1. August 2011 by admin.

Ok, I suck at blogging.  So much has happened and so many interesting things that I made a promise to myself to post now at least once a week.

Just finished the Lents Ramona Street Fest yesterday.  Business was really slow.  It’s always a crap shoot when trying out street fair.  The next big one is Multnomah Days in August.  Hopefully I’ll do better.

I’ve expanded my biz a little and am now making natural lip balms, body butter and lotion.  I’m glad to say they’re doing quite well.

I also tried my hand at making those cute little wristlets made of ties.  They turned out well, but I need to jazz them up a little.  My friend has asked me to make him that has a velcro band across it so he can wrap it around his arm.  The wristlet is a little too feminine for him.  So I’m working on figuring out how to make those look good.

I looked online for the tutorial, but there’s no real instructions that I’ve been able to find, so I experimented and figured out how to make it work (ode to Tim Gunn).  I’ll post a tutorial soon on how I figured out how to do it.

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19. May 2011 by admin.

I’m back in swing for the start of the craft season.  I decided to try out a Farmer’s market, which is turning out pretty well.  The only issue I have is with the rain and the cold (can’t wait until summer.)  I’ve also expanded into doing all natural body butters, body scrubs and lip balms, which have been doing quite well the first two weeks of the market.  It’s taken awhile to get the right formulas, but people seem to be enjoying the scents.  I’ll be updating the website soon with more tutorials and the ability to purchase directly from the web site.

Posted in Craft Fair | 1 Comment »

12. February 2011 by tscott.

We always manage to find a way to get things to work with what you have available.  The thing about that process is that it always take a considerable amount of time to complete.  The majority of your time is spent figuring out how to get it to work.  While we are always elated once we figure it out, but with the right tools it could have been done in half the time.

I’ve always done ruffles by hand using the techniques I was taught in sewing class.  As well as baste stitching items that are difficult to sew.  I’ve always wanted a ruffler my sewing machine, but they were always so expensive.  But the amount of time it takes me to hand tack ruffles is aggravating.  So I recently purchased a ruffler, bias tape foot and a corder for my sewing machine.  I found them on ebay for a decent price and I no longer dread those tasks using my sewing machine.

 Sometimes you just gotta break down and swallow your pride and the “i can do that” attitude and get the right tools for the job.  Creating is so much easier now.

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7. January 2011 by tscott.

I’ve been making little cocktail hats for the past year.  I’ve been making them using cottons, denims and felt bases.

I wanted to make some using sinamay, but I found the sinamay bases to be a little expensive (between $8 and $10 for one small base.)  I wanted to make my own, so I purchased some sinamay from Hatsupply and embarked on my journey.  

Searching on the internet, there are not a whole lot of tutorials on using sinamay, so winged it.  The sinamay I was using was stiffened, so I soaked it for a few minutes in hot water to make it more pliable and was able to easily pull it on to my form.  For the trim, I considered using satin, but didn’t want the hassle of making bias ribbon so I cut the sinamay, ironed it and baste stitched it to the edges after sewing wire to the edges.

There is a website that has ebooks on making hats.  After creating my base, I wasn’t sure if I was missing something so I broke down and purchased the Feather Creations ebook that instructed on making a sinamay base.  After downloading and reading, I found that what I did, was pretty much what I did to make my base.  So my instincts were correct and I wasted $19.  Lesson learned..go with my instincts.  

Below is the base I created.  It’s still baste stitched because I despise working with invisible thread, so I have permanently sewed it on yet.  I’ll post a tutorial on how I made my base soon.

Posted in Exploring Materials | 1 Comment »

7. January 2011 by tscott.

This is my first tutorial!!  I sold these bobby pins at my last craft fair and they sold really well.  A friend of mine have been purchasing these from the swap meet and wanted to make her own.  I tried to describe the process to her over the phone, but it didn’t go off so well, so this tutorial is for her (and anyone else who finds it useful).

What you need:

• One bobby pin
• Approx. 6 inches of 26 gauge wire
• One glass pearl

Before you begin make sure you file down the sharp ends of the cut wire.

• Slide the pearl to the middle of the wire
• Bend the wire down on both sides of the pearl

• Slide one end of the wire onto the loop of the bobby pin

• Bend the other end of the wire and stick it through the opposite end of the bobby pin loop.

•   The pearl now sits on top of the bobby pin.

• Take one end of the wire and begin wrapping the wire below the pearl.

• Take the other end and wrap below the pearl.  The wrapped pearl bobby pin is finished.

I have made these with beads and freshwater pearls.  I prefer to use 26 gauge wire because I’ve found it is the easiest to work with, but I have used 22 gauge and 28 gauge.  If you don’t have strong hands, you’ll need pliers to grab the end of the 22 gauge wire to wrap. In the tutorial, I also use bobby pins.  You can use hairpins, but I’ve found that these bend too much while working with them.The bobby pins in the picture below were made with glass beads and 22 gauge wire.

The bobby pins pictured below were made with freshwater pearls and 28 gauge wire. Notice these are wrapped a little different than the tutorial.  This type of wrapping works better with higher gauge wire.

Hope you found this helpful.

Posted in Tutorials | 1 Comment »

8. December 2010 by admin.

I just finished my last craft for the year.  Last year was my first time at the Christmas Bazaar at the Expo.  I didn’t do that great, but we were in a real recession, so I decided to try one more time this year.  While the turnout was great, no one was really spending.  I did better than I did last year, but don’t think that this bazaar is a good fit for me. 

 The great thing about it is I finally have a little free time.  I might do one Christmas bazaar near the Christmas, but I’m now going to concentrate on expanding my horizons (or completing what I already started and should have finished).  The web site is updated; I’m back to posting product on etsy; and I’m working on my marketing portfolio.

 I plan to start posting tutorials real soon.  Look forward to it.

Below are pictures from the Christmas Bazaar.

Posted in Craft Fair | 1 Comment »