Sweet Hoops

It's funny how, sometimes, when you're not looking for any particular treasure, a whole LOT of something can end up in your possession. This week's Tuesday Treasure is embroidery hoops. I happened upon a couple of stashes of them, and kind of love how they all look just hanging around the my crafting lounge. But, alas, the surest sign of a crafter in need of an intervention is the desire to keep collections like this just for the sheer pleasure of having them. It's time to make something out of these lovelies and let them go out into the world as finished projects.

We've been enjoying the look of graphic fabrics featured in hoops on walls, like these from Design Sponge and The Cottage Home blog. It's a simple project, and is easy to change out for the season or if your favorite color combos change often.

So, I busted out the hoops tonight along with a pile of fabric samples that had been taunting me for a while, and whipped up some fabulousness.

I am loving the look of the old hoops with their natural wood. The ones I have are vintage, so they have a great patina, but you can stain them (like this tutorial suggests) or even paint them if you're interested in a matchey, uniform look. I am not the matchey, uniform type. ;) That tutorial also involves glue, which would make it impossible to switch out your fabric later. I'm okay with no glue.

What stashes are you hoarding in your craft room? We know you have some... don't lie. Tell us about them!

Warm Thoughts and Inventory

Okay, I had the great idea of posting this pic of my homemade bunting made for a craft fair last fall, in hopes of sharing warm fuzzy thoughts when it's about 4 degrees outside. Then, I remembered that at said craft fair my sister and I were freezing our booties off every morning because it was around 35 degrees. It was NOT, however, 4 degrees. So, comparatively, it was WARM.

I'm enjoying a little break this month from the constant pressure of making sure I have inventory ready for the next craft show/market/promotion on Etsy... it's allowing me some thinking time to consider how better to brand myself this coming year, and what items I need to focus on making. One of my frustrations with myself is that I have 847 different ideas flying around in my head on any given day. But of course I don't have the time to spend on 847 different ideas. Knowing I don't have the time frustrates me and makes it hard to focus, and then I don't know where to start. So, I have to narrow it down a little.


The branding thing is difficult for me. I'm far too fickle when it comes to my shop's banner designs. And my color favorites change with the seasons. But I am going to get a stamp made based on a screenprinted business card my brother made for me last year. I'll use it with some washable ink to label my items, and scan it into the computer to use on my banner. If the name/font stays consistent, maybe a quarterly color and image tweak will not be a big deal.

I think my 2010 shop inventory will look like this:
Market bags - made from repurposed vintage bed and table linens.
Tote bags - sturdier fabrics like curtains and upholstery remnants, with appliques and other decoration.
Hip bags - for the fall and winter only, made with repurposed sweaters.
Aprons - hobby aprons made from canvas and vintage decorator fabrics with appliques and pockets

I'm cutting out the drink coasters because there are nicer ones on Etsy and they're a pain to make. I may make some lapel pins up and list them to see if they get noticed... they sell well at the fairs, but haven't tried them on Etsy. I'm also going to make some repurposed t-shirt scarves and kids' tunics, but am going to sell them in local boutiques. I made my neice some cute-as-a-button hats for her American Girl dolls out of scrap wool from my repurposed sweaters... but see, that's another project.

Now I'm just rambling...
What are you going to work on this year? Are you focusing on any new items for your shops, or just reworking what you've got?

I knew it all along

When a woman reaches a certain age, she begins to wonder if her outward persona is still jiving with her inner. At least, that's something that I wonder about. If you don't - good for you. You're either incredibly self-assured, or your delusional, or maybe just in denial...


So, along those lines, I question the potential popularity of my handmade crafts as I'm coming up with new things - and think about what audience they might appeal to the most. When I started making my little hip bags out of repurposed wool sweaters, I observed that my best customer for them was young women who are a little on the "crunchy" "ecologically conscious" side - educated, concerned about the environment, listening to alternative rock  and shopping at the local farmer's markets... also a fan of vintage clothing perhaps. I don't think any sorority members or Ed Hardy fans are carrying one of my bags yet. Anyway, I have hoped that I am creating items to continue to appeal to these lovely ladies, and that I am cool enough inside to know what works and what doesn't for that demographic.

Yesterday at the Fayetteville Farmer's Market a sweet boy in his 20's (that's right, I said boy) was admiring my bags, and applauded my ability to make "hipster" bags and other items that appeal to a different group of people. I was ridiculously excited to be told that I am, indeed, able to execute a hip item properly. My inner cool quotient increased like the Grinch's heart on Christmas day. Silly, I know, but sooooo satisfying.

No market spaces = New items in the shop!

I'm working tonight on updating my Etsy shop with the bags I had held aside to sell at the Fayetteville Farmer's Market. Why, you ask, would I do that??? Won't that create a bit of a headache for me each weekend as I have to take things out of the shop in case they sell at the market, then put them back up again if they don't... just too much work, isn't it??

Well, it seems I will not be at the market this summer as often as I had hoped. Our local market is soooo successful that they juried some new craft vendors in order to add to the selection, but it is also soooo popular that there are just too many booths crammed into the location and the Board of Directors for the market decided to reduce the booth numbers to help with congestion.

So, my thrill of being accepted lasted only two weeks or so. On the upside, the market manager is hoping to be able to rotate the newbies ("floaters", we're called) every other week. On the downside, I'll be out of town for three weekends in a row, so it will be the end of July before I'm able to get back up there. I'll survive, I'm sure.

In the meantime, my Etsy fans will enjoy a bigger selection of goodies than they had to choose from in the weeks prior! Enjoy, and spread the word!

a slow start

I know, I know... you're reading a blog about crafting, so you probably don't want to hear about my inability to get fired up to make anything for the entire first month of 2009. Sad, aren't I?

It's not that I'm boasting. I certainly haven't been reveling in my idleness. No complacent arrogance here. Every evening that I've spent doing anything but craft I have felt guilty about not crafting. I walk by my kitchen counter where I put my bright shiny new journal in early January and can feel it staring at me. "Write! Draw! Blot your lipstick! Just USE ME already!" it says... but I avert my eyes and go pick up the dryer sheets that have accumulated on the couch where the clean clothes wait for dispersal.

Part of the problem might be the weather. It should be a perfect way to spend dark wintry evenings - perched in front of my sewing machine making things that remind one of coming warmer days, like my repurposed bed linen market bags. (Oh how I look forward to farmer's market!!) But unfortunately my craft room is actually a window lined sun porch that is heated separately than the rest of the house and stays VERY chilly in winter.

I could say that I haven't had any inspiration lately, but that would be a lie. I have sketches, I have had ideas, I have seen finished projects in my head... I just haven't wanted to go out and start making them. My craft area is a bit messy too. There's a good excuse. You can all sympathize with me there, right? SAY YES!!!

Mostly though, I think I've been lazy. What kind of true artist or crafter lets themselves get bogged down with the details of daily life so much that they don't get their crafty groove going at least a FEW times in a month??

SNAP OUT OF IT!! *smacking myself around*

A Lovely Bag

I made a lot of my Christmas gifts last year (saying last year is weird), and this is one of my favorites. It's made from a coupl of wool sweaters, an upholstery sample, and a woven belt. I'm in love with it. It went to my brother's girlfriend, who also made a lot of gifts. She knits, so she made neckwarmers and head bands for us all.

I share just because I'm proud of it. I plan to make more for my shop, this week in fact. I'll get them posted asap.

A New Year of Craftiness

I've been thinking lately about the things I make, and the things I want to make. In 2008 I was a supply-buying fool, so I have a ton of clothing from thrift stores, sewing notions, bits of ephemera, and other odds and ends that I have found here and there... but it doesn't seem like I have used as much as I've purchased.

I have bits of this and that that I thought I would use to make art cards and collage shadow boxes, but that idea, in particular, did not come to fruition. I like to think I'd make some cool things with all of the wonderful things I found... I even bought frames as I found them in thrift stores to put them in. I failed at the collage-making. I think I'll post a lot of stuff in my Girlchild shop as supplies. (Be ready, Denise!)

I also have fabric that I thought I HAD to have, that I had big ideas for, but for the life of me, I don't know what those ideas consisted of...Mostly, I went back over and over to the sweaters and vintage linens. They speak to me somehow. Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about!!

Worse yet, I started projects that I thought would be awesome, but then they didn't turn out as planned and I abandoned them. Poor little Ghostfolk... At least I haven't thrown them out!! And I did find out that stamping my name on the fabric works great...

My Punkinhead shop has been a little bit random... but I want to get more focused on "lines" of items. I also want to create seasonally. I typically end up coming up with great Halloween item ideas on October 25th... Christmas items on December 20th. Not a great plan for selling anything right? In 2009 I am going to have a schedule, and spend more time working on ideas for projects that can be created on that schedule.

Right now, I'm liquidating holiday items in my Punkinhead shop (go see!) and I'm going to start working on some things to sell for Valentine's day. My plans are for more Hearts-on-a-Stick, but that's all that's coming so far.

How are the rest of you re-working your shop or craft room for the new year?