Uh oh, manic crafting episode.

Completely in my element, creating atcs, researching supplies for kits (ie shopping!), creating hand dyed, vintage seam binding and photographing all the goodies.
I love it! You should see my kitchen! Paper, ribbon, crepe paper, ink pads and glass glitter everywhere.

This is a close up of the seam binding. Ohhhhh.
I found some vintage brand Huggs binding in the color oatmeal and once I started dying it I couldn't stop!
I have about 100 yards of gorgeous, pastel and muted shades of butterscotch yellow, cranberry pink, cotton candy pink, bottle green, sea green, and a marigold orange. I couldn't quite get the shade of blue that I wanted, I will have to work on that.
I had a blast, though and all I really needed was a few yards to compliment the atc sample I needed to create for the class. Mmmmm, perhaps after the kits are completed other people might like to purchase some?

Is it that time already?

Because both kiddos have dairy allergies, we tend to downplay the arrival of the ice cream man, who is coming earlier and earlier each year.
But this year, Rex ran inside, grabbed his change he's been saving and ran back outside without a word to us about what he was doing.
Curious, we followed him out there and there he is flagging down the ice cream truck.
He even got a dollar off his humongous ice cream!

We have been busy with yard work this past week, cleaning out the shed, mowing the lawn, getting the cat box, er, sand box ready for the Pinkerton.
I spent about 2 hours power washing mud off the side walk in front of our house, where punk kids in pick ups keep driving through our yard, creating a mud puddle between the side walk and street edge when it rains.
It's horrible. They've gotten it so deep now that when they drive through it, mud, debris, and water shoot 10 feet into the air. I thought they were done with this game because I had called the cops on them, but after they saw me washing the side walk they started it up again.
I am trying really hard not to feel like a victim here.

Anyway, it's nice to be making plans for the summer. We have a couple of camping trips set up, swimming, story time at the library, roller skating, six flags amusement park, and of course
'The Birthday's' .
Pinky has already picked out her dress for her party and Rex has his presents listed.
Princess's and Indiana Jones are the themes for this year.
Lots and lots of fun!

All rub ons are NOT created equal

One day my mom comes over with this little package of rub ons from Walmart for Pinky. It has some bright, sweet little images of old tattoo flash and one of them strikes me as being a potential pendant.
So after Pinkerton and I spend some time rubbing these all over her stuff, I sneak a couple for myself and apply them to some already created polymer bases that were set aside for embossing.
I loved how they turned out, the first few did not sell as quickly as my other pendants though and I started searching for more companies that sold rub ons (otherwise known as transfers) and found a whole slew of them.
Setting aside some of my profits from other sales (just like I did with the stamps) I saved enough to buy a huge amount of rub ons from Fancy Pants, Making Memories, Hambly, Basic Grey and American Crafts.
It took a long time to find the right ones for the right price, but eventually I did and had them here to play with within a month.

My review on these is as follows;
Basic Grey....
I adore Basic Grey. This designer (I've forgotten her name) singly handedly changed the scrap booking industry from cookie cutter mainstream to hip, urban, edgy art design.
Although I do not have much time for scrap booking these days, I still use Basic Grey as inspiration for a lot of my personal color choices and indications on what images may be good sellers.
For instance the tree image above on mint ( getting ready to list some on pearl) has been a great seller for me and appeals to a wide market.
The rub ons themselves I give an 8 out of 10.
Love the size , the black silhouettes, and the nature inspired images BUT... although they rub off well enough they have a tendency to curl at the edge of the image making it difficult to achieve a totally smooth surface I like to have on all my pendants.
There are also a ton of itty bitty flowers, hearts and whirly gigs that are packed onto a sheet and get in the way, they are hard to get a grip while rubbing so I end up throwing them away. This is an affront to my frugal nature. But over all, I like them and they have done well.

Up next is Fancy Pants.

Gorgeous imagery. Beautiful, lush and colorful botanicals with some vintage influence.

I invested a lot in these because I love to work in themes and they had several with wonderful titles like Paris Market and Aged Florals.
They were a great size for pendants and could be cut apart easily for more then one image, making it a bit easier to re-list an item without having to retype a whole new listing.

However on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being bad and 10 being fantastic, I give them a 5. :(

Once they were cut apart they slid around and picked up dust and lint easily, plus they just didn't want to rub off on a polymer base. I thought that maybe this was because of the smooth nature of the polymer but found when I tried it on paper I had difficulty getting it to stay on the paper surface also.
I didn't even make my money back on these, with only 6 pendants turning out well enough to sell.


Hambly Studios

This company has actually been around for a long time, they are so hot right now because of the flat, modern graphics they do with hand silk screening.
What they've come up with is adorable!
Modern design, small and large sizes on the same sheet (more on that later) , comes in a variety of colors and most importantly people really like them. I mean really. I finish a batch and list them, within a week they are usually sold.
When I first ordered them I freaked out because they came on 8 by 11 sheets, the images I liked the most were just too dang large for pendants. I thought I lost about $200.00!
But after sitting down with them and separating the images, I was able to make enough off each sheet to bring in a profit. And by that time I realized they were for sure sellers so I could continued to invest in them. I even got a little creative with the header that comes on each one and made several pendants with the scroll work.
All in all I give them a 9, my only complaint is they take a lot of pressure to transfer the design and I broke several pieces as I learned how to get a feel for this.
I have since made a few pieces of mixed media art with them and found it difficult to rub them off on paper also. If they created their silk-screened image on the same material as Basic Grey does the would be a perfect 10.


Making Memories.

Sweet and simple, but not very good for polymer pendants. I like using these as title flourishes in my art journals and I hope to save them for when I am able to scrap book for Pinky as she is very sweet also. :)
You can see the outline of the image on the base and they don't stick to polymer as well as Hambly or Basic Grey. The above is the only pendant I really liked using their rub ons.
They also do not give you an option to really see what you are buying, preferring to keep it a secret with only a few images printed on the back as a preview but those are not to size and therefore difficult to design with.
I am afraid I give Making Memories a 2.

For the latest and newest rub on edition to my line of pendants is American Crafts Mini Marks.
I loved the colors of the first set I purchased ( I am learning to not buy huge amounts of things I haven't used before, so I am not stuck with a lot of stuff that just sits there, lol.)

Lime green, pale blue, brown, with pink and red accents. FABULOUS!

I was able to mix these up with Basic Grey's new Boxer rub ons and created an earthy, organic line of beautiful, unique, one of a kind pieces I hope to have listed over the weekend.
They had a varitey of sizes which transfered easily, varnished well and will hopefully give me a good return for my investment. I give them a 10.

So, there you have it! My review of the first 5 companies I have worked with to develop a new type of pendant women can express themselves with and enjoy for years.
Let me know what you think. I welcome comments on my information, writing style and inspiration from photos!

Could this be the start of a new color phase?

I had some free time this evening , scrolled through the Treasuries on etsy and found a couple of surprises, this one being my favorite by LilikoiDesigner
I loved the color and was actually surprised to see the Carnelian Wildflower on Pink featured when I just listed these ....

Titled Watermelon Pink - Vintage Enamel Earrings.
I recently invested (yeah, that's what I'm callin it and I dare you to argue) in a new batch of vintage beads, sat down with these first on the bead board and created until I had 10 pairs completed. Listed them in one evening, too. I felt so productive and generous really. I mean wasn't it such a kind and generous gesture to create these and offer them to etsy members?
My husband says I am a jewelry nerd, obsessed to the point of goofiness. Yep. I am.

Whatever it takes to keep the addiction fed.

I recently added new words to my etsy listing titles, 'Art' to the pendants and 'Vintage' to the vintage bead earrings. I noticed that 'art pendant' was a key word driving a lot of customers to my site from my google ad word campaign and well, vintage is still very hot so 'vintage enamel' is sure to bring in some interested collectors. I have a budget limit set for google ad words at $50.00 but I have never actually had to pay that because most people do not click over to my site. I am still learning.

There was a fascinating forum post on press releases that I hope to be able to follow up on, I have wanted to add more meaning to my work beyond simply decorating my fellow 30 to 40 year olds, something that will help other people in need. This might be a way to do it.
Using my gift to bless other people.

And now for something completely different;

WORDS I SPAZ OUT ON WHILE TYPING

1. 'for' I always spell this as 'fro' which is never caught by spell check.
2. 'pendant' this is bad... 'pendat'. Come on Shan, this is your livelihood!
3. 'gorgeous' spelled 'gorgegous' every. single. time.
4. 'silhouette' 'silhoruette' Sound it out....now what is that about?
5. 'vintage' newly discovered and rewritten as 'vinatge'

I could go on but you get the picture. I actually can blame someone else for this problem.
In high school when I took typing, we were only 2 weeks into the first semester when we suddenly got a gym teacher/coach as a substitute. He sat there and read Sports Illustrated while we did everything but learn how to type. The rumor was the previous teacher had a breakdown.
Imagine that! A high school teacher having a breakdown! How unusual.

If you stumbled upon this post and are asking yourself how to start a google ad word campaign, contact me through etsy conversations and maybe I can help.

An ink pad, an ipod, and a glass of wine

I am a simple girl. I like simple things.
I feel sometimes as if I have had some hard livin' and I can be simple and relaxed now.
There is a lot I haven't done, so perhaps this relaxed attitude is inappropriate.
Maybe it is temporary and once the kids are more grown-up I will be more motivated to experience life at it's fullest once more.

Can you guess why the heart is there?

I stumbled upon this little set up the kiddos had going.
Rex, who has the temperament of a saint, tried to play the keyboard we have set up in Pinky's room, but saw that Pinky wasn't going to let him, so he suggests that she find her other piano and set it up right next to him. But she didn't know how to play the music so this photo is of him showing her the colored notes to look for. I wish I could take some credit for this kid, but alas, he'd make Brittany Spears look like a good parent.
(How does she sit like that anyway? My knees would snap and dangle helplessly from my thigh bone.)

What have I been up to? Ummm, well, I made her.... you know how I love old, crusty lookin things...
And him, too. I could just eat this color, it's so refreshing and yummy.And I have been playing with some mixed media digital and silk screened prints....
A little morbid, but that's how I feel.

Since the warm weather, I have started the battle of the ants. Spring time, every year my family knows me as The Ant Warrior. There will be no mercy. They may have made breeches into my castle but they will pay, with the lives of their youth.

I have been asked by 5 different people in the last 2 weeks, how I do what I do with the little block-o-clay. I am not sure if this is a band wagon I want to jump on, or even if it is feasible to offer a how-to. But I did, most certainly did, notice that another clay artist is bringing in an average of $100 a day with a tutorial. Sheesh.
Perry Marshal, a marketing guru I really like to read, says to turn yourself into an expert of information, not a peddler of goods. Don't kill yourself going after and spending tons of money on putting your stuff in front of people, rather make yourself indispensable with valued information and have your market come looking for you. Can we apply this to our craft? Just thinking out loud here.