Etsy love and free fabric!

Hubby and I were shopping for a sectional to put in our dining room-turned-media room. We found a winner at Brashear's in Springdale, and as we were talking to the salesman one of the other sales people, a woman named Debbie, admired my bag; this one:

So, I spoke right up and told her I made it myself, and I sell them as well. She had me write down my etsy shop URL, and then noticed my sweet ring from Block Party Press... so I put her shop on the list, and added my sister's for good measure.

In return for my great marketing ability, she went to the back of the store and got a pile of discontinued fabric samples for me to add to my stash! Score! And, she told me to check back on occasion, because they discontinue fabrics pretty regularly. What a deal... sectional on sale, possible sales in my shop or at the craft fair I'll be at in May, AND free fabric.

Now, if I wake up tomorrow 10 pounds lighter I'll be ecstatic.

The Craft Fairs are coming!!!

Are you as busy as I am building your inventory and trying to think about who your buyers will be at your next fair? I've been a busy little Punkin collecting fabric, cutting, sewing, ironing, and designing new bags... and now I'm going to make some craft fair aprons as well.

My sister Erin, of Idyllhands, and my mom and I are going to be at the Spanker Creek fair in May. Erin mentioned that she wanted to make an apron like the ones we used to wear when we waited tables to keep pens, business cards, and other stuff in. I said "hey! I can do that!"

So here's what I made for Erin from a linen tablecloth, a wool sweater and some vintage curtains:

I also made one for my mom and one for myself out of different fabrics, but haven't got pics up yet... I'll be making some for sale in my etsy shop - check in about a week to see what I list!

Crappy Days Made Good

As do a lot of people, I have a job I can't stand. It's a long story, so I'll get to the GOOD part. Yesterday, after too many hours at said hated job, I came home to find a sweet surprise on my stoop - four envelopes full of crafty sweetness!!

These two pieces of fabric are from different sellers on Ebay. The first is a sinfully cute vintage piece of juvenile print that features circus scenes. I've been thinking of venturing into the diaper bag realm, and thought it would be a great gender-neutral fabric to use for that. The second piece is a feedsack. I know, right?? I've never seen a striped one either! But it's still all sewn up on the sides and everything. I'm not sure how I'll use it yet... that's part of the thrill of having it.

This little pile of cuteness is vintage ricrac from retrocharm and I love it! She even gave me a little extra. Maybe a girl's diaper bag... or not...

And finally, these gorgeous prints are what I got in trade for a couple of my tea light lanterns from marywibis. She also sells original oil paintings and greeting cards.

Definitely turned out to be a better evening than morning or afternoon.

Building Inventory

Idyllhands, a.k.a. my sister, Erin, talked my mom and I into joining her for the Spanker Creek craft fair in May. Last summer, in order to get ready for the Clothesline Fair in September, I was creating little families of Snowfolk nonstop. But they were fairly easy to whip out, and were not as needy in terms of time at the sewing machine. The tote bags I'm making now are a different story.

Yesterday I spent some time in the morning making some bags, and got three done. They were simple, unlined bags that are intended to be market bags - nothing terribly detailed or time consuming. Two are made from vintage pillowcases. I think my stepmother had a set of linens with that poppy print on them. I have several more pillowcases to make bags out of.

Another bag from yesterday is made from some orange and green vintage upholstery fabric. I have two made from the same stuff listed in my Etsy site, but those have one long strap, whereas this one has two short ones.

Now that the boy's napping, I should go work on some more bags, May is just around the corner!

Excited over crazy stuff

Explaining exactly why something gets one excited is one thing...but announcing to the world that *today* that something is a new ceiling in the shop is drawing sideways glances from the students I'm hosting from Korea and Japan (societies that are a bit more subdubed) and the workers who were installing it as I danced around the shop clapping my hands!!! It's beautiful...recycled barn (or maybe a chicken house) corrigated metal siding applied to the ceiling with some rusty parts showing. The rust gives it character...really it does. Who wants a boring shiny metal ceiling when areas of rusty brownish-red is visible to break the monotony....sort of like the difference between a face at 25 and one at 63....definitely NOT boring, trust me.

The ceiling is up and now there's no reason not to begin production, unless organizing and cleaning is an excuse. But then, we crafty people ALL know if one spends too much time cleaning and organizing before getting started .... nothing really ever happens. So, perhaps the first pieces produced by Junque Rethunque will be created in the midst of chaos...

There are wonderful things lying dormant in the shop, nay, piled one on top of another, and never more so than today. The crew putting up the ceiling didn't see the treasures shining from the souls of broken chairs, rusty pipes, dirty tiles and seatless lawn furniture...they saw junk, trash, discarded garbage and moved it around as such. Pushing, shoving, tossing, stacking and repeating the process again as they moved from one end of the shop to the other with tall ladders (it's a 10 foot ceiling) to be able to apply the beautiful, rusted, corrigated metal to the rafters. Now it's time to carefully and with the respect 'old' things deserve, repair and repurpose these road-side vagabonds, so they can begin their new lives. I'm EXCITED!!!!!

Etsy photographers

There are tons of pottery artists, loads of fabric artists, and a boatload of beaders on Etsy, but sometimes the photographers don't get the attention they deserve. I thought I'd share a few here in honor of my family members who carry cameras around with them wherever they go.

The inspiration for this post is this listing by ara133photography, and this has to be one of my favorite photos on Etsy, just for sheer craziness. I mean, I've seen deer poop in the woods, but even if I'd thought to take a picture of it, I doubt I would have thought someone might want to buy a copy of that picture. Wow. Lest you think they're a complete freak, however, they also sell some gorgeous closeups of bugs and flowers and kitchen goodies.

Photovita has some gorgeous, ethereal shots in her shop. This one is only one of many that are dreamy and fantastical in their quality. She has a lot of flowers and organics listed, but also includes some great shots of architectural studies and shadows and some ocean views. She has a buy one get one free special going on right now, so hurry on over there. Just come back here when you're done...

Of course, both of these shops were on the main page treasury last night, so they probably have had a ton of hits - but here are a few that may have gotten a little less attention.

Kellya from Colorado also has a special going on, but just through tomorrow - hurry! Looking through her repetoire, I can't for the life of me figure out why this girl has only sold 20 photos! A lot of her images - most in fact, are digitally altered in some way. Mostly just color editing and such - nothing that takes away from the image. Check out this gorgeous sunflower. I would so want this blown up to about 3' x 4' and hang it in my living room!!


Carinemily, from Cincinnati, has had her shop up since July of last year, but has only sold four items. It's not due to her prices or her sense of humor. Check out this great pic called "Gossip". I swear my "fashion dolls" used to talk about me behind my back... She also sells her photos in several sizes, including a postcard. Seems like a perfect combination - a photo called gossip on a postcard to your BFF.

Treasure hunting - no travel required

Of course, what consitutes treasure is definitely open to interpretation, but I'm easily amused. And easily excited when it comes to finding bits of trash that I deem to be treasure.

Yesterday, hubby and I and the boy for a while hung out at my mom's house. She lives in what used to be my grandparents' house outside of town on 5 acres of woods overlooking the White River. Before my grandmother made my grandpa buy the place and build a house on it, it was split by a county road that ran through it down to a bridge that crossed the river. That bridge burned down and the county road was closed, but until that time a whole lot of people used the sides of the gravel road as dumping areas.

You see where I'm going with this, right?

Yesterday I wore my old jeans, put on some gardening gloves and took a spade and a bucket down to the hillside and started clearing away leaves. My mom is a big fan of this activity, and calls pretty much anything she pulls out of the dirt "treasure". But I have to say, yesterday was a good day. Here's a list of things we found... unreliably based on my memory, since the goodies are still at mom's:

*Pieces of green-glazed pottery
*Lots of clear glass, probably broken canning jars
*Two nice pieces of depression glass - one pink and one yellow
*Old shards of pottery with gold gilt on the edges - I think it was a bowl
*An old button
*Lots of old rusted nails, large and small
*A heavy metal piece that looks like a door escutcheon
*Another metal piece that looks like a car part
*Two small bottles with metal lids marked "Norwich"
*Two medium sized intact jars - these are gorgeous!

I'm really pleased with the little bottles and bits of pottery. I think they'll be great additions to shadow boxes and altered art pieces. I'll add some pics as soon as I have some. It was too cloudy and rainy to take any yesterday.

After getting our knees dirty for a while, we went inside and dug through a dresser drawer full of fabric and quilts. I came home with a nice little box of quilt squares to turn into something, and some other bits of lace and fabric that will work their way into my tote bags.

What a fun day! And, there's a whole closet at the top of the stairs to go through. I took a peek, and a couple of boxes were labeled "fabric".... oh joy!