Getting Ready for Fall

Many of you already know that my brother is getting married this fall. As soon as I knew that I was going to be in the wedding party (and before we'd ever talked about things like shoes, jewelry, etc.), I started thinking about possibilities for jewelry. I find it really funny when I meet people who make jewelry and don't actually wear a lot of jewelry themselves. Isn't half of the fun of having jewelry making skills using them to make customized pieces for yourself? Anyway, aside from my recent Renaissance Fair piece, I haven't made jewelry for myself for an event in years. It's way past time.

I don't work with a lot of Swarovski beads, largely because they're expensive, and I would rather purchase larger quantities of more affordable beads. But for some reason, I was really called to them for this piece. They're available in a wide range of colors, including lovely fall shades. So I went ahead and ordered a batch.

I'm planning to make a triple wrap bracelet, kind of along the style of the very popular leather wrapped bracelets but beaded. The colors for the wedding are red and dark blue, so I will most likely figure out a way to work a hint of blue into this piece. I obviously haven't worked out all of the specifics yet, but that's okay. I'm excited to get going on it this next month.

I am using this post for the August Blogging Business Artisans monthly challenge Fall is Coming. If you have an Etsy shop and enjoy blogging, think about joining our team today.

How are you getting ready for fall?

May BBA Flowers Challenge

Some of you may remember this bunny family idea that I shared earlier this spring. While I still think that it is insanely cute, it doesn't really fit with anything else in our home. I'm not sure how I decided on flowers instead. I still had a bunch of felt and paper flowers left over from last year (more on those flowers over here), which meant that this project came together really easily. And it just so happened to fit the May challenge theme.

The biggest challenge was figuring out what kind of fabric I wanted. It's very rare that I use fabric for crafting. I intentionally don't keep much of it on hand because I simply don't need to spend the time and money building a stash of material that I will hardly ever use. This meant that I had to purchase something. I eventually settled on burlap.

Materials

•  A set of embroidery hoops. I picked up a set of five in two different sizes on Etsy. I paid less than half of the retail value. If you scout a lot of thrift stores, you may be able to score a set for even less.
• Felt rectangles and buttons of your choosing for flowers and leaves in the colors. Michaels has felt rectangles for less than 30 cents each. It is time consuming to make, cut, and glue these flowers and leaves, but they are very inexpensive to make. Again, you can read more about them here.
• Fabric of your choosing for the hoop backings. I bought half a yard of burlap and used about half of it.
• Tacky glue (for the flowers)
• Nails (for hanging the hoops)

Even if you bought everything new for this project, you most likely wouldn't spend more than $30. I know that many people already have a lot of the materials on hand.

The assembly process is pretty self-explanatory. It's important to take your time stretching and cutting the fabric so you end up with evenly stretched fabric and closely cut ends. I used more tacky glue to attach the flowers to the burlap. As you will not be handling these pieces, it is not necessary to use a really strong glue like E-6000 or an epoxy.

I completely winged the hanging job and did readjust a few of the hoops in the process to get a look that I liked. I know that many people will do something much more sophisticated to get a certain aesthetic, but that's pretty much exactly how the hanging process goes around here.

I'm really happy with my little flower hoops. I've been slowly filling out one of the wall spaces in my office area of the basement, and this set is a great final touch.

One of the best aspects of this project is that there are so many ways that you can customize it. With different fabrics and colors, you could easily create a completely different aesthetic. There is no reason to feel limited to flowers either. After all, my original inspiration was the bunnies.

I used this project for the May 2013 Blogging Business Artisans Flowers Challenge. If you enjoy these types of challenges, love blogging, and are looking for a new team on Etsy, consider joining us.

Have you been working on any new home decor?

Mitchell Park Domes

When my parents were visiting Milwaukee earlier this month, among other things, we went to the Mitchell Park Conservatory or the Domes. It's taken me a while to get through this whole set of photos, but I'm happy to share them with you today. Enjoy.

Hands down, this shot blew me away more than anything else that I took that day. I played up the contrast when I edited it and cannot believe the results. Who knew that black and white flower photography could be so striking?

I'm continuing to challenge myself to play up vivid colors and sharp imagery when I take pictures.

 

I took this picture for the reflection.

The current Mitchell Park special exhibit in their show dome is a train exhibit.

Finally, I put together this edit for the March BBA Challenge: Emerging Foggy Spring. As we still have several inches of snow on the ground here, it wasn't feasible to go out and get a new outdoor photo to fully capture spring... any time thus far this month. Sad. So this is what I have. My digital drawing skills are on par with my regular drawing skills (which are elementary at best), but I learned a lot completing this little project.

What have you been photographing lately?

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little late to the game

I titled this post little late to the game because if I'd had my act together, I could have had these new pieces up and promoted for Valentine's Day. I didn't. Honestly that thought didn't even cross my mind until I was looking through the BBA challenges recently and realized that I'd missed the boat. The good thing about these pieces is that they're versatile enough to carry you through many other holidays and occasions as well.

I sold the original version with this all red color palette nearly a year ago, but it's back now.

 

Whenever I create a new button charm bracelet, I try to make a pair of matching dangle earrings. I'm determined to keep this earring style in stock in 2013 and am introducing lots of new versions of it.

Both of these new pieces are in the shop. I've created a lot of single color palette button charm bracelets in the past few years and would like to branch out a little more in 2013. Any inspired ideas for color combinations with red? And yes, I've already done turquoise and red.

Keeping with my recent Polyvore kick, I created a couple outfits that I think work well with these new pieces.

Rose Classic Work by rose-clearfield featuring tulle coats

Rose Every Day by rose-clearfield featuring nike shoes

I'm using this post for the February BBA Challenge: Red.

Have you created anything in red lately?

If you enjoy this type of artistic challenge, blog regularly, and are looking for a new team on Etsy, consider joining the BBA team. We'd love to have you!

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in the right season

Margaret of Splendid Little Stars came up with the April BBA Challenge: Spring is in the air!  This is what she wrote about the challenge: "Create a project that calls to mind how one or all the senses respond to this new beginning time of year."

I have been doing well staying ahead with creating jewelry for upcoming seasons and holidays but not so much with cards.  I haven't been sweating it because I feel like I'm still getting back into the craft and will be prepared for the 2012 holiday season and beyond, which is fine.  However, I wanted to have some seasonal cards ready for my upcoming show.  This challenge was the perfect opportunity to make this happen. 

 
Do you remember the flowers that I put together in the winter?

I used some of them for A7 Mother's Day cards a while back and have now put the rest of them to use for mini spring, Mother's Day, and graduation cards.

I had fun experimenting with a lot of different bright colors and spring prints.  Most of the flowers are so multicolored that I could pair almost anything with them.


As I've mentioned before, I also got inspired to make some turquoise and red birthday cards.  There are over 20 of them in the photo of the stack of cards at the beginning of this post.

I will be packaging a few sets of turquoise/red cards and will save the rest until I have some other color combinations available and will then make mixed birthday packs.


I don't have any of these new mini cards in the shop yet, but as always, if you're interested before I get them up, let me know.

Have you been making new seasonal projects for spring?

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I included this post in Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday - 4/27/2012.

BBA February Challenge and Our Team Giveaway

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whether or not you are in a committed relationship, I hope that you are loved today.

The Challenge

The February BBA Challenge is to create a love themed item.  You can read more about it here.  If you've been reading this blog for longer a week and/or have checked in with my Etsy shop any time during the past month, you know that I've created a lot of love themed items the past couple months.  My love of hearts took over, and I went crazy for Valentine's Day.

My Valentine's Day shop section is still going strong through tonight so you can check out what's new over there.  I won't recap about any of those items for you.  Instead, for the challenge, I'm going to share some of my newest card designs that I haven't listed yet.

When I started brainstorming card ideas at the end of 2011, I decided that I wanted to design a line of The Office cards.  I don't discuss The Office on here very much, but it's been one of my favorite TV shows for the last 4 years.  I could easily write a whole post about why I love this show, but for now suffice it to say that one of my favorite things about it is the characters and the dialogue.

I have mentioned a few times that I recently started sewing with paper.  I saw a few ideas for this on Pinterest and was immediately hooked.  I learned machine sewing basics many years ago.  Thankfully it's kind of like riding a bicycle so it is coming back to me.  As I become more comfortable with the machine, the sewing goes more quickly.

Anyway, I really love this 3D heart effect.  It is so easy to replicate this concept with any number of shapes.  I will be experimenting more with it in the future.  You'll have to trust me that the background is a beautiful deep purple.  I know that it looks almost black here.  Also, I used some of my new stamps from norajane.

I made a bunch of these (as well as a very similar anniversary version) and will be giving Jake one of them today.  If you know why this card is a fitting choice for him, you get a reward.  Not really.  Just bragging rights.

Thus far I've mostly focused on larger cards, but I'd like to develop more mini sets.  I know that my stitch work here is far from perfect, but I still love this concept and will keep practicing with it.  I think that it would be fun to offer designs that are similar to this for all different occasions.

Someday maybe I'll get inspired to learn how to do something with my sewing machine that's a little more practical.  I can only seem to take interest in sewing projects that are purely for aesthetics.

What have you been working on lately that has challenged you?

The Giveaway

Continuing with the BBA, if you have not already entered the February BBA Giveaway, please get over to the blog and enter!  Nancy and I decided that it would be fun to do a group giveaway and offer lots of smaller prizes.  Seven of our teammates decided to join us.

One lucky person will win all of the items pictured there.  The heart thumb tack set in the upper right hand corner is from me.  We want to encourage everyone to visit all of the participating shops so you can get a lot of extra entries for this giveaway by leaving comments with your favorite items from all of the different shops.

And finally, while I'm on the subject of the BBA, founding the team this fall is what inspired me to write this article.

New Article:

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Looking for older articles?  Click here!

I included this post in Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 2/20/2012.

January BBA Challenge: New Techniques - DIY Hair Pin Craft Fair Display

As you know, one of my goals for 2012 is to expand my craft fair lines.  This means that I am also continuing to expand and improve my craft fair display.  I am looking for as many ways to make or purchase inexpensive display components as possible.  I decided to use my first new display for the January BBA Challenge: New Techniques.  The hair pins themselves are a new technique for me, as is the display.

I got the idea for this from another vendor at one of my fall shows who, among other things, sold fabric covered hair pins.  She had a larger display with a wood base as opposed to cardboard, but the concept is very similar with the fabric background and ribbon/rick rack display rows.

Supply List

-Several pieces of thick cardboard.  Mine are 7" x 14".  (I cut up a large mailing box from Christmas.)

-Approx 1/8 yard of fabric or enough to cover your cardboard in the color/pattern of your choice.  (I purchased 1 yard of black cotton fabric for $4.00 with the intent of using it for several different projects.)

-At least 3 1/2 feet of ribbon and/or rick rack of your choice.  (I purchased 2 new spools for about $1.00 each.)

-Packing tape. (Obviously I already had this.)

-Tacky glue.  (We had some on hand.  You can buy it at any craft store and most big box stores for $3-$5.)
-Fabric scissors for the fabric and ribbons.  (I already had them.)
 -Table top paper cutter. (optional)  You can use a ruler and regular scissors to cut out your price sign and matte for it, but if you have a paper cutter, please use it.

-One piece of card stock or scrapbook paper for the price sign matte, approx 6" x 2".  (I used a leftover scrap with something on the back that I wasn't going to use.)

As you can see, I spent about $6.00 on this project and will have lots of fabric, ribbon, and rick rack left over for other projects.  You could spend less if you didn't want leftovers, but I bet that many of you reading this already most of these materials and can use these things that are on hand.

Here are my cardboard pieces and fabric ready to go.  I used 4 pieces of cardboard.

I made a couple thin lines of glue around the edges of the first three pieces of cardboard.  I stuck them together and stuck the fourth piece on top.

Make sure that the pieces of cardboard are lined up and pressed tightly together.

I put the stack around one of my button storage boxes for a couple hours while the glue dried to ensure that none of the edges curled up.

Cut out a piece of fabric that has at least one extra inch on each side.  The other projects that I'll be using the extra fabric for do not require specific measurements so I did not make measurements before cutting and just eyeballed it.

Tape the fabric to the back of the cardboard.  Check the front periodically to make sure that the fabric is pulled tight.  I ended up adding one more piece of tape to the right side after I took this picture to secure that loose piece near the bottom.  The tape can touch the sides of the cardboard as long as it isn't visible from the front.

Here it is taped up.

I also eyeballed the ribbon measurements.  Make sure that you cut them long enough so you can tape them to the back.  That way your handy work will stay hidden.

I got out some of hair pins that I've made thus far to check how much space I should leave in between each ribbon/rick rack row.  I did the rows one at a time so I could double check that there was enough space in between each one.  I don't have a picture of the completed back, but I just used more of the packing tape to tape the ribbons in place.

I had enough space for five rows.  Depending on how wide your ribbon/rick rack is and how long your hair pins are, you may be able to squeeze six rows.  I know that those poor pins look a little lonely.  I'll have lots more done soon enough.

You don't have to add a price sign, but personally I would.  If you've done any craft shows, you know how often you get asked about pricing from customers.  The more places you can list the prices, the better.

I typed my price sign in Word.  I centered the text and didn't do any special formatting.  You can play with the font/size as you like.  I cut out both the price sign and the card stock matte for it with a table top paper cutter.  I did not take exact measurements but simply eyeballed it before cutting.  I attached the sign with packing tape.  I made little tape rolls that I stuck to the back.  If you decide to change your pricing at some point, it's easy to enough to remove this and tape in a new sign.

I added the remaining pins that I've made so you can get a better idea of how it will look filled up.

I don't know how many pins this would hold, but probably at least 50.  Most likely you could fit 60-70.

The ribbons and rick rack do sag a little bit in the middle with more weight.  If you don't like this, it's easy enough to add a couple drops of glue (I'd use Tacky glue or a fabric glue) in the middle of each row.

For displaying this at craft fairs, I will most likely put it on an easel (I buy my easels at Michael's for about $10) or lean it against some sort of large display item, like a basket, that is covered in fabric.

Obviously I designed this to hold hair pins, but I'm sure that this design would be useful for displaying other items, too.  Any thoughts on this?  Please leave a comment!

Also, if you make your own display, please leave me a comment with a link to your pictures.

The BBA is looking for new members.  If you enjoy blogging regularly and are looking for new challenges and ways to promote your business, consider joining up with us.  Check out the team requirements right here.

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Where I linked up today:

I used this post for Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday 1/13/12 and Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 1/16/2011.