Gnome!

This gnome is my newest creation. I thought he turned out quite good! The Gnome Friend is now available on my Etsy shop. I've been working on him for quite a while. He is the first amigurumi in my shop that has split legs. I weighted down the feet so he can stand on his own. I'm not sure if you can tell on this picture, but his hands have little thumbs as well.

I hope you like him!

Not Snowed In!

I did get out of town yesterday. The Interstate finally re-opened around noon, so I headed out shortly after that. I saw 13 vehicles in the ditch yesterday. Thank goodness I didn't end up there! Things are melting nicely now though. I didn't have any problems getting to my house when I got back today. Hopefully the snow will be gone until winter now!

I got myself a Magna drawing book yesterday. It's a kids book on how to draw Magna creatures. I figured it would be easier to start learning with than drawing people. I'll have to see how it goes. I'm pretty excited. I took a drawing class in college and got an A for effort. But I was never really that good at drawing realistic things. What could be less realistic than creatures I think of in my head?

Update

I just heard on the news we got 10 inches of snow. So I was a bit high in my estimation. That's still a ton of snow for the end of April!

Snow is a Four Letter Word

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..... Except Christmas is 8 months away, or 4 months ago, however you want to look at it. You guessed it, we got another snow storm today. This one I didn't even hear about until this morning, but it still didn't sound major. Boy was I wrong! We have atleast a foot of snow, maybe even a foot and a half. And of course, I wanted to go somewhere this weekend. Hopefully, I'll get there tomorrow. Apparently, it's supposed to stop snowing tonight and is supposed to be almost 50 degrees tomorrow. We shall see.

I was really afraid I was going to get stuck at work and have to sleep there. Thank god the lady that sits beside me has a 4 wheel drive and was going to her sister's who lives near me. I don't think they let out work early because no one could go anywhere unless they had 4 wheel drive. It's so bad and widespread that the Interstate from the North Dakota border to the Nebraska border is closed. Crazy!

Trudging through snow took a lot of energy out of me, so I have a feeling I won't be too productive tonight. Snow walking is good exercise though!

200 Hearts!

They like me, they really like me. Well, 201 people have hearted me on Etsy anyway. I think that's a pretty good milestone to have reached. If you're one of the people who have hearted my shop or one of my items, thank you! And if you're one of the people who have made a purchase from me, thank you, thank you! Thank you for feeding my crochet habit and also for preventing my apartment from being over-run by amigurumi. I promise I will have atleast one new picture of a new amigurumi sometime soon to make this a bit more aesthetically pleasing instead of all of these words.

Busy Weekend

I have had a tiring weekend. My younger sister and I helped my mom and dad watch our two nephews. I will definitely have to recover from this weekend this whole week. Due to that, I don't really have any new in my shop. I am working on a new amigurumi, but the arms will take more ambition that what I feel like I have right now. I'll work on him tomorrow.

I did sign up for Indiepublic this weekend. I really like the look of it. Plus they have very stylish templates and the advertisements are not overly intrusive. They also have a library of information which I fully intend to use.

Treasury!

I like looking through the treasuries on Etsy. It's so cool to see what people choose to put together. I also think it's cool to see the gold star letting me know one of my items is in one. I haven't been in a treasury for a while, so it was a nice suprise to see my Neptune Alien Keychain was chosen to be part of the treasury to the left. Thank you OfftheHookHats!

Lately, I've been trying to figure out how to become one of those Etsy sellers who list merchandise that gets snapped up quickly. I'm guessing it just takes time and hardwork and more exposure. I have also been trying to think of ways to promote off the internet. There's a craft show my mom goes to in November that I'm going to try selling some of my merchandise at. But that's a long time from now. And she said mostly older ladies go that craft show. I've thought about hanging up a business card at work. But I don't really feel comfortable doing that. I'll have to keep brainstorming!

Wardrobe for your Cell Phone

Make room in your closet for....shirt cell phone cozies! My mom made these cozies. I think she did a great job and what a great idea! The flame shirt is currently listed in my Etsy shop. That's my favorite because of the bright colors. But she made one for everyone. The red shirt has an Asian print. Each shirt has a button or two. These cozies can also be used for MP3 players and other small electronics.

Check them out!

Gnome Keychain

This is it! This is the gnome keychain I made for myself. I just can't help but smile every time I look at him. I decided to make one for my Etsy shop too. I hope he can make someone else smile as much as he makes me smile.

I should get to work on Mom's Mother's Day gift. I haven't been especially productive today because I had an unfamiliar and uncontrollable urge to dust and organize this morning. Weird.

Woof Woof

I'm so happy! I finished a bigger project today. My sister latch hooked the doggie to the left. And I sewed it together for her. It's not perfect by any means (the sewing, she did an awesome latch hooking it!), but I think she turned out pretty good! I won't see my sister until next weekend, so I have the doggie on my futon so she can watch tv or watch outside while I'm at work.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to redo his nose, but I'll see what my sister thinks. She's quite a large dog! Practically lifesize it seems like.

I also made another little project for myself tonight. But I'll probably post that tomorrow because I'm going to list another one I'm making in my Etsy shop. Just looking at it makes me smile!

Today, I also decided I needed some new music. So I went semi-crazy on I-tunes. I bought a song by She & Him (a band or duo or whatever with Zooey Deschanel as the singer) called "Why do You Let Me Stay Here". Which is a bit different that I normally listen to, but I like it. The whole album has some songs that are a bit too country for me. But Zooey Deschanel has an awesome voice! I also bought an album from a band called Girl in a Coma. It was only $5.99 and I'm a sucker for cheap music and unknown (to me anyway) bands. I love finding bands before they're overplayed on the radio. I haven't listened to the whole album yet, but it's good so far! It's an all girl trio. I'm also a sucker for bands like that too. And the last song I bought was "Fake It" by Seether. I didn't really like it at first, but it's grown on me. So hopefully my new music addiction is satisfied for a while.

Stay tuned for my post tomorrow!!

Oh! I about forgot......Congratulations Jimmie Johnson on your win! The last few laps were really stressful to watch, but totally worth it!!

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

We All Scream for Ice Cream!
Originally uploaded by Home Hooked Creations

I just finished this two scoop ice cream cone keychain. I'm don't eat a lot of ice cream. But I do think this keychain looks yummy! And bonus, it won't melt! This is also an excellent way to use up my scrap yarn. Yeah!

Another thing I'm screaming about is.......a blizzard warning!!! You read that right. We've had more storms and snow since Spring started it seems like than we've had all winter. I would be ok with something like this in March, maybe even the first day or two of April, but not now! Crazy weather.

From Another View

A little, very low flying blimp caught another view of the Jeff Gordon Foose car my sister made. Ok, so it probably wasn't a little blimp that took this picture. Ok, it wasn't a blimp at all. Work with me here! On a more sane note, this shot gives a much better view of the car. You can see the stripes much better and can admire the craftsmanship of her work. I would take a picture of a Beetle she made for me, but I'm scared to touch it.

Tonight, I started on a racing tire keychain for her. However, it turned out more like an intertube. Atleast now I have a better idea of how to make the shape. It wouldn't have been so bad if the intertube wasn't so big. I'm thinking a 2 1/2 inch diameter intertube is a bit too big for a keychain. It might be good if she was in a flood, except for the minor detail that it's filled with fiberfil instead of air. Oh well. I think I'll be able to just make it into a knick knack for her so it can be rescued from the island of misfit toys. I'll have to make a much much smaller tire for her next time.

Cars and Keys

Check out the car my sister just finished not too long ago. It's the Jeff Gordon Foose Hot Hues car. It's pretty sweet! The black and silver stripes were painted on, no decals. She did an awesome job. The picture does not do this car justice. I really like this particular paint job. It's so colorful and unique. Me likey!

Speaking of cars, I introduced a couple keychains into my shop this weekend. I'm starting with alien heads, but am planning on expanding into sports, people, and who knows what else.

Have a great week!

Tutu Duckie

Duckie is playing dress up. She's got on her tutu and tiara. Will she be a star ballerina today? Or maybe a fairy tale princess? Only Duckie knows.

I had a lot of fun making this duckie. I just decided on a whim to put a tutu on her. Then she had to have a tiara. She turned out quite good I think. I can't really say the same for the pictures. For some reason, the lighting just wasn't right today. I'll probably end up retaking the pictures later in the week. My current pictures didn't really capture the sparkle of the gold pip cleaner.

I hope you like her!

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

My newest purchase from Target. I stopped at the dollar section and saw some garden gnomes. I didn't realize they were see no evil, hear no evil, and speak to evil until I started looking at them. Of course I had to have them! They are too cute. At first I thought they sat on a shelf, but they don't. But this works.

For some reason, I haven't had the most ambition this week. Oh well. My shop is still pretty well stocked. I have one thing almost done. And you saw that other work in progress yesterday.

Tomorrow is Friday! Yeah!

Work-In-Progress

Work-In-Progress
Originally uploaded by Home Hooked Creations

What's he going to be? Do you know? He looks silent, but I'll give him a voice soon enough. I know what I'm going to make him into. However, somtimes when I get to this point, I change my mind. Sometimes the amigurumi just tells me he should be a different animal! That happened when I made my first duckie. He was originally going to be a bunny, but when I came back to work on him, he just looked like a duckie! I guess those sculpters I read about in art appreciation knew what they were talking about when they said a piece of stone or clay told them what it should be.

That's one of my big tips in creating your own designs. Another tip I have is to write down all of your patterns, even if you think it's not turning out the way you want it to. Sometimes, it turns out better than you were planning. Sometimes, it doesn't, but you never know when you are going to want to make it again! Also, don't be afraid to make mistakes. Rows are easy to take out. I've even thrown away some amigurumi that didn't turn out at all. Most of all, have fun!