A Big Winter Project with Needle + Thread

Over the holiday break I handsewed 300+ yoyos. I was seriously out of control. If you've seen my Etsy shop, then you see all the new designs and creations I've listed this month - all due in part to my wicked insane sewing spurt.
BEFOREAnother thing to come out of this madness is a slew of new hair accessories I've put into my Indie Genius shop earlier today. In addition to the regular bobby and clips pairs, I've made little tiny clips and small bobbies in singles for only $5 each. If you're in the Dallas area, stop by Indie Genius today and get a pair or five! You'll be supporting your favorite fabric jewelry local artist! *flashes smile with gleaming sparkle*
AFTER

Restocked Brooches + Some Church Rubble

After an incredibly successful Jingle Bash, followed by a boon of online sales and setting up my new shop at Indie Genius, I've finally begun creating more fabric pieces to list in my Etsy shop. Whew. Here are four new brooches made with the finest linen fabric from Kokka's Echino line. Get 'em now so I can keep making more! Also, new necklace designs in the making just in time for release this Spring! (if not sooner since I can't keep a lid on my designs). Stay tuned! [Notice the slab I used as a backdrop for my brooches (above). I took it from a pile of rubble left over from the 94-year old Oak Cliff Christian church that DISD saw fit to tear down to make room for a softball field. It was a beautiful old church just blocks from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot Officer Tippet then escaped to the Texas Theater just before being arrested. This is where I live.]

I betcha my slab is pictured in the pile of rubble above. *sigh* First photo: credit unknown Second photo: Melissa Hennings

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:

Let It Linger

I'm honored to be in two Etsy treasuries right now. Treasuries are user-curated selections of their favorite picks, oftentime based on a theme. They expire in a couple days and sometimes make it to the front page of Etsy.com! Got Game? treasury by heaterdixonstudio featuring my new BINGO bobbies (bottom left) Such a Fool for You treasury by sugarraindrops featuring my Swinging Ball felted necklace (bottom center)

B4 (and after!)

Lookie What I Made Yesterday I hit the studio table, armed with a tube of E6000, and made a bunch of bobbies and rings using genuine vintage BINGO markers. Not only did I make these cuties, I photographed and listed them in my Etsy shop, too! I also made 15 LOTTO marker rings (not pictured) that I'm donating to Alamo City Etsy's upcoming craft show. Oh, and I also managed to make Ian some homemade sweet potato puree. Whew! Me tired.

Tefi's Crafty Good Times

Life with Ian is, well, busy. It's incredible and magnificent, but makes keeping up with Tefi stuff rather difficult. I've been forced to become even more of a planner than I already was before. (Wha? Is that possible?) So tonight I plan to make bobbies and rings out of these super cool vintage BINGO and LOTTO markers I ordered from Etsy seller ScrapsOfTime. If I ever lay off taking pictures of Ian, I'll try to get around to taking pics of these new sweet creations. Gonna try to mix in media like buttons and fuzzy wool felt, too. Fun! With any luck, Ian will drift off around 9:30 after his last nursing session of the night, and won't wake up until...4:30am. Hmm. Is that asking too much?

Hair Treasures

A couple of my hair pretties made it into two Etsy treasuries today. What a lovely surprise!

Thanks to CJ Adornments for featuring my Opah! bobbies in her Grecian Summer treasury. These were also featured in The Dallas Morning News' Guide last year. Opah, indeed!

And thanks to Justine Nielsen for picking my felted olive hairsticks for her Shaken Not Stirred treasury.

So what's a treasury? It's a user-created selection of handmade items available on Etsy, the world's premier online marketplace for all things handmade. These treasuries expire real soon, so check them out NOW!

Pixies, Peacocks and Dragonflies

New Designs for Spring
The past two months have been all about my newborn, Ian. But somehow I've managed to make a few exclusive necklaces and earrings. They are all One-of-a-Kind and available in my Etsy shop.

Never shopped on Etsy before? It is the marketplace for all things handmade. It's just like any other shopping site (Amazon, eBay, Anthropologie) where you will need to create a login and password. Sweet and simple!

Tefi Loves: In My Backyard

The name says it all. In My Backyard features sweet handmade items either inspired from the artist's backyard, or gathered from her backyard. A perfect example: the Little Bird wooden pin pictured left made from her old rose tree. From her "little old cottage with a large garden in New Zealand," In My Backyard creates brooches, stationery, zipper pouches, and gocco prints all adorned with the things she see's in her backyard: birds, cabbage trees, berries, and pods. Some of our favorites are pictured below: Shop: http://www.inmybackyard.etsy.com/ Web Site: http://www.inmybackyard.co.nz/ Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

A Beautiful Sight: Gift Ideas

Thanks my designer friend Pam for being the inspiration for my latest batch of posters and banners. Check out her wood-etched lovelies: http://www.pamelamichelle.etsy.com/!

Tefi Loves: Mushrooms

Milk & Honey Mushroom Soap: $4.50 Shop: http://www.loveleesoaps.etsy.com/ Location: Daytona Beach, Florida

Toadstool Skirt: $62 Shop: http://www.madewithlovebyhannah.etsy.com/ Location: Los Angeles, California

The Forest Floor hairclip: $10

Shop: http://www.hellobirdie.etsy.com/ Location: Fort Worth, Texas

Mushroom Softie: $40

Shop: http://www.annieoakleaves.etsy.com/

Location: San Diego, California

I'm In the Paper! Part 2

Today our local big paper, The Dallas Morning News, made the decision to turn its daily freebie the Quick into a weekly rag. Lucky me! Today I'm featured, along with several other fellow Etsy Dallas members, and I'm lucky enough to get seven days of exposure versus one measely day. YAY!! When I founded Etsy Dallas back in September of 2007, I had no idea it would go this far.

The article features my Opah! hair bobbies (bottom left). Click here to see the pdf version and read the text.

Tefi Loves: Kate Broughton

Like many crafters, Kate Broughton, a designer based in the UK, began making animal-themed accessories for her friends in 2007 and hasn't stopped since. With a degree in textile design, Kate sews, knits, paints, and draws all sorts of sweet little flora and fauna goodies, including her new line of felt brooches. I really love her Mushroom brooch (above) and her Two Turtle Doves brooch - just in time for Christmas! Also pictured is her Wise Barn Owl brooch (below). As an added bonus, Kate is offering free gift wrapping for the holidays. Shop: http://www.katebroughton.etsy.com/ Location: Nottingham, England

Tefi Loves: Peacocks

Strut your stuff with these gorgeous peacock-inspired accessories and designs.

A perfect silk clutch for casual or elegant occasions. Shop: http://www.redrubyrose.etsy.com/ Location: Bristol, UK BUY IT!

Send some ostentatious greetings with this set of three notecards. Shop: http://www.mvegan5.etsy.com/ Location: Be'er Sheva, Israel BUY IT!

Dress up your locks with this colorful collection of peacock feathers. Shop: http://www.viemoderne.etsy.com/ Location: Pasadena, CA BUY IT! Brilliantly colorful upcycled pendant made with a Scrabble tile game piece. Shop: http://www.homestudio.etsy.com/ Location: Palm Desert, CA BUY IT! Make your own beautiful necklace with this lampwork glass pendant. Shop: http://www.tefi.etsy.com/ Location: Dallas, TX BUY IT!

Bundle Up This...Summer?

Even though we've got heatstroke weather here in Dallas, Texas, it's cold somewhere in the world right now. So to all those people hanging in Greenland, get you a scarf from Knit Sisters and bundle up! And in case you didn't know, Knit Sisters is a stitchy venture starring my mom and aunt Yolanda. My mom and I took those pictures a couple weekends ago, and yes, those are my pajama bottoms, a.k.a. What I Wear on Saturdays.

More Love for the Olives

Just check out these great photos taken by yours truly, with a little help from the hot supah-stah model Brenda B.Liscious showing off my new needlefelted olive hairsticks. Oh, you know you want a pair. available exclusively here