What I'm Working on Wednesday

It seems I've taken a bit of a blogging break -- quite unintentionally. I have been keeping quite busy, but not finishing anything worth blogging about! Today, I have several projects in progress:

Embroidery

I'm currently working on some custom embroidery for a Christmas stocking order for my shop. I do all my embroidery by hand, so it is time consuming, but I love the way it turns out.

Fairy Tale Craft

I am in charge of this week's Fairy Tale Friday in my son's first grade class. I'm doing The Emperor's New Clothes and I'm cutting all the pieces they'll need to create some new outfits for the Emperor. I'm planning a more detailed post about this in the near future.

Days for Girls

In preparation for my upcoming Days for Girls Sewing Day, I am cutting as many pieces as I can. If you're interested in finding out more about my Sewing Day, check out this post. If you want to know more about Days for Girls, check out their website.

Reading

And of course, I'm always reading whenever I find (or make) a spare moment. I just finished up The Darkening Field by William Ryan. This week's selection is Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. Another book review post will be coming next week!

What are you working on this week?

What I'm Working On Wednesday

Today, I'm working on a couple of things:

Etsy Shop Production

I've kind of let my Etsy shop sit dormant for a while because I haven't had a lot of sales. I even considered closing up shop, but just this week I decided I'd like to give it another try. So I've start mass-producing Christmas stockings to get them listed later this week. If you're in the market for new stockings this year, keep an eye out for my new inventory. And I'm always happy to do custom orders and may even offer custom embroidery.

Cub Scout Arrow of Light Awards

I only have two weeks to finish up the Arrow of Light awards I've started on. Come see the hand painted plaques I made in this post. This week, I'm working on putting together each boy's award arrow to hang below his plaque. I'm using arrow kits I found at Nature-Watch. I like these arrow kits better than the ones at the Scout shop because these ones have stone arrowheads. I'll post an update once they are finished so you can see the final product.

Organizing a Days for Girls Sewing Event

I am the team leader for the South Jordan, Utah team for Days for Girls International. In September, I'm hosting a sewing day for anyone who wants to help! If you're in the Salt Lake City area, come sew with us! See the event details & RSVP on Facebook here. If you're not in the area, but still interested in helping out Days for Girls International, check out their website and find a chapter or team near you!

What are you working on today?

New Product Line

I am so excited to be introducing a new product line into my Etsy shop this week: boys' vests! As part of this unveiling, my talented graphic designer hubby, Dave has helped me redesign my blog and shop to reflect my broadening range of products.

Here is a sneak peak at the vests that I will be listing in the next few days:

Aqua Gingham

Spring Plaid

Charcoal Herringbone Check

I plan to offer vests in a variety of sizes and prints, so be sure to stop by the shop later on this week to see them all! And don't forget to take advantage of my spring sale going on through the end of April (coupon code: SPRING10)!

Christmas at Hot Commodity Home

I used to be the person who was disgusted to see Christmas stuff out before Thanksgiving. Now that I have kids, I understand a bit better. And now that I have an Etsy shop, I understand even more. Some things take time so it helps to start early.

I am attempting to get a jump on the holiday shopping scene by listing Christmas items now, so I thought I'd post some of the items I'm working on. Click on any image to be taken to the listing. Please click through to my shop, browse my listings, and "favorite" the items you like to help spread the word!

Halloween Sale!

SALE!

Etsy Shop Shameless Plug

Hey! Did you know I have a shop on Etsy? Well, I do, and you should check it out and tell everyone you know about it.

For a new semi-regular feature on my blog, I will be posting some of the items that are currently listed in my shop so everyone can see how awesome they are even if they don't click over to Etsy.

"Welcome Blue Moon" 14 Inch Wreath

"Denim Scallop" 12 Inch Wreath

"Hi There Warm Days" 12 Inch Wreath

Gold Swirls Quilted Stocking

"Hello Canary" 12 Inch Wreath

"Welcome Red Zippy" 12 Inch Wreath

"Happiness Overflows" Pride & Prejudice Stitched Lit

"Summer Spritz" 14 Inch Wreath

"Welcome Purple Glitz" 12 Inch Wreath

I am currently working on making and listing holiday items, so many of my summer items are on clearance. Come and check it out!

4th of July Craft Roundup

I have a hard time finding 4th of July decorations that I like. I often feel like patriotic decorations are too over-the-top for my tastes. So during the summer, our house is a little drab. In order to remedy this, I decided to put together a round-up of cute patriotic decorations that appeal to those like me.

Patriotic Paper Flowers from Live Laugh Rowe

Kelly at Live Laugh Rowe provides a great tutorial for crafting these fun and easy flowers. I love the variety of patterns she uses so that they are not just an explosion of stars and stripes.

Patchwork Watering Can from Little Pumpkin Grace

I'm not sure if Jessica at Little Pumpkin Grace made this watering can herself, but I absolutely love it. It looks like it could be a pretty easy mod podge project with either fabric or scrapbook paper.

4th of July Flag from Around and Again

Chelsea at Around and Again created this amazing 4th of July flag and she's nice enough to show us how she did it. It looks like a challenging sewing project to get the state shapes right, but the result looks like it is worth the effort!

Wooden Firecrackers from My Repurposed Life

I love that Gail at My Repurposed Life has combined the patriotic colors and shapes to create decorative wooden fire crackers. The tutorial looks very easy, too!

Liberty Wreath from Hot Commodity Home

Yep, this one is mine! I had a lot of fun putting this together using an extruded foam wreath form, strips of fabric, and wooden shapes. A great front door decoration!

4th of July Jeans from Crafty Lady Lindsay

Lindsay at Crafty Lady Lindsay gives a very nice tutorial on how to transform some old short jeans into fun and festive capris. I adore the ruffled hem!

God Bless America Printable from Landee See Landee Do

Landee definitely got this right! And even though the printable is two years old, it is still so current. I have big plans to print this out and frame it for a fast and easy decoration!

{Linked on The Owl's Skull, New Nostalgia, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Hickory Trail, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Today's Creative Blog, VMG206, Ladybug Blessings, Him and Her, Romance on a Dime, Nap-Time Creations, Inside BruCrew Life, Cedar Hill Ranch, Coastal Charm, Someday Crafts, Daisy Cottage Designs, We Like To Learn As We Go, This Girl's Life, DIY Craft Projects, Handy Man Crafty Woman, Trendy Treehouse, Content in the Meantime, Mostly Homemade Mom, Lil' Luna, Sugar and Dots}

I'm a Sponsor!

I am excited to announce that I am a sponsor for One Artsy Mama's One Crafty Contest this year! Check out her page to see how to enter the contest and to see all the other great sponsors. I will be donating a free wreath as one of the prizes. I'm also thinking of entering the contest, but I'm waiting a couple of days to size up the competition.

Either way, it should make for a fun month and I can't wait to see all the projects people submit!

Mother's Day Sale!

I am hosting a Mother's Day Sale in my Etsy shop! Come visit from now until May 11 and get $5 off a $15 purchase. I will be unveiling several new summertime wreaths in the next couple of days.