Nov. 30

The holiday season is starting! Pretty lights are up on all the trees downtown and there is frost on my car windows in the morning. I can also tell it is getting on winter by the attention given to my little Dala horse ornaments! Here are some of the treasuries I've been in the last week or so... definitely check out some of the other items too, there is some really good looking stuff here.

May 4

Two posts in one day? This lady must be crazy!

Or I decided how I wanted to celebrate Star Wars day... with my very first givaway! I have wanted to do something special soon anyways because I passed a little Etsy milestone with having 100 sales. I'll be sending some lucky person one of my Admiral Ackbar cards!

To enter all you have to do is
1. Leave a comment on this post
2. You could get a second entree by friending TwoHungryBlackbirds on Facebook, just leave a second comment letting me know you have.

I'll leave this contest open for anyone worldwide, and until Saturday night.

Good Luck!

April. 1

What happens when I ignore Etsy for a week? I get featured in two treasuries and the Storque! Thanks Etsy for including me in the most recent "Keep it Weird" blog post! Here are the treasuries...





I hope everyone had a lovely April 1st!

Mar. 15

On Thursday the weather is supposed to be absolutely perfect for kite flying, so I'm finally getting around to making a kite that's been on my list for a couple of years. It is using this tutorial and I'm thankful for any excuse to use up my scrap fabric. When I got my dowel rods I went ahead and bought enough for two kites so a friend can join me! I'm very excited about this prospect. I haven't been kite flying for quite some time.

Speaking of scrap fabric, how cool would it be to have this lovely vintage piece around? I have had this fabric in my favorites for quite some time and while I have no idea what I would do with it, (I would probably be too terrified to even cut into it) I think it looks amazing. Check it out here!

Mar. 11

It has been far too long since my last post, but spring break is finally upon me so I'll be better this week. Until then, here are a couple of rocking treasuries I was lucky enough to be included in.

Feb. 23

It's only been a few days since my last post but it seems like a lot has happened! I have finished my first project in my sewing class and am really enjoying the second, which is a button down blouse. I am using a great plaid I've had in my stash for a couple years now. I am ahead of the rest of my class, so I wanted to make sure to take the time and match up the plaids correctly. Hopefully it turns out well! I've been sewing up a few things here at home too, but I'll leave that for another day. I took pictures today and some were fuzzy, so I may have to redo them. I'm so excited for it to be spring! I just want to wear all of my pretty things!

Here are some treasuries I was included in this week. I love them!

Jan. 30

I'm in a treasury!



 Have I told you that some of my cards are in a couple stores around here? My tapeworm and DNA cards are at a fantastic science education store called Wild Territory and two of my Star Wars cards are in a comic book shop called Kwality Comics at about 11th and Mass.

Jan. 26

School has finally started again. I forgot how much work German was going to be, it's a good thing I have my own personal tutor living under the same roof as me! I think we are going to do the dorky thing where we put German labels on everything in the apartment. My sewing class seems like it will really start slow (it's an introductory prerequisite class) but after this first project, (a skirt) we are moving on to a button up blouse and then pants. I have never really done cuffs or that many button holes, and I've never done pants at all. I'll definitely be learning some things anyways. I'm also in a pattern making class which I hear is actually pretty difficult. Hopefully it isn't too bad though.

A day or so ago I took some pictures of a couple skirts I made. One has been up in my shop for quite a while, but I thought new pictures could do it good. The other is brand new. The pictures for it didn't turn out quite as well as I would have liked, so I might take some more on Friday.

Find it here

Find it here.

Jan. 17

Sorry for the lack of posting this week, it has been a bit stressful for me but a huge load was pulled off of my chest on Friday so I feel a lot better now. Since then I've taken a class at the Lawrence Arts Center to learn how to screen print! I really liked it and I think I might take another class in the near future. I also got some Valentines day cards out of it that are now up in my shop. They are wonderful and geeky so take a look!

Two lovely narwhals!

The new cards I've put up have printed phrases on the inside and I'm sure glad I know how to do that now. It took me a while to figure it all out but it will be so much easier from now on. I'm very thankful to have a mother who has been doing this sort of thing for years and has so many supplies I can use.

Jan. 7

I seem to be expanding on this stamping thing.... I decided to put some stamps up on my shop and they are all dinosaur related! I've been on the computer all day with these guys, so I think I'm just going to make a quick post for now with a few of my favorites.

Find it here

Find it here

Find it here

Find it here

Jan. 3

I have so many updates!

I have been recently reunited with the craft of rubber stamp carving and I am loving it. I have been a bit of a stamping fool since sales for my embroidery items have died down after the holiday. I'm so excited!

Warning: This is a slightly image heavy post. 

First off, I did one of a tiny beaked toad for the Mad Scientists of Etsy December challenge and am pretty darn pleased with him. It looks like he is having a slightly disinterested conversation, so I gave him a speech bubble.

Can be found here!

I'm also quite pleased with a couple more geeky ones: Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars and Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Find it here!

Find it here!

A couple more geeky cards are of DNA strands and the Moon!

Find it here!

Find it here!

And the last two are cute little kitties based off of cats I know. I would really like to make more stamps based off of actual cats in my life. These are Tristan and Felicity, two kitties of a friend.

Found here!

Find it here!

It's been a long day taking pictures and doing stuff on the computer, so I think I'm going to call it for now and eat some of my turkey noodle soup. Some Star Wars could definitely be in order as well. I want to do a lot more Star Wars and MST3K stamps... possibly Star Trek as well. I've also gotten some more ideas for science related stamps. I love being geeky!

If you have an idea of something YOU would like to see in stamp form, let me know!

Dec. 17

Painting By Carl Larsson

My finals are finally over and I have a whole month before I need to worry about studying or homework! I'm incredibly excited to expand my collection of little embroidered felties. I have been going through my science and zoology textbooks looking for biology-geeky inspiration goodness.

My plans for the next month are a bit intense... I am making almost all of my Christmas gifts and I really haven't started yet... oops! I also have an idea for an entree in the Mad Scientists of Etsy December challenge (topic: a tiny new species of beaked toad!)that I need to get started and finished before the end of the month.

There is some serious housework to be done as well... I've kind of let everything fly around wherever it wants to the last week or two.

Blah!

So anyways, the real topic of this post was to say that I have made a little Facebook page for myself, and I've also added a button underneath each post so you can 'like' it if you want! Become a fan and I'll update with things shop related, or are just really too awesome to not tell my friends and readers...

... I'll also update if you don't become a fan, but then you won't be able to experience the joy along with all the cool kids.

P.S.I've also updated a couple links on the side to represent the Etsy teams I'm on! I've already talked about Mad Scientists of Etsy, but I'm also a member of the Kansas City Etsy team. Gooooo team!

Dec. 11

This week has been a little crazy, but it seems to have slowed down for the weekend which is much appreciated. I had my last day of school on Thursday, so now I just have a few finals and I'm done for a month. I enrolled for ceramics classes at the Lawrence Arts Center and I'm super excited. It starts on Jan. 10th, so I'll have over a week of free time there before school starts back up again. 

I've also started using a new shampoo that I feel the need to mention. It's from this site and is all natural and in a bar! I've thought about going on a no-poo routine but have been hesitant, this seems like a good substitution. I have only been using it for a couple days, so I guess I can't really give a review of what it does to my hair, but so far it seems great. Right after washing I really feel like I need leave in conditioner (I've decided not to use conditioners while I try this out so my hair can get it's natural oil flow going) but after my hair dries it's really soft!

In shop news, I've updated again with some Dala Roosters! My grandma has a wooden dala rooster that I used to play with when I was a kid so it seemed like a natural progression to include one in my shop.

As a special bonus, until Christmas I'm offering free standard shipping on my ornaments! Check them out at Two Hungry Blackbirds!

Dec. 4

Gee wiz, so it's already December folks! I've been a busy little girl this week... I had a big test on Thursday and I have a big Microbiology project due and a final on Monday, not to mention a couple other papers and stuff for Etsy. Whew! I've started to realize that I should have made more red dala horses and less in the other colors... I haven't sold any white ones yet at all! I think those ones are pretty.

I've also added a few new things to the shop, a favorite being Star Trek communication badges!

It feels good to have geeky things in the shop.

I'm going to work on some new ideas for the shop when I'm not doing schoolwork, so be sure to check it out!

Nov. 22

Hi all, I just wanted to update a bit on some of the treasuries my shop, Two Hungry Blackbirds, has been in lately!

Weekend Browsing by ReyesRobledo

Nordic Dream by ElleMeredith

Ornamentation by littleaxe

And lastly, this one is actually linking to my other site, Spottedsushi, it's absolutely adorable though. Her shop is cute as can be as well.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by amyawalters

Check them out!

Nov. 20

Boy I've been busy! I've finished a whole bunch of ornaments and took pictures of them all yesterday and editing pictures and putting things up on my shop... whew! I just put up all of the Russian doll ornaments and am going to start working on updating with the newer ones.

Check them out here at Two Hungry Blackbirds!

I also just got back from an estate sale which was highly successful. I got four yards of a nice big lace for a dollar, a pair of snazzy scalloped gloves, some packages of stretch lace, an old handmade dress, a slip pattern, some fabric... it was a good find. I probably should have gotten some stuff that was for me to sell rather than to use, but I'm happy.

The weather here has been amazing the last couple of days! I hope everyone is having a good autumn... I'm excited for Thanksgiving!

Nov. 16

This is what my bed has looked like for the last three evenings or so...

A big ol' mess of ribbons, felt, and embroidery floss.

But look at the outcome! I'd say it's worth it, and I've been able to catch up on this season of Mythbusters while I embroider.

 

All to prepare myself for the craft show next weekend and hopefully some success in the shop!

In other news, my red dala horse ornament got to the front page of Etsy the other day! I'm super excited, especially since the season is just starting. Unfortunately it was up there at two in the morning and I didn't get any sales from it, but I got tons of favorites and views. Fingers crossed that I'll get in some more treasuries and get up there again before Christmas!

Oct. 31

I said I would have something to show for this weekend and by golly I do. No, it isn't a finished garment, but it is a little group of adorable tapir pincushions! And I really made them a couple weeks ago, but I just now took pictures of them and put them on Etsy. That counts in my book! Two are happy and one is terribly sad. Poor fella.

And of course, I've been collecting more recipes! I fully intend to make my own french toast bagels with this recipe (though I'm putting some cinnamon chips in mine) once my package is all eaten which is a whole new ballgame for me. I also have a recipe for honey wheat sandwich bread that I'm going to try out once I finish my loaf. I'll definitely document the bagels, we'll see about the other.

Oct. 16

It would seem as if I've been doing stuff since I posted last... I had my first sale (the blue pinstripe dress from this post) which is pretty exciting. I also made a couple new skirts that I posted up on my shop earlier today.

 

 It's kind of exciting to be able to sell things that I make.

The other day I was such a homemaker... I baked pumpkin applesauce muffins, and tried three new recipes! The first was guacamole because we had an extra avocado, and that turned out great on top of some black re-fried beans... yum. I'm not much of a chip person so we don't have any in the apartment, so I baked my own lime tortilla chips with some corn tortillas I had which were great too. I may need to bake them a bit longer next time though.

Then I made some breaded ravioli from some frozen ones I bought at Costco. Breaded ravioli is one of my favorite things and I'm excited to know how to make it now. I may post the recipe here soon.

Oct. 4

It has been longer since my last post than I meant... I've been busy, I promise! This weekend I went with a friend to his family reunion in Bentonsport, Iowa which was a very small town and very relaxing. He has some adorable little cousins that we played with a lot... I taught one how to throw a frisbee and take a picture with my digital camera. I believe by the end of the day she took a hundred and fifty pictures, almost all of them being either out of focus or of the floor. The things I do to entertain a cute child!

Today I picked up my sewing machine and I look forward to trying it out to make sure it's all set. I stopped by the thrift store by the sewing machine shop and came out with some sewing patterns for a quarter apiece. I think I'll only sell a few of them, the others I think could make some cute girls dresses. I need to find projects for the fabric that I have! I also have a lot of school work this week, so we'll see which one is triumphant.

I have however, been steadily uploading vintage sewing patterns onto my other Etsy shop. Take a look!