards for six different drinks (including a photo of the drink to whet the appetite), laminated them, punched holes in the corner, and use a binder ring to keep them together.

I was really excited to give him this gift, and he loved it!

Here are the cocktail recipes I included in the gift. I'll add photos as we make them!

The Last Word

3/4 oz. gin
3/4 oz. green Chartreuse
3/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
Twist of lime for garnish

Vigorously shake all ingredients together with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime twist.

Champs-Elysees

1 oz. brandy
1/2 oz. yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
Strip of lemon peel for garnish

Shake all ingredients together with ice. Strain into a well-chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel.

Greenpoint

2 oz. rye whiskey
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1 tsp. yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Angostura bitters

Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice; stir to chill. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Eureka Punch

2 oz. Caribbean-style amber rum
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz. yellow Chartreuse
1 Tbsp. honey mixed with 1 Tbsp. water
1 dash Angostura bitters
2 oz. ginger ale
1 lemon wedge for garnish
1 sprig of mint for garnish

Shake all ingredient together with ice until chilled. Strain into a Collins glass filled with ice cubes. Top with ginger ale. Garnish with lemon and mint.

The Beauty Spot

2 oz. gin
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. green Chartreuse
Orange twist for garnish

Combine all ingredient with ice in a shaker. Stir the mixture thoroughly and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

The Lumiere

1 1/2 oz. gin
1 oz. elderflower liqueur
3/4 oz. green Chartreuse
Dash of orange bitters
Lime twist for garnish

Combine all ingredient in a shaker with ice; stir thoroughly. Strain the mixture into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime twist

Breaking News!

Four days ago, I woke up to a message from a customer in the UK asking about my Custom QR Code cross stitch pattern. Along with her question, she mentioned that she saw me in Cross Stitch Crazy Magazine. What?! I wasn't fully awake, so I figured I read that part wrong. I rubbed my eyes a few times before re-reading the message, but it was still there. I hadn't submitted anything to the magazine, so this was an awesome surprise!

I ordered a paper copy of the magazine, but it wasn't actually for sale to non-subscribers yet and they are in the UK, so I knew it was going to take a while to get to me. The issue (November 2012 - #169) was released today, and I downloaded it through the Cross Stitch Crazy iPad app.

My face hurts from non-stop smiling!

Did You Miss Me?

I've been mostly M.I.A. recently, but it was for good reasons. August is usually a pretty busy/crazy month for my family, but it was even more so this year. Here's a glimpse into what August had/has in store for me this year:

• My birthday
• Our wedding anniversary
• My husband's birthday
• My shop featured HERE
• My husband slammed with work and gone the whole month
• Living like a single mom (with all the duties that go along with it)
• A teething 14-month-old (molars!)
• Trying to spend time with my next to youngest sister before she goes off to college
• Working on shop stuff
• Our neighbors moving - We have a shared driveway and have to deal with the movers, workers, stagers, realtors, house shoppers, etc. outside our front door and blocking our garage and driveway.
• Cousin's baby shower
• Wedding dress shopping with another sister
• A family reunion
• Blah, blah, blah

It's been an exciting month so far, but I am looking forward to life slowing down a little bit.

6 Monthaversary!

It's my Etsy shop's half birthday! The last six months have flown by at warp speed, so it's nice to sit down and look at how far the shop has come. Even though I could be considered a "creative," I am addicted to number crunching, spreadsheeting, and color-coding. I have fun analyzing sales and revenue, which items are more or less popular, the ups and downs of views, and all the love my shop and items have gotten (love those hearts!) - Not all of these end up in spreadsheets!  :)

While putting together my six month reach map, I realized that I had missed two countries on my last map (Afghanistan and New Zealand) - Oops! This month I got to add two new U.S. States, Colorado and Missouri - only thirty-one more to go!

Six Monthaversary

July was about the same as June as far as views and sales go, but I'm not really surprised by that. I didn't add very many new items in July, but I did do a lot of work in the shop, tweaking listing info and photos.

Yesterday, I got to be the center of attention for the SF Etsy Team's first shop critique Twitter Chat. I was a little nervous about having people checking out my shop, specifically looking for changes that could be made, but it was a really awesome experience. When you think about a "critique," you automatically think about "what's wrong with what you did," and that can be intimidating. But, good critiques also point out things that you did well. The SF Etsy Team gave a great critique. It was really nice to get positive feedback about things that I've done well in addition to constructive comments about things I could improve upon. And, instead of just leaving me with a general list of improvements that could be made, they also helped brainstorm ways to implement those changes. I often find myself wanting to make a change (or knowing that one needs to be made) but not knowing where to begin. This is where having more heads is better than one. Now, thanks to my shop critique, I have more awesome shop updates in the works.

August is a happening month in our family. My birthday, our wedding anniversary, and my husband's birthday are coming up; they are actually on three consecutive days! Plus, we have some other events for family and friends to attend. I'm hoping things will be exciting in my shop too. I'd love to have even more to celebrate.

Weekend Wrap-Up

I've been behind on posting because I have actually managed to keep myself super busy with productive stuff the past few days. Here are the highlights of my weekend:

1. Celebrated my dog's 3rd birthday by taking her to the dog park to get some energy out and to the groomer to get a pedicure.
2. Cleared a bunch of super tall weeds from our front yard. It no longer looks like it's been neglected for three years, and you can see the flowering plants and trees the weeds were blocking now.
3. Finished stitching some more new QR code cross stitch pieces.
4. Stretched all of the already stitched pieces I had laying around and started preparing them for finishing the backs.
5. Finished putting together my new and improved light box. Hopefully this is the winning design.
6. Took some product pictures using my new light box.

I still have a few more QR codes to stitch up (more color options). Then, I need to stretch, finished, and photograph the new product line. I'm hoping to get the new items in the shop this week. No more slacking!

The final version of my light box (I hope)!

Only 5 more to stitch up

5 Monthaversary!

It's time for another shop update! It's been five months since I opened my Etsy shop, and I have never been more excited about my craft. Each new sale gives me an awesome adrenaline rush, and I get inspired to create more.

This past month, I got my 50th sale (half of my 2012 goal!) and I got to add to my reach map (Florida, Washington, D.C., and Denmark). The shop does better and better each month, so I can't wait to see what I can accomplish in month six!

Seeing this map start to fill in is so awesome!

Longest Weekend Ever

This past weekend was the longest weekend ever. It started Friday morning and ended Monday afternoon.

We:
1. Did a lot of driving
2. Partied hard at a BBQ / college graduation party - Yay, beer pong!
3. Rooted my sister on at her grad ceremony
4. Took a bazillion pictures
5. Ate a lot of food
6. Spent lots of time with dad for Father's Day
7. Did some more driving

I'm tired.

4 Monthaversary!

I cannot believe that it has already been four months since I opened my Etsy shop. I dreamed about it and researched and planned for what felt like forever before opening the shop. I held off for a very long time (even after becoming a stay-at-home mom) because I was worried about whether or not the time I put into my shop would pay off.

I'm pretty sure that I will never make a living selling cross stitch patterns and kits or my hand-embroidered art and jewelry, which isn't my intention anyway, but I am really enjoying the challenge of running my own business. The shop eats up more time than I ever imagined, but I don't want to half-ass anything, so I feel like it is time well spent.

Every time I see a message pop up on my phone alerting me to a new sale, or I realize that I have new feedback from a customer, I get butterflies in my stomach and want to do a happy dance. There is one thing that tops that feeling - realizing the reach of my work. In my first four months, I have had 37 sales. My patterns, kits, and finished stitched art have been shared with people in 16 U.S. states, plus Australia and the UK. I really love seeing this map fill in more.

Holy Cow!

People are stitching up Acts of Craftiness patterns all over the U.S. (plus the UK and Australia)!