Thursday, December 29, 2011

Ch Ch Ch Changes

The impending new year has made me start thinking about changes. Change is inevitable. Just ask anyone in corporate America, and they'll tell you that change is one of the most talked-about subjects in the workplace. We're told to embrace it, even when it doesn't seem like it's the best thing for us.

Personally, I have a year of big changes ahead of me. Well, that's the plan anyway. Our new house should be finished within the next few months, so we'll get to move from this dark, cramped, non air conditioned, 60+ year old house we've been renting. And I can finally unpack boxes that have been packed for more than two years. It'll be like opening a bunch of Christmas and birthday presents, as I honestly can't remember all the things that are packed away (oh, I know what's in the boxes, thanks to my spreadsheet, but that doesn't mean I'm not anxious to see them in person again). I can hardly wait for that change to happen.




On the business side of things, I think it's also time for some changes. My approach to selling my handmade items, whether they be my beaded creations or the art supplies and paper goods in my other Etsy shop is, admittedly, somewhat chaotic...

  • My main focus has been on my Etsy shops, but there's an Artfire shop out there that's just costing me money every month. Sadly, Artfire doesn't pull in enough traffic to make it a worthwhile selling venue, even though their fees are so much less expensive than Etsy's. Time to close up the Artfire shop.
  • I don't focus enough on taking pictures and getting new pieces listed. I can never seem to make/take the time to photograph the pieces I've made. I need to change that practice (moving into the new house will help, because I'll actually have windows with natural light coming in instead of having to search for just the right light in this dark house).
  • I make waaaaaay too many UFOs (UnFinishedObjects). Piles of them. I need to pull them out of the UFO box and finish them. Yep, gonna work on that.
  • My poor, neglected website, another venue for which I pay a monthly fee, needs to be finished. I think I finally have a plan for it. Now I just have to execute the plan, which involves actually sitting down and working on it for predetermined amounts of time every week until it's done.
  • I have a collection of patterns for beadwoven designs that need to be finished and published. I am somewhat organized in my computer file structure, so I'm happy to report that I have a list of the designs that need to be worked on. I'm not so happy to report that the list is more than 40 items long...
  • Did you know I have a newsletter? Probably not, even though you may have signed up to receive it. That's one of the things I never got around to doing in 2011. No newsletters, even when I was running special sales or was really excited about some new thing. I'm planning to change that and publish a newsletter at least three or four times next year.
  • Facebook. Ah, the joys and frustrations of Facebook. My posting on my biz page there could be referred to as "scattergun." That needs to change, too, as Facebook seems to be a really good way to connect with both customers and fellow beadweavers.
  • I need to continue making progress (just started last week) in sorting and organizing all my beads and other supplies. I had come up with a system for my delicas, and although the concept is good, I need to redo some things to make the system more efficient and usable. My other beads and findings were a nightmare! Some still are, but I've begun making progress, sorting the bead by color into containers that are large enough to actually hold my somewhat massive collection. Naively, I had chosen those plastic shoebox sized containers for my seed beads, not realizing until it was too late that there was no possible way for me to fit all my red beads into just one shoebox. I'm in the process of moving and sorting them into larger containers.
  • And those other supplies? Cardstock, paper, envelopes, scrapbooking paper, glue sticks, tape... piles and piles of all kinds of things that need to be sorted, cut, taped, glued, photographed, and listed. I've also begun working on that, but it's a tough undertaking in this tiny space with no designated location for all of it.
  • Blogging. That would be this blog that you're reading. I don't spend nearly enough time on it, and that's another thing that needs to change. Why?
    Well, even with my sporadic posting habits, this blog still directs quite a number of people to my Etsy shop. So updating it is a worthwhile endeavor. My plan is to change from my infrequent, unscheduled posting to a weekly blog post. At least.

I'm sure there are more things I could add to this list, but I don't want to overwhelm myself before I even get started. Maybe I'll continue the list somewhere else, so I can cross things off as I accomplish them. Don't you feel nice when you can cross something off your to-do list?

Now I can cross off updating my blog for this week. :-)

Monday, December 12, 2011

Holiday Progressive Sale

It's time for a holiday sale!


Other than the discounts I've offered through the Bead Art Originals blog and discounts offered to repeat customers, I really haven't had any sales in quite a while. So it's time. :-)

I thought I'd try something a little different... a Progressive Sale. This is the best sale I've ever offered, so if you've been ogling something in my shop, this is your chance to save some money!

Here's how it works:
  • Purchase one item from my Etsy shop and receive a 10% discount.
  • Purchase two items from my Etsy shop and receive a 20% discount.
  • Purchase three or more items from my Etsy shop and receive a 30% discount on your entire order!

*** PLEASE NOTE the following important information ***

Patterns are excluded from this special sale.

In order to receive the discount, you MUST include "Progressive Sale" in the Message to Seller when you check out.

The applicable discount will be refunded to you via PayPal.

May not be combined with any other sale or coupon code.

This sale will run from now (Monday, December 12) through the end of the year!


*** Merry Christmas! ***

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Millions of Delicas...

So what do you do when you've amassed millions of Japanese Delica cylinder beads and you don't have a lot of time to do peyote? String them and crochet them into bead crochet ropes, of course!

At least that's what I've decided to do. It's not because I've given up on peyote. Nope. Not at all. But peyote requires that I spent hours sitting in a chair picking up beads one, two, or three at a time with a needle and following a pattern. Since we're in the midst of building our house right now, I'm having a hard time finding the time to dedicate to peyote. But that doesn't mean I can't gather up some delicas and string them to be crocheted!

And now, apparently, I'm on a roll.

I've made a couple of other bead crochet pieces with delicas (Sand and Stone, which is made with beautiful satin pale gold delicas and tiny 2mm jasper rounds, was one of the first).

I came across the jasper rounds last year when my husband and I were on vacation, and when I saw them next to these delicas, I knew they were meant to be together.










Then when I made Zuri using a blend I had made of opaque delicas, I immediately fell in love with what could be done with these tiny bits of glass.

This blend is made from 15 different colors - every color in the rainbow and then some! The rope has sections of blended color and other sections where I did little bits of pattern. Nothing was mapped out ahead of time - just strung on the fly - so I had no idea how some of the patterns would turn out when I did the crocheting.

That's half the fun.







Soon after I made Zuri, I used a blend of metallics to create Nuru. I lost track of how many colors and finishes are in this piece, but my guess is that there are at least 50 or 60 different beads (did I mention that I have MILLIONS of delicas? that's no exaggeration).


And now there are more of these pieces, as I've started stringing and crocheting even more blends. Since my favorite color combination is black and white, I just had to make one of those!

I haven't listed this piece yet, but I've given it the name Rufaro, which means "happiness" in the African language of Shona. At some point, I decided that these pieces should have African names - names with meanings that go with the individual pieces.










And then there's Masamba, which means "leaves and vegetables." A beautiful blend of six shades and finishes of olive green.


Link













There are more... Right now I have a mix of white, crystal, and silver beads on my crochet hook (we're traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, and bead crochet is great for road trips!). And there's a blend of beautiful blues just waiting to be started. At some point, I think there will be a red one. Maybe a purple. The possibilities are endless!

And during all of this bead crochet, my measuring spoons are finally getting some action. I'm not much of a cook (I can, but I really don't like to), and even when I do I rarely measure anything. So my spoons have been relegated to the back of the utensil drawer. When I started putting together these mixes, I thought I'd use my measuring spoons so I could have similar amounts of the different colors/shades.

And just in case you're wondering, a 54" long bead crochet rope, using 7 beads around, requires approximately 8 heaping teaspoons of delicas. :-)

Friday, October 28, 2011

Artisan Clay Fall Fashion Show Blog Hop

I didn't make it onto the Artisan Clay Design Team, but I've been a big fan of Kristie's work for a long time. The Design Team has the privilege of creating something new each month with components Kristie creates and sends to them, but this month they're doing something different that lets me play along - the Artisan Clay Fall Fashion Show Blog Hop!

Make sure to visit all the blogs, and then stop back at Kristie's blog and let her know what your favorite design or component was. You're then entered for a surprise giveaway, an Artisan Clay component for one lucky winner (giveaway ends at the end of the day). :-)

Here are a few of the pieces I've made using Kristie's components:



Thursday, October 27, 2011

Building a House Takes a Lot of Time

Don't let anyone fool you. It takes a TON of time, especially when you're doing a lot of it yourself. It's lots of fun, at least for us, but it's also a mad scramble at times to ensure that we're getting everything done when it needs to be done.

My husband's back has held up quite well during the process (he has major back issues), and even though we'd have liked to do some of the siding ourselves we hired some awesome carpenters who are working so well and so quickly that we're just going to have them do it all. I must say I'm relieved that we came to that decision. It would take us four times as long to do what they're doing, and we'd both be worn out. My job has been to paint all of the siding before it goes onto the house (we're putting a second coat of paint on after it's up), and it was all I could do sometimes to stay ahead of them. The problem wasn't so much with my getting tired of painting, but because the siding is so large and awkward I was limited in where I could put the pieces to dry. At this point I think I have enough for them to finish.

We've also picked out almost all the plumbing fixtures (the plumber has been doing all the rough-in work) and most of the lighting fixtures. It seems weird to be picking out tile for the bathrooms at this point, when we don't have any real walls (just framing) yet; but we have to have the shower figured out for the master bathroom so the plumber can do his thing. That means a trip to the tile store. We settled on cypress for the decking material, thanks to the boring bees we have around here. Boring bees are called that not because they're uninteresting but because they bore into wood. Apparently they don't like cypress, so we're going with that to ward them off.


Even with all this activity going on at the house, I've been beading whenever I can. I try to have beads strung all the time so I can crochet in the vehicle when we're driving around, and when we're at home I'm usually camped out in my chair with beads in front of me.

I managed to finish off another set of bracelets for The Laughing Dog Gallery in Vero Beach, Florida. It was fun to pull out some of my designs and bead them up in new colorways, and I'm anxious to see how well they do in the gallery.


Just as exciting as having all these cuffs in a gallery is that two projects I created are included in the newest Interweave Press eMag, Fabulous Peyote Stitch Jewelry with Crystal Accents!


The projects I created for the eMag were this crystal-edged peyote bracelet:


and these little peyote bails made to hold a crystal square:


And now I'm off! It's time to head to the tile store to try to make a decision about the tile for the master bathroom shower. There are soooooooo many choices that it's going to take awhile to finally settle on something we both like. Maybe I'll do a little browsing in magazines before we go so I have some ideas...

:-)

Friday, September 23, 2011

Lest You Think I've Been Slacking...

Building a house takes lots of time. Don't let anyone tell you differently. In addition to all the time required to research, locate, and purchase materials, there's the time involved in painting hundreds of pieces of trim and hundreds of pieces of siding. We're making good progress so far and finally have some carpenters we love - they've finished shingling the roof (54 squares), installed all the windows and doors (41 of them!), installed soffit around the entire house, and they're now starting to work on the trim. In the meantime, we've had the local fireplace shop order and install the fireplace that will provide most of the heat for the house. And now we're busy figuring out the quantities of deck materials we'll need so we can get those ordered. Whew!

Even with all of that going on, I've managed to fit in some beadweaving. I'm not going to post all the new pieces here, but I thought you might like to see some of them.

I finished a bead crochet necklace that was begun in May, using thousands of opaque delicas. This piece is named Zuri, which means "beautiful" in Swahili.


I also finished another bead crochet piece named Kaimana, which means "the power of the ocean" in Hawaiian. Kaimana is made from some of my all-time favorite beads, Czech glass seed beads with a picasso finish (which I purchased from an awesome Etsy seller named Shannon, aka beadsandbabble). Aren't these colors beautiful?


Those two pieces are by no means all I've been working on. There have been a few custom orders in the mix lately, including a pretty massive custom order for several pieces that will be going to a gallery in Florida. Here are the pieces I've made for the gallery so far, and I'm busy working on more! :-)


Oh, and that house I mentioned? Here's a fairly recent photo of that (before the windows were put in and the roof was finished). I can hardly wait until it's finished and we can move in!


What's everyone else been up to?

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

By the Numbers

As I was looking on the internet a couple of days ago for nails to use for the decks on the new house, I started to think about all the counting, adding, multiplying, and dividing I do during the course of a day. I know it's a long time ago, but I actually remember my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Wilson (one of my favorite teachers) telling us that we really needed to pay attention to math because we would use it in so many different ways. He was so right!

Math is quite prevalent in beading:

Doing peyote stitch requires measuring quantities of beads for a design, counting the beads to use in each stitch (particularly if you're doing two or three drop peyote), and measuring the length and width of the bracelet or necklace you're making to ensure a proper fit.














Bead crochet, if creating some kind of design (i.e., not just random stringing), also requires lots of counting so the beads are strung in the correct order. You also have to do some counting as you crochet to make sure you don't drop a stitch and inadvertently switch from an 8-around rope to a 7-around rope.









Right angle weave. More counting, as you're picking up a specific number of beads with each stitch. Start with four beads, then add groups of three beads to create the weave. Of course, that's just basic RAW - there are variations that use different numbers and give completely different looks to the finished work.














Herringbone, tubular herringbone. Yep. You guessed it. Counting. With herringbone, you're counting in twos most of the time, but there are variations that require you to pick up more beads. And you have to count them.

















So now it's back to counting nails... because we need to determine just how many hot dipped galvanized ring shank 3-1/4" long nails to order for our nail gun. More math: number of deck boards, number of joists, number of nails at each nailing point, plus some extras for attaching the boards we'll put around the perimeter of the deck. Oh, and we can't forget the hand rails.

Would you guess that we're going to need somewhere in the range of 7500 nails? Sheesh!

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Silencing the Muse

At what point do I admit that I cannot possibly create all the things that I envision? I guess I should consider myself lucky that I rarely run out of ideas. I rarely have anything even resembling creative block. In fact, it's usually just the opposite. My Muse is constantly talking to me, showering me with ideas for everything imaginable. And, believe it or not, there are times I just want to tell my Muse to "HUSH!"

It's even worse right now. You see, we're building a house (that's the very house you see in the photo). Now you'd think my Muse would be content to just send along ideas for the house itself -- flooring, siding, how to build the fireplace, cabinets, door styles, window styles, bathroom layouts, kitchen counters, backsplashes, tile, built-in bookshelves, deck plans, etc., etc., etc. But nooooooooooo. He/she/it somehow manages to distract me from those larger decisions and whispers in my ear about how I could use some of the discarded building materials.

Bent nails. Jewelry of some kind? Perhaps a votive holder? Maybe a wall hanging. Bird houses.

Bits of wood. Picture frames? Tiny furniture? Little creatures?

I'm not sure how to tell my Muse that I just flat out don't have the time to consider all those suggestions. I already have all these beautiful beads that are calling out to me all the time. All day. Every day. And polymer clay. A big bin of polymer clay which, thankfully, is still workable even after a couple of years of having been stored in the bin. Yarn. Lots and lots of yarn. Art supplies - pens, paper, cardstock, paint. You name it. The Muse never shuts up, so I've amassed a big collection of "stuff" to try to stop the whispering in my ear.

The sad thing is that, despite my knowing that I'll never have time to make all the things I've thought of, I'm still collecting stuff. There's a whole box of discarded, damaged, and downright cool construction materials sitting in the basement now. Just waiting to be turned into something cool.

I sure do love making stuff... like this. Serpentine Shimmer, a 6' long ndebele rope made with silver-lined metallic delicas.

Link

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

More Bead Crochet

It's fun to try new things with bead crochet, and I've been doing just that. I have so many beautiful beads in my massive stash that I have no end of inspiration - just not so much time, particularly now that we're in the midst of building a house.

Today I thought I'd show you some of my most recent bead crochet pieces and tell you about the new adventure I'm taking with one of my bead crochet heroines, Judith Bertoglio-Giffin.

One recent piece is Sawtooth Salsa, crocheted from some of my all-time favorite beads - Czech glass seed bead with a picasso finish. These are so gorgeous in person, and the size 11/0 beads make a wonderful rope (in this case, the ends are joined to create a continuous loop that can be worn as a necklace or a bracelet).

In case you're wondering where you can find these beautiful beads, check out my friend Shannon's Etsy shop: beadsandbabble
Tell her I sent you (I don't get anything for that, but it's always nice to know how people found you online, don't you think?).

Although I don't use a lot of them in my work, for some reason I have a big container filled with faux pearls (just can't resist adding to my stash, I suppose). I guess I've always figured I'd find a place for them, and I have used some; but then the idea came to me to try crocheting a graduated necklace using an assortment of different sizes.

And so was born Luscious, made from a few hundred of those faux pearls in creamy off white, very pale peach, and a lovely shade of blue. This piece had a few challenges, as working with the different size beads and the sheer heft of the faux pearls kept causing the piece to unravel. I'm not one to give up easily, though, so I figured out a solution to the unraveling.

The beads in this piece range from relatively tiny, about 1/8", to some pretty substantial pearls that are more than 1/2" in diameter.

I'm quite happy with the way it turned out, and I don't think anyone would ever guess it's bead crochet. It sure doesn't look like the lariats and necklaces I've made before.

Having crocheted with my favorite Czech seed beads and then with pearls, I thought it was time to play around with some of my other favorite beads: Japanese delicas. These little cylinder beads are absolutely wonderful for peyote work, and they give a completely different look to a bead crochet piece.

I'll admit I was being a bit lazy when I strung these... rather than designing a pattern and using a bunch of different colors/finishes of the delicas, I decided to just add some 2mm jasper rounds, spaced about 3/8" apart along the entire length of the piece. And although I was a bit lazy, there was still some counting involved in stringing the more than 5600 beads this required!

This is called Sand and Stone, for the sandy color of the satiny pale gold delicas and the natural jasper stones that spiral around the rope's entire length.

And now it's time for another bead crochet adventure. When I saw Judith Bertoglio-Giffin's Urban Stripes String Along post on Facebook, I just had to join in the fun. Judith is providing the patterns for seven 6" long sections of bead crochet, so at the end of the adventure all the participants will wind up with a 42" long rope (presuming everyone's using the same size 8/0 beads Judith is using).

You can still sign up to play along, but you have to hurry. The deadline to sign up is tomorrow. Details are on the Bead Line Studios blog.

She's already posted the first part of the pattern, and I've done what may be the most difficult task: choosing the beads! Luckily I had just ordered some size 8/0 beads, and they're perfect for this project.

Now it's time to get started stringing the first part of the pattern... and I'm thinking of doing a variation on the design using some size 10/0 delicas, because I think they have kind of an urban feel.

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Bead Crochet on the Road

I've often posted about taking bead crochet projects on the road. They're the perfect type of project for a road trip because all the beads are contained (presuming the beads have been strung on the spool of thread ahead of time). It makes it really easy to just pull out some of the thread and the crochet hook and do a little work while someone else is doing the driving.

Well, I've actually managed to finish the second iteration of Color at Play while doing REALLY short road trips -- it's only about 4 miles from our
rental house to the house we're building, so the trip takes only about 10 minutes. But in numerous 10-minute trips, and with a bit of crocheting during the evenings when I'm too exhausted to do much of anything else, I have a colorful new bead crochet rope. :-)

Now if only I could figure out how to do peyote on the road...

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Ready, Set, Crochet!

I don't post very many pictures of work in progress. It's not because I don't want to share. It's because I'm usually so anxious to actually get started creating that it doesn't even occur to me to pick up the camera and take in-progress shots.

Well, this time I thought of it. And I thought I'd share the next bead crochet rope that will come off my crochet hook... Color at Play II. It's called "II" because I already made one of these; and it was so much fun that I decided to make another one!

This is how bead crochet begins - String lots and lots of beads. In this case, there are about 25' of size 8/0 Czech glass beads strung onto the spool of thread. Then start crocheting. Crochet for a few hours, and you'll wind up with a rope. Easy peasy. And fun. :-)



** A note to those who've tried and given up on bead crochet. DON'T GIVE UP! It can be challenging to start, but it's great fun once you get the hang of it.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Paul Gauguin Inspiration

It's been awhile since I created anything for the Bead Art Originals color challenge, but since I wound up with a little bit of free time this week (thanks to the rain and waiting for building materials suppliers and Linkcontractors), I managed to create a necklace whose colors were inspired by the Paul Gauguin Tahitian Landscape (1891).

My colors are a little muted compared to the vibrant shades in the landscape, but I was happy to find these little glass leaves whose shades almost perfectly match those in the painting.

The necklace, named Cascading Leaves, is an ndebele rope (aka tubular herringbone) made from Czech glass seed beads with a picasso finish. The seed beads are honey colored and coordinate beautifully with the leaves.

I'm not sure how much free time I'll have over the next few months, but you can bet that a LOT of it will be spent with my beads! :-)

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Long Time, No Post - Back with Boots and Beads

May 18 was the date of my last post. Sheesh. I have an excuse, though... we're building a house, and since we're doing a significant amount of the work ourselves, it's been a very busy month. That, coupled with a trip to Kentucky to visit with family, hasn't left me a whole lot of time for beady endeavors. I've managed to finish some custom orders (which I love doing, because it's always fun for me to see how other peoples' colors work), made some pieces for a magazine (yay!), and have even worked on some new goodies that haven't been photographed yet.

But mostly it's been the house. Painting waterproofing compound on the foundation walls. Carrying loads of gravel to cover the foundation drain. Moving tools and supplies from here to there and back again. Shopping for building supplies. Some of it has been fun, but it's also exhausting because the temps have been in the 80s and 90s for most of the time we've been working. It makes for some very long days.

My work boots are doing their job, too. These have been with me through three other houses, so they've already done more than their share of protecting my feet and ankles (I'm a klutz and often trip over things). I did have to give them a new set of shoestrings, but I'd say they're doing pretty good for 15-year-old boots!

The rest of these pictures are some of the recent beady endeavors. Because I just have to share pictures of beady things, right? :-)

Silver Stripe in Zircon Blue Band
A shimmery, stylish bracelet made with gorgeous zircon blue triangle beads and galvanized silver delicas, topped off with a funky vintage button.


Color Burst
Made from opaque delicas in more than 15 different colors, this looks pretty random; but I made sure that no two beads of the same color wound up next to each other! :-)

Color at Play
A bead crochet rope that's fun all the way around. It's 66" long, joined with an invisible join, and crocheted from some of the brightest Czech glass beads you'll ever see!


Ashley
A fringe bracelet made with lots and lots of crystals and faux pearls. This piece was made for the Bead Mavens' Bead Soup Double Up swap, using beads I received from my swap partner.


Trevelyan
Another bead crochet rope, this one made with GORGEOUS Czech glass seed beads with a picasso finish. The name "Trevelyan" is Cornish for Homestead on the Hill, a name I chose because I crocheted a good portion of this piece on the trip to Kentucky to visit my Dad's homestead. I only wish I could have spent more time with my Dad after reuniting with him last summer.


Looks like that's going to be it for this morning... It's time to get back to work on the house. If you'd like to see pictures of the progress on the house project, check out my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/marylou.holvenstot

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

What's New, Pussycat?

Nope, I'm not channeling Tom Jones. That is who sang that song, right?

Here's what's new. Besides the design you see there on the left, I have a new blog design, just a little snazzier than the simple one I had before.

And see that new tab at the top of the page? The one that says Beading Patterns (Personal Use)? I've just set up that page to make it easier to purchase my patterns.

I know everyone loves Etsy (at least I do), but one of its shortcomings is that there's no way to automatically download a PDF file. Some of those pattern orders come in to me during the middle of [my] night, so you have to wait for me to wake up, have my latte, check my email, and then send the patterns. And sometimes the email providers are less than cooperative and cause the emails to wander out into cyberspace.

Now you don't have to wait. Just add the pattern(s) you want to your cart, then go back to the top of the page to view your cart and check out. Payment is via PayPal (you can use a credit card to pay even if you don't have a PayPal account), and after the payment is completed you'll receive an email with the link to download your pattern.

Cool, eh?
:-)

** As an added incentive, purchase your patterns via this blog between now and June 30, and receive a 30% refund (I'll send your refund to you via PayPal). That means most of the patterns will wind up being only $4.20!

Sunday, May 01, 2011

It. Is. Time. Woo.

It. Is. Time. Woo. In case you don't recognize that line, it's from one of my favorite movies, Heart and Souls.

So anyway, I've FINALLY started the process of making my peyote patterns available for Commercial Use! So many people have asked, and I decided awhile back that I was going to do it; and then my gnat-like attention span comes into play and I'm off on some other tangent.

As of this writing, I've published 54 of my peyote patterns for Personal Use; and there are about 20 more patterns that need to be written and published (that's not counting the ones I've made and never beaded). Slowly but surely, I'll get them all listed.


For anyone who's purchased one of the Personal Use Only versions and wants to upgrade, you'll only need to pay the difference in cost between the Personal Use and Commercial Use versions. And from now through May 8, I'm offering a special discounted price for anyone who wants to upgrade - $14 per pattern, a 22% discount! (So if you paid $7.50 for a Personal Use pattern, you'll be able to upgrade to the Commercial Use pattern for only $6.50.)

Don't see the listing for the pattern(s) you want? Let me know, and I'll move them up in the queue...



There are also a couple of new Personal Use patterns available... Stony Path

and Playing with Blocks.

See? I told you I was working on them! :-)