I've been busy recently so I haven't posted as many updates as I might like. I've been getting ready for the semester to start, and teaching at the fabric store as always. I've been running a monthly embroidery club, where every month we've been working with new techniques and working on projects. This month we worked on embroidering towels since the pile makes embroidering interesting to say the least.
My brother just moved to a new apartment, with his first real job... so I figured I'd do some kitchen towels for him. I debated making something classy and stylish, but then if it didn't go with his decor at some point he wouldn't use them. So I figured I'd be better off to go with ridiculous/fun and that way there was no worries. They wouldn't match anything. Ever. So he'd use them.
I got a cheap set of towels, rags, and pot holders at Target for $6, and figured they'd be perfect. As I sorted through my embroidery designs, I debated lots of options for something fun. I ended up using the Viking #62- Crazy Creatures Collection, and stitched #1, #10, and #14 on the towels. Below is the final color of #14 doing the outline.
So I picked up a copy of Domino Magazine the other day while I was standing in line at Whole Foods and was distracted by all the fun things that I don't really need for my house, or can't afford.
Case and point: They featured this amazing mirror by Kikkerland Design that's free standing on two cast pewter duck feet. The magazine lists it solely as Kikkerland Design and RISD/Works. I couldn't find it at the RISD store, but found it at a fun site called mookiegifts! So... I think I might need it for my dresser.
So Jared, an admin over at Etsy, had advertised a contest a while back to create a promotional posted that would be used to hand out at shows and events and the like. The posters were to be created using a treasury like tool with 16 images, which were sent in a convo to Jared.
The winners were supposed to be posted on the 8th I think, and then Jared let us all know that they had been "crushed" under a wave of entries. I figured with so many entries mine would never get chosen....
And so Wednesday was my birthday, and it was not quite the best of birthdays. Things have been bad in my personal life, and hadn't been helped by what is supposed to be a happy event.
BUT! I woke up to a convo from enamor who I featured in my poster thanking me for using her photo in my winning poster! So I had to go and check it out (you can see the other 59 winning entries here) and has a great time looking! Such beautiful work! And then I got a happy birthday convo from QuirkynBerkley who I made one of my first etsy purchases from (though from her other shop QuirkynBerkelytoo).
It's been outrageously hot here and I've been sick again, so I haven't been posting much. As it's Sunday morning and quiet here with my kitties and I'm checking my usual sites. Postsecret.com has a movie up this week, instead of the usual postcards. Check it out.
There's been a bunch of discussion lately over on the etsy.com forums (fora?) about the new etsytools.com site.
I for one think it's brilliant. I know that's somewhat of a controversial opinion, but I don't think in any way they tried to mislead people into thinking they were affiliated with the main site itself. Nor do I blame them for not disclosing their identities, as disclosing your primary shop's name could be construed as trying to gain publicity... I think the forum police would have gone after them one way or another.
Check it out- there's a lot of interesting information! Though one thing I'd like to see is a list of the top 100 sellers (of all time) like what the sampler used to do. As well as possibly a list of random sellers, or most recent sales.
I've been a busy busy girl this past week and keep forgetting to blog. Now that I'm single again I've been rearranging my house, and when the springs poked through my mattress this past week.... I knew what my birthday gift to myself was going be (two weeks early)! So my friend Heidi and I decided to spend an evening trying out mattresses and had a blast. I discovered that if you're tired enough, thousands of dollar for one of those hotel mattresses seems reasonable but they're sooo comfortable.
We discovered that full size beds are sold in the children's section... why? I don't know. Though we did have a blast climbing around bunk beds, princess beds, and baseball beds to try out the different types of mattresses. The bed pictured above was a Cinderella's carriage bed and was absolutely adorable (and actually the mattress I bought). Every one needs a pretty pretty princess bed.
I moved my bedroom, and put the new mattress in, and have started hanging some of my etsy art on the wall! photos coming soon!
