July 7, 2013
by Tammy
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Camp, Jewelry, Quilts!

Blue and Green Glass Mushrooms
Cherie is making glass mushrooms for the garden.

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi muddles along on her vulture-inspired quilt, adding tucks to the top.

Why Not Incorporate Heirloom Pieces in Your Hand Made Jewelry?
Think about incorporating heirloom pieces into your jewelry designs. Here are 3 examples from Eileen.

Summer Camp Ideas
Get some ideas to keep your campers crafting (and busy) this summer.

Snazzy Sneakers
Take a pair of plain Jane sneaks and turn them into fun and fabulous fashion.

Monster Rainbow Dude
Fresh Stitches is releasing a new – and colorful – crochet amigurumi pattern.

July 3, 2013
by Tammy
2 Comments

A few years ago, I uploaded some videos to YouTube.com, and more recently, I’ve been making more videos to show off some of the Thirty-One Gifts products I sell. I finally took some time and created an actual channel over there and fixed it up a little.

You’ll find a mix of crafts, pets, and bag/purse videos right now. I plan to make more of all three. They all three go together anyway, right? I’m still exploring the possibilities that having a YoutTube channel provides, but I’d happy for you all to take a look and feel free to give me some feedback: Tammy Powley YouTube Channel.

July 3, 2013
by Tammy
2 Comments

July Post for Points Contest

I’m having another contest on my closed Facebook group, Tammy’s Totes & More. Come on over and join the fun and get a chance to win this Soft Wallet, retailing for $22. It’s in the Pink Pop Medallion pattern.

You have to be a member of the group to join, and the contest is run on the group. This means all the posts you make to earn points must be done on the Facebook group. Posting them here will not earn you any points for the contest. Other than that, here’s how the contest works:

For the month of July, members of the Tammy’s Totes & More Facebook group will get a chance to earn points & possibly win this month’s prize, a Soft Wallet in the Pink Pop Medallion pattern (#3003 p. 46 of the Summer 2013 catalog), which retails for $22.

Member can earn points a few different ways:
1 point: answering a question/completing an activity I post during July
1 point: request to sign up for my Thirty-One newsletter (just send me your email address to be added)
1 point: for each new member you get to join the group (private message me when your friend request to join)
1 point: for each $10 purchase of Thirty-One products through my site (with or without a party https://www.mythirtyone.com/TammyPowley/)
2 points: booking a web/catalog party in July 2013 (private message me for details)
3 points: completing a qualified ($200) web/catalog party in July 2013
2 points: booking a web/catalog party first 2 weeks Aug. 2013 (private message me for details)

I will keep a tally throughout July and total it at the end. Whoever has the most points will win the wallet, and in case of a tie, names will be put in a hat and one winner will be drawn. I will post prompts almost daily for members who want to earn points, so make sure to stop by every day.

The contest has already started, but you have plenty of time to catch up.

June 30, 2013
by Tammy
0 comments

Crochet, Glass, and Ruffles

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there are two exclusive projects: a broomstick lace crochet hat and a triple diamond embroidery pattern along with a mixed-media mushroom ATC tutorial and a recipe for mushroom and sweet potato hash.

Gold Glass Sculpture With Solar Light for the Garden
A new glass sculpture from Cherie.

How to Make a Sweet Ruffled Ribbon Card
You’ll find directions for making the pretty Glimmer Mist Ruffled Ribbon as well.

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
How to make a beer can pin cushion from the book Beer Crafts

June 25, 2013
by Tammy
9 Comments

Jewelry Book Gallery Call for Entries

The book is called The Complete Photo Guide to Jewelry Making and covers 10 different types of jewelry making: bead stringing, wire work (like wrapped loops and coils), chain making, fabrication (non-soldered metal jewelry), soldering, metal clay, polymer clay, fiber (crochet, braiding, macramé), resin, and mixed media. It is published by Creative Publishing International, who has asked me to do an update to the previous version published in 2010. The update should be out in spring 2014.

A high resolution (350 dpi resolution) image of each jewelry piece in .TIFF format, jewelry artist’s name and URL, and a brief list of techniques/materials used should be emailed to me at tammypowley@yahoo.com no later than August 30, 2013. Images should have good lighting and be very clear. Signed hardcopy release forms need to be mailed to me no later than August 30, 2013.

For the gallery, I need about 36 pieces that cover either one or a combination of techniques. For example, a piece could be a beaded piece with a resin or metal clay pendant created by the artist. Mixing media and types of jewelry making methods is fine. A few things I’m *not* looking for include pieces that have a great deal of wire wrapping (like the type done in the book Wire Wrapping by Linda Chandler and Christine Ritchey) or bead weaving.

Once submissions are received, they will be reviewed by the author and editor for possible inclusion in the text. Some of this will depend on need and some will depend on quality of design. For example, if I receive 30 bead stringing submissions, obviously, I can’t accept them all no matter how wonderful they are because I need a variety of techniques exhibited in the gallery.

Submission of jewelry pieces made of components primarily made by the artists versus pre-purchased components is encouraged. Jewelry pieces should not be previously published.

The release form surrenders all rights to the image of the piece over to the publisher, but the artist still owns the actual design used. This means the publisher has the right to use the photo of the piece in any form of media from digital to hardcopy. Contributors will receive a copy of the book (furnished by the publisher) but otherwise will receive no monetary compensation. A “by line” and URL of the artist will be included in a caption next to the image of the jewelry piece.

If you are interested, I ask that you run a general design idea by me including materials and techniques used before creating or submitting the piece. Feel free to ask me any questions. I appreciate your interest!

June 23, 2013
by Tammy
0 comments

MLM Fascination

Since joining Thirty-One Gifts as an independent consultant, I have slowly been sucked into what might border on an obsession not only with this company but with the idea of multi-level marketing (MLM) in general. I will call it a fascination; yes, that is a better description of it. I have run my own jewelry business before, and so the idea of selling a product you are passionate about is not really new to me. I did have some success on my own too, but it was a lot of work and I only had me, myself, and I to do it, with the exception of my husband who did help with large endeavors like participating in arts and crafts shows.

One of the perks of joining an MLM is that you are not alone, and the “business” end of your business is in many ways done for you. For example, you don’t need to submit sales tax, create and maintain a web site, or design and manufacture a product. Now on the flip side, you do lose some of the control you would have as the person running everything. I sell Thirty-One products, but I do not get any say in what products they offer. Whatever is in the catalog is what you have to offer. For example, I love the new Flip Flop pattern, but it is only available in 4 of their products. If I was in charge, I would have it available in just about any bag or tote I sold. The two bags pictured above (the Inside-Out Bag and Thermal Mini Zipper Pouch) are in the Best Buds print, and they are my summer go-to bags. I like the Best Buds print, but hey, these would both look great in the Flip Flop print too….just sayin’

After Joining Thirty-One, I started to be aware of the numerous other MLMs that exist. In fact, my sister has thought about joining Thirty-One also, but she is concerned that there are too many consultants where she lives and so it would be too much competition for her to make it work. This kind of prompted me to start searching online for other MLM companies that might work well with the products I sell through Thirty-One with the idea that she and I might be able to help cross promote each other or, at the very least, be customers for one another. As I wandered around the Web, I found a fabulous resource called Home Party Review. It is a blog run by a woman who, like myself, was researching MLMs and realized that there was lots of information out there but not necessarily the type that focused on specifics. So her blog is full of reviews written by consultants from various MLMs that tell you about the products, the company, commission and sales rates, all the stuff you would want to know before joining any type of MLM business. My one issue with this site is that I could not find a date of publication for the reviews, so some of the information could change in the future or may have already changed. Other than that, though, I think this blog is very helpful for anyone who is interested in finding a MLM that will be a perfect fit.

June 23, 2013
by Tammy
0 comments

Cards, Crochet, & Cartoons

ACreativeDream
June’s participating in the Index Card a Day challenge… she’s up to 20…

An Eiffel Tower, Solar Light, and Glass
Cherie makes a cheesetastic glass sculpture using Dollar Store materials.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a pattern for a crocheted sun applique, tutorials on how to set up a still life and print with unusual elements along with a recipe for cinnamon scones.

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi enjoys a good session of painting her black and white fabric!

Time-Stressed? Laugh at Time with this Crafty Desk Clock
This goofy cartoon calendar desk clock will have you laughing at time rather than feeling stressed by it. It’s very easy to make as well!

June 19, 2013
by Tammy
1 Comment

Baby Sweater Craftsy Class

One goal of mine during my summer break was to finish another Craftys.com class, and well, I’m close but I go back too soon to finish the baby sweater project in the Beyond the Rectangle class. I will finish in a few weeks probably, but for whatever reason, I have just been too distracted to really enjoy this class like I though I would. And this has nothing to do with the class. I’m learning a lot about garment construction and crochet in general. I think it is just that I don’t really care about this sweater. I may have someone in mind for it, but there is a good chance he is going to be too big for it by the time I’m done. Plus, even though I’m using cotton yarn, it is summer in Florida. We are already hitting 90 degrees most days. Who wants a sweater?

But, I’m so close to finishing that I have to just put my head down and keep going. I have all the parts finished: 2 sleeves, back, 2 fronts. Next I think we block these, stitch them together, add a trim, and also add buttons and button holes. See what I mean about learning a lot? When I finish this thing, I will have the skills to make me a sweater, so this class is well worth my time. I’m not a huge sweater person; again, um, Florida is not a sweater place, but I have my eye on a few light sweater designs. I have only attempted to make a sweater one time, many, many years ago, and it was a total flop. Once I finish this, I may try again, and at least now, I will have some of the basic skills needed.

June 17, 2013
by Tammy
0 comments

City Tweed Hat

I’m almost finished with a hat I am making for my husband. He used to never ask me to make anything for him because he gets hot so easily. However, after I made him some fingerless gloves he used camping during a particularly cold period, he is slowly coming around.

Recently he asked for a hat when I told him I had some leftover yarn from a pair of fingerless gloves I had made for myself. He really liked the color of the yarn. Unfortunately, I had to explain to him that there was not enough of this yarn to make him a hat, and even if there was, it is sock yarn, so it’s kind of thin to use for a hat. Plus, this yarn was hand-dyed by a woman who did not have an active shop any more, and even back when she did, she usually just had sock yarn available. So we went on the hunt for some yarn that he would like and he picked out this City Tweed in Cobalt. I have never used this yarn from Knit Picks before, but this yarn is luscious to work with. It’s 55% Merino wool, 25% superfine alpaca, and 20% Donegal tweed. I got 2 skeins in an Aran/heavy weight.

I’m making him a beanie style hat. The pattern is free and called Soldier Beanie. It’s available through Ravelry.com and is used to make hats for soldiers to wear under their helmets. I was just about finished when I had my husband try it on, and he thinks it needs to be longer because he wants it to cover the top part of his neck. I have tried to explain to him that a longer hat will not cover his neck; it will just start to roll at some point, but he won’t be convinced until I try to do it. Maybe I will be proven wrong, but I’m now working on trying to get him to let me make him a matching cowl or scarf.

June 16, 2013
by Tammy
0 comments

Templates, Beads, Quilts, Fonts, & Father’s Day

Bead embroidered quilt
Cyndi has put together a tiny little art quilt which uses her new favorite forms of bead embroidery!

Celebrate Independence Day with Free Templates
The Artful Crafter has free party favor templates: one for Canada Day (July 1) and one for U.S. Independence Day (July 4).

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to make a heart doodled Father’s Day card, 20 ways to draw a hedgehog, rubber stamp on a tortilla with food coloring and some fun kangaroo art.

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
How to make a recycled magazine font Father’s Day card.

The Crafty Princess Diaries

Tammy Powley’s Crafty Weblog