Placemats & Magnets!

  

The last couple of weeks I've taken some time off from blogging. Two weeks to be exact. In the meantime I've managed to list a few new items in my shop including this picnic placemat set and a new set of kanzashi magnets. I absolutely adore these two latest listings. It wasn't until I got them up side by side that I even noticed they were practically the same color. Makes for a nice visual. I have been working hard lately making items, especially the magnets. I can't seem to keep hold of them, but that's a good thing! With a part-time job starting soon and market less than two months away, I'm going to stay plenty busy. Yay Spring! 

A Peek Into My Favorites: Vintage Wire Display

          

One of my favorite things to search for on Etsy is vintage display pieces. Lately when I go into my favorites I see all these vintage wire baskets spread throughout the pages. These are great, one-of-a-kind pieces, but that means by the time I get back to glancing at the ones in my favorites they've sold. Here are three "new" vintage wire pieces I happily added to my favorites today. These all would be great for craft shows or your everyday home decor.

Wrap It Up!

I'm that person who will be talking and, in the middle of a sentence, think of something else. Follow this with an interjection and a complete topic change and I'll forget what I was ever talking about in the first place. This is the perfect metaphor for my crafting as of late so I decided it's time to wrap up some projects. First, a couple of months ago, I started going through my moms scraps and remnants. Measuring and packaging fabrics that neither of us will be using. I would guesstimate that there are about 50 pieces bundled up right now into fat quarters, half yards, and other random sizes. Here is one small pile of remnants and another pile of scraps that I desperately need to tackle. This way, I could have my work space back.

 

The other project is taking all these kanzashi petals I have made and putting them together into flowers. The box where I store all the completed petals has become full with almost 100 of them. 

  

I need to finish both these tasks (which seem small on paper) before I let myself cut into my new fabric. I need to finish projects with that new fabric before I dive into my embroidery. Oh, what a list.

I Heart The Library

In these past few months I've learned to be frugal again. Not that I ever was a crazy spender. My trouble was all the little less than $10 purchases that "couldn't hurt". Anyway, the other day I went to Barnes & Noble with my boyfriend so he could get the latest book in the series he has been reading. Well, no trip to the bookstore is complete without a trip to the craft section. Lately, I've been thinking about trying yet another craft so I was searching for books on embroidery this time around. My favorite book was one of those items that I would consider a small purchase at only $15. Not bad for a book! Instead of buying it on the spot however, I did a sneaky thing. I took a picture of the cover of this book and a few others with my phone. In the innocent sense, this will help me to keep a list of the books I really want. On the other hand, as soon as I got home I searched the local library catalog online and found two of the books and immediately put them on hold. I picked them up from the library today and again am so excited. Now I just have to wait for tomorrow to get all my supplies at JoAnn's. The coupon isn't good until tomorrow after all.

Kanzashi Set

My first kanzashi magnet set has finally become an Etsy listing. I'm very excited about these and have plenty more sets planned for the future. After listing this item yesterday, it already has 60 views and 4 hearts! Not sure how that ranks with everyone else, but that's pretty good for me.  Here's another picture of leftover quilting squares I've picked out to make more magnet sets of 2 and 3.  Yay!

 

A Little Goes a Long Way...

Of course I'm talking about fabric! Last week I went to the fabric store with my mom and here's what I came out with - 4 half yards. My mom on the other hand came out with at least 30 yards of fabric. Of course, she quilts and most the fabrics she got were on sale for $1.99 a yard. I think that counts for validation. Anyway, I thought these fabrics would make the most adorable wallets. When it comes to the wallets, it doesn't take much fabric so I'll be able to make a dozen of each the blue and the pink. Maybe I'll cut back on the wallets though to make gadget cases and clutches to have a whole matching set. All the same - I love these fabrics!

What's Next?

The past several days I've been taking some time to focus on my life and what I want to do. I reached that point again where I am drifting along taking one day at a time. It's hard to think ahead and make plans when the direction in my life is lacking. My last push for a traditional job locally resulted in an unsuccessful interview and a "Thank You for Applying" postcard. This time around I decided to focus on what I always considered to be my "other option" - AmeriCorps.

The end of last week and this past weekend was spent revamping my AmeriCorps application and finding positions for which I'd like to apply. One position I found is a great fusion between the type of volunteer work I have done and my design education. The first obstacle - they were only accepting applications until yesterday! I wrapped up my application makeover early Sunday evening and immediately applied. Less than 24 hours later I spoke with a representative from the non-profit. The conversation closed with "we'll be choosing our VISTAs by the end of the week and will let you know then." Uh, what? Okay!

So that's a quick little update on what's going on in my life. Of course there is more to this particular story, but I've come to be extremely guarded about such opportunities. Don't want to jinx anything! Just cross your fingers for me.

My Etsy Teams

Today, I was in the Virtual Labs (imagine that) where the topic was all about teams. Morgan, the admin who led the meeting and is head of teams at Etsy, has some really great ideas for the future of teams and Etsy and how they will work. Anyway, that inspired me to just talk about the two teams that I'm part of.

First, there is my local team, Etsy West Michigan. I joined this team pretty much immediately after deciding to open my shop and I adore it. They're pretty chatty people (that's a good thing) and are a great source of information. It was through this group that I found out about a really great home tour and art sale event that I participated in last fall. I even shared a booth with a fellow team member at a craft show last fall, too. I've been lucky enough to meet a handful of my teammates in person and I'm sure I'll meet more in the future.

My second team is the Lab Rats Team for those people who chronically visit the virtual labs. I started going to the virtual labs frequently right as I started Etsy. I wanted to know everything I could! After a while it was easy to recognize the other regulars and we all quickly became friends. A couple brilliant V-labbers got the idea to start a team based on this sole fact and what a great idea it was. Again, this team is a great resource for information on all things Etsy and we meet monthly in the labs (outside of the typical Etsy scheduled chats.) There is even going to be a spring giveaway soon!

So in conclusion (the line used by every high schooler who has to give a speech),  if you're a seller on Etsy and don't have a team - find one ASAP. There are so, so many to choose from and they're such a great resource and have a great sense of community. I was lucky enough to find that both of my teams are very active. Thanks teammies! 

A Peek Into My Favorites: Caramels

      

Every once and a while I go Etsy window shopping. Okay - maybe a bit more than once and a while. When I check back in with my favorites I can find obvious themes. Like this day when I apparently took care of my sweet-tooth by drooling at the computer. I suppose that is the low calorie option. One day, when I have self control and can let myself enjoy a single piece, I'm hitting up these shops.

A Blogging Commitment

This week I started writing what is meant to be a weekly feature, every Monday, for the Etsy West Michigan team blog.  In case you didn''t know or couldn't piece it together, that's my local team.  Now - I do realize that I'm not exactly what you can call a habitual blogger.  Or an occasional blogger.  I'm that person who kind of shows up randomly, writes some stuff, throws in a couple pictures, and calls it a blog post.  However, knowing that I have people depending on me, I am confident that I'll do well keeping up with my weekly contribution. With this new blogging habit I'm trying to work up, that means I'll be posting here more often!  Yes, Sally, it's true! My tentative plan is every Tuesday and Thursday so stay tuned.

My First Kanzashi Flower

Here it is! My first kanzashi flower! It may look dainty but its about 4-1/2" across. This is the pointed petal design. I actually wanted the opposite side to be the top, but it didn't sit flat that way. It still worked out great though. Sewing all the petals onto the string is the easy part, but it took some patience and finagalling (yes, that is a technical term) to form the petals into a circle. I returned the book yesterday so let's hope all the information sticks with me.

A New Craft: Kanzashi

A little while back, in January, I got this book from the library about kanzashi. In the simplest of definitions, kanzashi is the art of fabric folding, generally into flowers. I eyed the book for the longest time online, but all the copies in the library network were constantly out, overdue, or on hold. Finally, I got a copy.

First thing I did was flip through all the pages and immediately was so excited about all the little projects and things I could make. Then it sat untouched until the due date came around. I renewed the book to give myself "a little more time" and the due date is back again! I decided that I need to get the basics down before returning it to the library. Last night I sat in bed with my 4" squares and tackled the round petal. This morning I learned the pointed petal. Later today I hope to get the pleated petal mastered. That seems to be the toughest one. Thus far, kanzashi is something I really enjoy and I'm excited to complete my first flowers!

Sunshine!

Let's all take a moment to overlook the fact that this is the first blog post for 2010. What? It's February you say? Well, better late than never.  I've decided to use the same excuse my friend and I came up with yesterday for not exercising, being homebodies, and eating too much dessert.  It's winter.  It's cold, grey, and gets dark by 5. Ok, maybe 6.  All this so I can tell you I needed a little sunshine.

Which is why I was so tickled (yes, I said tickled) to see that my friend, Sally, from nightowlcraftworks has passed along the Sunshine Award to me!  Thank you, Sally.  Now part of the joy of the Sunshine Award is to spread the love.  Here are just a few blogs that I follow and would like to pass this award on to.

http://jennadesigns.blogspot.com/
http://shadysidefarm.blogspot.com/
http://tealandgold.blogspot.com/

So there you go. Now once you have been notified of receiving the award, you need to complete the following:


Please pass this award on to your favorite bloggers! Here are the Rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post
2. Pass the award on to other bloggers
3. Link the nominees within your post
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award