For my LOVE of fabric...

For my love of fabric, I spent 6 hours taking out all my fabric. Yes, ALL my fabric. It looked like a tornado had run through my studio. I arranged piles of fabric by color all throughout the small studio space. I cut swatches of them ALL. Cuttin out the swatches was tedious work and sitting on the floor, my leg kept falling asleep. Most of my fabric stash consists of fabrics I cannot bring myself to cut into. So cutting a swatch out of them forced me to get over that phobia and hopefully I can give myself permission to use them now in upcoming projects.

Then I refolded and restored my stash not only by color, I also arranged by my favorites. I put the ones that I love the MOST in the armoir I keep my supplies in. THEN arranged the swatches in a binder after ironing them all.

The swatch binder is filled with baseball card sleeves I bought from the local hobby store. Then I filled the sheets with my swatches by color (ROYGBIV kids...ROYGBIV!). I used a playing card as a template to cut out a swatch from each piece of fabric but the card was too slippery. So I decided to cut the template out of stiff craft felt. It was flexible enough but stayed in place because it was felt.

Now I have a catalog of all my fabrics. It is a great reference and good place to go for inspriation. Don't ask how many reds I have, they are so much alike but different enough to be justify so many...at least that is what I am telling myself to justify them all.

tags technorati : fabric, stash, organized, craft, 6 hours, swatches, samples, color, color coordinate, ROYGBIV, disaster area, mess

Who knew I'd fall in love with pincushions?

After Christmas I went antiquing. There is this one vendor who always has a sale going on and always has something that catches my eye. I visit this vendor every time I visit. I must have looked at these milk glass jars a million times but never thought they were anything special. They are old jars that face cream and lotion used to come in. I love milk glass and get excited at just the sight of it.

On my most recent trip, these milk glass jars called out to me. I had a vision of adding a velvet pincushion to them all. I wanted pink or light blue velvet but red was the best I could find. Over the past few nites I made them up and set them aside to dry.

I've been in a pin topper kick too. Found a whole bag of tiny doves for a DOLLAR! Rock On! SO I made up about a dozen or so of these dove pins and they look fabulous on these new pin cushions.

The only delimma is that they look unfinished. I've tried a few things to finish them up but none of those ideas look right. I'll spend another day or 2 at most to figure it out. Otherwise, they are going up on the shop as is.

Any ideas?

tags technorati : WIP, pin cushion, bird, red, velvet, jar, milk glass, pond's, vintage, crafty, Sewcial Butterfly, Blog, blogged, Valentine's

Memories of ME

Over the past several months I've been listening to a library of craft related podcasts on iTunes. A common theme I've found in them all is the questions that are asked. Often times an interviewer will ask questions such as, "Have you always been crafty?" or "Can you remember your 1st Craft?" Many interviewees respond the same way and tell stories of crafting with their mothers or grandmothers, some even their fathers.

As I listen to these interviews I start to think about my own past and my own craftiness. I interview myself in my head and imagine how I would answer these questions if I were invited to discuss my craft business and latest hit sensation craft project. (That day is many years away)

My answers take me back to Mayfield Oaks, the street where I grew up. they take me back to the days of Lisa Frank, Babysitters Club & everything purple unicorn. Warm memories of school art projects and summer rainy day projects with mom. So many memories, a good place for inspiration. At times it is a little overwhelming and feels like too many memories to manage.

I am turning to these memories to try to find myself . I want to start to journal these memories, "Memories of Me" and everything that defines the crafty adult I am becoming. I am dedicated to making my little business grow and so I am doing a little soul searching. I am trying to appreciate my past and understand how it helped me become me so that I may better prepare for my future and become the me I want to be.

At times I feel a little intimidated, like today. I was listening to a back issue of the Craft Sanity podcast (I don't remember exactly who was being interviewed) and one of the pearls of wisdom bestowed upon us was the advise to find your own style, don't be all over the place. I found this quite discouraging. For a split second my dream seemed to fizzle, like a bubble popping after hitting the grass. Poof.

It's hard finding an identity in the modern craft revival. (I get choked up thinking about this) I want to try it ALL and find myself like a hummingbird fluttering from flower to flower trying to sample the nectar that each flower has to offer. I too want to sample the gems of the craft world: plushies, pincushions, embroidery, aprons, scrapbooking, general sewing, knitting, crocheting, to name a few. I had to remind myself of this and it is ok to try it all. For a second I had to tell myself I was not the timid and unsure person that one statement made me feel like.

I am strong. I was born to craft. This is who I am and not just what I do. Not just the crafting, the creating. I want to do it all and it's ok to be all over the place. Yes, I have a hard time finishing some projects before starting a new one but when I put my mind to it, I can. I have passion and heart and imagination and that is more important than finding a specific style this early in the game.

Patience. that is what my friend told me. He has a gift for reading people and he can tell how badly I want to grow this business. he told me to be patient. I've grown a little anxious that things have'nt been moving quite as quickly as I want or had dreamed. Getting published right of way fanned the flame of desire and I lost track of the overall goal.

Have fun, I tell myself. The rest will follow. I will use my own creativity to measure my progress and success. God does not hand out cookie cutter lives or destiny. I will experience the joys that life brings at the correct time. Like a little girl who wants to grow up too fast, I want to grow faster than is destined. Take your time Amy.

The ONLY down side to listening to some of these craft podcasts is that I start to feel like an outsider at times. Some of the veteran/professional crafters start paint the craft world as as an exclusive club and have project for the "cool girls/kids". I experienced a flashback to elementary, wanting to do what all the other girls are doing but being too young to join them.

That was until today. I was listening to the Craft Sanity (my new addiction) podcast archive. Jennifer was interviewing Greg Der Ananian, founder of Bazaar Bizarre. He made a statement about not being all the same as long as you are a nice person. That's all I am and never claim to be anything more than a crafty nice person. Thanks Greg for giving back my confidence in a simple statement.

(Sorry for such a long post, it was all weighing on my mind all day and couldn't go to bed until I had blogged it, Thank you for making it all the way down here)

Meeting of the Sewcial Butterflies and much much more

Meetup.com, oh how did I live without you before? last month I went on the hunt for a new craft group and resorted to good ole Craigslist. I posted a posting in th group section of interest for a 'Make' craft group. I received an email from Wendy inviting me to a scrapbooking meet.

I am not much of a scrapbooker but my sister has an interest more than I. I invited my sister to go with me and she was all for it. They meet the 1st Friday of the month. Convenient enough. Suzy and I got our scrapbooks and supplies and headed to the meet. We eventually made it after getting lost. We showed up end everyone was sooooo nice! We were welcomed into the group and found a group of people with similar interests.

The host, DJ, sells stampin up and Suzy bought a pretty cool punch. We signed up for the February meet and cannot wait to see what we make next. The group is organized on Meetup.com and we signed up.

I went exploring on the site and found several groups to join but no Crafty groups. Plenty of knitting groups. I never realized how many knitters there are out there. I found a list of people interested in a Craft Sellers group but no group established. So I started one.

About a year ago I tried to start a craft group on Yahoo Goups. I had a few people sign up but nothing really materialized from that. I invited everyone on the interested list and very quickly, people started signing up! I was stoked how quickly people found an interest in the group.

I quickly set up a meet and greet to get to know all these wonderful people. Three in all. The first meet was this past Friday. It was a total of 6, all with a coffee in hand and a desire to grow our businesses. I really enjoyed the company of these members and look forward to meeting the rest of the group as we continue to 'Meetup'.

Stephanie makes the cutest monsters and has these bright business cards with a picture of one of the cutest on them. Her site is www.CurlyQCuties.com where you can find the latest cuties she's whipped up. She is very talented and I hope to learn from her how to work with fleece.

Marie makes Celtic themed products but has an appeal to a broad range of people. She makes candles and has these Dream pillows that even the most congested person can smell...he he he that person was me. Who doesn't love candles, right? Be sure to visit her site www.AmitysCandles.com for a view of her product line and her talent for blending herbs and essential oils.

I met Tracy at the scrapbook meetup. We hit it off at the Xmas page table. She is an RN, a mom and a crafty designer. She is an Indy crafter who embraces the Recycle lifestyle in her designs. check her etsy shop, RecycleWear.etsy.com, often as she is always creating something interesting.

Jessica joined us as a guest and I am glad she did. She is a graphic designer and owns JBMSDesign.com. She is new the the craft world an is interested in something that she can learn and make some money doing, all while having fun. We have some common Mac interests and I look forward to working with her. I hope she decides to join our Meetup group. ;) hint hint hint Jessica. (*update: Silly me...she joined 1/19, oops, sorry Jessica)

Last but never least is Tonniele. She is a transplant from New York. She makes the most fabulous beaded bracelets inspired by a bracelet her friend brought from Africa. This girl is a gem. She is smart and crafty. She is comfortable in both the worlds of science and art, a balancing act that is not too easy. I don't have her shop info but will be sure to post it as soon as I get it. *update: oh how could I forget the beautiful candles Tonniele makes. She makes wedding candles out of wedding invitiations. Be sure to visit her website, http://candlesforkeeps.com, if you or someone you love is getting married and would like a beautiful keepsake.

We shared a lot of ideas and had a very productive meet and greet. Every month the Sewcial Butterflies will meetup and socialize, craft and help each other with business. Also, fun activities will be planned once a month to feed the crafty side of us all, classes in mosaics, sewing, knitting, beading, a pottery painting party, Crafting at Rio Ritas. We are still in the planning phase. I have another meet and greet on Saturday and hope it does just as well. :)

Books we are reading:

Craft Inc: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business
By: Meg Mateo Ilasco

Wait for dial tone

Every Princess needs a Princess phone.

I've always wanted a princess phone. I love the reproduction phones from Crosley and have a vintage repro phone in the kitchen and my bedroom. I thrifted an aqua rotary phone for my studio, loved the look and nostalgia of a rotary phone, but the mouth piece mic does not work. I was heart broken when I fount that out..

For Xmas, my sister surprised me with a Crosley repro pink Princess phone. I am in love with it and just had the chance to take it out of the box tonight. I am stoked and cannot wait to use it. My sissie loves me.

(loving the new light box Santa gave me. Still trying to learn the manual settings on my camera)

Flattered but still no permission

I decided to google "Sewcial Butterfly" to see where in cyberspace my site shows up. One of the links I clicked on I found this. That is my logo and my banner that Jolleen made for me. I am very much flattered that this person found an interest in my & Jolleen's work but she never came to me to ask permission to use it for her banner.

Am I over reacting? Should I be upset?

*update 01/06/20008

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

I just checked and as of right now she has removed the banner. YAY! Thanks everyone!