Craft Insanity

The new site is up!

2009-06-22T20:54:00.002-04:00

OK it only took me a month longer than I thought it would, but I finally finished the new crafty nara site and webstore. I still have a lot to add to the store, but I wanted to get it up and running and get a little up in the store everyday. I have already signed up for google advertising and next will be facebook advertising. (i get free credit for both with my web design software). Next step is to do some advertising postcards and put them around where people might be interested.
I have also got a spot vending at Rakassah in the fall which is a super big bellydance show, I am spliting the booth with Melanie, so hopefully it won't be hard to make it worth my while since I am only paying for half the booth. Of course I am also excited to be able to spend time with Mel, It will be like the good ol' gypsy days :)

Well got to fold laundry, do some dance practice (I am performing in a few weeks eeeeek!) and then maybe take more pictures for the site.

Go check me out at WWW.craftynara.com

Tenacity or stupidity? and is there a difference?

2009-06-06T15:08:00.003-04:00

In the past few months I have been going full steam ahead with the craft business. I feel like I have been making real progress, and have narrowed down my market considerably which makes it much easier to manage and focus on production. I have decided that my number one focus will be belly dance costumes with the emphasis on work out wear as opposed to performance wear. Mostly because I feel that all the hand work I do on performance wear can not be paid for in the long run. My secondary focus will be on custom medieval garb. I still need to figure out how much time things take, but I am good at it, I love making garb, and everyone seems to be pleased with what I make them. I will only do a limited stock for vending at events, mostly mens pants, easy, comfortable turkish coats, and the chemise that go with it. Lastley I will do regular hippie clothes t-shirts, skirts, dresses, baby stuff. I am going to have all of these on my website that I am giving myself the deadline of publishing next friday ready or not.

http://www.craftynara.com/ by the way.

I also have the ability to make some cash with sewing baby doll bodies for Laura's vinyl kits, as well as the possibility of doing boutique type doll clothes for her to sell. I really hope this works out as I would like a more steady income but I am hoping for her and her brother to do the "selling" portion of this venture so I can focus elsewhere.

Here is my dilema....I don't believe in myself enough for all of this. I truly believe in my heart of hearts, that this is the right thing for me to be doing at this time in my life. I feel like everything I have done up till now has lead me here. I just wish I could get rid of the voice telling me to stop chasing the dream.

Last week I was at a workshop in Pittsburg. I took the workshop on Sunday which was veilwork with Eva Cernik. It was fabulous. I would never put myself in the same league as her, she has the stage presence, dance knowledge and showmanship of someone who has been a proffessional dancer most of her life. She was really cool, and it surprised me. I got to see Zafira perform along with some of my other favorite dance troups like Kafif, and Hipnosis. I couldn't help thinking that I could be doing what they are doing. I started dancing about the same time they all did. I used to practice and perform a lot. I know they all have been working much harder than I have at it over the last couple of years, but what would I be like if I practiced every day?
I felt I had to take the safer road as a Chemist, and don't get me wrong I am glad I did. Except the safer road is not availible to me now. Being a proffesional dancer is not really my goal right now, but vending my dance clothes is something I can really get into. But in respect to my dancing, I don't know why I always feel like and inferior dancer. I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth to Jennifer last weekend. I was telling her why I don't dance at Vlads or at any of the big parties at Pennsic. I told her that I wasn't pretty enough and no one wanted to watch me dance, when there were so many other beautiful dancers there to watch. I don't think I ever said this out loud to anyone before, and it seemed a real dumb reason once it was out there. In my head it has always seemed valid to me.
I realized all this time I was perfectly comfortable dancing in front of "mundanes" but not where actuall dancers or musicians who play for dancers would see. The people who always compliment my dancing are my friends and I have always felt they are just being nice when they compliment my dancing, and maybe they are, but who else has SEEN me dance but them?
I decided after the Belly Jam in April to focus my attention on the belly dance scene, they are my people, I love meeting them all, and I find endless inspiration in the costumes and adornment. I have boldly asked to vend at events where I know only 1 or 2 people. I am dancing at an event in Virginia I have never been too, and I don't know anyone.
I am desperately trying to believe that this business will begin to bring the income we desperately need to be coming in.
I feel like I am on the edge of becoming truly successful, and working at something I utterly enjoy while having time for my family too. I will just have to wait and see. Hopefully I won't be waiting too much longer.

one man gathers what another man spills

2009-05-03T23:29:00.004-04:00

We had a great time at The Dead show last night. We drove to the spectrum in my VW bug and set up my tie dyes right there in parking lot. I managed to make enough money to cover the price of tickets which was cool. There wasn't a really big parking lot scene, but if they continue to tour in the fall, I am sure more and more people will follow them and vend. They were so fantastic.

Today I started transfering some of my plants to bigger pots and Jon got an area of the back yard ready for more transplanting tommorow.

I have a few newly designed tie dye things I will hopefully have done and ready for pictures this week. Messenger bags with my "Peace on Earth"design on them, butterfly tank tops, gauze tops with crochet neckline, and cotton halter dresses.

I have a cool idea for butterfly hair clips, they are based on fairy and butterfly wings that people make for repainted and OOAK barbie dolls. I also am going to try my hand at making molds so I can cast resin butterfly bodies.

oh and I am also sewing fabric bodies for vinyl doll kits. Never a dull moment over here :)

Make sure you go over the http://www.jlcimages.net/ to check out the pictures of me from the belly jam. Go to image gallery 2 and you will see a bunch of pictures of me in my tie dye bellydance wear.

This is getting serious!

2009-04-27T13:14:00.002-04:00

I have had 2 great selling weekends and I am right now with my bro setting up a website just for the belly dance wear and custom garb. I am very excited. My bike pants with the silk bell bottom tiers are a huge hit, and my new choli tops would sell better in different colors. I am getting geared up to take my tie dyes to The Dead shows in Philly this weekend.

I am also getting some major sproutage on my vegtable garden. Here is a list of what I have started:

Peppers, Tomato,green and yellow squash, cantalope,cilantro,parsely,basil, oregano,sage,tyme,sunflowers,broccoli,spinach, lettuce, carrots, lavendar,oregano,acorn squash,onion.

pictures to come!

Is this week over yet?

2009-04-10T21:27:00.003-04:00

I feel like I have been running a marathon this past week, except I can't seem to get ahead. With the kid out of school and all the million of other commitments I have piled on myself, I haven't had a moments rest. It has all been mostly good, except for Wednesday which was a day from hell, but hopefully tomorrow after cleaning the martial arts school and 2 hours of core and grappeling classes, after making jello eggs, pound cake and brownies and before Easter Vigil services at night, I will have time to take pics of my new tie dyes for ETSY and get all the prototypes done for my new choli tops. I am really hoping to do well at the belly jam. I think my tie dyed belly dance wear is really different. I also found out how to make my own bindi's so I am going to give that a whirl.

The garden is coming along. I got most of the cold weather leafy veggies planted outside and I am all set up to start planting seeds inside for transplanting outside. I am using up the old plastic milk containers I have had laying around and I want to use old cans I have been saving instead of going out and buying flower pots. I also still have to go get some fruit seeds. My strawberries that come up every year have already started to come up. This year I am ready to can so hopefully it won't go to waste this year. I wasn't prepared for the strawberries last year.
Well enough chat, I have seeds to plant and patterns to make, and hula hoops to tape!!!

Spring has sprung....

2009-04-07T10:59:00.004-04:00

....and it is 35 degrees outside!!!! Oh well, I know warmer weather will be here soon. I have been working really hard on getting my business going, and I just did a craft show and have a few more shows lined up. The show I did on Friday was not great, I only sold 2 shirts, but I got a lot of people looking and got a lot of nice compliments. I need to find a show that has my audience. This show was juried but because they had empty spaces, they let everyone in so there were some vendors selling things cheap and that hurt the rest of us. I am hopeful for the vending gig I have next weekend at a bellydance workshop. I have a ton of fabric set aside to make choli tops. I have also been working closely with my brother helping him get his photography business up and running. He will be at the Belly Jam and that is another reason I am looking forward to it. When we work together there is definatley synergy.

I started planting my victory garden. I prefer this term to "recession garden" I feel that is not a term that encourages plant growth! I weeded the garden area and planted seeds for the veggies that are colder weather plants. I have 2 types of lettuce, spinach, peas and carrots. I am going to do the rest in pots (more specifically recycled coffee cans). I am going to keep some of the herbs inside for a year round garden. This is my first major gardening effort and I hope it works out well. I have already started harvesting dandelion greens for the bunnies and I think it would be great to have lots of veggies and berries to store and eat.

Well, I hope to keep this site a little more updated, hopefully my brother will inspire me to keep up with it!

http://www.jlcimages.net/

Edit: got Joe's website wrong. It is dot_Net

New Year, New Direction

2009-01-14T11:43:00.004-05:00

Greetings and Happy New Year!!!! Thanks to the miracle of modern pharmecuticals I am much more focused and organized that I have been in the last several months. I have been working hard getting all the crafts I had half finished, done and up on my ETSY store. I have had a few sales, which is encouraging, and it seems my tie dyes are getting the most attention. I did a few personalized ones for my niece and nephews for Christmas, and they loved them so that really got me motivated. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head, it is hard to finish one project at a time, but I am forcing myself to catch up before moving on.

I am still working on all the handcrafted Christmas gifts I was so sure I would get done on time! Oh well hopefully the recipients think the gifts were worth the wait.

I also had to organize my basement studio so that I didn't have to take over the living room to work on the computer, and it makes it easier to be in the craft room while working on the craft business. They only problem was I have no room, so I made myself a little "cubbard under the stairs". It would actually be quite comfortable if it wasn't so cold down here! I did find the little space heaters we bought for our last house which was old and drafty. I have it facing twords the sewing machines presently in an effort to stop myself from playing too much solitare on the computer, and actually go finish sewing my line of tie dyed bellydance wear.

I really want to keep this site more updated, as there have been a lot of crafting going on over here.

I am also working on a project with my brother, that I am sure will be hillarious, we just need to get it started. I am hoping to do this on Friday. More on this as things develop!

This year is all about hope and change, and I am doing my very best to make the most of my situation. Here is to a happy new year to us all!!

Happy Crafting!

Long time no see.

2008-12-15T11:28:00.002-05:00

I have been trying to take my crafting in a new direction so I haven't been posting lately. I am hoping that starting in the new year, I will have myself more organized (one can only hope) and I will get back to regular posting. For right now though we are decorating for Christmas and you can see that my Frodo does not approve!

Hey....Kool Aide!!!!

2008-08-20T10:03:00.004-04:00

I finally made the jump to dying yarn. I had some left over handspun merino and I decided to just go for it and dye using the kool aide packs I have been hoarding for about a year. It was as easy as I had been told it would be, and the yarn smells so nice! I can't wait to knit with the yarn. I now am on the hunt for blue and green kool aid!

In other news I had my first ETSY sale!! I sold a set of my dancing bear stitch markers! I am so excited. I just went on and put up all the lovely crochet tops my mom made for the site, and I want to get up some of the pictures of the bags.

My goal for the week is to really work on getting the business side of the business going. You know finding craft shows, getting a tax id number.

The next project I am working on is tie dye skirts and bandanas. Next week I want to spin up the ton of angora I have and try crocheting some beaded necklaces. I want to do this with my mom who is coming for a visit next week. I so can't wait to see her and my aunt. I feel like it has been so long, but really it was just over a month ago!

Need to go put my black garbage bag full of tie dye fabric in ziplocks in the driveway to heat. Oh what the neighbors must think!!

We be Jammin'

2008-08-06T14:20:00.004-04:00

Well I have gotten precious litte crafting done in the past 2 weeks. We cancelled our camping trip but the son is still home from camp for 2 weeks and it has been a little hectic. I have also been babysitting for a very good friend while she gets ready for a big doll show. I have a few pics for you of a shirt I made a few weeks back.

I thought you might like to see pics of my craft studio, and I put a picture here of my new favorite pastime, canning. So far I have made strawberry jam and peach butter.

I am looking forward to getting some more bags finished so I can finally get some up on the website.

It has been a long 2 weeks!

full of inspiration

2008-07-15T16:07:00.002-04:00

I had a fabulous trip to Key West. Not only was I able to relax (and get a lot of knitting, crochet, and sewing done) I got to visit with my family, who I miss very much, and get lots of new bag inspirations! I also picked up some really great tropical fabrics at the local craft store. Here is some pictures of the dress I made while there. My Mom and I were watching a marathon of Project Runway the whole time, so I felt unusually stressed while sewing it :) I am sooooo happy with the results!! I am going to do another version with the skirt longer and patchworked batik fabric. I am going to make a few more petite messenger bags and a new style of smaller bags and some backpacks to bring to new hope. I also want to start getting a stock for my etsy store and craft shows. So much to do, so little time.

Tie Dying is still in the working stages. I haven't found a thread that really works for making sewn on designs. I am also thinking I bought to many dark colors (who me?). I need to bite the bullet and get the 3 set DVD on how to do all the different styles of tie dye, since it seems I want to do some more advanced methods.

Well that is all for now. I am happy to be back, but my trip is just what I needed! I feel so recharged and I only have to wait a month to see my Mom and Aunt again!

I have done it!!!

2008-07-04T11:46:00.005-04:00

As of yesterday I have 4 of my bags in a shop in New Hope. I worked like a fiend all week (still didn't finish one of them) but finally managed to get them over there. They loved them and set up a display in the front of the store with them. I took the pictures quickly so they are a little fuzzy, but I still can't believe they are out there! I really wanted to get the cherry bag done, but after talking with the owners of the store, I need to add a zipper closure to the bag. They also really want more mini messenger bags. I need to also design a smaller bag.

I need to use today to get ready for the trip to the keys. I need to bring projects to work on and I want to get some ideas for tropical inspired bags. I really want to incorperate cocktail umbrellas into a bag, but I am still working on just how to do it. I mod podged a few, but they are still pretty fragile. Maybe I need that stuff you dip flowers into. I will need to experiment (my favorite part !)

Edit: I just got a call, my petite messenger bag sold this morning as soon as the store opened!!! It was going to sell for around $85. Yipee!!!

Happy 4th!!!

The new me

2008-07-01T09:51:00.002-04:00

Ok Life has changed yet again in a big way. I am still trying to get used to being home in the daytime. It is also weird having the son home a couple days a week (but fun). I have a new laptop ( got a good price on a refurbished one, and a little help from my fairy godmother). I am going to key west next week (again thank jessie!).

You may notice in my picture to the left some changes in my appearance. Yes those are real glasses. It occured to me when I couldn't read my son his bedtime story and I couldn't read the hymn numbers posted on the wall in church that I may need some help. I now have to wear glasses full time and the Dr. said I could put off bifocals for a year or two. Wow that just makes me feel so old all at once!!! I always expected to need reading glasses, but distance glasses? Wow. Did I mention I also got my nose pierced?

The most exciting news is there is a cute little boutique in New Hope that is going to take my bags on consignment. I am so excited and so tired from all the work I have been doing to get them done and over there this week. They all just need finishing touches and putting together. Pictures to come when all are completed.

Here are some pics from our first tie dye experience in New Hope.

tie dye fantasy!!!

2008-06-24T23:00:00.004-04:00

Well I got a box of goodies from Dharma trading company with lots and lots of dye and shirts and stuff to color my world. I am in love with the idea of sewing designs into shirts and skirts. I did a skirt the colors were faded but it still looks cool. For myself I have a v-neck t-shirt onto which I have stitched a peace sign, the son and the husband are getting the batman logo sewn on and I did a star wars one on an extra large shirt. I hope it all works out well, I have a lot of ideas for tie dyed bags and such. I am in nerd/craft heaven!!! But I need to go to bed, too many late nights and it is hard to get up and make pancakes on the sons' days at home. He was not impressed by my peanut butter pancakes this morning! Everyone is a critic!!

getting the bags done!

2008-06-18T10:27:00.003-04:00

Yipee! I just put my first bag on my etsy store! I have a felted one drying downstairs and my "cocktail" purse just needs edging and lining. Hopefully now that I have some designs worked out, I can make some patterns and start pumping them out.

I spent most of the morning taking pictures and up loading them. I am starting to get the hang of the new camera. here are some of my latest crafting projects. The first 2 pics are the before shots of our shrinky dink adventure. The next 2 pics are of the box I mod podged (I love that stuff) using Bazil paper (love that too) in order to keep our xbox games and controlers organized and away from chewing bunnies!! We call it the xbox box!

Today will bring more shrinky dinking and hopefully another bag or 2 finished!!

it is 1am why am I up?

2008-06-15T00:57:00.002-04:00

I guess it is because the son has been in-between school and summer camp this week and I wanted to get a few "spongebob" free hours in. We have been very crafty this week (of course) I think he has gotten the craft bug too! He has started sewing, apparently there was a sewing board at his school and he was the only kid who used it. He has a little sewing kit we got him for his last birthday, and he is almost done with the felt cat and I hardly helped him at all. So awsome. We also did some shrinky dinking. I love to let him just draw whatever he wants and shrink them down. We have to make a necklace of all his little stick people. He drew a green one, it is obviously the Hulk, duh Mom! We also did a bit of tie dying. I finally learned how to do it correctly and we bought a kit a few weeks back. The son did a shirt and we both did one for the Dad for fathers day. He loves it, and I was worried he wouldn't.
I sewed up a skirt and got really creative with the tying (pictures to come) and I really love the result. It of course sparked abotu 8 new bag designs. My design brain works way faster than my hands can pump things out.
Next week the son is going to start summer camp for a few days a week. I need to get back down to the studio and get some work done!!! Right now I need to go to sleep.

The Saga Begins

2008-06-10T15:14:00.002-04:00

How did crafting get to be such an obsession with me? I don't know how, but I can give you roughly the when. My granmother taught me how to hand sew when I was about 7 or 8 years old. The first thing I made was a hooded cape for my barbie doll. It was this hiddeous mauvey polyester and I treasured it for years. She taught me this awsome hem stitch that I still use today, when you are under 5 feet tall, you need to know a good hem stitch! The next crafting milestone had to be when my mother taught me to crochet. I always loved making things for my dolls, but fabric was not readily availible to me, and cardboard would only do so much, so when I learned to crochet, and there was always some yarn around, I crochet everything for my dolls I could think of. I even started selling crochet evening gowns for cabbage patch kids at the craft shows my mother did. I have some really great memories of being at craft shows with my mom. We had so much fun. She later got into silk flowers and for some reason flower arranging never appealed to me. I guess I like to build things, and I like to determine texture and I am not a fan of picking colors.
Sewing really picked up when I met my friend Laura. We made doll clothes that represented clothing from all different countries, we made our own leopard print bikinis (I hate those pictures!), we made dresses and we even made our prom gowns. That was my first real expereince with a sewing machine. It was also when I learned the important lesson "if you can't find your scissors, you are too tired to sew and should stop!".
The sewing did not get really intense until we formed the Medieval Society in College, then I needed garb! I had no sewing machine so I had to hand sew, yes I hand sewed my first few pieces of garb. I still have my first dress (which was later machine sewed and taken out and in, and out as my weight yo-yoed) It is wearable, but it just isn't my time period anymore. Anyway I purchased my first sewing machine, a babylock from cloth world my second junior year of college. I still have that babylock but have upgraded to a Viking 8 years ago.
After college I joined the MSR and needed a new outfit for every event. Then I became the sewing crew for the NJrenassaince kingdom. My favorite machine was this really old one with a thigh pedal instead of a foot pedal. I loved this machine and was the only one who liked the thigh controls. I used to say that machine could probably sew through wood. They don't make 'em like that anymore! Some years later I became obsessed with scrapbooking and then rubber stamping, and only really did those things while my son was a baby and toddler. Somewhere in the toddler stage I taught myself to knit (barely). Then a few years back (maybe 3 or 4) I took a drop spindle class at Pennsic, I LOVED it! Now that I was spinning I surely needed to know how to knit as crochet isn't period. So I tried to learn more and then found the show Knitty Gritty and Vikki Howel took me through lots of different techniques and I ate it up. I even started crocheting again.
Then we moved to PA from NJ and there are not any good scrapbook stores around here, so I started hanging out at Twist knitting and spinning in new hope. Took some spinning lessons and have been even more hard core into fiber arts.
What is hard core you ask? I have a favorite breed of sheep. I am a Jacob Sheep groupie. How sad is that! We bought our second home and we turned the basement into my craft studio. I lost my temporary job we thought would go permanent and here I am unemployed with all this fiber in the house. So I am going to make a go at my own business. I love to design, I love to work, and I am at peace when I craft. If I can only make some money it will be a win/win situation for all concerned.