HandmadeBySandi

Meet Sandi, from Handmade By Sandi on Etsy. Her items are soft and full of love, touching, much like her story as to how her hobby became a business.

Her mom taught her how to crochet when she was a little girl. Scarves, hats, and stuffed animals for children were her specialties. In 2006 she began chemo treatments for breast cancer, inspiring her to knit caps and hats to keep warm. After her recovery she started crocheting chemo caps for cancer patients, as well as scarves, hats, and chokers for everyone - warm items that make you feel hugged!

Her talents don't stop there, she also sews and makes jewelry. The entire store is 50% off until the end of May, and in addition, you will be entered into a drawing for a gift certificate.

These are just some of the great finds in her shop:

Her Pink Ribbon Earrings raise awareness for breast cancer, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to breast cancer research.


This Shamrock Coffee Cozy would be perfect around a cup of Irish Coffee, no?


How about this Lacy Crocheted Shawl?

This is one of her famous hats - Crocheted Hat with Flower.

Sandi has a second shop, Sandi's Stash, where she sells fabric and supplies. Read about her crafts, favorite books, and other Etsy sellers on her blog.

Best Halloween Costume EVER

You don't have to know much about me to know that Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year. I love dressing up in a costume, making fun of myself, eating candy, watching scary movies, and going to a good Halloween party. The costume I wore this year has actually been an idea of mine for about three years, but between my husband having to work last year and no party to attend the year before... I had plenty of time to perfect it.

Perhaps you watch Family Guy and have seen one of the few scenes where Peter gets in a random fist fight with the giant yellow chicken? It all began when the chicken outside gave him an expired coupon... If you are not familiar, here is a clip. Keep in mind it could probably rated somewhere between PG and PG-13.

That's right. Most people with a Peter Griffin mask would have gone as Peter and Lois, but not us. We were Peter and the Chicken. Well, of course I needed a chicken mask. But not just any chicken mask - one with some cuts and bruises, so naturally I turned to Etsy. In my search I stumbled upon Roses7184 who makes hats and stuffed animal plushies. I sent her a picture the Family Guy bird and a write up on what I was interested in and she was happy to help!

The hat came out better than expected, and I had high expectations! Some cuts, some blood.... a beak, comb, and mouth big enough to eat and drink out of... I got so many compliments and I proudly stated, "I had it custom made for me."






So, if you need a good custom Halloween costume hat made for you next year, I highly recommend Roses 7184!



Best. Costume. Ever.

Made by Melissa

After looking through MadeByMelissa's Etsy Shop you may be left wondering if there is anything that she can't make! From toys to jewelry, dishcloths to afghans, she can do it all! Although she may make similar stuff sometimes, its never exactly the same as anything else that she's created - everything is unique. After reading her profile, I see we have quite a bit in common. We are the same age and both have full time jobs in a scientific field (hers being engineering) where our creativity is suppressed. Luckily she has found the perfect creative outlets!

This Larry the Monster Chasing Ladybug toy looks much like the ones my house was inundated with earlier this fall. It's kid and baby safe.


Her beautiful Let it Snow Glass and Crystal Snowflake bracelet would be lovely in this upcoming winter season.
The Camo Baby/Todler Blanket would be perfect for a cool little boy.


As you can see, she is a lady of many talents and active in the Etsy community. Not only is she a member of the Etsy Bloggers team, but also of the EtsyKids, EtsyMoms, and EtsyNJ teams. Don't forget to check out her blog!

Enchanting Entchen

Entchen: German for Duck...

There's your German lesson for the day!

I had the pleasure of talking with Entchen this week in between her travels throughout the United States. Entchen and her husband are currently in California, but they are Switzerland natives, from a small town named Brig. They have been touring the United States and Canada for a while now.

She sells mostly crocheted items, such as this adorable cheese fondue set seen in the picture link to the left. It is her favorite item in her shop right now, and I think it's also mine! Her crocheted items can be found in her Etsy shop Entchen's Giftshop. Her items include teabag holders, hand warmers, decorations, ornaments, purses, can cozies, album covers, lotion holders, and much more! She also has a new Etsy store called Entchen's Graphics, which is dedicated to selling graphic banners, which come with a FREE avatar! She only sells her graphics once so that you are guaranteed a unique design (eh-hem, nudge, nudge, to all the Etsy Sellers)

Here is part of the Q & A session I had with Entchen:

How did you come up with the shop name Entchen?
Entchen means duck in German and I love duckies very much! I asked my husband for a name for my shop and that's what came out... :-)

Where do you get your inspiration for your items that you sell?
I get inspired by what I see while I'm traveling or by something I see on TV or on the Internet. Sometimes there's just an idea that comes to my mind and I try to create it.

What is your favorite material to work with?
Yarn is my favorite material.

What is your favorite item that you've made, whether you've sold it on Etsy, or if it was a gift, or something for yourself?
My favorite item is a black sweater I made for my husband.

Tell me about your family.
I'm happily married for almost 4 years. I grew up with my brother and my sister, which are both younger then I am.

What do you do when you are not crafting?
At the moment, my husband and I are traveling across the States, but before that I worked in Information Technology. I also like reading, watching movies, snowboarding and cooking.

How did you learn how to crochet?
I learned it from my mother, when I was a child. Later we had to crochet at school too.





Where Entchen Hangs Out:
Entchen's Gift Shop
Entchen's Graphics
Entchen's Blog

Please check out this great Etsy seller!

The Many Names of Corin

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Corin, one of my Etsy buddies. Rinny, as she' s commonly known as has many talents. She's been involved in several forms of art throughout her life. She began crocheting at the age of 8, taught by her mom and grandmother. Her first project was crocheting a rose, and she's enjoyed working with yarn, particularly textured or unusual yarn, ever since. She's most popularly known on Etsy under the alias of Knotsntangles aka knots, or tangles as I like to call her. This shop features crocheted blankets, hats, scarves, and handbags.



Her love of graphic design, which she got involved in about 7 years ago and later chose that as her career path, inspired her to open a second Etsy shop called Kersplat. Here she sells her custom and pre-made avatars and banners, as well as photos. However, she still loves the traditional art form of pencil on paper!


When asked which shop she liks better she replied, "Oooh, tough question. I think I get a little more enjoyment in my crocheting, because I can do whatever I want, and it's very relaxing sometimes. I love my graphic design work, but sometimes you end up having to make something to someone else's specifications, and you don't always agree."



Shown here to the right is a picture link of her favorite item that she currently has for sale, the Fuschia Dream Bag. She says, "It's gotten a lot of great feedback and it was just something I tried one day. I wanted to make a really funky bag that stood out, and I think I achieved it. It's very soft and furry, hopefully it will have a home one day."




In the picture link to the left, Rinny's friend, Kim, models a crocheted hat titled Creamy Pink Hat. Kim makes several appearanecs in Rinny's Knots n Tangles shop. She also models a Very Berry Kerchief and the Navy Blue Hat.

Rinny's all time favorite project, however, was a not-for-profit piece she did. She crocheted a baby blanket as a donation for a mother and her newborn son as a special gift.


Her other baby is Kersplat where she sells things "for your design needs." Shown here is a custom made avatar that you could purchase for your own Etsy shop!






Enough business talk! Below is the rest of the interview, regarding what she does when she's not crafting:

Where do you live?
I live in New York, born here too, moved around a lot as a child, but ended up back in NY in the end. As much as I can't stand it here, I love it too!

Who do you live with?
I live with my fiance, we recently got engaged this past August and have been living together almost 3 years. We moved into a beautiful home a couple months ago, we live in the bottom portion while our landlords live in the top, and it's just fantastic, we really lucked out :)

Tell me about your family.
Ooooh, long story, so I'll sum up. Huge family, 28 first cousins just on my mother's side. I have 1 sister and 1 step sister and 3 step brothers, all great, and my step-dad is awesome too, just a great family. Great communication and my parents have been so helpful with advice and support over the years. K, enough of the mushy stuff, heh.

Do you have pets?
I have one beta fish named Lil' Jimmy, he's quite old but the little sucker is strong, cute little thing!

What is your regular non Etsy job?
I'm a full time graphic designer for a large company, I handle all print and web material.

What do you do when you are not crafting/designing, or at work?
I'm on the computer a lot, tv, books, friends house, dinner, movies, normal stuff I guess.

Thats about all I know about her! You can learn more by visiting her at:
http://knotsntangles.etsy.com/
http://kersplat.etsy.com/
http://knotsntangles.com/

Crocheting Wire, Not as Easy as Yarn

Go Figure.

I figured I 'd give it a try. I've made two, well, three pieces so far. The first one, not quite a disaster, but a work in progress for sure. Like most my whoopsies, it will end up my own, or a gift for my mom. Certainly wouldn't charge anybody for it.

My second was a chain stitch choker with Czech glass tear drop shaped "amethyst colored" beads. The wire is a deep blue. I made it adjustable with a hook and some chain stiches without the beads. It had over a hundred hits at etsy in the first day. No purchases though.

The third is a Christmas choker. Green copper wire single stitched with red Czech beads and golden glass beads. Also adjustable using a large red bead that can feed through any single stitch. There's a picture of it in my store