Peanut and Tommy - Cute and Cuddly Crafts

Have I ever got a treat for you wonderful crafters this week! We get to meet the energetic and vivacious crocheter Debi, who is one of the creative geniuses behind Peanut and Tommy on Etsy. Let's start with a little insight into her shop.

Peanut and Tommy is made up of things Debi makes and things her mom knits. “My mom lives alone in a retirement community two hours away from me and doesn’t drive anymore. She’s pretty much home-bound and loves to knit toys.” she says. “I originally opened the shop to give her a job—a reason to get up in the morning. She loves the idea of sending out her toys to live with children all over the world. She has sent a knitted snake to Australia, an elephant to Germany, a set of turtles to Florida, a bear to California, and that’s just to mention a few. It gives her great joy and keeps her busy.”

It's great to see that Debi comes from a crafty family. “My mom knit all my sweaters when I was a child. My parents were always pretty thrifty—many of our Christmas or birthday gifts were handmade. If I wanted to buy fabric to sew an outfit, mom was always willing to pay for that. I sewed most of my clothes for many years. Although Mom tried to teach me to knit, I didn’t learn knitting or crochet until I went away to college.

Years of thrifty craftiness has molded Debi's persona. “I love to make things for other people. To me, a handmade gift is a gift from the heart. I have two girls (teenagers now, one is in college). I make the kind of goodies that they would have loved as children. I love to make cuddly cute things like my cupcake bags and the caterpillar in my shop. My mom made the three dinosaurs and all the teddy bears. She loves the cuddly cute things too! I guess we’re related!” she laughs.

“I love making the cupcake bags that turn into a doll cradle. I crochet the bags, sew a cotton lining for them, and then knit the little dolls to go inside. I really enjoy finding beautiful yarn and fabric that coordinate. They take a while to make, which is why I only have one or two in my shop at a time!”

She also takes great joy in helping out in the community. “I started a knitting guild at my daughter’s school where we knit for charity. We’ve made a ton of chemo caps, made up personal care bags (each with a hand knit washcloth) for the women’s shelter, knit a million teddy bears, made blankets for Project Linus, you name it. We’re really quite active!”

Debi is also in to crafting with recycled materials. She makes a cute little Eco-friendly crocheted frog out of cotton yarn that is made from leftovers from t-shirt manufacturing. In addition to that, “I am knitting a market bag with “Plarn” which is yarn that I’ve made out of used plastic bags. The plarn is tiring to knit with, but the bag is really quite beautiful. However, I made it so BIG, that it’s taking me forever to finish it!” So maybe someday we'll see one of those in her shop too!


She has a second shop on Etsy, Peanut and Tommy Too that she has just started up for vintage finds. Recently she has been helping out on the CreateCrochet Etsy Team Blog with the shop of the week and introductions of new members and does a very nice job even if I do say so myself. If you are interested in following her day to day exploits you can find her on Twitter as PeanutandTommy.

As everyone has a dream to work towards, I asked Debi where she would like to be if she could be anywhere. Her reply, “Greece, living in a little house in a small town overlooking the blue sea. Poli Kala! (My husband is Greek).” It sounds wonderful! May all your dreams come true Debi.

Caffeinated Frenzy - A Creative "Buzz"

Knitters are a notoriously curious bunch and being one, I know what we like. What we like is to hear about other knitters. Well, have I got a treat for you! Today we get to peek into the crafting life of the vibrant young woman who brings us Caffeinated Frenzy on Etsy.com. She is a fellow “yarnie” like me and loves to be creative and spontaneous. Let's sit back and let her tell us about it in her own words.

“Before I injured my knee, I was a dancer. I tend to be quite an ambitious person. I love to move, enjoy working and if I'm not busy, I don't know what to do with myself. I have two jobs in addition to selling my knits, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I was somewhere around ten when my mother first showed me how to knit. I knew she used to be a knitter, and I wanted to learn how. She didn't remember much, but she was able to show me how to cast on and how to do the knit stitch. After that, I taught myself the rest of the basics. From there I went on to learning how to knit in the round, follow charts, create cables, etc. It was a lot of trial and error, but now I completely understand why each stitch looks the way it does. It's helped me figure out design as well.” I'm here to tell you all, learning to knit mostly by yourself takes a lot of talent, and this girl's got it.

“Whether it's a personality quirk or just too much coffee, I can never sit still. When I have short bursts of energy where I want to focus on one thing, that's when I'm able to come up with new designs. I definitely still consider myself a kid (I'm 19), and probably still have a bit of that "look at me!" screaming for attention teenager attitude left. I love bright colors and acting on impulse, but it's fun.

I want people to feel inspired and independent when they see my work. The yarn seems to figure out what it wants to be for itself. The color and texture put an image in my mind and I work towards that. I like to finish things quickly, so that I don't lose interest. I work when I'm inspired to. whether that's when I'm excited over making a sale, have an idea in my head to create, or have pretty new yarn to play with.”

When asked about what she loves to make the most she said, “I'm really happy with my Darling Cloche. A blue one was my first sale on Etsy. I like it's simplicity, it's just a fun little hat.” She points out that anything on her site can be made in any color or size, all anyone has to do is ask and she would be more than happy to knit something special just for you. “I try to use natural materials. I do use a fair amount of acrylics, but a lot of my more "luxurious" things are made with merino wool, silk, angora, alpaca, natural fibers.”

She's also been making some things to help others cut down on the amount of trash they throw away. “Lately I've been knitting reusable coffee sleeves, fun little gifts that are a much better alternative to disposable ones. I also use them as promotional giveaways because I like to throw extra little things in when I send out packages.”

With this much enthusiasm and zest for life, she's sure to make all of her goals realities. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the future. So where does a young successful entrepreneur dream of going to get away from it all after another busy day with her shop? Well, let's see what she has planned. “I don't think I could ever pick one place, but I do have a long list of places I eventually plan to end up. Los Angeles, Chicago, India, Italy, London, and Socotra Island. I absolutely love cities and plan to see a lot more of them.”

If you're looking to connect with Caffeinated Frenzy on the Internet, she has many different ways for you to find her. Besides Etsy, she also sells on Artfire and 1000 Markets. She's got an awesome Facebook setup which she is really trying to promote right now so go check it out and support a fellow crafter. To see some of her other work check out her Flickr page or to read the latest and greatest happenings follow her blog at http://caffeinatedfrenzy.blogspot.com