My New Shop Sign

Above is my sewing station I set up in the middle of our living/dinning room when I need to spread out and work on big projects. Below to the right is a detail of the letters I stitched onto scrap fabric I had left over from other projects. I used left over turquoise fabric from my new table covers to line the backs of each piece. On the left is my new Baby Lock sewing machine. Its a great little machine for basic sewing.

The finished sign for my craft fair booth. Its about 8-9 feet in length and the individual squares are 7"x9.5". I love how it turned out! I'm hoping it catches a few eyes at First Thursday next week.

This Week....

So I would like to apologize in advance for the lack of posts you will (not) see again this week. Today I am picking up my future brother-in-law who is visiting for the next week for his brothers, my boyfriends, birthday. We have a busy schedule of bbq eating at Salt Licks, a show at Antone's, blues music at Zilker park, a night at the Alamo Drafthouse to see Toy Story 3 in 3D and hopefully a trip to the lake. In between all that I am picking up supplies from various donors around town to make bird feeders and planters on my new table saw for First Thursday on South Congress, July 1st. I am also busy sewing a sign banner and a table cover for a second craft table I picked up for my booth. One was too crowded with my products and I have room to spare in a 10x10 space.

I did a little better last weekend at the Artisan Market but it was still a slow night. I am considering picking up another Sunday market in a different location to see if I can make enough to continue running my shop full-time. I am starting to meet a ton of great people and I love what I do! Its just hard being a struggling artist when you really have to struggle to afford new supplies and tools. I am very grateful for the license plates, supplies and support my family and friends back in Idaho keep sending me. I wouldn't be able to do this without them.

I have to run to the airport but I hope everyone has a great week and weekend! I will try and post a few pictures of my banner and things I'm working on later.

Best Givaway Yet!!

Just when you think they've given away the best handmade crafts and supplies a person could want Oh, Hello Friend does one better. This weeks giveaway is a Silhouette SD machine valued at $299! If by chance you don't win the giveaway there is still a chance to get away with a whole bag of goodies if you purchase a machine by July 1st.

To enter the contest click HERE to visit Oh, Hello Friend.

To learn more about the Silhouette SD Machine click HERE.

To see all the amazing projects this machine is capable of click HERE to visit the Flickr Silhouette group!

HUGE PROMOTION:

can't wait to win? buy a silhouette now with this special promotion, for oh, hello friend readers only! this offer is good through July 1st: buy a silhouette machine for only $249.99 AND you will receive the following as well:

- $50 off the Silhouette Craft Cutter

- 2 rolls of vinyl (Valued at $15.98)

- 1 roll of transfer tape (Valued at $7.99)

- Scraper (Valued at $6.99)

- Home Décor CD (Valued at $50)

- $10 Gift Card to the Silhouette Download Store

- Cutting Blade

- 2 Cutting Mats

The silhouette SD alone retails for $299.99! So you'll get all the things listed here for only $249.99 -- which is a savings of $130.96! use code "HelloSilhouette" to redeem the promo. Must use code to receive the discount :)

Etsy Craft Party

Tonight is the official Etsy Craft Party! In cities and towns worldwide people will be gathering together to celebrate crafting in their community. I will be attending a party here in Austin hosted by the Austin Etsy Street Team. We will be screen printing, making buttons and sharing crafting stories at the Milago Condominiums downtown from 7-9pm.

The Austin craft party is currently the 16th largest community party behind Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Portland, Boston, Brooklyn, and Vancouver (to name a few). You can find more information about the Etsy Craft Party HERE and to see if there is one available in your town go to Meetups.com.

ETSY FAVORITES: Jewelry with a Little Charm

I love charm necklaces and I just wanted to share a few of my favorites from my favorite sellers. . . Enjoy!

Pocket Watch Charm Necklace by Oh, Hello Friend $30

Family Stamped Charm Necklace by Wise Gal Designs $49
Umbrella Charm Necklace by Le Petite Pretty $18
Guardian Angel Charm Necklace by Vintage Musings $40
Vintage Sewing Machine Necklace by Just Jaynes $24
Initial Pendant Charm Necklace by Waxwing Jewelry $42

Summer Trade Guide @ Oh, Hello Friend

I'm so happy to say I was one of shops to be showcased on the Oh, Hello Friend Summer Trade Guide for Etsy! There were a lot of great shops and products chosen to be showcased in the guide so I am flatter to be a part of it. I hope I can negotiate some trades for some beautiful jewelry and paper goods *wink*. See more on the Summer Trade Guide and how it works at Oh, Hello Friend.

ARTISAN MARKET

Well, my first booth at the Artisan Market on South Congress here in Austin didn't go as well as planned. I was told it was the slowest Saturday of the season so far and I believe it was due to the 90+ degree heat we had. I was one of only three booths in my area that made any sales and I barely made enough to cover my fees. It was also very windy and I wasn't able to set up some of my displays as planned. It was still a great experience. I met some nice people; got a lot of compliments on my booth; and gave out quite a few business cards. I believe the money and time was worth its gold in marketing even if I didn't make a lot of sales. Depending on the weather I'm definitely going back this weekend to give it another shot. This week I'm working on a few new projects I didn't get done last week including some scrap fabric sign banners and a picnic silverware/napkin set made out of tin cans. I'm also hoping to get some of the new items I have photographed and up on Etsy.

Here are a few photos of my stuff from the fair. Enjoy!

My Sign & Paper Goods
(I'm going to redo the sign with color and better lettering for next week. I felt rushed to get setup and ran out of time.)

Garden Spoon Makers

Bottle Cap Magnet Display

Bottle Cap Pendants & Longhorn Charm Necklaces

I didn't get a great picture of this at the fair but I wanted to show you my display tree I made with a pieces of scrap metal and a dead branch from our front yard. Its about 24" tall and it worked great to display my license plate garden decor and two small wind chimes I had.

BRAIDED NECKLACE

I didn't want to leave you hanging again so I thought I would share this is a great DIY necklace I found at ECAB - Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business, Make it Yourself blog. Click HERE for full instructions on how to make this piece. Also, check out some of the other great DIY projects including Urban Horse Shoes...I love these!

NEW LABELS

I've still been busy, busy getting ready for my first Saturday market. I can't wait to take pictures and show everyone what I've been working so hard on. I did take two days off last weekend to enjoy a Miranda Lambert & Wade Bowen concert and an afternoon of BBQing by the pool. I also picked up a 10x10 commercial canopy at Cabellas to cover my table from this unpredictable weather we seem to be having.

This week I've been working on packaging everything up so that means stickers! I designed these cute "Thank you" stickers for my recycled brown bags and the small ones for the back of my pre-packaged products. I am also toying with new business cards that I would like to get professionally printed eventually in both aqua blue & chartreuse. Let me know what you think. :)

(Sorry for the FCC sensor blocks but I didn't want to advertise my personal cellphone openly on the web. I like to keep it to customers, friends and family)

CRAFT PROJECT UPDATE

Once again I've been super busy this week making goodies. I've been considering making some doggy items to sell and donate money towards a local Boston Terrier or dog rescue. This is one of the things I've been working on with some scrap fabric I had laying around. Below are the instructions on how to make this simple embroidered wall hanger. Its a great project, even if your not a great sewer. Enjoy!


This embroidered wall hanger is a really simple project. All you need is a wooden embroidery hoop ($1.50 for an 8" at any craft store); some scrap fabric from the closet or store (can be white, colored or patterned); some embroidery thread and a needle. You may also need tracing paper if you are working with dark fabric.

First find an image you like. You can find something online and print it out at the appropriate size or draw something yourself. If you are working with an image online or a picture then make sure it is something you can easily trace into a recognizable outline, pattern or silhouette. If you have Photoshop and know how to use it, it is easy to convert your picture to a black and white image. You can also find predesigned cross stitch and embroidery patterns at craft stores. Either way your final product should be something that can be easily traced onto paper or fabric.

Since I was working with a thin, light fabric and a distinct black and white image I was able to tape the image and fabric to a window and trace lightly with a fine point fabric pen. If you working with a darker fabric or a detailed image you will want to copy it onto trace paper and pin it to your fabric. You will simply stitch the pattern through the trace paper and remove all pieces when complete. When your pattern is ready to sew, place your fabric on your embroidery hoop.

The next step is to start sewing. On this project I used a simple strait stitch because I wanted a fine outline, but there are all kinds of fun embroidery and cross stitches out there to use. If you are not yet a sewer or familiar with the different stitches click HERE to see examples.

When you are done sewing your image make sure it is centered and tight then cut off the access fabric. If you leave a small edge of fabric you can tuck it to the inside/back of the hoop and secure it with a hot glue gun. I painted my wooden hoop black and covered the back with black felt so it matched all my picture frames. This ended up being a nice touch and helped the image to stand out a bit. In all this project took me about two hours to complete including spraying the frame.

Here are a few other embroidery hoop projects to give you a little inspiration. I am particularly fond of the little hippo which was stitched with scrap fabric and felt on a sewing machine then placed in the hoop.

ETSY FAVORITES: SUMMER NECESSITIES

Bike Bag with Shoulder Strap by Hambone Designs $45

Hand Sewn Felt Pouch by Suezybees $28

Vintage Wicker Picnic Basket at Coco Girls $40

Had to throw these in for fun!
Picnic Bow Shoe Clips by Punk Scrapper $10

Handmade Picnic Blanket by Forty Ducks $75

Screen Printed Reusable Napkins by Michelle Brusegaard $10

Urban Picnic Roll Up by Nstar Studio $25

Reusable Lunch Box by Urban Harmonie Designs $27

Water Bottle by Pretty-n-Preppy $24

Sturdy Handmade Beach Bag by CalviRee $58