Catching Up: Crafting Projects

Amanda here. I'm sorry it's been so long. I should warn you before I go on a blogging hiatus. Things have been crazy around here, and I haven't had much time for crafting. But I do have a few projects to show you.

Firstly, I finally posted my lovely fall cowl. I finally got some new photos of it. I wanted to show the colors just right.

It's so cozy and warm, and I love the colors. I'll be sad to give it away.

So, that's for sale in the shop right now!

And I finally got started on my notepad project. I finished my first notepad, which is a gift for my dad for his birthday. Here it is, all wrapped and ready for him to open:

I really hope he likes it.

I printed his initials on every page, then pasted them together at the top with padding compound. I need some more practice with the padding compound, but I have some scrap pieces of paper, so I'll make myself some spare notepads and try to refine my technique. I may adjust a few details about these notepads before I put them up on Etsy. Also, I need more block prints! If you have an idea for a design you'd like to see on a notepad, please leave a comment on this entry and I will certainly give it a try! I'm hoping these notepads become a common item in the shop.

Next up, I finally started working on a block print for our business cards. I just took the Nimble Toad logo and shrunk it down, and traced it. Here's what I have so far:

It's a bit messy at the moment. I plan to clean it up before I start carving.

And with that, hopefully we'll have business card designs soon. I haven't yet decided how I want to go about making those. I'll probably be enlisting help from other Nimble Toad members on this one.

That's it for the crafting update. Stay tuned for my recent personal projects. Perhaps that will shed some light on why I haven't been around lately.

Knitting, Block Prints and Notepads

Amanda here. I'm sorry it's been so long. Things are crazy around here. Brandon and I are still trying to get settled in the new apartment, I'm getting used to my new job and working 5 and 6 days a week, and I'm also rebuilding the rat cage. Of course this is all on top of rewriting my resume and researching grad schools. So I haven't had much time for crafting.

But I do have a few new projects to show you. Starting with a piece of merchandise I hope to post in the etsy shop very soon. I wanted to learn a new knitting technique, so I tried circular knitting. I had never done it before, and it turns out it's quite simple. In many ways, it's actually simpler than regular knitting.

I found a small ball of yarn that I had been saving for a special project. It's got that great knobbly texture, and check out the lovely fall colors:

Turquoise, crimson, tan, light purple and brown.

It's pinched off at the side, and tied down with some lace that I cut into a little flower.

I was thinking it would be cool to use the same pattern for a shawl or wrap, with a different closure.

So, I'm going to try to get some better pictures, then that cowl will be on sale in our etsy shop!

Next up, I made a couple of green obi-style belts. This one is for Val, so I may have her model it for pictures for the etsy shop, because it doesn't fit me.

This is the same yarn I used for the bracelets that are now on sale in our etsy shop. I just love the color.

This belt is WAY too small on me, but it should look awesome on Val. I also made one in my size that I plan to sell. As soon as it's finished I can photograph it and post it on etsy.

I have a ton more of this yarn left, so if you want to order a belt, please send me a message, either on etsy or by email!

Lastly, I'm very excited to post the beginning stages of my Dad's birthday present. It's a new project for me, I just got the materials in the mail last week. I'm making him a personalized notepad. Here is one of the pages:

I'm really proud of how this linoleum print came out.

Of course, cutting the block print is the hard part. But now that I've finished that, I just need to cut all the pages to size, print them, then paint on the padding compound. This is my new material. It's used for book binding, and I've never used it before. I'm very excited to start.

Despite the fact that cutting the pages should be the easy part, I've been running into problems with the type of paper I chose, as well as the paper cutter at the local Kinko's. So, I might change my strategy. But once I've worked out the problems with the paper, it should be done in no time.

The exciting announcement here is that, once I have my process down, I am going to be making lots of these little notepads and putting them in the etsy shop. They're totally customizable, so think of a print you would want on your notepad, and send me a message! I can't wait to start carving all kinds of block prints and making all these little notepads. It's a really great way to get my block prints out there and advertise what I can do. Hopefully soon I will be able to make some bigger paper products as well, but for now I'm starting small.

Here's another picture with my thumb as a size reference:

But I can make the notepads any size. Just tell me what you're looking for and I can come up with something unique, just for you!

I can also make books, I just don't have any examples to post right now. The limiting factor right now is time. It's frustrating being so busy, when I have so many projects I want to work on.

I really hope my dad likes his birthday present. That block print is probably one of my best ones yet.

Well, back to work. Happy crafting, everyone!