Weekly Roundup #1

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one, I get five cents.

 

So begins a (hopefully) weekly round up of things I love. 

 

First and foremost was last night’s episode of Supernatural! The Scooby Doo cross over had me in stitches from laughing so hard. The drawing was spot on. The voices perfect. Everything was just so. . . wonderful!

 

Next is cross stitch designer Maria Brovko. Her Hogwarts In A Bottle pattern is adorable!

I can’t wait until I can clear out enough of my to-stitch list to get this one!

 

Third is a pattern called ‘Clue Board Game‘ by PlatoSquirrel

I’ve loved playing Clue since I was about 8 years old, and this is an adorable nod to that.

 

Fourth, and last, is the affiliate company I’ve started with. (They are NOT paying me to say this in any way) shopstylecollective lets you pin items from many online stores, and has a collection on their own website from all over the web that includes clothing and accessories. You can even build widgets to put on your blog or website, and any time someone clicks a link, you get a few cents. If someone purchases from that link, you get a bit more. It’s a great way to share things you like and earn a tiny amount. More importantly, it’s free advertising for the maker/seller.

 

That’s it for this week. Until next time, SEE YA!

 

Crafting with depression

I am a crafter. I have depression. The two mix a lot. In a way, they also don’t mix. I’ll give you an example. Two days ago, I started a new pattern. It’s something that would normally take me 4 hours at most to stitch up. It’s really quick and small but with this recent bad bout of depression, I’m barely half way through it. I’ll avoid stitching on it for hours on end. It’s like I can’t bring myself to pick it up.

 

That’s been most of my life. I’ll find something I love, but when a bad bout hits, I have to force myself to do anything. Sometimes it will be so bad, I stop doing the things I love entirely. There are innumerable crafts laying around, or packed in boxes that reminded me far too much of bad times so I can’t work on them again.

 

It doesn’t help that I worry a lot. I worry about worrying before there’s anything to worry about. This time though, there’s a fair amount to worry about. I’m not going to get into some of the personal details, but let’s just say some of the people who are important to me have been busy lately, to the point that I often feel ignored and unwanted. I know I’m overreacting a bit, but it often feels like they just don’t want to talk to me. At the beginning of what I call my ‘episodes’ of depression, I throw myself into my crafting with more fervor, or I spend hours playing video games, since it helps me kind of forget my problems for a little bit. At this stage though, it’s the opposite. I either can’t get into the game or project, or it somehow keeps me thinking of the thing that’s bothering me.

 

I’m at war with my mind. Every single month I have to fight through it. Sometimes it’s only a couple days at a time. More than once, it’s been an entire month. When I finally get through it I’ll have a day or two, sometimes more, of renewed vigor. I’ll be able to finish things really quickly. I’ll get ideas for twenty new things, and might actually make some of them (or at least the patterns). But then another ‘episode’ creeps up and everything falls away so I end up spending my day staring at my computer screen, wondering what I’m going to do.

 

The only constant is answering messages from my Etsy shop. It’s the one thing I can’t pull myself away from. I want to make these potential customers happy. I want to throw myself into whatever pattern they want head first so I can focus on that for an hour or two and forget the bad. It works, but sometimes there just aren’t any orders or potential orders for days or weeks.

 

At least I try. At least i know that at some point it will get a little better, and I can finish something new.

This needs to be said

WARNING: I’m about to talk a bit about depression and expectations I had in life. If you don’t wish to read it, scroll down until you see two pictures of cats.

 

I thought about not writing this part of the post. For four days now, I’ve struggled with what to say, if anything at all. But it needs to be said. I have depression and anxiety. My home life isn’t helping. You see, I didn’t start this blog thinking it would be an outlet for me. I didn’t expect it to be wildly popular. I did expect better though. I expected better from myself. I expected a few more readers. My best performing posts this year garnered 11 views. 11. Seeing that, of course my depression and anxiety kicked in. They told me ‘what’s the point of paying for a website if you get 11 views at best? Then there’s Etsy. January and February where my best months for shop income. They blasted past my previous records. I though I’d found the way to push my shop where I wanted it to be. However, this month fell far short. Why is this all so depressing to me? Why does it bother me so much? It’s because I had dreams. I had hopes. I thought I might finally be able to move away from my bad home life this year. Everything I try seems to not be enough. Hell, a lot of it is increasing my anxiety and depression. So there’s going to be a couple changes around here. First, I won’t be offering a new free pattern every week. I’ll only add one when I come up with something I’m willing to share here. Second, I might actually start posting more. Not just about stitching, but about how my mental health is affecting my stitching. Heck, just to be pleasant, I might start a weekly roundup of things I’m enjoying. Maybe that will give me a break from all the negative in my life. Who knows. Third (and last) I’ll be posting 6 new listings a week in my Etsy store until I reach at least 100 items. Each time I list a new pattern, it will be a pdf, and a separate listing for the hard copy because I’d love to reach more people, and I know some stitchers don’t like working from digital files.

 

And now for some palate cleansing photos of my cats.

Spooky as Gamer Cat

Crookshanks lounging in his cirlce

 

On to stitching!

I worked a bit more on Witch Board. The branches are much more fun to stitch, as I see progress much more quickly. It’s going to look great when finished, but stitching those sides… It’s going to take me a while lol. Oh, and I’m stitching it on a new color of fabric I’m dying: Get Minty.

I then stated a new project. Besieged from the 2017 Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue. I left out a few things (like the line around the top and sides to make it look like a snowglobe, and the base) But I liked the way it looked, and decided to try my first hoop finish. I’m going to have to practice sewing on the backing. Mine is a train wreck lol. But hey, it works. This one was stitched on another newer color I’m dying called ‘Gargoyle’.

I’ve been working on creating more patterns and a few new products you may enjoy, but those are a ways off for now. In the mean time, as I said at the beginning of this post, I’m going to aim for 6 new listings a week, and at least 4 will be patterns every time.

 

That’s all for now. Until next time, Happy Stitching.

 

Lots to do, lots to do

I’ve done quiet a bit in the last week. I finished Evening in The Shire on Sunday, I started a new pattern, finished it, and started yet another project. I even came up with a few new patterns. But let’s start from the top. Evening in The Shire:

I love it. It’s simple yet complex. It’s mostly backstitch, but all detail. Maria Brovko, you are my new favorite designer!

I then started (and finished) a new project: Boo A Latte, which I finished as a Christmas ornament:

 

After that, I started Witch Board. Now, I love the pattern. I love how it’s turning out, but dear lord, starting the border is proving to be a long process for me. I think this may turn into one of those projects where I work on it a few times a week, but it’s not really my focus piece. Anyways, here’s what I have:

That’s all for my stitching, but I still have big news. I’ve been sitting on this for a couple months now, but I think it’s finally time to share. I’m putting together patterns for a Harry Potter-themed book. It’s not the typical book either. Oh no. It’s a book you need to stitch and put together yourself! It’s styled like a notebook, with class notes, the class schedule (you’ve seen two of those designs so far!) and drawings and doodles, just like my notebooks from my school days. Here are a couple page previews:

I’ve also decided I’m going to buy my domain. It won’t be ‘mycraftingobsessionblog’ but Witchy Woman instead, to better go with my shop. It will still have blog posts and free patterns, but hopefully I’ll be able to use it to sell some of my patterns off etsy. I’m crossing my fingers that I can get it done within the next month or two!

Speaking of free patterns. . . Today’s pattern is a simple witch hat

And today’s etsy pattern is another Golden Girls quote

Do you have any suggestions or requests for patterns? Let me know and I’d be happy to try!

 

That’s all for now. Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Can I get this finished today?

I’ve been working on Evening in The Shire so much this week that I really only have a few hours’ worth of work left on it. The bottom right corner is the only area that needs back stitching now, and I’m excited to finish it. I’m aiming to get it done before tonight’s new episode of The Walking Dead so I don’t get distracted from either one lol

 

(yeah, I messed up on the left window)

After this is done, I’m thinking of doing a small. Something that should only take a couple days at most to finish before moving on to Witch Board.

 

That’s really all there is in stitchy updates, but I was thinking of adding something different to my shop soon… This design, actually: 

Free patterns

At any rate, this week’s etsy pattern is a Golden Girls quote (the older you get the better you get) and this week’s free pattern is ‘I’m a Survivor’ in honor of those who are fighting (or have survived) breast cancer.

 

That’s all for now. Until next week, Happy Stitching!

A whole lot to show you!

First, I finished Tigerlily on Sunday:

I then started a pattern called Evening in the Shire, and promptly messed up so badly I needed to start over. Here’s what I have now: (pro tip. don’t start with the backstitching)

Yesterday I decided I wanted a quick finish, so I stitched up this week’s Etsy pattern:

But that’s not the only thing going on Etsy today! I will be offering a limited supply of kits for both this pattern, and my Strange and Unusual pattern (I’ll offer more when I can get more thread in)! Not only that, but I have new fabrics to list soon too! My Halloween fabric is returning, along with Swamp Monster, and one cut of Cauldron, and some new fabric, so watch out for those.

 

This week’s free pattern is a subversive ode to Dr. Suess

 

Now for something a little special . . . a preview of some of the patterns that will be going into my shop soon!