October 25, 2008
by Tammy
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Crafty Bloggers Unite 10/25/08

This may be the lat time you see the big pinkish-red ball of yarn. Not because I won’t continue to post these wonderful craft blog links but because I think it’s time for a logo update. Our group is still going strong as you can see by this week’s selection of links.

Cathie Filian
Check out the Halloween Videos from the Emmy Nominated television show, Witch Crafts, where Cathie and Steve, make some awesome Halloween Projects & party ideas.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week Craftside brings you a modern denim and plaid upcycled quilt block, 2 yummy recipes using sherry, Art Nouveau jewelry, off register screen printing designs and a call for entries for a new book- 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse.

About Family Crafts
If you are in search of creative costume ideas for 2, 3, 4, or more, you have come to the right place.

Aileen’s Musings
Looking for a new paper technique, Aileen has a colorful one using glossy photo paper and Color Mists. This technique works great as backgrounds for cards, collages and even scrapbook pages.

Swelldesigner
Alexa crafts up some swell cupcake pics/picks to remember Halloweens of yesteryear.

The Crochet Dude
Drew has the perfect recipes for a Halloween party: Bloody Eyeballs and Maggots!

The Impatient Crafter™
Madge shares part one of her two part final project for Terrorific Tuesdays. It’s a Gothically delicious tale of friendship.

Crafty Princess Diaries
No more babies in your life to crochet or knit snuggly blankets for? No worries, the Crafty Princess has the low-down on a baby blanket contest as well as a non-profit group that makes blankets for babies in need.

Cross Stitch at About.com
This week, Connie has been spending a lot of time in the kitchen – no, not cooking. Dyeing fabric instead. Find out more about all the ways you can change the color of your fabrics.

Layers Upon Layers
Cyndi has gathered together her most popular tutorials on creating great background papers for your artwork.

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
Check out a ring project inspired by Sherri Haab’s book Felt, Fabric, and Fiber Jewelry done Sweater Surgery style.

October 24, 2008
by Tammy
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Crafting Reuse CFE

For all you recyclers and green crafters out there, this call for entries from Rockport Publishers may appeal to you:

We are seeking submissions for 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, an upcoming book by Garth Johnson of ExtremeCraft.com, which will feature 21st Century craft and design, all made with recycled, upcycled, repurposed and reused items. We are looking for the best examples of paper and book arts, jewelry, clothing, home and personal accessories, furniture, art, and miscellanea for possible publication. We invite designers, artists, visionaries and crafters of all stripes to submit their work.

The deadline is January 5, 2009, and they are looking for all kinds of crafts: paper, jewelry, clothing, fiber, housewares, you name it.

For more details about how to submit your wonderful craft designs, they have a blog and links to entry forms and other downloadable info at www.creativereusebook.com

October 23, 2008
by Tammy
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Crafting and Gift Giving Thought

Are you ever hesitant about giving away items you’ve crafted? I don’t mean that in the “I love it and want to keep it sense,” but more in the “what if the person doesn’t like it or worse thinks it’s stupid” sense. Oh, did I just say that out loud? But, I think you know what I mean.

I’ve been making these littleHalloween foam sticker pins, and I plan to give them to some of my friends and family. While my family is a no brainer on this kind of thing because they are used to me doing wacky stuff like this and have learned to put up with it and at least pretend to appreciate and even sometimes act a little impressed, friends and co-workers on the other hand can be a totally different story. With them, I have to think about the what and the who. What will I give and who will I give it to?

I’ve got these pins stashed in my purse to give someone later today (her choice one of the two), and I selected her as a recipient because I know she will “get it.” She’ll think it’s funky but fun and will actually probably wear it around a little and enjoy it. However, a few other folks I feel myself holding back on. These are nice people I get along with but I think you know the type I’m talking about: They will say things like “Oh, you made that? I wish I was crafty, but I just don’t have the time…..I’m not artistic….” These are the same type of people that tell you they don’t watch TV at all and read instead. (And let me say that I do read, but I also enjoy not reading sometimes, especially because I spend a good chunk of the day reading!) It is almost like I should apologize for being crafty, spending time on crafts, and watching TV instead of reading War and Peace or finding a cure for cancer. They seem like they are complimenting you, but it just doesn’t feel that way.

October 21, 2008
by Tammy
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More Halloween Pins

I have more Halloween pins in the works, just need to cut and glue. I will say, though, the cutting on some of these is a tad tricky, so if you try a project like this, make sure you have some small scissors that are nice and sharp. I’ve been using a small pair of Ginger scissors I have from my old sewing days. Depending on your tendency towards perfectionism, a little of the background felt showing may also not be a major deal, but it’s times like this Edward Scissorhands would come in handy!

October 20, 2008
by Tammy
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Craft Bloggers…Link, Link, Link!

While I will be the first to caution any blogger, crafter or non-crafter, about becoming a link farm, after seeing my stats just about double over the past few days (and this is not for the first time), I thought I’d just post a little something about the importance of good linking and building blog traffic.

It’s no secret that blogging is a great way to promote your craft business. Blogs can help you create content related to your craft product, thus bringing traffic to your blog, thus bringing customers to your site/store, and as an added benefit, they provide an outlet for educating your customers about your craft product as well. What’s not to love?

But blogging alone is not going to get you seen on the web. You need to shmooze with fellow bloggers. One way to do that is through linking to those who have similar blogging interests. Some novice bloggers may be worried about competition among blog crafters who may be doing similar work, but honestly, that’s one of the cool things about blogging. You can help each other and promote one another, and it’s a win-win for everyone.

Here are a few simple linking techniques that all newbie bloggers should consider trying:

Hook up with a game of blog tag. If you don’t know anyone who will tag you, check out my latest tag post because there are seven bloggers there who just may be looking for other bloggers to tag.

Spend a little time every week posting on other bloggers’ blogs; even if you can just squeeze out 15 minutes a week, you can spread some good link karma.

Feed links into social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

Participate in regular blog carnivals. Can’t find one? Then start one!

And, of course, keep your blog roll up to date. That means you want strong blogs to link to, blogs that you like to read of course, but you need to check on these now and then and make sure those bloggers are still active. If someone hasn’t posted in a month, then more than likely that blogger is permanently a-wall.

These are just a few simply ways to spread some link love and hopefully get some in return. From watching my own pageview stats regularly, I can say that, at least for me, they work.

Have your own link love ideas? Post them in the comments!

October 19, 2008
by Tammy
4 Comments

Craft Tagging

I’ve been tagged again, this time by Jean Yates, who is one of my best of all bead buddies, doll obsessed, and crazy (in a good way) blogger friend. I’ve been tagged a few times, and each time I think, “What does the Web world not know about me? I’ve been on here for 10+ years!” Okay, well, there is a lot you don’t know about me, but there are reasons for that, like it’s private stuff even my mom (especially my mom) does not know. So, these blog tag games tend to force me to think of stuff the world probably doesn’t know about me and might possible care to know (or not know, I’m good with that too) without getting too, too personal.

The way this particular tag works is that I list 7 factoids about moi, and then I tag 7 more bloggers. Here goes:

I purchase a minimum of 90 pounds of cat litter per week; I sh*t you not (pun intended). That is three super duper big bags once a week when I do my main grocery shopping (ever bag-boy has to ask how many cats I have and why so much cat littler…same store every week…same questions…just shut up and put them in the d*mn car already!), and it’s not unusual for me to have to make a mid-week emergency cat litter run to boot. I have three spoiled geriatric cats who have trained me well, and their boxes happen to be in my home office; thus, I must service them regularly. It is what I live for. It is my purpose in life.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Dover Thrift Editions)by Thomas Hardy is my favorite novel. I read it after a teacher I took a writing class from constantly raved about it. I was not doing well in the class, and right before the drop date, I asked him if I needed to worry about getting a C in the class. He told me not to worry. Yes, that’s because….(drum roll)…he gave be a D! Any whooo, though this novel and rugby had nothing at all to do with the writing class I was taking, he used to yammer about both of them endlessly. I still don’t give a rat’s bat-too-dee about rugby, but this made me curious about the Hardy novel, so I eventually read it. So, while this professor was obviously possessed by the devil, he did give me something I still treasure.
I’m a Star Trek fan. When I was very young and used to play house with my BF, Elsie, I always claimed Captain Kirk as my husband. She liked Donny Osmond. To this day, I still admit to having a bit of a crush on William Shatner.
I’m really, really, really nearsighted. Coke bottles got nothing on the glasses I have to wear. I do wear contacts sometimes, but besides my nearsightedness, now that I’m well past the big 40 hump, I now have to wear bifocals. As a result, I can’t read a dang thing when I wear contacts, so needless to say, I wear them to the occasional social event and that’s about it.
I’m addicted to Twitter.
You know that I have been running the About.com Jewelry Making site for 10 plus years, but you may not know that I applied for the position days after getting down-sized from a job I wasn’t that fond of. I was doing IT stuff for a small company, they’d just lost a huge contract, and they pretty much didn’t like me, so I was one of the first heads to roll. They were also very mean about it, waiting until 4:45 on a Friday (which also happened to be the day before I was to sign a contract on a house we just built and leave on a two week vacation to move in) to call me in, box in hand, and tell my my job had been “eliminated.” The secretary stood there while I loaded up the box with my personal possessions, and of course, to make sure I didn’t press delete *.* on my computer, which I would never do, even to people like them, because I am not people like them. Buy, hey, I see now they did me a big favor. Oh, and gee, they were eventually bought out and don’t even exist any more. Karma rocks sometimes!
I own a Honda Element and love it.

Thanks to Twitter, I have a number of blogger tag volunteers. So, okay guys, you know what to do, 7 factoids, 7 more bloggers tagged, you’re it:

http://www.chezchani.blogspot.com/

http://www.debutanteclothing.com/

http://craftercast.com/

http://beadcircleblog.com/

http://www.claybuttons.com/wordpress/

http://koregonbeads.wordpress.com/

http://www.myspace.com/simplyshellsdesigns

October 19, 2008
by Tammy
0 comments

Crochet a Witch’s Hat

This free pattern over at Lion Brand Yard (you have to sign up for a free membership to access it) is called a Felted Witch’s Hat, but you actually crochet it first. Then you wash it and using a felting technique to turn it into felt, which makes sense since you use wool yarn to crochet it first. They also have a note on the pattern that you could make a super small sized hat for your pet. Of course, my dogs would eat this, but if you have a little dog that wouldn’t rip it to shreds and are looking for an adorable costume idea, this might do the trick.

October 18, 2008
by Tammy
2 Comments

Naturally Baby Contest for Yarn Lovers

Robin Beam, now the A. C. Moore Director of Education, sent me a press release about baby blanket contest that also benefits a wonderful charity. I think it’s great when you get a double whammy of goodness going like this:

NaturallyCaron.com and A.C. Moore are proud to co-sponsor a contest! Knit or crochet a baby blanket using Naturally Caron Spa or Country Yarn, provide the info requested with a picture of your creation and you could win up to a $300 A.C. Moore Gift Card. Just think of all the crafty things you can do with that! To top it off, for every entry sent in, Caron will be donating $1 to Project Linus, which is comprised of hundreds of local chapters and thousands of volunteers across the United States. Each volunteer and local chapter all work together to help us achieve our mission statement, which states:

First it is our mission to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers. “

Second, it is our mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.

The contest runs from October 17, 2008 through December 1, 2008; go to www.naturallycaron.com for contest rules. A baby blanket is easy to knit or crochet up…it’s for a great cause and there’s the possibility of winning a prize!

If anyone has any questions, they can contact Caron via their website or A. C. Moore Director of Education, Robin Beam at rbeam@acmoore. com

Good Luck!

If you decide to participate in this contest, afterwards you can donate your finished baby blanket to Project Linus, which includes a listing of local chapters on the group’s web site. Heck, even if you don’t know how to crochet or knit, when I looked up my local chapter it had a web site that said they’d teach me if I didn’t know.

October 17, 2008
by Tammy
1 Comment

Crafty Bloggers Unite 10/17/08

I had an amazing craft weekend last weekend, but I’m not so sure about this weekend. It will be craft related, but I’m determined to get through some of the review items I’ve got stacking up around here! Hopefully, my blog craft buddies are not in the same boat. Speaking of my fellow craft bloggers, you’ll notice our little group as been growing, yeah!

The Crochet Dude
I Want My Mummy! Drew has a free Halloween treat bag crochet pattern that is super cute!

The Swell and Spooky Life

Swelldesigner is giving away a super swell vintage-inspired pumpkin man box in honor of Terrorific Tuesdays!

About Family Crafts
Take a few moments and tell Sherri and all of her visitors what your favorite way to save money is when it comes to craft supplies.

Aileen’s Musings
Aileen has a colorful fiber necklace tutorial posted that would make a lovely gift idea, enjoy!

Cathie Filian
Cathie Filian has a tutorial on how to transform plain candles with a few stamping supplies. Great for holiday gift giving and decorating! From the Medieval Lights episode of Creative Juice.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Peeking at you this week from Craftside are easy felted eyeballs, a dimensional surface technique tutorial, a creative inspiring exercise from the new book The Creative Entrepreneur and a paper and crystal necklace project from Jenn Mason’s latest and greatest book, Altered Paper Jewelry.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Are you thinking about stocking stuffers for you crafty friends yet? The Crafty Princess has a few ideas for you.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Do You Suffer from Pattern Paralysis? Find out what it is and learn ways to treat it. Be sure to read all the comments and add your own!

Layers Upon Layers
Cyndi has updated her ever-growing list of posts covering different methods to do image transfers.

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
The “Eyes” have the vote with a super easy Eyeball Halloween Desktop Decoration.

The Impatient Crafter
Margot shares next week’s Terrorific Tuesday Halloween Themed paper crafted jewelry project. Hooty the Halloween Hoot Owl!

October 16, 2008
by Tammy
3 Comments

Etsy Promotion Ideas

Though I have woefully been neglecting my Etsy shop due to lack of time due to grading papers out the ying yang lately, amazingly enough I still have made an occasional sale over there.

This makes me wonder how successful I could be if I actually had time to rotate inventory, network with my fellow Etsians more, and generally give it the attention it deserves. No business will flourish left unattended and unmanaged, but while it doesn’t take a lot of cash to get an Etsy shop going or keep it going, it does take time. That is mainly what blogger the Autonomous Artisans explain in an excellent post about Promotion on a Budget. Though most of the ideas presented in the post connect up with the idea of owning an Etsy shop, really anyone who has a web business or even an off-line business can find some interesting and cheap (as far as money) ideas to consider. It’s definitely worth a read.

The Crafty Princess Diaries

Tammy Powley’s Crafty Weblog