Buzzfeed is Blowing Up the Exchanging Fire Shop

Sometimes on a cold, wintry Friday morning, you just need a little…clickbait!

Apparently Buzzfeed was feeling French today, and decided to dedicate a listicle to all the wonderful ways to feel more Parisian when your outdoors looks like a grummy North America day in March (like mine does).

Image courtesy Buzzfeed

I was pleased to discover that Exchanging Fire was featured today as a headliner in the listicle, showing off the stellar mini macarons I offer as stitch marker holders in my shop. They are actually really great for holding anything small and delicate, from jewelry to pins and other little notions.

Six of these awesome little fellas, who are the exact size and shape as real French macarons, can fit inside one of my large French macaron notion cases. There’s just something so entertaining about packing small things into a larger container – like those matryoshka Russian nesting dolls. Only here you can nest macarons!

Ok, now I’ve made myself hungry. I’m going to go eat a Milano cookie and stare at the falling snow, which is as close as I can get to eating French pastries in Paris today.

 

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Surprise! Exchanging Fire Stitch Markers Featured in Etsy Finds

I went to bed on the last day of January with a whole big list of Things. To. Get. Done. i planned on starting off my February (and my week) right by having a really productive Monday.

So I was pleasantly surprised to wake up today and discover that Etsy was helping to give me a little boost by featuring one of my best-loved products in their daily Etsy Finds newsletter, which goes out to oodles of Etsians all over the world. It made me feel all warm-and-fuzzy, which is a given, considering that today’s theme was all about getting the perfect Valentine’s gift for your significant other.

And the Secret of the Chromastone stitch markers, which were featured as a fabulous crafty gift for him or her, are of course tickled that they got featured as well. I was actually working on making some more of these joyful little color-changing markers this weekend, so I have a bunch of them sitting on my desk waiting to be packaged up. They just look so cheerful and pretty and I confess I’ve been holding them and watching them change into my favorite colors of blue and green while I’ve been working.

Exchanging Fire Featured in Brownie Knits Videocast!

I was so excited to see that my pattern, the Mini Mania Scarf, was featured in Brownie Knits video podcast on YouTube in December. She’s got a great “vodcast” as they sometimes call them, and it was great seeing someone’s finished Mini Mania Scarf live and in action. Enjoy watch her show:

It’s Time for the Annual Exchanging Fire Black Friday Sale – Get Your Coupon Here!

That’s right, it’s that time of the year again! It’s time to shop like crazy at Exchanging Fire’s Black Friday sale!

Use coupon code AFTERTURKEYDAY to save 15% off anything in my shop until midnight on Black Friday! Customers who spend $100 or more receive a free goodie from me (deliciously good).

Exchanging Fire Featured in “In a Sknit” Video PodCast!

Often in the wee hours of the night when I’m shipping out a large group of orders for the morning mail run, I try to imagine who the people are that these goodies are going to. While I’ve gotten to know my repeat customers over the years, everyone starts out as a stranger. So I enjoy writing thank you notes and gathering context clues from nicknames and addresses – is Kathy from Menlo Park a fun grandmother knitting for a passel of family members or is Bea from Berlin a young, urban knitter adding to her stitch marker collection? Who knows!

But the truth is, while my products are winging their way around the world, I don’t always know where they are going or how they will be used. So it’s fun to occasionally find a blog, tweet or Ravelry post about my shop, and boy was I surprised to find Exchanging Fire featured in a whole video podcast last week! Check out this clip of Kristi reviewing my digital row counters and mini french macaron holders below at the 30 minute mark:

It was so much fun watching them getting just as excited about my stuff as I do. Hee. In a Sknit is a video podcast run by two women in Illinois who are really cute and manage to simultaneously run a podcast and knit at the same time. This is not the same thing as just running your mouth and knitting at the same time, which I still often fail at doing. So go back to the beginning of the video and watch the whole thing – Sarah and Kristi are super relaxing and fun to “hang” out with virtually.

October Phat Fiber Sampler Box – Ex Libris

After a long summer hiatus, the Phat Fiber box is back in business! October’s theme is Ex Libris, and for all of those book lovers out there, that means it’s a box totally dedicated to bibliophilia. As a fellow book lover, I decided to go kitsch this month, and immortalized my favorite “reading” tv show, A Reading Rainbow, in stitch marker form.

These Reading Rainbow stitch markers are inspired by the show’s theme song, and feature charms illustrating all of the wonderful places books can take you. It’s kind of funny, but still to this day two of my favorite kinds of books are about dragons and spaceships!

Don’t forget, if you purchase anything in my store from Sep. 20 – Nov. 13 you are eligible for the Phat Fiber Superbox Giveaway! To win this month’s Phat Incentive, which includes the contents of this month’s video (aka The Superbox), you need to join the Phat Fiber group on Ravelry and then post what you’ve purchased in the incentive thread.

“Butterfly in the sky / I can go twice as high / Take a look / It’s in a book / A Reading Rainbow…”

Caught in the Wild: Exchanging Fire Stitch Markers

I’ve been shown several photos recently of Exchanging Fire stitch markers “in the wild.” I thought I’d share some of the images that have been “caught” recently so you can see them in action!

This cute Polaroid of the Red Riding Hood stitch markers was taken by Alena, aka buters on Ravelry, who made a pair of Straightforward Mitts:

Mizpah, also known as feywyrd on Ravelry, has acquired a brightly hued collection that she took for a jaunt into the woods. Pictured below are La Vie En Rose and A Moment of Honey:

Mizpah went knitting with fairy tales that day as well, and the The Frog Prince and Princess and the Pea stitch markers featured here are hanging from her aptly named Mizpah shawl:

Vicki, also known as nonaofsav on Ravelry, shows off a lovely little one-off stitch marker from the Wild Child sampler collection on her Lilla koftan baby sweater:

And these “wild” needle buddies have been tamed on bugnursebrenda‘s sets of DPNs!

I love seeing how people are enjoying their goodies, so thank you for sharing! If you’ve got more “in the wild” shots you’d like to share with me, I’d love to see them. You can share with me on Instagram and Twitter, or send me a photo on Ravelry or Etsy. Maybe I’ll share a bunch of images in a future blog post. Thanks again!

February Phat Fiber Sampler Box – Chocolate and Coffee

This month I couldn’t make up my mind so I made two different stitch marker sets for the February Phat Fiber Sampler Box. These are perfect for beating away those winter blues (chocolate makes everything better, right?).

These stitch markers are made with vintage Lucite beads – Chocoholics Anonymous features five different chocolate-drenched charms, from an chocolate English toffee bar, a chocolate-frosted doughnut, a chocolate sprinkles cookie with the word “Love” frosted across the top of it, to a classic chocolate bar and even a huge chocolate cupcake topped with a tiny strawberry.

The Doughnut Shop features five different flavored doughnuts, each topped with frosting and cheerful sprinkles, from chocolate and vanilla to strawberry and maybe even maple? This set comes complete with a tiny resin Starbucks mug full of cocoa or coffee (whichever you prefer imagining is in it). Yum!

Happy February!

Limited Edition Designs on Sale at Exchanging Fire

I’ve just added a bunch of Exchanging Fire stitch markers to the sale rack – these are mostly limited edition sets (including Christmas designs) that will not be made again, so get them while you can.

I know, I could have waited until after the holidays to put these items on sale, but I’d rather folks get a chance to give more gifts now than have to wait until later. So go ahead, take advantage of my impatience and get shopping!

Just remember, shop by Dec. 18 to get your goodies shipped by Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

It’s the Annual Exchanging Fire Black Friday Sale – Get Your Coupon Now!

That’s right, it’s that time of the year again! It’s time to shop like crazy at Exchanging Fire‘s Black Friday sale!

Use coupon code AFTERTURKEYDAY to save 15% off anything in my shop until midnight on Black Friday! Customers who spend $100 or more receive a free goodie from me (and trust me, they are deliciously good).

And hey, tomorrow is Small Business Saturday so here’s a shout-out to all of those indie businesses out there. Help support your community (both online and in your neighborhood) by shopping small!