My Creative Process

An enormous amount of work goes in to creating something new and getting it out into the world.  I have a folder that has a graph book and note paper in it for my pattern writing ideas and designs.  The graph paper is useful for giving me an idea on where to start increasing and decreasing. I tend to write a pattern as I'm hooking it and as a result, it ends up being several pages long and notes all over the place.  It would be seriously confusing if someone else were to look at it!

My amigurumi folder with note paper and graph book.

It takes me about a month from inception to finished product.  During this time I draw, erase, draw, erase, draw, erase, choose colours, change my mind, change it back again then start hooking, writing and taking photo's.  Sometimes while I'm making it, I have to frog it because it just isn't turning out the way I want it to.  This isn't a bad thing, it's just frustrating.  I wish I could get it right first time!  There's lots of crossing out of notes and scribbles all over the place and usually a fair bit of cursing and happiness, sometimes in the same breath!

Pattern writing progress, looks like a mess!

After I finish stuffing and sewing, it's photo shoot time!  I have a light tent that I made myself for taking pic's (there will be post about that in the next few days).  The photography can be really time consuming.  Using my trusty iPhone 4, I take several shots of the piece from different angles, do close ups and change the pose.  The light also gets shifted around and sometimes moving the piece only a centimetre or two can really make the difference between an okay shot and great one. I might take 30 photo's of a piece and use only a couple.

DIY light tent

When I'm done with taking photo's, I transfer them to my computer and use Picasa 3 to edit the ones I want to use.  I've found that since I've started using the light tent, my photo quality has really improved and I don't need to do nearly as much editing as I did when I was using a sheet as the backdrop.  More on that in the upcoming photography post!

Typing up the pattern comes next, some I sell, others are free.  I use the Open Office suite instead of Microsoft because I am cheap (frugal?).  It's free and word documents can easily be converted to a .PDF.  I like to use PDF's for my patterns online as I can protect the document so it can't be changed or the images copied.  The typing generally doesn't take too long, I add photo's that I have taken during the creating so that  whoever is reading the pattern, has pictures to refer to and it gives them an idea of what it should look like.

After all that is done, the uploading begins!  Pictures of items and patterns that are for sale go on Etsy and Facebook, free patterns go on my blog and Ravelry and the photo's get uploaded to Facebook, Ravelry and right here on my blog.  Sometimes I add them to my Flickr account too but I usually forget  >_<

So there you have it, a run down of how I go about making new stuff and getting it out there.  One of these days I'll get much more organised about getting it all to happen in one hit rather than all over the place.

#widn

Even though its going to be hot for another couple of months, I've started my next scarf.  I'm pretty sure I won't be selling it, although if there is any interest I just might!  This is my progress so far, I started it last night and have done another 2 rows this morning.

I bought 2 skeins of yarn for this project thinking it would be enough but I'm not sure it will be, so I'm going back to get more as soon I can get myself organised to get out the door.

P.S. The pattern can be found here.

Life's good...

It's a public holiday here in Oz today and is pissing down rain so no-one is going anywhere.  We were supposed to be going water-skiing but the idea of learning while getting belted in the face with raindrops does not rate high on my list of fun things to do.  

We recently moved to the Upper Hunter Valley in NSW and have been in drought.  We are on tank water here so every raindrop counts.  Our 20,000L tank has overflowed.  I am ecstatic!  I am going to have a bath this evening in celebration.  I'm going to get a bottle of wine and the book my Grandma gave me for Christmas and veg out in the bath.

All this water from the sky is just magic.  I've been sitting here this morning, enjoying my coffee, listening to the rain on our roof and watching the puddles get bigger.  What I should be doing is typing up the patterns I've been working on and finishing up the pieces I want to put in my Etsy store.  

I hope life is good for you guys too :)

Rainbows and other pretty's

Turns out I like rainbows.  Well, who doesn't right?  What I mean is that I like the colour graduation and frankly, I just like lots of colour so these gorgeous iPhone covers are the latest things to fall off my hook.  I like them so much I'm going to make one for myself.  The ones you see here are for sale through my Etsy store if you want to pick one up! (After 7pm AEST 23/1/13)

They suit iPhone's 3 and 4 that don't have a case on them.  I have a screen protector on mine (iPhone 4) and use a cosy to keep my phone safe from dings and whatnot.  I will be making some slightly larger cosy's to accommodate a case as well in the near future.

I couldn't find a star pattern that quite suited my needs so I wrote a very simple one.   The flower was an unfinished project from something else, but I like how it looked with the cosy so it all of a sudden went from and unfinished object (UFO) to a finished one.

Retail Therapy

OMG OMG OMG!!!!

I FINALLY OPENED AN ETSY STORE!!  Please go shopping!  All the prices are currently listed in Australian dollars and I need to talk to the post office about international shipping BUT if you see something you like and you're not from Oz and you want it, send me an email and I'll work out how to get it to you!

Portal to Etsy amigurumi heaven...

Oh, and tell your friends please?

Accessories

I took the plunge recently and started buying things from Ebay (I know, sometimes I'm a bit slow).  Buying safety eyes and whatnot from the craft store is ridiculously expensive in comparison.  Anyhoo, I bought some key chain doohickey's off Ebay to have a shot at doing some, you guessed it, key chains.  They could be bag charms too, whatever blows your hair back really.  I think they are pretty cute, the angel is my fave, she turned out better than I had hoped for!  She's also my first ami that I've ever put blushy cheeks on.  Here they are in no particular order, because blogger is annoying like that...

Blah blah blah

It's been insufferably hot here lately.  Yesterday we reached 47.5°C.  That is not cool.  Not cool at all.  Our poor air conditioner has been working overtime to keep us at a reasonable temperature.

I suffer from cranial flatulence at the best of times and with this crazy heat, my brain has just packed up and headed off for cooler climes.  I wish it would take my body with it!  I've been all over the place trying to get my online store set up and fiddling with my patterns, few though they may be, to get ready for the grand opening.  I built a light tent so I can take a half decent shot for the patterns and finished pieces for sale.  Along with all that I'm madly trying to get my newest pieces finished so I can add them to the store as well.

I must say, I'm very pleased with the light tent and it will only take a little more tweaking before I can leave it alone to serve it's purpose.

Today I'm giving myself a break and making something from the fabulous June Gilbank of Planet June's collection of critters.  Pic's will be up when it's finished!