Crunchy Family Rising

WIP Wednesday: something new

Something spring-inspired for my Etsy shop....

What are you working on this week?

Etsy Giveaway WINNER!

The winner for the giveaway has been drawn (via random.org) and I'm pleased to announce that Christy will be receiving the adorable rainbow duckling set ! Congradulations Christy, I will be emailing you shortly for your mailing address.

WIP (day after) Wednesday

Feeling a bit like the White Rabbit lately, hectic, hurried, a little off kilter and late late late lol Such is life, I suppose.

 

So my WIP this week.... it's a bit all over the place. Please forgive the mess that is my workspace, it looks messy but there is a method to the madness... perhaps I'm more akin to the Hatter than the White Rabbit? Either way...

I've got several projects going on at once. That's the way I like it, I tend to be erratic in my crafting which keeps me from getting bored. Really, I'm just the type of person who gets sidetracked by shiny things and sparkly new ideas. I can't count the number of times I've been mid-sentence and interupted myself with "ohh shiny" or "ohhh pretty" or "hey a squirrel!"

Some of my projects are repeats, like the Math Gnomes for my Etsy shop. Some are new, like this butterfly project. Some I'll be lucky to post to my Etsy shop, because it will mean my kids didn't lay claim to them. I wonder how many other Etsians have the problem of making something totally awesome with the intent of selling on Etsy, only to have the kids fall completely in love with it.  I've taken to making duplicates of the items I know they'll love.

 

What are you working on this week?

Etsy Giveaway

To celebrate the re-opening on Crunchy Family Rising on Etsy, this week I'm hosting a blog giveaway!

 

 

I like to keep things simple. The giveaway opens Sunday May 1st, 2011. To enter, visit the Crunchy Family Rising Etsy shop, then come back here and leave a comment, telling your favorite item (feel free to go  through sold orders as well). Make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

For extra entries in the giveaway, share this blog post on Facebook and/or Twitter. You can have a total of three entries. PLEASE make sure you leave a seperate comment here on the blog for each entry so they count in the giveaway!

Winner will be chosen using a random number generator.

Deadline for entries is May 7 at 7pm (central time)

 

Good luck and thanks for helping me celebrate my re-opening!

 

(Also, thanks to my friend April from Enchanted Dandelions  for her help!)

Passage of time....?

I'm back. Ok, so I didn't actually go anywhere, but I did have a lapse in my blogging. I have good reasons, I swear. Health issues, husband getting let go from work , chasing kids around, rearranging furniture, building furniture, and gearing up for the re-opening of my Etsy shop.

I'm re-opening  my Etsy shop on Beltane/May Day / May 1st  and  I decided to have some fun, I'm going to have a discount code and, even more exciting, I'll be hosting a giveaway. I actually just finished the giveaway item tonight. I think it turned out nicely. I'm debating on whether I can squeeze in crafting a set of Math Gnomes before Sunday.... we'll see lol

 

I'll be blogging with more regularity again now that things have settled down somewhat. Sunday should be pretty busy. I'll be hosting my giveaway here, would have liked to have tidied up a bit more but, such is life.

 

For now, I'm tired, and I seem to have a croupy little girl on my hands. Goodnight blogland :)

WIP Wednesday

I love WIP Wednesdays :-) This week I have a couple to share.

 

Kairi's Gnome hood is coming along.

 

I'm working on an advent spiral for our seasonal table. I don't know if I'll get it done for us to use this year, but it will be a lovely addition to future holidays.

 

I must apologise for the horrible photo quality, my camera didn't want to play nice. This is an ornament I made for the Yule tree. Pretty simple, but I like it.

 

Finally finished the set of math gnomes for an Etsy customer. Now I have about a dozen rainbow gnomes in the works.

 *** *** ***

In non-WIP related news, theWinter 2010 Edition of Rhythm of the Home is now live! They're having a fantastic giveaway on the Rhythm of the Home Blog, so you should definietly head over there for a chance to win something awesome.

WIP Wednesday

A bit late in the day, but better late than not at all ;-)

 

Knitting has been slow lately but it's also been the savior of my sanity. Some people meditate. I knit. OK, so I meditate too... but I don't get the chance to meditate often (it's a rare a precious time whenI can find 10-15 minutes of uninterupted silence and I don't need silence to knit). So here are my WIPs for the week:

Mike's socks- progress is being made!

 

 

Gavin's gnomey hood. My first time knitting with Malabrigo and I'm loving it!

 

 

A gnomes for my Etsy shop & ornaments for our Yule tree

 

The next few weeks will bring several WIPs to have things ready for cold weather and the holiday season.

WIP Wednesday- Spring Goodies

I've been working on a few things lately, so I thought "What better reason to wake my blog up?"

I recently bought a Greener Shades starter kit from Beth at Blue Mountain Handcrafts on Etsy, so I've been trying them out on some white mill ends from Sheep Shed Studio. So far I've played with blue, aqua and purple. Let me tell you, the purple has a mind of it's own!

Along with the roving, I've been dyeing playsilks too! I think when it gets a littler warmer out I'd like to set up a table outside and try my hand at hand painting the silks!

The kids and I started making some felted eggs to go into their Spring baskets. We're using Nicole of Frontier Dream's felted Egg tutorial that was featured in Rhythm of the Home. Kairi did the one on the right all by herself. They still need a couple more layers of wool, but they're off to a good start!

I'm working on a set of vegan Rainbow Gnomes for my Etsy shop. For this set I'm using Eco-Felt. It's not as soft as my wool felt, but the felt seems pretty durable and I like that it's made using recycled plastic bottles. The colors are beautiful too!

I have a few more things in mind that I'd like to put in the kids' Spring baskets. Some more playsilks (instead of that "Easter grass" that gets everywhere), a couple more felted eggs, and maybe a few things for their gnome house.

What are your projects this week?

Gnomey Giveaway & new project!

I wanted to let you know about my new project, Peek-A-Box. Peek-A-Box is a box chock-full of samples from Crunchy, green, eco-friendly small companies & WAHMs. The boxes will go on sale once a month on Etsy and provides free exposure and advertising to our participants.

To kick off this new project I'm giving away one of my Gnome sets on the Peek-A-Box blog!

For more information on both the Peek-A-Box project and the giveaway, please visit the Peek-A-Box blog

Easy Gnome Home

We have a lot of gnomes in our home. A lot. I'm  kind of addicted to making them (hence my Etsy shop lol) and they're a beautiful, simple toy for the kids. I believe dollplay is important for children's development.

Every doll needs a home, whether it's a formal dollhouse or a kid-made structure of sticks and cloth. When I was young I made a lot of houses for my little dolls out of whatever I found around the house, but my kids aren't that patient or coordinated yet. For Yule 2007 we bought the kids this beautiful tree stump fairy house. It's a great little house, but it is a bit pricey, we saved up to purchase it. Now, since I have two young children who don't always share well, I wanted to add a second dwelling to their collection. Since we're on a very tight budget right now buying another wooden house isn't possible right now. Yesterday inspiration struck while Kairi and I were at Michaels. Not the most natural toy, but it is inexpensive and easy.

You'll need:

1 artificial carving pumpkin, also called a Funkin (we picked ours up on sale)

a pencil

a sharp knife

First, decide where you want your windows and door to be. Space them apart a bit so you don't weaken the structure too much. Draw the door and windows onto the pumpkin with your pencil.

Next, use your sharp knife to carefully cut out the shapes you drew. I cannot stress the "careful" part enough. Smooth down any jagged edges.

After cutting out you could give it to the kids, or add it to the nature table as is, or you could  paint it, or add embellishments to make it homier. Really the only limitation is your imagination.

I don't expect the pumpkin house to last forever, my kids are hard on their toys,( which is another reason we love wood toys around here) but it will give them hours of enjoyment and that's the important part.