Blue Spiral Isolette Cover Quilt

This is my second quilt to donate this year. It was a lot of work. I'm not sure I'll do another one like this, but it was a lot of fun and I was able to use up a lot of small scraps and a fabric panel that didn't sell in my Etsy shop, Nelly's Quilt Room.

The center piece is a fabric panel. The surrounding fabrics were individually pieced together. About 90% of the top fabrics were donated.

The backing is flannel that was donated to me.

The fabrics donated to me for this project were given to me by employees and customers of Schrader's Fabrics by Barb.

The finished quilt measured 50 inches by 60 inches. It will be donated to my local hospital.

Monkey Growth Chart Quilt

This is my first charity quilt for this year. It was a very simple design. I feel more drawn to simple craft projects.

You'll have to tilt your head to the left, but I think you get the general idea that it's just a fabric panel with a coordinating fabric around it.

The backing fabric is flannel.

The panel was one that I had purchased a few years ago. Since, I wasn't using it for anything productive, I decided to make it into a small quilt.

The finished size of my donation quilt was 45 inches by 60 inches.

The organization it was donated to was Project Gabriel.

The fabric surrounding the panel, the backing fabric and the binding fabric were all donated to me by people who heard of my crafty philanthropy. My local quilt shop spreads the word about my efforts and people clean out their stash. Then I get to take all those scraps and have fun.

The local quilt shop that helps me out soooooo much is Schrader's Fabrics by Barb.

Without the help of the ladies at the quilt shop, constantly cleaning out their fabric stash, I would not be able to do what I do.

If you want to help support my project, hop on over to my Etsy shop, Nelly's Quilt Room

Stay tuned for more crafty wonderfulness :-)

Crafty philanthropy

2015 was so busy for me, that I didn't even post on here. wow

So 2016 is here. I'm excited for this year so far. I started doing something different last year with my Etsy shop. With the profits from my shop, I made different things for charitable causes. The main focus of 2015 was the ConKerr Cancer pillow case project. I would make a pillowcase for item I sold in my shop. In 2015, I was able to make 210 pillowcases.

2016 rolls around and I'm still gung ho with making pillowcases. Then a bomb gets dropped on me. My donation spot, Fabrics by Barb, told me that they no longer needed pillowcases made. On top of that, someone donated a bunch of fabric to me and left it at the shop.

I was left scratching my head. What the heck was I going to do with a beautiful bag of fabric wonderfulness????

I also kept thinking about the bins of yarn in my basement.

I asked around and found several places willing to take quilts and other crafts. As of now I'm currently crafting for 3 charitable causes:

Project Gabriel: This project helps out girls who decide they want to keep their baby.

My local hospital. They had a need for lap comfort quilts and isolette covers

My local PTO.  I may be awful at fund raising, but I'm great at crafting. They love my cute free crafts :-)

I may add to this list as the year goes on.

What I'll be doing this year is using my profits from my Etsy shop to get the supplies needed for making quilts and other craft goodies. I'll try to keep up with posting the pictures of projects on here so that my customers can see what their purchases help me produce.

Why bother doing this stuff?? I just enjoy being a crafty philanthropist.

Stay tuned, more crafty madness is on the way.

Shipping your craft items

So you started this super cool online business selling your nifty crafts. You've figured out all the odds and ends. The items are made, pictures taken and listings are done. Then someone buys your item... and ::gasp:: you don't know how to appropriately send it!!! Oh no!!!!!!!


I'm here to help :-)


Many items can be sent in a manila envelope. Make sure you also have CLEAR PACKING TAPE! Masking tape, duct tape or clear "magic" tape are unacceptable. They rip, tear and just don't hold up well at all during shipping.


First, measure your item. Next get a few packing envelopes. Bubble mailers are only necessary if you are mailing something that is fragile. For something like glass, I suggest first wrapping your item in bubble wrap and then placing it inside of a box to mail out.


Always wrap your item in a plastic bag of some sort if it is a fabric or yarn craft. No one likes a wet item.


For items like fabric, or something made out of fabric that are flexible, use a manila envelope.


Items like cd's, DVD's books, bars of soap, action figures can be mailed in a bubble mailer.


Glass, liquids and vinyl records should be wrapped in bubble wrap and then packed in a box. Make sure that the item cannot move in the box. You can always tape the item to the bottom of the box after it has been bubble wrapped. What's important is that it doesn't move. There's less of a chance for it to break that way.


Always recycle packaging when you can. I re-use mailing envelopes and bubble wrap all the time.
I have never had a negative reaction from this.


What you will get a negative reaction from is when your customer's items are missing because of an item being packed improperly. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you place a piece of clear packing tape over the closure of your envelopes and boxes. It doesn't matter if the envelope or box is self sealing. I can't tell you how many times I have received an incomplete item from someone just because of this. I know it's a pain to do , but trust me, that little bit of extra effort on your part will save you major frustration!


Priority shipping from the post office is nice for things that are heavy such as candles. You can fit an 8 oz candle into a flat rate bubble mailer. Of course make sure to bubble wrap it, place it in a small box, then squeeze it into the envelope and tape it up good.


If you buy your shipping labels online, please make sure to tape that label on all sides! Once again, use clear packing tape. Masking tape rips.  Washi tape will fall off. Duct tape gets gooey.  Clear "magic" tape does not hold up well in shipping. Only use clear packing tape.


One last thing, please do not smoke in the area where you pack or make your items. If your customer does not smoke, they WILL notice. That smell does not go away easily.


I hope this all helps :-)


Happy packing! If you have anything to add, feel free to comment. All comments are moderated, no need to double post. If I approve your comment, it will appear later.

REVIEW Honey Bee Holistics Organic Bee Nectar Ointment

 A few years ago I was searching for natural home made products. Things like lotions and creams that would help my dry skin as well as my baby's dry skin. That was when I stumbled upon Honey Bee Holistics on Etsy.

I was new to Etsy at the time. I had just set up my Etsy shop: Nelly's Quilt Room . 

I had asked my pediatrician about a good lotion for my baby's eczema, which kept getting worse and worse. They told me to apply a popular petroleum based cream that is sold over the counter. My kid's face looked as though he had rosacea after I put the petroleum junk on him.

I wasn't about to have my beautiful baby boy walking around looking like that!

I had already tried some of Melissa's products at Honey Bee Holistics. I had ordered her Naked Bee Lotion and some Baby Diaper Ointment. Both products were awesome! The diaper rash on my then 6 month old cleared up right away.

Melissa had told me in an e-mail before that if I ever needed any product special made to let her know. I told her about my petroleum dilemma. She gladly helped me out by creating this product: Organic Bee Nectar Ointment

After I received the product in the mail I immediately tried it on my little boy's face. The next day his face had cleared up. No more red blotches. The dry patch on his face was gone.

Since then I have been using Melissa's products all the time. They are well worth the money. I pass her business cards out to anyone who I see has skin problems.

It is also because of Melissa that I now know the healing benefits of bees wax. Melissa uses bees wax from her farm. She uses the best of the best to make her lotions and creams. She puts her heart into what she does. If it's not good enough for her little one, then you can bet that she won't put it in her products.

If you're on the fence about whether or not to get this product, you should get off the fence and get this product. It will provide relief from the cracking and scaliness and redness. You won't look like you have chemical burn on your skin. My 2 year old and 4 year old have smooth complexions and super soft skin.

REVIEW Cricut Mystery Box September 2013

I saw this mystery box on sale on the Cricut website and had to give it a shot. I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. I thought for sure that it would be junk. It turns out that I can use the items that arrived in my box. With Shipping this box cost me $40. Here's what came in the box:

tool kit

duffel bag for the Cricut Electronic Cutter

Cardstock

White Vinyl

Black Vinyl

 

Like what you see? Go to www.cricut.com

REVIEW: August 2013 Out of the Box Sampler

This is my video review for the August 2013 Out of the Box Sampler. This box costs $25, which includes shipping. It is mostly bath and body products with a few edible samples packaged separately. Well worth every cent I paid.

I'm sending in my wax tart samples for September through December. Since I'll be sending in 100 samples each month, I get a free box for each month I send in samples. It's a pretty good deal for me. My product will reach 100 potential customers. Those people will try my wax tarts in their home. You can't get much better exposure than that. To me it is well worth the effort to separately package all the wax tarts. I just make a game out of it.

Throughout the summer I go to yard sales and buy up any baggies that I can use as cute packaging. When I do finger painting with my kids, I make sure to use card stock. That same card stock is then used to make business cards to put in with my samples.

If you have a craft business, the Out of the Box Sampler is an excellent way to get your product out to your potential customers. Have fun with it.