Fabric Jewelry Experiment

Frustrating sometimes, trying something new.  Finished this bracelet – what I thought would be one of many recycled fabric cuffs – and I’m not 100% happy with it. I have some ideas how to improve it so that it will be something I’d be proud to wear and put in my online shop.  I’ll have to work on this some more.

Sometimes I can take apart things I’ve created and salvage materials for a new project – sometimes they sit on a shelf (or floor), sometimes my kids want them - mostly, I don’t know what to do with them.  Crafters, what do you do with products when things don’t go right? 

6 comments fabric jewelry, jewelry, sewing

What We Learned About Craft Fairs

This past Sunday was the culmination of weeks of crafting at my house… my daughter and I each had our respective projects and we’d been creating, labeling, pricing and packing things at every spare moment.  It was a big success for her, not so much for me – so here’s a picture of her display:

It’s been a while since I’ve participated in one of these, but I’m not surprised that I didn’t have lots of sales – I have a pretty eclectic mix of items and you never know what’s going to catch a customer’s eye.  I was really happy my daughter’s work paid off – new fabric yo-yo necklaces of hers will now be appearing in a local boutique and she should be updating the bracelets in her etsy shop, Bubblywater, soon.

I learned a couple of things -- one was to pick up display ideas all year round.  If I had to think of this last minute (like I did at my table), it would have been a disaster (yeah, it kind of was – that’s why there’s no picture.)  The antique crate was something we picked up last summer – inserting lights through cracks in the back showcased each bracelet individually.  The necklace display was something my husband and other daughter constructed after I had been scouring the internet for ideas and came up with this one.  I read over and over again that black wasn’t a good choice for displays since they collect dust – but this one turned out well.  We wanted a neutral background for the bright colors to stand up against. 

During the event, and after staring at the necklaces for a while, I realized that the tags I gave her were too big.  So, we’ve updated those to be smaller so they don’t detract from the ornament and chains.

And most importantly, we learned to “not judge a book by it’s cover”.  I thought her items would appeal to mostly teens (it did), but there were a number of non-teen customers (with such good taste and an eye for trends!), as well as one gentleman.  This one threw us as he scrutinized her necklaces, asked all sorts of questions about how they were constructed and how they were worn, holding them up to his neck to see.  Not just a bored husband wasting time while his wife was at the event, he bought one, too!

Nobody used the mirror we brought and had standing to the side.  We’ll still bring one for future events – you never know.  Customers liked a little gift wrapping – we had  cellophane bags and ribbons for that.  Being friendly and smiling was key – always nice to see customers face-to-face and get some feedback.

Do you like shopping at craft fairs?  Had success as a seller at any this year?

3 comments business, fabric jewelry

More Falling Leaves Pins – Is Selling Online a Good Choice?

It’s only been one day and I’m having doubts about my decision to list these pins online at my shop.

I have a local venue to sell at, but would have to adjust pricing to make up for the store commission.  Not wanting to make these priced too high, I’m listing them online (finishing up with the last two this afternoon, seen below).  

Is Etsy too saturated for anyone to notice these?  Am I missing out on potential sales?  I’m not sure.

10 comments embroidery, fabric jewelry

Tiny Autumn Leave Brooches

Wool felt pins inspired by the falling leaves of autumn.

These are available at my online shop today.  In the evening I’ll be listing some different colors and square shaped pins, too.  Enjoy!

2 comments fabric jewelry

Artful Thursday – A Fall Brooch

A little project for Thursday.

Yummy wool felt from Joggles.com*.  Cut and punch out some seasonal shapes:

A little embroidery with metallic floss:
Some more embroidery and stitching front and back together, adding a little filler to the center:
Add a pin back:
A row of single crochet finishes this cutie off:
I’ve been thinking about making this for about a week – wanted to make a couple with different holiday motifs in the center, sort of like fabric cameos.  But different.  Look for this one and others in my shop over the next few days.
Happy Artful Thursday!
*Affiliate Link.

2 comments Artful Thursday, embroidery, fabric jewelry, jewelry

Blog Carnival – Wedding Picture, 1991

PatchFirstShop is going to host the new Blog Carnival next week for the EtsyBloggers and here’s the request this week:

1) Show us your wedding photo!! or anything from your wedding day.. or
2) Any items in your shop that you think they can be on somebody's wedding day..

Not so sure about the shop item just yet, so here’s my wedding picture from 1991 when I had just turned 22:

So young!  That 80’s big permed hair!  The sleeves on the dress!  Wow, there’s been a lot of changes since then (especially in the hair department for both of us.. er, Mr. Tamdoll doesn’t read my blog so I’m pretty sure he won’t ever notice that little comment.)

My kids like to watch the wedding dress tv shows (no idea what they’re called) and from what I can tell, the trend now is for sleeveless gowns – I can’t imagine ever trying to pull that off in October! 

Our 20th anniversary is coming up next year, I can’t believe it’s been that long.  Thanks for the memory jog EtsyBloggers & Patch!

And just because I had to check my shop one more time for something wedding-ish – how about a bluebird of happiness on a necklace?  key to your heart?  something blue?

I made these crocheted key necklaces and had so much fun collecting the trinkets and combining them into unique pieces, I’m glad I found a connection to use it here for this post.

At the time I got married I never thought of doing anything “diy” beyond my veil (which I ended up buying anyway.)  It seems trendy nowadays to have a more hands-on approach to decorations, invitations and bouquets, so I’m wondering –

Did you do a lot of “diy” for your wedding and was it a long time ago or more recent?

9 comments fabric jewelry

Beauty Tips & a Fabric Jewelry Sale

Each week at the EcoEtsy blog there are great features and articles.  Natural beauty care isn’t hard or expensive… one of my tips is included in the article: “Letting Nature Work for You — Part II: Beauty Isn’t A Beast!"  Do you have any natural beauty tips to share?

Just as I put my crochet pins on sale, my Robin’s Egg Blue Brooch was put in this fantastic treasury, check it out:

Beautiful treasury by anjalicreations, thanks!

Did I mention, SALE?!  Yes I did!  I need some motivation to create new pins, so I’ve lowered the prices on the pieces in my etsy shop.  If they sell, that would definitely motivate me. 

Leave a Comment crochet, fabric jewelry

Artful Thursday – Maybe

It’s noon… and thinking that now that school has begun perhaps I can get one special project started and finished today.  Maybe.  For now, I’m relaxing in the quiet of my house just thinking about it.  Got a nice surprise, seeing that my Linen & Velvet Bird cuff was in this unique Treasury.  Click over and take a look:

I don’t know why my etsy screens are grey.  No idea and can’t seem to be able to fix it.

6 comments business, fabric jewelry

Hearts & Shopping Online

A Monday Mash-Up of many different things:

I’m participating in the one-week EtsyChai’s Sweet Deals for a Sweet Year promotion at my etsy shop.  Lots of deals to be had, and many participating businesses.  For more information and other shop links, click here.  I’ve been updating my shop with Lost & Found necklaces and coming out with a new item or two this week – each piece is one-of-a-kind and truly unique!  Crochet key necklaces are nice and light-weight and you can see many of them here in their test tubes:

666 hearts.  Hmmm…. :

I’ve donated a few items for sale at the HOST (Helping Others Street Team) shop – be sure to check them out and see all the good they do!

If you join by 8/8/10, all new Rue La La members will get a $10 credit.  I’ve gotten a sweater from the site so far, and was pleased with the packaging, quality and quick delivery.  (Credit needs to be used by 10/31/10, and I receive a $10 credit when you make a purchase – it’s a win-win deal!)

Many of my family members live far away so I do a lot of shopping online and have birthday and holiday gifts sent straight to them.  How about you, do you do a lot of business on the internet?

5 comments fabric jewelry

Crocheting on the Deck

Relaxing during a few afternoons and getting some projects completed:

Also…

I was an EtsyBloggers Mini Monday feature!! Check it out.

See my fireworks bouquet here:

Summer is full-on in the North East U.S. – temps in the 90’s before noon!  Staying cool here by watering the garden early in the morning and staying still when I’m outside, crocheting a lot.  I’m so glad I learned this new craft! What have you been up to?

9 comments crochet, fabric jewelry, photography

Japanese Crochet

I am not immune to the current online trend for Japanese craft books – I just haven’t blogged about them before.  Once I learned to crochet so I could edge my knit projects, it was only a matter of time before I realized I could make all the cute amigurumi I saw all over the internet.

This is the most precious book I’ve bought to date - “marche special” ISBN978-4-529-04549-0.  I got it while I was in New York a few months ago and picked it up at a Kinokuniya book store.  (There are many places you can pick these up online – various Etsy sellers, superbuzzy, etc.)

The instructions are by diagram – not too hard to follow & I’m sure I’ll be making most of the things in this book –if not all.  Right now I’m trying to start a new one and having a little difficulty figuring out where it begins – I think I’ll just have to jump right in and see how it turns out – learning from the experience.  Little flowers and corsages like this are perfect for me since I tend to hoard odds and ends of yarns instead of full-skeins (perfect little stash-busting, on-the-go projects).  Thread and fine-yarn projects like these usually call for small steel crochet hooks, and it takes me some trial and error to find the correct gauge.

Have you tried any craft patterns in a language that is not your native one?

6 comments crochet, fabric jewelry

Symbols

 

Locked up, or kept safe?

 

Opening doors or solving a puzzle?

What does a key mean to you?

Now at tamdoll.etsy.com.

8 comments crochet, fabric jewelry, jewelry

New

I’m still working on 5,000 projects and have to walk sideways just to get through this workspace to sit at the computer.  But it’s good because I’m actually completing items!

Here’s a new crochet cuff that will appear at my Etsy shop later this week -

 

 

Here are the completed Love Birds, with some additional stitching – and I’ll deliver these to Apotheca by Wednesday -

I’m reworking my key necklaces this week, making some embroidered heart sachets and maybe a necklace or two, working on patchwork fabric cuff bracelets and thinking about my Artful Thursday project.    And more.  Of course. 

4 comments crochet, fabric jewelry, plush animals

Love Is in the Air

I was featured, now I’m spreading the love back to you, so read on…

Last Year I put up a tutorial for these Love Letters – and I’ve been featured this month for having the how-to up here at my blog.  I hope you all enjoy the project!

        

Thank you OnePrettyThing & Tip Junkie!

Want one of your own?  You can always make one… or…  I’ve put my 2009 Love Letters, on sale, at my Etsy shop – and since you’re reading my blog post – here’s an extra deal for you – if you buy one of the love letters by the end of February 2010, I’ll either refund your shipping vial PayPal*, or include one of these pairs of wool felt/beaded post earrings with your order*:**You will need to convo me at Etsy or put a Message to Seller with a note about which offer you’d like and how you read about it at my blog (one per customer, please.)  And… if you’re the third customer (since I only have two pairs of earrings to give away) – it will be refunded shipping or receive this heart brooch:  I think I’m starting to feel the love, and inspired to create for Valentine’s day!  According to my 2010 goals, I was supposed to have done this already a month ago… but I’m giving myself a break since I didn’t create my goals until last week!

I think today’s going to be a day filled with red and pink creations.

3 comments business, fabric jewelry, tutorial

Colorful Blog Carnival

I just discovered I’m not too late to participate in the EtsyBloggers blog carnival – the last one for 2009!  These are fun, because after everyone participates, the host will feature a link to all the posts and you can read them all.

Question of the week: What are your favorite color combinations? What do you create using those colors?   I can’t really say I have a favorite color combination.  I seriously like every color.  If you look at things I’ve made in the past, you’ll see that bright colors don’t scare me away -

  

Yes, that’s a chicken bag – mini rubber chickens on the handles.

Actually, a shop owner told me the pink cuff on the left was too bright and that I should tone down my colors if I wanted people to buy the things I make…. I eventually took it out of her shop and it quickly sold online.  I have to make what I like, or it’s no fun making it!  Does anyone want to work with or accessorize with drab colors?

I’ll make things in subdued or bold colors -
  

If I’m stuck for a contrasting or complementing color idea, I'll use a color wheel.

Sometimes it’s the color or material that inspires me, other times I just use what’s on hand to create an idea I have brewing.

I’m not sure there’s a color I haven’t worked with.  Do you have any that you avoid or one that you love or always gravitate to?

3 comments creativity, fabric jewelry