Facing Up Trial & Error with Hairbrained Ideas...

Not every idea I have is worthy of becoming something.  Case in point, I have a pile of yarn and plastic star beads sitting on my desk right now.  I've torn up the "project" three times already, thinking I would make a necklace, then a belt and now I'm realizing that nothing is up to par.

There seems to be a temptation among crafters to do it all, use everything, save anything useful.  Especially with the advent of the surge of re & upcycled crafts nowadays.  Everyone it seems wants to be eco-conscious.  And while I completely respect that, there is a limit to just keeping it all.

So a lesson learned and one for you to.  Everything isn't worth keeping, nor is every idea as good as it seems at the time it comes to you.  But the ability to see something new and whole from old parts is worth the effort of trial and error.  No art is failure, just an advancement in perspective.

Happy Crafting,
Aradia
of
Aradia's Hand

October Book Review - Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden

Image Source Credit

I love to crochet so how could I have not bought this book.  Sporting a picture of a monkey with a fez hat, a little Cthulu, and a mini grim reaper... I was sold!

This book is creatively written starting out with the author's inspiration of how they came to write it as well as tips, tricks, and resources that are always popularly found in how to books.  A benefit of the book is it's small enough to fit in your project bag to tote around while you hook cute monsters, however I am sad that the pictures in the how to basics are so very small, not optimal for the beginning amigurumi enthusiast.

Projects range in things you'd expect to find in this book - like zombies - to things less expected such as the gladiator (I'll admit to missing the creepy reference here since they're just cool!  Yes I'm a fan of the Gladiator movie...)

The pictures of each project are great, though again some of the diagrams are a little small so I wouldn't recommend this for a novice.

I'd give this a 4.5 out of 5, only docking for the fact that some of the diagrams are a little on the tiny side for my tastes.  However this allows the book to remain in pocketbook form so it's not that big a deal if you can read standard crochet abbreviations!

LAL with Melli's Trinkets

Several months ago I participated in a loom a long (LAL) with owner and jewelry designer of Melli's Trinkets, Melli Burger.  Originally we decided it would just be something fun to do since neither of us seemed to have anyone local to do any kind of "a long" with.  Just last night we started on another one, this time something nice and seasonal - a cowl.

Although I'm not ecstatic about this picture I gathered together some fun colors to try in my design...

As you see below I started with the dark chocolate and burgundy (which in this light looks a bit like raspberry).  I've also given my own spin on the cowl's stitch pattern, doing a six row repeat

So far the pattern stitch definitely looks interesting!  I'm even considering documenting it and offering the pattern in my Ravelry store!

Happy Crafting,
Aradia
of
Aradia's Hand

October Featured Artist/Crafter - Krystal of Children of the Underground

Krystal's Bio:
I lend my crafting knowledge to a variety of art techinques that I use when making an item. No two pieces of my work is the same; which works well with my personality. Custom orders are my favorite to work on because it shows a level of trust from the customer and the interation from them helps add to the overall finished item. Since I have a regular job outside of my house I usually only craft during the spring and fall when my workload slows down. My artistic vision can occur during peak moments of epiphanies while I am going about my daily routine. I use these moments to write down items and collect odd items for inventory and current crafts. People describe me a free-spirited artist and I can see why. Past customers of mine usually tell me that the end result of what they requested from me is more than what they expected. All and all I try to keep my hours of crafting time open, stay well connected with my customer throughout the process, and take general pride in my work.

1. How long have you been doing crafting?

I have been doing art all my life. My father's family has a history of artisians. My applicable art didn't really start happening until I was in high school. That was the time of my life where I got more training and techinques honed, as well as great acknowledgement from my fellow peers.

2. What inspires you the most?

The thing that inspires me the most is being out in nature. However, I have also found that by trying to turn my racing brain down I can see inspiration in other things, even commercial/industrial items.

3. What is/are your favorite materials/supplies?

My favorite materials I use are found objects. They really aren't an art tool, but its fun to find something and make it into art. Most of my best work has been built around an ordinary object.

4. Do you have a favorite tool?

I don't really have a favorite tool, but I feel the most important tool is pen and paper. My ideas come about so randomly I usually have to write them down in a timely manner.

5. What is your work space like?

My work space goes thru stages. It is currently thru a "intermission" stage in which I am going thru my inventory to see what I want to keep, toss, or donate.

6. When do you find the most time to work?

I find the most time to work late in the evening when my son is watching tv or playing the computer. I like to work with plenty of noise, because it makes me concentrate on the task I am working on. Working in quiet would put me to sleep.

7. How does your work fit into the rest of your life?

My working life outside of the home is dominating my time at the moment. The crafting part of my life is in a dormant stage, but with winter coming soon I don't expect that to last long. So I fit in crafting when I can so I don't have to force art.

8. How often a week do you get to work?

I can usually manage a good day and a half a week for crafting work.

9. Do you sell your work? Directly? Indirectly?

People custom order directly from me. Not many people buy work I have done and posted online. My experience tells me that I work better with custom orders.

10. Do you have a business (on or offline)? Consign?

My business is called "Children of the Underground" after my high school art project. It seemed appropriate to keep the name.

11. Do you have a website? Blog? Facebook profile or fan page? Myspace? Twitter? Pinterest?

I have a facebook page for it and an Etsy account. However, I would like to be apart of someone else's page and post work as I get it done on a more personal level. I would hope that in doing so I could blog or pinterest from that connection.

12. Where do you feel your work fits in your market? (Do you concentrate on high volume, low volume; do you make multiples or one of a kind only; Walmart or Bergdorf Gelman?)

I feel my work fits more in the low volume market. I have been known to make multiples of items in the past, but I like to change one element of each item produced.

13. What is your favorite part?

My favorite part about crafting is that I can express myself visually for others to see. I consider myself lucky that I can do that.

14. How did you get into crafting?

I believe I got into art thru life. My family always motivated me to keep doing what I loved. Looking at some of the previous work members of my family did help inspire me to continue.

15. Favorite deceased artist? Why?

Believe it or not I do not have a favorite deceased artist. I have had to do reports on great artists thru history for my two years of Art History and it just felt so forced. My college art teachers used to say that some artists can be hindered by studying too much of other artists, in that you may not be able to develop your own style.

16. Favorite live artist? Why?

I don't have a favorite live artist either. However, I do have a favorite art form. Tattooing is my favorite art form because its an experience from both sides. The person tattooing is putting up their best work for someone that will be carrying it around with them for the rest of their life. The person receiving it is putting their trust in the artist to make a great piece. So in a sense there is an exchange going on; someone gifting a piece of art. To further expand on this, I especially like artistic pictures taken of tattooed people. I have always found that fasinating. Being a woman with tattoos I have been on the modeling end of it as well. It is extremely liberating and I feel like I know more about myself than I originally did.

Location: Warner Robins, Georgia

Children of the Underground Store

Children of the Underground Facebook

Contact via Email

Text Krystal:   478-217-8713

Thanks for tuning in for our Featured Artist/Crafter of the Month! We'll see you back in November with our next feature!

October Product Review - Storenvy eCommerce Site

Alright, normally I do a physical product for my review but I was inspired to review the ecommerce site I sell through because it's pretty fantastic and yet a lot of people in the craft circuit, even those online, don't know about it.

First of all we all know Etsy.  Now I have no beef with Etsy, although we had a bit of a bad breakup, it is the giant for handmade ecommerce.  And while I was with Etsy for two years from 2009 to just into 2011 how it looked when I came there, versus how it looked when it started, and even how it looks now isn't the same.  While I think the changes they've made (from what I've been able to see though not being a seller there anymore) it's been improvements after a good fashion.  My gripes - the banners & avatars are crazy small (compared to other platforms) and it has a bit of a Facebook feel to it.  You can customize a minimal amount and that's it.

I've also sold with Artfire.  They changed a lot in the few years I was with them too, and while again some changes have been good, others I really wasn't all for and well we broke up too, lol.  They offer a good deal more customization to their shop fronts, but in order to have the maximum affect you had to be a pro seller (although now it's changed and that is the only option).

Just this last year (December of 2011 to be specific) I came to Storenvy.  I was a little forlorn over my Etsy break up still and was okay but not terribly ecstatic about Artfire.  So I decided to give them a chance at the ecstatic urgings of new friendy & fellow crafty fiend Melli of Melli's Trinkets.  Admittedly I had a little bit of trepidation.  What would this new ecommerce site be like that I'd never heard of?  Would it be more work, would it be worth the effort even?

I can answer in the positive and with a resounding yes that it's great and well worth it!  Originally drafting wasn't precisely available in an obvious fashion on Etsy or Artfire (although now both offer a way to do it, Storenvy's way is much simpler and getting better all the time.)  For me drafting is an extremely important feature as it allows me to hit those high points of inspired copywriting without feeling I have to sync up my listing process into "all at once".  The picture availability is set at the standard 5 which works for the most part, although you have to get a little creative at times with your pictures to narrow it down into just 5 depending on your product.  Also standard is an easy to use app with Facebook and it also allows you to link your account and sign in that way.  Changing your email for sign in and to receive messages is easy which is also a major bonus.

Some other nifty perks, they have built in deals and promotions you can run as well as the ability to mark things as On Sale, Coming Soon, and Pre-Order (there are other options Active, Hidden, and Retire).  Forums of course are attached to the site and they give you on site stats in your dashboard.  You can see an overview of your recent sales, access specific invoices, see visitor to view rations for up to a month back or across 6 days.  Your most viewed products & top sellers, top referring URLs, top search engine terms, visitor & buyer countries.

Another major bonus to your storefront with Storenvy is that you can have as many collections, what they call store sections, as you want.  Whereas Etsy restricted it to 10, which made many people open up additional stores for categorization, this is a welcome difference.  Other tidbits are fairly standard with the ability to reference links to other areas of the web (up to 6), customization of your shipping confirmation email, and bits in your profile.

However, the coup de grace of it all (aside from it being a fee-less system of course) is that you are allowed 100% customization.  Your store can be as simple as you'd like it to be or as hands down fancy pants as you can get it (or your web designer can get it).  This leads the way for you to have a truly unique webstore that bespeaks your style while setting up a good majority of the front for you.

So if you have a shop and maybe you're struggling with your venue, or you're thinking of opening one, pop on over to Storenvy and try it out - you won't be sorry you did!