Sunday, August 29, 2010

+.Dead.Silence.+

Pretty much I haven't done anything since my last post. I've just been cleaning and preparing for Jacobs arrival on Monday. And feeling completely energy-less for gross girly reasons that won't be detailed here. Lol. Anyway, I had a graphic order on Etsy. My first one! And it went swimmingly. Now I just need someone to purchase a bow.. or two.. or three! I also need to find some small kind of box to ship them in other than the one I have now. I got some free small flat-rate boxes, because if the package weighs less than the flat rate price then you just pay what it costs to ship it normally. But it's still unnecessary added weight the box being twice the size or maybe 4x the size of the item in it.

I need a box that is like 4in by 4in or something. That would be pretty good size.

On the last note probably for the day is that I don't know how much I will get done between now and October. The reason for this is that Jacob will be here so I'll be busy a lot but moreso than that is that I don't have money to list more on Etsy so I don't want to make more bows to sit around. That is, unless I make a sale or 2. :/

Friday, August 27, 2010

+.Pair.+

Well I did another of this wine color type. I actually made matching clips for people and not for dogs :) I like them, they came out really cute. I made a autumny one for doggies. It features one of the leaf beads I made.

On top of that I was able to find some staples so I could attach one of the sample bag toppers to one of the bags (I dunno if I mentioned I got them in the mail or not). I put some bows in it to see how it'd look. The toppers I have now I actually hate. I hate the way they are printing. I'm not scaling the image at all, my printer just seems to want to print it pixellated and weird. So I'm gonna have to try to get them done at a printers. I may make a whole new design for them all together. Perhaps a vectorized one.


Thursday, August 26, 2010

+.Cliiiiips.+

I actually got BOTH the elastics and the clips today YAY! I made 4 bows but only 3 are done drying and I've taken picsss and posted on Etsy too! Go me! One of the bows was one I had made previously and already posted pics of, but it didn't have elastics in the back cuz I was out so no need to post pictures of that one.

+.Alligator.+

Well my alligator clips are going to be in the mail today! I'm not sure about the elastics, they didn't have tracking info for them. But that means I can do some major kinda damage this weekend on making bows! And I also was able to get some Fray Check yesterday. You basically can apply it to the edge of the bow flags to make them not fray. This way I don't have to be aggravated at ruining them by accidentally applying too much heat. lol Some of them I'm even considering going back and cutting off the flag and adding a new one bc I really get crazy with the whole inability to make a straight V cut and then it's like the more I try to fix it the shorter it becomes and on top of that I try to apply heat to the edges to keep it from fraying and like I said.. sometimes get too much and it just melts it even shorter LOL

Anyway just a heads up of what I'll be doing. Lots of bowssss yay. The ones with clips are aimed for people hair so basically once I get a few made I'll probably end up doing a giveaway next week of both dog and people hair bows!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

+.Lab.Work.+

Just kind of archiving this but perhaps someone else might get some help from these links. I attended a "newbie" Virtual Lab on Etsy, it's basically a chat where these 2 very nice ladies answered questions from newbie Etsians. So many helpful links were posted but in order to maintain focus on all the information I could not actually go through the links. I'm posting them here so I don't lose them but also as I said, so anyone else can get some help from them, too.

Shipping How-To: Customs Forms, Duties, And Taxes

International Shipping in Easy Steps

Shipping Handbooks

How To Make An Etsy Treasury

Tagging Tips with Examples

Copyright Informations

Getting Views and Sales

Seller Policy Tips

Photo Tips

Photo Color Tips

More Photo Tips

Google Analytics

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

+.Take.A.Look.In.The.Mirror.+

Just put up a new layout. I didn't do the template. I can't be bothered to really learn how to do blogspot layouts. I have too much on my plate in form of learning to do something that I don't want to ruin it. So I just kind of lightly edit templates I find elsewhere that I like.

I think this goes better with what I do in terms of all my crafting and whatnot, using thread and needle and beads and buttons and ribbon and everything.

Now I need to come up with a bag topper design. I have a pretty decent one but I don't think it will print that great even when I get it done at Staples..

Tell me what you think of the template?

+.Turtle.+

Just wanted to make a lil update. My decent week took a screeching turn-around to crappy yesterday as I found out something horrible about my 'unofficial transcript' saying I have a fail grade in a class. I know I didn't fail, but Jacob took what each assignment is worth to the grade and did all the calculating and all that and he said that the grade showing on my gradebook is not wrong (it says 83% which is a B). But for some reason my transcript says I got a D. So I email my program manager and she says she can't do anything but she contacted the program ADMIN and she is out of facility on vacation as it is between terms now but she is suppose to be checking email next week. This is a pain in my butt bc now I get to worry about it. If I have to retake the class it's like $1500 and Pell won't cover it. It's out of pocket! But I know I didn't fail I did a lot of work in that class and all my tests and everything were good grades.. so wtf!

On the up I guess, I made a bracelet for myself today. I mentioned in an older post about getting these cute turtle beads. I got soo many of them I decided to make something with them. I still have over half the lot left so there are still some to make into bows.

I made this because I ran out of elastics for bows so I can't work on those until shipment comes in :/

Monday, August 23, 2010

+.Bows.For.Sale.+

Well, I finally did it. I posted a bow on Etsy! I plan to post another, but I didn't want to do them at the same time. It's been brought to my attention that it's better to spread it out just a little.

I was going ot make more than 2 today to sell but I ran out of elastics! Good thing I have some on order. I should receive them and my alligator clips later this week and I can make some for MY hair, too! AND YOURS!!

I think next week I will perhaps have a giveaway on some of my bows I did in practice. They aren't just for dogs, you could also put them in your hair, too. The only reason why they are more marketed to dogs is the elastics on the back. Clips just do not stay in doggies hair. But to be honest? I use both in my hair. I have fine hair on the side of my head so the clips don't always like to stay good, either. The elastics are easier and they DON'T STICK.

So please tell me what do you think? Should I give away some bows for promotional purposes and just cuz I'm awesome!? lol

Here's what I put on Etsy, and what is going up soon:


+.Beads.and.Giveaways.+

Well first I will talk about the giveaway. I learned about it from Dulceholic and it seems really fun. This chick got some products from an event and wants to share them, seems pretty generous to me! She has a lot of good things to say so follow her blog and join in on the giveaway. She's giving away TONS OF STUFF so be sure to check it out and get in on that!


As for me, I have a small update to mention. Just made a couple beads last night and I am not entirely happy with the turkey because I messed up when I was using yellow to draw the face I actually got some on the body and tried to cover it up and then it ruined it. lol


Saturday, August 21, 2010

+.Miss.Mary.MAC.+

Hey guys, just a quick post to tell yall about this awesome $25 MAC gift card giveaway! There's about 2 days left to enter and I know someone will see this so give it a go! She also has amazing products on http://meshasuicide.etsy.com/.

http://dulceholic.blogspot.com/2010/07/make-over-and-mac-certificate-giveway.html SHES AWESOME!! And super sweet :)

Friday, August 20, 2010

+.Straws.+

Just a quick update to say that the dowel rods are weird. I sanded them down since the gloss is in fact crappy. I think it's because of 2 reasons, one being that I didn't wash it off so perhaps there was dust on them and two I don't think these crappy pieces of wood are capable of being completely smooth anyway.

But on a partial up, I found this huge thick straw that is sturdy enough to use in place of the thicker rods! YAY! Now to find something that I can use for the smaller ones, perhaps a tube from a pen or marker casing. Finding one that I don't use is the tricky part (I love pens)..

+.Giveaway.+

Just wanted to take a moment before I start my creative day to tell yall about the CUTEST giveaway I've ever seen. This girl has MUCHO talent, and the items you can choose from if you win the giveaway are TO DIE FOR. Who can't resist a chance at free items AND meeting someone else new and cool with creative talent to boot? Hop on over to her blogspot post and enter! It's very easy, all you have to do is follow, comment on the post, and mention the giveaway on YOUR blog. There is a couple sample pictures of just TWO of the things she's offering to give away! There's lots of options!

I should consider doing something like this, lol!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

+.The.hand.that.feeds.+

Okayyyyyy well another constructive day! But.. I'll get the irritating part over with first. Basically I have these dowel rods I use to help with my bows to keep them nice and rounded when the stiffener spray is drying.. but the problem was they were a little 'rough', they were not smooth or finished at all (made of wood).. So today I sanded them down and sprayed with some wood gloss and I don't think it came out very well. It wasn't 100% dry yet but it felt like they were more "grainy" than it was before, which is what was creating the problem with the ribbon fraying on it and getting stuck and making a huge mess of the bows.. I'll see what I can do but I might just try to find something else, preferably plastic or metal or something already "finished".

Anyway on to the awesomeness part of my day.. I made more beads! 2 more shank-back pumpkin beads, 4 star beads and 2 halloween color design beads. The pumpkins came out awesome and the halloween ones are decent, the stars are so-so. I had this plastic stencil thing from soo many years ago, it came in a Lisa Frank set of something or other that I don't remember now. It's been sitting in my scrapbooking cases for ever and never used. Anyway, it has some shapes in it and I knew I wanted to attempt to make some star beads, but I didn't know what to do to get a good straight shape. I thought about this stencil and grabbed it and basically what I did was I just rolled up a little ball of clay and set it on my flat surface and then I placed the star stencil on top and pressed down slowly. It created like a star tube of sorts, hard to really explain until you see the photo. It make it have height so it would be ok to pierce for the bead hole. It came out a bit sloppy but I'm not entirely sure what to do better here. Basically it got so sloppy in the hole piercing process. I don't have to jam the stick in there or anything but the clay is just so soft..

As for the pumpkin ones I just did the same thing as I did last time only this time I did sand down the fingerprints a bit and some of the raised parts that came from scraping the detail lines in and stuff. The halloween beads were just made by making a cylinder shape and then I pierced them with the bead stick thingy and while left on the stick I used the end of one of my paint brushes to make little circle indents around in a alternating pattern. Once it was baked I painted it all black and then put orange inside the indents!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

+.My.own.two.hands.+

Okay well today I did make some of the beads out of the clay. It was really fun! I'm surprised at how well I did considering I have never once done this in my life (I've made things with clay as a kid but nothing significant). I don't have any type of proper tools, but I'll explain what I did.

So I started out with kneading the clay as you are supposed to. The label says for 2 minutes but actually the second I actually started to work through the small piece I had it was REALLY soft so I don't really need to knead it for 2 minutes unless there is some other reason why I need to that I am unaware of. Someone suggested this might be more of a kids type of modeling clay by Sculpey than to be meant for real quality work. It took finger/hand prints sooo bad but I think I got most of it off.

Well anyway so I just didn't really know what to use to make the bead hole. So I made 2 types, I made a shank back one 2 of them with a teeny tiny little Allen Wrench that my mom and me found when trying to think of what I could use. I then stripped down a few twist-ties and used those and twirled it around inside before baking it to make sure its wide enough for my sewing needles. I use the tiniest needles because of the ribbon fabric tending to fray more with bigger needles so I think it might work out. We shall see!

Anyway, so then I took a toothpick and made the designs on it. I also used it to sort of push down and up on top of the pumpkin beads (the ones w/o shank backs) and then used my fingers to pull on it a bit to make the 'stem'. This didn't come out half bad, it's hard to explain how I did it though. For the stem on the shank back one (it's the bigger, darker one) I just took a little piece of clay and make a stem shape out of it and worked the base of it into the top of the pumpkin part.

For paint I just used what crappy brushes I have, and some acrylics. My acrylics are old but they worked, but they are such a cheap brand that the caps actually BROKE just taking them off the tube! Sheesh. I won't have $$ to buy new ones for a while, but I was able to get two $0.99 ones from Walmart today. That's about all I can buy. Oh, I also found some sort of floral thingies for $1.00, I think they are mostly used when making fake flower arrangements on the foam. They are not very big and they are just about the right size for the hole in beads and probably a whole heck of a lot cheaper than the proper beading tools, which I won't be able to afford until October.

Anyway I think that's all to explain. I experimented on the shank-back pumpkins stem colors. I used brown first and then "antiqued" it with green. The other 2 were just painted green, and also I used a lighter orange on the others. I think the ghost one will be too big and I have to touch up where I got a dot of black on the white part.

Also I guess I'm supposed to sand down the surface after you bake it and it gets rid of the lumps and stuff, but I didn't. I didn't have any sand paper (now I do though, got some from my dad) so I just thought I'd see what happens if I didn't. I don't think it's horrible, but it could be better.

Tell me what do you honestly think on my first attempt at polyform beads??


Shank backs:




I also got these beads in the mail. I love this seller on eBay! Her name is jasminbee if you ever need beads, buy from her! She's got amazing prices but what is better is that she has sent me BONUS beads of different type but always great stuff BOTH times I've bought from her!! The beads are for my bows, of course! The little baggie on the right is the ones I got as a bonus.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

+.ELLEs.giveaway.+

Hey all, just want to take a moment to tell you real quick about this awesome giveaway. And no this is NOT spam! A friend posted about this and I am entered in it, too. Please head over to http://elleheartsblogs.blogspot.com/2010/07/coach-poppy-ysl-chanel-giveaway.html and read the rules and how to enter! It's got amazing prizes!!

+.CLAY.!.+

Okay so I decided something. I forget if I mentioned this thought before or not about the trouble I've been having finding certain kind of beads/shank back/buttons. I was looking for halloween ones specifically at this time to get a halloween stock going for my etsy.. and everything on eBay and everywhere I look is just TOO BIG. So I got this idea to make my own with a polymer type of clay. So I went off to Jo Anns today (with $5 ..) hoping to find SOMETHING I can work with. And what do you know? They have a Sculpey line called Firefly Bake Shop oven-bake clay.. and it only cost $0.99 for the same amount (57g) as the regular Sculpey! I can honestly say I have no idea what the difference is, but it seems to work the same. I bought white and I already have paints, so I can paint it to be anything I want. This will be good! I just hope this works out to my advantage. If it turns out to be crap well at least I only paid $1 and it's for practice purposes (unless amazingly I get good at it). I'm hoping I do.

I'll see if I can work on something tonight/tomorrow and post the results! I'm going to try to figure out some items laying about I could use for tools, and to actually LOCATE my paints lol. Woo!

+.All.Dried.Up.+

Just a quick post to show the third bow I made last night that was still drying when I posted. It didn't come out as bad as I thought so I may keep it. I'm not sure what I'll get done today. I have this thing where I get excited to do crafty things but then I just get distracted looking up techniques and materials and then before I know it it's pretty late, lol. It sorta seems like when I sharpened the image after resizing it the colors got faded a little. The green isn't quite as pale as it seems in the photo.

Monday, August 16, 2010

+.Gorgeousss.+

Well I made 3 more bows. I actually spoke about the one yesterday but now I have a picture of it. One of the two I made today is still drying so no picture yet. I don't think I like that one that much, though, and may end up redoing it.

Anyway these came out VERY ♥! I love the colors of the first one (maroon and purple!). The second one is the double layered bow (brown and golds) I attempted yesterday. It came out a little crooked but it's actually not half bad, and I'm proud of my efforts. I have a pretty good idea of what I could try next that may make it more of a success. I looked on the internet (youtube mostly) to try to find some video tutorials on dog bow making. I know how to do the basics, but I was hoping someone would do a double layered one. No such luck, though. :/

Anyway, pictures!


Sunday, August 15, 2010

+.Eff.+

Okay well today was pretty nice. I got to hang around and relax. I started on some bows. I attempted a 2 layered bow, and I think it needs work but it's not actually half bad. I really need to think about how others do that look. I cannot find a tutorial ANYWHERE. It's like a national secret or something! I'll post a picture when it's done drying and I finish final touches on it.

I attempted a halloween one and I thought it was coming along super cute until I tried to remove the bow from the dowel rods. I have been having issues with the bows sticking to the rods when I apply stiffener spray and it sticks, but I've never had one that I couldn't get off somehow. This one just RIPPED when I tried. It was awful. I'm going to have to put finish on the dowel rods or try to find some metal ones or something. Does that exist?

Anyway, needless to say that was very disappointing. It was cute, too! UGH!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

+.Stress.Factor.+

Okay well.. it's now 11:30 PM and I didn't get anything done today. I was awoken at like 6:30 in the morning by my sister saying she was in the hospital :/ AGAIN. Well needless to say I spend the bigger portion of the day going to her house to get her some things and then spending the rest in the hospital until about dinner time. Then went to see my dad while my mom did something else and I got to have dinner with them. It was nice. Betty (his gf) gave me some little boxes to help me organize my bow making supplies. They fit nicely down inside the huge shoebox everything was in originally. So now they can even be kept together with the other things still inside the shoebox!

Anyway.. I'm hoping to get something done tomorrow. Oh, I almost forgot! When I got home this evening around 10:30 PM finally, I was surprised to find that ALL the beads I ordered were in the mailbox! How cool is that? And the turtle beads?!? OMG TO DIE FOR. They are sooo tiny, I didn't know they were that tiny but it's a GOOD THING! YAY!

Now to pray and hope for my sisters recovery and that it isn't too serious... Have any of you gotten any crafts done this weekend?

+.Beads.beads.and.more.beads.+

Well I went to Walmart to pick up some things today and while there I looked for some bead dividing case type thing to keep all my beads in more safely. I have a small one now but .. it's small. Anyway so then I notice some beads for $1. There were little bags full with 5-10 beads in each. So I got 2 that were REALLY cute.

On the subject of beads (lol) I just have to say that it is really frustrating trying to find beads that I can use the majority of. For one, the size of beads (4-6mm) that I need for my bow making usually come in a bit of bulk (as in 10+) and it makes the price a bit higher. If I found some with like 4-8 beads in it for cheaper then I could buy more variety. The other issue is that certain types I am looking for are not really that common. Other bow makers that I have come across get really cute types of 'shank backs' and things like that for their bows, and in the right size. But I can't seem to find any. I'd REALLY LOVE some halloween ones, in pumpkin or jack'o'lantern, wizard hat, skeletons, bats, witches, or candy corn. Those appeal the most to me. I saw some halloween color (black orange) glass beads on eBay but it had no information about what size they were. The height doesn't matter (the hole has to be vertical then) but it's the width. If it is wider than like 6mm then it will put the loops of the bow off kilter. I could put the bead/shank on after I stiffen the bow I guess.. but I don't have enough materials quite yet to start that type of experimenting.

Next paycheck I think I will look around the craft stores to see if I can find any shanks or whatever. Maybe I can find something cheaper near Halloween and can experiment then. I would like to get a Halloween base of bows up on my Etsy for the actual holiday, though..

I did order a few things from eBay to get me started. They are just basics. All of them costed me about $4 which included the shipping. Heres some pictures:






I like the last ones the most, they are called Czech Gemstone Donut beads. Do you guys use any 'shank back' type of things? What do you use them on?

Friday, August 13, 2010

+.Third.Times.A.Charm.+

Okay, I just wanted to post the bows I have made to-date that are of the more perfected quality, for reference purposes and so everyone can see what I've done prior to the making of this blog! These were all done in the past week or so.








+.Second.Is.The.Best.+

Second post in one day! Woo. Okay so I figured everything out on the template, except the Powered by Blogger thing. It won't let me move that?? It's so annoying!

Anyway, I hope to get this out and around. I'll post pictures of things I create and keep updates on my creations and just tid bits of art related junk.

It's also Friday the 13th and it doesn't seem to be a bad day for me, though I should knock on wood right now since I typed/said that. In 2 weeks my honey comes to visit again and I have been creating more lately than I ever have in one period of time. It's good, though. That means my spirits and motivation are up and that makes me more creative in my creations.

I'd love to talk fabrics (of ribbon). If there is anyone out there who reads this and knows any on the subject, which do you think look the best? Have you ever had to sew any ribbon? Did you ever have any issues with fraying, and if so, what did you do for that?

+.NEW.+

Okay, well.. Here I am! A lot of people on Etsy seem to have blogs. I already have a blog on livejournal, but I don't really think that's a good one to share. Not to mention it's my personal stuff and not about my art and craft stuff. So this is a good spot for me to be. Haha!

Anyway, I guess I could possibly archive my journey through the world of crafting and selling. I'm not sure how good I will be at updating, but one can only try! I have facebook, but that, too, is a personal one. Not sure if I would be able to keep up with a bunch of doubles of things I already have and use actively (like LJ and facebook). So I'll just stick to this one and see where it goes.

I uploaded a template that I absolutely love but it's not entirely working. I hope to get it straightened out because I don't want to look for another one! :(
 
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