Etsy Dallas - New Stuff That's Too Cool To Keep To Myself

Back in early September of 2007 I founded Etsy Dallas, a little group of local artists and crafters who sell their wares on Etsy.com. We were a simple group with a simple mission: to promote each others' craft, to find friendship and networking opportunities within each other, and to spread the indie handmade movement across Dallas and beyond!

Today this little group isn't so little anymore. We are now at a whopping 75 members, many of which are active in one form or other. 42 of us will be at the upcoming Valentine's Day Trunk Show on February 9th at South Side on Lamar, and every week I get 2-3 new requests for membership. Whoa nelly! I mean, just look at some of the greatness we have to offer:



To support the work of Etsy Dallas and its members, please consider scoring yourself some fabu merchandise at our brand spankin' new Cafepress shop, featuring our official logo designed by Miss Pamelita of Pamela Michelle. All profits will go right back into the group to help cover marketing, overhead, etc. Or better yet, open that wallet a teeny bit wider and shop at any of the 75 wonderful Etsy Dallas members' shops.

And while you're at it, take a look at our smokin' new web site. Because we are all about free and cheap, the site contains yucky ads from the company who is giving us free hosting. Try to ignore them! And as always, check out our blog for updates and neat-o crafty goodness.

SUPPORT LOCAL . BUY HANDMADE . LOVE INDIE

Bon Voyage, Sara!

Saying goodbye to something you love is bittersweet when you know it's going somewhere to be adored and cared for. I'm speaking of my all-time favorite pottery shard necklace, which I've had up for sale for about a year now. I give you the Sara... I use an image of her on my business cards and also for all sorts of promotion and marketing. Parting with Sara was such sweet sorrow, for she is off to her new home in Sydney, Australia to live with Victoria V., who found her for sale in my Etsy shop. Fare thee well, Sara! I shall sing Starship whenever I think of you: "Sara, Sara, storms are brewin' in your eyes...Sara, Sara - no time is a good time for good-bye..." Enjoy life down under!

Craft + Charity = Good (Really Good)

Is it presumptuous and a tad arrogant to feel that you are meant for something? Meant for something that will make the world a better place? I feel that I am meant to care for animals, to advocate for their care and to deliver them to safety. Is that crazy?

This morning I entertained about 40 cars at the intersection of Hampton and Davis. There was a stray dog trotting in and out of traffic and it took me about 1.4 seconds to decide to pull over and do something about it. We danced about the bustling intersection, pissing off DART buses and slowing down traffic. Finally, I shooed him towards some houses and off he went. I got back in my car and pulled back out into traffic. At a red light I watched him go off down Hampton and sent all sorts of good vibes his way. As the light turned green, I saw a blue car pull up to help him. I smiled and drove off.

I can only hope my actions did one or all of the following: (1) saved the dog's life, if only for the moment, (2) delivered him to the blue car that stopped to help him, (3) modelled behavior for the 40 or so cars that watched my attempts at caring for a helpless animal. I'll never know for sure.

All of this (and some recent spiritual epiphanies) have led me to decide the following: for every sale I make, I will donate 10% to animal welfare groups in my community. I'll do this at the end of each month by tallying my sales and figuring 10% - a sort of charity tithe. I'll alternate between Operation Kindness, SPCA of Dallas, Dog & Kitty City, and other smaller orgs in the Dallas area.

If I have a particularly good trunk show or fruitful month of online sales, I will up my annual donation to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, earrmarked for their rescue missions.

It's such a simple plan. Why don't you do the same?

Happy Anniversary Sweet Jane!

As an active member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, it is my duty to out myself as a dork with an English degree and wish Ms. Austen a happy anniversary. It was on this day in 1813 that Pride and Prejudice was first published. You go girl!

And here she sits on my desk next to my dachshund paper weight.

Mama's Gotta Watch Her Stories, Part II

So while I sit at my studio table making all sorts of fabulous new hair goodies, earrings, and bracelets (some of which I've posted here), I keep the telly on the shows I love to "listen" to.

I know, I know. It would be much more poetic if I listened to Mozart or Belle and Sebatian or Paul Anka while I created my work, but alas. I loves me some boob tube.

And this writers' strike is really getting to me. So much so that I've resorted to rewatching and/or catching up on TV shows of yore. Here are my top favorites:


Gilmore Girls - I will always and forever consider this my super duper favoritest show ever. The pop culture references and influences are enough to keep me steadfastly and forever in love with Lorelai and company. Favorite guest appearances: Norman Mailer, Sonic Youth, Christiane Amanpour.


Six Feet Under - I'm on season 3 now, with 5 episodes to go. Love it, love it. Ruth is my favorite character. She's so bizarre and hilarious. And the way she dresses. Whoa.


Freaks & Geeks - I'm making my way through a second viewing of the entire series (and season, since there was only one). I have three words for you: Carlos the Dwarf. Oh wait, two more words: James Franco.


Twin Peaks - There is a special place in my heart for this twisted little tale. I will always have a girl crush on Audrey Horne, and a real crush on Agent Dale Cooper. Mmmm, I could go for a cup of joe and a slice of Norma's cherry pie....

Yard Party

People still do this? This afternoon Jason called me to come check out the front of the house. We stood there in disbelief and giggled like children. Who would do this? I have a feeling I know who did this - we call each other "cuz" and she probably had the help of a Serbian side-kick. Thing is, she hasn't called me back. Perhaps she's reading this blog right now and laughing to herself. This is so her. Girl, call me back!

UPDATE: So I talked with my cousin Jennifer, and she swears up and down that she didn't do this. It has got to be someone who lives in Oak Cliff since it happened between 3am and daylight. Hmmm...Dave? Ean? Larry? ChickyD? Nikola? Those people who came to our party and drank our beer?

I Am Officially Bummed

Show your LOVE this Valentine's Day!

My Fat Season

Well folks, my Fat Season is over. I am finally back down to my normal body size, no thanks to the countless cookies, cakes, pies, chocolates, and junkjunkjunk I ate over the holiday season. There was not a munchie that I didn't love with all of my heart.

But for the past 2-3 weeks, I've been on a mission - not a diet, mind you. I don't believe in diets. While diets work, people on diets don't work. So instead of making myself eat crazy wierd stuff for a certain period of time, I told myself to cut out the following: cheese, sweets, cola, and fried crap. So that's what I did. Now, by "cutting out" I mean "staying away from" for most of the time. I definitely believe that if you don't allow yourself a splurge every now and then, you will fall off the wagon and hit your head on the way down. (This does not apply to actual addictions, so don't take my advice if you have a real problem.)

So Saturday I splurged on cheese and crackers. Oh, I love cheese, from the top of my head to all the way down to my toes. After two weeks of virtually no cheese, I declared it Cheese Time and plopped my pajama-clad self down on the bed and munched away. The Saturday before that I decided it was Junky Fast Food time, so I went to KFC and got a mashed potato bowl and loved every minute of it. Knowing that I'm eating well 6 out of 7 days a week allows me to feel zero guilt when I splurge a little.

Now I'm back down to size, and my pants are even a little looser than they were before my Fat Season began. I even told Jason yesterday that I would actually wear a bathing suit now! Whoop, whoop. I daresay, I've lost a little weight too (as opposed to fat), which I plan to pile back on in the form of muscle now that I'm almost over the flu and ready to go back to practicing kung-fu 2-3 times a week.

But I can't help thinking, when will Slim Fast get around to making a Grilled Cheese flavored shake? Mmm, cheese...

Mama's Gotta Watch Her Stories: A Ramble

So I'm thinking, Man it's the pits that I'm sick. I've got this flu-y viral thing that's taken down half of Dallas.

Then I got to thinking about the phrase "the pits" and I wonder where I first heard it. Then I realize I'd heard it first from my mom, who immigrated to this country over 30 years ago and learned English, no doubt, from a textbook last updated in 1943.

So then I started thinking about where that phrase originated and that made me think of peach pits and how I was always told never to suck the peach meat off of them because I might choke and die.

And that reminded me of The Peach Pit. You know, the diner where Brandon worked. You know - Beverly Hills 90210. And I started thinking about Dylan and how he was supposed to be "bad" and James Dean-ish and well, no one is James Dean-ish except for James Dean.

That got me to thinking about all of the stories I'm missing because of the writers' strike, and why didn't I follow my dream and become a famous writer, anyway? Well.

So there's Ugly Betty, Lost, House, Dirty Sexy Money, etc. etc. I miss you all! At least I've got my Golden Girls reruns on Lifetime, brand new American Gladiators (Nitro, I will always love you.) and semi-funny Colbert Reports to watch. But still, mama's missin' her stories. Achoo! Sniffle sniffle.

Shiny New Title, Same Old Tefi

You see, I can't get this song out of my head: "Expectations" by Belle & Sebastian. It's from their first (and best, I think) album Tigermilk, and I was pleasantly surprised today to hear it in my new favorite movie, Juno. ("Piazza, New York Catcher," a sweet folksy Gaelic-type ditty, is also on the soundtrack and also by B&S.)



So this takes me to my new blog title, making life-size models of the Velvet Underground in clay. It's a line from "Expectations" and it also stars my alltime favorite band, VU, who I keep just a notch above B&S in my list of tops. I thought it was time I had a full-on blog title rather than just some generic "Tefi Designs" wannabe title. So here it is. Hope you love it as much as I do. And go see Juno already! It's tops, foshizzle.

Islands in the Stream (Remixed)

Oh Todd, what were you thinking filming this? There's goes my chance at a run for office.

Droppin' Signs at Ye Olde Monk

Anya Is All Thumbs Up


Nikola and Anton Gettin' Thumby


I really can separate my thumbs. No really.


Representin' Kremlin Style (and Belgrade, too)


Jason gets tonguey and I get second chinny.

Thanks to Charles for taking these pics!