Beanblossom Studios

P is for Progress, too.

The beginning of the new series of bags. Most of my previous series were heat transfer vinyl that I cut and weeded by hand for each and every bag. And then ironed. HOT, tedious and costly. The others were one-offs with freezer paper stencils, which took forever for each bag. I prefer the hand of the ink on the canvas. It seems more "handcrafted" (because it is!). I could have kept up with all the inbox requests (including two book publishers) for the bags if I stuck with HTV, but they look too store bought to me. I didn't want to keep making them if that is how I had to do it. Yes, I chose art over profit, but now I can have both. 

Also, now that I have figured out the new setup, I am planning to start screening my own designs on yardage of cottons and linens. FINALLY! It's my goal that by Stitch Rock on October 6, everything I present will be printed with my own designs in some fashion. That would totally....rock my stitch! 

Prep starts with the letter P

I keep intending to switch this over to a Wordpress blog. I pay $14.95 for this space, which is a bit ridiculous -- especially when I procrastinate and never post anything because I am waiting for just the perfect time to switch to a WP format...sigh.

Procrastination starts with a P. So does my name. Unfortunately, that doesn't work with "prep", as in "preparation". I am sooo bad at preparing my workspace, preparing to COMPLETE a project, preparing for shows, etc. I am a big improviser and in the moment kind of person and sometimes that works for me. Some of my best work has come out of procrastination and doing things last minute. Seriously! But to be honest, that isn't good for my nerves. I also get anxious because I doubt my last minute work until someone (better yet, lots of someones) declares their love for it and buys it. 

As I venture into full-blown screen printing -- I purchased a nice setup off of Craigslist recently, I am finding that, at least while I am still a clueless nube with these techniques, I need to prepare. Preppity, prep, prep! I cannot just roll down to the garage and the darkroom in the basement and churn things out last minute. Which is frustrating because I have an inbox of potential orders and I could be making money right now. The above photo are squares of canvas that I cut up so I can practice my flood & stroke (printing) technique before I waste anymore bags. I am also trying to think about what I can to do to prepare for the big mess I keep making with the ink. How does so little ink get EVERYWHERE except on the canvas where it is supposed to go!?!? 

So in about an hour, I am headed to the garage to finish prepping my space and hopefully getting this thing right. You'll know it worked if you see the bags up in my shop tonight.

winter blah

Oh hello there! Just me trying to get thru these dreary days of Winter. You'd think crafting would be a good escape, but I love sunny days in the studio and i'd need a lot more Ott Lites to trick myself into feeling sunshine when there isn't. 

It also doesn't help that I started out the week badly with something I may eventually talk about here (it is craft related..). It just sucked the energy out of my soul and I shouldn't let it, but it's there. I will get some stuff done, because I am helping my sister with my niece's Sweet 16 birthday party and I need to work on the party decor. I designed cute ticket invites to match her Carnival-themed party. Now I need to work on big glittery 16s and signage for the candy bar and food tables.

March 20th: First day of Spring.

Put a frickin' bird on it!

I know I am guilty of putting birds on A LOT of things. Portlandia made a funny episode about this feathery trend to make all of us clever crafters feel stupid. Trust me, i've tried to stop it but this bird-thing cannot be helped! I have avian flu or something! 

So I thought i'd share a collection of bird things i've made over the years. Enjoy!

NOTE: I didn't even bother with the owl stuff! I love owls more than regular birds!

Next trend: buffalos. Wait for it... 

100

I joined Etsy on September 13, 2005. I had moments of a lot of listing and sold almost everything I ever listed. When I listed. Between doing shows and the length of time it used to take to manage listings and the shop, I just didn't bother much. It was on a whim Thanksgiving weekend that I decided to put a bag up that was popular at shows and well, it's snowballed a bit! I love it! 

Each of these bags are handcrafted one at a time. They are not Zazzle or Cafe Press. Each bag gets it words cut out, applied by hand and hand ironed (yes, with a regular old hand iron and not one of those fancy heat presses). I have burns to prove it! They take time to make each one and I am making them to order right now. I may switch to screening them in big batches, but I also like the individual time I spend with each bag. Kind of weird?

Back to Etsy: So today I reached 100 sales. Funny, because it seems like I was there already, but I guess not! I've sold so much at shows, I lose track! But now that Etsy is so much easier to list and manage, I will be making and selling more on a super regular basis. I forgot how fun it was to make stuff, package it up and send it off out into the universe. I have orders going out all over the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, and Japan. How exciting is that??!

To celebrate, I am going to give two bags away. The first two people to comment will each get a free bag sent to them! 

Also, are you following me on Pinterest?  I love that place!  

 

etsy...finally!

I have had crazy requests from friends and followers to finally once again have stuff in my Etsy shop and specifically this "I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie" tote bag. Here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/86935349/i-like-big-books-and-i-cannot-lie-canvas

I can also send paypal invoices directly to you if you do not want to go thru Etsy. Let me know! 

I have to admit that it's kind of fun to once again be getting notification of sales from all over! I have been focused on show sales and custom/personal orders, so Etsy hasn't been my priority for awhile. I was going to do a show on Dec 10, but now I am considering just putting everything online. Yes, part of my problem with online listing is the time it takes to get the photos and listings "just so". I got lucky with the above photo because most of my goods photo have been horrible the last few times I tried. I pinned some photo tips on my Pinterest, so maybe I should go look at those? 

Happy Week!

 

here we go...

 

Funny thing: I haven't done a show in Indiana since moving back here...until last night! Ladies Evening Out hosted a Posh Pre-Holiday shopping event last night at the Monon Center here in Carmel. I had DJed (did you know I also have a DJ business?) the last one and I thought i'd multi-task and sell at this one as well. I tell you, it's a lot easier to travel to an event 5 minutes down the road than it is to pack up and go all the way to South Florida! 

It was a good chance to meet more local people and other local vendors. I met some really fun people last night and I look forward to doing more in the area. I am currently looking at a show in downtown Indy on December 10 (instead of going all the way to Sarasota....).

Oh...btw, my new Silhouette Cameo arrived!!! Early birthday present for me! I've been playing with it non-stop. As a matter of fact, everything i've been making lately uses either my Cameo or my SD. I'm crazy! 

Is it already almost November??

I made the error (again x 100 other times) of having an iced coffee this evening and now I am a bit wired after having such a slow day where I felt super tired. I am a bit behind in blogging (again x 100 other times) . Ahem...every day for the past three weeks, i've meant to blog about the great time I had at Stitch Rock in Delray Beach, Florida, but I just haven't eeked out the time between working, travel, more work and work, work, work. 

I did finally host a Craft Night here in Carmel, Indiana at SoHo Cafe last week. Here are pictures of the Wrapped Wreath project I taught (photo above is my class sample): 

 

I am taking November off to do nothing but craft and relax. Oh, and focus on taking my protein and vitamins like I should (i've been horrible and now I am paying for it...). And now I am going to try to go to sleep despite my caffeine buzz....:)

Update: I made this take home handout for my class. Not quite a tutorial, but it's something to get you going. Easy project!  Download Wreath Handout

 

 

 

Life is Like a Bicycle...

Life is like a bicycle -- in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. -- Mark Twain

I am not so sure about that Mark or Sam...whatever your real name is. This summer, I kept moving nonstop and the result? Well, I feel a bit off balance. I am trying to get back to "normal" but i'll be back on the road at the end of this month headed to Florida to do Stitch Rock and see friends, family and kids (our two oldest live in Florida). 

It is nice to know I have two weekends in a row without work or travel. I am not counting the hour drive to the Apple Orchard on Sunday as travel. I am 100% in the State of Indiana and that's okay with me! Farmers Market, Fountain Square Arts Festival, Oranje, Apples. Perfect! 

The above pillow is a submission for Artique in Lawrence, IN. A bit different than my projects for Stitch Rock, but I have multiple creative personalities. :)

You know what? I'll do hyperlinks another day. I am too tired/lazy to do them right now. Just be amazed I wrote a blog entry this month, mmmkay? 

Big Ideas

I am finally at home...for a few days! I've been to Orlando to Michigan and back and soon i'll be off to Miami for our 22nd anniversary.

I am starting to prep for creative production for Stitch Rock and part of that prep is playing with my Silhouette SD to perfect certain skills. I am also collecting ideas for my projects and needed someplace to stick them other than the big piles on my desks! Soooo....I made this:

I've had this set of cork board squares for awhile now, but I didn't want to just stick them up on the wall plain (even if I was going to fill it up full of ideas!).  

Along came my sexy Silhouette SD machine and TIME to play (finally!) and we have this very simple project. 

VERY NONPROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1) Select text or image that can be easily cut out on freezer paper using the Silhouette SD or even an old fashioned Exacto Knife. Cut! I used vinyl cutting setting and mirrored my image in the SD Design software AND put the freezer paper shiny side UP when going thru the cutter on the carrier sheet.

note: I wish I thought of something more clever than "Big Ideas", but you get what you get...

Step 2) Iron freezer paper (shiny side down..duh) to cork board. Yes, it does work! I used the hottest heat setting since that is what it is always on and made sure steam was set off.

Step 3) Gently sponge brush or dry brush on acrylic paint. Don't goop it all up.  I used Delta's Soy Paints. Let dry and peel off freezer paper. Voila! 

note: The pink wasn't dark enough to show as dark as i'd like it, so I outlined with a Micron pen after it dried. 

Step 4) Hang! (see first photo!)

I also did a camera on a t-shirt using this method, but I am contemplating stenciling or hand painting some straps. Photos when I have it all finished. I am waiting for some more supplies in the mail this week to start work on some plush dolls for Stitch Rock. Woohoo! Cant wait!