14 posts tagged “crafts”

First off, here's a picture of my new earrings - I love them!
I have also learned that labradorite is REALLY hard to photograph.  Yo uhonestly have no idea how long it took me to get that picture, and that's the best once I could get.  I sadly could not capture the excellent fire that exists in both of them.
Oh, well.  They're still pretty!
Anyways, on to my thoughts.  I just read the the founder of Etsy was on Martha Stewart.  Huzzah!  In my brain that means more buyers who love unique, handmade stuff, which is good for everyone.
Etsy's brave founder, Rob Kalin, mentioned that 200 years ago everything was handmade.  This is true.  What crawled into my brain was the realization that if you were rich or poor, what you owned was handmade, and that the richer you were, the less you made yourself.  I think that to an extent, this still holds true.  I have met some wealthy people, and had the things that were handmade pointed out to me.  IE Handcarved mohogany end tables, original paintings, handwoven rugs imported from across the sea, etc.  So in my brain Handmade = more valuable = more expensive = more money.  Except now instead of Rich = You Don't Have to Make Your Stuff, Rich = Lots of Handmade Stuff.  At least in the cases I have seen.
For the rest of us, it's not so.  Things are made in factories and bought at WhateverMart.  IKEA is huge, and it's gotten to the point where I can go into people's houses that I've just met and see an eerie reflection of my own living room.
Thank the Gods for Antiques and Handmade!  They set off my place nicely, and I think everyone should have them.  Honestly, our prime piece of wall art in our living room was found at the side of the road.  It's a beautiful 3D work of a woman's face emerging from what looks to be at first glance a bunch of leaves.  Sort of a NeoGreenwoman.  I think it's plaster.  The 3D face piece is mounted on an old cabinet door.  When we found it there was a small price tag hanging from the hardware - "$625"

Obviously the doing of an artist (I wonder whose face was molded for the portrait?) that was thrown to the curb, amongst other works, after a heated argument with a lover and/or a roommate.  There were also supplies and a hamper of laundry tossed there, amongst other things.  The supplies had gotten ruined in the rain, sadly, and the clothes were rather unisex in their cut and construction, and mostly vintage.  I did rifle through them because I wanted to find out whose works these were, possibly a business card or something in the pockets.  The garbage truck would be by in no less than four hours.  We had limited space in the car, so we saved the art, and kept the Greenwoman for ourselves.  We were doing flea markets on the weekends at that time, testing out maile prices and whatnot, so we sold the artwork there.  A really excited couple bought the artwork, and were just as baffled as we were when I recounted the tragic story of The Art on the Curb.  The pieces are all unsigned, and we all scoured the surface for some trace of who might have made them, but who knows?
Anonymous Art, like all the Wal-Mart T-Shirts and IKEA posters with cool designs and no names.
Some day I would LOVE to be able to walk through my home and tell a bit of the story behind who made what.  I hope that even my clothes will someday tell a story, even if all they hint is, "I Like Webcomics!"

That's it...  I'm off to sign the HandMade Pledge.  I just found the website three days ago because I live in a cave.

Later!
Crazed

More tales from the Faire!

    First off, in case no one knows, half the point of chainmaile (and what first addicts us crazy maillers) is the sheer tactile joy of it.  It's made of metal, yet it's very soft, pliable, and collapseable.  It likes to be touched, and people love to touch it.  I constantly tell people that they're in a "Touching Booth", and that it's all right for the wee ones to walk up and play.  Besides, it's all made of metal, and chances are they aren't going to hurt it.  Crying babies are often quickly calmed when handed a small piece of aluminum maile to jingle and knead at.
    But Saturday we had a new experience in our tent.  Two ladies, one with a guide dog and the other wearing very corrective glasses, came in to "see" what we had.  The lady with glasses was helping the other along, and they were both having a great time, touching the different weaves and testing the weight of things.  The lady with the dog was totally blind, and Brian and I had the lucky chance to see her figure out European 4-in-1, the most common maile weave.  She had picked up a strip that I had been working on and using in demonstrations, and was running her fingers along it, feeling each ring and checking its orientation.  She was talking her way through it to herself, and suddenly went "Oh!  I get it!"  I handed her a patch of maile, and began nodding.  "Yep, I see it now," she said, "That's really clever!"  She then went beck to the necklace rack to check out the weaves again and figure those out.
    The moral - Chainmaile is for everyone!

I've been collecting pop tabs for months, now...  At least since Christmas.
Recently I received a pleasant surprise when I discovered that the tabs harvested from out latest D&D game wouldn't fit into the slot of my tab bucket.  It's not really a bucket, mind you - It's a plastic container that I think once held cottage cheese.  I just wish it was a bucket.
Anyway, I wondered just why the tabs wouldn't fit, so I opened it and discovered that it was full!  I then realized that there was a small pile of tabs around the base of the container.  Apparently my subconscious had known it was full for a while, but has decided to be sneaky and keep that information from my brain.  It's tricky like that.
Anyway, I excitedly washed and sorted through all the tabs, making sure there were no really sharp bits and whatnot before I got down to business.
This is the business of which I speak:  A scalemaile purse and a woven Rexlace bracelet!
These are both, as usual, for sale in my Etsy Shop for anyone who might be interested.
But I still have more tabs just waiting to be made into cool things!

Later!
Crazed

I am going crazy with chainmaile and marbles, both round and flat.  I can do pretty things, gothy things, vaguely-Victorian things, techno things...  ^_^ Theyr'e so fun!
And they are also for sale on my Etsy Page.  I've only got a few things up from this batch so far, but hopefully I can get everything up there next week.  Some of the pictures I took today looked kinda blurry, too...  Gotta re-do those; they looked fine in the camera.
In other crafty news, I got a little cheap Xylon Sticker-Maker! ^__^ I do like me some stickers, and I got some circle (and 1 square) punch to make life a little easier for me.  I got some Mod-Podge, too (thanks, Lost Mitten!). I'm wondering if I can put some pretty or shiny paper behind the clear glass flat marbles to make some really nifty maille-wrapped pendants.  Something to dress them up a bit, you know?
Anyway, we're visiting the in-laws tomorrow, and it's a bit of a drive, so I've got to get to bed...

'Night!
Crazed

Okay, in case the chainmaile and Ren Fests and love of cheezy 80's movies hasn't tipped you off by now, I am a total geek, and I've been making wonderfully geeky chainmaile.
First up is the Triforce bag, complete with an inlay of the TRIFORCE!  ^_^  YAYS!
I would have put two triforces on there, except I'm running low on gold rings, and the first law of chainmaile states that if you are ever short of rings it will always be by less than 10.  So I decided to avoid that frustration and just make it one-sided.  Once The Ring Lord gets their aluminum back in stock I'm going to order a ton more and make them in colors to symbolize WHICH Triforce - Oooo...  I want to make green ones for the Triforce of Courage, which is Link's bit, blue ones to symbolize the Triforce of Wisdom, which is held by Zelda, and red ones for the Triforce of Power, which is possessed by Ganon/Ganondorf.
The Triforce handflowers are a bit of inspiration, I think.  I'm going to Otakon in July and I need geeky things to sell, so I'm going to be making a ton of these!  They actually read pretty well as the Triforce, I think; it took me a while to figure out how to do the cut-out with the flat top.  When I get more small gold rings (the kind I used in the dicebag) I want to make nicer "deluxe" versions.
These are, of course, for sale in my Etsy Shop.  For all you geeks out there!
But the light is finally good for photos, and I have been playing with marbles and maille, so I've got to photograph those before it gets too dark!

Later!
Crazed

I'm a sucker for handflowers, I really am, and since I live barefoot as much as I can, the barefoot sandals are a must for me, too.
Although I can (and have) made the traditional mostly beaded handflowers, I like the all-maile ones better. ^_^ They're fun, they're jingly, and they've got rubber rings on the base so you don't have to worry about fiddling with a clasp while you're tying to keep the chain ring on.
The barefoot sandals have a small-sized hair elastic for the toe ring, because I've made them with chain for me and it just doesn't hold up well.  Also, it gives you a nice, snug fit so they're not drifting under your foot or getting caught in your flip-flops (I like to wear mine over my shoes, too).
And yes, these are for sale on my Etsy page.
I'm off to make more chainmaile!

Later!
Crazed

I finally got my hands on some Swarovski crystals! *dances*
They're so pretty and sparkly and I can't say enough good things about them!  If you've heard of "ferret shock", you have a good idea of what sparkly things do to me.  My awesome husband did a silly but wonderful thing by saying (whilst I was standing in front of the crystals in Pat Catan's) "Get whatever you need."  Silly, silly, man.
Although he helped me pick some out!  In fact, this necklace here was his idea.  He loves the crystal snowflakes, and picked out all the crystals and the sterling clasp, too.  The sterling chain bits were my idea, and as far as I know, the weave is a personal invention, although I wouldn't call it a "new weave".  If any maillers out there are familiar with Camelot and Celtic Visions, this is a Camelot-ified version of Celtic Visions, and it can apparently be sheeted. ^_^
As always, if you're interested in "Flurry" you can buy this in my Etsy shop.  The chainmaile bits are made from bright aluminum rings, and it was a jaw-dropper at the festival.

So, lots of new things to toss up here in the next few days.  I made a pile of things in preparation of the Fairy Festival, and have a day of taking pictures and posting on Etsy lined up for tomorrow.
But dinner smells almost finished, so I'm going to see if I can help with the table or maybe get a few more links of the crystal necklace I'm working on finished up before the food is done...

Later!
Crazed

Today we went to the Ren Faire grounds here in Pittsburgh and looked over some of the pre-built structures and the open spots. It was kind of eerie being there with no costumed performers or vendors. All the shops were shuttered and many had vines crawling over them from being unused in two years. It really looked like a ghost town and I kept expecting to see a peasant walking by or something, but there was no one there but us and some workers fixing up the jousting ring.
But we found Our Spot.
Right now it doesn't look like much. It's a patch of ground in the forest area, sort of raised with some chunky bark laid down on the ground and back against a hill with a little bit of slate in the front forming a kind of mock foundation. There's a nice, shady tree overhanging it and even a little wood step going up to it, and we're near the pub that will be revamped with a pirate theme.
It really doesn't look like much and I wasn't that interested in it when I saw it from the Festival Organizer's SUV, but when I wandered over from one of the pre-built structures that we had been looking at (its former vendor had sort of abandoned it) and actually stood in the space it just felt right and I KNEW that this was the right place. There's an energy there that I like, and it feels really familiar in a wierd way. The lady showing us around understood completely, which I thought was very cool. She said that a lot of people think they know what they want, but when they get there they'll find a place and just Know that this is where they Belong. Their Spot.
And now we've got one.
Because we're renting the spot, we are allowed to build on it. It is expected by the guy that now owns it that should we return next year that we will be building a real structure on that space that we will keep until we decide to stop vending at the Faire. When that happens we can take the building down, sell it to a new vendor who is interested in the spot, or just abandon it and let the Festival lease it to a new vendor.
I would really like to have a real roof over my head (tis a rain or shine thing), but for now I'll settle for some solid wood planking to put a tent on. I've been to that Faire enough to know that it isn't fun at all when it rains, and I felt so bad for the vendors with just dirt under them - Things got so muddy and they had puddles right in their booths!
So a wood platform for me, please! I'll be talking to my step-dad later (he is a carpenter) and see what advice he can give me. Once the spot is paid for we can go down and work on it during weekdays from 9 to 5. ^_^ I can't wait to get started!
The other really signifigant thing about this is now I have a picture in my head.
Before things happen, especially big things like craft shows or whatnot, I have a picture in my head of how things are going to happen. They've never precise, I'm no good at prognosticating, but they're really close. In situations where I don't have any pictures in my head, the event in question usually doesn't happen, which is the wierd bit. It gets rained out, or something unexpected pops up and we can't go, etc.
Before I stood in that spot, I didn't have a picture in my head. It was starting to bother me. The event is months away, and even though I tried to form a picture nothing was coming forward, just grey smoke/fog. When I stood in what is now Our Spot, when I first looked out onto the little road and at the vendors buildings facing me, I saw it. I saw in my mind people walking by, the other vendors selling, a juggler entertaining some children; hell, I could even hear some singing coming form the pub! I heard my feet step on planking that wasn't there, and I even got a glimpse of how the shop will be laid out. This didn't happen in the spots we looked at before. The feeling wasn't there, and there were no pictures, no sense of place or anything. Just weeds and some lonely spiders.
Call it what you want, but I've got a good feeling about this. ^_^

Later,
Crazed

Wow, I feel so wierd and... Adult-like.
So, what's been going on with Crazed?  Lots of crazy, crazy stuff!  The craziness is because the business seems to be taking off!  There's a Fairie Festival coming up on June 9th and 10th at Cooper's Lake here in PA.  Any of you Pennsic SCA-types out there should know your way there blindfolded, I'd imagine! ^_^ But I got into the Fairie Fest today!  So I will be peddling my chainmaile wares there in an "Emerging Artists" (read:Noob) Tent with 2 other crafters, I believe.
It should be fun - It's like a Ren Fest but more relaxed and not terribly inclined to be historically accurate.  And there's pirates!  So that's awesome.  I also got a call from a gay pride shop in Arkansas and they want me to do a bit of wholesale with my stretchy maile bracelets! ^_^
So yes, business is keeping me busy as Hell and there's so much to keep track of!  Not to mention the looming Ren Faire and the monthly I Made It! shows.  Those shows are great to keep some cash in the pocket and to get my name out there.  Some people who were at the first I Made It! recognized my little bun-pelli trademark and were all excited to see me in a real show as opposed to a flea market.
So yeah - Busy busy busy busy.  And there's a maile skirt deadline coming up (we're working on it) and we've got the supplies for a stainless halter top coming tomorrow! *faints*
But I feel all weird and responsible because I have speadsheets in Excel to track things, itemized deductions, etc etc etc... It's so odd.  I don't want to be a responsible adult! T_T But I do need money for supplies and that pesky student loan, so I guess this is the trade-off.  Who knows?  Maybe someday I'll have a real storefront, a REAL SHOP.  That would be so many flavors of cool.
So where can you stalk Crazed?
The Western PA Fairie Festival, June 9th and 10th
The I Made It! Sunday Market in Pittsburgh, June 24
The Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival, Weekends in August/September
See you guys there!

Later,
Crazed

Lately I've been making a lot of little things to put in my shop.  With the huge chainmaile skirt deadline looming, and the deadline for designs for the RenFest, I feel the need to do new things...
So I make little things.  Things I don't feel guilty about taking time out of "skirt time" to finish, and I usually learn something new along the way, too.  I also need more little things to sell at craft faires and whatnot that come along, and the little here-and-there sales on Etsy help, too.
So here's my cel phone charms, hair things, Celtic Stars and whatnot.  They are all for sale on Etsy, of course!
Hope you like them! *scurries off to grab her pliers*

Later!
Crazed