Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Make Your Cardigan Sing

New brooches in my shop will make your cardigans sing for joy. I also listed some new necklaces made with beads I purchased over the weekend at The Bead Market, which blows through town once a year. Oh! And go ahead and drool over my new dress form. It was quite the splurge! (thanks Pam for the where-to-buy info!) Thanks, as always, to Cheyne of Cut Out and Collect for handing her beautiful designer fabric scraps over to me so that I can make beautiful things like this:

Friday, September 25, 2009

Tefi Loves: (Certain) Musicals

Technically, I do not love musicals, as a genre. For the most part, they get on my nerves, really get on my nerves. [Example: 2007's Wicked should receive public censure and a week in the stockades for ruining what I consider to be one of the best works of modern fiction.] But there are a few musicals that I hold near and dear, mostly because I grew up with them. The following Etsy items are inspired by my warm fuzzy memories of certain musicals that left an indelible mark on my childhood. Enjoy! (but don't go singin' about it):
Xanadu Roller Skate Earrings: $15 Shop: Deb Star Designs Location: Sydney, Australia

Hedwig & the Angry Inch Gummi Bear soap: $2.75 Shop: Jessica Edwardss Location: Idaho


The Sound of Music Kissing Cousins Print: $12 Shop: Made with Love by Hannah Location: Los Angeles, CA

A Chorus Line Tiny Dancer necklace: $19 Shop: Cocoa Chu Chu Location: Toronto, Canada

Grease! John Travolta Cross-Stitch Pattern: $4 Shop: All Stitches Location: somewhere in the U.S.

Grease! 2 Motorcycles photograph: $18 Shop: Eva Vaughan Location: Louisville, KY

Annie She wants to live with grandma Doll: $12 Shop: pocomedio Location: Port Clinton, OH

Little Shop of Horrors Venus Fly Trap Skinny Tie: $30 Shop: Jes Switaj Location: Brooklyn, NY

Thursday, September 24, 2009

We Are the Best! Thank you Dallas!!

Holy cow holy cow!! Our Bash shows got voted as Dallas' "Best One-Stop Shop" in the coveted and uber popular Dallas Observer's Best Of annual issue. It's on stands today!! This is a huge. mega. deal. Here's the write-up: Sure etsy.com—the online boutique community for crafters, jewelry designers, knitters, tailors, bookbinders, vintage sellers and collectors of everything—is a surefire way to kill an afternoon and build up a wish list, but an Etsy Dallas event is even better. Prices are great, the craftsmanship is fantastic, it feels good to support local crafters and you'll still cover everyone on any gift list you might have for the next two years. But the downside is you'll also empty your bank account with little to no effort without some preventive measures. We have a friend keep us from purchasing on the first lap through the show. We spend only cash (even if a booth takes cards). And we buy no more than we can carry on our own person. It's hard, but, well, you gotta leave something for the rest of the shoppers to look at. On the other hand, screw everyone else, retail therapy rocks! The Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash takes place November 21 at Sons of Hermann Hall. Sharp elbows stimulate the economy, people. In case you're wondering, What the heck is the Bash?, let me fill you in. The Bash is the premier arts and crafts event in Dallas that we started back in 2008. The Bash is put on by me and co-conspirator Pamela Michelle, with support from the Etsy Dallas leadership team (Larry, Carrie, Cheyne, Alicia, Mandi, Dylan, and Randi). This year's 2nd Annual Jingle Bash will take place at the historic (and David-Lynchian) Sons of Hermann Hall, November 21st (that's a Saturday) from 1am-7pm. More deets here.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

This made my morning.

In addition to the crisp cool air and wonderfully dreary rain, the following customer feedback just made my morning: "Got your necklace today! It is so cute!!!!!!! I have already looked through your other inventory! I have my eye on a couple of things.....Your stuff is so cute and original! Oh, and I see you are a poetry fan as well as a Lynch fan too....cool." I live for customer feedback like this!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Lots (and lots) of New Pieces

Today I managed to be a mom, hang with Pam, Dylan and Cheyne at Spiral Diner, go to the Peace Fest in Oak Cliff to see Mandi and Larry, meet Jennifer of Textile Fetish, and photograph and list 15 new necklaces.

No, I am not taking amphetamines. Yet.

By the by, all of my crafty friends named above and I will be at the 2nd Annual Jingle Bash. We're doing it again this year, even bigger and better with over 50 hand-picked vedors just oozing with handmade talent. Come on by the Sons of Hermann Hall of November 21st and see for yourself!

Take a peek and visit my Etsy shop to purchase these one-of-a-kind pieces! Some of favorites:

Monday, September 14, 2009

I won! I won!

Funny thing happened on Friday. Awhile back I saw a post from my friend Patricia of Karmacrochet for a giveaway she was doing on the blog Love.Obsess.Inspire. She asked us to check it out and comment. So I did. Aaaaand...I won the giveaway!! I got an email from Alexi, the gal who writes the blog and my reply, in this order: Holy cow! I know Patricia! How cool! Saturday night at Larry's during our Etsy Dallas 2nd birthday party, Patricia handed me her basket of goodies. My favorite items are the washcloths that we're going to use during Ian's bathtime. btw - In the first pic, you can see Larry's super mega awesome Yellow Submarine fused glass art. Love it!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

I'm on Etsy's Front Page!

My Nothin's Worryin' Me necklace ($12.50) was recently featured in a treasury celebrating the beauty of rain and raindrops. This is fitting, since it's been monsoon season here in Dallas the past three days. Nonstop rain! So apparently Etsy admin loved the treasury enough to slap it on the front page. Yay me! And yay to Cheyne of Cut Out and Collect who gave me this particular swatch of fabric that I used in THIS NECKLACE.

Flora and Fauna

New pieces! New shop section!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Labor Day Weekend

What a blast of a weekend. Most of it was spent with my 7-month old Ian, my baby daddy Jason, my dog Oliver, and my home sweet home. Oh, and lots of thrift store/estate sale shoppin'! Pictured below are some of my finds. Not pictured is some super ugly kitschy cool deer fabric and three card table covers hand-embroidered with the symbols: heart, club, diamond, clover. Gorgeous!
Yellow shadowbox I snagged from Goodwill for $2.99 and the wire shelf from an estate sale for $20. And notice the supercool frame to the right. My new necklace display! I painted it avocado green and did a super secret something to it, then covered it in woodgrain fabric.

Three funky composer busts (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach) also from Goodwill, 59 cents each. These guys were screamin' for a new coat of paint.

Close-up of my music dudes. Another Goodwill snag - antique Danish cups. Used for...? I got two plus one saucer with a minor chip. Total: $1.77.
Close-up of my new Danish cup. Toby came from an estate sale. He keeps Oliver company during the day. Found this at a thrift store near my office. I wanted the frame so now I'm selling this handmade vintage cross-stitch in my Etsy shop.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Happy 2nd Birthday, Etsy Dallas!

Who knew a little message one September afternoon would snowball into what we know today as the leading craft collective in Dallas and beyond? Here's how it all began: "Hi there! I’m looking to start up an Etsy street team focusing on sellers in the Dallas area. To start with, I thought we could meet once a month or at least once a quarter, participate in trunk shows together at our homes, share ad space and the cost of a simple website, etc. In order to get this off the ground, I’ll need to get at least 3-5 fellow Dallas “estiers” on board. Please let me know if you are interested! Cheers, Stephanie" I sent that to over 20 hand-picked Dallas sellers on Etsy back on September 13 and have made some wonderful friends since then, including my Bash partner, Pamela Michelle. Today, Etsy Dallas is leading the handmade movement across the state. In the wake of our formation 2 years ago, several wonderful city teams in Texas have formed, including our crafty friends Etsy Fort Worth, Alamo City Etsy, and Etsy Austin. I am proud to be part of such a movement. Thank you to all who made it possible. Happy 2nd Birthday, Etsy Dallas! {Big thanks to my gal Alicia Colina-Ashby for leading the team Sale-A-Bration. Check out her post on our blog for all the deets! Beginning on September 7th I'll be offering Free Shipping on my Clearance items. More info soon! }

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

It's a Green Thing

Big thanks to my friend and fellow Etsy Dallasite Alicia for turning me on to Cosa Verde, a new web site dedicated to promoting handmade goods with an eco-twist. I opened up shop and listed three necklaces from my Nuts collection. These pieces are made with nuts and seeds harvested from the rain forest, then processed and dyed naturally. This commerce gives indigenous people jobs, encourages free trade, and preserves the trees and plants they come from (rather than chopping them down, they are spared in order to made these beads). I've got a lot more Nuts in my inventory, including earrings, than are listed in my shop. Thanks to my Ian monster, I don't have a lot of time these days to photograph and add to my shop. (Yeah, blame the baby!) I was the featured shop last week even! While you're browsing the great eco items on Cosa Verde, check out Alicia's Etsy shop. She makes great accessories out of recycled paper from magazines and catalogues. My favorites are her itsy-bitsy pouches: