She's crafty in a whole different universe

I've been way too busy with getting my lesson plans together lately, so I'll direct you to another crafty girl's blog- although she's crafty in a whole different universe! In this post, she's giving away a dress she found at the thrift store and completely remade! Wow! Very cool! She said it looked a bit like a Hawaiian moomoo before... I actually own a Hawaiian moomoo- my dear husband went to Hawaii without me when I was like 7 months pregnant with NJ and he decided the best thing to bring me back was a moomoo because, now that I was so big, nothing else would have been comfortable to wear around the house! Hum. Maybe I can remake that moomoo into something wearable...

Blueberry Pie Refashioned Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!:

Sell it or Give it Away??????

It's strange, but it's hard not to just post every card I make for sale on etsy.

When I started selling cards on etsy, I wasn't sure I could charge enough to make it worth while. Making a card takes way too much time and most people would just as soon have a bought card, so how could I ever put a price on one?

Then I had my first sale and the buyer (and every buyer thereafter) mentioned how lovely they thought the card was! I was hooked! It turns out that it's rewarding to give it to someone who appreciates it so much they're willing to pay for it!

My sister was recently at my mom's house and noticed a stash of all the hand made cards we'd given her. My mom's not really the type to keep everything, so it means a lot to me! :) (Mom, don't feel like you have to keep them all forever! I'll understand!) All that in mind, after selling four Mother's Day cards on etsy, (almost as soon as I listed them) I decided that I should make 6 for the moms in my life and hold them in reserve, to give them away (even though I was really tempted to sell them all).

Once I got going on the card making, I really got going and made some birthday and thank you note cards too! I think I made 18 cards this week!!! This is especially crazy to me because I usually really struggle to make more than 2 in one night!

Here's a collage of some of the cards. I'm really enjoying working with fabric, felt, buttons, and ribbon. I think I have my sister to thank for that- she's always encouraging me to put more stuff on each card!
It's so exciting to be on a roll, and it's so hard to get there, but now every other part of life has piled up and is waiting on me! So, I am reluctantly breaking my card making streak and resolving to focus on all that other junk.

Thankzzzz

My friends have been so good to me lately that I had to take a break from the Mother's Day cards and make some thank you cards. Here's one I gave to the awesome friend who loaned me their Altima for three weeks while I was in between cars!

Don't you just love buttons!?!

A New Light Box

My sister-in-law recently completed her flight training and is now officially a Flight Surgeon. (Yes, she's a doctor and a Navy pilot.) My husband (her brother) was really bummed that we couldn't afford to take several days off and jet out to Florida for the graduation so he requested that I make a special congratulations card. I think he specifically asked for "something with an airplane on it," but that might have been one of my all-too-real dreams. I'm sure that he made a comment about her golden wings.... So, I hit the internet and found some cool drawings.

Now, I'm a shameless tracer when the occasion calls, but I don't have a light box. I've been looking at them for a long time, but I honestly don't want to have to store one. They're bulky and I'm already short on space, so I just keep pining away.

Today, I was once again in a pinch. I don't have a light box and I don't want to practice enough to draw a good airplane... As I was sitting in my office, it occured to me that my laptop screen was almost like a light box- too bad using it that way would probably damage the LCD screen.... WAIT! My old classic TV isn't LCD or Plasma. hum...

Turns out, the TV is a GREAT light box. I had to use my DVR to find and pause on a mostly white screen, but the best part is that the static of the TV held my paper in place! Way cool!

Anyway, here's the finished card!

Sellin' Like Hotcakes!

It's wrong to complain when a card sells really fast, right?

My sister's been hassling me to put more items up on etsy ("still on 17 items?"). So, I worked on a few more Mother's Day Cards this weekend and put one up Saturday and waited until today to put another one up. But the one I put today sold almost immediately! I told my sister to go check it out and it wasn't there! Here I am thinking I'll get a bunch of cards made, put them up for sale, and then get out my scrapbook stuff, but the darn things keep selling! How silly of me!

So, I'm sorry Deanna, but now there's only 16 items for sale at Arizona Made and it's going to have to stay that way for a few days because I have homework to do!!!

Mother's Day Is Just A Few Days Away

ok, so actually it's 43 days away, but it's the sort of holiday that always sneaks up on me! ("Sir, you underestimate my sneakiness") So, I am diligently working on getting some Mother's Day Cards made- some for family members and some for my Etsy shop, Arizona Made. This picture here is of the latest card I just put up on etsy and I have to say it's my favorite!!! The felt is a real trial to work with and the buttons take forever to sew onto the paper, but look at the result!!!! I love it! Fun Fun Fun!

Felt!

So, I've started experimenting with felt! I was inspired by the etsy shop Adore by Nat and I'm trying to incorporate them into some mother's day cards I'm selling on my etsy shop. I bought several more sheets of felt, but they don't seem dense enough- anyone know anything about where I should be buying my felt??? I'm hoping I start getting a lot faster at working with felt because right now, it's slow slow slow going... it moves around, making it hard to cut and it looks best if I sew the detail by hand (see my attenmpt at ballons in the pic above? I did those on the machine). So, if you receive a card from me with felt, feel VERY VERY special!!!

Trademarks

So, there was a certain item that I had posted on etsy for a few hours when it was suddenly removed due to some possible trademark infringement... I'd guess my first mistake was titling the item for sale with it's copyrighted name and then my 2nd mistake was making it look as close to the real thing as possible. Honestly, it never occurred to me that this would be a problem. Silly girl!

Interestingly enough, in the email explaining why the item had been removed was an additional blurb about the confidential nature of the email... To me, this is the strangest part. When I asked why it was confidential, this was their response:

"This is a legal matter and out of respect to the person that contacted Etsy and to the Etsy members affected by this issue, we request that you refrain from discussing this issue in the public forums. As well, such discussions could result in "calling out" or specifying private information which goes against our Forum Dos and Don'ts."

So, I guess I'll be making some things as give-aways only now. Trademarks don't stop you from making something, just from selling it, right?

Kennel Cover

I just realized that I should put a picture of the kennel cover on. After all, I spent WAY more hours making it than the nursing covers or taggies! So, here it is! Not perfect, but WAY better than seeing black grating when I walk in my bedroom!

Then, since the sewing machine was out (I've got to put that thing away and get back to scrapbooking before Rachel gets back and her Cricut wants to go home to momma) I thought I'd try an idea I saw on etsy. This lady took her scrap material and made these adorable little belts. She was making them for girls so they had fun wild colors and flowers.... but I want to make one for my son, so I thought I'd try the leftover material from the kennel cover. Well, I don't recommend trying it with this heavy upholstery type material- by the time you get it down to baby belt loop size (1 inch) it's way too hard to turn right side out! But hey, it's done now! Here's the big question: is it too girly? I saw all these girly belts on etsy and now I'm having a hard time telling if it's boyish enough... Maybe if it was dark blue or black???

Sewing Extravaganza

I've taken a break from my paper-crafting (Rachel went out of town) to do some sewing! My dear friend, Jana is having a baby and I just HAD to make her a pair of taggies and a nursing cover. While I had the sewing machine out I thought I'd make a few extra taggies and then nursing covers for three other friends and one extra. Then, since the sewing machine was out, I finished the cover for Max's kennel that mom and I started on months ago. And, since the machine was out, my friend Kara came over and we brainstormed about her quilt. Now, since the machine is still out, I'm thinking...

Stretch Your Imagination

I'm so excited! I just got my Stretch Your Imagination Cricut Cartridge and my fabulously generous friend is letting me borrow her Cricut Machine! The first thing I did is make my sister-in-law a birthday card! She's a big fan of turtles, so I hope she'll love it! Of course, since I was making something, I made a second one too for my stash. Isn't the Cricut amazing?!?!

Happy Valentine's Day

(My card to my hubby)

Christmas 2006

If completing one scrapbook spread makes you feel good, does completing a double spread make you feel double good? Why, yes! Yes it does!

Yay! 2006 is done! Ok, so I still haven't journaled, but since the hubby doesn't like the journaling to show up on a blog, I figure I'll just add it later. Perhaps some of you family members would like to email me some of your Christmas memories for inspiration???? Not just from 2006- any year. I plan on going a ways back!

The Pictures of Christmas' Past

Seems like each year at Christmas, when all the family is together, we end up chatting about all the Christmas' past and all the good times we've had. This last Christmas (2008) I started thinking how cool it would be to have a whole photo album of all Christmas. I printed some pics and bought some paper, but wouldn't let myself start until NJ's baby book was done. Then it seemed like things just kept getting in the way. Well, I finally started the Christmas album and thanks to Rachel's new Cricut machine, I think it turned out super-cool:

Alchemy

I've just discovered Alchemy! It's a piece of Etsy where people can out in requests for what they're looking for. So, for example, maybe you really want a blue hand knit scarf and can't find one just the right length. You just go put out a request for one and VIOLA! you find a knitter who'd love to make one for you, for a price of course. Or, maybe you, like this guy want a custom calendar made that you can print off your computer at home. You just put in a request and someone like me, who has made herself several calendars over the years is happy to fix one up just how you want it! How exciting!!! Too bad I was a little too late to bid on that one...

Anyway, I always buy one new Christmas ornament each year. This year, well, last year, well, for Christmas 2008, I decided I wanted a camping theme. This was the year we bought our camper and the year my hubby killed his first elk, and the year that NJ got to go on his first camping trip. So I created a request and got all sorts of great bids. The one I chose was a girl who makes cute little felt things. She was wonderful enough to really work with me on getting the elk just right and choosing a fun pine tree for NJ. How very exciting!!! In case you're hungry for more, this is who I chose to make the ornaments: metzypants

And, in case you're curious about my stuff, this is my etsy shop: Arizona Made