Eve of the New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. I spent mine home with my family and luckily Andy was able to fly up for a few days to spend Christmas with me. Christmas is always one of my favorite times of year and getting to spend it with Andy for the first time since we've begun dating was a Christmas wish come true.

On Christmas Eve we ended up taking a carriage ride and spent the afternoon playing with horses and dogs on the farm. It was a great time and the weather was so nice - warm and clear. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon. After an always satisfying home-cooked meal, we headed out to see the lights around the neighborhood. Viewing lights on Christmas Eve is a Christmas tradition we've celebrated since I can remember, and is also one of my favorites. Then of course, it's time to wait for Santa and head to bed! I had a great Christmas and got some great stuff including a TomTom GPS for when I (hopefully) head off to California for school. 

Andy has since gone home this his family for the New Year. Tonight my parents are having some friends over for food, fun, and games. I don't have much plans myself. I may just hang around here for the night like I did last year. I'm not much for staying up for the New Year - I get far to sleepy now that I've programmed myself into a sleep schedule for work and school. I'm sure it'll be a good night no matter what I do.

I hope everyone has a great New Year with good fortune, health, and wellness. Happy New Year~

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve from west Texas! 

I'm back "home" for the holidays here in west Texas with my family. My grandma, aunt & uncle are also visiting us along with Andy for super full and fun Christmas. I think every sofa, bed, and air mattress are full of bodies this year.

For me Christmas Eve is even better than Christmas itself! It's the closest you get to Christmas every year so you still have all the festivity and excitement left ahead of you plus every year we have great traditions for preparing for Christmas. So far today as been a fun, festive day. The morning started out with everyone pitching in to get some of the dishes for tomorrow prepared to be popped in the oven for a quick fix for dinner. 

The weather has been very nice the past couple of days so we all headed out in the afternoon for a horse-drawn carriage ride which was a total blast. I haven't downloaded the pictures from the trip yet, but I hope to have them soon to introduce all my new furry friends. 

For now we're all back home waiting for dinner and then once it begins to get dark we'll load up our caravan of people and hit the town to take in all the wonderful Christmas lights - which is one of my favorite traditions! Once we get home it's time to hang up the stockings and wait for Santa to come visit. Christmas is almost here!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday with family and friends and the ones they love. Merry Christmas!!

happy holidays!

I may be a little behind the curve, but I must wish you all a happy holidays. 

I have been a little lacking on updating lately because of being so busy with school and graduate school applications. Finals finished up last week and on Friday I graduated Summa cum Laude from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Biology. The weekend just flew by, but my family came down and spent the day with me. I'll have pictures of the ceremony as soon as my parents get a chance to email me.

All this busy work hasn't kept me from getting in the holiday season, though. We even had snow last Wednesday which is a rare sight down here! I, of course, took lots of pictures which I'll get around to sharing soon. I've gotten my small apartment all decorated and cozy with my little Christmas tree and all the ornaments I'd been collecting lately waiting to get a tree of my own. I leave for home on Saturday to spend the holidays with my friends and family and get a nice, worry-free break from work and school. 

I just wanted to wish everyone a cozy holiday and let you all know I am still around and kicking! Picture posts of my adventures in the past month coming very very soon.

goodies.

New goodies added to the etsy shop (finally, I know!) Hopefully more coming soon with tests winding down before the holidays! Check them out before someone else snatches em up.

I'm baaaack.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I promise. Things have been hectic - school, work, etc. Though things have been busy, I've been having some fun. A few weeks ago I was selected as the gonfalonier for the College of Science during the December graduation ceremony. If you were like me and have no idea what that is, let me explain. Each college has a banner that represents it, and the person who carries the banner out during the ceremony is the gonfalonier - and that's me! I was nominated by the biology advising office and gladly accepted the position! I'll represent the students from the chemistry, physics, statistics, mathematics, and biology departments this December. Very exciting! And a great reason to go buy some new shoes (which I did!)

I have been having some fun outside of school, however. Andy and I drove down to Houston a week or so ago to see Ben Folds in concert. I've loved Ben's music for several years now and was very excited he was coming so close and the tickets were affordable. It was a fun concert with a crowd of people who really loved Ben and his music. He was a great performer - engaged the crowd, told jokes, played some goofy songs, and was overall super entertaining. It was a bit of an early birthday present for Andy and I for each other. The only bad thing about the concert was having to drive the hour and a half home at 1 am. 

Things are getting in order and school is beginning to wind down with Thanksgiving break on the horizon. I've gotten two of my graduate school applications turned in and am very close to finishing the others. Then it'll be time to wait and hope. 

Hope everyone had a great Halloween (we stayed in and watched scary t.v. shows) and will have a great November. I've got some new items for the shop, so pictures of those will be coming very soon!

new for autumn.

Finally have something new in the shop. I loved crocheting this hat. It was quick to make and it came out looking so great. It's a perfect color for fall and is warm and fashionable. I have made up a couple more hats in some different colors but haven't had the time to take pictures yet. They should be in the shop by the end of the week, though. 

the duchess. review.

Just got home from seeing The Duchess which opened this weekend in our theater. Since Pirates of the Caribbean I have been a fan of Keira Knightley and see most of her films if I read good things about them. It was Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice, for which Keira received an Oscar nomination that cemented her in my list of favorite actresses, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing this film after being teased by the trailer on my television for weeks now.

I enjoyed the movie, but it definitely was not one of her bests. Not because of her performance, which was absolutely great, but due to the lack of development of the different relationships within the film. Central points in this film hinge on these relationships, but I couldn't quite bring myself to feel as emotional about the happenings as I would be if the relationships with the Duchess had been better developed. Overall though it was an enjoyable, beautiful film to look at and well acted by everyone in the cast.

I hope to be able to see The Express sometime soon, but so many great movies are coming out that I want to see I just don't know if I'll have the time between school and work. Lucky for me, movie tickets aren't too expensive here, especially for students, so even with these economic woes I can still afford to steal away to the movies every once and awhile and escape. 

I'm always looking for more great movies to watch, whether in the theater or on dvd, so if any of you have a suggestion be sure to drop be a comment!

falling into place.

School has definitely been taking a toll on me lately. Test after test after test. It's been a never ending cycle that is finally approaching the end. 

In good news, though, I think the Christmas sale season has kicked in because I've been making a sale on etsy almost every day for the past week. It's been a welcome extra "burden" on the plans finding a few couple minutes to package up these slippers send them out to their new homes. So it looks like things are falling into place both in the realms of etsy and school as both things pick up and begin to lead to exciting new places (with a little more money in my pocket to spare). 

Still no sign of autumn here, but the my favorite movie season has begun to pick up. One of my favorite things to do is keep up with movie news and when Oscar season rolls around I get a little more excited for all the great new movies that are soon to be coming out. Next week I already have several movies I want to see including the new Keira Knightley movie The Duchess. I've been trying to keep up with the trailers for new movies, too. Some of the ones I've seen recently that look like they should make good movies are The Soloist (I'm a huge Joe Wright fan), Australia, and Milk. Maybe I'll get around to posting some of my thoughts on these movies when they come out. 

Hope everyone is having a spook-tacular October! 

fall.

The mornings are finally getting a little bit cooler here. Means fall must be around the corner. I say it's about time. Needless of the weather, my fall decorations have been out since mid-September. Unfortunately it's not time to bring out the long sleeves yet. 

the state fair of texas.

Andy and I just got home from a weekend in Dallas visiting his parents. 

We took a trip to the Texas State Fair today before we headed home since neither of us had ever been before. It was an experience. It's in Fair Park which was built for the World Fair a long time ago. It's also home to the Cotton Bowl which I was lucky enough to go to a couple of years ago. 

We didn't get to do much, but did visit some of the little museums located in Fair Park like the Aquarium and the Museum of the State. I wish we could've ridden the ferris wheel but the line was a bit too long. I did get some salt water taffy before we left, though, which I have a definite weakness for and you don't find it very often down here in Texas.

Overall it was a fun weekend, but it's time to get back to school.

busy bee.

School has really begun to pick up with lots of tests and projects taking up most of my time. On top of that I have all the preparations I've been doing to get ready for graduate school including essays, applications, letters of reference - all that fun, inconvenient things that take up way too much time.

I've got my schools narrowed down to four. 3 in California including UC San Diego (Scripps Institute of Oceanography) and one school in North Carolina that I am applying to because one of their faculty researches exactly what I've been wanting to research for years now - whales and dolphins. I think the applications are almost prepared and ready to be submitted which is very exciting. I still have to take one final GRE exam. I have one shot to do well, but it's not until November so I still have tons of time to prepare.

Sadly, though, all this busy work has taken a toll on slipper making (just in time for the Christmas rush). I'm simply renewing items that are already available in the shop to keep myself visible. I try to crochet whenever I can find a spare moment, but those are few and far between and most of the time I probably should be doing something else anyway. Like right now... I probably should be sleeping. 

I suppose that's my signal to get to bed. Hope everyone's week is lovely and cool.

color burst

  

Some great new slippers have been added to the etsy shop recently including these three pairs. They include some old favorites and some brand new colors and patterns. You can see these as well as all my other mary janes by visiting http://brokenhallelujah.etsy.com.

here comes the sun.

I survived the hurricane! It didn't turn out too badly, after all. It just rained most of the day today and was pretty windy, but we just stayed inside and watched it all from the comfort of the sofa. We only lost power for an hour or so - not too bad for our first hurricane. As soon as the sun peaked out from behind the clouds we decided to get out for a little bit before the sun set. Most places were closed up for the day, but it was still nice to just be out of the house. 

I wish I could've spent the day crafting, but sadly school has caught up with me and I had a bit of studying to get done for some exams coming up next week. I have had time to get a couple pairs of slippers made up in the meantime including the one pictured to the left - Chunky Monkey mary janes. I had another pair of these for sale earlier in the summer and they seemed popular, so I used up the left over yarn to make up another pair. They are available in the etsy shop along with all my other great mary janes. 

I hope everyone else who had to go through the hurricane are alright. Things down in Houston and Galveston look messy, but no deaths reported so far. Since I lived down in Galveston for a year for school I am definitely hoping everyone at A&M Galveston are alright and made it out of the storm safely. 

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike seems bent on heading my way this weekend. Classes tomorrow have been cancelled and I'm looking into what the plan is at work, also. Andy and I had planned to head to Dallas this weekend to celebrate his mom's birthday with the rest of his family, but I'm not sure how Ike will influence these plans. Many parts of the Gulf Coast south of us have been issued evacuation orders which will definitely influence traffic and then there is the weather itself. We're supposed to get tropical storm force winds tomorrow evening and loads of rain through Sunday - not ideal traveling weather.

Anyway, with this storm I'm afraid some shop related things may be put on hold. I usually don't ship on weekends, but if the weather doesn't improve over the weekend shipping could be delayed into next week. Also, I may not be around much on the internet so if anyone needs to contact me the best way is through email (endlessxhorizon AT gmail DOT com) or by etsy conversations. Foto Friday and Theme of the Week may also be postponed until next week. 

We'll do our best to stay safe and dry and I'll try to keep everyone updated as I get the time. Keep the Gulf in your thoughts and prayers! 

how much is that bunny in the window?

People have been requesting my bunny slippers left and right lately. It seems like I've been running back and forth to the hobby store to get some more grey yarn. Since people seem to be quite taken with them I was trying to come up with some other fun color combinations I could make them with besides the grey, but I need some feedback. What do you think about pink and light grey? Or purple? What colors have you always wanted to see a pair of bunny slippers? Or is there another fun animal you'd love to see? I'm up for any and all suggestions!

bright & colorful.

School work hasn't kept me from crafting this week and I've definitely been inspired by some of the bright, fun colors I've seen around me in flowers, the sky, and even some yummy snacks. All of this inspiration has led to some great new slippers being added to the shop in the past couple of days. This fun, food-inspired pair was added just tonight - Dark Chocolate Mint mary janes! Who doesn't love indulging in decadent chocolate with a hint of mint? Well, now you can without the calories! Well maybe they aren't as tasty as that treat, but they are a treat for your feet!

This beautiful pair is simple but still colorful and of course comfy and warm. This beautiful, bright blue caught my eye at the hobby store and I couldn't help myself from indulging. I'm not a big fan of the color blue, but the color has won me over with this wonderful shade. These great Peacock Blue mary janes can be found in the shop here.   

Both of these great new slippers are available now in the etsy store. And don't forget all the other mary jane slippers available in the shop alongside these. 

Theme of the Week: VEGETABLES

The theme of the week for September 7-13th: Vegetables.

Etsy Buy Handmade brokenhallelujah

It's starting to look and feel like fall (finally) which means lots of yummy veggies are ready to be plucked and eaten. I decided to look through the vegetable offerings on etsy and pick out a few of my favorites. Be sure you head over and get your daily dose of all these yummy veggies!!

The theme of the week next week will be Red. Be sure to leave a note about any great red items you have in your shop and check back next week to see if you'll be featured. 

foto friday - September 5, 2008

For Foto Friday this week I decided to use this shot of a cotton blossom with some cotton fiber I took this afternoon. Most of my week this week has been spent out in the cotton fields picking the cotton for work. It is definitely not one of my favorite things to do let alone when it's 90+ degrees outside and you are out there for hours on end. But sometimes you do come across some fun critters out there in the fields such as a beautiful butterfly I saw today, but he didn't want to sit still for a picture. Plus, I think this picture is actually pretty, even though it doesn't soothe the pain of the sunburn I have on the back of my neck - ouch. 

fun & new

Just one pair of the fun new slippers that have been added to the shop in the past couple of days. These and many more are available in the etsy shop and there's lots of fun new colors being added all the time.  I was thrilled today to see that someone had taken a tab from one of the flyers I had posted around campus for my etsy store. I am currently scooping out some other places to put fliers, but I'm just happy that they seem to be working. I made up the flyers to have removable tabs with my store name and URL to make it easy for people to find me. I don't think I've received a sale from it yet, but I'm getting noticed and that's the first step!

for the fashionista in you.

These slouchy berets seem to be popping up on celebrity and fashionista alike, and I have to admit that I do like the style. I had some extra cotton yarn lying around in a wonderful brick red color and decided to try my hand at crocheting a fashionable beret of my own. 

I am quite fond of how it has come out. It's a wonderful bright color for fall and winter and since it is 100% cotton it is soft with a nice amount of stretch to fit on your head. 

But I'm not keeping this fun beret for myself, so it's available now in my shop! It makes the perfect, stylish addition to any wardrobe for this fall. You can even jazz it up and make it unique by adding a fun pin. Hopefully I'll have the time to make a couple more of these. If there's a color you'd love to see drop me a note. 

Theme of the Week: BACK TO SCHOOL

Theme of the week for August 31-September 6: Back to School. Check out the new theme of the week here.

Next week's theme of the week will be Vegetables.

Foto Friday - August 29, 2008

Foto Friday: a little sneak peek through my eyes this week.

I'm starting a little project to try to keep me updating my blog and using creativity to approach everyday life - Foto Friday. It's just a little way for me to give you a peek of what my life was like this week, what I saw, experienced, enjoyed, etc. Feel free to join in by sharing a photo from this week on your blog. Be sure to leave a comment so I can stop by and see.

This week I chose a shot of the top of the Academic Building on campus with the flag blowing in front of it. It was something that caught my eye this week while I was walking on campus.

I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend! Happy Labor Day!

oldies and newies

There's been some fun new additions to the shop in the past couple of days. One pair is an old favorite who got a face lift with my new photos - the Mountain Berry mary janes. They have been one of the most popular slippers in my shop and I can understand why; their great pink and brown color combination is not only pretty but also fashionable and fun. I haven't had a pair of these offered in my shop for awhile so I am very exciting to have them available again in time for the holidays. 

The other pair I've added to my shop are new and one of my favorites because they are purple! And they have a great fun name - Good Golly Miss Grape mary janes. 

Both of these mary janes are available in the shop along with all my other warm, fuzzy mary janes. New marys may start coming a bit more slowly with school starting to take over more time, but this semester I want to make more time for staying crafty and etsy even if it is just on the weekends. I'll keep everyone updated when new marys are available, but until then there's always the great mary janes already available to keep your toes nice and warm.

Hope everyone is having a great, crafty week. It's Humpday! We're almost there. 

welcome back.

Today was the first day back to school for the fall semester. I was enjoying the freedom the summer had brought and was a little sad to see it go, but getting back to the books will be a nice change. It was nice being back on campus and seeing old friends after the summer. I'm also excited about the classes I'll be taking this semester. One of the best things about being a senior is finally getting to take the courses you want to take versus the ones you have to take. Plus fall means that football season is coming soon and if there's one thing A&M is known for it's the football and all the traditions associated with the sport. I love spending my Saturday's cheering on the Aggies, yelling with our yell leaders, singing the fight song, and hopefully winning some football games! One thing you definitely learn in college in Texas - to love football.

The picture to the left is one of the buildings on campus. It's the Academic building and is probably one of the more beautiful buildings. I took this picture last winter, so the trees were a bit bare, but you can imagine them beautiful and green. I'm sure there will be plenty more pictures to come as the semester continues and graduation draws closer. 

I got so busy getting ready for back to school yesterday that I forgot about the theme of the week yesterday! So the theme of back to school will just be next week's theme. 

handmade is the way to go!

First of all, I want to thank everyone who left me such nice, caring comments about my dad. He's home from the hospital now and doing alright. I took some of the advice from the doctor for him - to have an hour of aerobic exercise every day and went running for the first time in over a year this evening. I'll probably be terribly sore tomorrow, but nothing a couple aspirins can't take care of. I wanted to get it in my habits before school started and I wouldn't have the inspiration to exercise. 

Also today I got some crafting done for the shop. I've added a couple of pairs of new slippers including the pair pictured to the right - Sea Splash Mary Janes. My goal this summer has to been to get the etsy shop stocked for the upcoming Christmas season. I've been happy with what I've been able to accomplish and I think things are already beginning to pink up in the shop. I've had a couple of sales in the past couple of days and even found some success in posting a listing for my items on craigslist. I hope everyone else is experiencing a pick up in sales and will have a very profitable holiday season. Buying handmade for the holidays is a great way to support creativity and artistic ability (as well as crafters like me trying to make their way through school!). I hope everyone out there will take advantage of the great products that can be found on handmade websites such as etsy and dawanda. 

And I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. See you tomorrow for the theme of the week!

the calm before the storm.

Life has been, well, hectic. Monday I found out that my dad had been in the hospital all weekend. My parents hadn't told me about it because they wanted me to do well on my GRE Monday morning. Apparently my dad had been having some chest pains and when he went to the doctor for an EKG they didn't like how it looked so he ended up having more tests done until they determined that some of his arteries that supply the heart with blood were closed and he had to have three stints put into place. As if that wasn't enough bad news, apparently the cause of the problem is completely genetic. So now I need to go get my cholesterol tested to see if the levels are elevated so I can be put on medication to hopefully prevent the same thing happening to me when I get older. I'm not too excited about having to find a doctor here and getting my blood drawn. I do not have an affinity for needles. But it's better to be safe than sorry later on down the road. 

My new roommate has also been moving in which has been an experience. There's still many things unpacked around the apartment, but we're getting it together I think. And to top it all off school starts on Monday so it'll be back to the grind soon. I've been trying to squeeze in all the last minute things I want to do before I won't have the time any more so I've been crafting, baking, creating, and watching a lot of tv in any spare time I've found. I guess it doesn't sound very relaxing, but for the most part it's been good.

I've also seen my sales in the etsy shop pick up, which I'm very excited about. Hopefully this is just the trickle before the Christmas flood. 

the first step.

I've fallen a bit behind on taking pictures of my slippers for the shop lately with how hectic life has been lately, but I finally caught up today and was able to list these brand new slippers - Chocolate Blueberry Mary Jane slippers. You can find them in the etsy shop along with all my other great mary janes.

Today I took my GRE exam. It's the first step of many for graduate school admission. Some of you may know that this will be my last semester of school as I'm planning on graduating in December. I plan to go on to receive a Ph.D. in marine biology and the GRE plays an important part in that. However, I didn't receive the scores I was hoping to. The test is composed of three sections: verbal, quantitative (math), and essays. Since you take the exam on the computer, the scores for the verbal and quantitative are reported immediately. Out of 800 for each sections I received a 570 on the verbal and a 670 on the quantitative. I'll have to wait until I get my scores in the mail to find out what percentiles those scores will rank me in. I'm hoping for the 80% percentile. The test cost me $140 to take so I'm really hoping not to have to take it again since I do have to pay to take the GRE Biology exam also. I guess we'll see in a couple of weeks. Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Theme of the Week: SUNSHINE

The theme of the week for August 17-23 is Sunshine. I've selected some of my favorite, most bright and sunny items from etsy to share them with you!

Etsy Buy Handmade brokenhallelujah

Next week's theme of the week will be Back to School. If you have any items you'd like to see featured next week then leave me a quick note and check back next week to see if you're item is there!

Hope everyone has a bright and sunny week!

wishing for fall.

It is still very hot here, but that only makes me wish for the cooler temperatures that accompany fall. It truly is one of my favorite seasons. We finally get a reprieve from the crushing, unforgivable temperatures of the summer, the trees start to turn beautiful shades of red, yellow, and brown, and it brings with it one of my favorite holidays: Thanksgiving. (Not to mention, my birthday is also in the fall.)

With school starting in a very short time, I know fall will be here before I know it bringing all the wonderful things I mentioned above along with the chaotic schedule accompanying the college lifestyle and my final semester in college. 

So to commemorate my favorite season of the year, I crafted these wonderful variegated Falling for Fall Mary Jane slippers. The vibrant hues capture the entire essence of fall while also providing your toes with a warm hideaway from the cooler temperatures soon approaching. They are available now in the shop along with all my other mary jane slippers. 

squeaky clean.

New to the shop - a brand new line that coincides with my cotton cloths: cotton face scrubbers. Each pack comes with five face scrubbers that measure 3 in. by 3 in. I have a few sets available now in the shop, with many more in bright, cheery colors coming soon. 

What makes these scrubbers so great is they are soft, but the characteristics of the crochet stitch makes them great at exfoliating gently. They are also completely machine wash and dry safe, so they are reusable saving you money while providing an environmentally friendly alternative to those disposable face pads. 

These small packs would make great additions to gift baskets or make great little handmade stocking stuffers this holiday season. I know all the women in my family will be getting a set of their own. 

If anyone is interested in a specific color or combination, just let me know and I'd gladly work with you. 

weekend getaway.

This weekend, Andy and I took Friday off and headed down to Austin to meet my parents for a weekend of fun in the sun. We spent Friday at Schlitterbahn which is a waterpark just outside of Austin and is tons of fun. 

This picture pretty much sums the day up. Lots of floating around lazily to avoid the extreme Texas heat. Schlitterbahn is actually made up of three different parks. The water of one, the original park, is supplied completely by the river that runs through the small town. There's even a intertube ride that takes you out onto the river for a short float. It's kind of chilly, but it's so much fun. The other two parks are more new and full of more thrilling rides like water slides. Anyway, we had a great time. At the end of the day we were all pretty tired. But not too tired to head back to Austin and check out the famous bat fly out from the South Congress St. Bridge. These bats live under the bridge all summer long and make up the largest urban bat colony in the world. It's really quite exciting to see them all fly off down the river at dusk. We were below the bridge, but here you can see all the people standing on the bridge as the bats take off.  A quick shot of underneath the bridge where you can see some of the bats flying around underneath the bridge before they take off down the river on their nightly hunt.

The weekend was a blast. It went by way too fast and I can't believe my parents have already headed home. This week is already bound to be busy. My new roommate is moving in this weekend and then on Monday I have my GRE exam. I'm just trying to get all last minute cleaning and studying in. Wish me luck.

Theme of the Week: BIRDS

Theme of the week for Aug. 10-16: Birds.

I'm a little late on the theme of the week today. Sorry about that. But without further ado, here it is.

See the new theme of the week here.

Next week's theme will be Sunshine. If you have anything you'd like featured in the theme of the week, leave me a note and check back next week to see if you made it!

deep violet.

I had to share these slippers because they are just the most gorgeous shade of purple. This brand of yarn comes in the most wonderful shades of colors and I can't wait to get a chance to buy a few more to make slippers from. These, which I named Deep Violet, are from the same brand and in the same style as my Charcoal mary janes that I made I few weeks back. The classic style of these mary janes is definitely growing on me. 

Of course these mary's and many more can be found in my etsy store along with lots of other crochet goodies for you and your home.

In more personal news, my parents are coming down this weekend. Andy and I are planning on meeting them in Austin for a weekend of shopping and watery fun. The plan is to spend a day at Schlitterbahn which is one of the most fun filled theme parks I've been too. The rest of the time will be spent enjoying the unique shopping and eating that Austin has to offer. I can only hope the weather  behaves itself. The past couple of days have been rain filled because of tropical storm Edouard.  I'd just rather be wet because of the water rides and not water falling from the sky. Anyway, I'm just excited about seeing my parents because I haven't seen them since March when they came to visit last. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures and fun stories to tell afterwards.

scoutle

I have a new addition to my side bar on the left. It's my widget for Scoutle.com. It's a brand new blog networking website designed to allow you to meet fellow bloggers with blogs covering similar topics and network with each other in an effort to bring more traffic to your blog. It's just a wee fledgling right now, but there are already many etsy artisans who have signed up their craft related blogs. I've only begun to introduce myself to the site, but already I've made a couple connections and joined some great networks for etsy artists, bloggers, etc. The site is small right now, but it's growing and could always use some more people. Plus, it's 100% free, so you have nothing really to lose and it looks like it could grow into a great new opportunity to meet new people and also boost the traffic of your webblog. If any of you decides to sign up, be sure to connect with me. A quick note, you cannot use this for your etsy site directly, sadly. It has to be your own personal website or blog. On a crafting note, I would love to share some pictures of the new creations now available at the etsy shop, but for some reason blogger refuses to cooperate in uploading them. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get a chance to sneak on during my studies (I have a final on Wednesday) and share some of the pictures with you all.

Theme of the Week: ETERNITY

Theme of the week for August 3-9: Eternity.  Check out the new theme of the week here.

To me, eternity represented something everlasting, continuous, something larger than myself. I'd like to thank everyone in the etsy forums who gave me some wonderful items to choose from. I'm sorry I couldn't pick them all to feature. 

Next week's theme will be: Birds. If you have an item you'd like to see featured, leave me a link below and check back next week!

scrub-a-dub-dub

Cotton Cloth Two Pack Originally uploaded by brokenhallelujah

I've made some additions to the small (but growing) bath and body section of the shop. I'm working on a line of 100% cotton cloths which can be used in the kitchen as dishcloths or in the bath as wash cloths. Cotton crochet cloths are not only natural and environmentally friendly, but also durable and strong so they get the job done and won't wear out on you quickly. Because of the characteristics of the crochet stitch, these cloths are great for scrubbing pots or for exfoliating your skin. Right now I'm offering them in two packs for $7.00, but I'm hoping to get some singles made for $3.50 so the buyer has the freedom to choose their own colors and combinations. Once you try these cloths you'll never go back! Be sure to check back with the shop for more colors coming soon. This weekend I've also taken on the project of creating my own labels. I simply used a premade business card template in my word processor and adjusted it to fit my needs. I have already made up some for the cloths and also for the slippers. I simply included some information on proper care of the product along with my URL. I have always loved getting handmade products with personal tags and I'm proud to finally have some of my own. They came out very nicely and I think they give my items a little more professionalism. Plus, this makes it easier for customers to remember the proper care techniques without having to find their product in my shop and look it up. You can see one of my new tags here. 

cold feet

Love those Blues Mary Jane Slippers Originally uploaded by brokenhallelujah

Cold feet? Not in these babies. The newest addition to the etsy shop are the Love these Blues Mary Jane Slippers!. These are the first pair of slippers I've made from a new brand of yarn I've found. It's a little more expensive than what I'm used to using, but is divinely soft. I'm willing to pay the extra couple of cents for the added comfort, and I'm hoping my customers are, too.

I simply couldn't resist this wonderful eggshell blue when I found it in at the shop a few weeks ago. I've been dying to whip these babies up for a few days now, but school and life has slowed me down a bit. I am very excited now that they are here and love how they have turned out. I can't wait to go back and buy some great new colors. 

More goodies to be added to the shop this weekend. Hope everyone has a great one and manages to stay cool!

heat wave and some blushing toes.

Blush Mary Jane Slippers Originally uploaded by brokenhallelujah

Some new goodies have been added to the etsy shop the past couple of days. One of my favorites are these wonderful Blushing Mary Jane Slippers. They are hand crocheted using two different types of yarn to create a wonderfully fuzzy, yet soft and delicate pair of slippers. Although I'm not a huge fan of baby pink, these slippers are just so tender and inviting. They'll make anyone's toes blush with warmth and comfort, I'm sure. It has been criminally hot here, lately, which has made the mere thought of movement seem rather atrocious. So you can only imagine how I felt when Andy told me he wanted to be moved out of his apartment this weekend. He doesn't have too many large pieces of furniture, but both Andy and I live on the second floor so there was a large amount of toting things down the stairs only to tote them right back up the stairs into my apartment. And, sadly, the one large thing he had, his dresser, couldn't fit in either of our car's trunks no matter how hard we tried (and we tried - hard). So it got left behind by the dumpster. People around here are always "borrowing" things from the abandoned pile by the dumpster since this town is very much run by a population of poor university students, so I hope someone was able to get some use out of it, at least. Now we just have to unpack and find room for all his stuff (because Lord knows I'm not getting rid of any of mine).

Theme of the week: SUMMER RAIN

Theme of the week for July 27-August 2: Summer Rain. See the new theme of the week here.

Next week's theme will be: Eternity. If you have an item you'd like to see featured, leave me a comment with the link and come back next week to see if your item made the cut!

Theme of the Week: ORANGE

I came up with the idea today to do like a mini treasury for my blog - theme of the week. I simply searched etsy for a keyword and found some of my favorite items which I compiled below. I was so excited by this idea I simply couldn't wait for Sunday to roll around to start, so we'll just have a short run for this week's theme and I'll start a new one on Sunday. Theme of the week for July 20-26: Orange.

Check out the new theme of week here. 

Next week's theme will be Summer showers. If you have an item you think fits the theme and would like to be featured leave me the link below and check back on Sunday to see if you made the list.

try these on for size

 
After having some fun designing new scarf designs for the etsy shop, I went back to making a couple new pair of mary jane slippers. One is an old friend that hasn't visited the shop in awhile and the other is brand new. Both, however, are extremely comfortable and colorful. You can find these and all my mary jane designs at the shop. 

Hurricane Dolly is sending some much needed rain our way soon. It's been very dry this spring and summer -  more than usual - so we can definitely use it. Everyone hit by the storm is in my thoughts, however, and I feel extremely lucky that all I'm getting out of the storm is some rain for my veggies and nothing much more serious than maybe a soggy pair of socks. 

fringe binge

Midnight Magic Scarflette
Originally uploaded by brokenhallelujah

I'm usually not one for the making of scarves, but lately I think I've been on a fringe binge. This is the second scarflette I've made in two days, both of which can be found in the etsy shop. I was sure the last one I made would be my favorite for quite awhile, but then the designing bug crept up and bit me in the behind and from my crochet hook poured this new one - midnight magic - which quickly stole my heart. I think there's something about such a handy little scarf with such a fun amount of fringe. Plus, it's purple so it was bound to be one of my favorites anyway. The yarn is a blend of wool and acrylic so it'll definitely do a swell job of keeping you warm.

I just may end up with one of these for myself pretty soon, which would give me an excuse to go to the yarn shop.

While we're on the topic of scarves, I have to mention two shops which have not only been an inspiration to me in my creating process but also have some gorgeous scarves and other knitwear. Phydeux not only has a very cute name, but also has some of the most gorgeous knit scarves and scarflettes. The colors are gorgeous and would brighten up any weary day. And then there's knittles who has some of the most wonderful designs of hats. You can even buy the pattern for some of the most beautiful hats and make them yourself. Check these shops out and get some wintery inspiration of your own!

new winter accessories

Corn Flower Neck Scarf
Originally uploaded by brokenhallelujah

With how extremely hot it has been here lately, I can't help but wish for some more winter like weather, which put me in the frame of mind for some winter crafting. After doing some searching for some inspiration, neck warmers (or neck scarves) caught my eye so I decided to try my hand at making a design of one of my own. It took last night and most of today to come up with something I was really pleased with - the cornflower neck scarf.

Cozy and warm, it is the perfect winter accessory. It's small so it'll easily fit in a backpack or purse and it can be put on quickly and in a multitude of different styles depending on how you're feeling that day. I'm hoping to get a couple more designs finished and listed in the etsy store before too long.

I suppose it's never to early to start shopping for wintery wonders.

diy light box

This afternoon I stumbled across a post in the etsy forums concerning terrible pictures. I'll be the first to admit that pictures have probably been one of the weakest points of my etsy shop. While giggling about everyone else's photo troubles, I saw a link to a tutorial for a diy light box. I had considered using one of these before to take pictures, but hadn't taken the time to make one because of the fact that I couldn't model the slipper inside the light box. 

Well, today, I finally decided to make one - and it was so easy! All the supplies I had lying around so it didn't cost me a cent and took less than 30 minutes. In no time I was outside shooting in my new mini studio. And the pictures came out beautifully. I had to do a few minor adjustments on them, but the lighting and colors were true and beautiful. I think the beautiful new images completely make up for the cons of not being able to model inside the light box - I don't think the slippers need to be modeled any longer for someone to see how fabulous they are. 

If you are having photo issues and can't figure out how to get great, professional looking photos like so many etsy artists, I would definitely recommend making yourself a light box. It's so simple and you'll be glad you spent the time (and very little money). You won't know how you lived without it!

P.S. The slippers pictured above (the first photographed in my new light box) are now available in the my etsy shop.

etsy lovlies.

 

I got a lovely package from JimmyPickles yesterday! I love to look around etsy, but I try not to shop too much just because I need to save my money for important things (groceries, gas, other necessities). But when I came across the JimmyPickles shop while browsing Pounce I had to give in to the delicious wristlet keychains. I bought one for myself, pictured above, and another for my mom whose birthday is coming up. They are just so handy! You can slip them right onto your wrist and then have both hands free to carry things and don't have to worry about where you left the keys or trying to fish them out later with full hands. And they came packaged so nicely with some little extra treats for me, which was very lovely. I would definitely recommend doing business with this shop which features more lovely things than just these wristlet keychains all of which come in a rainbow of beautiful designs. 

Check them out!

little bunny foo foo

Grey Bunny Mary Jane Slippers
Originally uploaded by brokenhallelujah

A little bunny just hopped through my etsy shop.

I haven't had a pair of my bunny slippers available in my shop so I thought it was time I made another pair. One of the reasons I do them so infrequently even though everyone seems to love them is they take a lot more time than the average mary jane. But they are totally worth it when they come out looking as adorable as these.

All of my slippers can be found here. If you'd like to be updated on when new slippers are added to the shop or what I'm working on at the moment, follow me on twitter.

web update

I've been busy around the web signing up at new sites trying to give both the shop and the blog a little more exposure. Here's some of the new sites I'm trying out.

Social spark.com - advertise your blog and network with fellow bloggers to try to pull in more readers. I think there's a whole money making aspect to this website, but I'm not sure how it works nor am I really interested in anything but new eyes.

Twitter.com - keep people updated on what you're up to. Twitter updates can easily be incorporated into blogs (my twitter updates how up in the toolbar to the right) and can be used to tell readers exactly what you're doing whether you're crafting, surfing the web, posting a new item to etsy, etc. Plus it's just fun to find friends and keep up with them. 

Myitthings.com - post your designs and favorite designs you love. I haven't fully gotten into this website completely, but I've been trying to keep it updated with new etsy items.

If anyone has any accounts on those websites, let me know because I am always looking for friends. Also, if anyone has any other great sites for advertising blogs/shops I'm always looking for more ways to get the word out (while I still have free time).

sunday brunch on a budget

 I borrowed this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, A Year at Oak Cottage. Every day there's a new recipe posted and they all look so delicious I wish I had the time to try them all.

For brunch this morning, I prepared Andy and I this simple egg and potato plate. Whoever claims you can't eat well on a college students budget never bothered to try. I had all these ingredients already lying around the house for other meals and the whole thing probably cost less than $5 - and it was delicious. 

When I first started off on my own I became a fervid coupon clipper, but most of the time the coupons were for more expensive items and even with the coupon a store brand of the same item would be cheaper, and I had much better things to do with my time than search for coupons I never ended up using. Now, I mostly just check the weekly fliers to see what the market will have on special and plan meals around those items and include things I may have in my pantry, etc. There's always excellent websites to find new recipes on that are tasty and won't cost you a lot - some of my favorites are cooks.com and Kraft Foods. 

Another tip is buy extra of items you use a lot when they are on sale. For example, I mostly use chicken in all my dishes so it quickly becomes the most expensive item on my grocery list. So I always buy three or four packs and freeze them when the chicken is on sale every couple of months. 

It can be tricky living on a small budget, especially with the price of gas eating so much of it these days, but there are always tricks to get you through and still keep your belly happy and full.

all cotton, all natural.

As mentioned in this post I have a couple more cotton goodies up my sleeve. 

Recently added to the etsy store is the 100% cotton bath puff and the colorfully delicious Neapolitan mary jane slippers pictured below. Both are hand crocheted with natural cotton yarn making them perfectly soft and of course more eco friendly than their plastic and acrylic counterparts. 

Both are available now and I'll hopefully have more natural cotton products in bright new, fun colors coming soon. If anyone has a color suggestion, feel free to shoot it my way because I'm always open to new ideas and love to hear everyone's suggestions.

I hope everyone has another great July weekend.