Interview with SewNook!

Please welcome Crystal of SewNook as our second High Desert Street Team member interview! Please check out Crystal's Shop and Blog and leave a comment here to let her know you stopped by:)

1. What is your shop name and does it have special meaning? SewNook is my shop name. The name was developed at the time I was using a breakfast nook for my sewing area. I knew I wanted the word “sew” in my business name and from there it clicked.

The bird in my Etsy banner has meaning to me as well. When my Dad was passing away from cancer, the hospital had a beautiful enclosed bird cage full of finches that I would see upon entering his unit. The birds brought peace to me knowing that he could see and hear them.

2. What do you make, how and when did you start? I make greeting cards, totes, Christmas Stockings, Tissue Cozies, Totes, neck warmers, fingerless gloves, lightweight and washable curtains for the kitchen and children’s rooms and other items that come to me spontaneously depending on the fabric. I have been crocheting and sewing for about 10 years consistently. I learned from my Mom who is an awesome quilter, crafter, and self taught painter.

3. Do you have a special inspiration? Most of my inspiration comes from the fabric I use. I see a fabric and decide from there what I would like to make with it. If I am doing custom orders for curtains or tissue cozies for bridal or baby shower favors, then I will seek and seek until I find the perfect fabric for my clients. I love to collaborate with clients and to hear their input and ideas. It is very rewarding to work with people on their special projects.

4. Besides your Etsy shop do you sell anywhere else? Do you have a blog? Primarily, I sell my handmade items on Etsy right now, but I am looking forward to attending craft fairs very soon. Currently, I am working with our town to organize a craft show, which will take place on December 5^th of this year.

My blog is HiyaCalifornia.Blogspot.com for keeping friends and family in the loop of our adventures here in California. We recently moved to the High Desert from Chicago in May. My next goal is to begin a blog for SewNook, to showcase my handmade creations both for sale and not for sale and to post tutorials.

5. How does your internet business fit into your life? Is it your job or do you have another job as well? I have three jobs. Taking care of our two year old son, SewNook, and I am a Virtual Assistant for TodaysAdmin.com.

6. What is the most challenging thing about having an online business? Time management is the most challenging, but I have been able to implement a lot of my skills as a Virtual Assistant for managing SewNook.

7. What is the most rewarding thing about having an online business? For me, the most rewarding part of having an online business is seeing how it has evolved and the excitement of the possibilities to come.

8. When you are not crafting, how do you spend your time? I enjoy every spare moment with my husband and son. We take road trips frequently and often times do not have a plan in mind. The day is spontaneous and lots of fun! I also like to frequent antique shops to look for vintage fabric, quilt tops, and other textiles.

9. Are there any links you’d like to share?

1. Meetup.com for face-to-face networking opportunities.

2. PrimoPdf.com for an affordable way to print the patterns you develop.

3. TodaysAdmin.com for administrative support, which for crafters, can be bookkeeping, website and newsletter updates, and anything else you may need to delegate so you can spend more time with customers and on your crafts.

10. What are your five favorite Etsy shops?

CicadaStudio: Great fabric! I have fabric and her stationery.

BKMHattitude: Trendy hats. I own two, they are fabulous!

IraGrant: Awesome handbags. On my wish list!

ButtonsbyRobin: Love this shop’s buttons. I own a couple sets and they are so beautiful.

TheCraftyDragonfly: I love everything in this shop; many items are on my wish list!

Interview with Hydrangea Hippo!

Please welcome Jennifer Priest of Hydrangea Hippo as our first High Desert Street Team member interview! Please check out Jennifer's Shop and Blog and leave a comment here to let her know you stopped by:)


1. What is your shop name and does it have special meaning?

My shop is named Hydrangea Hippo. Silly, right? There actually is a story behind it. A bunch of friends and I were on our way to a scrapbook store named Pink Pineapple in Vista, CA and we started joking about what our scrapbook store would be named if we had one, pairing colors with object names through alliteration. I joked that I would name mine Hydrangea Hippo and it stuck!

2. What do you make and how did you start?

I make paper crafting kits and sell embellishments and goodies for papercrafting. Many times I find items that are perfect for papercrafting but not necessarily "scrapbooking" supplies. I love featuring these finds in my shop, such as the triple bead stick pins I am featuring in my shop right now.

I started an etsy shop because I started teaching scrapbooking classes about 6 years ago and needed a way to sell kits leftover from classes. Someone suggested etsy and the rest is history! I've always had an entreprenuerial spirit so creating and selling is something I thoroughly enjoy. I recently started offering monthly layout and project kits exclusive to my etsy shop in addition to my regular items & past class kits.

3. Do you have a special inspiration?

My family. We travel to craft fairs and cool shops, go to fun cities to see the sites, and check out magazines to find cool color combos and shapes. And paper inspires me--if I see a paper I like, I'll create a class or kit around it. If I have cute photos of my kids, I'll create a project around that--right now I am working on a "mud" book because we have photos of my son playing in the mud.

4. How long have you been doing this craft and how did you start?

I started scrapbooking in 1998 when I was pregnant with my first child. I wanted her to have the completed baby book I never had so I got a mail-order scrapbook kit and started creating her book. I caught the scrapbooking "bug" in 2003 when I went to a scrapbook convention and have been teaching and scrapbooking every day since.

I am currently on several designs teams (Zutter Bind It All, Polka Dot Whimsy, Pink Pineapple Scrapbooks) as well as the Creative Director for Scrapbook Royalty, a 501c3 nonprofit that organizes scrapbooking events to fundraise for other charities. I love being involved in the scrapbooking community through the Divine Desert Divas (a group of women who organize events in the High Desert of Calfiornia), Who Gives A Scrap? (a group of friends across the US who scrapbook), and the Lucky 13 (a scrapbooking celebrity filled circle journal group). I teach classes all over Southern Calfornia at events, local stores, and my home.

5. What do you do besides etsy? Tell us a little more about you...

Before my "career" as a papercrafter I worked for various local governments and nonprofits specializing in contract management and grant writing. Now I am supposed to be a stay at home mom but I am a busy body so I just couldn't "stay home" all day. I teach classes on nights and weekends when my husband is home- sometimes my family accompanies me on trips to stores. I enjoying reading, love Reader's Digest & National Geographic, listen to electronic music, watch alot of HGTV and Bravo, enjoy being involved with Girl Scouts, and spend time with my family and our dog. Right now I am busy decorating our first home with fun little creations I make and with finds from etsy.

6. What are some of your favorite etsy shops?

I LOVE Dog Bone Art. Every member of my family has T-shirts from this shop and I get a lot of attention for the Monkey Muffin shirt I bought from this shop.

Poor Dog Farm. I love the whimsical watercolors of wildlife they offer. I am planning to purchase a set of prints from the "Birds In Hats" series as a gift for my husband.

Belle and Boo. More inspirational, detialed prints for the home. I love the whimsical, playful nature of the prints offered by Belle and Boo...just trying to find a place in my home to put some!

7. Do you have a blog and what kinds of things do you share on it?

My blog is hydrangeahippo.blogspot.com

and I share tips, techniques, and news about all things crafty. It started as a place to promote my classes and now I use it to share my love of papercrafting with others.

A friend of mine bought a purse that was hand made and the lining was made from an old pair of jeans. Such a great idea, I had to try it myself.
I made this purse a few months ago and the lining was coming loose so it seemed the perfect candidate. I used a pair of jeans my 9 yr old son grew out of and they were the just the right size. I simply cut off the legs and sewed across the bottom. I dropped this into my purse and whip stitched it in place. Simple and so very functional. All the pockets make perfect storage. The little change pocket is where I keep my lip balm. I am so very pleased and thought some of you might like to try this idea too. Have fun and please show me pictures if you do it!

Collette Epicurus.etsy.com

Tutorial for the Knitters - Kitchener Stitch!

This tutorial comes to us compliments of Lazy Perry Ranch!

Kitchener Stitch is used to close seams when you want it to be completely seamless. It looks just like it was knit in stockinette stitch. It is especially useful for closing the toes of socks. Following are step by step instructions on how it is done. It is not really hard once you get used to the pattern. When you are ready to begin cut your yarn leaving enough for stitching (a foot is usually more than enough). Thread this yarn on a tapestry needle.

^1. Place the tapestry needle through the first stitch on the front needle knitwise and remove that stitch from the front needle.

^2. Place tapestry needle through the next stitch on the front needle purlwise and do NOT remove the stitch from the needle.

^3. Place tapestry needle through first stitch on back needle purlwise and remove that stitch from the needle.

^4. Place tapestry needle through the next stitch on the back needle knitwise and do NOT remove the stitch. Repeat steps 1-4 until all the stitches are used.

This is what it looks like as you work across. When you have one stitch left, pull the yarn through the stitch and fasten off.

Great Gift Ideas from our very own Hydrangea Hippo!

Five Fridays #15 - Five Last Minute Gift Ideas on A Budget

With the end of the school year approaching it's time to think about graduation, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and end-of-year teacher appreciation gifts. This year make it from the heart and give handmade! These five gift ideas are affordable and easy to make, not to mention cute. Earth Day is this week (April 22) and some of these gift ideas will help you get in the spirit of being "green" by recycling (and saving money).

Checkbook Style Calendars. You can get these for $1 at just about any store out there, like Target or Michael’s. Cover it with patterned paper and then embellish. I like to use diecuts because usually these get used and abused throughout the year and you don’t want little embellies like beads falling off and sticking to the inside of someone’s purse. Here are some I made for my DD's teachers in years past, one I sold, and a couple I made as stocking stuffers for my mom and sister:

Candy Bar Assortment. Everyone has a favorite candy. Most candy bars go on sale around the holidays, especially the Hershey brand candy bars. Buy a few of the person’s favorite candy bars. Wrap them in decorative paper and put them in a cute container. Why pay $40 for a decorated candy tin when you can embellish the gift yourself?

I decorated several candy bars and then put them in this box I had from a package of Prima Flowers, which I also decorated:

Card Gift Set. Make a series of cards for any occasion, such as birthday, congrats, and thank you cards. Wrap them in a pretty box. Everyone loves a handmade card. Alondra, from Who Gives A Scrap?, always uses her scraps from her pages to immediately create a few cards. This way she always has cards on hand. And she doesn’t have a lot of scraps to put away or manage! The idea has caught on so well, several of the WhoGAS members do this at our crops as well.

Here is a set I made to sell on ebay:

And here is a set I made for my mom to give to a friend--it also includes a notebook. Inside the tin are 10 different general occasion cards:

Here is a card box I made for my sister a few years back, mod podging scraps onto a papier mache box and then I filled it with cards:

An Altered Notebook. Simple, yet cute notebooks can easily be purchased at any office supply or discount store (like Target) for under $5. Simply cover the book with patterned paper and add a little embellishment. Here is a set of notebooks and a post-it note holder I made for my husband one year:

And another notebook I sold last year:

Alter A Set of Jars. Prima "Got Flowers?" jars, Starbuck's Frappucino Jars, canning jars...Just scratch off the labels and run them through the dishwasher. Then fill with candies such as holiday M&Ms, Herhsey's Mini Assortment, or Hershey's Kisses. I've even used those Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut candies one year! Punch a circle to cover the lid and then cover the rim of the lid with ribbon. Add a label or bow to the center and instant gift, 100% recycled! If you use Starbuck's Frappucino bottles you can even decorate the box they came in. Here are some ideas:

A Birthday Frappucino Box:

Some bottles I altered for St. Patty's Day:

A Christmas Set. I put flowers on the tops iof the lids:

A couple of Christmasy bottles:

Enjoy!

It's Official!

We are now an official Etsy Street Team! Behind the scenes members have been hard at work making things happen. Keep checking back to this blog to learn about sales, tutorials and techniques as well as member interviews!

If you go to the Etsy Teams Page you will see the team listed with this information:

Name: High Desert Etsy Street Team (HDES)

Profile: We are a team whose goals are to support local artisans and like-minded people in the High Desert of Southern California. We will motivate & share promotional ideas with one another. Most of all, this is about fun and gives a venue to showcase local Etsy members more widely than if alone. We are a support system who will offer advice and aide to one another.

Links:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EtsyHighDesert/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/highdesertetsy/
http://etsyhighdesert.blogspot.com/

Contact: epicurus
digsofvaudeville
How to Join: Send a convo to the contact persons to join this group.

Members: chpcustomcreations, dcdb, digsofvaudeville, epicurus, lateadadesigns, ofminedesign