a different kind of blog candy...

the lovely Anne, all around talented felter and occasional guest blogger here at MCIYN, is having a giveaway on her blog where you can win a set of 3 felted bangles...

kasanika - enter by 12:00 AM PST, April 30th...

photo credit: Anne @ kasanika

Crocheted and felted clutch

Felt crafts of all types are all the rage right now. I’ve been crocheting and felting totes and clutches for several months now so thought I’d share this simple little project. If you can SC (single crochet), you can make this clutch in less than a few hours and for less than $5 (that’s WITH your 40% Michael's coupon).


All it takes is one skein of wool and a size 6 hook. I use Patons Classic Merino Wool. You must use 100% wool or it won’t felt.

My inspiration for this clutch was a leather bag I drooled over in a magazine. Since I winged this one, there isn’t a true pattern. I just chained the length of the desired base, keeping in mind that felting will reduce the size by approximately 30%. SC several rows then SC in the round until it reached the height that I wanted. No adding or reducing required. The only tricky bit was leaving a gap for the handle. The nice thing about felting your crocheted pieces is that it’s very forgiving and you’re not going to notice any small errors.

Here comes the fun part. Throw your completed bag in the wash, preferably in a zippered pillowcase or lingerie bag. Toss in an old pair of jeans to help agitate and wash hot on the lowest water setting. After one cycle check it. It should feel thick and dense and there shouldn’t be any visible stitches. Different colours and types of wool shrink differently so you might want to pop it in again (it will shrink a little more).

Before:
After:


Once you have the desired look simply air dry and add some cute little embellishments (or not) and voila, you have the cutest little felted clutch bag in town!

Ms. Crafty says: kasanika is a second time guest blogger on MCIYN... you can view her Etsy store here...

Selling on Etsy...

Ms. Crafty says: i've asked some of the crafty ladies in my life to guest blog... first up are Spots and kasanika, who have tackled the world of Etsy, a hip online market place...






Etsy is "Your place to buy and sell all things handmade." It's sorta like a cross between eBay and a high-end craft fair. There truly is something for everyone.

Selling on Etsy is super easy and economical. All you need is an original art or craft you can ship, some good photographs, and a credit card. Etsy fees are currently in USD; it's 20 cents to list an item, plus 3.5% when you sell. Each item is listed until it sells, up to 4 months. Most buyers pay using PayPal, so having a PayPal account is a good idea.

The importance of taking good digital photos is crucial. An eye catching photograph draws people into your shop. It's also important to stagger your listings. Keyword searches bring up newest items first, it's ideal to always have one of your items at the top of the pile.

On the front page, the community button leads you into a wealth of information from policies and resources to workshops and chats. Be sure to visit the forums to get tips and tricks from others and to promote your own shop.

Feel free to stop by ours shops, say hi, and add us to your favourites too.

AngelaSpots

kasanika

Ms. Crafty says: as an aside, and a very happy customer, i wanted to mention that kasanika was recently featured in The Storque (Etsy's online zine)... you can read all about it here...