(no subject)

[jesamine.livejournal.com]

anyone got any good links / tips / tutorials for making Halloween decorations?
i'm having a party and would like to decorate my house as much as possible...without it all being *too* tacky though...

Installment One... Beware...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_holly/]

Below the cut are photos and details of some of the things that I sent to naelany for her craft fair at her church (I am slowly getting the photos edited and online, so expect the next batch with the rest of the items sometime later on this week). This post is comprised of all the items that were created from fleece. I am interesting to how these sell... or if they sell. Thanks for looking!

( scarves and blankets )

Word

[sheneedstherapy.livejournal.com]

A text post. Isn't that super.

Anyway, there's a craft fair or some such thing going on in my area in a couple of months and I think I'm gonna go for it, especially since it would seem that no one in the area wants to hire me, and participating in this fair, if I do well, might just Let There Be A Christmas After All.

Since it's my first, and I don't have a "company" established behind this, I'm kind of at loose ends. I'm looking for ideas for creative price tags and packaging - something really eyecatching - my stuff is really... uh, eclectic, so I'm looking for something similar.

For those of you who have participated in this kind of thing before, what sort of things generally sell best? I hear that record bowls generally do fairly well. People who see them generally have a good response to my marble hair pins, so I'll probably throw those in, as well as the obvious marble magnets. What usually sells best? Little things? Big things? Things for the home, or jewellery-type items?

Thanks in advance..

(If you live in the Southern Ontario area, click here for more info on the fair I'm talking about..)

my 1st pair!

[thecrystal.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your help with the question earlier, hopefully I can just get better and better and better! :)

( earrings )

 

 

(no subject)

[alisasaur.livejournal.com]

I make clothing to sell online. Currently, I only use a sewing machine, but I'm interested in purchasing a serger. If I can sew, how hard will it be for me to learn how to use a serger? Is it much more difficult to learn than a sewing machine? Also, what would be a good serger for a beginner, and does anyone know of good books that can give me information on how to use a serger? Thanks in advance! I appreciate it :)

<3

Aforementioned research project.

[bongurl.livejournal.com]

quick questions that should helpfully start this out. Someone asked me to do this in one large post but I have the feeling that there are going to be questions that I'm going to remember later, so if that happens, I apologize in advance.

1) How did you get into this?
2) How long have you been crafting?
3) Why do you keep crafting?
4) How did you come upon this community
a)what keeps drawing you back to this community?
b) what are your feelings about this community?
5) What do you do for a living? (this is to get a general idea of how broad a spectrum crafting affects)
6)Optional: What race are you?(statistical reasons)
7) Where do you live?
8) Do you feel that the area you crom from influences the type of crafts you do?
or is it the trendss you find in fashion?
or the trends online? (through this community?)
9) are there any pieces that you are particularly proud of? (just a fun question)


I do believe that's it for now...but if you guys would like to add anything that you might think might be pertinent or any questions that you believe i should be asking, please inform me? It just means that I have a better project to hand in. Thanks!!!

Question about sterling silver & acrylic paint.

[ex-brownbag904.livejournal.com]

I'm in the process of finishing up a ring in sterling silver (did the piece in wax and got took it to a metal caster). There is a hole I wanted to fill red acrylic paint with but was wondering if anyone knows how the paint will react to the metal: if it will adhere normally and dry in a normal amount of time. I would show you the ring but I don't have a digital camera here or a scanner--I can't seem to find any information on this online so you're (one of my) only hope(s)! (Generally because I don't know if anyone else would have a clue.)

Thank you kindly.

Customs, feathers, and boob...tubes, that is.

[petrifiera.livejournal.com]

Alrighty (yes, I know there's no such word, so shut up)...the first two I finished last night.

( Read more... )

wondering

[everybabyweeps.livejournal.com]

What do you ladies/gents think of the new craftster.org classifieds?

 

On the subject of Crafts and Boobies

[pullthestars.livejournal.com]

(cross posted to tmi_chix

There's two things I wanted to point out, since this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Firstly, the Breast Cancer Site is trying to achieve a total of 500 mammograms this month! Every time you click, you're counted for two clicks, rather than one. Right now (according to the meter on the webpage) they're at 250. You can only click once a day, but if you're like me and use a computer at work and at home, feel free to click at both places :)

Website: http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites

And secondly...

The PINK AUCTION PROJECT is a group of artists, coming together for the month of October, 2004, all creating decidedly PINK-INSPIRED ART to be auctioned from 10/15 to 10/31. All net proceeds from the auction are to be compiled and donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for research. (Ladies! Mammograms, now!) You can get more info on the project by going to the web page here or keep abreast (no pun intended) of new auctions, artists, and pieces by going to the oft-updated livejournal community, which is located here.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR BID AND SUPPORT!

please, at least go and take a look at what they are auctioning off. There are many wonderful crafty things there, and it's being done for a good cause.
http://search.ebay.com/pink-auctions_W0QQsokeywordredirectZ1QQfromZR8


(i'll delete if this is an issue for the moderators)

(no subject)

[the--lady.livejournal.com]

I'm a long-time lurker and first-time poster.  I ( made this )

a couple of weeks ago.  It's not as shiny (or blurry) as it looks, that's just the way the photo came out.

I'm a jane of all crafts, master of none!

(no subject)

[capowcapow.livejournal.com]

( recently completed cross stitch projects )

(no subject)

[awaknr.livejournal.com]

Is Craftster down again? I'm trying to get on it so I can post what I got from a swap I partisipated in & all I'm getting is "CANNOT FIND SERVER". Oh, the agony!

(no subject)

[lindseythefork.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know where to get those funky cross-stitch kits that have sayings like "Go Away" and "Home Sweet F***in' Home?" Hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about. :)

industrial sewing machines!!!

[tummymunkey.livejournal.com]

after my cheap-costco-singer konked out after a good 8 years and reams of fur and vinyl, i'm looking into getting an industrial machine. does anyone own one? how do you like it, would you recommend one, and what are the downsides as opposed to regular sewing machines...

thanks!

( stuff i was working on )

Fleece Boa Scarf Tutorial (with some pre-babble)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_holly/]

Whenever one of my posts garners a comment (or a few comments as the case may be) that is a request for instructions on how to make an item that I posted, I am left in a bit of a quandary.

Do I happily tell them how to make the item, which is what would come naturally. The sharing of creative ideas and tutorials are part of what make this community so great. Or do I refuse because I am, after all, trying to get my own crafty business website up and running and would like to actually make some sales if possible. And if I do refuse, how do I do so without sounding like a complete prick?

Does anyone else struggle with this?

I think that I have decided that if an item is unique unto me, I will likely not give out instructions - though I will have a hard time refusing. But if an item can be easily found else where I will post what I know.

Anyway, I guess this was just a long way of saying that I will post a tutorial for the fleece boa scarves found in this post for those of you that requested it.

( Tutorial )

Hello Lovelies...

[tofubravado.livejournal.com]

I need your help. Does anyone know how exactly to shrink potato chip bags in the oven? I know I've seen the instructions either here or on Craftster...And yes I've checked the memories.

A long series of text only. PLUS TWO PICTURES.

[ensorceler.livejournal.com]

I know how some of you hate text only posts, so I'll put it all behind a cut, so those of you that don't want to see it, don't have to.

Basically, my post consists of wonderings about little boxes, and professional book making.

[edit] Addition of colonial dress pictures.

( Snippity snip snip CUT )

musings on selling, and a tie skirt!

[elena-marie.livejournal.com]

someone posted this question earlier, and i started to type this in a reply, but it turned into a long philosophy type rant that i wanted to share with everyone.
this is what i think.
i've grown to believe that, (in general):
those who can, craft, and those why can't, buy.

if i see something i really like, i'll go home and try to make it myself. i'm the type who will try to make things just based on a description of stuff, because it seems like a fun idea to mess around with.

the people who craft are also the ones who actually know that (whatever it is you're making) looks so good because you put time and effort and gods-know-how-many messups into a project before it looks as good as what you have for sale. they can appreciate the time and effort it takes to create something that is really nice. so they'll either buy it to save themselves that time and effort, buy it to take apart and figure out how to make themselves, or not buy it because it seems like a fun idea to try themselves.

people who don't craft can either look at it and say "hmph! i can make that myself" and try to make it themselves (and it suuuucks), or they'll buy it because they "couldn't even draw a straight line if i tried". (i cant tell you how many times i hear that phrase. as if straignt lines had anything to do with crafting.)

i guess if there was an easy way to comunicate the idea:
"i have spent hours upon hours perfecting this idea, and now it look really nice and anything you could come up with would not be as good", then we crafty types wouldn't have it so hard in this consumerist world of "if i can get it cheaper, even if it's worse quality somewhere else, then i will!"

a few months ago, someone had posted their mexicana-esque bottle cap folk art, and a discussion like this ensued, and many people were saying "how can you call your stuff mexicana, and then be mad that other people are making the same things? surely you're not the first one to ever think of that?", and that's what sterted me on this little rant.

instead we crafty types ply our friends and loved ones with beautifully handcrafted gifts. and sell sporadic things to friends and co-workers. and live for that next great idea that will inspire us to make something else, and something else, and something else.
at least thats how i get through my days. i have y'all to blame for most, if not all, of the stuff i've made lately.
and to prove it, here's pictures! ( lookit lookit! )

oh, and i want to tell you people. a few months ago someone was talking about the smell of wal-mart/fabric stores in general, and how it gives them headaches. i've been working at a fabric store for a month or so now, and someone mentioned that the fabric is treated with formaldehyde to aid in shipping, and i think that would account for the headache-inducing smells, for people that are sensitive to that kind of thing.

*sniffs* i love you all!

anniversary card

[-di.livejournal.com]

I love making cards for my boyfriend, and I've posted them here before. This is one I'm mailing him for our 6 month anniversary. It took about 1.5 hours to create (choosing papers from my stash, designing layout, piecing it together), but I'm very pleased with the result.

( 3 photos )