Making All the Things

I don't know if you noticed this about me but... I make a lot of stuff. I love trying new crafts and experimenting with new techniques. I will try anything at least once, and sometimes I become obsessed and sometimes I just need to get it out of my head, and then I forget about it.

I have been a maker for many many years... mostly just jewelry but lately I am trying new crafts and that may have something to do with decline in jewelry sales. I get more amped up to make jewelry when I am selling it consistently however with that also is the fact that I notice I sell more jewelry when I make more jewelry and with a part time quilt shop gig, that's not always possible.

Then, there is this old dusty blog.  Ahhh poor blog.  You and I used to be the best of friends. I remember a time when I blogged every day! Those were the days.... I loved the constant connection to my followers, the conversations we would have in the comments.  In my eyes the main contributor to my poor blogs death was Instagram/Facebook. An outlet to share content in a less wordy way. More about the photos and less about the words.

So here we are.

I'm going to start sharing more of what I'm making and we are going to revitalize this baby. I know. I've said it before but I'm tired of social media. I want better content. I want to connect on a deeper level because I've lost touch with so many of my friends!

I miss my friends!

Here are the things you can expect to see on this new blog adventure. I am rebranding to Handmade by Lorelei eventually on all platforms ....

Knitting- I knit A LOT. I love it, it's keeping me sane in a world that I just don't understand anymore.
Jewelry- my passion - you'll always see me making it.
Quilting- I have this quilt shop job and being around a lot of quilters making amazing things, is rubbing off on me. So I have been quilting a bit more.
Sewing- I like sewing bags, and purses too! These will pop up here as well.
Wool Applique- My newest obsession. It's a rabbit hole I didn't want to fall down and avoided for a year- even though I was taunted every day by the beautiful colorful wool, threads, and books flowing through the quilt shop. I have succumbed and am really loving it.
Reading- I have recently started reading again and I am looking forward to posting about what I'm reading and hopefully this will open up conversations about what books you're reading.

I used to have a knitting podcast where I talked about what knitting I was doing and I stopped doing that for a few different reasons that I 'm not going to get into now... but I feel like the blog will be a better place to share my crafting .

This morning I was watching Youtube videos about cutting appliqué shapes using a Circuit machine. I need another tool like I need a hole in the head but when I was cutting out wool shapes last night with scissors, my hand was kind of hurting and that's to be expected. Shit, I have really done a number on my hands. They've done a lot that past  13 years. I don't know, maybe I should look into getting a Cricut. Maybe it's something I can utilize a coupon on.



Do you have one? Do you recommend it for certain things? Is there a specific model I should look for?  I do have hopes of creating my own appliqué designs mostly because a lot of what I'm seeing on the market is very Primitive and that's not really my style. When I google MODERN appliqué I just get a lot of Sue Spargo which is MEGA talented and very popular but not really my style either.

I love this whole process of cutting out the shapes, and layering them on a background and then embellishing the pieces with thread and embroidery stitches. Which is something amazing since I didn't really think I liked hand sewing.  I also love the instant gratification of this craft. It really doesn't take that long.