What a Wonderful Year!

As the year ends, many of us can't help but think about the beginning and all the lovely, and sometimes not so lovely, things that have happened in between. I just would like to take an opportunity to revisit some of my memories from the last year!

One of the biggest things this year, was starting my own business!!I am now the proud owner of chelseaMADE!  My blogging skills could use some help, and there's a lot of things I hope to achieve with it in the future, but for just starting, I'm proud of it, and I can't wait to watch it grow! :] I'm proud of the 47 posts I've made and hope I'll do even better in the incoming new year!

This year I saw my first EVER college 4.0! I couldn't be prouder of myself! Definitely one of my greatest accomplishments!

In the last year I got to take part in two awesome shows with The Dragon's Den Players at TU.

One being Get Witch Quick, as an old women hybrid of two parts (we had to cut a female during production and I took on her lines as well, in my role of "Miss Wisk")

and Exit the Body as Jenny, a ditsy, and sometimes rude house maid, with a secret of her own at the end of the show ;]

My sisters and I also all donated our hair this year in honor of our aunt Rhonda! Who we all love and miss everyday <3

Last, but definitely not least, I started my last year of Undergrad classes. One part of me is shouting, "YES! I'm finally a senior! look at me, I'm educated and about to be released on the world! BEWARE!" and the other part is wanting to crawl back in bed and hide from the incoming next year as I think "holy crap...I'm graduating next year, but I just started....where did all the time go?! I  want a do over! I'm not ready yet! "

So many opportunities have come and gone, and through the years I've readily jumped at some, while eagerly, and sometimes disappointingly passed on others. I know a lot of the decisions I made in my first two years sometimes weren't possibly the ones I should of chosen, they led me to disappoint, and missed opportunities, and honestly if I could have pulled my head out of my butt I probably wouldn't have made them. When I got to school, I wasn't ready, still looking at my Junior year I wasn't ready. Everything scared me, and the person I was then, just didn't enjoy college. Some people college is the best time of their lives, but for me, even though I was the typical age of 18, college just wasn't for me. I look back now and think, if I could start college as I am now, I'd have fun. I've grown into myself, and at the same time I know there's still plenty of room to grow, and I can't help but be excited for that. But now I'm almost done, and I am an adult. I have bills, and responsibilities, and a scary unknown future that's coming at me fast. I just wish I could of known then, what I know now, so that I could of enjoyed my time spent here more to the fullest.  Yet, even though I look back and think that there is so many things I wish I had done differently, opportunities I wish I had passed on, so I could of jumped on others, chances I never took, and chances I definitely shouldn't have taken, I'd have to say, if given the chance, I'd be too scared to change a thing.

I wish I would of experienced less of what I did, and more of what I hadn't, I wish I would of taken opportunities and studied abroad and seen the world, I wish I would of stressed less, and realized what was really important, and simply just have fun. But even though I'm terrified of what the next few years could bring, whether Vincenso and I will be in Tiffin the next few years, or whether we'll be relocating, whether I'll get into the grad program my hearts set on, and many other scary chances and decisions I'll face, I'm happy I'll get to face them with him<3 As cheesy and hopeless romantic as that sounds, that's the only thing that can ever help me take a moment and just BREATHE, knowing what ever comes, or doesn't come, I'll be okay, and thankfully, he'll be there to hold my hand the whole way,

  and THAT'S why I'd be too scared to change anything from my past, in fear that I might not have met him <3

(note: I would of posted another picture, perhaps one with more clothing then swimsuits... but this is the only one we have from when we met and that was just such a perfect day.)

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2012 Resolution Update

If any of you started reading my blog way back in January of this year, or have just browsed through the past posts since you've started reading, you'd know that this year I had made a resolution to myself. I wanted to create at least, 52 different projects within 52 weeks. Giving the fact that my store hold 50 items, and I've sold many outside of my store, and I have too many products to list in my store still, I'd say my resolution was a success! :]! Im young, so I haven't made very many resolutions, and as far as the ones I can remember making, this is the first time I have ever succeeded! I did really well in my own opinion. I'd love to show you every piece I made this year, since I failed at post each product/project like I had hoped I'd have time for, but that would just be photograph OVERLOAD! and not only do I not have pictures of every single item, but I also just don't have the time to do the editing and uploading of every thing I've made this year.  So instead, I'll direct you to my website, where you can check out a lot of items that didn't make it to the blog this year, as well as my instagram (refer to the instagram page on the blog, or view a few recent images to the right in my instagram widget ...)

Now instead of leaving you completely high and dry when it comes to images, I thought id share my favorite item of this year, that many have complimented, and my own aunt actually ended up purchasing from me at my first craft show :]

It was a beautifully hand crocheted cowl done in an absolutely GORGEOUS grey yarn that was just to die for! So incredibly soft, I almost kept the item for my self, but I figured it was so beautiful, it needed to go in the store so that people that can't DIY, could enjoy something beautiful too <3

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Christmas and New Years Vacation

I just wanted to thank everyone on such a lovely year, I'm proud of my 8 followers! Thank you for following my blog and my journey through starting a small business, and my resolution of 52 projects in 52 weeks. I know I did well over 52 projects, and you can look forward to a post that recaptures some of the excitement from my resolution!

That being said, Christmas is about giving, and spending time with your loved ones! I'm choosing to "go on vacation" from the blog, and the store, and working from now till the new year so that I can spend some much needed time with my family and loved ones.

I'm wishing you all a very happy holidays, and hope you're as excited as I am to start a new year with such exciting things to look forward to! God bless!

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Aftermath of Winter Wonderland event post

After doing so well in our first craft show, I guess we had too high of hopes going into the second craft show.  We both only sold ONE item a piece. ONE! Excuse my languange, but WHAT THE HECK! lol. I did secure a few emails though for the email list I'm building for announcements such as new product lines, sales, and events that I have coming up. So that was a positive I suppose! But with what a disaster this event was, I definitely learned a lot.

Possibly the most important point to mention is:

RESEARCH YOUR VENUE!!!

Dalana and I are new to this, like I said, this was only our second event. That being mentioned, the fact that this was the FIRST Winter Wonderland event for a craft show, didn't concern me till probably the day or two before. This event was one of the many that Dalana had found and I guess neither one of thought about it, but I'll definitely think twice before joining a first time craft show again. The event coordinators just didn't seem to have enough advertisement for the show, we found that very few people knew that there was a show, and the people that had come for other event activities weren't interested in shopping around the stalls.

A second note would be perceptive about your booth area allowance.

BOOTH SIZE

They gave us what number of tables they recommended, and we just went with it. Not only was the space not big enough for the two of us, but the tables they suggested for one booth, was too many for a proper set up in the amount of space. Possibly another note for this area would be to really brainstorm on how to properly display your items, the mix up with the booth size and tables threw me for a loop, and then I had some difficulty trying to display my items in a nice way to show off all their beauty! I am definitely going to spend more time preparing and possibly making a few custom display pieces for my works.



On another note, I'd like to say a few words on generosity.

The booth next to ours was a family, their mom baked cookies, and the father and kids sold them at various shows like the one I attended. The first night the boy came over several times looking through all our items and finally I asked him if he was looking for something special. The darling child was looking for a present for his little sister. Naturally Dalana and I set out to help him then. He settled on a headband from Dalana and went back to his booth while we just stood their, warmed by such a loving action by such a small child. The next day, As I set up the booth, the little girl had come to help her family, but ended up over in my booth keeping me company while she played dress up with some of the items. Of course she was absolutely adorable, and warmed my heart just as much as her brother had the night before. Over the next couple hours I noticed she became hooked on my elf hat, and kept asking her father for money to buy it. Knowing her brother bought her an item the day before the dad kept declining. The night went so terribly slow I ended up packing up an hour early, but I found myself avoiding packing that elf hat she had her heart set on. So I decided to quietly slip it to her father without her knowing so she could be surprised Christmas morning. Being as sweet as his children were, he kept trying to get me to take money for the item, but I couldn't, my heart was set on giving that little girl a special surprise on Christmas, and after refusing money several times, I decided to let him talk me into taking a set of sugar cookies as a trade. I figured why not? His son can have another gift for his baby sister, and my dad can eat himself to a tummy ache on some more sweets :]!

I know my retelling of the story doesn't nearly capture the holiday spirit, and love that we had been filled with by the presence of these two kids, but they definitely reminded me of the true meaning of Christmas, and it was beautiful to see someone so young understand the gift of giving!

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Final Exams- Blog Vacation

Hey guys, I know my posts lately have been lacking, but after Christmas I'll be able to post a few pictures from projects lately that I couldn't before, that being said, this week I'll be busy with my final exams for the Fall semester of 2012 and preparing for the winter wonderland this weekend! So i'm going on a blog vacation, and i'll be back for a little while before going on "Vacation" again for time with the family and Vincenso during Christmas.

Wishing you all good luck in whatever is keeping you busy this week!

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Winter Wonderland Event Announcement!

This week I'm announcing that chelseaMADE and StarrCreations will be at the Winter Wonderland Event!

Stop by for some lovely handmade goodies to stuff your stockings! ;]

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WIP: Magneto Hat

This week's WIP post will be short but sweet. Like I said last week, a lot of my projects the last week or two have been for orders from loved ones. So since I am avoiding accidentally spoiling someone's surprise, I'll just be writing a short post this week.

First off, last week I completed an order for a friend for her significant other :] It was a custom order Magneto hat! Definitely a little different from anything I had done in the past, but I loved the way it came out! Very proud of this little chelseaMADE goodie :] !

Also this week, chelseaMADE had to ship out its very first out of state order! Very Exciting!

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Black Friday Sale Announcement

This week I don't have a lot to show when it comes to W.I.P. I do have a few items in the works, but their custom orders for individuals I know...so the next two weeks might be scarce of pictures of W.I.P. as well just so I don't spoil anyone's surprises on accident :]
Instead though, I'm treating you all to the announcement of my Black Friday Sale :] EEEEK! YAY! hahaha! well, here it is :

There you are! 30% off of all listed items! and 10% off of custom made orders that day! YIPPEE! Hope you all take advantage of the sale!





****all custom orders are made on a first come first serve basis, depending on the influx of custom orders, will determine when you will receive your item. THANK YOU for your understanding :]

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W.I.P. - LABELING! & hairbows, necklace

Like I said last week, this week will be really quickly written as well, I've been labeling like a mad women, but I'm still not done and the show is this weekend!! AGH!!! Besides labeling, I made up the hair bows I wanted to do. I'm thinking about trying to order some headbands and putting some of the bows on headbands instead of hair clips. We'll just have to see if I can get my hands on any before the show. I also made a necklace this week. Besides that, I've just been doing homework and trying to prepare and make list after list, after list, of stuff I need to do, I need to bring, and stuff not to forgot for the craft show. Hopefully after this weekend I'll have good news on how the show went! Ta ta for now!

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W.I.P. - cupcake bags, more bow rings, and more labeling!

This week's post is probably going to be rather short on writing, and little picture heavy, I've just got so much  homework, and a TON to do before the show on the 17th. So I'd rather spend my time working then writing a post this week. My apologies. Next Wednesday will probably be the same as well. I'm sorry, there really is just so much I still want to do before the show.

This week I worked more on my cupcake bag pattern. I started one awhile ago, but then had started to run out of yarn before I had the strap finished. Searched all over the place for a matching shade and just couldn't find it. Then realized my small leftover was plenty to make the strap and then re-created the project again with a pink color instead of purple. I also finished the 30 different colored bow rings I wanted to make before the show as well. I started making a few button wrap bracelets, and of course I'm still working on the huge pile of products that still need labels!

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W.I.P. - rain bow cowl, and labeling

This week is tech week, so I've been rather busy, and very anxious about the play this weekend. YIKES! Still I've managed to work on a few things this week.

 First off, I've been trying to access the "To Do" list before the craft show in a few weeks. I know its going to sneak up on me faster than i know it so I really need to start getting everything 100% completed. That means, ends weaved in and cut off, tags sewn on, lint rolling items, etc. So I've come up with an assembly line of need to be labeled projects organized by what thread I'm stitching the labels on with. Some need to be hand stitched, but others I'm just going to run through the sewing machine quick.

I made another cowl this week. One I've wanted to make for a long time. It's a rainbow one, I originally wanted to do a thicker infinity cowl with it, but I knew I didn't have time for that this week. So I just did a simple circle cowl. I knew I loved this one from the time I decided on the shades I wanted and had them lined up on our bed in the perfect order just waiting to jump in! :]

My other two projects this week were some bow rings and the foundation of some ear warmers :]

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W.I.P. - custom orders

This week I was working on several different custom orders. I was lucky enough to have several people take part in the birthday sale! So this week I worked on a hat, two pairs of boot cuffs, a chunky infinity scarf, and packaging. I also worked on some templates for personal notes to add to orders and cute little fold overs that I can staple on a bag for small items that do not get chelseaMADE labels sewn on.

I should of taken more pictures of the goodies while I was working through out the week, and of the packages for them. Two of my orders were from lovely ladies at my school, so I got to dress theirs up like presents since I could deliver those in person instead of via mail. Above are pictures of the order for a custom slouch hat in hot pink and the lovely soft pink green and brown cowl I made earlier this month :] You get to see it in its cute little bag, with tissue paper and the care instruction cards on top.

This picture is of both orders waiting to be delivered!

And below are my templates! I'll have to do up a bad so you can understand what the fold over things are. I just wanted something to look more professional so it looks more like it'd hang on a retail store"s shelf now :]

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W.I.P. - bootcuffs, and more scrafs

This WIP Wednesday is full of boot cuffs! I have recently fallen in love with the new fad for these lovely little accessories that are a quick fix to spruce up any outfit. I have so far made four pairs! So far on Instagram people are just loving them! I love the quick and easy feedback that Instagram allows. I don't like using a lot of social media stuff because it's hard to keep up with and I just don't have the desire to sit on social media sites all day. I always have the desire to take a quick picture and show off my most recent creations though and Instagram is perfect for that! If you have an apple product and don't have Instagram yet, this is one thing I would urge anyone to jump on the band wagon with. Its a great tool, and a fun way to keep in touch with your friends without having to find them and go through their posts, and blah blah blah. You get a quick look at their lives at the moments that they think are worth remembering. I don't know about you, but for me, its exactly what I want, a quick glance to see how you're doing, and be on my way. :]

Now, more about the bootcuffs, here are the couple styles I've designed so far.

Plain Jane lilac boot cuffs made in the most simplistic of forms
Sophisticated Spencer bootcuffs in baby blue with a darling white ribbon tied in a bow on them
Classy Scallops in a tan color and some boot cuff minies in a salmon


The other projects I've been working on have been similar to the infinity scarfs. They're much more light weight though, easy to go from outside chilly weather wrapped tightly around your neck with a jacket, to then unloop it a bit and wear it looser and lightweight as a necklace once you get to your classroom, the grocery store, or the office, etc. I also have one done in the most precious of pale pinks :]

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Birthday Sale!!!!

Today is my birthday!!!

To celebrate my birthday I am having a sale for 24 hours straight! Any purchase made through my instagram or the store, or this blog, will be given 30% off! Also, any custom order made today will be given 10% off! YAY! Hope you guys have fun celebrating with me ;]

www.zibbet.com/chelseamade

Today Vincenso and I went to a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins to carve as part of my "birthmas" celebrations as he called it :] I'm a pretty darn lucky girl! There's nothing I love more then the fall with the leaves, and pumpkins and Halloween!

I'm just terribly lucky that he loves all of these things too and we get to have a blast celebrating our birthdays with each other. Only ten days till he turns 23. Eww, what an old fart!

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photo shoot!

 It's finally here! Today was the day I've spent weeks preparing for! As you can see from the picture with the bags filled with crochet that I had LOTS AND LOTS of goodies that needed to be modeled so all of you lovely readers and my followers on instagram could find these pretties listed in my store finally! hopefully they will be up soon. If they're all up and listed by November I will feel VERY accomplished! With midterms this last week, and tech week for the play creeping up so fast I'm surprised I find the time for anything these days! Jenna was my amazing photographer like always! She's so amazing. I'm never disappointed with the pictures she takes, and there is always a TON of pictures to pick from which can be very hard sometimes as they're all so cute! She's so professional about it too. Sometimes I forget shes not just my wittle baby sister anymore and that shes a grown women going to college. YIKES. That's a hard thing to try and get use to!   

And with everything we do, there is always a bit of goofing off to go along with it ;]

Photography credit goes to miss Jenna Garza

Model credit goes to miss Jessica Baker and Theresa Beasley

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W.I.P. - infinity scarfs and business cards

This week has been pretty productive, though it doesn't seem that way compared to how many products I made. This week there was only two, but I did work more on some of those coffee cozies this week! Everything is assigned a design, so all that is left is to get stitching! 

I actually bought myself a present this week :] Well, two really ! I've been eyeballing this multi-colored skein called fruit punch forever! Finally I just said, "Chelsea, you deserve that yarn!" , and I bought it :] I also bough the tiny circle loom set from Walmart that I have been eyeballing for a while as well! These two scarfs are my recent projects that have spawned from it! 

The first is from the red heart fruit punch skein that I love. I was terribly attached to this yarn, just like the super soft fuzzy grey yarn that I made the bubble cowl out of. I knew I couldn't use the yarn on just anything,  it would have to be the PERFECT item that showed off just how beautiful this yarn was, and this scarf does it! I adore it! Absolutely adore it! The way it is dyed works just perfectly to make these perfectly matching sized rings of color throughout the infinity scarf and I just can't help falling in love with it!

The second scarf this week is also an infinity scarf made from the loom. This one uses a much more chunky style of yarn that I purchased at Jo Anne's a while back. This one went a little quicker compared to the non stop 4 days worth of free time the fruit punch one took. 

In other exciting news, this week I finally printed some quick DIY business cards printed on card stock and used my paper cutter to slice them up too! I couldn't find the file I had wanted to use on the back of them since my computer crashed, but these will do for now :]

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W.I.P. - coffee cozies, and scarfs-galore!

This week was busy busy busy!! I designed my firs coffee cozy, as well as making lots of scarfs, even finishing a WIP I've had laying around since my freshman year of college....yikes!

I'll start off with the three year old WIP! its a really simple yet classy and elegant scarf :] I uploaded two looks on Instagram and had a vote for it since I couldn't decide myself which way I wanted to go. Even though I only had two participants in the vote it helped me make up my mind even though it was a 1:1 vote ratio. I decided on the look pictured to the left. I like the simplicity of a plain long rectangular scarf since most of the items I make these days are cowls. I can't help it, they're my favorite right now :] This little darling was crocheted in a pale yellow, using a repetitive double crochet stitch. I then decided to pair it with a jumbo sized white rose broach in the front. I really like the feminine touch the rose added.






The next scarf from this week was a plain cream classic cowl. This one had a very simple stitch as well but I didn't feel the need to dress it up as it was such a nice soft texture of a yarn I wanted it to speak for itself. I have the label at home so maybe later I'll update with a note as to what brand it was and the name of the color. For now, it was soft, cream, and purchased at  Jo Anne's fabrics. The whole thing was stitched in a half double crochet.


The next picture is of the first coffee cozy I designed and finished completely :] I have about 8 more just plain colored bases done with out details sewn on or appliques made. The colors are all different, and hopefully I'll have a good image of them completed on next week's WIP Wednesday. For now, this is the only one :]




The scarf in the next picture is to die for! I just think it is absolutely gorgeous and I adore it! I bought this skein at Jo Anne's as well. I might have the skein label for this one at home too. So I'll have to check, but this yarn was also very soft and cozy. The color of the skein was a elegant fade between pinks, greens, and brown and it just worked beautifully with the pattern I made for the cowl. It was worked length wise in a connected circle vs width. The picture to the left shows a close up of the pattern.

Geez! I bet you're all thinking, when she said scarf-galore, she meant SCARF-GALORE! Hahaha :] There's only two more I swear! The next one is a custom order made by my mum! She came to visit this week and while she was in town checking out all my goodies I've made recently she decided she needed one too! or a few really, lol, but we decided to start with just one for now and make our way through her list of requests! This skein was purchased at Walmart and is also a super lovely cozy soft skein. Its colors faded rather nicely as well. I have a pet peeve sometimes when it comes to multi-colored dyed yarn because I find that many times the yarn is NOT evenly distributed color wise, and that rather bothers me. I don't want to look at the outside of the skein and think, "oh i love that!" just to take it home and have a decent amount of time into a piece to find out, eww, this yarn is NOT at all how it looked!

Last, but not least, is the Halloween inspired infinity scarf I made using orange and black yarn. It is knitted using both threads at the same time. Not much else to say about this one, just that it is super cute and you can wear it all kinds of ways! 

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