I did it!

I met my 2007 goal of selling my 200th item by January 1st, 2008. I sold it last night.

It's my pink zoo coin purse:



Super exciting! It's one of my favorites. I'm shipping it out first thing tomorrow morning.

So I don't know if I mentioned it, but last year I decided to give handmade gifts to my extended family. I made something like 160 white chocolate cranberry cookies. I baked for 2 days straight and rushed to the Post Office to priority mail them so that they'd still be good by the time they got to my aunts, uncles and cousins.

I was all ready to do this again when I realized I didn't want to stress so much about it. I thought I'd maybe make peppermint bark instead.

So I went to Michael's craft store to buy some supplies and art kits for children and saw that their white chocolate chips were on sale. Score! I also picked up 50 of those little candy cellophane baggies w/ ties.

So today I have to go out and purchase a million candycanes. For the Operation Santa presents, for stocking stuffers for my immediate family & friends and lbs and lbs of them to crush and make peppermint bark out of.

It's sleeting something hardcore right now, and the thought of going out is really not appealing, but I must. Time to get bundled up! I will take pics for a blog later. =)

<3 Always!
--Taina

Bust Magazine Holiday Craftacular

Bust Magazine quickly became one of my favorite magazines this year. It's a feminist magazine with DIY how-to's, alternative shopping guides, music reviews, interviews and much more.

Little did I know they had a "Holiday Craftacular"! It's one day only and HUGE. Think 200+ booths at the Met. Pavilion on 18th St.in Manhattan. DJ's, beer, veggie and meat franks and burgers, cupcakes & coffee, a holiday polaroid photo booth complete with really tacky sweaters from the 80's and every kind of craft imaginable represented.

It wouldn't be complete without Amy Sedaris signing her new book and selling her wares. My friend Dorian purchased a bic lighter that had "poof! It's magic!" handwritten on it.

The fair was super inspiring. I went with my friend Dorian, who is planning out her next apartment. It was fun to look at all of the housewares and come up with projects to work on and things to purchase for her housewarming.

There were SO many cool things. All I wanted to do was go straight home after shopping and make things for my etsy shop. I took business cards from everyone I intend to purchase from in the near future. Oh and one very cute silk screener. I'm going to see if he has a MySpace profile. ;)

A few of my all-time etsy faves were there, it was good to see them in person.

I stopped by Kate Black and decided I will yet again custom order something from her for a friend.

Next up, we went to Luca/Lollibomb Beauty's booth. I officially introduced myself and we chatted for a minute. Then she turned around to answer someone's question and turned back around to see Dorian rubbing a sample solid perfume all over her lips. She thought it was lip balm! Luca laughed and said "I can't turn around for a minute here!" She said that sometimes guys come up and eat her Body Souffle right out of the jar because most of them smell like very tempting desserts.


Finally, I found Sarah/Fort Cloudy! She is such a sweetheart. I love that I haven't seen her in months and she still recognizes me. She's got some of the most adorable appliques ever! I saw a baby t-shirt with Walfred the Raddish on it that I just HAD to buy for my cousin's baby. I was so enamored with it I didn't even realize it was 2 sizes too big for Andy Jr. It's fine, I will just hold off on giving it to him until later next year, as I already have SO many Christmas presents for him.

I love Fort Cloudy's characters, they all have their own personalities and are super cute. You have to check the descriptions! Her fried egg is called "Sal Monella", how fun is that?

After saying hi to everyone, I realized that ReproDepot had a booth. I practically ran over to them and found that they were selling fat quarters and half yards by the oz. I bought quite a few new prints and have already made two new coin purses. One, I am listing today and the second? You will have to wait until tomorrow!



<3 Always,
--Taina

The long wait...

So I've been promising these new makeup bags I designed for a few weeks. I'm excited about them because they are wide enough for pencils and pens and other drawing supplies. They don't have to be makeup. I even had someone tell me she'd use it as a clutch! I personally find this size much more functional. I don't wear tons of makeup, but this new bag will fit my mascara, lipstain, eyeshadow, mirror, comb, hairclips, nail polish and even my eyelash curler.

I finally listed one today! I absolutely love the Sugar Skulls fabric. I have a yard in hot pink that I have not yet used, but am almost out of the blue print, so I may have to make the switch soon. I will be listing a few more throughout the week.

I think it's time to place another zipper order. I get really excited when I order zippers. I love the colors and the different lengths. I really think a matching or contrasting zipper can make the bag unique and either fun or classy.

I have to update on the Bust Craftacular soon. I had SO much fun.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Long Week...

I work a fulltime job and am also a Union Representative. Sometimes I get caught up in my work outside of creating things and my creativity has to be put on hold. That's what this week was, a whole lot of non-handmade work.

I did finish the tattoo pillow order. So exciting. I think they came out really well.

Today I am going to the BUST Craftacular on 18th betw. 6th and 7th Aves. I'm super stoked. I'm hoping it will inspire me to come home and make lots more things for my shop.

I purchased some custom fragrances from Luca from Lollibomb and am excited for those to arrive in the mail. I bought Apricot Coconut for my mom and Vanilla Chai & White X-mas (light minty scent) for myself.

I love receiving packages in the mail! Now that I have $ in my paypal acct again, I can continue to purchase presents on Etsy.

I am off to get ready for the Craftacular!

<3 Always,
--Taina

The "Buy Handmade" Pledge

I absolutely love the idea of making and buying handmade gifts for people. Handmade items form this connection between creator and user. I love buying handmade things for a number of reasons:

1. I love getting things other than bills in the mail.
2. I like seeing how sellers package their items.
3. I like holding a handmade object in my hand and looking it over, imagining all of the work.
4. I love the idea of supporting fair wages for artisans, and what better way than knowing you are paying the price the artisan themselves has decided their work is worth?
5. I like unique things.

So this year, Etsy started the "Buy Handmade" Pledge. It says you will buy handmade goods as gifts and would appreciate it if others did the same for you.

So I was lucky enough this year to work my first craft fair. I made tons of things in anticipation and sewed and knit until my arms felt like they would fall off. The fair was Artists & Fleas in Williamsburg. I attended on Nov. 18th. The crowd was much more of a looking crowd than a buying crowd, so I have TONS of things to list on my Etsy Shop.

Since I have so many things to list and am currently ahead of the game, I am going to take my new-found spare time and make things as gifts for family members.

So far, I am:

1. knitting a tie for my dad.
2. knitting convertible mittens for my mom.
3. making a little bird pouch for my bird-watching Aunt Gailey.
4. making a scrabble bracelet for my Aunt Sally.
5. knitting an apple hat for my cousin's baby.
6. baking 12 tins worth of white chocolate cranberry cookies for my extended family.

My brother is not getting anything handmade by me this year. I was thinking of knitting him a pair of convertible mittens, but I'm terrified he will lose them and I will be heartbroken. I think I will purchase something handmade for him instead.

My handmade purchases will include:

1. Vegan soaps from DistilledRose for my parents.
2. Either a t-shirt or hoodie from 1Aeon for my brother.
3. something from Lollibomb for my Aunt Millie. She definitely deserves to be pampered.

Custom Orders - I HEART them!

I was contacted last weekend asking if it was possible to make four tattoo pillows like this one:



I was THRILLED. I figured I'd head over to cheapthreads.etsy.com and purchase the fabric from her. She's super friendly and reliable and packages from her come in 2-3 days.

So I contact her and she says she's completely out of the tattoo fabric in black! eek! What am I to do? So I searched Etsy and contacted another fabric seller. I explained that I was willing to pay Priority Shipping and apologized for the last minute order. She was super friendly and hopefully I will have my fabric today.

So if anyone is interested, my two favorite etsy fabric sellers are:
Liz @ Cheapthreads
Tiffany @ LuckyKaeruFabric

Now I'm debating whether I should go out to NYU's ArtMart or stay home and wait for the postal carrier to deliver my fabric. Decisions Decisions!


<3 Always,
--Taina

Etsy Mini

Earlier this year, Etsy.com launched "Etsy Mini". It's a little banner that updates itself with favorites from your etsy shop. I figured a picture is worth 1000 words. Instead of explaining what I make, why not just show what I consider to be my top 8 items of the moment?



There you have it. For more info and the rest of my items:
taina.etsy.com

<3 Always,
--Taina

Welcome!

Hello everyone, and welcome!

I have officially created a blog just for my Etsy Shop.

This is where I will post thoughts, ideas, photos, and weekly updates on what's going on in the world of http://taina.etsy.com. Probably even some reviews of my purchases from other Etsy Shops.

I'm no stranger to the world of blogging. I had a personal livejournal for 6 or 7 years and then finally moved it over to my personal myspace acct. I do have a MySpace profile for my etsy shop, come check it out and become one of my friends:

http://myspace.com/tainadotetsydotcom

This is my first time having a blog specifically for all things handmade and you have NO IDEA how stoked I am. =)

<3 always,
--Taina