It's Been a While...

Much has been going on in my life over the past several months and unfortunately, blogging was moved to the bottom of my to do list.  My husband left his job of 15 years to tackle a new position with a company in Charleston, SC.  We will eventually be moving to Charleston after being in the Atlanta Metro area for just over 14 years.  It's a big challenge for us and we are both excited and nervous.  I too will be leaving my current job of almost 15 years in the next couple of months.  We've been making weekend trips to the lowcountry area to try to learn the city layout and look for housing.  It's been a crazy few weeks to say the least!  

Add to that the arrival of one friend's baby girl Dakota and another friend's soon-to-be baby girl Samantha, two baby showers, our vacation and the arrival of a friend from Australia who stayed with us for about 10 days, cleaning out and organizing the garage for our impending move, my birthday, and my hubby and I both being sick with a nasty stomach flu and it's been a jam-packed few months of activity.  Even with everything going on, I've still tried to make time for working on my crafts.  I've made a little more progress on my cross-stitching, my latch hook rug, and my rag wreaths (both for me and as gifts).  I've even started making fabric Christmas ornaments to give as gifts for friends and family.  I'm amazed that I've been able to get started on this a bit early this year!  I'm normally struggling to complete my craft gifts in early to mid-December!  

With everything going on, I will probably not be blogging as regularly as I would like but I'll try to pop in periodically with an update.  Happy crafting! 


P.S.  Here's a photo of my latch hook rug that is coming along very slowly and another of my baby boy "supervising" my latch hook to make sure I am doing it correctly.  I think it will be wonderful when it's finally complete. :-) 

Who Loves Candy Corn?

That sugary sweet candy that you typically only see during Halloween. The distinctive white, orange, and yellow striped, corn kernel shaped candy that reminds you of trick or treating, costumes, and Halloween parties. Who doesn’t love candy corn?!?! I love the cooler weather and beautiful colors of autumn. I love the Halloween decorations, the costume parties, and of course, candy corn. I wanted to create a fabric wreath that reminded me of this beautiful time of year.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on a large rag candy corn wreath and a candy corn fabric candle ring. Both ended up using eleven types of fabric! These will be going into my Calico Craft Designs Etsy shop but I am definitely going to have to make another one just for me. As always, let me know what you think. Feedback is always appreciated.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Rag Time!!!

I've been working on a spring/summer fabric "rag" wreath for my Calico Craft Designs Etsy shop and thought I would share a pic of my progress thus far.  Then I realized that my camera is still not linking to my computer and I'm having trouble downloading my photos.  [sigh]  I suppose this will be another post that I have to revisit in the future when I have a photo to add.  :-)  Oh well!


UPDATE AS OF 5/24/13:  I finally got the photos to download from my camera.  Yay!  Here are a couple of the wreath I have been working on.

The Weekend is Just Too Short!

This past weekend went by way too fast.  I mean, I blinked and it was practically gone.  Sometimes I really would like to go back in time and make the typical work week four days instead of five.  Three-day weekends every week would be so wonderful.  I could get so much more accomplished.  Or I could just be a bit lazier.  Either way works for me!

I spent this past Saturday at home, working on fabric wreaths for the Calico Craft Designs’ Etsy Shop.  I finished one for spring/summer that was already in progress and I started a second one that is more of a prototype.  I’m trying to combine another type of fabric into the typical “rag” wreath and it’s proving to be an interesting task.  If the prototype works out the way that I hope it will, I’ll post more about it.  If not, well…we’ll see.  I may post something anyway.  I could definitely use the feedback.

Oh, and I’ve got at least two new items for the Etsy Shop but for the first time in a very long time, I am without a camera at the moment.  I have the one that is built-in to my mobile phone but the quality is just not the same.  [sigh]  I may have to break down and borrow a friend’s camera for a few days so I can get these listed for sale.

I spent Sunday afternoon visiting with friends who have a 2-month old baby boy.  He is sooooo cute and is such a good baby.  It was a joy to spend some time with them.  I didn’t actually work on any crafts, believe it or not, but I did try to jot down a few ideas for future projects.  Maybe I’ll have to find something to do for the beautiful little boy’s room.

Yes, this weekend went by way too fast.  How did you spend your weekend?  Did you get to work on any UFOs (unfinished objects) or start something new?

Coping with Addiction

My name is Raquel and I'm a craftoholic.

They say the first step on the road to recovery is to admit you have a problem.  Well, I guess mine is crafts!  Although...I'm not so sure I'm ready to admit that I have a mild obsession with crafting.  Ok.  Maybe more than mild.  A little more anyway.

I've been crafting since I was a young child but I'm not going to tell you how long ago that was!  Let's just say...it's been a few years.  My mom is a very creative person and she passed along her love for cross-stitching, drawing, and general crafts to me.  I just wish I could draw.  LOL.  I began cross-stitching at age 4 and finished my first sizable piece in the 1st grade as a class show-and-tell project.  It was a small puppy and I still think I have that piece somewhere in the house.  Hmmm...may have to look for it.

As I got older, I still cross-stitched, but I started looking for other projects to work on.  I began working with photography, taking photos of everything.  I became our family's unofficial photographer because I always had a camera in my hand during special occasions, vacations, and events.  Now that I think about it...I still do that even today.  LOL!

In high school, I started making my own scrapbooks using those old photo albums with the "sticky" pages and plastic film that held the photos and items in place.  As the art of scrapbooking caught on to the public and became much, much wider spread, I developed a love for all of the wonderful new products and began capturing all of life's moments into album after album.  My bookshelves are full.

During my college years and into the adult working life of my early 20s, I fell away from cross-stitching and crafting in general.  I did, however, continue to work with my photography.  I fell in love, married a wonderful man, and settled into a routine.  It was at this time that I started exploring crafting once more.

Over the years, I taught myself to crochet, at least the basic scarf, and to complete beautiful embroidery work called Hardanger.  I am by no means an expert in either craft but I enjoy keeping up with basic stitches.  I've taken classes in quilting and I've finished a few pieces in stained glasswork.  I even created fused glass necklaces for Christmas gifts a couple of years ago.  My latest projects have been working with fabric and deco mesh to create beautiful holiday and seasonal wreaths.

Today, I am the owner and designer of Calico Craft Designs, a small Etsy-based storefront that currently focuses on fabric "rag" wreaths and candle-rings.  I am also exploring the possibility of adding deco mesh wreaths to the shop as well as many other small craft items.

So, I am Raquel and I am a craftoholic.  And, I'm truly ok with that and wouldn't have it any other way!