A Bookworm Creates

Ever wonder what your favorite etsy shops do when they get orders? Probably not.  Some have everything preassembled/made. Some deal with custom orders. As evidenced by the first photo, not everything is preassembled. Most of my charm bracelets are assembled unless it's a repeat order like the Percy Jackson charm bracelets tend to be.   Instead the charms are sorted. A chain is added. It all goes into a small ziplock bag.  Then I wait knowing how many I have available to make and sell. Sometimes I talk in short, choppy sentences.  When one gets ordered I find the relevant baggie and dump everything in my work surface. Charms are lined up in order. Jump rings are pulled out of my supply box. My trusty green mini pilers are located. I settle in for the five minutes it takes to assemble. It takes longer to design the charm bracelet. Hours - literally hours - are gone into planning, finding, and buying charms. These particular charms, and the chain, came f

Most of you are aware that I spent most of last week preparing for the Casey Jones Village Arts and Crafts Festival that is held twice a year in Jackson, TN. Arts. Crafts. Over 50 vendors! (This month was over 80, but one time had over 100! I think several of us were burned by October's dismal weather.)  If you are Sheldon Cooper you get trains! And a buffet restaurant and Old Country Store just steps away!  Push the Mini Putt Putt course.  I really want to go to it some time. The Mini Putt Putt. Not the Arts and Crafts Show. This was my 6th craft show, I think.  I've lost count.  Now, if you are reading this you are probably considering going to one. Or had a bad time at one.    Keep in mind, this works for me and might not work for you.  1st  - have a canopy/awning/really big umbrella.  If you are outside it'll get hot sitting in that sun.  If you are in blacktop it'll get hot sitting in that sun.  In some cases that canopy can also become part of your display. 

For a few months I've been going metal stamp crazy.  When I first attempted it I did everything wrong it felt like. Wrong hammer. My letters were all screwy or not imprinted enough. The ink wouldn't set. So, if you decide to get into the expensive habit of metal stamping here's some things you need to know. 1. Start off with soft - I use aluminum - metal blanks to start off.  The craft stores seem to have them now. 2. Supplies - A decent hammer, a steel block, metal stamps, stamping blanks.  Some stamps need a hole puncher and some already come with a hole in the top. 3. Figure out the best way to line up what you are going to stamp in the disc.  There is lining tape that you can buy.  I use a ruler, graph paper, and a pencil.  Lining the disc up on the paper, I use the pencil and clear ruler to line up on the graph paper and make lines. 4. Secure your blank.  I like clear tape because I can see my pencil lines.  Don't layer too much tape because it can lessen th

*Note* This is my experience and I'm far from a polymer clay professional. We all know I got started because of some polymer clay dragons a friend had posted. I saw that post and thought, 'Challenge accepted.' Over the past couple of years I've learned something... Some clays are harder to work with then others.  If the clay can't be conditioned or softened up it makes it harder to work with. Sometimes harder clay doesn't have the same hold (when attaching other clay pieces) as a softer clay.   Sometimes soft clay becomes too soft therefore too sticky. That's an easy fix.  Let it sit out and stiffen back up or get some more.  Mixing harder clay in never works for me. But hard clay...  You have a few options.  - Translucent Liquid Sculpty (TLS).  A bit of a mess. - Just play with it.  - Add in a softer clay. - Conditioning machine.  It looks like a manual pasta machine. I love my machine.  I cut up the tough clay. Put it in the top. And start cr

In trying to expand, or figure out how to expand, I've worked on various different ideas including on on blog shop front (not associated with Etsy). I've formatted and toyed and downloaded and formatted some more... Before deleting everything I did. Do I really want to start a new branch to my shops less than two weeks before a craft show? What would I even sale on it? At this point I've over thought it so much that I'm going to deal with it all later.  After the 16th.  That's a good place to start. I need to decide what new beginning direction to take before starting in that direction. Suggestions?  Thoughts?  More silence from the masses? A