One of my absolute favorite things to do is create my own patterns.  It takes a while to be able to do this, but with lots of learning you can get the hang of it.  I also find it's very rewarding to have a concept and see it unfold before your eyes. 

I start with small stuff.  I'm still working with the small stuff, too.  I'm a bit scared to start on something big quite yet.  The easiest thing I've found to do are baby shoes, which you see above.

The five above are my newest additions to the shop, too!  Aren't they just absolutely adorable?   I figured with the change of season I needed to create some warmer weather attire in the shop.  It's been really fun, and I will be adding more as I complete them -- colors and possibly styles.

What do you think?  Have any suggestions for me?

Spring is here, but it doesn't quite feel like it.  Our snow is gone, but it's cold.  Doesn't seem to bother the tulips, daffodils, and crocus though!  I'm excited for their cheery blooms in the coming weeks.

I mentioned last week I was working on some birds for the shop.  Taking pictures took a bit longer than I anticipated, so I'm sorry for the late update.  Above you'll see all the spring hatchlings that have arrived in the shop.  So far, there's a bluebird, robin, goldfinch, and well, just a cute bird!  The first three in the picture below are the ones I've recently made and the last one is just a sweet bird I originally made while playing with my bird pattern.

I'm sure you can agree that they're all super cute!  I absolutely adore them and if I could I'd keep them all for myself.  haha!  But I want you to have them, so you can adopt one of these birdies for yourself in the shop -- and be reminded of spring and summer.

I am continually updated and making this blog better.  Well, more like an organizing obsession.  Haha!  I am always finding little things I can tweak so that my readers (YOU)  can have a better experience.

One of things that I haven't be completely happy with is my photo gallery.  You can find the gallery by clicking on the far right tab on the task bar.

The photo gallery is supposed to be a place where I post pictures of all things made for the shop and not made to give my buyers (YOU) an idea of what I offer as well as show off my work in one place.

Originally, I simply had a 'photo gallery' format where all the pictures were posted on one page.  I didn't really enjoy that since most of the pictures were scattered around and unorganized.  You also had to scroll (and will have to scroll) a long ways to see the rest.

So now, I am setting up mini slide shows for specific categories.  The top left one is the baby booties as you can see in the picture!  I think it's a better format and you will most likely enjoy it, too.  It's still a work in progress, mostly because weebly isn't uploading my photos very well this week.  I'm not sure what's wrong, but I'll just have to deal with it. 

For now,  you'll get to enjoy what I've started!  I'll update as pictures load and I finish up. 

Enjoy and have a fantastic Friday everyone!

You're right, the picture on the left isn't anything knit, crochet, sewn, or crafted in anyway.  It's an inspiration for the bird toys that I'm fervently making thins week.  I've tried the cardinal already, but it doesn't look quite right in toy form yet.  ... I'm a little too embarrassed to share it either. 

However, there are quite a few other birds from my ecosystem that I will be making.  So far I've whipped up a robin and blue bird.  They're super cute and next week they should be in the shop!  Maybe I'll share a sneak peak over the weekend.

Today I've set my sights on a sweet little goldfinch.  The design is going to take a bit of work since these beautiful birds have a significant amount of interlacing color.  I'm really excited to present these toys for sale soon!

The owls have been a hit in the shop.  I have two styles: a snowy owl with a colored belly and a barn owl.

If you didn't know, I also have one sweet little birdie in the shop as well!  Not a specific kind, but ya know just a cutie little bird toy.  Check that one out in the Etsy shop for yourself.  :)

If you remembered a while ago, I made myself a large needle organizer.  Ok, it wasn't just for my needles, but it did clean up the chaos that my tools create. 

I had someone ask if I would be selling them in the shop.  At the time, I didn't think I really wanted to create any sort of organizers to sell.  I didn't have fabric either, and I'm not quite in the position to go out and buy whatever I want unless it's a special order.  That's my choice, though, right?  BUT like I said, if you ask real nice I'll make what you want how you want it.  ;)

Well, I noticed I had a bit of fabric left from my organizer and decided to whip a small one up.  The finished product is shown in these photos.  This one matches my organizer, but I've put it in my Etsy shop if you'd like it!  The beautiful thing about this smaller organizer is that it can be used for make-up items, too.  So, if you're not a crafter, but still could use an organizer like this for other things this is for you! 

I've also made up a purple and yellow organizer that can be found in the shop!  I'll have more available as I make them up.  You can always special order as well. 

Happy Organizing!

Today I'm following suit with this week's unofficial celebration of spring.  Spring doesn't officially begin until the 21st of March -- a week and two days from today.  I guess I don't really care.  If nature is starting it's warming calls with a sunny sky and melting snow (or what's left of it), I might as well join in!

Another treat I've had is watching the birds eat from our feeders.  Usually, it's just sparrows.  Lately, black capped chickadees, nuthatches, red bellied woodpecker, and of course the male cardinal.  Thankfully they aren't bothered and sometimes scare off that gang of sparrows that resides in our hedge. 

With that I bring you a tutorial for what I call the bright blower granny square.  It's one of my favorite flower granny squares.  I love the 3D flower in the middle and the fact that the second color can look like foliage if you do it right.  The video is a bit long, so either watch it in parts or you reserve some time to watch it later.   Enjoy!

I believe spring is upon us!  Well, at least where I live.  My friends and family back home got snow, we just got rain.  I feel a bit sorry for them, but since that is not where we live, not so much. 

Along with the rain I've noticed quite a few more obvious signs of spring.  On Saturday, I saw robins.  Red breast and all!  The cardinals who live in the thickets at forest around our home are singing out their mating calls.  The canes of our hedge are turning green.  Finally, my tulips and daffodils are either peaking through or have grown at least an inch or two! 

My husband and I also spent most of yesterday setting up our grow stand in the kitchen.  Last year we put it in the basement.  This year we decided that wasn't the best idea, because last year it ended up being an 'out of sight out of mind' thing and we neglected some of our young sprouts a bit.  Meaning: some plants got leggy.  :/   This year I don't want that to happen!  In addition to setting up the grow stands we sowed quite a few varieties of flowers.  They'll all take a while to germinate, so don't worry they're on schedule!  I'm excited to see little green seedlings in a week or two.  You can see our set up and more at my hubby's blog Sheltering Woods.

If you haven't noticed, even MissNissCraftworks' avatar has


With all this spring coming to fruition I thought I'd share some flower tutorials that I truly like.

I love peer sharing!  Especially when I don't have everything of mine quite ready to share.  :)  Hope you like these flowers, I sure do. 

Have you started any SPRING inspired projects?

*All photos are attributed corresponding websites*

This week has been a huge week of doing paperwork.  I've been revamping my resume and soon my cover letter.  I was informed there are a few good music positions available in the school district across the river.  The whole situation's been stressful for me.  I'm excited yet apprehensive.  Who knows if I'll even get called for an interview this time either?  *sigh* I just had to get that off my chest.

Anyway...

For a while now I've been thinking about a card for Miss Niss Craftworks.  I've actually been asked by friends if I had one so they could pass them along to others as well.  I mean, really, who is going to remember where to go just by word of mouth.  The urls are long.  The blog isn't just missnisscraftworks.com, mostly because I'm too cheap to purchase a domain name.  And for the shop, yeah, another long url. 

So, a business card was definitely a good idea!  I started designing it and posted my rough draft on the business facebook page for some critiques from my peers.  They had a lot of good advice.  Then, my aunt volunteered to pull something together for me.  It is a great mix of her and my vision.  What you see above is the final product! (minus the black edges.  That's just from my capture.)  What do you think of the design?

What are your thoughts about the use of business cards?  Do you have one?  Leave a comment below!

p.s.  I also managed to finished a few new styles of baby shoes for spring.  Keep your eyes open in the future to see more sneak peeks and when they'll show up in shop!

It's been quite a while since I've added any new items to the shop.  Mostly due to the fact that I've been putting a lot of effort into designing some new items for spring and summer.  It really does take a lot of my time... well, along with all the other things in life as well as mmm being a procrastinator.

To the left are the items I added today.  I'd say this is a little preview of them!  Go to the shop to find out more about them as well as prices. 

I'm really happy with the way these items turned out.  What do you think?

No, I'm not talking about a pudgy little two year old going through his or her 'terrible twos.'  We aren't quite ready for children at this point in life.  My hubby and I would love to enjoy our time together a bit longer before a little one of our own enters our lives. I will admit, though, our kids will have the cutest clothing items and toys I can knit, crochet, and sew!  Be jealous when that day comes, haha.

My 'twos' troubles come from my obsession with items that I need to make a matching pair.  I absolutely love hand warmers and shoes.  Only once I get one done, I really don't want to make the other!  I can't tell you how many single hand warmers I have lying around my knitting cupboard!  

Recently I've started designing some baby shoes for spring and summer.  I figure it's not going to be cold much longer and some people may not what to purchase some cozy warm booties once the weather starts to warm up.  But what do I know, I don't have children, right?  :p  

With the designing and creating of a prototype I usually don't want to make the pair.  (That is, if it turns out right.)  I really enjoy the creative process and honing my skills while doing so.  I seem to spend all my energy with my ideas that the time I'm ready to actually get down to work I'm spent.  However, I do believe there are some things we can all learn from my follies.  

-Be creative, but not all at once.  
     I tend to seize the moment and utilize all my energy in creating at one time.  By doing so, I have a lack of enthusiasm to continue with projects and actual work.

-Finish what you've started
     I suppose this is the whole premise of the article.  I don't finish what I start every single time.  It's really hard staying focused on one project for a long time!  It's mostly why I have purposely not done sweaters, vests, and large afghans on a regular basis or at all in some cases.  I personally need to stay focused and finish what I am working on before I allow my creative mind to get distracted by something else.  My husband complains a lot about my flitting spirit and mind... maybe working towards better focus will make him happier too! 

-Take a break
     I need to learn to take a break from items that have pairs.  I think it will help me put in perspective the types of projects I really do enjoy and offer me a variety.  Things I know, but of course look better in hindsight.

These three bullet points seem to just about put things right.  For me, I believe they're good points to remember.  Putting them in this blog I hope will prompt me to take my own advice more often!

Do you have any advice for my dilemma or your own faults in your crafting world?  I'd love to hear you share them in the comments below.