Is it a plane? No! What is it? Um...

OK, when I first started this "blog" I wanted to write regularly, but that kind of wore out on me, lol. I used to write diaries when I was very young and I though this will be the-youth-revisited, but fat chance. To tell you the truth I was not inspired much to write because for a little longer than half a year I was out of work and my Etsy page started well but I sold nothing for the past 4 months. So you see, not a good mood to write.
Although, I was creative enough. At least I made my triangle bags in different colors and a few tear-dropped ones too. But for while now I create something different. It is still crocheted, but not bags. I won't reveal anything now because I want to make enough designs so I can list them in my Etsy store.
My mind is still wondering in the bags direction, so I try to make some different bags also. And I tend to make multiple things at once and that's why it takes me a while to list new things in my store. Here is a picture of one of my designs. It's a beginning of something...

It doesn't look much, right? It looks like a crocheted circle, which it is, but there is something much more to it. In fact, while I was making this... "thing"... I designed another one in my head. Unfortunately, I don't have materials to create it right now, but I will get them once I make the projects I already started a while back. Otherwise, I won't have any finished designs if I buy more material and start making new designs. Yes, I have an issue with finishing things, lol. I think it's because so many new designs are floating in my head, that I want to start them all as soon as I think of them. Of course, I first make some kind of drawings, which I'm not good at but still, at least I know what I drew. :)
So, that's it for now. Nothing revealed, as per usual :) Sorry!

To be continued...

Is it my turn to rant?

I just read an nth post about why should such and such leave Etsy and I'm honestly fed up! I refused to post to the fore-mentioned thread, because I don't want to be evil or rude, because no one deserves that. However, they deserve the truth and I usually don't have the heart to tell it, like most people, the most of us try to be "nice". This is such a cop-out, I know that, but that's that. I can tell the truth to my friends and family and not be harsh about it, which is something I consider constructive criticism. In this case, I would be plain rude! I won't go into details, I'll just say that some people don't see themselves honestly. They expect everything to be given to them on a silver platter. I wonder if they ever experienced that "platter", because I had and honestly, it's not what's cracked up to be. You can become resentful and not at all satisfied.

Thankfully, I was aware of that and could break the cycle. I want to be rewarded for my deeds not my looks or whatever. That is why I chose to be a freelancer in my field of work, translating, which is my "day job", and knitting and crocheting designer, which is my dream "job" for as long as I can remember.
And I'm damn good at both! I won't mince words here, not only because I don't have followers, hence no one reads my posts, but because it's something I know is true! However, you won't hear me say that often (if at all), because I only speak about it when someone angers me and I don't like to be angry so I try not to tangle myself in such debates. Unfortunately, I do my best work in both fields when I'm angry or tired, lol, which I know, I know is a big conundrum. That's why I chose tired over angry and right now I'm a bit tired since I've been up all night and it's almost noon here. After all, I'll sleep my 12 hours and I'll be perfectly content when I wake up tomorrow.

So why did I chose this topic? Here is why. Up until a month ago I haven't got a day job for about half a year. I put my heart and soul in my Etsy shop and I personally think I have unique and unusual designs. By this I mean my triangle bags and my teardrop-shaped bags. And yes, I know I have more than one of each, but I got sidetracked with so many critiques that I should put more than one of each designs. I started with only 1 of each of my designs, I put the option that I make the same things in many different colors and that if someone wanted a different color they should just convo me and I'll make an arrangement. But no one did. So I wanted to show my bags in different colors, because, let's face it, people are lazy and they don't want to imagine it they want to see it. So I bought me some thread in different colors and started making my most unique design and that is my triangle bag. And as it happens, I put all my current money into that. I have so many designs, drawn or just in my head, but I can't by materials right now. I assumed, since I had 2 sales at the very beginning, that people will buy at least 1-2 items a month. It maybe a presumption, but I am really confident in the quality of my work and I stayed in contact, listing new items, relisting some. I got some love in the form of hearts, lots of them, but love can't buy me money (as opposed to Beatles' "money can't buy me love"). Don't get me wrong, I love the love! I embrace it with all my heart, but the bottom line is I can't live off it. And I don't think there is anything rude about what I just said. I meet some nice people on Etsy, I just ADORE so diverse people's creativity! There are soooo many great creative people out there! I never opened a thread saying "where are the sales!", I might posted it in a few threads asking about it (this I'm not sure of, because I read so many whiny threads my head is spinning, and I read them wanting to see the answers of some people with helpful advices, not to read the actual whining). You may consider this a whining, but it's just deflating. One whine too many, if you want. I'm both a patient and impatient person, I can wait for a perfect sale because I know it will come. But a few months ago I was not that sure, because I had no other means of living than my Etsy shop. I can breath easily now and can be more confident, since I have a mean of supporting myself, not actual money yet (lol) but a light at the end of tunnel.
And what's more, I have some new designs in the making. The weird thing is when I'm at the end of my ropes, I tend to have the most unique designs. That said, I pray to The Big Guy in the Sky not to leave me dangling on the mentioned rope, I promise I will continue designing even if he gives me some success in my work, *wink, wink* :)
Ok, I'm cheerful again, lol. You see how easy it can be :) I think I started like this:

... and now I'm like this:

But the one I really am looking forward is this:

Now, let's think positive and get me those mula! lol! Love you, my faithful non-followers!

View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

Two Front Pages in one day! WOW! I'm over the Moon!!!

View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

I woke up to being on the Front Page of Etsy! What a wonderful thing to wake up to :) And what's more, the Retro Triangle Bag that was featured in it was my first Triangle Bag design. The first one I ever made! My heart is so full right now!
This is my second Front Page feature, the first one was in May 29th. You can see a picture of that one below:

Finishing touches to my Crochet Triangle Bag

I will try to explain here the process of connecting already crocheted pieces into a finished triangle bag. I won't write a pattern here, because I am selling a finished bag in my Etsy. All I ask of you is not to copy my bag design. I'm sure we are all capable of thinking something original and uniquely our own :)

First thing I do is I crochet 2 triangles. They are exact same size, although I crocheted each of them differently. By that I mean I crocheted the second one like a mirror image of the first one, so that the RIGHT side of the triangle stays the same. You can see how those triangle parts look like on Picture 1.

Picture 1

Then I make a stripe in one piece. The stripe is used to connect both triangle parts and add the bag that 3D look. It also has a space where the zipper will go. You can see the stripe on Picture 2.

Picture 2

I also crochet one small square piece and sew it on the lower part of the zipper hole, which is just a practical thing to hold while closing the bag with a zipper :)

Then I proceed with making two handles. They are filled with fiberfill and I stuff them while I crochet them. It's much more easier than stuffing them in the end, believe you me, lol, I tried! You can see a handle on Picture 3.

Picture 3

And on Picture 4 you can see the fiberfill peeking, lol. I also leave a few cm (or inches) of thread at each end of the handles so I can sew them on the stripe later.

Picture 4

Now I block both triangles and the stripe and then I work around the zipper hole and sew in the little square on the stripe, like seen on the Picture 5.

Picture 5

And now for the hard part, sewing the lining, lol! I'm not a sewing expert, far from it, so when I finished my first triangle without any trouble, I was very proud of myself. Although, you should see the first two tries for my Teardrop Shape purse! That was an interesting experiment, lol! It's much easier to sew straight lines than the round ones, that's for sure, especially for someone who is not used to sewing at all. I'm self taught and I can only sew things that are not visible, it's safer that way, lol! On Picture 6 you can see the lining part as best as I could show it.

Picture 6

What I showed so far is all pretty easy to do, but then it comes the connecting part. I must say that's something I don't like to do because I always puncture myself with needles and you shouldn't be in my vicinity when I do that, lol. I found a great tutorial of how to add the lining to crochet bags here: Sew a Lining into a Crochet Bag. And on Picture 7 you can see my pins and the sewing part in process.

 

Picture 7

Now I sew the handles around the zipper hole. It's a bit tricky because they can't stand still and I can't pin them down, but they look more than fine in the end, like shown on Picture 8.

Picture 8

And now I do one more step before connecting the triangle parts onto stripe and that is I sew the crocheted triangle onto the lining sides. I do this step because I don't want my lining to move around the bag, I want it to stay fixed so when you wash the bag everything looks perfect :) See how it looks like when I sew the triangles on the lining on Picture 9.

Picture 9

On Picture 10 you can see the back of the bag. I start to connect the stripe to triangles from the top using a reverse stitch because it adds something-something to the edges.

Picture 10

And the finished bag looks like this:

Picture 11

The process for Two Colored bag is the same. I choose one color for the lining and the zipper and when I connect the parts together, I use one color for one side and the other for the other side. The connecting part can be done in one swoop. You start at the top of the bag, crochet rs all around one triangle, then crochet the upper part along the stripe (connecting the beginning of the stripe with the end) and then crochet along the next triangle. I hope I haven't ruined the magic of my triangle bags by showing you the process it takes to make it. I really enjoy crocheting them, not so much connecting them, lol, but it's all the part of the handmade work.

Old site is back!

Ah, just a note, forgot to add, my old site on Angelfire (ex Bubamara Design) is back now. So, yes it's mine stuff on the site again, although revamped. It's been a long time! Yay!

April Fools' Day Sale!

Hello! I am having an April Fools' Day sale of my bags in my Etsy store! All bags are 30% off! And since I don't have any followers yet, I'm hoping it will somehow pop up in Google search! LOL! I made myself laugh right now, but who knows, right?
Here are some of my newer bags:

Slowly adding, changing and working

So, I'm slowly adding things here, although it feels like I'm talking to myself. I've seen on other blogs that people either advertise their shops, talk about their moods (what they listen, what they eat, how many times they poop a day, etc.) or help one another. That last bit is interesting, but I don't know how to help unless I'm asked first, lol!
So, for my next post (in a few days, cross my fingers!), I will post the process of making one of my bags, the triangle one. I won't be writing a pattern, I will just post pictures of unconnected pieces and explain the process of connecting them into a single completed bag. I hope it will be interesting to my future followers *giggle*.
So, bye for now and see you in the future!

My old site "Bubamara Design" on Angelfire is no more!

As I recently discovered, my old site on Angelfire (under the name of Bubamara Design) had been hacked, or so I think. I cannot log in, my email is not recognized by their system and on my Free Patterns page I can see some strange things going on, like advertising for some Asian furniture and something like that.
I have tried to contact Angelfire, but to no avail! Granted, I haven't done anything with that site for a very long time (about 6 years), but still...
I wanted to open a new site to place my old free patterns and when I make new ones, to offer to people, but I don't know if it's worth it. Maybe it's better to do that here, but for me it's easier to deal with HTML tags than to edit things like this and add some gadgets and widgets (hihihi, this rolls of the tongue so funny). But I will try it anyway.
Blogging do has some advantages, but these pages do tend to be somewhat crowded with things and I think it's harder for people to find what they want. On web sites you have visible links to patterns, helpful hints and so on.
I will aim to re-post my old free crochet patterns here and start with adding new ones.
Now I feel like I'm talking to an empty room again, lol! So, until my next post, goodbye room and have a nice day :)

And... it's starting...

Hello my "future" followers, this is your master speaking... ehm. Sorry, sorry, wrong "space". Forgive me, I'm new at this. First to introduce myself. My name is Marija and I'm from Serbia. English is not my mother tongue, but I'm an avid movie and TV watcher and I learned english in school (a long, looooong time ago!), but if I make some mistakes in my writing, please don't take it to heart.
As you will see, my passion is designing knitted and crocheted clothing and accessories and I would like to share some with you in hoping to meet other crafty people out there... here... ere... re.... e! <---- echo!
My mum taught me the basics of knitting when I was 9 and after a few classics, like simple shawls and hats, I started reading patterns from magazines that were available at the time (there was no internet then, ah, the non-technical era...). I made my first design when I was 14, it was a sweater-tunic with bat-like sleeves. I needed something other than bulky jacket to wear while skating. After that, I made some very unusual sweaters, that started like the classic ones but I tend to change things during work (you know, the hormones, lol) and they end up different. As for the crocheting, I am self taught. I was 16, with my family in a spa (not the modern day one, but the rural one) and was bored so I bought one hook and one magazine, learned the basic stitches and made a doily just by looking at one featured as an add in a magazine.
For a long time I knitted and crocheted for my own pleasure and for family and friends. I did have a website for a few years back in 2000 till 2002 selling crocheted patterns mainly, but it was hard to maintain it since I'm from Serbia and couldn't find a merchant and payment accounts that can help me. So, there is that void of 8 years when I hadn't been so internet active, but I want to change that now, hence this blog (I still giggle at me blogging).
And since I'm writing this only to myself (I hope only for now), I must be off to do some work in reality. Bye for now :)