Two Quarters and a Penny

Ok, yes I am shamelessly wishing myself a Happy Birthday! I mean when you get my age if you can't wish your own self a Happy Birthday, well then that just ain't right...right? LOL

I have received so many birthday cards in the mail and tons of email birthday wishes that I feel really blessed! I've also received many online discounts for this place or that which I guess have come due to the fact that I either subscribe to their newsletter or purchase from them. None the less I will take it ALL!

My sweetest hubby gave me my presents last night even though today is really my birthday. He got me an 8" digital frame that I love. I had one years ago that my son had gotten me for Christmas one year and it bit the dust last year and I've missed it ever since. This new one is great! It has tons of on board memory and then will take another memory card(s) as well, so I can put lots and lots of photos on it. It even plays mp3 music! I can see it from where I sit and knit and so it's full of photos of my Jennifer and Justin both of whom live far from home. My daughter has lived in St. Petersburg, Florida for the past 3 years and my son is moving to New York City in a few weeks. We live in North Carolina, so now both of our children are a 12 hour drive away. One north and one south. There really should be a law against that.

Anyway, back to my birthday. My hubby also got me some new bedroom slippers, some socks and a new battery for my camera. He also got me a card that plays music...so sweet. Then today he took me out to eat at Applebees. We then went to Ulta, Borders and then stopped off at Starbucks. He bought me a new Crochet Today magazine at Borders too. Starbucks had sent me a postcard for a free birthday drink so I had a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino...yummy!

Yesterday my son got me my fav gift card! You know it...a Dunkin Donuts one! Gotta love me some Coffee Coolatas! My daughter also sent me a beautiful bd card with a gift card enclosed. I always love her cards as she writes such amazingly sweet sentiments to me. My MIL sent me a pretty card with some moola which I've already spent to good use.

This past Friday my little sister Kim drove down and took me out to lunch for my birthday. (an hour drive ya'll) We went to Bob Evans. I always love it there because they are never busy, busy and they have great food. She also had brought this cute little cake that looked like a bee. She also gave me some pretty earrings, a gift card to Ulta, a bd card and a little sisters book. I just was really touched that she went the extra mile to tell me Happy Birthday. She brought our mother along and she gave me a gift card to Hobby Lobby. I love that store and plan on going there Tuesday to get some "I love this yarn" in some Christmas green.

I know my daughter will call sometime today to talk to me on my bd and I am looking forward to talking to her. I really want to know how the bridal shower went yesterday that her and some of her friends gave to her room mate Katie who is getting married the end of October. I knit Katie an afghan and I can't wait to see photos of her opening it and her expression when she saw the uh um little chapstick cozies I made for everyone who came. Check the links to see photos in the previous sentence and the links here to see my Ravelry page for the afghan and cozies with more photos and pattern details.

Oh, on another note and I don't want to forget to mention that I got the nicest request from Jodi who has a blog called the creative JAR. She wanted to mention one of my items in my etsy store on her blog. I was flattered that she chose one of my items to include in her post. You can see that post here. She also sells some unique art at her etsy store so be sure to check her out.

So, all in all a wonderful birthday. I'm blessed! Now back to the title of my post...
in case you haven't figured it out yet...
that is how old I am!

Etsy and Packaging

My take on packaging...still learning too!
www.conicuts.etsy.com

I wanted to share the way I've been packaging my etsy store sales that I have to ship. I wrap the item and the thank you gift separately in tissue paper and then I use a sticker with my shops name on it to keep the tissue paper closed. The photo below shows my last sale that went out. I also include a Pocket Testament with the plan of salvation. I also put in my business card which isn't in the photo.

Thank you gift...
If you haven't shopped at etsy you may not know about the thank you gift. Most if not all etsy sellers will include a hand written thank you note and small extra gift. This is what makes etsy sellers special and shopping at etsy special. I have even received a coupon or card for an extra discount next time I shop with a certain seller.



I ordered the little envelope and card that I used from ebay and then just decorated it myself. The sticker on the front of the little card is my new logo and I plan to print these on stickers to use next time on the tissue paper. This time I used some stickers I still had with just the name of my shop and my website link. I used a glue that once dry will stick and then re-stick. That is the dark color you see on the flap of my little envelope.



My friend Aura who also has a shop on etsy called AuraKnits shared with me that it is less expensive to ship via PayPal. So for this order I used the PayPal shipping link and was able to ship this package for $2.09! Your item needs to weigh less than 13 ounces to use PayPal shipping and choose First Class. Over that weight it will be less expensive to use www.usps.com
This is great and helps to keep shipping cost low for my customers.

I also called USPS and they told me that any box less than 12" x 12" x 12" is considered a package, anything over that and you have to choose large package. Another thing is that as long as you have a printed shipping label on your package or envelope you can request that the postman picks it up right from your home. It can even be in your own box and not a Priority box. You can request pick up online, but I know my postman well and so he told me to just put a note in the mailbox that I have a pick up and he then knows I have one on my front porch. That way they are out of the weather. So, as long as it has a label and NOT stamps they will pick it up, otherwise if you use stamps on a package (that won't fit in your mailbox) you have to take it into a post office. Also remember that you save if you pay and print your own label online than if you take it inside a post office.

A long time ago I was able to get these spring type scales free from the post office.



They can weigh up to 6 pounds when stacked together. I did find them for sale on ebay, but check your local post office or www.usps.com to see if you can still get them for free.

If you want to ship Priority remember you can get all of the supplies, boxes, Priority labels and etc. free and have them mailed to your home for free at www.usps.com This helps if you don't want to weigh your items. I ordered a Priority Mail kit so that I would know what boxes are what size and cost to ship. This is still more costly than using PayPal's shipping for packages and envelopes under 13 oz.

Another knitting friend, Larrisa who also has an etsy store called Beyond Stitches posted on her blog recently about how to use a white box to take better photos for your items that you sell on etsy. You can find that post here. I've since started using my own setup to take better photos this way.

I hope I've helped you learn something you didn't know today!

Mitten Glove Wizard SALE

I got an email the other day from Knitting Software and they are having a special 25% off all of their software until this Wednesday, September 16th. I purchased the Mitten Glove Wizard and I love it. With the discount it's only $14.96 which is a great buy considering all it does. The discount will show up in your shopping cart. Anyway, you tell it what kind of gloves/mittens you want to make and it writes the pattern for you.

It has every style from mittens, pop over style, fingerless gloves, half finger and wristers or handwarmers. You can even customize them by specific measurements. What a great piece of software for the knitting enthusiast! So, if you think it's great too, remember the sale ends Wednesday!

What is a Nostepinne?

I clicked through a link on Ravelry and found this Etsy store that sells handmade Nostepinne's.

I have never heard of these and thought they would be a great tool for someone who may not have room for a swift and ball winder and they are inexpensive and portable to boot. In fact you could even use a thick dowel. My first thought was the wooden dowel that holds my paper towels.

Anyway, I found out via the etsy store that the word Nostepined is Norwegian for "nest stick" as the ball formed looks like a birds nest. This little tool forms a perfect yarn "cake" and even though I have a wonderful swift and ball winder I can see myself trying this while sitting in my favorite knitting chair and wanting to fix that skein of yarn that is collapsing on itself and I don't want to get up, take it to my craft room and put up my swift just to wind it.

I looked at several videos on youtube and thought this one was the best. I love the idea that she had for the rubber-band at the top too! So, I'm off to try this on my paper towel dowel!

Just a note: I bought my wooden swift from this ebay seller and I've been very pleased with it. It is easy to use, works wonderfully, folds to store in a small space and is very inexpensive! I spent a little more for my ball winder, but it will last for years to come!

My Little Fairy

A little Fairy...



For some reason I got the urge to crochet a little fairy doll and this is what I came up with and I think she is kinda cute! You can see all of my details at the link above that will take you to my Ravelry project page for her.

My favorite thing is her wings and hair! I used jewelry wire to form the wings and then crocheted around them and inside each one. The wire is light and I can bend them how I like. I also added pipe cleaners inside of her arms and legs to make them pose-able. I added ruffles to her booty by chaining 30 and then putting 3 sc in each chain. I made 2 of these and sewed them on one above the other.



This was my first time at making hair. I crocheted a wig base first and then added the yarn to cover it where the curls weren't going to be. Great tutorial at this link...

Amigurumi Hair Tutorial

Now, for those gorgeous curls! Well, it's so easy! You just take any 100% wool yarn and wind it around some knitting needles or wooden dowels. Dampen them with water and smoosh out the excess. Set them aside to dry completely and then just slide them off of your needles or dowels. Voila! Gorgeous curls! For the curls on my fairy it took 12 knitting needles to get enough to cover the head like I wanted it.




I just put my yarn covered knitting needles in the hood of my salon hair dryer to dry. You can use a blow dryer to speed up the process or lay them out in the sun. They dry very quickly and the curl is set permanently. You can tug them and they bounce right back in place.

Enjoy!

Shop4Freebies FREE Samples

Free Samples

I just wanted to share this great site I found a few weeks ago. I LOVE it! It's called Shop4freebies and it is an awesome site where you get 100% free real samples! No postage, no cc needed, just 100% FREE! The list changes everyday so be sure to sign up for their mailing list so that you will remember to visit everyday.

I've gotten cereal, coupons for full size free stuff, shampoo, perfume, dog shampoo and vitamins, coffee, mouthwash, soap, body wash, face cream and I could go on and on. It's so much fun now to go to the mailbox and see what FREE stuff I am getting that day!

So what are you waiting for? Don't you want some FREE stuff?

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