Hoarders Unite

Chiyo the Imaginative Mouse - Crochet Me

2010-11-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

Chiyo the Imaginative Mouse - Crochet Me

My name is Chiyo. I am proud to say that I am a baby girl now. My mama says that I am born out of the pure spirit of a fairy mouse as I am so light. She says that I can fly like them. But how can I? I don't have wings.
I hear grown-ups say that baby mice don't think. (Giggles!) They don't know my mind.
Psst! Psst! I am on a secret mission! To fly to my friends in the fairy land. So, what, if I don't have wings? Balloons don't have wings either, but they fly. Let me ask them and see if they can help me.
Will you tell me how to fly, oh dear balloons?

Please go here to commnet, rate, share this pattern. Thanks
http://www.crochetme.com/media/p/114584.aspx

Call for a new leader:

2010-11-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Next month, the Hoarders Unite Team will be two years old. I hate to see it languish and fall into oblivion, but I just don't have the time to run it anymore. I am sorry that we have been so inactive as a group in recent months, and I have not had the time to rally the troops, as it were.

The economy has taken a toll on many Etsy shops and on time and energy reserves, but I am certain that this group could still be a viable and vital one that helps crafters find inspration when the craft hoard stash threatens to consume too much space.

If there is anybody out there who is willing to take it over and be the group leader for a time, or in perpetuity, please email me or message my on our Yahoo group forum and let me know.

Until then,

Happy Holidays to all!

CHALLENGE...

2010-08-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

I don't think we have had a challenge in awhile. Is anyone up for it? I think I can finally do something crafty. Last time I think I challenged you to get an art journal and do something or write something in it every day. I didn't do that challenge since I was in the process of moving away and had none of my craft/art supplies available.

Perhaps a challenge to ourselves is an idea. Something you've been putting off starting, something you don't like to do, what would you challenge yourself to do?

I challenge myself to finish the Christmas trees I started two years or was it three? years ago!!

Here's a photo of the trees in their half finished state...

Stash Busting

2010-07-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by the children. Some friends of ours visited recently, and their daughters are nine and 13. They are into the friendship bracelets that I used to make...ahem...over 20 years ago. The oldest had 12 bracelets on one arm and 13 on the other, but she didn't know how to make them! She was relying on friends to make them for her. She saw my box of embroidery floss skeins and asked what I do with them.
Well, I explained how embroidery works, and then I pulled out a friendship bracelet that I had begun a very long time ago and had never finished. I then used that start to refresh my memory of technique, and then I taught them both how to make a basic 1/2 chevron stripe bracelet.

I was so refreshed that I came home on Friday and made myself a bracelet and a necklace. I pulled out my stash of hemp twine and glass beads and have decided that, in addition to knitted items for Christmas, my younger recipients might also be sporting some handmade arm and neck embellishments.

This has been a hoard de-stash inspirational anecdote...

SORRY FOR THE ABSENCE...KIND OF!

2010-07-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow Hoarders! I've been away for quite some time and have had no computer/Internet. So I've missed out on posting here and in my own personal blogs.

I've been living at the beach, Oregon Coast to be exact. We are renting a house there and I live there and hubby comes to stay on the weekends. Up til now he's had every Friday off so he arrives late on Thursday nights but now he has to work every other Friday so will arrive on Friday nights that week. I will miss having him there for that one day, but that's life!!

My crafting has been minimal, almost nil. I did make the wedding favors for our daughter's wedding, which was right there in the town where I am living. I put a sand dollar in a square of tulle and tied it with a ribbon. Each ribbon had a little square of ocean blue paper and a sticker with the bride and groom's name on it and the date of the wedding. That was June 26, 2010. The sand dollars were already boiled and clean. When I ran out of sand dollars I used several small seashells. They were a hit!

I bought a sketch pad to doodle in, but drawing has never been my strong suit and I was not happy with the results of my efforts. I guess I'll stick to what I'm good at! Or think I'm good at, I guess!

I'm at home now in Eastern WA but going back to the beach house on Tuesday. I'll take some of my hoarded craft items because quite frankly, I'm having withdrawals! I want to make more cards. I used up a lot of my stash for the Spirit Jump Cards for Cancer event in April and have not replenished it. I've been buying cards to use to send to Spirit Jumpees. If you don't know about Spirit Jump, click here for the website and info about it: SPIRIT JUMP.

So how has summer been treating you? Are you still working on crafty items and using your hoarded craft/sewing supplies? Or do you take the summer off and spend it traveling, picnicking, etc.? A lot of people start working on their Christmas items in July? Are you one of them?

Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon. I've made it very clear to hubby that I MUST have my computer and Internet access after being without for about 5 weeks...I'll be able to post some photos of the items I will be working on!! But for now, here are a few images you can snag for your own creations. They are from vintage cards which I scanned and uploaded. If you like these, let me know, I do have more.

~NANCY~

MY HUGEST HOARD - IS HUGEST A WORD?

2010-06-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

So glad to see all the comments on last week's post! I went over to the Flickr page but didn't add anything to it. Not yet, I'm just too busy to do anything artsy-crafty right now. Although I do need to finish a sweet charm bracelet I'm working on for my niece who graduates on the 12th.

My hugest or largest hoard is...

Bottle caps. Why, you say? When we moved here to our mfd. home in an adult park, I asked DH if I could decorate the side of the little building out back. That little building was like a blank canvas to me. At first I thought I would decorate it with vintage yard and/or garden tools. So I thought about that for awhile and awhile longer and then some more... I guess I didn't really want to do that or I would have started that project.

Then one day I got the bright idea to decorate it with a mural...made of bottle caps. Pop bottle caps, milk jug caps, water bottle caps, etc. These are not normally recycled and I thought it would be a great "green" project as well. So I saved and saved and saved and all of my sisters, children, grandchildren and friends saved and saved and saved. I even told them I'd pay 1 penny per bottle cap so I could make it fun for the kids.

Now I have so many bottle caps that I can't possibly count all of them! My dilemma: we are moving away from our little mfd. home in the park! And I have all of those bottle caps, still. I haven't done my project yet. And now I won't do it here, but I still want to do some sort of a mural or design with it at some point in time, somewhere!

What is your largest stash? Make a comment to let us know! Is it unusual? Why did you start saving that particular item? How many do you have?

IS ANYONE OUT THERE?

2010-05-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

I try to be faithful about my writing assignment, i.e., to write a blog entry here every Wednesday. But I'm not feeling the love, people! Is anyone out there? I know Sinclair is around, she has a new job and she isn't able to check in as often as before. I know the attic elf was here two posts ago. Anyone else? I hope so. We have something good going here. What can we do to garner more interest or more participation? Any ideas, peeps?

We are supposed to be working on an art journal. I must admit that I ordered mine but I haven't used it yet. I was disappointed in the size for the cost, but no matter, I should have done something in it by now. Alas, I have an excuse, we are moving to the beach. Now if my muse is silent there I will be surprised! I've just been busy ordering pots and pans, silverware, dishes, etc., etc. (We're setting up another household.) And a daughter is getting married June 26th and I've been trying to find a dress to wear and I have favors to make. So I have excuses, I'm sure we all do. It's a busy time of year! Our gardens beckon, our children and grandchildren are playing spring sports, etc., etc.

So, let's see if we can make a comment here now and then, do a page in your art journal soon, and be thinking about how we can get more participation, etc.

HAPPY SPRING!! (I think it might finally be here.)

This is the view from the deck of our beach home. It is also the view from the living and dining areas and the master bedroom.

VINTAGE HATPINS

2010-05-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

I love vintage costume jewelry. Actually, I love all jewelry~the good, the bad and the ugly~and it doesn't have to be costume. I just love jewelry. I have several books on the subject and just picked up another last weekend. This one is about plastic jewelry and though it is copyrighted quite some time ago, it helps in identification and is enjoyable to read. One can pick up these guides for a fraction of the price at second hand stores. Often times collectors will purchase a newer version and sell their older version. I have several up-to-date books for valuing and pricing but older ones help in identification and colors, etc.

Thumbing through the book I found a section about "pins," i.e., hatpins. I have a small collection of hatpins and two hatpin holders so I was interested in this section. I found it very interesting that a pin-making machine was invented in 1832 and after that pins became very popular. Prior to the invention of the pin-making machine, people were taxed to pay for the Queen's pins! Another anomaly was that if caught stealing a pin, a person would be hanged! Yikes! Pins were so treasured and valuable they were bequeathed in wills and could only be purchased on New Year's Day. Have you heard of "pin money?" Yep, hatpins.

I also learned that there is a difference between hatpins and hat pins. Hatpins are pins used to anchor a hat to a woman's head. A hat pin was a badge or type of ornament worn by men on their hats if they were a prominent man. When a man met another man, he could tell by the hat pin whether he was of lesser station than the other and would therefore tip his hat first.

Do you collect hatpins? You might be interested in the American Hatpin Society. Click the name and go to their website.

Are you worried about buying fakes? Learn from the American Hatpin Society about fakes by clicking here: article on fakes at American Hatpin Society.

Hatpins can be found on eBay but "buyer beware." According to the American Hatpin Society, 10% of all hatpins for sale on eBay are legitimate and 90% are fakes! Hatpins can also be found on Ruby Lane and other shopping sites with antique and/or vintage categories.

JUST A BRIEF NOTE...

2010-05-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

I received my journal in yesterday's mail but sadly did not start it yet. I had quite a busy day today! I may have purchased my journal "too small." I write in a journal frequently, not daily, but often. I've been doing it for years so this new challenge will be different for me. I have lots of journals but they all have lines so I ordered one on Etsy without lines.

Have you started yours? Have fun with it, that's what its all about, right?

(The design is from a Dover sample.)

LET'S DO SOMETHING...A NEW CHALLENGE

2010-05-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

I read blogs of others and read about what they did that day and usually there is something they did that is artful or crafty. And then there is me. I go along and don't do anything artsy or craftsy for days at a time and start to feel out of balance. We haven't had a challenge for awhile. I remember we did have one after Christmas and another in February, I think. So it's time.

My challenge to you is to get a journal with blank pages and a coil binding and doodle in it. Write down what ideas come to you. Cut pictures from magazines with colors you like, or flowers you like or pieces of artwork that inspire you. Glue them into the journal. Or use your markers and sketch something. Draw. Paint. Write. Fold. Do a little something in the journal every day, even if it is to write that you didn't have time to do something creative. And why. Or if your muse was silent, write that down.

Choose a journal in a size that won't sabotage you immediately, i.e., 11"x14" might be a little much for a "first timer" in art journaling. Or whatever it might be called. I think a 5"x7" might work for me this first time out. Set a time or a place to do it. Same time every day? Or fit it in where you can? Its up to you...

The size, the time of day, the medium, etc., are all up to you. You can share your work with us, or not! Share with us once in awhile, though. I'll give you a few days to get the journal or make one.

By May 19th lets each try to post a photo in our Yahoo groups of at least one page of the journal. Sinclair, can you make us an album for "Journal Pages, May 2010," please? Thanks!

Ready, Set, GO!!

SPRING LEAVES AND RUBBINGS

2010-04-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

I had been wanting to do some leaf rubbings for awhile but had to wait for spring! Here are the steps to doing the rubbings.

Select several leaves to use. They should be veined and have a lot of detail.
Select the paper to use. I used tracing vellum which came in tablet form.
You will need a paperweight and colored pencils or crayons.
Place the leaves under the vellum in any design that you would like.
Put the paperweight on the vellum where it will help keep the paper and leaves in place. I might suggest to tape the paper to the counter or tabletop to hold it in place. It tends to slip even with the paperweight and my other hand holding the paper down.
I used colored art pencils. Use the side of the pencil tip to do the broader parts and the tip to do the narrower parts. Gently rub the pencil across the leaf. You will get the feel for it. I had an eraser handy, too, to erase the color that went "out of the lines." As I did more, I got the hang of it.
Do not use the same leaf more than once. I did. I made a mess and some of the rubbings don't look as good as the others.
This was my first attempt, done on 8-1/2" x 11" vellum.
I used a red Japanese maple and a mauve colored pencil.
I tried a house plant leaf, an Angel Wing Begonia, it didn't work. It has too much moisture in the leaf.
I don't care for the rubbing of the leaf with a crayon. There isn't enough definition of the leaf veins. I also prefer to use the darker colored art pencils.

What to do with the final product?

make a greeting card or a note card
frame it and hang it on the wall
make a calendar using different leaf rubbings for each month

I clearly need more practice before I do anything with the rubbings.

I don't know what the other leaves are. One was on a flowering plant which showed up in our flower bed voluntarily. The other was just a leafy plant which also just happened to show up.

Have fun making your rubbings and be sure to let me know how they turned out.

Handmade Marketplace Sites

2010-04-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have shared this post on my personal blog, but also thought it would be a good fit here. Though Hoarders Unite originated as an Etsy Street Team, I do not feel that we are in any way limited only to Etsy. I want to encourage members of the team to sell wherever they choose (or not to sell at all) and know that they can still be a part of this group.

I thought I would create a post that will list all the handmade shopping sites I know about. As I find more, I will add them to this post, and share a permalink in the sidebar. So, here goes...

Handmade Marketplaces:

1000 Markets
AnticGift (based in Turkey)
Artfire
Dawanda (based in Germany)
Etsy
Folksy (based in the UK...thanks GirlIndustries for this info!)
Just For Keeps
MadeIt (based in Australia)
WinkElf
Zibbet

Sites showcasing and indexing handmade items:

CanaMade (featuring items made in Canada)
Down the Handmade Path (featuring primitive folk arts and crafts)
Handmade Product Marketplace (blog)
Poppytalk Handmade (a monthly "street market" curated by Poppytalk)
Try Handmade

Hybrid Sites:

Bonanzle (handmade and commercial items)

NO MORE ETSY SHOPS

2010-04-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow Hoarders. I have closed my two Etsy shops. Shocking...even to myself. I have an illness including chronic pain and cannot keep up with all the demands on the time when I am able to do things. Ever since we moved here three years ago, the house has been untidy. Piles of craft supplies, piles of things to sell, boxes here there and everywhere. Quite frankly, I'm tired of it. Tired of the house being untidy due to my projects and my inventory. The house is too small to store all of the above mentioned in proper closets or drawers. So, the decision, which I did not make lightly, was to get rid of the clutter, i.e., by closing the shops.

While I enjoyed every bit of having a shop, well 2 shops, online, I once again have reinvented myself and my priorities. It could also possibly have to do with the recent familial events which required me to be away from home for three weeks, one week at a time. I need to be feeling as good as I can to help my family when needed and not worry about closing and opening my shops so much. That's not good for business...

Another by product of this new outlook is that I will no longer a Hoarder be... I am being ruthless. Really ruthless. The charity shops will be loving me! I think I will spread it out and not give all to one particular shop. Help everyone instead of just one.

Therefore, I may no longer be a card toting member of Hoarders Unite but, I'm staying a member because :

Rome wasn't built in a day
I like you guys and want to stay in touch
I'm still going to buy on Etsy
And I might have withdrawals as I destash and need support, LOL!!

I must now apologize for this post being "all about me."

~Nancy~

Regarding Blogs and Removal of Same

2010-04-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

I just deleted one of my blogs yesterday after printing it out. I remembered that Sandi made a post about not being able to delete her blog so thought I would post how to do it. One thing I have noticed is that we cannot block and delete or block and copy and I had been wanting to save the blog posts on a particular blog I have because it is "my book." So, wanting to preserve it, I hadn't deleted it yet.

Yesterday I signed on to the particular blog and printed the pages out, but it was a cumbersome job and wasteful because it printed out my posts but also every chapter that was printed printed out the heading and the sidebars, too. I think I should have gone to "edit blog posts" and printed from that. Maybe I would have printed only the post itself and not the extraneous stuff.

Then, after I printed all of it, still in the layout portion of that particular blog, i.e., the one I want to delete, I chose "settings." On the settings page there is a line at the top that asks "export" "import" and "delete." I chose delete and voila! My blog is now gone.

I hope this helps anyone who wants to delete their BLOGSPOT blog.

CHALLENGE OF A DIFFERENT KIND?

2010-04-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

I am still working on my "destash" and "downsizing" goals. Maybe I will be forever! But I've decided that there is one thing that can help me achieve my goals sooner. I can say "No, thank you," when someone asks if I want a bunch of craft supplies! I don't do that, never have done that, have always been happy to accept whatever was given to me. Most recently I was given lots and lots and lots of wooden craft items. Included were thread spools, flat hearts, round balls in different sizes, big spools, little spools, and who knows what all. I just took them and put them in the workroom. They are still there, in a box on the floor, and on the window sill in jars. They will soon become the property of my youngest sister who has a whole barn for her hoards and stashes!

I don't use wood that much. I have used it in the past, and maybe someday I will again, but there is no sense for me to keep all these pieces that I may never use. I have priorities in what I like to use in my arts and crafts and the wooden things are way down on the list. So they will be given away. And I will think twice before accepting miscellaneous items in the future. My challenge...

Will it work for you?

2010-03-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

More Signs of Spring

Adding to Nancy's great finds, here are a few of my favourites from the Hoarders Unite Team that remind me of spring.

Lace heart original drawing from I Dream in Ink

http://www.etsy.com/shop/idreaminink

A religious ornament from NoelBelles

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NoelBelles

Lampwork beads from Julie's Little Bits

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Julieslittlebits

embellished paperweight by Blueberry Manor

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlueberryManor

2010-03-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Labels Anyone?

A few weeks ago, I described the terrific auction lot of sewing notions that I won for next to nothing. Well, included in that stash was a little bag of more than 100 clothing labels. All had been carefully removed, and many were from men’s clothing.

Not knowing what I might be able to do with them, I threw them in the wastebasket.

Less than an hour later, I retrieved them. I thought, if someone had gone to all the bother to remove and save them, there must be a project there somewhere! So, I carefully washed and ironed the lot of them, and started thinking about projects. I wish I could talk to whoever was saving them, to know what she had in mind, because I’m at a bit of a loss.

I did come up with one really cute use – what a great embellishment for little doll jeans!

If you have some ideas about how the rest could be used, I'd love to hear them!

This must confirm my membership in the Hoarders Unite group - not only can I not get rid of any of my own stash, now it seems I can’t get rid of someone else’s stash either!

SPRING IS HERE OR AT LEAST ITS NEAR

2010-03-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to feature some spring colored items from the Hoarders Unite Team.

This is a bracelet by Juliesparklybits. Very pretty, Julie. I love the soft colors and I love the look of having so many items on the bracelet.

Here is a clothespin bag from GenevaDesigns. So colorful and with cute mushrooms all over it. I used to love hanging the clothes out to dry. Now I don't have a place to do that. I remember how good the clothes smell after hanging out to dry.

MyInnerPrincess offers these beautiful hooks. I just love the colors! Gorgeous!

And here is a definite sign of spring, a lilac colored sundress! Could you make that in my size, please? This adorable dress made for an 18" doll comes from Whoaitsme.

Well, I had to add one of my things... It's a spring banner for your cubicle at work or ??? You decide. It is made with vintage cards. Oh, its in my shop, Nanalee.

This is a very springy card made by idreaminink. I'm sure we're all thinking about our flower pots and wondering if its too early to plant them. Nice card!

I hope you enjoyed the little romp through some of the items made by team members. If you'd like to see more, go to Etsy, do a search in the "buy" section and type in "hoarders-uniteteam." You'll find all kinds of goodies from our talented members!

PS~I've never been on a front page...sniff, sniff. But my congratulations to ALL who have! How awesome!

Front Page Club News

2010-03-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

I have decided to do a post here every time a member makes the front page in 2010. Our own MadameTeasley of Le Boudoir Secret has done it again! Her Grandmother's China- enameled pink rose earrings were there on March 6 at 7:am.

I remember reading that she had changed her photo technique some time ago, and began using that wonderful script background in an effort to gain more exposure and sales. I think that strategy has worked well, and the script lends an elegance to the photo that really showcases the aesthetic value of her items.

Congratulations on your appearance in such a beautiful front page collection!

Etsy Front Page Club

2010-03-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Our team has hit a wonderful stride lately, with a growing number of front page features. I found the other day that we can now add ElephantWalk to that distinguished list of Etsy Front Pagers. Her Miniature Snow White Necklace made it to the front page on February 27.

The Etsy Front Page Club. Congratulations, ElephantWalk on becoming an honorary member of the club!

Get the screenshot from CraftCult if you want to share it on your own blog or web page.

Now, the question for the group is: How do we convert front pages and an explosion of shop views into SALES? This economy is tough, tough, tough, and it is an even bigger struggle to convert views to sales than in the past. We will explore this further in the coming months. Meanwhile, good luck to all team members on a higher sales year in 2010.

More Etsy Front Page News!

2010-03-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

It seems that CigarBoxBeads is also famous! Her Just Before Dawn 3 strand Copper and Gem Necklace was on the front page on March 2. Congratulations again to Marilyn! Really, you must share your secret for success. And your photography technique!

I think it is wonderful that we have member shops making it to the front page! Let it be known that our hoard stash is Front Page Worthy!

I've done a little more digging, and found at least one more member who has been on the front page recently...look for that post, coming soon!

Go Team!

Etsy Front Page News!

2010-03-05T14:10:00.001-08:00

Well, fellow craft supply hoarders, it seems it does pay to hold onto those items! Because, if you have enough vintage stash, you might be able to create a unique item that will wow the powers that be (AKA: the front page assimilators) on Etsy and land yourself right on the FRONT PAGE.

That is just what Marilyn of Such and Sort did yesterday with her Super Shabby Zipper Fabric Cuff. See it, right there in row 2? I ran across it by accident last night. I was closing down the computer for the night, and I just did a quick refresh of Etsy for the sake of inspirational dreams, and I was compelled to click on this zippery cuff. I didn't even realize it was a shop I knew until I was at the shop looking at the item. Then, I went (in my mind, of course) "Hoppin' Hoopleheads! That is suchandsort's item...and she is a member of the team!!"

Happily, I caught a screenshot, but I am using the shot from Craft Cult for purposes of this post. Congratulations, Marilyn! (now you can add this so very cool badge (above left) on your product page. There are a few styles from which to choose. Get the badge (here).

You can also view the screenshot and information on CraftCult in The Vault (here). If anybody else wants to share this screenshot and information on their blog, go to CraftCult and grab this widget.

Who will be next?

GIRAFFES

2010-03-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

Katy, of Girl Industries fame, is one of our members. I read her blog and she mentioned a project whereby a guy is collecting giraffes. Drawings or ?? of giraffes. He told his friend that he thought he could gather 1 million giraffes by 2011. So he has a website and he has posted a "Giraffe of the Day" since he started this project. Some of these giraffes are amazing! There are rules but anyone can contribute to the project.

Here is the link for the website about the project and where you can see some of these giraffes: http://www.olahelland.net/giraffes/blog.php.
There have been 607,425 photos of various giraffes received so far. There are 302 days left.

Here is the link for the rules: http://www.olahelland.net/giraffes/rules.php.

Basically the rules are that you cannot use your computer to make the giraffe but you can use any other way or form. (You will use the computer to send the giraffe to him, though.)

Here is the giraffe of the day for #265.

And day #264.

This is the Giraffe of the Day #259.

As you can see, people are being very creative. You will be amazed at the cleverness and maybe you will want to use some of your hoarded goodies to make a giraffe. You might be the honorable Giraffe of the Day! I'm planning to make one and I'll post it here for you to see once it has been completed.

2010-03-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

Winter Olympics Come to a Close

I normally try to post to the Hoarders Unite blog on Sundays, but yesterday it was time to celebrate the Vancouver Winter Olympics! I had planned to profile the team’s Canadian members today, but was surprised to find that I appear to be the only one. So instead, here are a couple of photos I took at the women’s curling event I attended (their first games).

The team from the USA

and the Canadian team.

Being in the bleachers was so much fun! Ultimately, the team from Sweden won gold, and Canada took silver.

I wish you could all have attended the Games – what a fun and exciting time it was in Vancouver!

LIFE IS BUT A CHAIR OF BOWLIES

2010-02-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

Do you remember that saying? I believe it was one of the Mary Engelbreit phrases. I used to get "Home Companion" the magazine for Mary Engelbreit and suddenly they quit publishing it. I loved it and was saddened over its demise. *sigh*

Anyhoo, here is is nearing the end of February and I have not even begun my February Challenge, Purple. Shame on me. This month has had so much going on that I haven't even a clue of what I was planning to make! And, as I am not "at home" this week, was not home last week, was sick the previous week, I'm thinking I am not going to be entered in the contest at all!!

Speaking about challenges, I need your mailing address, Gretchen. You won the Jan. challenge and I'd like to send the prize to you. I haven't had a computer to use for awhile and if you sent it via the Groups, thank you, I'll find it and mail the prize whenever I get home.

My shops are "on vacation" right now, due to a family emergency after being gone a week at the beach. But how are the rest of you doing in the sales department? How are you faring in your challenge to use only items you already have?

I bought a Sew Beautiful magazine with ribbon roses all over the front of it. I am so excited to learn o make all different kinds of ribbon roses. I do know how to make some, but this will give me such a variety that I am beside myself. I have tons of ribbon at home but I don't know if it is the correct type and won't know until I am at home with the magazine in front of me in my workroom. Stay tuned...

So for now, happy sales and happy hoarding to you!

~Nancy~

2010-02-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

New Year’s Team Challenge - AlterDesigns

AlterDesigns (http://www.etsy.com/shop/alterdesigns) took up the new year’s team challenge by deciding to organize her craft work space. Wow! Wouldn’t you love to work in a room surrounded by such beautiful jewelry?

Here is Gretchen’s revamped space

It was so difficult to decide which items to feature from AlterDesigns, because every one is so wonderfully rich and beautiful. I particularly love Gretchen’s belt buckles.

This one-of-a-kind sterling silver belt buckle is crafted with four tear shaped black chalcedony stones as the centerpiece, surrounded by pink zircon and freshwater pearls. Oxidized silver background makes the stones pop. It is designed to accommodate a removable belt strap.

I think this is my favourite - a beautiful Victorian steampunk handcrafted cameo belt buckle lovingly created with pink suede, filigree, Swarovski crystal and a lovely porcelain cameo with a vintage transfer of a flower. It’s stunning both with jeans or dressed up.

This cuff is also almost impossible to resist. Hot off the runway, this aged brass cuff with Swarovski crystal centerpiece was modeled by America's Next Top Model, Whitney Thompson. The cuff is two inches wide, with shimmering pink crystal and pink aurora borealis. The centerpiece measures 1.75 inches.

2010-02-14T21:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine’s Day to the Hoarders’ Unite Team!

Crafts are here, crafts are there.

My craft supplies are everywhere.

I really should clean this mess,

But I like it, I must confess.

Floor is littered, chairs are piled,

Kitchen’s looking pretty wild.

On the table counter too,

Seems that any place will do.

Hall is stacked with cartons high,

Filled with things folks like to buy.

Garage is full, but so far …

There’s still room to park the car.

I never have an idle day,

New ideas come my way.

Don’t know yet what I’ll create,

But at least my imagination’s great.

My family smiles, they don’t complain,

Although at times I am a pain.

But when all is said and done,

I really am a crafty one !!

Source unknown

WHAT'S NEW IN OUR SHOPS?

2010-02-11T15:49:00.000-08:00

I like to look at the shops of fellow team members on Etsy now and then to see what is new. This week I'll look at items with the color red, or items that are for Valentine's Day, since it is only a few days away.

I really like these red hearts from Julieslittlebits. In fact, I like them so much, I'm going to buy them when I am finished with this post!

And look at this scarf by Climpiecraft. This is so pretty with the browns, tans and red. Very attractive! It is available in other colors and it is a generous 78" long, long enough to wrap around your neck three times!

Here's a knitted book purse by Blackbeancrafts. I like the idea of my book being protected. I'm always tossing it on the floor of the car, or stuffing it in my purse. Footprints and dog ears are so distracting! LOL! This cranberry knit purse would protect my book. I don't normally read books that would be an embarrassment to me, but if a person didn't want people to see the book, this purse would be like the "plain brown wrapper" only prettier! And, its fully washable!!

A spinner heart necklace by madameteasley. Kind of like the proverbial daisy, "loves me, loves me not" only this is a spinner on a heart pendant. Perfect for Valentine's Day or any day for that matter! Especially wonderful for those newly in love or questioning whether or not they are in love!!

It's often difficult to find something for a guy, especially something red. I have this little vintage advertising pocket knife in my shop which would be great for a guy. It's in my shop "Victorian Visions by Nanalee." You flip a lever which you then slide and a blade slides out. Perfect little pocket knife for your glove box or pocket. Handy.

Mamta has these lovely crocheted red hearts which you can use just about anywhere! Pop one in the lunch bag; pin one to your lapel; sew a few of them on your blue jeans. The possibilities are endless. Bright red hearts are always "in."

This heart frame by MyInnerPrincess is so pretty. Perfect for Valentine's Day or any other day. Show your love by presenting this lovely gift.

I found 36 pages of items by team members of Hoarders Unite today. There are all kinds of wonderful goodies for your perusal and possible purchase! Do a search of "All Items" and then type in "hoardersuniteteam" and you will be given a list of the items by all of the members, not just those I've featured here. And, Happy Valentine's Day!!

2010-02-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver, BC

The 2010 Olympics are about to begin! At the same time, if you’re lucky enough to be in Vancouver this month, there are a number of craft events and markets that will be showcasing the city’s very talented handmade community.

If you won’t be in the area, you can always check out the terrific handmade items on Etsy, made by Vancouverites. Here is a sampling of handmade in Vancouver from just a very few of my favourite local Etsy shops.

These bookmarks from Blissinateacup are made from wood veneer and images from a vintage children's alphabet.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/blissinateacup

So pretty! A crochet-trimmed pillowcase from Rosehip.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/rosehip

This kid’s passport cover from Noei has a little pocket for pen and paper. And it’s on sale right now!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Noei

This cute collage from divesin features, Daisy, an old fashioned girl in an old fashioned hat. It is composed of images found in vintage books. It's on a wooden panel and is ready to hang.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/divesin

FEBRUARY 2010 CHALLENGE

2010-02-04T10:45:00.000-08:00

The February Challenge has been announced! It is NOT red, LOL! It is the color of the February birthstone, amethyst or purple. A photo album has been set up at our Yahoo Groups website for everyone to post their photos in, please don't start a new album! Thanks a bunch and let's have some fun!!

LA LA LA LA ... LIFE GOES ON

2010-02-03T23:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, this Nana wants to share with you that we have a new baby grandchild. He was born on January 29th. His name is Koen and he is beautiful! We saw him for the first time on Sunday and then again today. *SIGH* If you read my blog you already know this, but I just had to share!! Our youngest daughter and her hubby adopted him. They have two older boys, Kameron is 6 and Kooper is 4. They are very happy to have a new baby brother.

We now have 16 grandchildren. I'm loving it! The eldest is 18 and the youngest is Koen, days old. We are very blessed.

Though this isn't about hoarding or using our supplies, it is a very important part of my life, this being a Nana. It's probably the best job I've ever had! There's just something about a little one whose face lights up the moment they see you and they yell, "NANA!! IT'S NANA!!" Be still my heart...

If you haven't experienced a grandchild yet, it will be one of the best things that happens to you in life!

Please meet Koen. (Pronounce it Coe n)

2010-01-31T21:50:00.000-08:00

My Auction Find

Nancy has just pointed us to some great resources for inspiration, to help us use up some of our hoarded craft supplies. There were so many good suggestions, I thought I better go out and stock up on more supplies so I don’t run out! I just have to share with you the terrific auction lot of sewing supplies I won this week.

There were boxes, tins and baskets of everything imaginable and it took me all Saturday to go through it (and I’m still not totally finished – I want to stretch out the fun). There were patterns old and new; rotary cutters (three); punches (two); a pile of quality felt pieces in every colour of the rainbow; pounds of assorted buttons (some with a retail price of $3.99 each); lace; zippers and thousands of snaps; assorted embellishments; seam rippers and tape measures. Well, you get the picture – the entire contents of someone’s lovely sewing room. The photos below don’t even begin to display all that was included!

Here is a very small part of what I am keeping: more than 70 spools of thread; 21 bobbins also with thread; a quilter’s ruler; many packages of rick rack and seam binding. Check out the telescopic magnet – great for picking up pins from the floor! Where am I going to put it all?

I gave my crafty daughter all of the beads (glass, plastic; small and tinier), sequins, buttons and googly eyes (three sizes). That should keep her and the girls busy for awhile.

I gave my Mom some of the yarn, and will give more to my sister-in-law, who does a lot of charity knitting.

My favourite local thrift store gets the patterns, more yarn, knitting needles, and lots of miscellaneous:

And the best part? It cost me, including taxes and the auction buyer’s premium, a grand total of $6.44! It can't get much better than that!

CRAFTY IDEAS TO HELP USE UP YOUR STASH/HOARD

2010-01-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

There are several places I go to get ideas. The first and most obvious is to look at what others are doing on Etsy. I don't mean that I steal ideas from other artists on Etsy, I go there to see what people are doing and look at their creations. That always INSPIRES me in some way or another.

Another place I go to is About.com. About.com has many, many areas of interest and not just ideas and patterns for creating handmade. Most recently I have been there to get free knitting patterns. Along with the knitting patterns, they have crochet and other needlecraft patterns. They have "how-to's" also. When I began knitting again in September after being away from it for years, I couldn't remember how to "cast off" or "bind off." I watched a video and had it mastered lickety-split. I believe this site to be the most comprehensive I've run across in my Internet browsing. Here is a link to the sites "Family Crafts: Crafting Tutorials" page: http://familycrafts.about.com/od/craftstechniques101/Crafting_Tutorials.htm/.

Some e-commerce sites that sell supplies will also offer free patterns and hope you buy the supplies from them. One such business is Leisure Arts. I recently bought some pocket guides for knitting and crocheting from them. Here is a link to their free projects page: http://www.leisurearts.com/FreeProjects/skill/Crafting/Default.aspx/.

Another place I frequent is Threads eLetter. They have items for sale, a print magazine and the newsletter. http://www.threadsmagazine.com/. Lots of good stuff here.

This is a project I think I will try because they are so adorable and such a sweet little gift. This website is "craftstylish." http://www.craftstylish.com/item/945/how-to-make-pretty-pincushions/.

So, if you are out browsing, check out these places to get ideas to use up your hoards!!

But most importantly, have fun doing so.

2010-01-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

Elves in the Attic

Isn’t that a great shop name? Shop proprietor, Julie, came up with the name when she and a good friend began to design custom scrapbooks. It exudes fun and whimsy – exactly the image she projects in her work.

Elves in the Attic (http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElvesInTheAttic) is a fairly new Etsy shop, opening only last June. But Julie’s love of art and colour go way back to elementary school; probably even earlier, as craftiness runs through the family. Her mom and sisters also love creating!

Julie loves to play with paper. Although she has dabbled in book binding, she is currently sticking mostly to scrapbooks and cards. She loves clean, simple designs, and finds inspiration from the world around her, including ads, catalogs, billboards and the like.

Don’t you just love this Valentine's card?

This is a current work in progress - the beginnings of a Valentines' Day pocket mini album.

It’s clear why Julie is a member of the Hoarder’s Unite team. She says it’s easier to list what she doesn’t hoard! Included in her stash are fibers of all sorts, paper, stamps, ink, ribbon, rub-ons, chipboard shapes, eyelets, wire, magazines, die-cuts. She also hoards templates, though she never uses them. Other hoarded items include fabric scraps and boxes, because you never know when you might need them!

While Julie says she doesn’t have anything really unusual in her stash, she has been known to snag brads off the kids’ school projects, buttons off clothes, and old CDs. I guess it’s volume over uniqueness! She did acquire a mini sewing machine several years ago with the thought of using it for scrapbooking and card making. She didn’t really like how I worked, so relegated it to the shelf to collect dust. Can’t get rid of it – it’s “still good”!

Elves In the Attic’s “corporate offices” are based in Edmonds, WA, just north of Seattle. Her work space is a tiny room in her home, which is also doubles as the office. She says it’s often in a state of chaos, because that is the environment in which her muse whispers best. But it looks totally organized to me!

Julie describes the most interesting thing she’s made from her hoard as her embellished mailbox. She painted it with red polka dots using acrylic pains left over from a project from her wedding. The wedding was 15 years ago, and the paint was still good!

Advice to other hoarders? Well, it won’t help reduce your stash any, but those 40% off coupons from Michaels and JoAnns really shouldn’t go unused!

When scissors and paper scraps aren’t flying, chances are good that Julie can be found at an ice rink, soccer or baseball field. She and her daughter play soccer, her husband and two boys play hockey, and her youngest also plays baseball. Her favorite moments are those spent with her family camping or hiking. And this great bunch is totally supportive of those Elves in the Attic!

FINISH EACH DAY

2010-01-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

Finish each day and be done with it...
You have done what you could;
Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in
Forget them as soon as you can
Tomorrow is a new day;
You shall begin it well and serenely.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

2010-01-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

Looking for Inspiration

How is your progress coming on the current challenges? Nancy’s January challenge is to make somethingblue. I’ve met that challenge (and will post photos as soon as I can lay my hands on the camera). I liked this challenge – it’s a different way to focus on a project, and I came up lots of blue ideas! I wonder what February’s colour will be?

My challenge to the team was to complete one new year’s resolution (with a hoarder or craft focus) by Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget to post your completed photos on the team yahoo site no later than February 14.

Considering this second challenge is the one I came up with, I’m surprised at how much trouble I am having with it! My personal resolution was to come up with a small, functional item that I could make and include as a thank you to my customers. Sounds easy, right? Well, I’ve gone through a lot of ideas, and discarded them all for various reasons: too time consuming, too costly, too boring.

I think I have a mental block about this project. I’ve put on some motivational music; I've played with bits of interesting fabric. I’ve browsed through my craft books and lots of internet craft sites. And I’ve yet to come up with something that’s just right.

On those occasions when you’re lacking crafting inspiration, what do you do? Where do you go to get a project on track? Do you admit defeat, or do you store an unfinished project away, to be completed “some day”?

I GOT A TREASURY BUT NO SLEEP, LOL!

2010-01-15T02:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, team, I took one for ya. I got a Treasury at about 2:20 a.m. Here's the link.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=106268

I don't know how to make it show up here in photo format and I'm too tired to try!!

HOARDING ~ AS IT PERTAINS TO US

2010-01-13T11:35:00.000-08:00

This is the definition of "hoard" in the Webster's New World Dictionary: a supply stored up and hidden or kept in reserve~to store away money, goods, etc.~to accumulate and store away.

We here at "Hoarders Unite!" are not hoarders in the sense of the word that the new television show "Hoarders" imparts. The persons on the program have a true mental illness which causes them to "hoard" in an unsafe manner. They hoard everything, not just arts and crafts supplies. Their illness causes them to potentially cause harm to themselves or others in that items are hoarded that have no seeming value to those of us who do not have this illness. I won't go into depth about this, as the television program is very detailed and one can watch it to get the gist of it.

I cannot help but be saddened by this condition, just as I am by other ailments that afflict fellow men and women. It's too bad that the words "Hoarder" or "Hoarding" now have a negative connotation. I don't, however, think that the normal person reading our blog or seeing our name in our Etsy shops will think of the negative. I doubt that photos of my workroom will cause you to think that I am a hoarder of the ilk the television program features. Rather, you might realize that this is how my room looks after the frenzy of preparing for the holidays and making about 90% of the gifts I gave!!

At any rate, I am thankful for my hoard of arts and crafts supplies; I feel sad for the people on this earth who are the type of hoarders the television show features and I hope we are empathetic to all of the illnesses of our fellow human beings.

Be sure to let us know when you have photos posted showing your progress on the "challenges" we are doing at this time. Time is getting closer and closer to the deadlines...

The Patina of age

2010-01-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

(this is an edited cross-over post with my personal blog, but the topic fits the group)

...always invites my senses to explore and my mind to dream. I don't know if it is so with everybody, but those of us who are packrats (okay, hoarders)...nay, FANCIERS of things are drawn to aged goods like rats to the flute. The term "hoarder" is getting such bad press lately, and the focus has been on extreme cases of crisis hoarding, so I am going to call myself a Fancier of things instead!Yesterday, I ran across a box of old papers next to a box of old photographs in the "junk" store. I am always fascinated by old used postcards, old letters, old photos, and other items of a personal nature. In the same manner, I have enjoyed non-fiction personal narrative books, like Pepys' (pronounced Peeps) diary.In this box of papers, I found an envelope from The First National Bank of Ashland, Oregon containing a statement and several canceled checks. What fun to be afforded a glimpse into the world of 1936 personal finance. The study of history in itself was always frightfully dull to me, but artifacts showing a snapshot of the history of a person I can see in my mind make it ever more interesting. I always find it curious that items such as these make their way to public retail spaces.This person had more money in his bank account than I have at times had altogether in lean times. He had a wife (some of the checks are signed by "Mrs.". He had people in Colorado (the back of the canceled check above bears a Colorado stamp). Items that were also in the junk box included a letter from someone in Colorado, a marriage announcement in Oregon, and a high school report card. These ranged in time from 1919 to 1936.

From these items, I can construct a life and a past and a future and all manner of life events for this person. My dormant writer's mind is intrigued. Writing a fictional account of the life of this "character" would take me to an in-depth exploration of the history of 1900 through 1940 that would, in that context, be anything but dull. History teachers take heed: You could have had me if you had only produced a letter, a locket, a ribbon-tied stack of recipes...

Do I need these items in my home? No! But, I am not a crisis hoarder (though I do struggle with crafting clutter), and I see a possible crafting potential in these items. What is your collecting weakness? Are you drawn to items such as these as well?

2010-01-10T20:40:00.001-08:00

Get Organized!

It’s great that so many Hoarders Unite members have joined the team new year’s resolution challenge! Probably none of us would be surprised to see that the common theme for many of the new year’s resolutions is getting the craft room organized. We all know that to get organized, we need to make a plan, keep like items together, and put things away when we’re finished with them. Here are a few other ideas on how to be better organized.

If you haven’t done so already, invest in a labeler, so you know what is in that shoe box or file folder without having to open it.

Attach wire baskets to an inexpensive bookcase, for storing bulkier craft items such as yarn.

Running out of space? Hang it!

Attach a plastic wall file holder (the kind you can get at an office supply store) next to your main work area, and use it for your project sketches or the small craft supplies that you need for your current project.

Keep photos or drawings of your ideas in a binder or photo album, so you can look through them more easily. Organize into sections.

Store ribbon in lidded plastic containers, such as those that sour cream or yogurt come in. Cut a small hole in the lid so the ribbon can be pulled out as needed

If you have a lot of supplies (who doesn’t?), organize a bit at a time. Spending 15 or 20 minutes a day could be more productive in the long run than trying to do it all in a weekend.

Personalize your space – make it comfortable and pretty!
Resist the urge! Donate, give to another crafter or throw out what you won’t use. This includes unfinished projects that you know you’ll never get to. Not likely to happen, I know, but I’m just saying …

Add your ideas for organizing the craft room!

craft room desk: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98613041@N00/3902480909/in/pool-craftrooms

hanging organizers: http://mugsyboo.blogspot.com/

Trudy
http://www.etsy.com/shop/WhoaItsMe
http://www.etsy.com/shop/FindingThings

JANUARY BLUES

2010-01-05T23:37:00.000-08:00

Are you having "after Christmas" doldrums? I think I am. I've been doing a few things but have slowed wayyyyy down. I knitted two hats of the four requested after the grandchildren opened their gifts and the parents saw the hats and scarves and put in orders! I have requests for two scarves, too. I guess the weather has contributed to my funk. It snowed last week, a lot, and it was beautiful. But it has melted and the rain came and it's dreary looking outside.

DH has a bad cold and I'm feeling sorta iffy, like maybe this scratchy throat and runny nose might be a sign that this bad cold is going to be mine tomorrow. Ho hum.

Sorry for the "woe is me" -- it's not really a "woe is me" it's more like I can't think of anything to write this week and my energy level won't conjure up anything better!! So, I do apologize; I hope you are all doing well; I hope you are not having the doldrums; and as always, HAPPY SALES TO YOU!!

PS-How are you doing on the challenges?

2010-01-03T23:29:00.000-08:00

Beach Treasure

Ever dreamed of living on board a sailboat, voyaging through the Pacific? That’s exactly what Nelia, proprietor of Beach Treasure along with her husband and three year old daughter, have been doing for the last few years!

Life on the boat is a mix of paradise and fear – on the one hand, relaxation and wonder, with the ability to walk endless uninhabited and rarely visited beaches. On the other hand, a little change in the weather or slight inattention can easily destroy your home and threaten your life. Either way, Mother Nature dictates where you go and what you do; the tides and the wind rule your activities. What an adventurous life!

Nelia has focused much creative time on jewelry making. Nature is her inspiration, whether the ocean or mountains; especially the small things in nature: how curly vines grip around their support plant, or the shape of the curves of a leaf or a flower; how the gentle waves on the beach push up the beach and then swirl in their retreat. Most importantly, the quiet and space of nature allows for thinking and pondering, and therefore creating.

Nelia attributes her love of crafting to her upbringing. Her parents were both crafters/artists and do-it-yourself types. Through her youth, she was encouraged to try new and different crafts: papermaking, photography, knitting, ceramics, flower pressing, weaving, and wood carving. She remembers as a preschooler making oddly deformed dog or dragon-like animals from clay, firing them and painting them. A little older, she recalls trying to carve a rooster out of a little block of wood.

Walking the beaches has led to the collecting and hoarding of shells, and the creation of her fabulous beach-inspired jewelry. Nelia is addicted to hoarding and collecting the shells she finds on the sandy or rocky shores she walks.

As you might imagine, living on boat has more than its share of hoarding challenges. Space is limited on a sailboat, so every nook and cranny is filled with something. Shells are everywhere: jars and boxes of shells, mostly stuffed down in the furthest corners of the lockers so it doesn't appear that she has so many! But it’s still a challenge to keep it all under control: either her most recent container of collected shells is out and in the way, or her little girl is spreading them all over the boat! Nelia also loves to sew, and says she has far too much fabric (is there such a condition?). Some of the fabric she’s been carting around for a ver long time, but when you are starting a sewing project, variety is essential, especially with no store nearby to fill in the gap.

Other than shells, fabric and other crafting supplies, Nelia says she’s also guilty of hoarding food supplies. Since she lives in remote areas much of the time, it’s necessary to stock up on the things that will last, such as grains and beans, sugar and flour. When she can, she also stocks up on specialty items like good chocolate, special teas and pine nuts. Her problem, of course, is that with these hoarded specialty items that she may not be able to find for another six months, they frequently go unused because they are too 'special' and should be saved for when they are 'really' needed!

The most unusual hoarded item Nelia has is the vertebrae of a dolphin that she found on a beach about ten years ago. She’s got it down in one of the lockers, no sure what she will ever do with it. She also has some Pacific black pearls bought from a pearl farmer. They are still mostly tucked safely away, as she is too nervous to drill a hole into them for fear of destroying the pearl.

For Nelia, one of the joys of hoarding is looking through her supplies, poking through things, sorting and seeing what she has to make future projects. Looking through her stash always inspires new ideas of things to make or how to make them.

Nelia loves crafting with her young daughter, painting, cutting, and gluing, and drawing. Another generation of crafters in the making!

Photos show Nelia's sailboat at anchor; husband and daughter in the middle of a sail repair; Nelia sorting through the stash with her daughter; handcrafted octopus, as well as completed creations currently available in the Beach Treasure Etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeachTreasure).

Trudy
WhoaItsMe.etsy.com
FindingThings.etsy.com

NEW YEAR'S ...

2009-12-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

I wrote about whether or not to make resolutions...and I've thought about it a lot. Here's what I've decided. I'll be making New Year's "Suggestions" this year!!

And we've been talking a lot about challenges. Trudy suggested we do something related to our group, i.e., hoarding and we were to answer here, in front of the group, what we would be doing. And take photos. Some of you have already done so, in the comments after her post the other day.

I, too, had been thinking about a challenge like we did last year when the group started. We were going to do something every month and we started by posting the photos of what we did in the Yahoo Groups.

We are all so unique, have different talents and skill levels, so rather than assign a certain item to make, I thought it would be fun to make something in a theme, or a color. Blue is a good color to use for January. So, if you are up for it, I have a further challenge to add to Trudy's. Make something with ONLY items you already have, no buying anything else to add to it. It can be anything you want to make but it has to be predominantly blue. Then post your photo at the Yahoo Groups site. I'll make an album just for the challenge. Annnndddddd.... I will offer a prize! Everyone who participates in the Blue Challenge will get their name put in a hat and I'll send a prize to the winner!!

We can do two things at once, I can multi-task, how about you?

And for Trudy's challenge, I will clean up the mess I call my workshop/room. I'll take a before photo and progress as I go along. Yikes. You meant Valentine's Day of 2011, didn't you, Trudy?

2009-12-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

A Hoarders' New Year Challenge

With the new year just around the corner, love them or hate them, new year’s resolutions are just waiting to be made! If you’re like me, I’ve made many over the years, and keeping them has been a little less than a total success. Okay, a lot less than a total success! Even if you don’t normally make resolutions (why make them only if they’re going to be broken?), most of us will have some kind of craft goal, or something we want to do differently, in 2010.

I’ve been reading suggestions on how to increase the likelihood of actually following through with resolutions: define your goal, create your plan and tell people! That’s where the Hoarders Unite Team comes in! Telling other people can help you keep your resolution because it might provide some needed motivation.

My challenge to you is to state here, to the rest of the team, one resolution related to crafting and/or hoarding that you want to achieve before Valentine’s Day. How hard can that be to keep? Of course, you can list more than one if you want to!

Maybe you want to reorganize your craft room

or try a new craft

or simply do more crafting and use up some of your hoard.

So, if you’re up to this challenge, post your new year’s crafting or hoarding resolution in the comments to this post by January 5.

Then, no later than February 14, send me a photo of the results of your resolution, and a bit about how it went (send email to kathe rinem ba@yahoo.com)

On February 21, I will post your photos and stories, and also post at least one photo of something from your Etsy shop (free promotion for you - yay!).

I’ll start by posting my resolution in the comments to this post. What is your new year’s resolution? Post it now – and let’s help support each other in reaching our goals!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have a great start to 2010!

Trudy

Whoa It's Me: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WhoaItsMe

Finding Things: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FindingThings

MORE HELPFUL HINTS AND SOME ODD ONES

2009-12-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

Awhile back I did a post of helpful hints. I'm always intrigued by such and especially the helpful hints of different eras. The following come from a book published in 1979.

How to preserve a newspaper clipping: dissolve a milk of magnesia tablet in a quart of club soda overnight. Pour into a pan large enough to accommodate the flattened newspaper. Soak clipping for one hour, remove and pat dry. Do not move until completely dry. Estimated life: 200 years. (I have a newspaper clipping from my Grandmother's wedding which took place in England in 1918! I don't think it was treated, though.)
Store out-of-season-clothes in large plastic lidded trash cans. Not only will your clothes be moth-proof, they will stay dry in damp basements.
Keeping Jack Frost off windows: It gives several options and the last one is "head south."
Here's a good one I have used. How to hide nail holes from the landlady: rub toothpaste into the hole and smooth with a damp sponge.
If salad greens are wet and you need them right away, place in a pillow case and spin dry in your washing machine for a few seconds. This hint is especially good to know if you are serving salad to a large crowd. (Yeah, I'll get right on that...)

and last but not least I'll leave you with this helpful hint:

Whispering works wonders when a child is angry. Simply whisper gentle words into his ear. He will stop crying so he can hear what you're saying. And, 100% effective on husbands!

2009-12-20T19:56:00.000-08:00

Victorian Visions by Nanalee

Garmenture

Nancy is one busy woman. I’m finding that’s another trait common to Hoarders Unite team members! Nancy, or Nanalee, as she is known on Etsy, has two shops:

Victorian Visions by Nanalee (http://www.etsy.com/shop/nanalee) features vintage jewelry and home décor, and a variety of handmade items.

Garmenture (http://www.etsy.com/shop/garmenture) features vintage clothing and accessories as well as restructured, upcycled or altered clothing and accessories. I love browsing through both shops – they offer an eclectic selection of fabulous items!

Creating for Etsy is only one of the activities that keeps Nancy busy. She has just finished making 12 scarves and 23 hats, some for her grandchildren and some for charity, and is busy making charm bracelets for her daughters and daughters-in-law for Christmas. Other craft activities include making collage art and greeting cards, as well as scrapbooking, She’s tried all sorts of crafts over the years - painting, ceramics, sewing clothes for herself and her children, embroidery – the list goes on and on.

Nancy comes from a large family (she’s the oldest of 14 children), and she recalls always making gifts. Looking back, she recognizes that her mother and father provided a lot of creative inspiration, but at the time, they used words like "frugal" or "broke” to describe their craftiness! Her mind is always thinking of what she wants to try next, and she has a notebook full of ideas and a white-erase board to help hold her thoughts.

Listening to music while creating is an absolute must for Nancy, and she loves to sing along to her favourite 50’s music. Sometimes, she’ll stay in her room, thinking of more things to do, just so she can keep listening to her music. She’s also been known to cuss on occasion when things aren’t going well (I don’t think she’s alone with that one!).

All of those craft interests and ideas need a lot of supplies. Even though she had to get rid of a lot of her hoard when she downsized three years ago, Nancy, still has tons of paper, stickers (stored in alphabetized file folders), paper ephemera, embellishments such as buttons, plastic items, fabric items, beads, old jewelry pieces, ribbon, and seashells, to name a few. In addition to craft supplies, she has a hoard of tea cups and saucers, vintage creamers, miniature shoes, evening bags, purses, jewelry, and now clothing that she plans to deconstruct and alter.

Nancy has had a mystery project in the works for the last few years, but she’s keeping the details to herself for now. But she did tell me that it involves a lot of caps from water and pop bottles that folks have been helping her collect – bags and bags of them. It’s all very intriguing!

Nancy considers her wind chimes to be the most interesting things she’s made from something from her hoard. They’re made from recycled things such as discarded keys and metal baskets. The first one she made was with a metal hamster wheel that she bought at a yard sale for 10 cents. It is rather large and round, spray painted bronze, and has all sorts of keys on chains hung from it. It makes the most beautiful music.

Looking at Nancy’s photos of her stash, it’s easy to see how organized she is. She likes to use plastic shoe boxes and freezer containers, ensuring all are labeled with the contents. She’s always reorganizing and coming up with better storage ideas. As she lives in a very rural area, Nancy relies heavily on shopping online for her supplies.

Nancy quit working outside of her home about five years ago, and that’s allowed her the opportunity to focus on her creative endeavors and online selling venues. She and her husband of 40 years have six children and 15 grandchildren. All live close enough for frequent family get-togethers.

As if all of that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, Nancy also has four blogs. My Blah Blah Blah Blahg http://nancylhoefer.blogspot.com/ gives a peek into her life, family and friends; Vintage Visions http://vintagevisionsbynancy.blogspot.com/ provides a venue for writing about her love of all things vintage; and Handmade Heaven http://nanaleesnest.blogspot.com/ was started for her artfully handmade crafts. More recently, she has started writing about growing up in her blog, Growing up Rich in a Poor Family. http://lovingthelalas.blogspot.com/

Posted by Trudy
http://www.etsy.com/shop/WhoaItsMe
http://www.etsy.com/shop/findingthings

DEAR ME...

2009-12-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

I certainly do have a brain block when it comes to this blog and Wednesdays. Sorry, Hoarders. I'm late because I just went to read the newest post and realized I was supposed to write it!

Go look at a Treasury on Treasury West. I was fortunate to get one last night. It's called AQUA CADABRA. I think it turned out to be a very nice one. As are all of our Treasuries because we are so talented and wonderful!!Hurray for the Hoarders!

I am heartened by the write ups about us that Trudy is doing. They are so informative and I am amazed at the similarities between the individuals, including myself. I'm thinking we have a bit of "soul sister" in us. Wouldn't you agree?

Another warm fuzzy I got when viewing the photos and I saw the "workroom" of NoelBelles... I showed it to my husband because he does tend to make comments about my workroom. It is always messy. No matter how I try to be organized as soon as I start working it becomes a mess once again. Ho hum.

I've made a declaration. As soon as I am finished making my Christmas gifts I plan to start photographing and listing all the "stuff" that is waiting to go for sale in my shops. I will take a hiatus from creating so the multitudes of "stuff" can begin to find their way out of my house.

Our family Christmas get-together is this Sunday and I imagine some of you will have some sort of celebration over the weekend as well. Merry Christmas to all of you and may peace, love and family be your most cherished gifts this season and into the New Year.

Blessings, Nancy

2009-12-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

Noel Belles

Mary Ellen began NoelBelles as a project for herself and her sister, so that they could work together despite the distance between them. She lives in Tennessee and her sister is in Rhode Island. NoelBelles offers a broad selction of fabulous Christmas ornaments and decorations! Here are just two. Many are on sale right now - what a great opportunity to beautify your home this season and next.

She also has two other fabulous Etsy shops: RockingRetro for fascinator and hair accessories (http://www.etsy.com/shop/rockingretro) and ThatsaHat for larger fascinators and full hats (http://www.etsy.com/shop/thatsahat).

Mary Ellen has been crafting since she was eight years old, when her grandmother showed her how to embroider. She stitched on everything that wasn't nailed down, and hasn’t stopped since! She has tried all types of crafts, and says she keeps her mind open to all possibilities when finding inspiration. It may be a random grouping of materials on her work table, or she might purposely fully research a subject.

Hoarding, thankfully, is limited to all types of craft supplies: fabric, yarn, beads, natural elements, buttons, ribbon, lace, birds, artificial greenery, vintage jewelry, patterns, feathers, millinery supplies – you name it. She’d need a larger house if she decided to hoard anything else – she already has a storage locker!

Once, Mary Ellen came home from a quilting convention all fired up. Coincidentally, at the time same time, she discovered that there were a lot of 4x4 quilting squares available on ebay. It doesn’t take too much imagination to see that this could spell disaster! After a trip out of town, she returned home to a mountain of packages and a less-then-thrilled spouse. Although she has made some quilts for the grandchildren, she still has “a few” squares left to do something with. That means she’ll either be quilting until she is 110 (maybe longer), or possibly making a donation to a woman who makes quilts for charity. Or, she may just open a destash store on Etsy. We hoarders will all be watching for that! Here is just a taste of her quilting square stash.

Mary Ellen has a few hoarded craft items that she has been carting around with her for a while, and she has yet to give up on any of them. As an example, she has a number of Victorian paper cutouts that she was given years ago, that will finally get used for her planned new Etsy shop, VictorianBelles.

She loves making fascinators, which was a completely accidental craft opportunity. After learning how to make ribbon flowers at the aforementioned quilting convention, she then tried making hair accessories with them, added feathers, did some research, and the next thing she knew, she was making fascinators. Meanwhile, it has been strongly suggested that she steer clear of quilting conventions!

Mary Ellen says her decision to rent a storage locker was the key to marital peace and harmony. That‘s where she keeps her finished inventory, plus her shipping supplies. Notice all of the hanging fabric and the one pair of men's pants on the photo below (with hats) - it's not like her husband has absolutely no room at all! Using clear plastic storage bins helps keep her organized. As far as acquiring supplies, she loves shopping on line, especially those Etsy sellers with destash listings.

Mary Ellen is retired and remarried two years ago to a wonderful man who also acquired her six children, four and counting grandchildren,and a cat. All of her hobbies involve crafting of some sort. She also loves helping at her church. Most recently, she completed the costumes for the Nativity pageant.

Check out fabulous Christmas items at NoelBelles here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NoelBelles

eXPLODING Hoard Stash!

2009-12-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I have all manner of mess here at Deer Palace this time of year. I have ALL my yarn out in the living room behind the recliner chair for ease of access as I knit, knit, knit my fingers away. At least it is sorted into bins and totes. Wool in one, wool blends in another, acrylics in another, cottons in another...

I have stacks of fabric on the floor behind my sewing chair. My sewing table and chair are permanently set for the season in the space between the living room and dining room. Great for warmth and easy to keep ongoing projects handy. Notions, thread, scraps, zippers, scissors, measuring devices, display board, needles, tailor's chalk, pattern and idea books, and elastic all jockey for space on my table and the surrounding floor space.

The ironing board blocks the laundry room doorway. The iron blocks the door to the washer. Rubber boots for going outdoors block the door of the dryer. A stack of books on the side table blocks the light from the lamp. The exercise trampoline on the rug in the middle of the living room floor blocks the straight path to the front door. My daughter has a similar problem on her craft and play table:But, all of this is necessary for me to function in this season, in this cold, in this holiday time of year. I use the exercise trampoline 3x daily for 20 minutes each time. I bounce my way to increased circulation as I watch television. I am considering knitting while I bounce and watch television. I walk by the sewing machine and stop to sew a few stitches. I iron the fabric I am about to sew. I knit every time I sit down in a living room chair.

I am guessing there are others of you out there
with the same crazy chaos
happening at your house.

The anxiety will ensue right about
February when it is time to clean it all up and
find places for it all to go again.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

RECIPES

2009-12-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

Since it is a busy time of the year and I think we are all otherwise occupied with making gifts and possibly baking for our friends and family, I thought I'd share a couple of recipes you might wish to try. The first one is really a strange concept and I have not tried it for a long time but my mom and my aunt used it a lot over the years.

Powdered Sugar Candy

Boil a small potato with the skin on. Let it cool some. Take the skin off. Put potato in a bowl. Add powdered sugar to the potato. Stir and continue stirring. The potato turns the sugar to liquid or vice versa. Stir and continue to stir in powdered sugar until it turns the consistency of pie dough. Roll it out on waxed paper. Spread with peanut butter. roll into a log and CHILL. After it has chilled, cut it into little pieces.

Peanut Butter Fudge

This is delicious!

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp. water

Stir together over medium to high heat. Boil to soft ball stage. Remove from heat. Add:

1/3 cup peanut butter

2 tbsp. butter (or margarine from cube)

1 tsp. vanilla flavoring

Beat with mixer until it loses its shine. Pour into buttered pan, chill, then cut.

Hope all is well at your house!

2009-12-06T20:01:00.000-08:00

Hoarders Celebrate the Holidays

We’ve all been busy getting ready for the holidays and creating some wonderful gifts for those on your list (or maybe yourself!). We’re counting the shopping days until Christmas - 19! Still time to peruse the Hoarders Unite team shops.

It’s been a fun and creative year. We’ve been busy accumulating, hoarding, creating, and organizing; accumulating more, creating more – well, you get the picture. It’s not easy for any of us to part with our treasured supplies. But even more satisfying than adding to our hoards is creating something special, and knowing that it will put a smile on someone’s face.

Here are some of my favourites from the team's latest holiday offerings. I wish I could highlight all of the team’s shops, but our team continues to grow. So, be sure to check out all of the Hoarders Unite Team shops at http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=all&search_query=hoardersuniteteam+

Garmenture has created this beautiful cuff, knitted from black yarn and adorned with beautiful ecru lace, gold and black lame' bits, a rosette of the same ecru lace, little pearly beads and a beautiful brooch. The brooch can be removed and worn separately.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Garmenture

These fabulous earrings are both elegant and edgy. Amber illusion beads... inside you'll find shades of orange, green and what's that? Yes, silver foil for that added sparkle! Clear glass beads with an amber core top them and add that extra zing. Tiny sterling saucer beads to accent finish them perfectly. And, gift wrapping is free!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/starbabyonline

Red and elegant, this brilliant necklace is perfect to brighten up any day. The red focal bead is a resin red cinnabar that measures a little over one inch. It is set on an antiqued brass chain that measures 19 inches from end to end. An antiqued brass spring clasp fastens the ensemble.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/madameteasley

This beautiful Christmas bracelet is loaded with Czech glass pearls and little Christmas charms - stockings, trees, wreaths, candycanes, gingerbread men and Santa! This bracelet measures 6-1/2" not including the clasp.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Juliesparklybits

HOW TO WORRY

2009-12-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Not only do I hoard art and craft supplies, I hoard little tidbits from magazines, church bulletins, newspapers, etc. I recently came upon this one and thought it worthy of sharing.

12 EASY WAYS TO WORRY AND ENJOY IT!

Never worry over rumors or what "they say" ~ first, get the facts.

Know definitely your worry problem, write it down, face it.

Worry about only one problem at a time.

Set a definite day, afternoon, or night for worrying.

Never worry in bed, in the dining room, living room, or at church.

Select an air-conditioned room, lean back in an easy chair.

Set a time limit. If you must go beyond it, give yourself credit for time and a half.

Never worry with a frowning face. Smile, sing, or whistle.

Never worry when you are tired, sick, angry, or depressed.

Never worry while working, playing, visiting, shopping, or gossiping.

Two times never to worry: a) when yo can help the situation; b) when you cannnot.

Never worry alone. Take it to the Lord.

2009-11-29T20:35:00.000-08:00

My Inner Princess

I am thrilled to have My Inner Princess as the next Hoarders Unite feature!

Sandi, who operates the My Inner Princess shop on Etsy and Ebay, lived many years as a teacher in inner city schools, convinced she had no creative ability. Then came early retirement after beating leukemia. Suddenly she had the desire to release her new-found creative energy. What started out as the desire to make something unique from her mother’s and grandmother’s jewelry has turned into the fabulous creations you see in her shop. Not being able to bring herself to alter her family’s jewelry, she started collecting a few pieces of vintage jewelry and frames to alter. She received such positive feedback when she showed friends and family, she realized she’d found the inner princess she never knew she had. The hunt was on!

As all hoarders can relate to, she needed “a few more” pieces of vintage jewelry and frames. She is now also altering trinket boxes, vanity mirrors, clocks and even a jean jacket. She’s discovered that she absolutely loves decorating shabby faux pearl initials. Receiving a few huge orders has added even more incentive!

Sandi finds inspiration from several sources. On a personal level, her husband, who she describes as being the most humble and noble man she knows, causes her to want to be a better person. Surviving leukemia has allowed her to see life on many new levels. She emphasizes that you just never know when you won't have another chance. If you're thinking something positive, say it. If you want to do something for someone, do it. Don't ever let anyone question just how much you truly care for them. As for her crafting inspiration, Sandi began by making everything totally symmetrically, lacking the confidence to be bold, which matched her type A personality. She needed to consciously stretch to find ways to make her frames more whimsical, original and unique. She was determined to show just what she had to offer, and to finally take risks. And did she succeed!

Sandi finds crafting therapeutic, and often allows herself to work through the peaceful night hours. She begins with no specific direction in mind, and stretches from there.

Unlike many crafters who grew up from an early age with crafts in hand, Sandi started only a year ago, with a bag of scrap repair jewelry and one frame. She keeps her supply hoard organized. She has at least 30 tubs of brooches and earrings, all grouped by color, "themed" items such as rhinestone telephones, bras, (she even has a little rhinestone bra pin), animals, motorcycles, dancers, musical notes and instruments, crosses and angels. She keeps plenty of clamps on hand as she sometimes works on four or five items at a time. Proof that she is a true hoarder: Sandi bought 200 pretty little pink "a gift for you" bags, but has ended up wrapping the gift in with everything else as she can’t part with the bags. I’m guessing everyone on the Hoarders Unite team can tell a similar tale!

Sandi doesn’t limit her hoarding to craft supplies. She has duplicates (even triplicates) of some things for fear of running out: shoes, purses, desk supplies, you name it. She can’t part with her boxes of teaching materials even though she will never teach again.

The oddest hoard Sandi has is her approximately 400 packs of photo paper in various sizes. As she can’t keep up with the ink demand, the paper may just sit there forever.

Sandi’s advice to other hoarders: Find what you love to do and love what you find...love it so much that it's therapeutic for you. Being organized helps you work more efficiently. There is no need to pay a lot of money for supplies or organization aids. Sandi uses cute $1.00 containers from a dollar store, and little flower planters for her clamps. She shops at thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales, flea markets and Ebay. Her advice to on-line sellers is not to give up. It takes time. She had many moments doubting herself when sales were low, then someone would come along and buy 8 or 12 frames at one time and another would buy 4 or 5 shortly after. She gets raving compliments from her customers, and that’s what keeps her going. That, and the wonderful friendships she’s made with some of her customers and the many awesome people she’s met in cyber world.

Sandi lives in Middle, Tennessee (there is no North or South), but she is eager to move someplace where she has never been – perhaps the mid-west or the shoreline of New England. She remarried in 2000 and together, she and her husband have five children, two daughters-in-law, two grandchildren, three cats and two dogs.

Visit the My Inner Princess etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MyInnerPrincess

Sandi has just opened a second etsy shop, Blueberry manor, where she will be selling beautiful brooches. http://www.etsy.com/shop/blueberrymanor

Read her blog at http://etsysmyinnerprincess.blogspot.com/

Photos: (1) a wee bit of Sandi's hoard (2) how organized!

TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF

2009-11-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

I think that we Hoarders are busy people and sometimes don't take care of ourselves properly. Am I right? You probably put others first, or your shop, or your creating, taking minimal time to nurture yourself.

Rather than give you a list of how you should eat, how much sleep you should get, etc., etc., instead, here are some little ways to pamper yourself. Especially throughout the holidays we need to remember to take little "breaks."

If you are working around the house, set the timer for a 15 minute span in the morning and another in the afternoon. When the timer goes off, sit down, put your feet up and read a chapter of a book; drink a cup of your favorite tea; call a friend or do a crossword puzzle. When the 15 minutes is up go back to your chores.

Take a bubble bath after an especially stressful or busy day. Light a few candles around the bathroom, pour bubble liquid or powder into the tub. Lock the doors and tell the family you are "off limits" for half an hour.

If you are planning a day of shopping take a second pair of shoes with you. It is a proven fact that if you change your shoes at noon, your feet won't hurt in the evening. (I worked in a shoe store at one time.)

Stop whatever you are doing, wherever you are, and eat lunch at your normal time of day. Postponing it or skipping it will just make you feel worse later on.

Be sure to drink water. When we are busy it is so easy to forget to drink. Keep some bottles of water handy "for the road." I always put one in my purse when I leave home because I often get coughing attacks, but also because our bodies need to drink water all day long, even when we are not at home. Did you know that your body gets used to not having water and once you start drinking more it will crave more? So at first you may have to force yourself to drink the water but soon you will be surprised at how much you are drinking. "They" say that coffee, tea and soda pop DON'T COUNT. They are made with water but they don't take the place of water.

Don't forget to spend some time with loved ones and/or friends. We can get so wrapped up in all we have to do that we don't have time for the people in our lives who are really important to us.

Are you in need of a hair cut? Pedicure? Then take the time and the money to do those things for yourself. You will feel better, believe me. And those things, along with make-up and hair stuff, are not luxuries, they are necessities. They should be on the shopping list just like the flour and sugar. Sometimes we women tend to get a little behind in caring for ourselves and start to feel "dumpy" and think we don't have the money to buy bubble bath or get our hair cut...wrong!

Treat yourself to a very special hand lotion that smells good. Put it on throughout the day. You'll be surprised at how good it makes you feel.

Turn the t.v. off. A lot of us keep it on to have background noise, but if you are like me, leaving the t.v. off and playing music instead helps keep me going. If you sit down in front of the t.v. before you know it an hour has gone by. Of course there are times when that is perfectly fine. I reserve my evening time for t.v. watching. Then I multi-task, too. I knit or do my crosswords or fill out cards to mail to friends. Sometimes I cut ... out of magazines, or punch paper cut outs for my crafting.

Do one thing every day that makes you happy!

I hope you will be kind to yourselves this holiday season!

~Nancy~

2009-11-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

Mamta

I am excited to introduce to you Hoarders Unite team member, Mamta! Mamta has an Etsy shop by the same name, which means “maternal love” in Hindi. She creates things in the same manner a mother creates her babies – out of love.

Mamta creates all types of crafts, including crochet, paper crafts, beading, flower making, clay crafts, metal crafts and, macramé. She would need quite a hoard of craft supplies for all of those interests! Mamta first gains inspiration from something she sees – a photo in a book, an object of nature, a dream, maybe just an idea, then goes on to create her concept using her intuition.

Crafting since she was a young girl, Mamta recalls decorating her entire kindergarten class, and covering her books with colourful drawings and stickers. She hasn’t stopped crafting since!

I asked Mamta to describe her craft supply hoard. She has all types of beads, (paper, metal, glass, ceramic), jewelry findings, colorful papers, paints, antiques, semi precious stones, books and almost every type of yarn. She also has lots of unfinished projects, some 15 to 20 years old! In addition to craft supplies, Mama also hoards clothes, shoes, old letter, cards and gifts from friends, newspaper cuttings, bottles, chocolate wrappers, and plastic bags – anything that she can make art from.

The most precious item Mamta is hoarding is a doll named Dolly, a birthday gift from her father on her 9th birthday. Dolly’s eyes are broken, her face has dark marks, and she is almost bald. Dolly has been with Mamta through good days and bad, and Mamta finds it impossible for the two to part.

Most hoarders will hold onto something that others might think has little value. For Mamta, it’s old shoes and her old college books. She’s keeping the shoes as they are still in good shape (you never know when they might come back in fashion!). As for the books, she has plans to use them for making paper mache items – some day!

Mamta’s advice for other hoarders is to marry a man with a big house and a lot of patience! She did just that. Mamta, her husband Raaj and their pet turtle, Dhinglei, live in Mumbai, India.

Mamta is a full-time designer who left corporate life to make a career in designing. Her other hobbies include martial arts, gardening, reading, music and organizing and managing events. Being so busy, you’d think she couldn’t possibly have any spare time, but she has just volunteered to organize a number of promotional events for the Hoarders Unite team!

Hoarding is Mamta’s mantra to stay calm in her chaotic life. Being surrounded by her hoard makes her feel secure that she has all she needs to make life in this world beautiful and meaningful. She loves being creative and giving away the things that she makes, knowing that her gifts provide good vibes and love. Of course, the more she gives away, the more she needs to accumulate!

Photos above:

Mamta is currently working on this fabulous crochet evening dress.

An interesting piece of art Mamta made from her hoard.

Part of Mamta's hoard.

Mamta has a total of four Etsy shops:
Mamta.etsy.com (clothing, art, jewelry, supplies and embellishments)
RaajMa.etsy.com (pictures and paper goods)

PlushWorld.etsy.com (soft toys and plush items)

EtsyTeamIndia.etsy.com (Mamta’s and other team member's creations and supplies)

Mamta also has four blogs:
craft blog: http://mamtamotiyani.blogspot.com/

nature blog: http://naturehasaname.blogspot.com/

etsy team India blog: http://etsyteamindia.blogspot.com/
chit chat with my soul blog: http://mamtalovestowrite.blogspot.com/

Friday Finds 20% off sale

2009-11-20T17:08:00.001-08:00

Don't forget to visit Etsy this weekend and purchase some Friday Finds! Team member shops are offering 20% off specified items this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

GothFae has marked down this adorable tutu petal skirt:Le Boudoir Secret is offering this hand-painted dragonfly necklace:

Is there an Elvis lover on your holiday list? Head over to MyInnerPrincess and purchase this one of a kind photo frame:Or, choose an initial monogram necklace for that special someone from Alterdesigns:
There are more items and more participating shops to explore!
Just search on Etsy for HoardersUnite and FridayFinds
and get shopping!

LIST MAKING

2009-11-17T21:54:00.000-08:00

I have always been a list maker. I used to get teased about it. Then my youngest daughter came along. When she was a sophomore in high school she wrote out a list of whom she would be inviting to her graduation party, two years away! I was no longer teased; instead we teased her, and still do.

There is value in making lists so it's not all a laughing matter! I've known for myself at least that writing something down makes it more real. Once you have written something, it seems to "stick" better. Making lists helps to prioritize. It might be a grocery list, maybe a list of chores, a list of errands to run downtown. Once you get the list made, you can peruse it and see which items are more important or need to be done sooner than others.

Making a list enables you to "forget" about what you have written, no need to remember, just look at the list. So it is time saving and stress reducing to make lists. When you reach a certain age, your memory begins to slip a little. A little here, a little there. If you write things down, you don't have to try to remember what it was you wanted to remember! And a very nice reward for making lists is the feeling you get when you cross something off the list!

I also tend to write things down on slips of paper and then those get misplaced. Having a tablet handy to write things down and knowing that is where your list(s) live will be very helpful. I recently bought a white dry erase board to write down items that I would like to make with my hoarded supplies. Sometimes I will get a brainstorm and if I don't jot it down it flies off to foreign lands, thus the board. So far, so good.

Making lists is just another organizational tool that we can all benefit from.

~Nancy ~Garmenture~Victorian Visions by Nanalee~

Etsy's Friday Finds: Hoarders Unite 20% off sale

2009-11-17T16:42:00.000-08:00

The Hoarders Unite team is having its first ever teamwide sale!

We are participating in Etsy's Friday Finds

this weekend, November 20, 21, and 22.

During these three days, participating member

shops will offer select items for 20% off the regular

price!

On the sale days, just follow your nose to our

Friday Finds

type "HoardersUnite" in the message to seller

and your purchase will be refunded 20% after payment.

Easy Peasy!

We will have a list of participating shops here on

Thursday, so check back here...

2009-11-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

Giving Old Sweaters a Beautiful Repurposed Life

A new (to me) crafting activity I’ve recently tried is working with fulled (felted) wool. It’s a lot of fun and frustration, and a great opportunity for hoarders!

About a year ago, I found a gorgeous wool sweater at a local thrift store. I now have a chest full of fulled wool sweaters patiently awaiting a new, repurposed life. I’ve done a lot of experimentation (hence the frustration), but I’ve learned a lot in the process!

For example, I know that there are oodles of wool sweaters available at the thrift stores, but that most of them are not suitable for repurposing. I won’t buy anything again that isn’t 100% wool, as they rarely react well to the fulling process. They also need to be as large as possible, because it is difficult to make anything of any size otherwise. Loose-knit wool doesn’t achieve good results. Drying in the dryer was only attempted once! (My dryer still coughs up lint balls occasionally). I tried hand-fulling in a bucket of hot soapy water, and learned that the results weren’t worth the labour-intensive effort.

Yes, the sweaters have been worn. But, by the time the fulling process is complete, they have been washed in hot, hot water several times, so I guarantee you they are clean! I’ve made some great finds – such as a men’s extra-large, virtually new wool sweater that had a tiny hole in he front. I can work around that! It cost me less than $2.00. Even better, my favourite crafting supply scout (aka my daughter, herself a bit of a craft supply hoarder) went out of her way, little ones in tow, to get me a huge box of gorgeous already-felted, patterned wool pieces that I’m slowly working my way through.

So far, I’ve fulled about three dozen adult sweaters, and created a few little girls’ sweaters from them. Sometimes it takes cutting into three adult sweaters to make one little size 2 jacket. They are super soft, warm, and quite water resistant. I already have a pile of felted wool scraps that I can make smaller items from, when I have the time. There are so many things that can be made from a little scrap of beautiful felt, it’s a hoarder’s delight!

And that’s not even mentioning needle felting. I would love to try my hand at that some day soon!

There are many Etsy sellers who produce beautiful work with felted wool. Two of my favourite items are the felted wool mittens from FeltSassy.etsy.com and the felted wool slipper socks from Pawfelts.etsy.com. The sweater is from my shop, WhoaItsMe.etsy.com.

GoTo our latest Treasury!

2009-11-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

That is, the latest treasury by GoTo...Great Panes. Beautiful. And, I see in the posts that

Juliesparklybits

has had a sale from the treasury. Yay!

Click here to visit the treasury before it disappears on November 15!

Housekeeping

2009-11-11T17:07:00.001-08:00

Did you know that there are some super great ideas and tips on Etsy about team building? I did, but had not taken full advantage of this knowledge up to now. Today, I did a little poking around the Etsy Team Guides section.

I added our team blog to the Etsy Team Blog Ring.
I added our team blog address to my Etsy shop page.
I read this creative team marketing article on the Storque
I got some ideas to discuss in our upcoming team chat
I am wondering how we might make our own holiday gift guide

I want to thank Mamta for stepping up as the promotions coordinator for the team. I hope that our efforts will soon pay off in increased membership and increased sales for all members.

Happy Hoarding!

Sizzlin' Hot Treasury

2009-11-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

MadameTeasley has continued our November challenge by helping to fuel team momentum this week with a Red Hot treasury of team items. These are great for the holiday season! Visit the treasury. Send your friends. Ask them to join our team!Treasury expires on Friday, November 13.

Ice Blue treasury

2009-11-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks to WhoaItsMe for beginning this week with a wonderfully wintry treasury of icy blues and snowflake patterns.Treasury ends on November 11, so hurry on over and pick your favorite items for that special somebody!

2009-11-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

The top 10 reasons women give for hoarding fabric/yarn/beads/jewelry findings/scrapbooking supplies/(your craft supply hoarding obsession here):

10. It was such a bargain, I would be wasting money if I didn’t buy it.

9. I had to buy it, I might not be able to find it again.

8. It was my mother’s/sister’s/aunt’s/someone's-who-I-once-crossed-paths-with, and I just can’t bear to part with it.

7. My parents grew up during the depression so I grew up in a household that saved everything. (It’s my parents’ fault!)

6. I showed great restaint – I didn’t buy even half of what I wanted.

5. I’m saving it for just the right project.

4. I need to have a lot of supplies if I am going to be creative!

3. It draws attention away from my significant other’s sports card/beer stein/model car/comic book/(his obsession here) hoard.

2. When I’m suddenly snowed in, my supplies will carry me over until spring.

1. Hoard? What hoard? This is my collection!

HOARDERS HAVE BEEN BUSY

2009-11-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

One year ago we became an Etsy team, we hoarders. We decided on the name, Hoarders Unite! An avatar and a banner were chosen in our infancy that were orange and green. They were fine at the time, but later on some of us decided we'd like something different. Thus the new banner and avatar in blue with a little bit more modern design.

We posted photos of our work spaces and found that some of us were not only hoarders but hmm, shall we say, messy. We have so many supplies that it is hard to maintain them in the space in our home allotted to our art and craft. We encouraged one another with our ideas on organizing and storage.

We thought we might like to swap supplies but really that never did happen. We might try that again, we'll see. We seem to like to hold onto our supplies, thinking that we might need this or that "someday."

Our fearless leader, Sinclair, or Nature With Me, kept us going through the year, challenging us to use supplies on hand and NOT purchase new. Secretly and in theory we agreed. I'm guilty of purchasing new. I can't stick to one media, thus I need new supplies now and then. I started to knit a rug. Needed yarn, needed needles. Bought some. Worked on the rug until I decided to make a scarf. Made scarf. Made another scarf. Made another scarf...was challenged to make hats for veterans in southern Oregon. Made hat. Made another hat. And another...you get the picture. Had to buy more yarn and more needles. BUT, I bought a lot of the yarn and all but one pair of needles at second hand stores. I was using SOMEONE'S hoard!! LOL!!

So, one year later, sock monkeys and boo-koo scarves and hats later, Sinclair has again challenged us to become more active in order to help promote our shops, and to participate in the team. We responded by having THREE treasuries of our talented members' offerings at Etsy; by answering her call to share our gifts by doing a challenge a month via her blog, "Sharing Our Gifts" whereby we make items for a certain charity or needful organization a month and each month featuring a different state of the union, and by volunteering to do the blog once a week on a given day.

Today is my day, I'm happy to be a part of this group which challenges me but also offers encouragement and support in my online handmade business, i.e., Etsy shops.

I think Sinclair was doing a wonderful job with the blog and the other activities she organized but it isn't fair that she has to do all the work!! So, Sinclair, thanks for all you do for all of us!!

Now carry on, Hoarders. Let's show 'em our stuff! Mark all your items with the tag, "hoardersuniteteam" and upload the avatar with your item photos if you have room. Talk about us in your own personal blogs, encouraging buyers to search for our name at Etsy. Let us set some personal goals for the second year of Hoarders Unite that fellow members can help each other attain.

Ta ta for now,

Nancy ~ nanalee

Etsy shops: GARMENTURE http://garmenture.etsy.com/

and VICTORIAN VISIONS BY NANALEE http://nanalee.etsy.com/

A Trio of Treasuries

2009-11-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

Amazing! We have had three treasuries in the past week, and when I did a search for "hoardersuniteteam," I came up with 7 pages of result to choose from. I have my poster sketch at the ready!

Here is the latest by Mamta:This treasury expires tomorrow, so take a gander and share the news!

Treasury Days Continue!

2009-10-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to WhoaItsMe, we have another Treasury to share today...I love the variations of blue that come together in this collection.It expires tomorrow, so go take a look!! (Click the treasury photo to be taken to there)

Team Treasury Kick-off

2009-10-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

Nancy has gotten the ball rolling on our November participation challenge by snagging a Treasury! It will expire on October 30, so visit and promote in the forums, and hopefully your items will be soon on their way to happy new owners.Click the photo or (here) to be taken to the treasury listing. If you would prefer to copy and paste, here is the location: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=90518&show_panel=true.

Happy Hoarding!

November 2009 Challenge

2009-10-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it on the Yahoo Groups page, or have not visited our forum thread on Etsy, I am posting the challenge for this month here on the blog as well:

I think we should do a participation challenge for November. With the holidays
around the corner and all of us busy as bees in summer, I am not going to make
it a "create" challenge. So, here it is:

1. Team Treasuries: if you know how to get treasuries, let's try to have at
least one team treasury for each week of November. I haven't even tried for a
treasury in some time, but I will start working on that one.

2. Sharing the treasuries and other promo info on the Etsy forum: let's have a
team thread for the month that lists thoughts, projects, treasuries, blog posts,
etc...so we can all stay inspired and we can help each other with stash
suggestions. Here is the link to the thread:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6319779

3. Communication on the Yahoo Groups forum:
I would love it if we had more discussion here in the forums. What do you like?
What are your gripes about selling, creating, whatever? What do you do to stay
organized? You can even just put up good news and links to features about your
work.

I hope you will all check in on the forums and let me know you are in for
the participation points for the month of November! (figurative points, of course!)

Our first team treasury!

2009-10-16T01:12:00.001-07:00

Thanks to WhoaItsMe for creating this treasury on Treasury West! There are some wonderful finds here, and I think they fit very well together. Let's spread the word and get all the items sold!

Here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=72010

Change The World Wednesday

2009-10-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

It's that time again. Are you ready?
Last week's challenge was a piece of cake. Just pick up litter wherever you find it. I, personally, am going to make it an everyday challenge.

Now, for this week with a twist:

This week's Change The World Wednesday challenge is a bit different from our usual challenges. Rather than do an activity for an entire week, we're going to do one thing ... on one day ... with bloggers all over the world. Are you intrigued? Here it is:

Tomorrow, October 15th, participate in Blog Action Day by writing a post on Climate Change. That's it! (Click the picture above to get some ideas for posts and to read more about the Blog Action Day movement .)

Imagine ... bloggers all over the world talking about the same subject ... a lot of people with one voice! Brilliant!

Before the Plastic Bin...

2009-10-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

(photo via Martha Stewart.com)

Here is what I want to know: what did people use to get organized before the advent of The Plastic Bin? Wood? Cardboard? Bookshelves? Other shelving?

I have too many items for the size of my home. Of course. That is the entire reason for this group/Etsy team in the first place. My problem with plastic bins is that they do not leave my items accessible to use. So, I keep a lot of items out for easy use, and that creates clutter.

Also, if the bins are stacked on top of each other, their lids eventually bow inward, and they no longer fit correctly. They also allow the bins on top to lean over time. Plastic bins are created in planned obsolescence, so break down over time and then clog up landfills.

Why do I use them? I do not have a lot of extra money to purchase shelving, and I don't have the room to put shelving if I had some. Plastic bins are cheaper in the short run. Cloth bins are too expensive and don't have lids. But I bet Martha would suggest Metro Shelving with cloth bins stacked on the shelves. Wouldn't that be nice?

How do you stay organized?

Change The World Wednesday

2009-10-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

(if you are new to the challenge, click the logo above to go to Reduce Footprints' site)

I must admit that I have been less than diligent in recent weeks about following the challenges every day of the week. However, I am happy to report that I did not use any plastic wrap or foil last week, but instead I did use shower caps to cover food. (Though they are plastic, they are not plastic wrap.) I keep these on hand for covering leftovers in bowls (glass bowls) in the fridge. I got them new, in their packaging, over a period of years. I wash and REUSE them, so they do not offend green living principles. Weird? Maybe. But they are great for covering rising bread dough.

This week, MY SUGGESTED CHALLENGE is featured, so I will have to step it up in the diligence category! How have you been faring?

*************************
This week's challenge was suggested by two people ... Judi from Living Green & Natural (a Delphi Forum) and Sinclair at Sharing Our Gifts. I think it's a great idea ... and, because I'm sure that there is always a need, there won't be two levels to this challenge. Here we go: Put on your walking shoes because this week we're going to walk ... not just idle walking ... we're going to clean as we go.

Yep, this week, please go for a walk ... at least once ... and pick up litter as you go. If you're feeling ambitious, go every day. Once you've got your bag of litter, recycle what can be recycled before tossing the rest in the trash bin. Isn't that a great challenge? Not only will we get some exercise and breathe in some fresh, fall air ... we'll be cleaning up trash as we go. We can all agree that litter is an eye-sore ... but if you're wondering why litter is bad for the environment, read about it HERE. *************************

Maggpie's Hat

2009-10-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have received this very Smart Hat from Maggpie on Ravelry. It is called Smart Hat, and the pattern is available for free download on Ravelry. It is like Christmas in October around here, but I get to have the dual excitement of receiving the gifts and opening the mail packages AND playing St. Nick and delivering them to their future owners.

I LOVE mail, I LOVE yarn, I LOVE textures, and I LOVE giving. Now, I have it all wrapped up on one project. I am loving this arrangement. I will not be the direct mail recipient for all the projects, so will not always get to have such fun and excitement from the post box.

Thank you, Maggpie, for this wonderful hat! It is soft, bulky, and a wonderfully manly color. I am certain that the Veteran receiving this one will appreciate all your hard work.

How are your projects working up?
Have you tweeted the Project today?

Donation Received for Project #1

2009-09-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in the mail, I received two separate donations. I am posting them in the order in which they were in my mail box. (I will post about the second one on Monday.) The above hats came wrapped up in heartfelt packaging from cmunholland of Ravelry.

They are wonderfully crafted and are very soft. I absolutely love the color, and have requested her pattern(s) so I might be able to make one for myself. If possible, I would like to compile a pattern link list on our Yahoo Groups page so participants can browse there for inspiration.

I think the one on the right is Spring Beret by Natalie Larson. It is available on Ravelry (here).

My requested donation from any one person is only one item for each project, so she has even gone beyond expectations with her generosity in donating two hats. Thank you so much, cmunholland!!

I have seen comments here and there about this project by people who express a wish to help, but a lack of time to personally create an item. For those of you who fall into this category, let me remind you that Etsy, Artfire, and 1000 Markets sell handmade items, and many shops offer hats and slippers at very reasonable prices. If you wish to contribute, you could purchase a handmade item and still be able to donate it to the cause.

To date (including what will be featured on Monday's post), we have received 3 pair of slippers and 5 hats. The deadline for this project is not until October 25, so you still have time if you would like to participate.

October 2009 Challenge

2009-09-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

(My completed hat for the October 2009 challenge)

I have mentioned the project from Sharing Our Gifts that is currently doing a hat and slippers drive for Veterans in Southern Oregon. This project will be our team project for October, and the deadline to have these received by me is October 25, so please allow appropriate mail time. I will be presenting these to my contact at the facility on November 2, just in time for Veteran's Day.

Further details and updates for the project can be found on the Sharing Our Gifts blog, but here are the basics:

Our 50 states tour begins in the beautiful state of Oregon. We will be making
hats and slippers for Veterans at the Southern Oregon - White City Rehabilitation Center. It is a 600 bed facility, and I am told that they always appreciate hats and slippers. These can be knitted, crocheted, or sewn. The key is that they must be handmade. If you don't make items yourself, but you want to contribute, you could purchase handmade items at Etsy, Artfire, 1000 Markets, or some other handmade venue. They should be size and color appropriate for adult males (slipper size 10-12), and machine washable.

The address to send your items for this project is:

Sinclair
P.O. Box 1046
Jacksonville, Oregon 97530

Please leave me a comment here or on our Yahoo Groups page to let me know you are participating in the challenge, and please help spread the word even outside the boundaries of the Hoarders Unite group. As always, our group goal is to use up stash yarn and supplies before purchasing more. Visit our Yahoo Groups page to upload your project photos and to share pattern ideas.

Happy Creating!

Change The World Wednesday

2009-09-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

(click the logo to go to Reduce Footprints' site)

I am a miserable failure this week at ridding my house of paper towels. I normally don't buy them, but there are already several rolls in the house, and I DID try to cut back...but I caught myself grabbing for one and using it before I even realized I had done so. I am going to have to continue to work on this one. When this supply is gone, I am going to try to go without paper towels.

This week's challenge:

******
This week we're all about kids ... after all, they will take the "green torch" and become environmental "Olympians". So this week, your challenge is to do an environmentally friendly activity with your kids (or grand kids or neighbor kids or nieces/nephews, cousins, etc). Get them involved. Need some ideas? Here you go:

Awesome Activities

Kaboose

Kids Links (Teaching Green)

Gardening for Kids

Once you've done the activity, we want to know about it ... so come back here and leave a comment (either with the activity or a link to a post) ... or if they did something fun during the summer like an Eco-Camp, tell us about that. We'd also be interested in little Eco-Stars ... kids who have taken it upon themselves to come up with green living ideas.

Or ...

If you don't have any accessible kids to have "green" fun with, then write an article about ways that we can get kids involved in an Eco-friendly lifestyle.
****

Good luck, and start your ~~engines~~ eco-friendly inspirational power sources...

New Banner and Badge

2009-09-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

Nancy (of themailbag.etsy and nanalee.etsy) and I decided that we needed a bit of a sprucing up regarding our banner, badge, and colors. Nancy created a nice celtic badge that is available on our Yahoo Groups page, and I had a new banner and badge made by Custom Graphics on Etsy.

The banner and badge were created with a font that I very much like, but it does not come with any possibility of upper case H and U, so these will be sent anew with a corrected font within a few days. I do hope you all like the change. I will upload the badge and banner with the corrected font as soon as I receive it. I will be notifying Etsy teams support also, so they can update our team profile page. Feel free to grab the badge if you like, either from the blog or from the Yahoo Groups page.

Post Edit: It appears we will be keeping the font as is for the time being. If it becomes a problem in the future, or active group members would like a change, we will look at another remodel at that time.

Stripey goes to Sacramento

2009-09-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share with you the finished donation sock monkey for the Craft Hope Project #4. He is complete and went out in the mail yesterday to his destination. Amilia fell in love with him and gave him a very warm goodbye. We sent him off with loving thoughts and a note to his new human.

Hop on over to Craft Hope and see the photos of the 101 monkeys they have already received...

Sharing Our Gifts Across America feature

2009-09-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is a cross-over post because I wanted to share with you the wonderful places on which my project has been featured today. We are growing each day, and getting the word out there. Today, we are featured in TWO places!

1. DinnerTime Chimes has featured us on the Etsy Team blog NCTriangle. Even though our project is not specifically Etsy, this team blog has opened its arms to our project, and I am so thankful for the mention. Check out the blog and all the wonderful Etsy sellers there as well.

2. Kae at Kae1Crafts has joined our project drive and has featured us in her blog post today as well. Kae has two Etsy shops: one for her crafts and one for supplies (shops currently on vacation mode). She also has her own ongoing charity project, donating knitted wool helmet liners to military troops. Specifics on her project and how you can help are found on her Squidoo page.

Visit and Stumble It! Even if you cannot personally engage in either of these projects, please Stumble this post and visit each of the links and Stumble those as well. Then, if you Twitter, tweet the projects for us. For Sharing Our Gifts, please add the hashtag #sharingourgifts to your tweets. (you can just hit the Tweet This button at the bottom of this post if you like, and use the Share This button above the post.)

Thanks Kae and DinnerTimeChimes!

Cotton Lunch Bag by WhoaItsMe

2009-08-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

I am off to the seaside today. While I am gone taking lovely photos to share, hop on over to ThisNext and see this eco-friendly and sophisticated cotton lunch bag. Feel good about carrying your lunch! (via WhoaItsMe)

Change The World Wednesday

2009-08-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

It's that time again...changing the world, one Wednesday at a time. I am going to make this our regular Wednesday post here at Hoarders Unite. We are eco-friendly as a group, since our mission statement is to use up stash to curb consumerism and hoarding, after all. This week, we are doing it with a snazzy new logo. If you click on the logo, you will be taken to Reduce Footprints' blog (the creator of this challenge) to see all the official stuff like rules and such. Do you like the change? Answer my poll on NatureWithMe in the right hand column...

Last week was composting, and otherwise reducing your contributions to the landfill. Though I did not create a new post this week for it, I did follow the challenge by continuing to compost and recycle. We took our twice yearly trip to the dump (we do not have municipal trash pickup) and got rid of the things we could not compost, upcycle, recycle, freecycle, or otherwise use or donate. How did you do with the challenge? If you need composting tips, you can read my older posts here and here.

************************************************************

Now, for this week's challenge:

This week's challenge comes from one of our new bloggy friends, Millenniumhealth, at ... well ... Millenniumhealth. It's an easy activity and once again shows us that small actions matter ... especially when we all do them. Here it is:

This week, put your computer to sleep or set it to hibernate when it's not in use. If you need help in doing this, check out these sites:

Use Standby and Hibernate

Manually Put Your Computer Into Hibernation

Or ...

Typically, if you're already doing the first part of the challenge, I ask you to write about it on your blog. This week, however, we're going to do something different. If you are already in the habit of putting your computer to sleep or turning it off when you're not using it, look around your home and identify one other "sneaky" area that uses electricity. Come back here and, in the comments section, tell us what it is and how you'll either eliminate it or reduce it.

************************************************************

I started this last night by shutting completely down for the night. I would like to see a change in my energy bill to reflect the environmental love I am sending out!

Swap-O-Rama-Rama

2009-08-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

(photo from swaporamarama.org)

Have you heard of Swap-O-Rama-Rama.org?

"Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing.

The Swap When you attend the swap bring at least one bag of your unwanted clothing and a small donation (each swap varies depending on available funding). Every swap begins with a giant collective pile of clothing, the unwanted clothing of all who attend. Everyone is welcome to dive in and find their next new/used items from the pile. Take as little or as much clothing from this pile as you like, it's all free"

Doesn't that sound like a wonderful way to share the spirit of giving (and receiving), and to promote recycling and upcycling? I would love to see one of these in my area, and one of the wonderful aspects of this organization is that the opportunity exists for anyone to produce an event in their city. Ashland, Oregon anyone?

Hop on over and take a look...

Handmade Hope- September Challenge

2009-08-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

In my Internet travels, I ran across a succession of blogs that led me to one called Craft Hope. I am very happy to have found this site because it puts important things together. It combines the importance of beauty, appreciation, caring, sharing, helping, and hope all into a tidy bloggy box of love.

In doing so, it puts helping people together with those who are in need of help. Here is what the founder, Jade, says in her About section:

"Craft Hope is a faith-based, love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those less fortunate. It is our hope to combine our love for crafting and desire to help others into a project to make a difference around the world."

This is similar to my goal with my sister blog, Sharing Our Gifts. I have not been as faithful in developing that blog as I would like to be, but finding Craft Hope has helped kick my thoughts about it back into gear. Meanwhile, I think I am going to join in on the Craft Hope current project to make a sock monkey for the Little Heroes Preschool Burn Camp in Sacramento, California. The camp is by the Firefighters Burn Institute in Sacramento, and runs from September 25-27, 2009. I encourage you to join me in this September Hoarders Unite Challenge and do the same.

So, the link above to "sock monkey" will take you to a place to learn how to make a sock monkey, and to purchase a sock monkey kit if you (like me) have never made one. Even more exciting, a message on the Craft Hope Nest Bulletin Board from Tamara at sockmonkey.net states that she will give a discount on sock monkey kits to any person purchasing specifically to make a monkey for this project. If you don't need a kit or a discount, sockmonkey.net is just a fun place to visit for free pattern ideas and monkey inspiration.

The deadline to get your sock monkey in for this project is September 18. If you're interested, visit Craft Hope and get started!

Loving Hands Embroidery Project

2009-07-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

I took Amilia's Loving Hands piece and photocopied it to transfer onto some yellow linen (left over from my porch swing project). In keeping with this week's Change The World Wednesday challenge and my Hoarders Unite July Challenge, none of the tools or materials were purchased new for this project. They are from my hoard (supplies stash).I do not have any transfer paper or other nifty transfer device, so I decided to use the ol' stipple method. I pinned the sheet to my linen cloth, then pierced holes in her design. I then used an orange permanent marker (because I am/was planning to use orange thread for the embroidery) to make a mark in each of the holes.Voilà! Now I have the design on my fabric. I'm sure I could have used fabric marker or other quilting marking pencil, but Sharpie is my friend, so I accepted its help.Next, I placed my embroidery hoop and began threading.I have chosen to use a mix of orange and sage, and it is yet to be determined how this will turn out on Amilia's small hand. The dots are somewhat visible under the sage thread, even though I am using 3 strands of floss, but my vision is to give it a twisted cord effect with orange on top. I am using an outline (stem) stitch in sage, then I am planning to whip it (whipstitch over outline stitch) in orange. If you want to see a how-to, I found an explanation at CraftTown.com.

Are you in suspense yet?
Stay tuned for the Final Product...

Member Feature: Nancy

2009-07-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am still writing all the posts myself, so we do not yet have daily posts. However, the plan is to have no less than three per week, and this week, I have not made the quota. If you want to exercise your writing muscle by guest posting, drop me an email!

Nancy is always willing to be involved, engage in challenges, and is always chipping away at her hoard. She has two shops on Etsy and one on Artfire, and maybe more that I have missed. Her items on Etsy carry the 'teamhoardersunite' tag, and many also sport our badge. If you have not yet begun to use the badge, but you would like to, you can find it on our Yahoo Groups Page. It is in the Files section, and is called HUavatar3.jpg.

Victorian Visions by Nanalee on Etsy carries a mix of vintage and vintage inspired items that are a must see. I love this 1934 boxed card game of Rook!There is also a green and white crocheted vintage apron that I have my eye on. It would go great paired with her cocktail button ring for some retro-kitchen-bread-baking photo ops. You could get in a good game of Rook while the bread bakes and fills the house with the aromas of bygone days.

Her second Etsy shop called The Mail Bag carries cards, bookmarks, desk accessories, gift tags and other needful paper items.Do you know someone who has had a recent accomplishment? Opened an Etsy store? Started a blog? Made the advanced drama class? Had a baby? This card is for you - - for them. Just proud of your teen for a job well done? Congratulate her (and include a coupon for unlimited hugs and kudos). This card is happy, upbeat, colorful, and right in your budget!

You might also want to visit Nancy on Artfire at The Chickadees' Nest to snap up a lovely vintage tea setting for your curio cabinet. Or, you might want to use this beautiful cup on your deck in the early morning to sip coffee or tea and watch the birds flutter in their birdbath.Either way, it will lift your spirits to hold this delicate vintage piece. Even more so if you have an equally delicate crocheted doily upon which to display your find.

Wander on over and support your fellow hoarder...

Featured Artist Friday

2009-07-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

While the works of this artist are not yet available on Etsy or Artfire or 1000 Markets, I think it is important to nurture budding young artists and encouraging their continued growth. In that spirit, I give you this feature.

Today, our featured artist is Amilia. Her works are currently on display at Deer Palace, and are being kept in a private collection. She plans to make some works available for purchase in the future, and to further develop a current series on which she is working into a gallery showing.

(the whale)

She loves the use of color and line shape in her drawings. She likes to experiment with movement, line depth, and shading to convey expression.

(robot #6)

She draws inspiration from daily occurrences and the images she finds all around her, and rarely passes a day without working on a creation.

(Mom,Dad, & Scarecrow)
(missing mom)

She is currently working on a series about hands and the many ways they interact with the world.

(loving hands)(marriage of hands)

Upcoming projects include illustrating a childrens' tale, and rewriting and illustrating her own first book.

If you have artwork by a budding artist that you would like turned into a wearable piece, visit Analiese on Etsy! Or visit Deseta.net where you can have a picture of your child's turned into a hand embroidered pillow.

Etsy shops by child artists:
Age 9: Lauren's Castle
Age 9: Little Banana Bug

Have you viewed the world through your Artist's eye today?

The Sunday Hoard

2009-06-28T20:53:00.001-07:00

These are from the Hoard of Mamta, and the rough tumble of colors is very eye catching!Visit her shop to see the creative items made with some of these ingredients...

Welcome New Member

2009-06-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to WhoaItsMe, who also has a shop called Finding Things. Whoa It's Me has dresses and aprons for girls and women, as well as "other stuff" for girls and women. The "other stuff" includes needle books, jewelry rollups, car organizers, crayon rollups, and cute satin soft baby shoes.

Finding Things is for patterns, findings, and vintage items. Take a look for your pattern and button finds. Patterns include children's clothing, window coverings, furniture covers, and twin dolls with carrier, among others.

Happy hoarding!

The Bin Myth...

2009-06-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today, check out this blog post by Beck and Call Girl. Here is an excerpt to pique your interest...

"We all use them for storage & organization. The question is, do they really work or are they a myth? What am I talking about? Plastic storage bins, of course!

I use them, but I don't really feel organized. In some aspects, I know they help me, but in other aspects, I feel like it's out of sight, out of mind." (read more...)

You simply MUST visit the post to see the wonderful photos of stash, stash, stash! Those colorful "stramers" are absolute eye candy. Makes me want to hang swatches from clothespins as wall art.

Happy Hoarding!

Productivity achieved...

2009-06-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

Today, I am pointing you to the Thursday post on Girl Industries' blog. Some of my favorite sights are there. Untidy stash to tidy stash, with lots of color and texture all mixed together to please the senses...

Happy Hoarding!

July Challenge

2009-06-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

This next month, let's try something related to the height of summer. Food focused, maybe. All about environmental friendliness, eating local, and sharing the bounty. Picnic blankets/quilts, cloth napkins, cloth coasters, napkin rings, wine glass jewelry, fruit bowls, picnic totes, place card holders, bird feeders, bird houses, you get the idea...

Who is in?

Welcome One and All

2009-06-24T17:13:00.001-07:00

to our very own Etsy team blog. I finally decided that it wouldn't take THAT much time to keep a blog, and it might be a more visually pleasing way to display our work, challenges, links, and whatnot. Yes?

So, more about getting involved...who would like to post to this blog? Perhaps we could split it up, and we could have a different person post for each day of the week?

We could make it easy with a simple format to follow for those times when we don't have a particular inspiration:

Memories Monday: vintage and vintage inspired
Tuesdays: ? what ideas for Tuesdays?
Wednesdays: Craft the World (how we can help the environment with our eco friendly hoard) or Word Wednesday
Thursday: ? what ideas for Thursday?
Friday: Featured Artist Friday or Featured Blog Friday
Saturday Sharing: what tutorials, tips, tools instruction, or other helpful ideas do you have?
The Sunday Hoard: Silent Sunday photos of you craft stash/studio/projects

Lastly, this team was begun as an Etsy team, but I know that many of you also have Artfire, 1000 Markets, and/or other shops also. I, personally, am not selling in any shop right now. So this blog is for Hoarders Unite (Universal). That means that you do not have to limit it to Etsy topics.

Happy Hoarding!
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