made by lisah: 2011

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Looking for a comprehensive list of FREE purse patterns and tutorials?

A friend of mine just directed me to this huge list of free purse and bag patterns. It also has link to techniques like this adjustible strap tutorial and this one for purse bindings. This purse made out of potato chip bag or candy wrappers is awfully cool. I just wish they had thumbnails.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Free Etsy Banners!

I just ran across this link to Free Etsy Banners, including Free Christmas Banners for your Etsy shop! Sweet! Graphic design is this huge mental block for me, I just can't get my ideas to translate onto the screen. I love that someone is doing it for me. Thanks to @EverythingEtsy for posting that.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Product Development: Simple Stockings

One of the things I'd like to offer in the shop this fall is a simple stocking with little embellishment. I imagine it as an old-fashioned stocking that is elegant in it's simplicity. I came up with this light canvas stocking, with a little ruffled opening. The lining fabric has a lovely little bit of sheen to it, almost a silky feel.

I wanted the shape of the stocking to evoke an actual stocking, like you would wear. I tried to turn it in at the ankle and point the toe a bit.

The first few people I showed it to liked it.

The next few people hated it, said it was too rough, too country. Too plain.

I think it needs a little more tweaking, but over all, I do like it. I imagine it with different colored linings, maybe a linen lining. I can also see it in a deep red corduroy with a crisp snowy white lining.

What do you think?

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Etsy Finds of the Week #4

(Just a reminder that these are not things made or sold by me, just things I saw and liked.)

Plush Chicken

All You Need Is Love Print

Orange and white bakers twine

One Orange Monkey Farts Bath Fizzy

Owl Print

Monday, September 26, 2011

My Memories Suite Software Review and Giveaway!

What? A Giveaway? What blog is this? But no! A couple weeks ago I was approached to review and giveaway my very own copy of My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software. I initially decided to pass on it, because I do a million different crafts, but I don't scrapbook. So I sat on the email a few days until I realized that my darling daughter had just celebrated her first birthday and it might be fun to play with her pictures just a little bit. I was leery, because my last attempt at any kind of paper scrapbooking ended in a truly hideous framed collage of messy, 3rd grade level art.

I downloaded my copy of the software (which I was given for free in order to review it properly!) and then kinda pushed it out of my mind. (There are other big things going on in my life right now, which I really should mention over here, but I digress.) Anyway, tonight I finally sat down to play with the software a bit. It comes with a couple of different premade templates, and you can change the order of the pages or even remove complete pages at this point. (They are really tiny though, which kinda sucks, sorry!) After that the first page of your book opens up and you can add pictures or text at that point. You can, of course, format the text in many ways, and edit the pictures as well. You can add embellishments like rickrack or speech bubbles and move the photos around as well. Once you get the hang of the software, there are additional backgrounds and things you can add. You can add sound and video and make it into a presentation (I'm imagining this running at a graduation party, for example!) There are a few minor things that I would change (the size of the pictures in that first screen, for example,) but I think that a real scrapbooker would be able to make amazing things with it.

So the nice people over at My Memories have given me a coupon code that will give you $10 off the price of the software, should you want to purchase your very own copy. Simply visit this link, check out the software, and enter the code STMMMS13921 (copy and paste is your friend here!)

They have also given me one copy of the software to give away to my readers! Yay you! There are a few stipulations on winning. First, pop on over to their website and poke around. Pick out your favorite kit and come back here to leave me a comment telling me which one you liked best. That's all you have to do to be entered!

But if you want to get extra entries (and please, don't feel pressured, I know how people feel about this stuff!) you could

Like them on Facebook and come back to tell me you did. (If you do this one, you get another coupon for their website!)
Like Made by Lisah on Facebook and come back and tell me you did. (I'll give you two entries for this one!)

I'll pick a winner on October 7th. Good luck!