Beading

I’m So Excited!

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / May 26, 2019 / , , , , , ,

I’ve been an Ubuntu user for several years after a laptop I bought just would not run Windows properly.

It made me get creative in a few things (using a Windows emulator to run some of my applications) and give up others (doing graphic design) because I just didn’t like the options available to me.

My laptop has pretty much died though. The battery won’t hold a charge at all and it just shuts off for no reason even while plugged in.

The solution of course was a new laptop, but I’m short on money right now, so I ended up ordering a little 11″ one that was on sale from Dell.

So what am I excited about? I’ll be able to run the software that makes designing cross stitch patterns the easiest, I’ll be able to run my Beadtool application without a Windows emulator, and I’ll have more options for graphic design software. I can’t afford Adobe Illustrator but I’ve used Corel too and it’s fairly inexpensive.

What this means is I can really get into designing things again, which means more awesome things for you!

Beading Patterns (and why they are blurred)

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / May 12, 2019 / , , , ,

So I’m sure you’ve noticed all of the images for my numerous beading patterns are blurry. There’s a reason for that, and the reason sucks.

In short, I have to blur the images because if they’re nice and clear, dishonest people steal the patterns from the product image.

I know this makes it hard to decide if you really want one of them, which is why if I have worked the pattern before, a clear photo of the finished item is added as well.

My actual pattern files are super clear and easy to read. I have several patterns available for free; I recommend you download one of those and have a look at it before buying if you’re unsure.

Here is a small sample of how my patterns really look :

And as always, happy crafting!

Huge Shop Update

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / November 20, 2018 / , , , ,

I just added a ton of new beading patterns, plus a few crochet patterns, some of which are free. Which ones are free? Click FREEBIES in the menu and you’ll see all of them.

I also created some pattern bundles, including NFL, MLP, and Halloween. These pattern bundles are at a discounted rate compared to if you bought all the patterns in a bundle individually.

There’s been a few other items added as well. Pop on by and have a look! Navigation has been made simpler too.

We’ve Made A Few Changes

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / September 12, 2015 / , , , , , , , , ,

Hello friends!

Over the last few weeks I’ve made some changes. If you’ve been to the site recently, you’ve likely seen the biggest ones right away. The most noticeable change is that I changed the way the website and shop look. I decided to go with an unmodified theme that was made especially to work with my shop software and the result is pretty good.

The second biggest thing that changed is I removed all of the graphic design portfolios from the site and am focusing purely on the shop aspect. I’ve also redone the menus to better focus on the shop and make it friendlier both on computers and on mobile devices. I haven’t been doing much graphic design and to be honest, the laptop I current have is awful and makes it nearly impossible. Less stuff = simpler to navigate.

The third thing, and this might interest you if you intend to place an order, is I got out my postal scale and I weighed almost every item in the shop and re-calculated shipping rates by the half ounce. What this means is you will get the absolute lowest possible shipping rate I can afford to give you. There is no way anyone can say my shipping rates are unfair! I hate paying too much for shipping, and I’m sure you do too.

The fourth thing is I’ve been adding new products like crazy! Your best bet is to pop by the site and see for yourself, but I’ll show you a few images from the new items here so email subscribers can get a quick peek.

There are several other new items, plus of course the other 200+ items that previously existed in the shop.

I’m planning to add more over the next week too, so pop in, have a look, and remember there is always a coupon code available. Right now and through the end of the year, that code is UKULELE for 20% off of everything. That includes sale items too!

I’ve also added a way to comment on and discuss items in my shop. You don’t have to log in or register to do it- just fill out a name, email address, and ask your question or leave a comment. Easy!

Back to Work!

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / September 23, 2015 / , , , , ,

E1I received an order yesterday for a pair of these so I spent the evening stitching them up. These and my girly skull earrings are my best sellers and I never remember to make an extra pair to have on hand. Doh!

These shipped out this morning and hopefully make someone’s daughter very happy!

I recently became enamored with the idea of learning to play the ukulele. Of course I need to get one before I can learn to play it, which means I need to make some sales. Money… There’s never enough of it!

Last Monday I took some of my jewelry items with me to pool league and I sold 3 bracelets and would have sold two pairs of earrings but we missed each other in the way out. Hopefully she still wants them next week. If she does, that will put me at about the $50 mark plus some survey money I have coming in. I found one online I think I like for  about $100 but I also made the mistake of going into a music store and falling in love with a ridiculously beautiful one that is marked at $300. I really should stick with the budget one though as I don’t even know if I’ll be any good and it’d be a shame to spend a fortune and not stick with it.

Anyway, my earrings are shipped and I’ve spent most of the afternoon doing surveys online until I could finally cash out. With the cash out I’m expecting in a few days, and hopefully the sale I should make on MOnday, I will very soon have my ukulele! I’m so excited!

Now its time for me to work on my donation to the Bark at the Park though. October will be here in no time!

New Items in the Shop! I’ve Been Busy!

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / March 13, 2015 / , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been trying to dedicate an hour a day to crafting the last few days and I feel like I am making progress. It should be easy to do something I love but sometimes it feels like work, you know? Anyway, in the last few days, I’ve completed several new quilt squares towards my quilt I may or may not ever finish, made some bracelets, crocheted a scarf, and added a bunch of new items to my shop.

Not all of the items I added to the shop were created by me- there are two pairs of earrings that were created by another artist, and some yarn I won’t be using and would like to sell. I’m hoping to add more crafting supplies as time goes on and start to clear out my stash- as of right now I’ve got sewing patterns, some yarns, and some fabrics I’m not going to use any time soon. I figure if its been in my stash for years and its still untouched, I probably don’t need it.

So, click on through to my shop, look around, and find something that strikes your fancy! I’ve got a big variety of products to chose from!

Things I’ve Been Doing

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / March 8, 2015 / , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ll let the pictures do the talking this time!

This tiny little closet space is perfect for my fabric and scrap storage! Snug as a bug! #sewing #fabric #storage #stash

A photo posted by Debra Leigh Wilson (@kittyloafdesigns) on

What I’ve Made & New Items in the Shop

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / December 10, 2014 / , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Over the last few days I’ve been making all sorts of things out of clay that were destined to be made into jewelry. Some of them I had definite ideas in my head about what I wanted to do, but others not so much. Last night and this afternoon I spent a few hours putting those ideas together. What did I end up with? Some pretty cool stuff!

7 of the 8 items pictured in the gallery above were made mostly from polymer clay. The last few days I have been making a ton of those little round, flat disks to make the bracelets, one pair of earrings, and the necklace, and I actually made too many- I still have about 50 of them left.

The two pairs of earrings at the beginning are a little different, but still polymer clay. They were so easy to make and the random splotchy designs are a lot of fun. My friend Tracy at Art Resurrected said they looked a bit fried eggs, so I ran with it. They are in the store listed as Eggcellent Earrings (in blue, and in yellow)!

I was also really happy to use that big black and silver focal beads in the green bracelet because I honestly had no idea what to do with it for ages. I had purchased it as part of a string of beads with a purpose in mind for 4 of them, but still had a few leftover, including it, and the black crystals and metal beads on either side of it.

Anyway, you can see all of these items in my shop- just click on the Jewelry category!

Halloween Jewelry Set

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / September 23, 2015 / , , , , , ,

Since today we are going to a Halloween party, and I have all of my costume set, I still needed some jewelry. Last night I sat down to make some polymer clay beads using my officially perfected marbling technique, and toss is some smallish irregular beads as well as some seed beads.

halloweenset

This is what I came up with and I really like the outcome. I have read on a few pages about polymer clay that you should avoid doing marbling because anyone can do it and its just not special. I quite like the way it looks though and it was perfect for this piece considering the color theme of my costume.

Anyway, in a few hours, I’ll be clambering into my petticoat, skirt, blouse, jacket, jewelry and wig, and we’ll be off to the party! I had a dream that my mom of all people helped me color my hair last night in a rainbow of soft pastels, which was kinda neat, but I did that in real life years ago myself so maybe not so far out there.

Working Working Working!

Leave a Comment / Blog / By / September 23, 2015 / , , , , , , , ,

LB1I’ve been working on new projects and new items for my shop, and working on promoting my social media profiles for Kittyloaf Designs more. Its something I only seem to do sporadically, because honestly making all these posts, comments, and whatever else is a lot of work. I use Hoot Suite to help me out, letting me pre-schedule various posts and updates as I think of them, spreading them out over a few days at a time. It really does help because I can manage these things as I have time, cross post to different social networks, and not have to do the same thing 3 times manually. One click (or there about) and its done!

My Google+ page for Kittyloaf Designs suffers the worst. I have literally 3 followers on there and its because I almost never use Google+. Why? Because I do most of my social networking in the evenings from my mobile devices, and the Google+ app only shows me content that is 10 days old and older. I can’t find any settings that relate to this, and I’ve tried reinstalling the app, but its always the same old 10 day old stuff for me.

Anyway, I’ve added two new beading patterns, and their related finished products to my shop. They are my new Deadpool earrings, and my Mario star earrings and patterns. Over the next few days I have some other ideas to work on, so stay tuned!