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!