The new site is up!

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?

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

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!

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?

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....

....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

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!