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.

a time to blossom.

 

There's some evidence emerging on the front porch. Evidence of new life, new growth, and of the fact that I don't always kill every thing green that I set my hands on - all of which I am grateful for. 

The first picture is of my very first little baby tomato that is teasing me with its slow growth. The image to its right is one of the fleeting blossoms on my hand sewn bottle gourds. I wish the flowers lasted much longer than they do because they are so feathery and gorgeous, but they usually wither within a day. It's the oddest thing, but they have the sweetest smell of honey dew melon to them. No baby gourds just yet, but right now I'm just enjoying the silky flowers and the whispy curley-cues of vines that wrap themselves around anything they can come into contact with. 

spreading the love

Grape Love Mary Jane Slippers Originally uploaded by brokenhallelujah

One of my most popular designs of slippers is back in the shop - Grape Love mary janes have just been added. These are just my plain ol' mary jane slippers, but with an added crochet heart applique on the toe to make them extra special. I love making fun new color combinations of these types of slippers and they seem to sell quickly! Hopefully I'll get around to whipping up a few more pairs like this before school starts up again this fall. The ones pictured above fit a shoe size 6-9 and like all the rest of the marys are machine washable. I tried something a wee bit new by making the trip and strap in the heart accent color instead of the color of the body of the slipper and I've gotten some good feedback about it, but I'm always open to hear what new people think so don't be shy! And if you would love to see a pair of these in a certain color combo I'm always looking for new inspiration, so let me know!

going green, er, blue.

Cloudy Skies Mary Jane Slippers Originally uploaded by brokenhallelujah

I've decided to try a little something new for the etsy store - 100% cotton mary janes. This is only the first pair of new eco-friendly mary janes I will have available in the shop within the next couple of days. I was quite pleased with my mary janes crocheted with acrylic yarn because they always kept my feet so warm and I hate having cold feet, but these won me over right away with how soft they feel against my skin. If these were pink, I don't think they'd be listed in the shop because I'd be far too tempted to keep them for myself. Plus the natural fiber is better from the environment. I also have some more cotton goodies up my sleeve, but for now I'm keeping them a secret.

lions, tigers, bears...

 

Last minute decisions have the tendency to lead you to unexpected places and new friends. I befriended the above at the Ft. Worth Zoo this weekend and had a blast!

happy 4th

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Fourth of July!

why buy it?

Why buy it, when I can bake it? The cake is in the oven and my tummy is a grumblin'. Goodbye box cake mix; it took me too long to realize I could make a much more delicious cake all on my own.