New/old crafts from Kittie

Hi, Kittie here with some new stuff I've made over the past few weeks. Last week I was out visiting the in-laws-to-be and my family. So no crafting was done then. However, here are some new things I made, including a little experiment done today!


First off is this lovely duo. I wanted to make a case of some sort for my dad for his birthday. He likes Doctor Who and recently bought a Smart car and named it TARDIS. The spelling of Police Box is sloppily done, partially because it is so aggravating to do against crocheted yarn. My cell phone can fit in it, but I think dad's fancy shmancy camera can fit as well.

Next off are two commissions from my fiancé. He wanted me to make him a cool shirt and a backpack with drawstrings for him to use as a carry on when coming to visit me.


Last but not least, today I decided it'd be fun to try and make a pair of pants out of a shirt. Not regular pangs, just simple comfy pants. Yoga pants or whatever. It was pretty simple, just cutting off the sleeves and treating the material like a regular pants pattern. If I make another pair, I might put back pockets on it just for fun.

Announcements from Amanda's personal life

I've got a few announcements for you guys, starting with one big one:

I'M AN AUNT! My stepsister had a beautiful baby girl last Sunday! She's adorable and has a TON of deep brown hair. I can't wait to see her. I live three hours away, so I haven't had a chance to come see her yet. All I get are photos, for now.


Ok, now for the small stuff: I got a job! Moreover, it's the job I wanted! I've been trying to get a job at the local hospital for a long time.

This won't be the first time I've worked there. I did my Psychology Practicum there a year ago. It was a really fun and enlightening experience, I learned a lot, and I found out that I love working in a hospital setting. And - as you saw in the above picture - I got to wear scrubs, check it out:

I was so excited to wear scrubs. I got to carry a clipboard, too!

I even went out and bought a long-sleeve dark blue top to wear under my scrubs, so I could look like Elliot Reid from Scrubs.

Or, you know. A huge nerd. Whichever.

But this time around, I'll be working in the Food Services department, delivering trays to patients in their rooms. And I think it would be a little unsettling to have your food delivered by someone wearing scrubs. So instead, I get to wear this classy ensemble:

Ta-da! Has a bit of a stewardess look to it, don't you think?

I know, I know. The uniform is dorky. But it's okay, because it's an important job and I'm really excited to start.

So, the other bit of 'small stuff' personal news is related: Since I have a job, and can stay in Kalamazoo, Brandon and I have decided to move in together! We're moving into an apartment next week. Once we're all moved in, I'll post some pictures for you guys. ^_^


That's all for now! I've got some great crafting updates coming soon. I just have to find time to take photos. My house is full of boxes, it's a mess...

Personal Bios

Okay, Here's something a little more substantial than my curly hair to keep you amused while we're away. I went to the Etsy shop and FINALLY added our personal bios in the shop announcement!

Check it out and let us know what you think. Sitting back and reading the bios, I'm really impressed with the diversity of talent in our group. I hope these little paragraphs help people to feel inspired to commission us for a variety of personalized items!

Things sure are getting exciting around here...

Apologies from Amanda

I know one of the top ten rules of having a good blog is 'don't spend all your time apologizing for not posting often enough,' but this time I feel it's necessary.

Everyone at Nimble Toad is unbelievably busy lately, and not just with the Etsy shop launch, but with our personal lives as well. You see, most year-long leases in college towns end on August 1st, so we're all packing and cleaning and getting ready to move. And we're all either starting new jobs, new classes or new lives! It's a busy time for all of us.

But don't fret! We're still crafting up a storm, it's just taking longer than expected to get everything posted in the shop. Keep checking back, we're adding items as they come.

I personally have a lot to tell you about, so I'm going to put my blog to-do list here. That way, I'll remember to do it and you know what to expect to see soon:

1. I never did post pictures from Val's wedding, did I? I'll dig some up and tell you all about it.
2. I got a new job, and I'm moving into a new apartment. I have a tiny bit of news on that front, but more on that later!
3. Garage sale hunting. Boy, have I been busy. I think garage sale hunting is my new favorite hobby. I've got some photos for you.
4. A couple of knitting projects I'm very proud of. I need to take photos, and maybe you can expect to see some of them in the shop soon... I hope I'm getting you excited.

Alright, that's enough teasing. I have to go pack (I'm moving at the end of the week! Ack!), but I'll be back next week with more news.

Oh, and yes. I am, in fact, sorry for the lack of updates. Here, have a picture of my curly hair to keep you amused until I get back:

Curling irons are such an amazing invention.

See you next week! Check out Gini's jewelry in the shop!

Gini's Etsy Items

I just posted two new items in the Etsy shop! Go check it out here.

Etsy Launch!

The Etsy shop is up! We're still working on making it pretty, and filling it with awesome merchandise for you guys, but it is up and running!

Just go to Etsy.com and search "NimbleToad" or click here!

I'm still working on posting items and fine-tuning purchasing and shipping details. And, of course, we still haven't commissioned a logo yet, so we don't have a banner. So, keep checking back for updates as the shop continues getting better and better.

Are you guys pumped? I'm super pumped!

Amanda's Been a Busy Bee!

Amanda, here. I've got a LOT of catching up to do! I've been very busy the past while. Aside from setting up the legal and financial side of Nimble Toad, I've had many other adventures the past couple weeks that I'd love to share with you! This will definitely be a photo-heavy post. My favorite kind.

First off, Brandon and I tried a new cooking experiment this weekend. We had four people to cook dinner for, some random odds and ends around the house, and we'd been watching the food network a lot lately. So we decided to try something new.

We sauteed some chicken in bacon fat, with the bacon still in the pan, then once they were mostly cooked, we added onions:

Then Brandon put some pineapple slices in the oven to give them a nice, grilled look:

This part was Brandon's idea, and they turned out great!

Then we put the whole thing over brown long grain rice and added okonomi sauce:

Super yummy. ^_^

So, that was our little cooking experiment this weekend. And you know it's a success when I'm eating pineapple, because I don't usually like pineapple.

Next up... Let's see... I'm working on making my own pin cushion. I took a scrap of fabric and some cotton balls and I'm just finishing sewing it up:

I have just one little bit of sewing left and it will be done.

For some reason, I felt compelled to make my own instead of buying one. It just seems like such a simple thing; it's just a tiny pillow, right? And it doesn't even have to be pretty. Something tells me i'm missing some super important detail and I'll be eating my words soon. But at least I got to pick a pretty fabric:

I think it will do the trick.

Once I'm done with the pin cushion, I can start the third bracelet in that series I showed you last week.

Okay now for the fun part. This weekend, I went on a garage sale adventure with my roommates and my boyfriend. My roommates are moving into an apartment together and need kitchen stuff, so we drove all over looking for garage sales, and we found a TON of them. I got a few choice pieces.

I can't explain why, but I love vintage luggage. I've been looking for an old suitcase for a long time. I want to rip out the lining and put in some funky, bright fabric on the inside. Well, I found a suitcase that's funky enough on its own, it definitely does not need my help:

How cool is that? check out that color! Screaming bright orange. Perfect for me. ^_^

It was marked for $8, but I was able to talk him down to $6. I'm so thrifty.

It's in great shape: not very worn, and the inside is clean.

Now I just need a vintage train case that I can re-line the inside with funky fabric. I want to use it for my sewing supplies. Then I'll be happy. Vintage luggage, who knew?

So, I also got some great crafting supplies. I found this old mirror for 75cents. I'm going to repaint the frame, and sell it:

Someone did an awful job of painting it, so I wanna do something funky (that's my go-to craft adjective, can you tell?)

I want to accentuate the little details, like do a bunch of different colors.

What color scheme do you think I should go with?

So, then I also got some crafting materials. I got this lacey cloth (it was someone's blinds, I got 4 panels for 4 bucks) at a garage sale near my house:

Dunno what I'm gonna do with it yet, but I figure it's always useful to keep collecting bits of cloth and thread and yarn, etc... especially when they're super cheap!

Then I got this at the thrift store... It's a bit of a mystery:

It's a brighter orange than it looks here. Kinda like the suitcase.

What is it? It's too thin to be embroidery floss, but it's on the wrong kind of spindle to be thread. I'm gonna use it as thread. Anyway, it was really cheap.

Okay so, I had one last project I wanted to show you. I've been having some problems with litter training the rats lately, so I decided to eliminate the top shelf of their cage and replace it with some tubes for them to crawl through. My goal here was to reduce the number of corners they could 'go' in. They like to go on the top shelf, so of course that was the first thing to go. But they love the new tubes! Let me show you:

Here is a side view of the cage. New litter tray is on the bottom-left, and the new tubes are on the top-right.

The two ends feed them to their two favorite spots:

This end takes them to the level with the nesting box.

This end feeds them almost right into the hammock.

I was really worried they wouldn't use it, but I was walking by the cage and I saw this:

I was much relieved. ^_^

Alright, that's it for now. See, I told you I'd been busy!

Shout Out

I do this once in a while.

I'm curious who reads this! I don't know who our readers are, so leave a comment here! Leave us a shout out!

Here's the question:

What types of products are you looking forward to seeing most in our Etsy shop when it opens next week?

Etsy Teaser

Amanda, here. So, I want to apologize for not having the Etsy shop up yet. We're close, I promise!

I went online and got us a tax number, then Gini and I went to the County Clerk's office and got us registered with the State of Michigan. THEN Gini and I went to the bank and got us a Small Business Checking Account. Now we're just waiting for the cards to come in the mail so we can open up the Etsy shop. I'll admit, it's all pretty exciting. We are now officially a proper company, registered with the state and everything!

So, we've already started photographing a bunch of items we have ready to go as soon as the shop is open, so I hope you're getting excited!

Here's a little teaser to get you excited about the shop opening up, as well as the new Harry Potter film coming out next week!

Two of these scarves will be available in the shop when it opens next week!

Much love, see you soon!

More Bracelets!

I just made a bracelet. I'm very excited about it. I got the pattern from Princess Lasertron's website, except I used knitting instead of ruffled felt. I'll take nicer pictures and post it on the Etsy shop once it's open, but I just couldn't wait to share it with you!

I took pictures of it sitting on my Indiana Jones hat because I was pressed for time. That leather strap isn't part of the bracelet.

I got the yarn from an estate sale for really cheap. I have a lot of it, and it's a fantastic color.

The purple one on the end is for the closure.

The buttons are all cloth: my mom has been collecting buttons and she gives me all the cloth ones because she doesn't like them. So, they're all vintage and used, which I really like.

Sorry for the fuzzy picture. I was rushing due to overexcitement. ^_^

I need to work on the green stitching on top of the ribbon. My next one will hopefully be a little cleaner. And the buttons should end up being different on every bracelet.

I have 2 more knitted up already in this color, and a bunch more of this ribbon. I want to keep making them in various colors, which should be fun.

What do you think?

Etsy: In Progress

Hello, all! Amanda here. Last weekend was Val's wedding, so Val is off on her honeymoon and I am still recovering from the mayhem.

As you know, today is the first of July. And of course, I've been too busy to set up the Etsy shop. So, that is my task for today. Hopefully I'll be back with good news by this evening. But my goal is to have it ready by this weekend at the latest.

I'll be back with the URL for our Etsy shop when it is completed. ^_^

(And coming soon: wedding photos!)