I miss crafting

I have been so busy these past few days that I haven't even picked up a needle or thread lately.  And you know what, I really miss it.  I not only create crafts to sell for a bit of profit but I also create as an outlet and a chance to wind down from every day life.  Well I haven't been able to have that opportunity lately and I'm really missing it.

I still have a pile of online work to finish up so I can't see me getting back into the crafting groove any time soon.  But as soon as I am finished with my transcription work, I plan on going right to town on my quilt once again.  I'd like to finish it and get it up for sale on my Facebook page.  But that isn't going to happen any time soon.

Hopefully I'll be able to post soon that I've finished my online transcription work and that I am back at doing one of the thing things in life that I really enjoy doing.

Not a lot of crafting going on these days

I have been so busy with other things lately that I haven't really been doing much crafting these days.  I have so many projects on the go that I would like to get done but have honestly been running out of time in my day.  I haven't really even had the time to write an posts in here lately.

But today that has changed.  I finished the online work that has kept me busy and have some extra time in my day to update the blog and to continue creating. I don't really have a lot to report at this time but am hoping that later on in the week I will have some of these projects worked on and can update you with some photos.

But I still do have some items available that are for sale on my Facebook page.  So if there's anything you see that you like, please feel free to let me know.  And if not, stay tuned.  There should be some new items up for sale soon.

Cleaning out the Craft Room

Well instead of doing any crafting today I will be spending the bulk of my day cleaning out the craft room.  Last week my husband purchased me an industrial shelving unit for my room.  He has it put together and placed in the room so now I have to start filling it up.

Since I have to clean up the room anyway I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to go through my stash and get everything organized.  I think once I do this the I will at least know what I have and know what I need.  Then when the room gets cleaned up I will be able to work in there quite comfortably.

So that is what is on the agenda for today.  Cleaning out the craft room so I can get it to the point where I will once again want to craft in there.

Taking a Bit of Time Off

This is probably going to be my final post this week.  Normally I don't do a lot of computer work or even craft work on the weekends as I like to keep these days open for the family.  And this weekend is probably going to be a lot busier than most.

Right now my two teenagers are home on their March break from school and this is their final weekend before they go back to school on Monday.  Plus my husband is home this weekend and is actually starting a week's vacation tonight.  We have a lot of plans for the weekend so I will be busy outside the house. 

I will try to get some crafting done over the weekend but I'm not even sure at this point how much time I will have to devote to this.  And then next week I have to have some dental surgery performed so I'm not real sure how I will be feeling after this procedure.

I will be popping in here from time to time over the next few days to see if there is any interest in any of the crafts that I have been discussing lately.  So if you see something you like, don't hesitate to leave me a message I'll get back to you as quickly as possible.

Have a great weekend and I will see you all soon!

Homemade Family Tree Cross Stitch For Sale

Here is one of the many creations that will be available for sale here in this blog on also listed on my Facebook page, Kim's Kreations

This is a homemade counted cross stitch family tree.  The tree and surrounding pattern is from a free pattern I received a few years ago but this is where the piece now becomes unique and one of a kind.  If you would like to have a family tree of your very own family you would then send me all the information about your family that you would like to see on your family tree.  Then you can choose to have me frame it or I can also send it unframed for a lower price.  The unframed option is being offered due to shipping charges.  The unframed option would be a lot cheaper to ship than if I were to frame it.

The price for this one of a kind unique creation would be $50.00 if I were to frame it and send it to you.   Plus the shipping charges.  The unframed option would be $40.00 with the added shipping costs.  But the shipping costs would be a lot less due to the fact that I wouldn't be sending the frame.

So if you have a person in your life who is hard to buy for, why not order them a one of kind and unique family tree of their very own.  It's never to early to order for next Christmas, an upcoming birthday or anniversary.

If this particular piece interests you at all, just leave me a message in the comment section and I will get back to as soon as I can.

Want to learn Quilting -- Here's some guidance

I have been making quilts for a very long time now.  When I first decided that I wanted to learn how to quilt I decided that I was going to teach myself.  So I decided to try to create a simple quilt made out of old jeans.  I designed my own pattern and decided to give it a go.  This particular quilt did not cost me a cent to create as I had a lot of old jeans hanging around my home and had some old sheets and blankets that could be used for backing.

This is a very simple quilt to make and is a great starter quilt for any beginner.  First of all cut up some old jeans so that all you have are the legs from the jeans.  Then you would create a template (I chose 5 inch squares) made out of cardboard.  Then I placed the template on the cut up jean material and cut out my 5 inch squares.  Then I chose different colors and started matching them up and stitching them into rows.  When the rows were stitched together I then stitched five rows together.  Five rows, 10 times over then the front was complete.

Because the jean material is so heavy I decided not to use quilting batten in the quilt and just measure up an old quilt for the backing.  Then stitched up the backing to the front and had my first homemade jean quilt.  Easy as pie.  These were free for me to make and I was able to start to learn the basics of quilting.

This is a very simple quilt to make for any beginner and later on I will discuss how to make a more advanced quilt.

Attempting to Sell Jewelry Creations

I have been making jewelry pieces for a few years and attempting to sell my creations.  I have sold at markets, yard sales, through word of mouth and as well have sold a few pieces online as well.  Although I find making these creations simple enough, trying to sell them has become quite difficult over the years.

I think the difficulty in selling handcrafted jewelry online is the fact that there is an enormous amount of competition on the Internet these days.  Everywhere you look someone is trying to sell their own creations and some of these people are selling their items at an extremely cheap rate.

Now this is fine if it isn't costing the person anything in the end to make the products but some of the prices I have seen has indicated to me that these people are selling their products at a loss.  And this I will not do.  I would rather give my items away as gifts than to lose money on the items.

Right now the main avenue I am using to try to increase sales is through my Facebook page Kim's Kreations.  I haven't really branched out much on the Internet right now so sales are really slow.  I do have an Esty Shop but have found this site to be overrun with jewelry sellers.

Selling online takes a lot of effort and a lot of time to accomplish.  So you have to be really focused on driving traffic to your sites.  Once you have the traffic trickling in, then the sales will follow.  These types of sales are always a waiting game.

A Stay at Home Mom's Crafting Blog

Well I'm certainly glad you all found me here.  I am a 45 (soon to be 46) year old stay at home mom.  In my spare time (when I can find some) I love to craft.  I do a lot of crafting and have recently started to try to sell my creations.  My ultimate goal in life is to be able to make enough money to continue to stay home and craft and earn a nice income with it.

I love to make quilts and recently have been trying to make them to sell them.  I do advertise all over the Internet and my steps up to date are finally starting to pay off.  So I thought I would create this brand new blog to see if I can't get my products noticed even more on the world wide web.

This blog will not only be used to sell my own personal creations but I will also discuss many types of crafts, where to find free patterns, some how to's as well as anything else involved in the crafting world.

So grab a cup of coffee or tea and grab a chair.  You are going to spend a lot of time with me hopefully learning the ins and outs of crafting and selling your crafts for profits.  And of course any questions please feel free to ask away.

Welcome to Kim's Kreations!