Guide to the unknown

For years, I've usually worked whenever the local MCC Relief sale was taking place. I've heard about the wonderful pies and cookies and other delicious treats; the unique crafts and products available from Ten Thousand Villages there. This year, I finally made it.

And it's a good thing I did, too... I remember my mom having this book around a lot when I was younger, but she says she never actually owned it - she just borrowed it from the library a lot. I knew the second I saw it hidden on one of the tables that not only did I need it, I had to have it.

The sticker on the cover says $6. By the time we had reached the books, the prices had all been slashed in half.

I paid $3 for this book. Three dollars.

Do I think it was worth it?

Um, perhaps.

Yeah, I guess.

I have a small booklet outlining some of the same stitches that are in the one I picked up today, but not with the detailed instructions like the new one has.

I've been interested in learning new needlecrafts since I started doing more embroidery. Smocking is one of the techniques I've seen finished a thousand times; and it seems way easier than I thought. Like simple. I say that now, but wait until I actually try it and cry in frustration every five minutes.

 I really like the tips and tricks that are included for people like me, who have been clipping corners very badly for months now. A pin to keep from clipping the threads? Genius!

The book covers embroidery, needlepoint, knitting, appliqué, quilting, patchwork, macramé, crochet, rug-making and lacework; each section goes beyond just those, like the lace section...

Goes into tatting. Like smocking, tatting is one of those techniques I've seen and admired but never thought about how one would go about creating it. My mom apparently knows how to do tatting, something I never knew. Huh.

That's Maddy's hand, helpfully pointing something out. She likes my new book, too... she keeps crying whenever I take it away from her.

One of the things I'm most excited about in this book is the section on weaving. I know the basic weaving techniques - back and forth, over and under, etc, etc, etc - but I've never quite understood how different colours are introduced or how patterns are made. Now, apparently, I can find out.

I've been doing a lot of embroidery lately, and this book is going to hopefully help me expand on my stitch repertoire. I can see doing a sampler in the near future so I can at least try out the stitches and narrow down which ones are doable and which ones turn out looking like rat's nests.

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Just a reminder that all stock in my shop is still 15% off.  Be sure to check it out if you're looking for early holiday gifts.

Aim high, hit low

I had hoped that by this point in August, I'd be working just on pieces for my shop (or shops, more on that later), but no. As a procrastinator - as well as someone who isn't quite in the best of health - I should have known better. I've needed more sleep this month than any other in the last year, which usually means I'm dead asleep by 9pm most nights. My energy levels are pretty flat right now, so I've been sticking to doing less intensive work, like embroidery. And to top it all off, I get easily distracted.

So this weekend, I'm hoping to get a lot of work done, in amongst visiting with friends and family and taking care of Maddy. My to-do list is already done and ready to be ignored used to help me keep on track and get ready for what promises to be a busy fall.

Time is not on my side

Summer months are the optimal time to start planning for and getting your shop ready for the holiday season. Etsy's holiday season picks up from October through December. Harvest and Halloween seasons pick up as early as August, so start stocking up on and listing your holiday offerings now in preparation for the seasonal rush ahead
     • Media Tip: Press outlets begin finalizing their holiday issues and series in the summer. Have your holiday items listed, tagged, and available now for buyers and PR reps looking to pull items for holiday gift guides.

-From Etsy's Merchandising Desk: July Heats Up

Oh, holy crap.

I am not expecting to have anything from my shop catch the eye of any media folk and wind up in some magazine in time for the holiday season. I may be talented, but I'm not that talented.

Yet.

No, this just reminds me that the first craft sale that I want to be part of is in 3 months. Three months. Ninety days. Again, oh, holy crap.

I'm not sure what I'm going to sell at that sale, but I don't have enough stock for a sale. And trying to sell the same things I have in my Etsy shop is not going to happen, either (mainly because if I tried to do that, it would be just my luck to have everything in my shop sell online at the same time people are buying them off of me at a sale).

There's a small list in my notebook for ideas of what to make/sell at the sale (this is only the first; I'm aiming for two more, and I know there's at least one more for sure), but haven't actually started any of it. I've decided that I'm going to try to get as much product done and ready to list in my shop by the end of June so July will be when I come up with new products. What those products are is another question.

I've been debating about opening another shop, either on Etsy or one of the other online handmade sites (like Artfire or Zibbet), to see if I can sell my efforts elsewhere. But how much more time can I devote to doing things that may or may not sell? Already, it's what I think about the majority of the time; it's what I spend my 'spare' time doing; and it's an even more difficult financial commitment for someone who doesn't have an income. So, yeah... do I keep all my eggs in one basket or start spreading them out, even though it could be a waste, which is what I'm doing now is turning into.

*sigh*

Sometimes I wonder if things would have just been easier to keep working rather than putting all this effort into something that's not exactly succeeding (which is no one/thing's fault but my own)... at least by working at home, I get to spend time with Maddy and drown my sorrows in cartoons and reruns all day.

Stepping back

I've had a sketch for this wallet in my notebook for a while now. In my head, it seemed really simple - a classy exterior panel, and three interior pocketed panels - two for cards, one for change/receipts/cash. I actually made a pattern for this project and measured everything really, really, REALLY carefully, taking seam allowances into consideration - for a change. I cut my chosen material, pinned it all, and ironed it to the specifications I needed. I put different weights of interfacing inside for stability (but not weight) and sat down to put it together.

If you look really closely at the centre panel - the gorgeous floral print on the cream field - you can see where I've had to rip out stitches. Twice. You'll also notice the botton is larger than the top - they're 2 different pieces because I apparently measured incorrectly, not taking a seam allowance into consideration for that piece. Don't get me started on how badly I cut the exterior panel...

I've put this project aside for now, for fears of destroying it completely. I like the concept and I know I can finish it, but just not now. Instead, I'm going to go back to what I know - small pouches and card wallets, with a few shoulder bags thrown in.

I'd love to expand my repertoire but time isn't allowing it. I'm working on retooling my banners/avatars/backgrounds for everything, again... no one has told me that they need to be, but I'm a graphic designer. I need to design something besides wallets. I've got a couple of ideas I want to get working on, but there's a pile of material that's constantly calling my name to get sewn up, too.

*sigh*

For the time being, I'll stick with what I've been doing. As I mentioned before, I'm planning on incorporating embroidery into more of my work - something that should make what I do more unique and put it into it's own niche, because according to some, that's what you need to sell anything on Etsy. Mostly, I like to do it and think it looks cute. If people like it, great; I know some people won't, but they probably weren't going to buy anything in the first place.

But that's a post for another day.

A stitch in time...

I've been trying to figure out ways to incorporate embroidery into my work, and beyond this piece, I haven't had much solid success. In my pile of work that I've messed up (aka 'stuff that I'll eventually give to Maddy to play with'), I've got a few pieces that I tried to include some embroidered elements. It took a while for me to realize that although I knew I had the skills (self-taught, too... which surprises me more than you'd expect), I had no idea how to use them... PROPERLY.

I tend to rush my work. This isn't a shock to anyone who knows me - I'm that type of worker who will charge ahead, full speed, to get my work done as fast as possible so I can spend more time slacking off. Years of being a designer/editor and having to make small, stupid change after small, stupid change should have taught me that slowing down and checking things over before I think I'm done would be beneficial, but no.

So my need to slack - apparently, still - has firmly embedded itself into my new work life. Only in the last couple of weeks have I started to consciously take my time and make sure each step is complete before I move onto the next. Slowing down and being patient with my work has had one massive positive result: ZIPPERS. I like working with zippers so much (so far) that everything I've made in the last 2 weeks has a zipper. Now that I've conquered the zipper challenge, I'm totally ready to start working embroidery back into my pieces.

Such as the piece in the photo at the top of this post. Eventually - possibly Thursday - this will become the outer shell of a wallet I'm going to sell. I don't have any other embroidered pieces ready to go, but I'm purposely waiting until I've finished this wallet to see how using something like this works.

I like embroidery. I find it soothing. Maddy does not and makes it really difficult to do any work during the day, but I'm determined to get her to accept that this is what I'm going to do while she's playing. And because I do all my work freehand, there's no pressure of having to follow lines or a pattern... I do 'draw' an outline in chalk, but more often than not, I'll use it only as a general guide so I don't end up losing track of the space I can use.

I'm also working on a butterfly for Maddy's room. It's not perfectly symmetrical, but I think it'll be cute. I've been trying to work with Maddy in choosing the colours that will be worked into the piece, and when it's done, I'll frame it and hang it up. If all goes well, maybe it's another potentially sell-able product. Or maybe it'll just be one of those things I do for friends and family only.

Things are starting to pick up with my shop and my work... I'm trying new things, searching for new ways to promote what I do, and it looks like I'm getting more first-time viewers into my shop. No sales yet (!!!!!!), but they'll come. I figure if I keep working on what I'm doing and improving the product, it's only a matter of time until I get my first sale, and then my second and then it's an avalanche I can't keep up with. Yep, that's exactly how it's going to be... when it finally happens :)