Saturday, December 8, 2012

New Shop : Warm and Cozy Crochet

Please Stop By My New Shop:
 Warm and Cozy Crochet!



Here are a few of my favorite items!

Pale Purple Baby Gnome Hat 0-3 Month Size With Flower 

Puff Stitch Bulky Slouch Hat

 

Navy Blue Divine Hat

Gorgeous Blue Chunky Coffee Cup Cozy

Chunky Oatmeal Water Bottle or Soda Cozy

Stunning Grey Lace Slouch Hat

  All items are ready to ship, and under $25.00!


I also do custom orders, and color combinations. Hope you stop by and add my ETSY shop to your favorites! Also I am on Facebook HERE

Thanks again for the love, you have no idea how much I appreciate it!
Laura

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Teacher Christmas Crochet Apple Coaster

Found this cute pattern here for some apple coasters. Here is my finished coasters. I made them fos Sam's teacher for Christmas. She has 4 people in her family. 


Monday, November 12, 2012

Windfall Dolls Hurricane Sandy Giveaway

Please stop by Windfall Dolls and tell your friends, especially any who were effected by Hurricane Sandy 




Thursday, November 8, 2012

Sewing Bee, a Waldorf Lass in the making

Today~I took part in the Sewing Bee at Happiness Comes In Little Bits (see button right).  I have been wanting to make another Waldorf Doll for a while now, but never really got around to it, and by never really, I mean NOT ever getting around to it ;)

So after asking my sissy for some supplies, I got to work. 

Luckily, Julia the designer came over mid project.  After a few "what cha doin there's, and here, let me try, or let me show you's" the doll came to fruition. As much as it annoyed me to hear her correct my creativity, I really appreciated her input, and obviously she knows her stuff!

Here is her little body and the one of a kind tunic I am making for her too!


Look out for more of this lady in the next giveaway in December at Windfall Dolls!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

How to Get More Sales on ETSY...Take better pictures!

So, I am by far not an amazing photographer nor a model, but I have to share some secrets that might help anyone wondering how to get more sales on ETSY, etc. Below you will find some pointers, and some examples of what I am talking about.

Take Your Time, and Take Some Pride!

 So, we have all been there, just finished a project and so proud of what we have accomplished! Of course we want to immediately go right out and get a picture of it. Doesn't matter where we are, what time it is, we are taking a freaking picture and posting that mother! 

Example: My Autumn Hat right off the hook...9:17 at night.

Horrible right? Can't really see the colors, or the stitch work. Terrible lighting, and shadows galore.
Ughhhhh


If I used this picture for my listing I would not give my customers a good idea of what they are buying. It shows that I am not really serious enough to take the time to take a good quality photo of my product, so really what pride do I take in my other work in general. Bad first impression right?

Here is a picture I took the next morning of the same hat. See, you can see the colors, and stitches really well! Much better right? This pattern sold within 14 hours of being listed. Imagine how long the other one would have sat.


Lighting Is Everything!
 Go outside whenever possible, natural light is KEY!

Here is an example of the difference between the same item, our baby legs pattern

Side by side, inside LEFT, outside RIGHT


Crisper, cleaner and more accurate colors with the natural lighting!


Use a human model or invisible stuffing/forms whenever possible!
 I have a pet peeve, I have to say it...I hate to see products modeled on dolls. Unless they are made for dolls of course.
 I know I have offended some people with this, but it is just my opinion. 
 I know that not everyone has a baby to model their items on, but in my humble opinion, posing anything made for a human baby on  a doll is just creepy to me.

Ok, here is an example of our reversible hat pattern, stuffed with cotton to form the head like shape. You don't see the cotton, but it gives the look of how the hat would look on a head. RIGHT?   
 

  
Of course, whenever possible, USE A REAL BABY!

Here is the Hayden Beret, on our baby Hayden: Cute right, Imagine how unpleasant that would look on a glass, or a ball, or GASP...A doll! ;)

 
Make it real, show the customer the product in use!


Here is Hayden snuggling one of our Waldorf Baby Dolls


Here is my cowl pattern in various positions/pictures/lighting



 Clean Up The Back Ground of Your Pictures!

A clean white, wood, or subdued background makes your product shine! Stop putting your projects on your computer, on your cluttered couch, on anything with a logo. It distracts the buyer, and gives no appeal to your photo what so ever.

Nice white background for our bonnet pictures:


 
 Clean wood background for the Turtle Hat, a little off center for charm

 
  And another white background for the cocoon/pod



Show variety! Let them imagine the possibilities!!

 Here is the baby dolls again, this time in a variety of colors! Precious right?


Here are our booties in play! 

 
 And here are our adorable Wee Ones pattern!



Here is my crochet dress pattern

This picture shows the front, back, and two color combinations!


Last but not least,  Here are our Waldorf Dolls Pattern

 
Show the texture, show the love! 

Let them imagine how these things really look, feel, smell! Show all of the work you have put into things you make. Let them know what they are really buying!

Here is the Autumn Vest:
See the texture of the rows?

   
Here is the Uber Cute Earflap Knit Pattern

   
And here is my Cowl Pattern


 Thanks for reading my pointers~I hope they will help you obtain some sales, or at the least give you some ideas on how to enhance your business!  

All patterns found above can be found in our SHOP, and many many more!



Sunday, October 28, 2012

Sewing Bee...Handmade Babylegs!

Today~I took part in the Sewing Bee at Happiness Comes In Little Bits (see right).  I was itching to sew, and have had limited spare time lately, especially on Thursdays when the Bee is supposed to take place. Today I had some time, and decided to take advantage of it. 

What to make, what to make...that was the question.

Julia and I have added some new patterns to the shop recently, and frankly we needed to update some of our pictures. So, I decided to use our Muse Hayden, and whip up some of my Uber simple baby legs from the pattern in the shop! 

So, I found an old shirt, and got to work. 

Here is the finished product~he loves them. Anyone who knows this baby knows that he has an affinity for grabbing at his juicy thighs, and these were perfect because when they slid down a bit he quickly tugged them up again. NOTE: if you make this pattern~make sure that they are a bit snug to encourage them staying up the legs with all that baby movement! next time I will make them a bit tighter. Trial and error with an adjustable pattern right?

 



 Stop by the shop if you are interested in the tutorial!


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Lala's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Sunflower Cookies

Lala's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
 
Dry Ingredients:
 
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
 
Wet Ingredients:
 
 1 c. unsalted butter (room temp.)
3/4 c. dark brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs (room temp.)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
 
Add ins:

1 lb. chocolate chips
2 c. quick oats
1 c. sunflower nuts (unsalted)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F.  Combine the wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Then add the dry ingredients. 
Mix well with a mixer until well combined. Then add in your add ins. Stir well with a large spoon. 

Drop by heaping teaspoon full onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet approx. 2 in. apart. 
Bake for 10-11 minutes (or until light brown)

Cool, and enjoy!

Friday, August 24, 2012

::August Windfall Dolls Giveaway :: Meet Alivia

::August Windfall Dolls Giveaway :: Meet Alivia

Today Julia is over at Windfall Dolls to share her little sweetheart.

Each month leading up to our regular Seasonal Large Waldorf Doll giveaway as promised...she will be sewing up a few smaller dolls for giving away.  This includes not only our Lillipals variety of dolls, but our Baby Dolls, our Swaddle babies, newborn babies, our Wee Ones, and any other small dolls that we come up with.
A bit of a tide-me-over for all of our readers. 
Each monthly small doll's name will be inspired by the month in which they were created.
::::
As our August giveaway babe, we have the adorable Alivia ...a Lillipal girl.


Stop by Windfall Dolls to meet her and learn how you can win a chance to have her join your family.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Sam Turns Eight!

It is amazing to me that 8 years can fly so quickly! AMAZING! He is such a wonderful little boy, and he is turning into an even better little man! I made him his cake (inspired by this cake on Pinterest below). I made it red and blue layers (4) and then frosted it, colored some of the frosting blue, and some red put it in a small ziplock bag and piped on the red in a spiral, took a needle, and drew the lines to make the web look. Then I doodled a spider in the blue and wrote out the letters! I loved the final product!

 
 I also made him 3 hacky sacks, or juggling balls.  Pattern found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hacky-sack-2


Hayden loved them!



Here is Hayden playing with the Owl rattle I made him for his birthday last week. I never got a shot of  him with it



Here is Sam practicing with the sacks


Oma and Poppy got him a slip and slide! He and Eben can't wait!


Lovely Oma


Poppy!


My gorgeous sister helping him read his cards


We got him some devil sticks on amazon (specially made for kids 6-9) they are lighter and more manageable.


My heart


The yearly photoshoot! He gets cuter / more handsome every year!