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

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.

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

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

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!

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

• 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...