Stolen Thoughts

I make jewelry. But so do about 50% of all the sellers on Etsy. It's amazing how different it can be using basically the same materials, but I do look at other people's work for inspiration. And with jewelry, you could absolutely replicate someone else's work. That takes all of the fun out of designing something, but it could totally be done. I also make quilted stuff. And again, I look at other people's stuff for inspiration. With fabric, though, I think it's a little harder to make an exact copy, but, again, it could be done if you really wanted to.

But where is the line between copying and inspiring? There's a wealth of stuff out there. If I see something that I like, sometimes it makes me think about how I could do it too. But if we make the same thing, but in different ways, am I copying you or were you merely my inspiration?

One of my favorite fabric artists (who also happens to be my sister *smile*) is The Quilted House. She and I have some similar items and I've told her that she's one of my greatest inspirations. But when I started making notebook/journal covers, did I copy her design? I'd like to think that I didn't. Hers are made from one piece of fabric & mine are totally pieced & embroidered. Hers have a fabric tab & mine have a magnetic snap closure. But in the big scheme of things they're both the same thing. Although hers have totally nifty inside pockets that I'd love to do, but I can't wrap my brain around the curves. :)

With jewelry it's a little different. There's really a limited number of things that you can make -- earrings, necklaces and bracelets. I make a lot of earrings because that's what I like and personally wear more of. You'd think that there's not a lot of different ways you can make a pearl earring, for example. But if you do a search on Etsy for classic pearl earring, you'd be amazed at how many different earrings you'll find that are all basically the same thing.

Is it even possible to have an original thought in the crafting world? Most of us take things that already exist and assemble it into something different. I really admire the people who take raw ingredients and create something totally new. I'd love to be able to do fused glass or silver art clay or lampwork. (If I can convince my husband to buy me a kiln for my next birthday then we'll be in business *smile*). But until then, I'll keep my eyes open for my next source of inspiration :)

Be blessed! :)

Each one teach one...

One of the greatest things about having a wonderful husband who made my birthday totally fabulous, is that I was able to recover 14,000+ photos that had been held hostage on my external hard drive. :)

Before Christmas I had been asked by a friend to help her Girl Scout troop complete the jewelry making badge. I was so thrilled that she decided to ask her favorite jewelry designer to come and teach the girls how to make *real* jewelry! When she sent me the badge requirements, I saw that one portion included "molding", so I decided to bring in my polymer clay equipment, and we could make our own beads.

We had SO much fun! Each girl had a kit that would make a name bracelet and a pair of earrings. I was really amazed by the talent of the girls. It was awesome to watch them select their colors and see what the final product was. It took us 2 meetings to complete, since the beads need to bake for 1/2 an hour and then cool before they could be handled safely, but once they were finished, the girls were able to embellish their pieces with an assortment of crystals and other beads to make their own, totally handcrafted pieces of jewelry!






Be blessed :)

Technical Difficulties

I had a wonderful birthday, and as a result ended up taking a week off from my blog!

My husband was tired of hearing me complain about how slow my old Mac was, so for my birthday he got me a new Mac mini! I was totally thrilled! But in setting it up, I realized that I would be unable to transfer all of my information from my old Mac to the new one until I found a specific cable. So until that arrived in the mail, I was in limbo.

One good thing, though, is that I recovered 14,000+ photos that I'd transferred from my old Mac to an external hard-drive that my computer promptly decided to cease communications with. But when I hooked the external hard-drive up to my new Mac, all the photos were there and downloaded effortlessly to their new home. But they're not organized the same way they were on the old system. So I've got all the pics, but I can't find them :) There's definitely a learning curve here.

I got the cable on Friday, and my computers took almost 2 hours talking with one another transferring all the information from the old system to the new. So I have all of my bookmarks and password, all my documents and photos on my new, faster, system. I even took the time to move my desk and rearrange all of the cables so that it's not a hot mess.

While I was in limbo, though, I took the opportunity to continue with my creative brainstorm to design my new journal covers! I think they turned out really awesome! They're embroidered and quilted in my trademark crazy quilt, but they're beautiful and functional! It was actually kind of nice to be *forced* away from the computer for a week so that I had time to work :)

Be blessed :)

Spring is Springing!

Even though Phil was way off the mark, at least here in Pittsburgh, I'm still thinking ahead to spring and summer. With my kids, that means trips to the park, our campsite, and basically just being outdoors as much as possible. That got me thinking about a new bag to carry all the stuff we need for a day outside -- sunscreen, juice boxes, snacks. When they were babies, I'd upgraded from a regular diaper bag to a diaper backpack that allowed me to be completely hands-free. And that's what led me to my newest design -- The Rucksack.

Now, when I think of rucksacks, I think of the German army marching through the countryside. Needless to say, mine is a little more feminine, but every bit as rugged and ready for anything my kids can dish out. Made from upcycled denim, but prettied up a bit with beautiful embroidery, I think this is a great little bag to get me from sun up to sun down and all the points in between without missing a beat.

Like my other bags, I made it a cross-body design so you can be completely hands free, but it's got a solid bottom and sides, so it'll stand up on it's own when you need to dig through it to find whatever you need. And the front outside pocket is a great place to put stuff like your keys and cell phone for easy finding.

The strap is long enough to do whatever you need it to do. This one was a gift-to-self for my birthday, and I've been carrying it for the past week or so to put it through it's paces. I've carried it both on my back & over one shoulder & it's great. It's easy to get into, & I'm always suprised by how much I can get into it! It's great for running to the gym, because I can fit my Kindle, my iPod, snacks for my daughter and myself, my water bottle, and anything else I might need for that day's workout. And if I've got my big gym bag as well, the straps don't interfere since one's on my shoulder and the other's on my back.

I think it's fabulous, but I'd love to hear what you think. Drop me a note and let me know!

Be blessed! :)

And the winner is...

Roni, #24 as chosen by Random.org!

Thanks for entering! Enjoy your bracelet, Roni :)

Be blessed! :)

Final Day!

Today is the last day that you can enter my fabulous birthday giveaway. The comments will be closing tonight at 11:59pm EST and I will announce the winner tomorrow.

Good luck!

Finding my Audience

I recently purchased a set of e-books that are supposed to help me make my Etsy shop fabulous. But I'm having a problem with one step -- marketing myself.

You can tell me all you want that all I need to do is send my stuff to every blogger and magazine editor I can find, and someone will feature me, and I'll become instantly famous. I just can't wrap my mind around it. Until now.

Recently I met a woman who is also an Etsy seller that did exactly that. It's one thing to read about some random, faceless person doing it. But it's something else entirely to actually sit across the table from someone who's done it. And had success doing it.

So am I going to start randomly sending my stuff everywhere? Probably not. But I am researching some popular blogs to see what kinds of submissions they accept and what kind of response they have. Just because they have 2000 followers doesn't mean they have 2000 readers. I follow roughly 100 blogs, and I really only read like 5. I plan to change that, because I'm missing out on some fabulous opportunities by not reading some of these blogs. But I also need to make sure I'm not just reading other Etsians blogs. They're not my target audience. So I'm looking for mom bloggers and teacher bloggers and dad bloggers and anyone I can think of that DOESN'T make jewelry, but would have a need to buy jewelry either for themselves or as a gift. I need to get out of my own little world and see who's out there. You never know who might be a potential customer. :)

Be blessed.