Christmas Wish List

Fabric Designer Woven - Ballad Bouquet



Vintage 40's Coat



I'd love the sheepie but I'll settle for the Whole Icelandic Fleece - Raw Skirted



Malabrigo Worsted-Rhodesian



Russet - Merino Top




Leather Journal

Little Brown Owl Brooch

I think he's so sweet!!!



Little Brown Owl Brooch

More Owl Bags

I am so pleased with the interest generated by the Owl Bag, I'm making more in hopes to have enough to go around!

If you are interested in the Owl Bag, just check with my Etsy Shop every couple of days to see if any more have been listed.

Grandma Joy's Store

My newest listing

A dear friend asked me to build her a bag that looked like an owl. This is kind of the Owl Bag version 2.0. I'm hoping people will like it as much as the one I made for Katie. She's such a unique person, I don't want to make exact duplicates of her idea. =)



I will be adding a few more owl bags to my Etsy Shop over the next week...I'm still building them.

Good evening to all!

I found my tea cups!

When we moved to our new place 10 years ago I lost half the square footage of my home so lots of things that weren't necessary had to go into the shed. My pretty tea cups were stored safely away and I haven't seen them since.

This weekend I decided to change that and my hubby and I went through the shed and I've been reunited with the tiny collection. It was a fun...albeit, dusty...adventure. I came across the first rattle my now 28 year old son had, a stuffed pony I made my 23 year old son when he was a toddler and several of my daughter's baby outfits.

Anyway, these are my tea cups. Some are sets, some are loners, but I love them all and maybe it's just me but tea just tastes better when drinking from them. =)



The mark on the bottom of the saucer says "Egersund Flint Norway".



The one above is from Czechoslovakia.



I love the flowers on this one, it's stamped "Theodore Haviland, Limoges, France" then under that, "Burley & Company, Chicago".



This tiny yellow set is also from Czechoslovakia and has an interesting mark on the back of the saucer. They're tiny so I'm wondering if they are a demitasse set.

Busy, busy!

One thing I like about the cold is the fact that I get to make things for family members to help keep them warm. I just made some felted slippers for my niece and grand-nephew and am now making hats for her family. I'll also be making more felted slippers for other family members.

A very dear friend asked me to make her an owl handbag, it was so much fun to make and she seemed to like it when I gave it to her today. I have some top secret projects in the offing so I'll be very busy for a while. That's pretty unusual for me. =)

These are my daughter's latest creations, they're absolutely adorable! She's crazy about meteorology. =)



Angry Cloud, Happy Cloud tree ornaments

A visitor...

Living in the forest has it's ups and downs...ticks and chiggers are definitely a down thing. This little guy, however, I find very cool! We found him just inside our front door, I suspect he was trying to get out of the gusts of wind. He blends in rather nicely. =) Walking sticks are just another reason I love October!

My first Treasury!!!

I just made my first Etsy treasury!!! My subject was "storm" because we're supposed to be in the midst of a storm today (Thurs) and I love storms.

storm Etsy Treasury

Just purchased some tea...

From Teaman's Shop. I'm anxious to give it a try! Still on the lookout for the perfect teacup to drink it from! =)

It's Just like Night and Day

These earrings are adorable, what a neat idea!!! You can find more information on them at exclamation's shop.

So beautiful!

These earrings are so beautiful, very feminine. I love the color of the glass flowers and the leaf bead caps are adorable! They very quickly went into my favorites list.



Purple flower posy drop earrings

Up to my armpits...

Well, not *my* armpits, exactly. I'm making a vest and up to this point I've been knitting in the round, I've reached the arm holes and will start shaping it...as well as knitting back and forth.

I'm using some yarn I purchased from crochetgal's shop.



The vest as it is now, on the circular needles...



A close-up of the cable.



I'm hoping to get it finished and listed on Etsy very soon!

New listing - Arm Warmers

I am having so much fun knitting! This is the latest addition to my Etsy shop. I'm really enjoying working with the Cascade Yarns Eco. The color is beautiful and it's a pleasure to work with. I'm going to have to make another trip to the yarn store to pick up some more. Yay!!! A trip to the yarn store! =)



Green Arm Warmers

Cup of tea anyone?

It's the time of year when one starts consuming enormous amounts of hot tea, wouldn't this be perfect to drink it from?



You can find it at Victoria & Charlotte Vintage Shoppe.

I love Autumn!

Autumn is my favorite time of year, the cool, crisp weather, the thought of hot spiced cider and carving pumpkins...it all brings back childhood memories of getting ready for the holidays that grace this season. But more than anything, I love autumn colors. I plan on eventually making my living room permanently autumn but until then I have to decorate in small spurts for the season.

One change I made is to the valances in my kitchen. I'm not an extremely fancy person when it comes to the decor in my home. This is the main focal point in my kitchen...



...more closely...



And no, these are not up because of Halloween, these are permanent decorations in my kitchen. I've never really found a *style* in which I'd like to commit. Instead, colors are what I like to concentrate on.

My kitchen is relatively new and I'm pleased with it (even with my daughter's drums in place of a kitchen table) but I wanted to bring some signs of the season into the room.

I bought place mats from a dollar store (did I mention that I'm cheap?) that look like this...



And altered them by cutting the top quarter-ish off, turning it so the raw edge is up and sewing it about 3/4" from the raw edge of the larger piece.



Then taking my valance (a plain cream valance to which I added a string of beads)...



...I attached two place mats under the bit of ruffle along the top of the valance and ended up with...



And...



Not the most brilliant ideas for home decor but for me it's just right. The colors are beautiful and it will be easy to remove when it's time to decorate for Christmas.

Purple Ear Warmers

Yay...it's done!!! =) I hope it goes somewhere happy. Aran knitting...cables and such...is one of my favorite things to do. I love working on pieces that make me think about what I'm doing.



Purple Ear Warmers

Now...to go "autumn" up my kitchen a bit.

So cuuute!!!

This is one of those things I was talking about a few posts ago...how cute are these? So much creativity and imagination!

sweet puppet designs by stayawake

Earl Grey...hot

A lot of people might not get the ST:TNG reference in the title but Jean-Luc Picard orders it from the replicator on the Enterprise quite frequently and I find it quite yummy! So I'm a wee bit geeky. It had to come out sooner or later. =)

It's a cool evening and after a day of cooking I thought it might be nice to have a cup of hot tea and some relaxing moments catching up on the blogs I subscribe to.

I'm working on a head warmer at the moment, too, it's wool and a gorgeous color of purple!

So much creativity!!!

I'm continually amazed at all of the really artistic people that sell things on Etsy. Not just the fact that they make really neat things, but because of the imagination it takes to come up with the ideas. I often wonder about the thought process a person goes through when going from idea to creation...the many trials and errors before they come to the point where they are happy with their finished product.

I love to try different crafts, I want to learn them all! I'm finding tho, that when I try to move into various directions in the world of "handmade" I lose the true direction in which I should be going. I need to stick to my strengths and concentrate on the few things I can do and not spread myself too thin...mentally and financially...by trying everything. It seems like the more things I have to do, the less I get done because I can never decide what to work on first. =)

I love this!

I don't know if it's because I'm a Gma, but I love this necklace!

Love for Your Grandmother Necklace

Winter's on it's way...

...and I'm starting on warm clothing accessories to put in my Etsy shop. This set is made from Cascade Eco, it's 100% Peruvian Highland wool. Very soft and should be great for fighting off the cold weather.

Hat and Scarf Set

Made it home...

After 4.5 weeks I'm home from vacation and more ready than ever to get back to making things to sell online.

Getting back into humid MO after spending 3 weeks in "but it's a dry heat" AZ is a bit unpleasant. I really *do* like the dry heat over the humidity any day.

But it was a great trip and got to visit family in OH and AZ and that's the most important thing!

A baby dragon is born...

I just listed him, I love him!!!

Little Blue Dragon

Christmas in July at Etsy

We're celebrating Christmas in July! If you purchase an item in my shop you get a second item ~of equal or lesser value~ for 50% OFF. You will be refunded via PayPal, either to your PayPal account or your Credit Card account, after payment has been received.

Happy Shopping!!!

What I'm building...

I've started on this Tunic. I don't know if I'll make it quite as long but we'll see.

Rainy days...

I love rainy, cloudy, thundery days. I like to get out my knitting and pop in old movies and just have a nice relaxing day. I'm surrounded by forest, the trees seem to take on different personalities when the skies are dark and dreary. I swear there's even an Ent or two roaming around keeping an eye on things. =)

My yarn arrived!!!

I received my Vickie Howell Collection "Rock" yarn! It's soysilk fibers, fine wool and hemp. Very very soft! The color is Siouxsie, a lovely purple.

I'm still not sure what to make! I was thinking of making a shrug or something along the lines of this Knit Tunic. I love that site, BTW!!! I used to spend hours browsing through it before they started to translate the patterns into English. And they're free, how cool is that?

Leather Wrist Cuff

I made a few of these from upcycled leather last night. This is the Leather and Pink Cuff, the other is the Leather and Blue Cuff.

Company!!!

We've had a few visitors over the past couple of days. Aren't they beautiful?

Need to create...

I've been so busy Twittering, Facebooking (is anyone else addicted to Farkle?) and Etsy and Artfire tending that I haven't done anything creative today. I've been pondering over some ideas so I guess it's time to get to work. Yay!!!

Earrings are finished!

Insomnia again. -sigh- Well, it's not been a complete waste of time.

Earrings - Purple with Black Buttons

Purple Crocheted Bracelet

I just finished, and listed, a new bracelet. I think this kind of jewelry is fun and I love black and purple together!

Bracelet - Purple with Black Buttons

I might try to figure out how to make some earrings that incorporate the same materials.

Free Pattern - Purple Scarf

I've never really written a pattern before, except for my own use. Let me know if I've missed anything or if anything is unclear.

Purple Scarf

This is the very simple pattern I used to make the purple scarf, it's sort of an Old Shale pattern. I used just under one skein of Plymouth Yarns Fantasy Naturale. It's 100% mercerized cotton, 140 yds, 100g. Gauge isn't important, it's a scarf. But I ended up with a 64.5" x 3" scarf using size 10.5 US needles.

Abbreviations:
sl = slip stitch
inc = increase
k2tog = knit two stitches together
dec = decrease

Cast on 11 sts.
Rows 1-4: Slipping every first st, knit in garter stitch (knit every row) for 4 rows.
Row 5: sl 1, k1, inc in next st, k to last 2 sts, inc in next st, k last st (13 sts).
Row 6: sl 1, knit across
Row 7: sl 1, purl across
Row 8: sl 1, (k2tog) two times, (yo, k1) four times, (k2tog) two times.
Row 9: sl 1, knit across
Repeat Rows 6-9 til scarf is desired length.
Next row: sl 1, knit across, dec 1 st on each end (11 sts).
Work 4 rows of garter stitch.
Finish off.

More pics of this scarf can be seen at: Purple Scarf

If you use this scarf pattern, I'd love to see it. Send me a pic and I'll post it here.

Free Radio!

I love listening to music, all kinds of music, so this will quickly become one of my favorite websites.

Free Radio Stations

Another Treasury!!!

KimsCraftyApple got herself another Treasury on Etsy Sweet Matryoshka, it's just incredibly adorable. She must have magical powers!!!

I shouldn't have done it...

But I did. I just bought 10 balls of yarn.

Vickie Howell's Rock - Wool, Soy and Hemp Yarn in Dark Purple

I couldn't resist Crochetgal's prices tho!!!

Now to search for just the perfect pattern!!!

My Local Yarn Store

They'll be celebrating their two-year anniversary soon!!!

The Yarn Basket

Grats to the Trio of Cardinals!!!

Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Franklin...going to the All-Star Game! Way to go guys!

Trio of Cards!!!

Finished!!!

Finally finished my purple scarf and listed it on Etsy.

Handknit Purple Scarf

Woooooooot!!!!!

Way to go Albert!

Spinning wool

I was fortunate enough to find a bit of wool roving at my LYS. I haven't spun wool in several years and didn't realize how much I'd missed it!!!

I'm not sure what breed of sheep it's from but I hope to find out from the LYS owner soon. It's very soft and spins up pretty nicely. Can't wait to get more!

Purple Cotton Scarf

I just started a purple scarf with Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale. It's a rich, deep purple...absolutely beautiful color! I've been looking for a quality cotton yarn. Something that holds up in the washing machine...not to mention everyday use. Something that doesn't split, pill or look generally scruffy as soon as you wear or wash it. Fingers crossed!

I'm knitting in a kind of Old Shale Pattern that seems to be working well. I may add shimmery things at each end, prolly some sort of glass beads, if they look okay with the scarf.

I'm in an Etsy Treasury!!!

I'm so excited, my Slithering Lavender Green Snake was chosen to be in a Treasury! Thank you KimsCraftyApple!!!

Building Jewelry

I've been spending the evening building and listing new jewelry on my Etsy page while watching Alfred Hitchcock movies on TCM. I love his movies!!!

I ended up making 10 pieces tonight and now have 48 things on my Etsy page.

Grandma Joy's Store on Etsy

I have been having lots of fun making jewelry but think I'll be concentrating on other things this next week.

I love these!!!

I'm so excited that one of Chevelle's new releases is online...If you get the "We're sorry but this media appears to be unavailable" message, just click okay and it will pop up. The new song is "Jars" and is just as awesome as all of Chevelle's music. I know I won't be disappointed when I get the new LP.

New Release by Chevelle - Jars

And... New Sherlock Holmes movie!!!

How cool is that?????

Christmas seems a long way away!

Bridal Chokers

I've listed a few bridal chokers into my Art Fire shop. I've had them on Etsy but thought I'd try my luck there as well. I think they're so sweet, kind of Victorian lacy.

Grandma Joy's Art Fire Shop

My Etsy Jewelry Section

I really think it would be cool for someone to wear one of these on the most important day of their life...very cool.

I've included a picture of the white one above, the cream one is just like it...except cream. =)

Bridal Chokers

I've got a few crocheted bridal chokers on my Etsy and Art Fire pages. I really love them, I think they're so sweet and Victorian lacy looking.

<----This is the white one, the cream one is just like it...except cream in color. =)

http://www.artfire.com/users/grandmajoys

I think it would be really cool if they were purchased by brides, to think of being even the tiniest part of the most important day in someones life...that's pretty cool!

Craft Corp

Yaaaaayyyy!!!

I'm so excited! I used to watch TechTV religiously until they changed it to G4. I've ran across a few of the personalities that kept me glued to the screen and their online shows.

Systm

Tekzilla

TWiT.TV

Woot!!! I can get my computer geekiness fix again!

New earrings...

I put a few pairs of earrings in my Etsy shop... .