Guest Blog Spot in Indie Fixx

Today I am featured Guest Blogger on Indie Fixx! I am very excited about this opportunity!

What is Indie Fixx?
Indie Fixx is a celebration of the creativity, tenacity, and general spunky goodness that is the indie design movement. The indie design movement is made up of artists, crafters and designers who make a literal smorgasbord of delectable indie products.

What did I write about you ask?
You may remember an article I wrote a few months ago about writing our blog with search engine optimization in mind. Well I reworked this article, gave it some updates and more in depth information, and Jen at Indie Fixx published it as part of her Special Topics in Calamity Business series!


Please go check it out! And don't forget to comment!

Warm Up Your Neck!

When I went outside this morning I noticed it's definitely fall and I really should stop wearing my flip flops! And since it's time for my favourite summer accessory to be put away, that means it's time for my favourite fall/winter accessory to come out... scarves!

So, I spent some time sifting through Etsy this morning and have found some of the most wonderful handmade scarves and neck warming accessories. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!

This cowl from artish looks so warm and cozy!Like she says, it's a piece of art, for your neck!


If you haven't checked out the work of Yokoo, you really should right away! She makes really awesome, big chunky, fun scarf creations! This fat chunky neck-warming work of art in plum and ivory is my favourite!

I love to wear rectangular scarves folded on the diagonal and tied around my neck. Sort of gives a modern cowgirl kind of flair! So, when I saw this knit chunky cowl from miscusi, I fell in love! The greatest part is that it's knit from recycled yarn!

I've only recently been introduces to the world of scarflettes and I think they are so cute! I love the colours of this one, warm and girlie looking, with a hint of goth mixed in for fun with the skull embellishments! Plenox has also used a great silver button on this one!

The ribbon used throughout this hand knit cowl makes it just gorgeous! Available from rightoutloud.

And finally, my favourite of them all is this hood scarf from hathouse. The picture says it all, this piece is so darn cool looking! Not to mention, Canadian Made! eh!


Related Links
The No-Knit Scarf How-To
How To Wear Scarves Year-Round

New Camera Straps in my Shop!

I have 2 new handmade camera straps in my shop, and more coming very soon! The first one here is my new favourite! It's so dark and mysterious!

Bittyblock Winner!

Wow, when I said I would write out the entries to the Bittyblock giveaway, and draw them out of a hat, I didn't anticipate 101 entries! haha! I really shouldn't be surprised though, it's a really great prize! Thank you to everyone who entered!


And without further delay, the winner is....


Congrats to Doodlegirl, I will be contacting her right away to get her address so Charlene at Bittyblock can send over her fabulous prize!

Make this Bittyblock yours! - Giveaway

I am so pleased to announce another giveaway right here on Inspired By Hand! Bittyblock has been kind enough to give this fabulous pendant to one lucky reader!

I LOVE this pendant! Keeping it close would be a great reminder to look for the beauty and inspiration around us every day! Hanging this from your cell phone, keychain, or even around your neck would look wonderful!

All you have to do is...

1. Visit Bittyblock's Etsy Shop and take a look around.
2. Come back here and leave a comment showing us all what you favourite item from her shop is. (It's really hard to pick just one, trust me!) Please make sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

For 2 more ballots...
1. Write on your blog, or in a forum about Bittyblock's lovely pendants
2. Come back to this post and leave a comment linking back to your blog/forum entry

Contest ends Tuesday, September 23rd at 5pm EST. All the entries will be written on pieces of paper and one will be drawn at random from a hat shortly after contest closes. Winner will be notified by email. Contest open to US and Canada residents.

Sew, Pack, Ship, Sew, Pack, Ship, Sew, Pack, Ship...

As I mentioned, over the weekend I was featured on GeekSugar. This morning, or was that last night (it's all blurring together now), I was also featured on a similar French-speaking blog, Le Journal du Geek, as well as a fashion inspired blog, StyleGuru. The result of these 3 blog features has been 11 sales in 3 days, with customers spanning the United States, France, Australia, and Belgium! There's something about shipping to Paris, France, that makes me feel just fantastic!

So needles to say, tonight was full of sew, pack, ship, repeat. This picture pretty much sums up my night:

Motivation Moday - Hamilton365

Today for Motivation Monday I would like to show you this really cool photography project I came across on the weekend. The photographer, Larry Strung, from Hamilton, Ontario, is taking a portrait everyday of a different citizen of his community. The results are beautiful and inspiring. The project is called Hamilton365.

Hamilton tends to get a bit of a bad , but this project shows the individuals who make up the community and it's diversity. Capturing spirit and personality in each of the portraits, Strung shows us that Hamilton is deeper than it may appear on the surface.

Take a moment to look through some of the daily photos, be inspired and motivated by them. If you are a photographer yourself, wouldn't it be great to do something similar to this to capture the true essence of your town or city? And if you are not a photographer, I hope you can still appreciate the feeling Strung has captured in each of his portraits and it will inspire you in your creativity.

I'm on GeekSugar!

Yesterday I noticed a real spike in views to my Etsy Shop. So, I did some asking around and found out I had been featured on GeekSugar. GeekSugar is the techy branch of Sugar Inc., blogging about all things geek and chic!

I am really excited about this feature, it's the biggest exposure I have gotten since opening my shop just a few months ago! Thank you GeekSugar!

Cupcake Wallet How To

I've been putting together some "How-To's" for my day-job so I figure I might as well post them here as well. Today's How-To shows you how to make this cute little Wallet/ Business Card Holder. All you need is some felt, embroidery thread, and buttons or embellishment. You can also use a sewing machine if you have one, but hand stitching works just fine too!

Step 1
cut a piece of felt 11" x 3"










Step 2
fold each end of the felt in 2" and pin in place.










Step 3
Sew along the long edges of the piece of felt, sewing the folded edges in place. I have used a machine but had stitching would look cute, and a great option if you don't have a machine!







Step 4
This is where you get to decorate your wallet. My instructions here show a fun cupcake, but use your imagination and get creative! If you like the cupcake, cut out 2 felt shapes as shown here. Make sure they will fit on the front of your wallet! Pin pieces in place on the front of the wallet.





Step 5
Hand stitch the pieces to the front of the wallet using the embroidery thread and a needle. If you are new to hand stitching, check out this site for instructions on how to do hundreds of stitched: http://inaminuteago.com/stitchindex.html

I kept things simple and used an easy back stitch for all of my hand stitching on this project. When stitching, be sure NOT to go all the way through the pocket!


Step 6
Stitch both pieces in place and add a couple of buttons for embellishment.









Step 7
On the inside add sticky velcro pieces to both sides. To line up your velcro pieces nicely, peel the backing off both sides of the velcro with it stuck together. Stick the velcro to one side of the wallet, then close the wallet!






And here's the finished product!

The No Knit Scarf How-to

The other day "The Best of DIY" introduced me to this no-knit scarf via Martha Stewart. Martha's version, of course, is drop dead gorgeous so I had to try it myself! I think my version came out different, but still pretty funky! So here is my step-by-step, with pictures, so you too can make your own!

Step 1
Get a ball of yarn in at least "bulky" weight. The bulkier the better!









Step 2
Measure out 12 pieces of yarn. Each piece should be about 1.5 times longer than you want your completed scarf to be. (I cut mine twice as long just to be safe!)







Step 3
Separate the pieces into 4 bunches of 3.










Step 4
Tie 2 of the bunches together with a 'square knot' (Truth be told I just tied double knots however I felt like it, I'm no expert knot tier, but I'm sure you can look up this maneuver online!), leaving 6 inches of fringe at end; repeat with the other two bunches.






Step 5
Pin the knots to something sort of stable. I used a pillow.









Step 6
Knot inner 2 bunches of yarn together, spacing knot about 1 inch from existing knots.









Step 7
Now knot the outer left and outer right bunches together.









Step 8
Alternate knotting the inner and the outer bunches until you reach your desired length. End by finishing with knots on the outer bunches and leave 6 inches of fringe. Ta da!







And my final product:

Fabric, Felt, and Buttons... Oh My!

Yesterday I had the chance to make a trip to one of my favourite discount craft and fabric stores! I got 5 new fabrics for my camera straps, and some other goodies including felt, embroidery thread, and a mixed bag of buttons!

One of the things that has surprised me most since opening my Etsy shop, is that many of my customers are male. When I first opened I was hesitant to buy any "male" fabrics because I just wasn't sure that there would be a market for it, but I soon after getting a couple of requests, I realized there was. In fact, once I started using a few masculine fabrics for my straps, they were the first to sell out! Both from males, and women looking for something a little more subtle.

So with that in mind, I got a couple new bright and bold prints, but also a couple more subtle and dark prints. My favourite new print is the second one from the left here, its a tone on tone print of trees, with a really cool layered effect to give it some depth.


I also picked up some felt in a variety of funky colours, some embroidery thread, and a little bag full of hundreds of various buttons! I think I was most excited about this find! It was a ziploc back full of literally hundreds of buttons, some plain, some funky, some old, some new, some bright, some white, almost everything you could imagine....for 79 cents! I have a really cool project planned for the near future using these supplies, so watch for that coming soon!

Vacation a la Francais!

It's been a week since I posted here because I've been on vacation! I thought I might have a chance to post while I was away, but I was just so busy shooting photos, sightseeing, biking, eating, walking, and of course, relaxing! We spent a few days in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and I had a chance to shoot quite a few photos. Unfortunately I was having memory card issues the first few days, so I missed out on some great shots, but here are some of the ones I did get!

This first shot is actually my boyfriend riding BMX at the Olympic Park in Montreal.


Olympic Stadium - Montreal

Notre Dame - Montreal






Mont Royal - Montreal

On our way home we stopped at Kingston, Ontario to check out a BMX flatland contest. This is my friend Lachlan Cameron doing what he does!