Mr. Golden Curls Hearts Miss Megan

Mr. Golden Curls' Mother's Day Out teacher had her last day this week so we made her a good-bye gift. It turned out pretty darn cute. If I can drum up some motivation I may do something similar for my etsy shop.

First he colored a paper mache heart shaped box. I somewhat reluctantly sacrificed a bunch of my really nice, extra shiny scrapping rhinestones because they're self adhesive and truthfully had just been sitting in the box 'o stuff for a long time. Then we cut heart shapes out of scrapbook paper, one with his picture and the others with notes on the backs of them saying what Mr. Golden Curls liked most about his teacher. Then I ran a ribbon through all the hearts, glued the knotted ends of the ribbon to the box bottom and lid so it streches out like a garland when the box is opened and added some of my extra promo pins. Pretty quick project and the teacher was thrilled declairing it the best gift "really!"

Weekend Feature: KatRoman

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since my last feature! Well it's back and this week's feature is of etsy seller KatRoman, jewelry maker extraordinaire. She's vintage, goth, a little rock and roll, a little punk humor, and a little high end boutique all rolled up in one. I'm especially fond of her humor, like "Caught Betting" pictured below. Be sure to check out her shop, KatRoman.etsy.com and her fantastic blog. Her husband's an artist too! You can check out his blog here. Read her interview below and click any image to go to that item's etsy listing.

Vintage Swallow Necklace

Caught Betting Earrings

Double Bauble Choker Necklace

All images used with the permission of KatRoman

KatRoman's Interview

What do you do for a living in the daytime?

Basically I’m a stay at home mom. I have the pleasure of being able to get my son ready for school in the a.m. and volunteer at his school. I know there will be a day that he will be gone. So I’m trying to cherish this moment as much as I can. While he is in school is when I find the time to create my goodies.

Tell us a little about your Etsy self?

I’ve been on Etsy since July 2007. Originally I wanted to just use it as a means to have a website to sell goods without having to maintain an actual website. I found that the artists on Etsy are very helpful and I’m loving the aspect of having a creative social network of artist friends. They don’t have this cut throat mentality that you often find in fashion.

Tell us a little about your non-etsy self?

I work part time at my friends awesome shop on the Lower East Side in NYC called Live Fast. I assist in buying, merchandising, managing and I’m also able to showcase my items in the shop. (you can visit Live Fast at http://livefastnyc.com/)

What do you make and why did you start making it?

I basically make clothing. My mother was a seamstress. So I ventured into fashion in my late 20’s. I worked as secretary then as an office manager for a large hotel chain. Then something just clicked, it wasn't creating so I decided to attend Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC and graduated with a degree in Fashion Design. Nowadays I’ve shifted to making all kinds of stuff, like jewelry and handbags. I’ve been doing the jewelry since the 80’s when I was inspired my mother in law and her husband.

What inspires you?

Not to sound so vague, basically everything. My husband is a really great artist. We actually met on a NYC Subway while he was drawing and I was being nosey watching him. I think anything can bring inspiration to your work. A tree branch, a blue sky even a passerby. You just have to sit back and let it all soak in. Life is an inspiration.

What advice do you have for people trying to sell their crafts?

Just enjoy and the rest will follow.

Promos Promos Everywhere

I have finally finished making my promos! I didn't make my goal of 200 but did manage almost 100. That will be 100 new people who will be exposed to my shop and I still have the supplies to make the rest to use later. Thanks to Cyndi at TheTwistedPurl for putting together promo bags to hand out at a local craft fair.

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.


They turned out really cute! I made glass chip flower pins and attached them to my business cards. I like my cards too. I make them out of scrapbooking cardstocks that are printed on both sides. All in all a very appropriate promo for a scrapbooker! I'm pleased.

Breaking In The B.A.B.O.C

I loves me my religious icons so it was no surprise to me that the first project I wanted to try out of my brand spankin' new book was a tapped tin frame for a hologram picture my brother brought to me from Italy. I like the way it turned out. It should've been alot simpler than I made it. The author had a wonderful pattern that you just blowup on the copier, trace onto your flashing, cut, tap, fold and viola. But noooo, I couldn't do that. I wanted to frame this picture and this picture was too big and required my making many adjustments, lets just say it ended with several mistakes but nothing a little duct tape on the back for security didn't fix. I am a little ashamed of the fact that I stooped to using duct tape but it's just for me so I allowed myself this lazy out. I did learn several important lesson.

Lesson #1: Don't work on a brand new craft, with a pattern that has to be altered by figuring out lots of measurements, while your two year old is on a screaming mimi nap strike and your three year old is hell bent on doing computer games, but not any of the ones he knows how to play already, just the ones that require his asking a question every 30 seconds.

Lesson #2 Tin tapped crafts will not be my new favorite past time. It was fun but not something I'll be doing regularly, unless I want my hands to become crippled, want to make up new curse words, or want to frequently dredge up the classics.

AREtsy The Natural State: Where Nature Bites, But The Human Spirit Fights Back!

Last night I was reading the AREtsy thread and learned that SnappyBibs, a fellow AREtsian, managed to snag a treasury and dedicated it solely to Arkansas crafters and I'm in it! I'm so honored, thanks Snappy! My item is the Little Princess Album, second row down, far right. Snappy makes all kinds of embroidered goodies and even does custom embroidery so stop by her shop SnappyBibs.etsy.com!

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

AREtsy The Natural State: Where Nature Bites, But The Human Spirit Fights Back!

Going Green in Punk Style

I'm not a super tree hugger but I do believe in doing what you can to take care of the earth. I don't think God probably appreciates the way we're crapping it up and selfishly scarfing up it's resources. We've been recycling for a long time and even when we moved out where they don't pick it up at the curb I felt like it was my responsibility to take it to the recycling center. I certainly don't do everything I could. My two little ones have used nothing but disposable diapers and, I must admit, I have a minor amount of guilt about that.


Today I wrapped my arms around that tree a little tighter and started using market totes for hauling my groceries home. I didn't know if I would like it or if it would be a pain but it was fantastic! Way better than plastic, for other reasons than not being another person to add billowing white plastic decor to the landscape along the highway. They hold a bunch, are sturdier so alot of heavy stuff can go in each, they didn't rip open as I was lugging them and the boys inside, and didn't tip over in the trunk! I have awesome bags too, if I do say so myself. The purple has skulls by Andy Warhol, the black is the Sex Pistols (both of these came from Hot Topic on clearance). The other two (red with tattoo graphics and cards from Mexican bingo) came from etsy seller NoveltyCreations. I'm one happy tree hugging camper!

This is all the stuff that fit into just one tote, let me see a flimsy Walmart sack do that!

Happy April Fool's Day!

I know I'm a day late but I would never want to be the one to tip someone off if they've forgotten what day it is and have a good gag coming their way. I've never been a terribly active participant in the holiday, not because I didn't appreciate it, but because my mind has to work very hard to come up with good gags and I'm not great at telling lies, even when it's for a good cause like silliness.

Etsy had some good gags yesterday. I missed out on the front page but apparently it was comprised completely of waffle photos rather than product pics and the featured artist was WatchManNYC with a shop full of cheap, made in China knockoffs that he was "selling". The feedback from his "buyers" is absolutely hysterical! There was also a "Waffles" tab at the top of the page that if you clicked it you were taken to more photos of waffles. I always appreciate a business that is willing to succumb to a bit of silliness. Martha Stewart is awesome with that. I saw her April Fool's show a few years ago and had forgotten what day it was, anyway it involved very serious discussions on how to arrange your garbage in an attractive manner, just brilliant!

Hope everyone had a great day, and if you pulled a good April Fool's joke or were on the receiving end of one do share!

The Big-Ass Book Of Crafts is MINE!

Tuesdays have become my 50% break from motherhood. Lil' Spitfire goes to Mother's Day Out and Mr. Golden Curls and I have have some quality time together. I'm also able to accomplish some of the housework that just doesn't happen when a rambunctious 2 year old is reigning terror throughout the home. Today we went to Barnes and Noble for the four millionth, six hundred fifty four thousand, one hundredth and second time, what can I say, I'm lacking creativity in all areas of my life these days. Mr Golden Curls doesn't mind a bit, he's a man of consistency and routines. He gets that from his mamma.

As part of my routine, I picked up some books to look at while he played trains. This book has been one I've picked up every visit for the past few months. I often get hooked on a book but tired after a few visits when I feel I have it thoroughly looked at. Since this one seems to have stuck I decided it was worth taking home. It's filled with lots of wonderful random crafts and alot of rockin' cool paper crafts, which allowed me to justify it as a business necessity. Ever since I got it home I've been rubbing my hands together mischievously, already anxiously awaiting the boys bedtime so I can dig into making something wonderful!