Let the Crafting Begin

I guess with the cooler weather and the Holidays fast approaching, I've been bitten by the Nesting Bug and am having crafting ideas out the wa-zoo! There are just So Many Things that I want to make I'm not even going to bore you with all the details. But I did get a little crafting done this week.

First off, I purchased this book a while back, along with the necessary starting supplies: felting needle and wool roving.

While the directions are great, I only attempted this one time. And with the help of my son, who picked out the colors.

I introduce you to Jack the Dog (breed: unknown)




Dane just loves this little fellow. But I never did attempt to create any more dogs from the book. While wandering the woods I found a whole slew of unique fall leaves and acorns. I started gathering them, not really sure what I was going to do with them. I actually had them sit there for a few weeks. Then, while perusing the internet the other day, I happened upon a tutorial from Martha Stewart about making felt acorns. So that got me on a roll.

I went from actually using the felting needle to just rolling the wet felt in my hands. But I just can't seem to get the shape I want. Still going to keep trying. But it did have other rewards. I had started gathering the acorns and caps but realized that I didn't need the acorns anymore. Then I discovered, you can actually SELL the caps! So, new to the shop tomorrow,

Acorn caps, minus the dead ladybug (another post I haven't made yet). A few weeks ago, our back porch was literally swarming with ladybugs, but now that the weather has gotten cold, I'm now finding ladybug carcasses. At least this one will live on, if only in my blog :0)
So, drop by Grace Goods tomorrow if you need any acorn caps to use in your crafting. Or maybe you could play a practical joke on a friend and send them a box, just so they will ask "What the hay?!"

Now I have a request to ask, since I am on the subject of the shop. How does one take a GOOD picture of black clothing? I have this awesome vintage coat in the shop. But I feel like it hasn't sold yet, because the pictures are just, well, bad.

Here is the first one I took outside on the lower porch. I thought natural lighting would be the way to go, but obviously I was wrong.

Too faded.

Then I brought Adell (the dress form and my first employee at Grace Goods) into the Dining Room, thinking indoor lighting would be better, but I still don't think it makes the coat look good. This coat is so cool. You can see the listing here.

If anyone has any experience or ideas of how to take better pictures of black clothing, I would appreciate it. Most of the other things turn out great on the lower porch with the natural lighting. Still learning all the selling techniques and tricks.

Well, I'm off to do some more crafting. Stay tuned, I have lots more to show ya!