Heather's Weekly Gazette

Hi, Everyone!

I've really been missing blogging as a creative outlet. Time and life hasn't really allowed for much of it for a while though. Instead, I thought I'd take photos throughout the week and compile a weekly post. I hope to write about how my business is going, what I'm sewing for it, what I'm sewing for myself... you know all those WIPs (works in progress). I'm also going to share about my yarn adventures, mistakes and things I'm improving on, and UFOs (unfinished objects). Besides my crafty side I'll share with you things about life and my college experiences! Hopefully, this helps me get the juices flowing so I can share some more interesting things in the future. :)

Social Media Outlet

As with the blogging, much of my social media outlets get pushed by the wayside. I do try to keep up as often as I can though to let you all know what's going on. My Facebook page is Heather's Green Home Goods. My Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter handle is hgreenhomegoods. (As a side note: I've been on instagram for awhile. Recently something happened to my account and it was deleted! I have no idea why! I had to create a new account and start all over. Oh well, it will all work out for the best.)

Business Buzz

I've been so busy with college that I've needed to take a break. I've got 2 Etsy shops, my own .com, and I sell on Amazon. My Etsy shops and .com are on vacation and pointed towards Amazon. I have Amazon set up so I can ship them my items and they ship Amazon Prime. I'll let you know when I open everything back up again.

Business Undertakings

This week I've been taking my time sewing on some purses for a local salon. The purses are the perfect niche for this place... lots of ladies getting dolled up and checking out all the products on hand. I finished a pink purse and am working on a fun green and turquoise scallop purse. You can buy them at A Passion for Nails (& Hair!).

My Sewing Pursuits

I've been sewing on a muslin mock up of a fun new summer dress for myself. (For those that don't know, a muslin mock up is made out of cheap muslin fabric. If the pattern isn't fitting just right then corrections can be made on the muslin and transferred back to the pattern. This saves your good fabric for the final product!) On this pattern I already had to adjust the sizing up to fit and have started sewing both bodice styles. Trying on and fitting are coming soon. I really like this pattern because of the open back and I can't wait to show off my tattoos with these fun dresses!

The Yarn Alcove

I've grown a lot over the past year as a knitter. One project that I've really wanted to make was a shawl. I finally found a pattern that I love! It's called the Woodland Shawl. I'm working in a self striping fingering weight green yarn. I *think* it's Stroll Hand Painted Sock Yarn but I've had it for 2 years waiting for me to decide what to make from it and I can't find the info card for it. I started over the weekend and have knitted up to the first leaf pattern repeat. Oh, I'm loving it so far!

UFO's (unfinished objects)

I have tons of UFO's. I think I have CADD, that's Crafty Attentive Deficit Disorder for those who don't know I start a project, get bored, and start something else. My goal is to pick one of my UFO's and make some progress on it!

This week I pick my canvas log cabin project. My next step is to work part of the roof. It's a pretty big section so I'm not sure if I'll get it done this week. I'll try to work on it before I pick up my knitting since I can do both of them while watching TV in the evenings with the family. I'll update my progress next week!

Home & Other Stuff

This post is getting pretty long so I better wrap things up. Everything at home seems to be running pretty smoothly. I'm really trying to take it easy. ;) I'm on Spring Break and head back to the college grindstone next week so things will probably change. I've also been exercising and I hope to talk about what I'm training for in a future post. Until then... have a great week!

P2RL: Slime

Pinterest to Real Life: Slime

A while ago, my boys and I were getting a little bored with playdough, so I thought I'd look up something new and fun to do. What I found was Slime! This is such an easy project to create and it leaves you with hours of fun play time! 

I used equal parts glue and liquid starch. I only had the white glue on hand but you can also use the clear kind for a different look. It's also really fun to add some food coloring to the glue before mixing it with the starch (I did the other way around and it didn't mix as well). After the color and glue is mixed, stir in the starch, the whole thing will begin to solidify, and you can then take it out and work it with your hands. We had it on the cookie sheet at first while we worked in the rest of the starch to contain the mess but once it was mixed in then we could just put it right on the table with little mess. For storage, we put it in a plastic baggie, squeezed out the air, and put it in the frig. I have no idea if keeping it cold helped extend the life but after awhile the slime picked up bits and pieces of yuck and I tossed it out. So now we need to start all over... maybe with a different color! :)

At first Jameson did not want anything to do with it! He didn't like the texture but once he saw his older brother playing with it then he had to do it too!! There have been many a happy hour with the slime in our house (read: the kids were busy so mom could get something done)!

Pinterest to Real Life: Tape Road

There are some really great ideas on Pinterest. I try to not spend too much time on there because it's a time hog! But I couldn't resist doing this little activity with my boys. You can be all fancy and use black and yellow electrical tape but all I had on hand was masking tape and a black marker. I taped up the whole house... the road went into every room, around into the kitchen, living room, sewing room, etc. It was a full circle when it was finished but with lots of twists and turns and long stretches. This provided HOURS of fun and I left it down for about a week before it got too dirty and ripped up in spots. This is on my list of 'must do again someday'. :)