It's not the first time I've been to the blog I Love Letterpress, but yesterday was the first time I really looked through their directory - as in, pretty much every link. It's phenomenal, and it's so inspiring to see all the different things people are punching out with their letterpress and leaves me utterly envious of those who have a press! ILL gets a big round of applause from me for documenting all of those letterpress companies in such an organized manner - you absolutely must check it out!
The physical labor paid off: our engagement announcements came out great! The above picture is a scan, so it's not going to be color accurate, but the ink is an antique gold and the paper is a blush pink. I'm going to slowly be adding photos of it as part of my documentation of the planning process, so keep checking my Flickr account for new uploads. I'm going to try to get some done tonight.
If you're a design-it-yourselfer like I am, and you like this look, here was my supply list:
Since you need all hands in the studio that are available, I couldn't take step-by-step pictures of the process, but I will be going back soon to press the holiday ornaments for the swap, so if anyone would like to see them, comment here to request them. I will, however, give you a brief overview of what to do to press your own. I can't get too specific, because the process greatly depends on what kind of press and images you're using, but here we go:
Design your invitation or announcement, then get it ready for prepress. Convert all images to black and white, and outline our text so it becomes a vector image rather than a font. If you don't use SmartSet, the Linotronic film vendor I have linked above, contact your negative producer to see what formats they'll accept. My file was submitted as an Illustrator file. Send off your file, and you'll usually receive it back fairly quickly.
When you have your negative, prepare and make your plates. This step, and the negative making process, can be consolidated by simply by having your plates made by Boxcar Press. You can choose metal or vinyl backed plates - vinyl are more flexible and transparent, so you can easily register and square off your plates with a Boxcar base (available through them). I recommend vinyl, but it's a personal preference - if you end up washing your plates out by hand, you may prefer metal backs.
To make your plates, they need to be exposed to UV light. Place the negative so that it is wrong-reading (emulsion side down) on the surface of the plate and expose it - 3 minutes is generally enough if you have strong bulbs. The plate will noticeably be different - exposed areas will have slightly changed color. Wash out your plates gently in a lukewarm bath with a soft brush (Boxcar supplies these brushes as well, I believe) until the gummy surface of the unexposed plate has washed away and water rolls off of the surface like it would on glass. Let the plate dry thoroughly; it's best to do a flash dry with a hair dryer so that water spots are avoided as much as possible. If you have a plate dryer, let it sit in there for 10-15 minutes. Re-expose the plate without the negative for equal to or slightly more time than it took to initially expose it to completely harden the plate. If you're using vinyl plates (instead of metal backed with a magnetic base), you'll need to add plate adhesive to the back of it, which is also available at Boxcar.
As a new feature on Try This at Home, I present to you our first Get Inspired! inspiration board. It's designed to help crafters and designers construct products and lines based off of themes, so whether it's a drawing for a greeting card or a necklace design, it's always trend-right.
Our first board is a Marie Antoinette board (preview above), featuring theme color samples, film stills, product ideas, and key elements to complete the look and feel of the board. (Note: This one's a smaller one - I'm just testing the waters here to see if this is useful for you guys. Let me know your feedback... the good and the bad is all appreciated!) Please feel free to download the full board, print it out, and do what you wish with it - just please don't repost without permission! Enjoy!
After nearly a year of ignoring my studio space at home, I've decided it is high time to make it look more like a graphic designer works there. Don't get me wrong - it's really pretty: lavender accent walls with a light cream carpet, a large window that floods the space with light, and these awesome industrial-style glass and silver metal desks and shelving units from CB2. Other than the basics, though, it's not very inspired - or maybe it's that I'm just not very inspired by it? Whatever the case, it's clearly upgrade time, as I'm planning on doing some freelance graphic design work for the indie community in the near future (more on that soon), and will be spending my weekends almost exclusively in there! I figured I'd share since (in my opinion) the more you like your work environment and the more professional you think it looks, the more you'll take yourself seriously - and in turn, your clients!
My first step: wall lettering. I want to spell out "THE STUDIO" - nothing too creative, because I don't want to be locked into a name I can't or won't want to use later. I was originally considering buying these cardstock letters from Target, installing them quickly and calling it a day, but I thought it would be great to have some dimension to them, since the light is really beautiful in that room. I had been looking through Joann a few weeks back and found some really awesome dimensional letters that appeared to be made of chipboard - there are also these wood letters available online, though I think I'd prefer a flat edge to a beveled one. Since I want them white, I'm planning on painting the letters with Gesso, but you could use a variety of paint media to cover it if you'd prefer a different color. (If you're interested in coloring it but still maintaining some of the wood grain, why not try painting it with gouache? Gouache seems expensive, but if you use it right, it can go a long way, and the price could be well worth the final results!) Although I'm keeping it as a flat, graphic color, you could also consider rubbing the paint down with sand paper for a more grunge look, or focus on just the edges with your sand paper for an antiqued look.
I haven't decided on how I'll mount them yet, but I may end up purchasing a white Ikea Lack shelf (it's thick, basic, and modern looking), or I may just make something similar and set the type on that. The other option would be to mount them directly to the wall, which would probably look better given how clean the rest of the aesthetics in the room are. I'm going to run to Home Depot - I'll let you know what they recommend for that!
There are few times I've ever experienced as strange of a sensation as I did this weekend. There was the time that I dreamed I was in my grandfather's hospital bed, suffocating by some invisible force, and I was woken by the call from the hospital that he had just passed - cardiorespiratory shut down, as a result of a month-long last stand against cancer. There was the time four months later I had a very similar experience prior to finding out my grandmother had passed, as well. This time, it was a similar experience - not sad, but still emotional, while also feeling somewhat out-of-body with a look towards the future...
... and it was all brought on by a Vandercook No. 4 press.
I'd been on a Vandercook before - it's not like it was entirely new to me, although I had been rusty since the last time I used a letterpress, about 2 years ago. This machine, however, was in far better shape. It's so cliché, but between the smell of inks, hum of the press, and the rythmic turning of the press levers, I was so zen. That's when I decided that sometime, not necessarily in the future, but sometime, this had to be what I did for a living, period.
This all happened while taking a class at Minnesota Center for Book Arts, of which I am happily a member. They're a fantastic little place in a gorgeously renovated old warehouse building that continues the traditions of handmade paper, bookbinding, and letterpress. It's an absolute must-see if you're coming out to Minneapolis, and their shop is - well, let's just say that if you're on a budget, hide your wallet. I'm already signed up to take another class which is entirely based on polymer platemaking and printing, which I'm so exciting over that it may be the only reason I'll avoid complaining about the onset of Minnesota Winter.
In the meantime, I'll probably be sharing some really great resources my instructor, Regula Russelle, shared with the class. She did a lot of things on the press differently than I had learned, so she was a great source of insight and really broke things down in easy-to-understand steps - but her handouts were the best by far. For my reference as well as yours, I'll type up the sources she recommended in hopes it will inspire you as well as it has me!
I received this email from Caroline today, and thought it would be a useful question to post:
Hi!... I am currently in the throes of wedding planning and even though I'm an abysmal DIY person, I thought I would take on the monumental challenge of designing my own wedding invitations. I have no background whatsoever in graphic design but I want to challenge and make something myself. I by no means plan on starting a letterpress company, I'm just trying to push my creative envelope. I'm in the process of learning how to use Adobe Illustrator and playing around with live trace and I was wondering if you could advise me on the following. I am into the pretty engraved letterpress illustration you discussed and I'm wondering how it's created- in particular botanical illustrations. Do designers take old engraved prints or photos and live trace and play around with the design? Or do they freehand them and scan them in? I have attached the following sites: to me they look almost identical- is there a botanical illustration resource book that these designers use?...
I'm just a novice but I would love any insight as to how this engraved botanical illustration look is created. I would like to use that engraved style and add my own designs that have been floating in my head.
Letterpress illustrations come in one of two ways: the company either hires an illustrator (or retains one in-house) to have them drawn specifically to their needs, or out of copyright engravings are used. Since you're not a business or planning to be, as you mentioned, you'll probably want to go the out of copyright route - so I'll focus my time on that...
Most of the Dover Publications-esque resource books are out there aren't really of the caliber that letterpress wedding invitations generally use. For that reason, to find out of copyright engravings I'd head to the library, antique store with a book section, or a vintage books store. If you have samples of the kind of illustration you're looking for, the staff will most likely be able to direct you to what you need. Browse through some books and find a few samples you like, then buy the books or check them out. I'd make sure you have a few possibilities - in design, I find that you never truly know what works until you try it, and sometimes the prettiest artwork can disappoint you! If that's a dead end for you, I found this thread - some of the suggestions aren't very helpful, but it's still worth taking a look at. Also try your shot at Gutenberg.org - it's a site with a bunch of online out-of-copyright texts, and they upload the book's artwork as well. I was able to find a few things when searching for "flower", "botanical", and "engraving".
Because of the nature of polymer plate letterpress, it's not necessary for designers to use Live Trace in Illustrator [blog note: Live Trace is an automatic function in Illustrator which allows the designer to automatically convert Bitmap ("pixelated") images into vector ("non-pixelated", graphics are drawn by mathematical equations by your computer) based on a variety of preferential settings] - all you need is a nice, rich black. The same applies if you're planning to use Gocco - it's the quality of the black that matters. It will actually give you better aesthetic results if you don't Live Trace it - by turning the engraving into a vector image, you lose the handmade quality of the illustration, and thus, the beauty and personality this type of letterpress design capitalizes on. I recommend just scanning in the art, adjusting the scan in Photoshop (or a similar program) to suit your needs (the contrast and levels will probably have to be adjusted slightly), then printing it out on a laser or carbon-based ink printer to get those blacks you'll need for exposure on the plates or the Gocco. If you are going the letterpress route, I'd recommend having your plates sent out - small detail, which is essential to this kind of artwork, can be difficult to achieve if you haven't done the process before. I'd point you to Boxcar Press for that - they have a great reputation, and they're pretty cheap - plus, that means less supplies to buy and fewer chemicals lying around, huzzah!
A big congratulations to Caroline on her upcoming nuptials! I hope that was informative for her as well as everyone else - and please, if you have a question, don't be afraid to ask! If I can't answer it, I'll try my hardest to point you in the right direction!
It's already been established that I'm a paper crafts fan girl. I'm sure you get that by now. In school, I loved the ease of using bookbinding tape to finish off a book, but I could never find anything other than a rather dull, dawdy beige - almost like muslin in color. Well, that's really no fun, and it certainly doesn't offer any extra aesthetic value. That's why I squee (yes, squee) over the colored self-adhesive book tape from Paper Source (right) and Making Memories (left).
Taking a road trip during the summer? Why not buy a standard-size post card at every destination and, using your road map when you're done (or another decorative paper) cut two pieces to the size of the post cards and bind them together? You'll need to align the left edge and glue the cards together with PVA (binder's glue) and let it dry overnight with weight on top of it (I've found binder clips work pretty well too, if they're heavy duty big ones). Finish and reinforce the glue bind with the self-adhesive tape for a really attractive but simple touch!
There's a lot of great areas of the independent design community that aren't part of the staple industries, which is why finding stuff that really makes you sit up and take notice feels even more inspiring and rewarding. They may not be part of the usual categories people shop for, but the fact they're unique makes them all the more worthwhile to check out.
Butter Cream Cup by Greenware Design: I'm a sucker for a well-styled succulent terrarium. I love the fact that the ceramic planter it comes in is also crafted by the person who planted it - the amount of passion that clearly went into this is completely evident, and is utterly inspiring.
Red Delicious of the Fruit Head Gang by Sewing Stars: How heartbreakingly adorable is this? A super sweet (or tart, if you would prefer its Granny Smith counterpart) take on the traditional stuffed animal, all the different Fruit Heads have different expressions and outfits and take on their own personalities. I love the details and the style!
Cute Doggie Collars by Retro Pet: Dogs may not be as finicky as cats in general, but that's no reason to give man's best friend a boring collar! Retro Pet has a lot of really cute patterns to make your furry friend fashionable, and many have matching leashes for the ultimate trend-right pooch.
Designer Collars by Kitty Cat Boutique: Does your feline "speak" with a British or Scottish accent? Lucky for them, Kitty Cat Boutique is on their side of "The Pond" and offers a lot of options where mass retailers are lacking - cute, trendy patterns that will make any cat feel like a million bucks one half of a million pounds.
I posted earlier that I had purchased a number of cat toys on Etsy from Jezzi4Ever, and I thought I'd take this opportunity on Bright Ideas to update you because, we'll, it's an awesome product. I got the first two a while back, and the cats loved them so much they started hiding them from me - they started stashing them in various places, including under the couch (you're not taking them from us, Mommy!) I started emailing Jessie, the shop owner, back and forth about them, and she ended up making several of them for me in custom colors. They turned out so cute, and I wanted to share them with all the other kitty owners out there - these are phenomenal! They're little two-colored felt goldfish stuffed with Marlow and Jocko's favorite catnip, Cosmic Catnip, which is some powerful stuff! They're simple, affordable, and cute - unique as well, as they're much different from anything else in my kitties' extensive collection of cat toys.
They shipped in little Ziplock bags, with two toys per bag. I decided to slowly introduce one toy after another, but as you can tell from the above photo, my impatient little Jocko decided he wanted all of his toys now.
Jocko enjoys / stares down one of the added bonus toys Jessie sent their way. The kitties (and I) were very grateful for the thoughtful extras! They were a big hit, as well - instead of being a more dimensional goldfish, these were more graphic.
Marlowe, hoarding his goldfish (not like he doesn't have enough, but after all, what's his is HIS.
Three dimensional design was never really my strongest subject, but my college roommate was an amazing furniture designer whose work I always found to be really inspiring. You may or may not be interested in doing design work in this field, but it's always great to look outside of your own category to push your work forward- after all, I wouldn't have designed my favorite poster to date if it wasn't for Christina!
Flowering Pillow by Julianna Holowka: while definitely out of my price range, I still love this pillow. It comes in different colors, and the selection is beautiful. As a designer, I'm also in love with the composition of where the flowers fall on the area of the pillow.
Pretty Much Anything at Beccalights: the Blush candle, above, is by far my favorite so far, but all of Beccalight's candles are well made. The packaging is really cute - an especially amazing job was done on the Holiday collection. When it comes to photographic and packaging presentation, Beccalights definitely raises the bar in the indie community.
Josephine Lamp by Julianna Holowka: another really great piece from the designer of the Flowering Pillows. I love the lampshade - it reminds me of many different organic things, from layered feathers to layered leaves, but its also so slick and clean.
Dishtowels by Sweetpea Handcrafts: the dishtowels at Sweetpea are great! I love that it's mostly white - it really gives the pattern and the trim the ability to pop out without being too busy. My favorite by far is the one above.
For most, there's nothing better than a wonderful warm, relaxing bath. For the creative, there's always an added bonus knowing you made the soap. Or the bubbles and bath salts. Heck, you even made the lotion you're going to use after you come out! Does that sound like it should be you? Here's the goods to get you into crafting Bath and Body product.
Suppliers - Multiple Bath & Body Areas
Bramble Berry: supplies for making soap, lip balm, lotions, bath salts, and more. Includes molds, colorant, exfolians, fragrances, and more. Just starting out and don't know what to do? They also offer kits.
Wellington Fragrance Company: despite their name, Wellington stocks various bases (including body gel, liquid hand soap, bubble bath, lotion, shampoo and conditioner bases), molds, flavor oils, and salts. Not surprisingly, they also stock fragrances (what a shock!).
Save on Scents: I love these guys. While they originally primarily fragrance oils (their selection is great, they've started to expant their collection to packaging (vials, bottles, rollons, and more), melt and pour soap bases, colorants, and a variety of other bases including shower gel, lip balm, scrub, lotion, and other various bases.
Sweet Cakes: if you're looking into bath and body as a business opportunity, Sweet Cakes offers bulk supplies for melt and pour soap, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion bases. They also supply packaging, lip balm bases and flavor oils, and a wide variety of fragrance and essential oils. Want to test out the scents? They also offer themed 1 ounce fragrance sampler packs.
Wholesale Supplies Plus: offering molds, fragrances, various bases, and packaging, WSP has a good selection that covers all of bath and body crafting. There's a particularly good selection of melt and pour bases to suit anyone's personal preference.
Suppliers - Soapmaking Exclusive
Creation Herbal: offering essential oils and soapmaking ingredients, Creation Herbal also offers organic alternatives for those crafting for that market. If you're interested in doing a more advanced soapmaking process than simple melt and pour, they have beginner recipe kits complete with all necessary ingredients and a step-by-step book to help you through it.
Suppliers - Fragrance Exclusive
Scent It: various fragrance oils available in various sizes, including sample sizes if you'd like to experiment before you buy a bulk size.
Suppliers - Packaging Exclusive
SKS Bottle: a really, really great variety of packaging options for bath and body products. I've used them before while I was in school developing a fictious bath and body line for a packaging class - and I'd use them again.
Books - Soapmaking
The Soapmaker's Companion by Susan Miller Cavitch: featuring recipes and techniques, this book helps inspire new ways of making your soaps unique. Probably the best feature of all, Cavitch also offers insight on soapmaking for profit, including the hardest part for all of us - understanding the government's rules and requirements!
The Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch: also by Ms. Cavitch, this book features soap recipes in the cold process method using all-natural ingredients. In addition to the recipes, Cavitch also discusses ideas for creative packaging and presentation.
Soapmaking for Fun and Profit by Maria Nerius: geared slightly more towards the business side of soapmaking, including pricing and marketing, it also addresses how to develop recipes and setting up a workspace.
Melt and Pour Soapmaking by Marie Browning: through great imagery and easy to follow directions, this book will help you make your melt and pour soaps even more unique with discussions on fragrance, additives, colorants, embossing, embedding and more. Though the title would suggest it's only a book about melt and pour, there are also recipes included on hand milled soaps, bath salts, bubble baths, massage oils, and bath powders.
Making Natural Liquid Soaps by Catherine Failor: in addition to all-natural recipes for shampoos, bath and shower gels, and bubble baths, this book gives insight into the chemistry behind bath and body product, and how to use different hard fats and soft oils to the best advantage. There's also information included about how to formulate your own blends, and addresses basic techniques that everyone can follow.
Today's interview features Debbie Chialtas, the soapmaking gal behind San Diego, California-based Soapylove Glycerin Soaps. Fun, fresh, and often wildly unexpected, Soapylove has become an important must-watch craft business in the bath and body world.
So, tell us a little bit about your business. I’m a
naturally creative person whose original inspiration was in fashion
design. For the last 10 years I have worn many hats in the apparel
business but a little over 2 years ago found new creative energy
when I started experimenting with glycerin “melt and pour”
soap. Thanks completely to Etsy, Soapylove has evolved very
naturally and I hope to one day make it my new full time job!
What made you pick up soapmaking in the first place? Where did you learn your techniques? What started it
all was my first pregnancy. I wanted to save money by making my own
cocoa butter lotion. I took a class on homemade bath and beauty
products and rediscovered glycerin soapmaking. I had abandoned it
several years before when I tried to make an oatmeal soap and
accidentally set the oats on fire in my oven - oops! I learned the
basic techniques from books, but mostly made it up as I went along.
What motivated you to make Soapylove into a business rather than a hobby? Probably like most
people, I wanted to make more than I could use. I stumbled upon
Etsy, which was the perfect venue for selling my soaps. What was your strategy for promoting yourself once you decided to start it up, and was it effective? My
promotion strategy was list, list, list until I sold something.
Also, I wasn’t afraid to ask bloggers to write about my soaps!
I think both were (and are) very effective.
What was the hardest part about getting your business started, and why? The hardest thing
was learning that what I think people will love is not necessarily
the case. And also accepting that there are busy and very slow
times in any business, and that I need to be patient and not get
bummed out when it’s slow.
What were some of the lessons you've learned along the way? Is there anything you'd wished you'd known or thought of before taking the plunge? I’ve
learned that in order to grown a business, you need to develop what
makes you unique. See what items people like best and expand on
that. But also keep pushing yourself creatively to keep things
fresh and exciting. [As for anything I'd wished I'd known,] not really. Every experience is a learning
experience.
Is there any particular advice you'd give someone interested in starting a crafting business, online or off? Yes, if you feel
like you’re not selling as much as you should, keep
experimenting with selling venues. You just need to find your
customer! It’s a big world and there are lots of people who
will love your stuff. It’s up to you to find them!
On to your process. Soapmaking has a lot of components to it - color, scent, and you also
play with opacity, suspended pieces, layering, different shapes, and
other elements. What kind of process have you developed to put these
puzzle pieces together into a design? Do you keep a record of your ideas for
future reference? I don’t have
a process, really. It just depends on what I’m inspired by.
I usually make a lot of soap at once. If I get a few hours
undisturbed, I’ll try a few things that have been on my mind.
I do keep a sketch book for ideas, and post virtually every soap I
make on Flickr, which is like my portfolio.
Are there any other designers in the independent design and craft community that you look to for inspiration or whose work you really admire? I find other
crafters extremely inspiring, but I just pick up bits from each one.
I respect people’s work, and always ask permission first if
I’m going to really duplicate something.
Are there any influences outside of the crafts community that has impacted your work? The cake
decorators on Food Network. I love those cake contests!
Your signature pieces are the Soapsicles, but your assortment as a whole are always unique and innovative. How did the Soapsicles, and your other ideas, develop into a final product? I think I saw a Soapsicle online and decided to try one. I had a set of molds from
years ago. It is so gratifying to pull a new Soapsicle from the
mold and see how it came out! My bars are still mostly for fun. I
rarely wholesale them because they’re so time consuming to
make.
Soapmaking seems to have an infinite amount of mediums associated with it, and you chose to work exclusively with glycerin. How did you come to that decision? Glycerin soap has
so many creative possibilities that it was the only way for me to
go.
About the online crafts community: what's your favorite part about being a member? The world wide
exposure is my favorite. It’s so interesting to see that
Australians and people in the UK seem to like my soaps the best.
Without the internet, I would never know that!
Are there any sites or people that you think are really impacting the popularity of the community? Yes – I
think the indie craft shows are introducing the community to many
folks outside of the indie culture. Etsy has also been phenomenal.
Last question: any thoughts on how the community could improve itself? I would love to
see more acceptance within the community regarding “artists”
versus “crafters” or “indie businesses” versus
“small businesses.” We all have one thing in common:
we’re creative people who want to pursue our passions. So
let’s all just “feel the love!”
Thank you, Debbie, for your time and thoughtful insight. For more information on Debbie and her work on Soapylove, visit its primary site or its shop on Etsy.
Since I'm in the process of developing my own stationery line and since the bulk of my experience is in this area, I thought I'd share with you what's really inspiring me at the moment. I hope you feel the same way!
Illustrated Cards at Hello! Lucky: I've always love their cards, but I'm getting into a phase now where pretty engraving-style illustration isn't doing it for me anymore - too many people rely on it too heavily as a design aesthetic without bringing more to the table - I don't mean to say Hello! Lucky is among them, but that part of their collection is beginning to lose its sparkle for me. The illustrated half, however, is really starting to make a bigger impact on me. What I love about the quality of the artwork on these is how well they work to really please everyone - children and adults. When you look at a lot of card illustration on the mass market, it's not very well executed in general and the styles don't often make sense with what the card is for, or who it's for. I find it also inspiring because I can see how I can relate it to my own work, since I have a similar style, with bold line work (I can't help it, I'm a graphic designer!) and thinner line details.
Wallpaper Post Bound Books at Freshly Blended Press: If there's a binding I love most, it's definitely post binding. I love how distinctly modern it looks alongside other binding types, especially when matched with interesting textures and patterns on the covers of a book. I love how smart FB Press was to use vintage wallpaper in the place of bookcloth, but what I appreciate even more is how graphic the pattern on this one is. I think, even though it's not literally modern, it looks like a very hip, contemporary piece when paired with the post bind and the elastic band. In the past, I've bound books like this with bold pattern as well, but in paper rather than wall paper, so I'm really inspired to see other ways I can push my books to be more innovative and unique after looking at these.
Scallop Edged Notebooks at Nantaka Joy: She stole my scallops! No, just kidding of course, but in a lot of design work lately, I've been a little obsessed with scallops (you'll see that in some of my cards, and anyone who saw the original layout for TTAH knows my love for them). What I take away from these is that there are really great ways to use graphic, impactful shapes and patterns while still staying feminine by taking small details into consideration. Other than the scallop edge which I obviously love, I love the light metallics, and the decision to keep all the shapes organic-looking (one reminds me of flowers, the other looks like either mitocandria (don't ask... I may have failed the ink blot test on this one) or abstract pine cones).
Hey, it's what I went to school for! Well, sort of, but it ended up being a large part of my education. Paper arts is one of those craft categories where you can pick a project that's either really, really cheap - or really, really expensive. The best examples would probably be simple card crafting on the cheap end, and bookmaking on the "wait until your next couple of paychecks" end, but both are fun and rewarding. For a paper geek like me, it gets my heart racing. Here are some supply sites and general resources on the web I find to be really helpful. I can't offer you any tutorials on the web because I still haven't found any that I like which illustrate and explain it well for beginners; I've included some good binding books in place of any web tutorials.
Suppliers - Bookbinding
Talas: they have everything under the sun for the book arts and are the first company I went to in college for more advanced supplies. They've got a great selection of book cloth to choose from (sample swatch books available for purchase!), and their book selection is definitely worth checking out (a number of them I either own or have read).
Hollander's: I'd heard about these guys recently. Their retail storefront is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but they also sell their supplies online. If you're a beginner, they have large variety of text blocks already sewn and finished so you don't have to worry about the sometimes frustrating steps of gluing your signatures. All you have to do is add your endpapers and attach to your covers!
Suppliers - General Paper Crafts
Paper Mojo: I could stare at their Contemporary Prints section all day. They've got all sorts of awesome papers to choose from, from patterned to lace to tissue.
Martha Stewart Crafts: whatever, I'm a sucker. Really beautiful ribbon, paper, punches, embellishments, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Kraft Outlet: I love brown kraft paper. I'm not sure what it is about it, but it's awesome. Kraft Outlet has a whole bunch of nifty things for packaging, stationery and other various paper-based projects in sweet, sweet kraft.
Creative Paper Crafts: I found some pretty cute rubber stamps here. They've got supplies for a variety of crafting techniques including origami, embossing, and quilling, as well as scrapbooking supplies.
Resources and Information - Letterpress
Don Black's First Press Suggestions: want to get into letterpress but you don't know which machine to start with? Here's a good page to get your started.
Briarpress: the letterpress printer's haven. Whether printing is new to you or you're been doing it for a while, there's something for everyone, including classifieds (need a printer?), help forums, and workshop / class announcements.
Martha Stewart Crafts Projects: if you're doing paper crafts, might as well go the patron saint of all things (somewhat) crafty, Martha. There are actually a bunch of really cute projects here that can really inspire new ideas and don't necessarily utilize her product. It's well explained and illustrated, too - heck, I used to design and create place cards for a living (worked at an invitation store), but I'm not sure I could have explained the process of pop up place cards better than the way it's described in the Themed Bird Party place card instructions!
Books - Book Binding
Making Books by Hand by Mary McCarthy: I bought this book back in school during my sophomore year, when I was first getting started in bookbinding. It was a really helpful reference on alternative binds or little things I could do while constructing my book to make it special. I'd definitely say it was a worthwhile purchase, especially for a beginner, because of its clear photos and easy to follow, step-by-step instructions.
The Encyclopedia of Papermaking and Bookbinding by Heidi Reimer-Epp: this book really has a bit of everything in the process of making a finished book, from the papermaking process to several varieties of binding. It's well illustrated and explained, so anyone of any skill level in either area can easily pick up the crafts.
The last time I sewed was a long time ago. Once upon a time, Maddy studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design over the summer between her sophomore and junior year of high school, only to realize she hated the industry and... well, frankly, didn't have the patience to sew and liked the design half better. I thought I'd share with you what's around that is getting me excited to hop back into it, and I hope you'll be excited too!
In Stitches by Amy Butler: This book is a tasty looking book. Amy Butler in general I think has an amazing taste level for a lot of the accessories patterns she publishes, and I think this book is a testament to that. The only thing that's holding me back from buying this at this very moment is the fact I don't have a sewing machine here in Minneapolis (yet). It's on my list of priority purchases, but I doubt the boyfriend wants a book laying around while I can only use it to appreciate pretty pictures. Sigh.
Sew U by Wendy Mullin: Another book earmarked for later. The author is Wendy from Built by Wendy, and I think that sort of speaks for itself.
Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter: The third book I'm waiting on. What excites me most about this book is how simply everything is explained and that everything in the book is a functional item that I could see myself using regularly or decorating with. That I find to be pretty rare, as people's taste in patterns don't always match or you just may not have a use for something in particular, but this book makes me want to buy a mass quantity of yards of patterned fabric and just start producing!
Crafty Planet: Don't come to the Twin Cities without going to Crafty Planet. I had heard a lot about this store in the past, but for the longest time had no idea it's literally, oh, ten minutes of a drive from my apartment. It is the fun sewing crafts MECCA of this area. Their online shop is cool, but when you get to see their entire assortment right in front of you, it is at the same time the most motivating and overwhelming thing. You're immediately flooded with project ideas but you'll have no time to complete them all without going back to your college days of no sleep and lots of coffee!
Thanks to the Magic of Etsy, it's easy to find really inspirational and interesting pieces in any category, if you're willing to invest the time to look. Here's some interesting "AH-HAH!" things I pulled up - hopefully it inspires you to create... or to pull out your wallet!
Hooded Jersey Baby Doll Dress by Niceface: Very cute take on the shirt dress. I love the little button details at the top, and the half sleeve is perfect for the upcoming fall.
Western Corset by Mariapozo: First of all, I have to take my five seconds all to congratulate her on an amazing photograph. Okay, five seconds over. Oh. My. Goodness. How incredible is this thing? I'm amazed at how intricate and perfectly symmetrical it is, and how well it's done. I mean, zoom in on that baby! If that doesn't give you sewing craft aspirations (because, let's face it, I was hopeless in Home Ec yet still somehow had an idea that I'd end up doing costume design), I don't know what does!
Paisley Leather Cuff in Turquoise by Hollyhawk: I like the graphic pattern and the blue color. What really fascinates me is that she hand dyed the leather, something I'd never attempted - or even though of attempting!
Cheerful Bee Business Card Wallet in Leafy Green by JennMaruskaDesign: This definitely made me go, "awwwwww!" when I first saw it. It's really sweet, and I could certainly use a card holder (if only people actually needed my cards more frequently!). I love the green color too - it's precious! Card wallets - it's one of those projects you just generally forget about - glad someone didn't!
Thistle Scoop Neck in Plum: What I love about this design and is interesting to me is really in the way the thistle is presented. It's really refreshing that you can see something organic and elegant but isn't as literal as the engraving or hyper-precise silhouettes that are all over the place. This illustration is more loose, and abstract, while still being legible. I think it's a fresh take on a trend that's on its way to getting too watered down.
On My Way to Waikiki Ponytail Holders by Magpiesnest: Another product I hadn't really thought of in the accessories area (perhaps it's because I have short hair that barely at best can make a pony tail?), but is really beautifully executed. I love the graphic design of them, and I really appreciate that they're kept more simple. They're small, so keeping it clean and basic allows the one graphic element to really pay off!
White Eyelet Sun Dress by Cherrypievintage: This is gorgeous. I love the cut, and I love the fabric. If there was any dress to really motivate me to drop those extra college-era pounds, this is probably it! I love the little bows at the top - they're so sweet and feminine and add a simple but unique touch to it.
Today's interview features the lovely Jenny Vorwaller (currently traveling in South America, the lucky gal!), who is the brains behind queenthings. Between her jewelry and her product photography, her work is a feast for the eyes.
Tell us a bit about yourself and queenthings.
I create narratives with my handmade jewelry collections.
What made you pick up jewelry in the first place? Where did you learn your techniques?
It was in Tuscany last summer, I was taking a watercolor workshop with my mom. I was standing there in the Etruscan Museum in Cortona, looking at these tiny ancient necklaces and my heart had never beat so fast. That was it for me.
Having a little background dabbling with the modeling industry (and I mean a really brief stint) I left satisfied that the industry wasn't for me, but still feeling this pull to the fashion world big time. I thought about promoting my painting and drawing before, but I've always felt those are more personal mediums for me, something I share occasionally. Jewelry just pulls the best of both worlds. Fashion and art collide and I feel like I get it all, it's a major indulgence.
I'm completely self taught, though I recently took a little metal class in my neighborhood (here in Montevideo, Uruguay) which was great since the instructor spoke no English! So it's confirmed that art is no discriminator to language barriers, haha. Since the course wrapped up, I'm finding some really unique ways to put my own style on the technique, called " repujado," which is actually quite popular in Spain even though Uruguayans use it a lot in their handicrafts. So I've been experimenting with it. I'm finding some really unique ways to put my own style on it, but I have yet to see if I will work it in my collections. So other than that, I just work intuitively.
What motivated you to make queenthings into a business rather than a hobby? What was your strategy for promoting yourself once you decided to start it up, and was it effective?
I really do just rely on my intuition with everything I do. I don't have a business strategy outside of making time to do what excites me, and sharing it with other people by putting it out there. So far I think it's working out wonderfully.
Is there any particular advice you'd give to someone interested in starting a crafting business, online or off?
Make mistakes of ambition! And just be genuine. I feel that comes through in everything, online or off, people can respond to being authentic and it gets real contagious. I always remind myself that there are no limitations except for the ones that I put on myself. That really puts things in perspective for me. What everyone else is doing has no bearing on my art, and no one is really there to stop me either.
The jewelry you make has an interesting spin - it's all narrative. What inspired you to take that approach?
I don't know, I think it just made sense after designing all over the place for so long. I was one of the first to sign up on Etsy two years ago, back in July 2005. I began putting some handmade jewelry in my Etsy shop and was mostly concerned with keeping it stocked. I remember I was gone from my studio traveling for a few weeks, and being away from the whole process was really hard because I loved it so much. But it helped me to physically step back and just examine what I was making and why. Now I just practice more restraint by desiging only what I really love, nothing more, nothing less. I could see that I wanted to put a real flair to my work, so that when someone wears one of my pieces, there is a tiny significance beyond just something pretty to wear. I adore communicating narratively, since fashion and jewelry can sometimes be just superficial (which is totally fun) adding some of my own history to my pieces gives them an heirloom feel.
How do you start your jewelry making process? Do you sketch or pull inspirational photography, or do you experiment with materials until you find something you like? How do your themes and story lines fit into this process?
I keep a loose sketchbook, since papers and collages I collect never seem to stay bound because I like to spread it all out in front of me. So having neat piles with all my drawings and ideas all complied by a giant clip make it easy so I can toss in all my tote bag if I want to take it with me to my favorite bistro! Right now I have three different collections in motion, and you know it might sound really disorganized, but it keeps me put together. And it keeps me interested.
Photography really pushes me forward too. On average, I easily take about 100 pictures a day! Especially now that I've been traveling so much. It keeps me aware of what is around me and also acts as a little device for developing my eye for beauty.
Since my lifestyle has so much mobility now (I only have what fits into a few suitcases) I've realized I have a few simple things that have always increased my productivity: a fresh bouquet of flowers on a tidy studio table and my favorite music in constant stream in the background. I guess it wasn't until I stripped down my belongings into what I really used and faced an empty white room to set up shop again to find that the music and the flowers came out and I was ready to go.
One of the things I like the most about your work is your eye for color and how it relates to the metals and textures you're working with. Where do color themes fit into your process, and what inspires them?
It's so serendipitous most of the time. Sometimes it's a tearsheet from a runway photo, other times it's found from walking in a garden, or the street market antiques that get me sketching jewelry designs. It gives me butterflies knowing that I don't have an exact formula for what inspires me. All that is required is that it has to get my heart beating. I want to feel excited about what I make! I feel really sensitive to color and how it effects me, so maybe that comes into play when choosing what palettes to work with too.
You work with a variety of materials in your jewelry, from various wire and chain metals to brass charms and other findings. Is there any in particular that are you favorite, and why?
I really love chain for it's necessity in my designs and for all it's versatility, depending on it's form. Like if I find some delicate chain, I like to hang it like drapery. Or I use chunky dark chain to offset stones to make a piece more edgy. I like that balance of something modern and making a statement, but always keeping it feminine and delicate. Behind it all, I just want something that will make a modern girl feel regal and special. My favorite materials right now are gold, dendritic tree agate, branch coral, and pearls. And I'm just smitten with my geode pendants! I wear one all the time and without fail, it always gets people talking and wanting to see it up close and that just makes my day.
What is your favorite part about being a member of the online crafts community? Blogging. I just love blogging and everything associated with it! It keeps me going, makes me so happy. I'm just delighted to say, "blogger" along with being a mother, artist, wife, you know all those titles that we give ourselves. Life is too short not to partake in something that brings you happiness I say.
Among many things I dabble in, I love jewelry. Other than paper crafting, there's really nothing more relaxing that wrapping wire while watching a movie - I can't really explain it, and maybe it's just me. If you're one of those who, like me, love to keep their hands busy, it's certainly a worthwhile thing to pick up. Here's some suppliers and tutorials to keep you busy (in no particular order).
Suppliers
Fire Mountain Gems and Beads: really great supplies to get you started. There's a lot of diverse stuff, and their customer service is very helpful.
Rings and Things: Probably my favorite supplier. They've got a lot of unique items, and it's my go-to place for charms at the moment. Shipping is very quick, and their customer service is amazing.
JewelrySupply.com: I have yet to order from them, but they seem to have a pretty good assortment. I like to do a lot of simple charm work in my jewerly, and I'd definitely consider them when buying in the future.
Frost Creek Charms: Exclusively silver-toned metal charms, but they have a great selection.
Laramie Studios at EBay: Far and away my favorite source for vintage beads. Since they're located near Providence, Rhode Island (which used to be the jewelry capital of the world), they have great resources at their fingertips and have great finds! They're consistently very helpful and friendly, as well.
Beadin' Path: A somewhat recent find for me, Beadin' Path has a lot of great Vintage jewelry supplies, including Lucite beads, cabs, and pendants. I like that I can shop by color, which is really helpful when I have a project already in mind and know the color and material I want to work in.
Tutorials
Fire Mountain Tutorials: Fire Mountain has a lot of really great beginner to advanced tutorials to learn from. They're well-written and extremely helpful, regardless of what level of crafting you're on.
Norma Jean Polymer Clay Food Tutorials: Mini polymer clay food jewelry is pretty big, and nobody does better tutorials for getting into makng them than this website. The bakery section? Far and away my favorite - I'm a carbs kind of girl.
Interested in blogging on your favorite indie finds? Perhaps you're a crafter right now who'd just like to keep your customers in the loop on upcoming projects. Here's a quick start guide to various blogging services as well as blogging programs (if you have your own server/hosted site you might want to go this route), and some basic HTML tutorials to help make your blog a little extra special.
Blogging Services Blogging services are websites that have already integrated their blogging program into their site, so when you create an account, you're already set up. There's nothing to install, and unless you want to customize your layout in anyway, you blog can be up and running the moment you log in. Most of these have free and paid accounts; if free accounts are available, they have specific limits on them (full layout customization not available, only one author allowed, et cetera). Here are some (of many) services you can choose from, listed alphabetically. This list is not all-inclusive, of course, because there are so many options to choose from nowadays!
Blogging Programs These guys are the actual programs that services have installed on their sites to produce your blog. Most are Open Source (free), but don't rule out paid licenses - they often have features and support that Open Sources don't offer. Open Source programs usually have modification sites tied in with them; users, rather than the original program writer, create features they need and will direct you how to edit the code to attain that feature yourself. Some edits are easy, but if you're a beginner at HTML and program language, this is not recommended - you may break the program and not know where you went wrong. Either trade up for the paid license that includes the feature you need, or find someone knowledgeable to help you modify the files for you. Please note this is also a limited list - I'd be here for hours compiling all the programs available!
BBlog - free Greymatter - free (I used this program for a long time for my personal site and loved it) LiveJournal - free (powers LiveJournal and a few others) MoveableType - paid (powers TypePad) - is releasing an Open Source version soon Wordpress - free (powers Wordpress)
HTML Guides Most blogging programs need very minimal HTML knowledge - if any! - but what happens when you want to center something or include a picture, but there's no button to do it for you? That's where these guys come in.
HTML Code Tutorial HTML Goodies HTML Source Webmonkey - the primary source I used when I learned HTML (gulp) about 10 years ago - and the layout still hasn't changed! They do a great job of simply explaining everything, so you can "get it" quickly.
Below is a compiled list of great independent design blogs and communities that I consider to be great resources. They're quite helpful to browse if you're stumped creatively or business-wise.
Blogs
Freshly Blended: Wonderful paper goods finds that are definitely "the cream of the crop". FB is a great place to find new stationery goodies or really great benchmarks for yourself!
Craft Magazine Blog: Bored? Why not search through pages and pages of patterns and tutorials? Craft not only gives you some of their favorite how to's from around the web, but they've also got a great mix of their own! There's something for everyone!
Print and Pattern: Living up to its name, this blog features the best in, well, print and pattern. I find it exciting to look through as a designer, and as a crafter I can see how a lot of the blogged images could find its influence in my crafts!
Vintage Transfer Finds: I'm not an embroidery kind of gal, but I thought this blog was mighty cool - it's a collection of old embroidery transfers that have been scanned for free public use. Some of them seem like a lot of fun, and I already have a friend in mind to pass this along to!
Communities
The Switchboards: My new favorite forums. The Switchboards is a community of women crafters and community folk who help each other out by answering any question you have based on their own personal experience. For anyone starting out, this place is especially helpful - why Google when you can Switchboard?
Craftster: A great place to get new crafts ideas and tutorials. It's so topic-heavy (in a good way!) that it's split up by category - so you don't have to flip through pages of posts if you want to find, say, a jewelry project.
GetCrafty: Another great place for tutorials and ideas. The site itself as well as the forums are worth perusing, and there's a wiki being made to help you navigate it all.
Today's interview features the oh-so-sweet Jena Coray from Reno, Nevada, the brains behind one of my favorite blogs (and a personal inspiration of mine!), Modish. With the recent launch of her wonderful consignment shop Modishoppe, she's stretching out her style and influence for the good of her wallet - but, as you'll see, apparently not for the good of her wallet! All of the images here are products available through Modishoppe.
What inspired you to start your site in the first place?
I had recently discovered all the big design blogs and started looking around for a blog that featured just indie design and cool indie/handmade products and couldn't find one, so, I decided to start one of my own! I figured if it was something I was interested in that there had to be other people interested too, and it turns out I was right! Plus I thought it'd be a fun way to make myself write every single day and put my Writing degree to good use! :)
What was your strategy for promoting yourself once you decided to start it up, and was it effective?
I just dove in head first and started it, then after a few days of getting my footing, figuring out exactly what I was going to write about (I wanted a focused/dedicated blog about specifically handmade goods) I emailed some of those big design blogs introducing them to my blog and saying why it was different. A few of them liked it, posted about it and I immediately started getting a lot of traffic from that. I wrote a press release, distributed it to other blogs and magazines, did lots of link exchanges with blogs and all the meanwhile sought out the coolest indie products I could find to make the readers I was attracting feel like coming back, bookmarking and telling their friends about it. All those strategies seem to have worked very well as it grew really fast and maintained a wonderful base of readers developed during those first few months.
How do you find all of the items that you feature? What makes a product really stand out for you?
Searching searching searching. I LOVE Etsy for finding new things and go to it at least a few times a week. I have a lot of "favorite" sites with big link lists of friends that I pursue to find new stuff. I always check up on consignment stores and boutiques to see what new designers they may have. I frequently feature people that email me introducing me to their sites. Usually I just end up following a trail of links until I hit something that makes me stop in my tracks. Items/sites that make me stop are usually just well put together and appealing to the eye, feature well lit, clear product photography and the items have to be unique of course, well made and just something that I'm personally attracted to in some way, whether or not it's something I'd ever buy myself.
What's your favorite aspect of running the site? What's the hardest part?
My favorite part is the reactions I receive from shop owners that I've featured who are so grateful to have been written about- it makes me feel like the site is actually useful and is helping small business owners out in a real, tangible way and that was the main goal in starting this whole thing. The hardest part is probably just trying to keep my wallet far far away from my desk while I'm finding things to write about or else I'm at risk of buying waaayyy too much rad stuff!
You also run Modishoppe. What inspired you to open a store for independent designers' products?
Well, I used to have a store selling just my own jewelry and that fell by the wayside due the success of the blog (and amount of time I was putting into it!) so I was always hankering to re-open the shop, but after finding so many other talented designers I thought it'd be even better to open up a shop that modish readers would be interested in with variety of stuff to choose from. Plus, my unnerving effort to find something that will sustain me just enough to be able to quit my job and actually spend my days in a creative, free way - not answering to anyone - was the ultimate motivator to just give it a try and see how it goes!
How did you go about making Modishoppe into a reality? Were there any bumps along the way?
The first thing I did was hunt down my favorite web designer ever, Arianne from Aeolidia design and see if she'd be interested in making the shoppe for me. I had never used a designer before but really just wanted an effortless, easy site that was really automated and pretty that I didn't have to tweak all the time. Then, I contacted many of my favorite designers to see if they'd be interested in giving it a try and entrusting me with their lovely items. I made advertising and marketing plans and tried to figure out new cool ways to present the products to make the shoppe look different and appealing. There were really no snags that I can think of as I wanted it to work out so badly and was really dedicated to getting it done and making it just how I wanted, that any little bumps were just that and didn't hamper my focus. I've found that when you really want something, I mean reallllllly want something with all that's in you and can envision yourself in that new life, it usually just works out.
How do you select the product that goes into Modishoppe?
Most of the items I've selected by contacting the designers- at first I just chose some of my favorites from past items that I posted on the blog! Now I get a lot of consignment applications from designers requesting their items to be in the shoppe. Modishoppe is reflective much more of my own personal taste than the blog in the sense that I want it to have an overall "feel" of feminine, vintage styled, hip but not too trendy, subtle, stylish. There are lots of really cute things that people propose to be included in the shop, but if I don't think it fits the "feel" I usually won't accept it because I want people to kinda know what they're getting when they come to the shoppe- if they're thinking of a gift for a certain person, they'll know whether or not modishoppe might have something they'd like because they know the style of items I usually carry. I'm trying to establish a "brand" of sorts I suppose.
What were some of the lessons you've learned along the way? Is there anything you'd wished you'd known or thought of before taking the plunge?
I've had to learn to trust myself and my skills and not be so scared to just dive in- I just have to always maintain a positive attitude and not freak out if I have no orders one day because I'll have plenty the next! And I've learned (er, am in the process of learning) that it is really really time consuming taking pictures and doing the bookkeeping and updating the site and creating ads and packing and shipping orders and that I just can't do it all now now now, but it's still okay to take a break and go to the beach on a Saturday. I'm really hard on myself and feel awful when I'm not working on the site because I always have a never-ending to-do list but I have to learn that that's just how it is and I deserve a break every once in awhile without the guilt, or else I'll eventually just break down!
Is there any particular advice you'd give to someone interested in starting a consignment shop?
I'd say get all your ducks in a row before you start- have advertising plans, have a consignment contract made up, have bookkeeping figured out, a return policy thought out, etc before you delve into the fun stuff. And most of all, be sure you're going to be really committed to it because it can become really big, really fast and you have to maintain your integrity with both the designers that are trusting you with their goods and your customers- it's a lot different selling 50+ designer's goods than when I just sold my own jewelry- it's a big endeavor so just be prepared! But once you're in it, it's really fun!
You are also a crafter. What are your biggest influences in the work you do?
I do still create jewelry (which will hopefully be included in my shoppe sometime soon!) and I really just love vintage inspirations and try to use mostly, if not all, vintage pieces in the creations. I like feminine, colorful beads, filigree and am kind of obsessed with the color green! I've also recently been inspired by all the incredible fabrics I use as the backgrounds for my pictures in the shoppe and you may see those find their way into my jewelry too!
What are your favorite crafts, and what made you pick them up?
Well, I'm an only child who constantly had to figure out how to occupy myself with a mom who has supported me in absolutely every whim I've ever had. I think my "craftiness" started with paint by numbers, then moved on to the friendship bracelets and neon rubbery keychain things (remember those?) then I got into needlepoint, then it was rubber stamping for a long while. When I finally found jewelry and beads around 12 years old I fell in love and started a mini empire selling polymer clay jewelry and beaded bracelets and macrame necklaces to all the girls at my middle school and had a little "shop" set up on the bulletin board at my piano teacher's house.
Are there any other blogs that you've considered a benchmark for Modish, and how have they impacted the site?
My main influences before I started Modish were design*sponge, decor8 and oh joy! I was totally infatuated with the colors and the style and the items they were finding. If I hadn't have found those blogs just at the right time when I was creatively bored and seeking an outlet for it, there wouldn't be a Modish at all.
What is your favorite part about being a member of the online crafts community?
I'm used to being such an individualist (aka: loner!) that it's kinda cool being considered part of any community at all! I like the feeling that I'm actually contributing to the livelihoods of small business owners, like myself, in even a tiny way, and I like feeling appreciated in a way that I've never really felt before. I feel obligated to my community of sponsors and readers to help keep this whole indie design, crafting, diy fire going! There is really no crafting community that I feel welcome to or included in here in my hometown, so this online thing is all I got!
Are there any sites or people that you think are really impacting the popularity of the community?
The Switchboards is just about the best thing that ever happened to me as a crafter. When I was starting my first online jewelry business I found alllll the advice that I could ever want on there and attribute my building my own site from scratch, having any orders at all and learning the ropes of the business world to that site. I also think the Sampler and Marie who runs it, Leah Kramer who's behind Craftster and Natalie Zee Dreiu and CRAFT magazine are all an incredible asset to the community as we know it.
Last question for you: any thoughts on how the community could improve itself?
I'd say that we all just need to support each other and acknowledge and appreciate each other's creativity and really work to create original things ourselves. Most everyone does that already, but it's hard hearing stories of people's ideas getting ripped off and I've had my own experiences with that, and it not only hurts the individuals personally, it really hurts the community as a whole. We all just need to stick together!
I am very pleased to announce Bright Ideas week at Try This at Home. Bright Ideas is a launch for us (which we plan to continue annually). It is a week of inspirational resources and will
feature interesting product, informative books and websites, and
interviews from people in those fields in the craft community about
their process and their inspiration. Each day during the week will be dedicated to a different industry (or a combination of two related industries), and all posts will fall under that area. It's definitely a week to watch!
What's the schedule looking like? Here's what's mapped out:
June 17th: Blogs and Community June 18th: Jewelry June 19th: Accessories and Clothing June 20th: Paper Goods June 21th: Bath and Body June 22nd: Home June 23rd: Other Crafts
: featuring recipes and techniques, this book helps inspire new ways of making your soaps unique. Probably the best feature of all, Cavitch also offers insight on soapmaking for profit, including the hardest part for all of us - understanding the government's rules and requirements!
