We are down to the most skittish of cats in my neighbors colony needing to be caught and taken to be fixed. The slightest breeze ruffling the trap cover sends them running. So I did a little tailoring on the scrap of sheet I use to cover the trap. I sewed seams along the backsides for a close fit, then sewed buttons and button hole elastic along the bottom so it won’t have room to billow.
Button and button hole elastic sewn on the bottom of the cover
The button hole elastic did not come this thin. When I was in a frenzy of making fabric masks and all the thin elastic was sold out, I bought thicker elastic and cut thin strips, leaving a narrow button hole band. It works quite well for this purpose.
Trap on its side showing how the button and elastic hook around the wireTrap with secured cover
I left the front part of the cover loose so it can easily be put back to set the trap, and be pulled forward when the cat is caught to help reduce freakout. The trap is also sitting closed at my neighbors house so the cats get used to seeing it (and not only seeing it when they see me).
So now that I’m back to posting things for sale on Etsy, I needed a way to organize and protect my inventory. In the past I would tuck boxes into a cupboard, but then have to rummage through the boxes when something sold. This time I bought a file box with hanging folders, and am tucking the cards and wood work into the folders and labeling.
Labeled hanging folders to organize Etsy stockA look down into the hanging folders
This should keep my inventory safe and dry (rather than on a table or counter where anything could happen), and I know where everything is!
I was hoping to make it through knitting my Grandma’s blanket without having to rip anything out. Alas, it was not to be. I missed a cable cross over row, but luckily caught it two rows later, so only had to frog it (rip rip) back two rows.
Error in the knitting
Ripping out knitting is a bit terrifying (I always think of getting a runner in pantyhose). Luckily, I learned how to make a lifeline by picking up the target row with a spare needle set. Unfortunately I didn’t look up the directions before I did it. (Here is a link to good instructions for next time.)
Picking up the good row
The mistake I made was picking up the left leg of the purl stitches instead of the right leg.
Yarn caught. Oops # 2.
The final ripped row was still threaded through the work. Rather than pull the entire skein through, I cut the yarn and made an overhand knot at the end of the row (so I can undo the knot and weave in the ends later).
Backward stitch. Oops # 3.
When I picked the the left leg of the purl stitches, it also made those stitches backwards on the needle.
Making the purl stitch from the right leg.
To make sure these stitches didn’t get twisted, I had to make my purl stitches from the back side of the loop. The knit stitches were all fine. It was an unfortunate mistake, but it is fixed now and I can continue on!
I’ve been having fun designing “little red truck” digital paintings for a friend who needs greeting cards. I’ve posted the technical bits of the digital side on my business site (https://carynscreations.com/blog/), but I thought I would go into the hand finishing here and provide some tips and tricks that I’ve found along the way.
Little Red Truck card
So the first hurdle was getting my image to print properly on my printer. When I would print from the computer, the colors would be faded and streaked. My printer has the capability to print pictures from USB, so I made my image a JPG, transferred it to USB, and printed directly from USB to printer. The print took forever to produce, but when it was done, it was glorious and imperfection free! And I print on 100% recycled card stock, which makes my heart happy.
Using an electronic cutting machine to do fancy edges
The next challenge was making a fancy cut on the front edge of the card. I bought a couple patterned scissors, but they are fiddly and are difficult to line up. So instead I designed some edges and used my Cricut to cut them. So much easier and faster than scissors or an x-acto knife.
Embossing with embossing folders without a machine
Although I have an electronic cutter, I did not want to buy an embossing machine. I discovered embossing folders and found that if you wet the paper and use a rolling pin or stick to press down on the folder, you can skip the machine. I have a modest set of four embossing folders. I need to figure a way to design and make my own, because that would just be cool.
Aging the edge
The next card improvement was aging the edge to give the card an antique look. I tried brushing the edge with a chalk ink pad, but was not pleased with the results. Instead, I broke out my water colors and used a sepia colored liquid ink. I like the effect best if I pre-wet the card edges, then carefully apply the diluted water color to the edge, so capillary action spreads the color in a pleasing way.
“Ironing” with a hot laminator
Finally, all that wetness added to do embossing and edge aging makes the cards a little warped. I found that it was easy and effective to run the cards through my hot lamination machine (without a lamination folder).
The cards, with a 100% recycled kraft brown envelope, are available for purchase on my Etsy site. If they are gone, I will make more. I do make sure that the pictures are of the actual item, rather than stating “items may vary” because I think it is important to see pictures of exactly what you are buying.
The school district bands had a concert for all their groups and a bake sale. I made up some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, wrapped them and included the recipe, and decided I needed a box, so wove one using poster board.
Cutting the base with one inch strips
I used black and white poster board to get a checkered effect, and used hot glue to keep things together. I chose to weave because I thought it would make a stronger box, which it did, slightly. I had to add a double layer to the bottom to add rigidity, but it still had some flex. For a single-day event, it worked, but it was a time investment that wasn’t worth the output. A smaller box would probably be more sturdy and be able to be reused. If I were to make one again, I would also skip the two colors, which makes it harder to finish the top without messing up the pattern.
Woven poster board box with GF chocolate chip cookies
Critters and Craft 