My (Very Real) Craft Corner

I’ve been on an organization and cleaning kick for the past couple of months, cleaning out our closet for donations, our shelves for books and movies to sell, our kitchen, because it’s bare and needs some sprucing up, and most recently my little craft corner.

I tend to do my work on the couch where it’s comfy, but sometimes I need table space, and don’t want to clear off our dining table. So, I brought in a little folding table we had (and rarely used) in the laundry room downstairs, and put it by my sewing table. I removed the wire shelving I had behind our couch, where I stored all of my craft supplies, and moved the supplies into our corner cabinet, and made a curtain to hide them. Now, I have a nice little nook where I can work and take pictures for the Etsy shops.

It’s no Martha Stewart Living feature, but it’s practical!

Everything tucks (sort of) neatly behind the couch.

That corner cabinet is packed with labeled plastic shoe boxes and bead organizers. I had to do some serious downsizing to make sure everything would fit, and it came out just right! Now I just can’t buy any supplies for a while …

All of my frequently used supplies are at hand in a few cute containers on the table. The cute crocheted own (made by my talented mother in law!) is filled with embroidery thread, the blue container holds current projects and items that need to be photographed, and the green container holds scissors, drawing and writing supplies, and other small items like a tape measure and pins.

In case you’re wondering, all those containers that look like they’re going to topple over underneath the table are filled with sewing supplies: fabric on bottom, patterns in the middle, and thread and other supplies on top. Next to the stack are embroidery supplies.

I even made a dust cover for my machine from a couple of dollar store place mats and some ribbon. Here’s a similar tutorial using a tea towel. The rolling drawers are filled with supplies we use when we do arts and crafts shows: packaging on top, business cards, labels and tags in the middle, and general supplies on bottom. My sketch and note books, and my inspiration binder are all on top, waiting to be grabbed.

That pretty, funky lamp above the sewing machine is a Loomi Light. It’s made from cardstock pieces that you can alter and assemble yourself; I painted mine with watercolors. You can find the kit here.

So, that’s it! It’s not particularly pretty, but it’s a colorful, functional, organized space with a ton of natural light that inspires me to work. That’s really all I need.

Gentle hugs,

Chels

I have no shame – please help me win!

If you’re a regular reader, you already know how much I love Halloween, because it’s such a creative outlet for me. You may also know that I’m practically blind as a bat, and I wear glasses or the occasional pair of contacts. So, I was super excited when I saw that Zenni Optical, my favorite site for glasses, is having a “Master of Disguise” contest! So, I entered my costume from last year, which was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, I’m wearing contacts in the photo, so I didn’t get to incorporate glasses (which gives me an extra chance at winning,) but I could still win an iPad Mini, which we could really use for our small business! I could also win a gift card to Zenni Optical for a pair of glasses, which my husband needs badly.

So, please go vote for me here!

https://www.facebook.com/ZenniOptical?sk=app_519185638168922&app_data

“Like” the page, then scroll down to “vote now,” and go to page 12 to vote for Chelsea K’s mermaid costume. You can vote once a day, so don’t forget to favorite the page and go back and vote through November 11!

Gentle hugs,

Chels

When life gives you hands, make handmade!

Right now is a financially stressful time for us. Tom decided to take a break from school, which means those awesome GI Bill benefits he received for being a full-time student went away and won’t come back until he goes back to classes. Our job as the janitorial staff at the on campus mission where we lived for 2 1/2 years ended shortly after. Add in getting a dog and my dad passing away, and, even with some financial help, we’re pinching our pennies. Fortunately, I’m a habitual saver when we have money to do it. Tom is working part time, and I’m working the arts and crafts scene. I posted on Facebook that I would be happy to do any crafty odd jobs, and got a couple of responses!

A friend said that her little boy couldn’t decide between being a dog or a cat for Halloween, so she bought a couple of headbands with ears on Etsy, and needed paws to match. After looking at photos of the ears, I created these puppies (snort) to match:

 

This picture was taken before I added elastic to the wrists, but this is essentially how they turned out. I put my felt, embroidery thread, and beginner sewing skills to good use. I’m pretty proud of them! It’s not often that I get to do sewing projects for anyone other than myself, and she loved them, so that makes me very happy! I hope her little boy gets lots of play time out of them beyond Halloween.

Another friend asked if I would paint a small canvas with this phrase:

She loves the sentiment, but she wants something that looks more like handwriting, more handmade. She and her family just downsized to an apartment, and she wants this reminder by their front door. I may end up making something similar for myself when I’ve finished hers.

In addition to the odd crafts, Mom and I have been making and listing Halloween-y items for our Etsy shops, and I even set up a booth last Friday at the 13th Street Morgue/Dungeon of Doom haunt grounds. I particularly enjoyed making these skeleton hand earrings (click the image to visit our shop, JuJu Eyeball):

 

In another attempt to pay the bills, and, obviously, as a part of the grieving process, we’re having our estate/yard sale next Saturday.

 

I’m currently making signs, and will spend a large part of tomorrow pricing what’s left in the garage and putting like items together. We recently bought a tent and folding tables to use at arts and crafts shows, so they’ll come in very handy! We’re also borrowing a clothing rack from our friends at the Tri C. Truth be told, I’ve enjoyed organizing yard sales in the past, so that makes this experience a little easier. I like making a “junking” experience a nice shopping experience for people by setting up the way a store would, and I love it when people get excited because they’ve found a good deal. It’s also not your traditional estate sale, since we’re having it at our own home instead of Dad’s, we’re selling some of our own things, and our neighbors will be joining us.

We’re definitely getting creative and working hard for the money, but I’ve been so grateful that Tom has had some extra time to help me with all that’s been going on, and that he’s been able to rest some after his non-stop University experience. I truly believe that everything has worked out the way it’s supposed to, and, even though things are a little stormy right now, I’m going to count my rainbows.

Gentle hugs,

Chels

 

Vote and win!

Hi, everyone! My mom and I have entered the second annual Martha Stewart Living American Made competition this year, and we could win anything from a gift basket and feature on the MSL Sirius Radio station, to the grand prize of $10,000 toward our business, Buy Me Love, and a trip to New York’s Grand Central Station for the American Made expo. There’s a week left to vote in the first round (one winner will be chosen from each category to go on to compete for the grand prize,) and you get 6 votes to spend every 24 hours.

Click to vote for us daily through September 22!

Every time you vote, you enter to win prizes from MSL, like an American Express gift card, and now you can win prizes from us, too! After you vote, head over to our blog giveaway to comment and pin to enter to win a $25.00 Etsy gift card, and an awesome handmade prize package.

 

Don’t forget to share the giveaway with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites!

Thanks for your support, friends.

Gentle hugs,

Chelsea

An awesome giveaway with a twist!

My style has always been a little off-kilter, and I love dramatic and humorous touches to an outfit. That’s one of the reasons I love Peach Plum Pear. My new friend, Leslie, is the mastermind behind pieces like the Oregon Trail necklace:

 

I can’t count how many times I died of dysentery on that game …

She also makes some really beautiful jewelry, like this Art Nouveau statement necklace:

Isn’t it lovely?

What’s that you say?

You must see more?

Well, you were probably lured in by the title of this post, so I’ll get right to it.

Head on over to Coco and Cocoa’s blog for her $40 gift card giveaway to Peach Plum Pear!

If you don’t win the giveaway, or if you just can’t wait for someone else to snag your favorite piece, do not passgo:

 

Now, for the twist. By entering and sharing the giveaway, you not only get a chance to wear one of Leslie’s unique creations, but you’ll also be contributing to a great cause. Leslie is a member of the chronic health issue club, who’s been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and other illnesses, as well as adhesions. Adhesions are really painful sheets of scar tissue that can bind nerves and other tissue, in her case, part of her digestive tract, together. Adhesions act like a glue that can cause severe pain, obstruction, and other debilitating symptoms. To learn more about them, go here. Unfortunately, the type of surgery Leslie needs to relieve her of those terrible symptoms is only available in Germany, so she’s raising money for the trip and procedure by selling her awesome jewelry. So, please pass the giveaway and shop info along, and help Leslie reach her goal – she has $19,399.00 left to go! (To donate directly to Leslie, visit her Go Fund Me page.)

Gentle hugs,

Chels

How Etsy saved my life.

Ok, ok, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but Etsy has made a bigger impact on my life than it (they?) realizes.

Any of you who have been following along probably realize that I’m creative to a fault. I’ve always been this way – I blame my mom. In a good way! Most of my friends, though – not so much. Don’t get me wrong, my friends are talented and creative, but they have day jobs. For a long time, so did I. A few years ago, though, after I’d lost one job, quit another because of a move, and was finally let go from the third job (which I really didn’t like, anyway,) my mom, who had already been selling on Ebay for years and years, and I decided to open up an Etsy shop and call it a day. I started making our presence known on the boards to get familiar with some of the Etsy community, and started making treasuries (think pinterest board but with a limited number of items,) which means I had to search for specific things, which lead me to sellers that will always have a place in my heart because of their amazing talent.

Then, the site changed, and suddenly teams were more accessible, because there was a larger number of them. People were fighting to keep the communities they’d already established alive, seeking each other out and sticking together. I searched for people in my area, and found the “Etsy817” team, a group of mostly women from the 817 area code. I realized exactly how many people there are just down the street from me who do exactly what my mom and I do – they make stuff all the time. I love Etsy teams for their diversity. Some just meet daily online to chat about life and business and promote each other, some get together occasionally to socialize and craft together, and others do all of that, plus they have regular meetings, do shows together and put on events together. Etsy 817 is the last kind of team. Of course, there are the members who can’t make it to a lot of the meetings and events, and that’s okay. There’s a core group of us who usually show up and participate in whatever project we’re working on at the time. We also see each other outside of meetings, because we’ve gotten close like that.

That’s me in the upper left corner, cutting Chris’s head off with a giant pair of scissors (while she stabs me with a jumbo pencil!)

What I thought was going to be another independent venture into the world of arts, crafts, and design has turned into a really supportive group adventure. While we’re all doing our own thing in terms of our businesses, we’re doing it together. I’m not afraid to ask a “stupid” question around these women. They’re awesome, and they get all of the little quirks and weird things that go along with being creative. This, it turns out, is exactly what I would need when my health got worse and I became inclined to isolation. Between my mom and my Etsy friends, I’ll never be alone. They all know about my and my mom’s health problems, and they’re so understanding – some of them have chronic health issues of their own.

Please take a look at my friends’ shops, listed here. Our team members sell everything from graphics and traditional art to jewelry and vintage to soap and custom ballgowns … you get the picture! You’re likely to find something that you can’t live without (or at least don’t want to live without.) It’s retail therapy, without the retail and the walking.

Gentle hugs,

Chels