Cute Etsy, Indie Finds, Ebay, and Squidoo

A couple of ideas for getting your stuff seen.

1. IndiePublic - http://indiepublic.com They also have a blog ring you can join if you have a crafty blog.

2. IndieContests - http://indiecontests.com Same as the people who own indiepublic but you can advertise your contests and specials(deals) here for free.

3. Indiego - http://theindiego.com a community of crafters that advertise on each others sites free of charge. (they may change this) Right now, you need to have your own site-access to add the script- Not your etsy page- Once you add the code, you get 5 free ads for your site. The code must be on the site you are advertising. (i.e. if you advertise your etsy site and the code is on your blog the ad will not work) You can take a peek at an example on my blog http://momwithahook.blogspot.com Top right corner under Ads by Indiego

 4. CuteEtsy Group - http://indiepublic.com/groups/cuteetsy You must have an etsy shop and at least one of the items must be deemed cute.

5. Squidoo - http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/referral/MomwithAHook (this is a referral link) You make a page here, about your etsy shop, or your craft, or really just about anything.

6. Squidbid - http://www.squidbid.com This is if you have an Ebay Store or Id. You enter your id/store and it automatically creates a page for you and you tweek it here and there to your liking. Pretty simple and a great way to interact with your customers.

7. If you have a Cute Etsy shop, just let me know as I feature items on my squidoo page all the time. Right now I'm looking for Spring designs. http://squidoo.com/cuteetsy

8. If you have an Indie Shop, anything to do with the independent artist scene, let me know as I am always looking for unique finds at http://squidoo.com/indiefinds

9. Make a Zine. Not the Ezine, email kind but a paper kind. Make a mini zine about something you like, maybe even a free pattern. Include this in all your sales and swaps. Even trade zines with people. I have one called Snippets (a perzine about my relationship with my husband) and one called IndieEtsy which is just a collection of cool things I come across in the indie shopping scene.

I posted this pattern at my Craft Blog but will also post here for those who are here. I would like for others to try this pattern out just in case I made some mistakes. This not an original pattern as I just made this from a gnome I crocheted off of a free pattern some time ago. I can no longer find the pattern online so came up with this one.

How to Crochet a Gnome:

Caron Wintuk 4ply acrylic yarn in blue, white, cream(face color), red, yellow, and brown
Size e crochet hook and fiber fill

Ch 2
1: 6 sc in second ch from hook (6sc)
2: 2 sc in each st around (12sc)
3: 1 sc, 2sc around (18sc)
4: 1sc around in back loops only (18sc)
5 – 6: 1sc around (18sc)
7: 1 sc around, sl st in first sc, end off
Join Brown in any st with sc
8: 1 sc in each st around, join with a slip st to first sc (18sc)
9: 1 sc in first 8 stitches, add yellow and 1 sc in next 2 stitches, add brown 1 sc in next 8 stitches. (18sc)
sl stitch to first sc end off. (stuff)
Join Blue in any st with sc
10: 1 sc around (18sc) join with a sl st to first sc
11 – 12: repeat row 10 (18 sc)
13: Dec over next 2sc, 1sc repeat around (12sc) sl st to first sc end off. (stuff)
Join white in front st with sc (back loops only)
14: 1 sc in back loop only 5 x’s, 1 sc next 7 st (12sc) Join with sl st to first sc
15: 1 sc around (12sc)
16: Change to face color(cream) sc 4x’s, carry white, change to white 1 sc around(8sc) carry cream, change to cream and sc 4x’s then change to white sc for 8 stitches (12sc) End cream
17: 1 sc around with white (12sc)
18: Repeat row 17 (12sc) join with sl st to first sc. End off (stuff)
Beard – with white join to first of 5 front loop sc
19: sc in each front loop (5sc) ch 1 turn
20: decrease over next 2sc, 1sc, decrease over next 2sc (3sc) ch 1 turn
21: decrease over next 2sc, 1sc (2sc) ch 1 turn
22: dec over next 2sc (1sc) end off and stuff.
Join with Red in any st with a sc
23: 1 sc around (12sc)
24: decrease over next 2sc, 1sc around to the end. (stuff) end with a point. End off.

You can sew on a bead to the belt and add cross-stitch some eyes or glue google eyes on. Make it yours!

This is adapted from this gnome here

Some more Gnome Patterns for you to try out:

From Sock Monkey Rescue copyrighted to Alicia Infanti forever

Gnorman Gnome from Happy Yellow House - Copyright © 2007 Happy Yellow House Designed by C.L. Halvorson

Lions Brand Gnome Pattern - First published Knit.1 Pattern Number 70592AD

I love swapping  whether it be crafts, letters, FBs, Decos, Stamps, Stickers, etc... You get the picture. I am currently hosting 2 swaps at Swap Bot. The first 'Nice and Cozy' is a book and hot beverage swap. This one is no longer open but I am excited to see how it turns out. I'm hoping since I opened it up to newbies that everyone will be honest and send their items. The second one I'm hosting is because of my obsession with OWLS lately.

I hope to be doing swaps here as well.

Today I experimented with some stuff that I had going on in my head. The first was an owl. Well, it didn't turn out that great. It is okay but not something that can be given as a gift. I drew freehand a pattern onto some Felt and then sewed around the drawing so now it looks like a coaster. I made some eyes and then added some circle confetti for feathers. I'll try and a picture of it and share. (Remember I love crafting but it does not necessarily mean I'm good at it)

I also tried making a Teddy Bear out of felt today but that was a big mistake since right now I do not have hand sewing needles. I did it on a machine and it just turned out awful.

I love gnomes as well as Owls so I've been experimenting with making them out of felt. I remember some I used to make when My son went to Waldorf Charter School so tried some of those out. Since I don't have roving I used some cotton balls and it turned out okay. Cute but not exactly what I was looking for.