Craft or Die!

As previously mentioned, I'm slightly addicted to Bust Magazine. While browsing the ads, I came across two awesome pattern shops. I just purchased the pattern for these little guys from Dangercrafts. I absolutely love destash projects! Destash projects are those small projects that take just those little scraps of fabric or random skeins of yarn you have lying around your workspace. They are de-stashing your overwhelming supplies!



So I hope to get started on this project as soon as Rebecca Danger sends me the PDF pattern! They are just too cute for words and I think my mom would love them for X-mas. (two birds with one stone, people! Two birds with one stone!)

Speaking of two birds, I also checked out UrbanThreads Now this is the smartest embroidery website I think I've ever seen. They sell PDF's of simple line drawings to transfer as embroidery patterns. They don't suggest the stitches, the colors, nothing. Just simple black line drawings. They are only a buck each, and I completely fell for it and bought this one! I think it would be fun to embroider and frame over one of my sewing tables. I need crafting projects I can work on during my commute to work. My commute's only 30 mins/each way, but I used to get SO MUCH knitting done in that time!



Well, I'm off to water my plants and get sewing! Later gators!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Handmade Is Better...

I just bought half yards of each of these fabrics from FabricWorm, so expect items in new prints soon:







While reading the latest issue of Bust Magazine, I came across an ad for Craftster's shop and fell in love with this t-shirt:



I rarely wear t-shirts with things printed on them, but this is super cute and I'd totally wear it to the farmer's market or on other weekend errands. I may buy it for myself for x-mas.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Temporarily Closed....

So things have been so nuts with me recently, I made the decision to close up shop until mid August. I've been on Etsy since Sept. 11th, 2005 and have NEVER put my shop in 'Vacation Mode'. This was a huge decision I spent a month thinking about.

I claimed "personal matters" in my shop announcement, but I will explain that a bit...

I'm currently fighting with my landlord on some serious apartment repairs that they are pretty much refusing to do, getting ready for a Labor Management meeting at work and filling in for my Union Chair this month as he's on vacation and it was decided very last minute that I'd take over his job for the next 3 weeks...

My roommate is also moving out in Sept, she was just accepted to Cambridge University for a 1 year Developmental Studies program. My mom has also been pretty ill recently, so every minute that I'm not dealing with housing issues, union issues or work issues, I'm trying to figure out family stuff. Needless to say, it's nuts! As much as I absolutely love making things and selling on Etsy, it's been difficult to even find the time to hit up the Post Office. So I decided to close up and focus on other things for a month and then come back full force for the holidays.



I'm also working on a decent-sized custom order for my boss. She wanted 8 blue cupcake makeup bags for her bridal party.

What's amazing is I've never wanted to make items as much as I have since temporarily closing up my shop! All I think about is making more baby shoes, pouches, finally working on those retro aprons I've been talking about all year... So look out! Come August 10th, I will have a ton of new stuff posted!

I just bought this pin from Lolabot.



It's a John Maeda quote. We sell his book "Laws of Simplicity" @ MoMA, it's fascinating.

Okay, I'm off to Target and then to see a friend's show tonight...

<3 Always,
--Taina

ahhh handmade!

I was really hoping to have a week of vacation to make things for my shop in June, but my worker's comp trumped that. It's amazing how this works...I was stuck at home and depressed, not even being able to sit for any decent length of time because of the swelling of my left foot and I was too down to make things. Which is really quite dumb because the thing that makes me feel best and really myself is when I am being productive and creating...What a terrible downward spiral those 2.5 weeks were!

Towards the end of the last week, just before returning to work, I made these two pairs of baby shoes:(Click photos for more info!)


Pink woodgrain! One of my fave fabric patterns.




But I'm back! And I have no plans other than a few work and education-related after-work activities and some serious yoga classes to attend in the next two weeks. I have a decent-sized custom order, 8 cupcake makeup bags for my boss's bridal party gift totes. I want to get them done even though she won't need them until early September. I ordered the fabric, so hopefully I will have them finished in a week's time or so. That will be nice, one more thing out of the way. My retro aprons are never going to be finished!

I have a week's vacation set up for the first week of August, going to a family reunion of my dad's side of the family. It should be a BLAST, I'm trying to decide if there's enough room in the car for my sewing machine. It would be nice to get some stuff done. I will have to close up shop for that week, which is a little scary, as August tends to do pretty well. I may just announce delayed shipments instead.

In other handmade news?

I made a pair of pretty sweet (if I do say so myself!) coasters for a friend who has become quite dear to me quite quickly as a thank you for keeping me sane through mid-contract negotiations. I used out-of-print Loteria fabric on ceramic tiles, modgepodged the fabric cut to fit, then polyurethaned them so they are completely waterproof. I'd never tried polyurethane-ing fabric before, and it seemed to work pretty well. I paired that with a bottle of Maker's Mark and now when I come over, my friend shows me he has them every time, which makes me smile to no end.

I made a 0-3 month dress and a 3-6month dress for the new babies in my dear friends' lives. My buddy Greg who works in Security at MoMA just had a beautiful baby girl named Paayton Grace. I can't wait until her tiny chubby body fits the 0-3 dress, give it a week or two and I should have photos! For Tamsin, a co-shop steward, I made a 3-6 month dress because she's got maternity leave for 4 months and I thought she'd be able to get some use out of a larger size. Tamsin gave birth to a very healthy Flora Zoe on June 22nd. I know she will send me photos when the dress fits, but that will be in quite some time.

Well, time to go back the fulltime job that pays the bills...lunchtime is over! Photos to come soon!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Birdies!

I finally got my worker's comp. claim #, but nobody's been assigned to my case yet. I'm feeling a little better just knowing it's being worked on. I was feeling pretty darned hopeless this morning.

I ordered 5 new yards of fabric from FabricWorm, so be on the lookout for new things soon! I bought this New Michael Miller below and can't wait to make pillows and baby shoes with it:



My landlord is supposed to be painting my apartment, I've lived in the same place for 3.5 years, so apparently it is time. I still have not heard back on when, and I'm living in a state of not wanting to put anything up until the painting gets done.


Because I've been lying in bed a lot resting my injured foot, I decided to finally put up the vinyl birdie decals I bought from Elephannie a few months ago. I know I will have to take them down once the Super paints, but I will just buy more. In the meantime? I get to wake up and see these little guys above my closet and they make me happy. I need more happiness. It's so easy to wallow and find myself depressed over something stupid that leaves me fairly immobile for (so far) 4 days.

On top of that, the front runner in the boy dept. is causing my mind to question my attraction to those who are unavailable, and the union stuff never stops, the grievances just keep coming!

My poor little toe! The little guy was never able to fend for itself. =P

I was able to make a new pair of baby shoes last night and listed them this morning. They are super sweet and I hope somebody snatches them up quickly, as the print is definitely one of my new favorites!


(click photo for more info)

That's been the extent of my creativity unless you count planting more herb seedlings on my window.

If I had more money, I would go on an Etsy shopping spree, but I just paid rent and bills and am feeling less than comfortable spending more money on myself. So I've just been 'heart'ing everything in site. My poor attempt at a play on words. ;)

Well I'm going to try to drag my sewing machine to my desk and make at least one more pair of shoes. Productivity makes me happiest.

What I wouldn't give to have a hot glue gun handy! I'd at least make recycled magazine page coasters. I wish my hardware store delivered. I don't know why I have no hot glue gun but approx. 100 hot glue sticks, a mystery for the ages...?

<3 Always,
--Taina

longest blogging delay ever!

Hi everyone!

It's been a crazy month and a half. Thanks to my Etsy penpal Nadine for reminding me I should blog. It seems I may have a little time on my hands as I had an injury at work that resulted in what seems to be a possible hairline fracture at worst and a pretty bad contusion/hematoma at best. It's my little toe. Who knew I needed my little toe? I mean, sure, 5 toes means decent balance, but...my little toe is just...well, it's always been a sad chubby little piggie, and now it's swollen and purple and brown and won't fit into my most comfy flats.

This past week has been interesting. I try not to discuss politics on this blog, but it's sometimes unavoidable, as politics and DIY culture tend to mix.

Dr. George Tiller was murdered in Kansas last week. No matter how you feel about abortion, I am not asking to be flamed. I believe it's a very personal decision.

I have been eyeing Kate Black's feminist stuff for ages. I'm a huge fan of her work, she's a totally awesome woman I've met numerous times. I have purchased plenty of her "Well behaved women rarely make history" mirrors/bottle openers and own a "Don't F*ck With Me Fellas, This Ain't My First Time At The Rodeo" bottle-opener keychain.



Along with sending money to Planned Parenthood in mourning the loss of Dr. Tiller, I also purchased this bottle-opener keychain I've been eyeing for ages:



I can't wait for it to come in the mail!

As far as new items for my shop? I'm working on it, it's tough for me to sit for any length of time at my machine because of my toe accident. I did just purchase some really great fabric from FabricWorm, but that will be the next post. =)

<3 Always,
--Taina

Curiousity or Interest?

I just received SUCH a cool necklace from UntamedMenagerie.



It's a quote from "Alice In Wonderland":

"’Curiouser and curiouser!’ Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). ’Now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!’ (for when she looked down at her feet they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so far off)." (Ch. 2)

Recently, I found myself interested in a guy who I know very little about. He's good-looking, has really good taste in both music and books, he's an artist of sorts. I would just like to get to know him better. No jumping the gun here, no sir! He complimented my work on Etsy once upon a time, which is not really something guys do with any frequency, as my work is pretty female-centric.

I think the last time I wrote about a guy was probably my "Ode to an Ex-Lover" post last September...I don't really talk about these things in this blog, unless they somehow relate to My Handmade Life.

A few weeks ago, Tom P., a friend of mine who knows my inner-workings from years of reading an incredibly honest and open blog I had between the ages of 18-24, asked me "Is he a curiousity or an interest?" in a text message.

I thought about it for a few minutes and responded "a curiousity..."

So we'll see, we might hang out this week, but have no definite plans.

<3 Always,
--Taina

March Madness!

...but not in the basketball sense...in my handmade life!

I've sold 9 items in the last week, 7 in 24 hrs, and 2 last night. I'm THRILLED that sales have picked up, and can only hope to keep the momentum going.



A coworker in another dept. in the Museum saw my shop on my Facebook profile and bought a couple items from me for his sister's 25th birthday. He's from Texas and mentioned that they both have a thing for sugar skulls. After selling him the two things he was interested in, I went home and checked out how much fabric I had left in the two sugar skull colorways I use and made more things for my shop. It felt like the minute I listed them, they sold! Such a great feeling! So I made more and listed them!


(click photos for more info!)

A few years ago, I started the tradition of making a birthday gift by hand for my Aunt Gailey. She's my knitting and sewing aunt, and we have a really great relationship. Her birthday was 03/08, and I knew what I wanted to make her.

My grandmother Esther (father's mother) passed away from Emphysema many many years ago. I was a wee child, the age of 7 when she died. Esther was a depression-era lady. She took buttons off of shirts that were too worn to wear so she could put them on other things. She canned, she sewed, she darned socks. She was a crafty lady, in all sense of the word.

When my grandfather Steve died in 2000, all of the grandparents' items were divided up over the 5 children and their grandchildren. I asked for this poster that used to be in Grandma Esther's little room that said "Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits." I absolutely love it because it's so odd but so great!

Well, I thought how perfect it would be to cross-stitch my own version of this poster for my Aunt Gailey's birthday this year. So I did! I hadn't embroidered anything in soooo long. It took me weeks, but this was the final product, framed:



Well, in the time it took to write this post, I sold my 300th item!!! Yayyy! I did a happy dance to Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" and now it's time to get back to work!

<3 Always,
--Taina

How good it feels...

...to be making things again!

After almost a month hiatus from making anything new for my shop, I finally sat down and created these adorable baby shoes:


(Click photo for more info)

I also cut out the fabric for another pair I hope to finish tomorrow morning before work.

Wow, I'd almost forgotten how great it feels to make things for Etsy!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Retro-style aprons!

I have started making aprons for my shop and can't wait to photograph these domestic little numbers!

The first one I am finishing tonight is made from this Alexander Henry apple and pear fabric:



I can't wait to photograph and list it! It will most likely be posted on Wednesday, since I work super early tomorrow and can't take good photos until the sun comes up.

Be on the lookout! This is just the beginning!

<3 Always,
--Taina

A Good Etsy Day

Yesterday was great!

I listed my "Night Owls" throw pillow:



I got some great feedback from my facebook friends when I uploaded it there. I updated my flickr account and added my latest two pillows to the groups I'm a member of.

I sold one of my favorite makeup pouches:



and got home from work to find the gorilla portrait I bought from BerkleyIllustration waiting for me in my mailbox along with a freebie print of a gorilla and a bird!

A handmade day that made me smile from beginning to end!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Hi, my name is Taina and...

I'm addicted to VieModerne's flowers!

(admitting is the first step!)

I wore a different one every day at the United Auto Workers Health & Safety Conference and it was a great way for the guys to come up and ask me about them and start a conversation. I accidentally squished my pink hair clip to the point of no return, so I just bought a replacement.



There's nothing like combined shipping discounts to make someone want to buy more than one of something, so I purchased a gold satin one also! I am so excited!



I also went to Borders Books after work and looked through books of little girl dresses and have been sketching out ideas, so be on the look out! My coworker Greg and his wife Candy are having a baby girl in June, so I get to try out all my patterns on them. =)

When I got home, I listed my latest pillow, a print I absolutely love. It's called "VW Sole", in the pink colorway.



(As always, you can click the photos for more details)

I photographed my latest pillow this morning but didn't have time to list it, so it will have to happen once I get home from work this evening.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Spring things!

Even though I'm a Winter baby, I have found myself tired of slush and the terrible drops in temperature this year. I decided to buy some new fabrics for items for Spring and chose these from FabricWorm:



I am especially excited by the 2nd, 3rd and 5th prints in that stack.

And I also bought these:



I think the woodgrain is super cute. I can't wait to make lots of makeup bags and coin purses and things out of these fabrics!

Be on the lookout! Lots of new things coming in the next week or two! I also made two new pillows, one I am listing in my shop tonight, the other I am photographing tomorrow and listing before work if possible.

Oh, as for things I have purchased? I'm an Etsy addict recently! I bought two vintage things from JollyPollyPickins.

The first is a vintage owl coffee container and matching mug for my old roommates Dorian & Becky who just got engaged, so it's their engagement/housewarming gift.



The second was an impulse buy. It's a vintage Circus container that spins! I thought it would make a cute spot for candy or something on my coffee table in my livingroom. It reminds me of this circus train toy set I had when I was a child.



I can't wait until they come! I thought I'd buy some nice coffee to put into the coffee container for D&B.

<3 Always,
--Taina

I'm baaack!

Black Lake (Onaway), MI was incredible. So much snow! The UAW is an incredible brother(and sister)hood. As I'd told the president of my Local, there is nowhere I'd rather celebrate my birthday. They are like a second family to me.



So now I'm back home in NYC, I got back on Friday night, slept all day yesterday and am still tired today. My roommate hasn't put her bed together yet and is still sleeping on the couch a couple weeks later. This makes it difficult for me to make things early mornings. I REALLY want to sew!

I got home, paid my Etsy bill and donated 15% of my sales for February to World Wildlife Fund. It came to $8.40, so I rounded it up to $10.

I picked UNICEF as the world-wide organization to donate 15% of my sales to for the month of March. They do so much work for children, and as I am gearing my shop more towards children's items as of recent, I think it is perfect for March.

I had some money left over after paying the bill and donating, so I bought myself a couple things I'd been eyeing from my "Favorites".

I finally bought the little birdies decal from Elephannie that I'd mentioned a few posts earlier, as well as this awesome gorilla print from Berkley Illustration:



and a few stamps and stamp pads from NoraJane to personalize the boxes and envelopes I ship my items in. I bought a heart and a spool of thread. I also bought a little frog for my mom:



Once my roommate wakes up, I can go into my fabric pantry and pick the fabrics I want to make things out of today.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Getting ready for cold, cold Michigan!

I will be leaving Saturday for the United Auto Workers Health & Safety Conference in Onaway, Michigan. It is going to be COLD! I will be there for my bday, so I bought myself a few birthday presents on Etsy last week.

Currently, I am wearing my letter "T" typewriter ring from Keysandmemories.etsy.com and LOVE IT! I've been wearing it every day since I purchased it!

I also bought this fabulous vegan raspberry creme lip balm from RightAsRainCreations.etsy.com:


It's exfoliating, tastes and smells great, and really moisturizes! I will definitely be back for more!

I also went back to Berkeley Illustration and purchased two more 5x7" prints, including the Billy Goat, which I think is awesome! He's eating his own tie!



I also just found out a coworker's wife is pregnant with a baby girl, and he wants me to make the outfit they bring her home in. That's so much pressure! I bought this fabric:



I was thinking a sundress, bloomers and baby shoes. We'll see. I expect to be making quite a few things for them. I can't wait until the fabric gets here!

Okay, off to work at the day job, lunch is almost over!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Lazy Saturday...

I had all of these things I planned on doing today and got nearly none of them done! I did spend some time on my computer and got some stuff done there.

I finally updated my Flickr account to where I want it to be! I created an account years ago and all the photos were terrible and it just wasn't fun, so I revamped it, deleted all the really old photos, created sets of self-portraits and things I've made for Etsy...added myself to some groups, found a few contacts...Yay! I'd been putting off fixing it up for a while.

I also sat at my sewing machine and made a pair of baby shoes for My shop:


(Click photo for more info)

And now I'm going to clean my apartment, order a veggie burger and make some more stuff.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Febrrrruary!

The good thing about it being incredibly cold this month is that it is only the 6th and I've already made a few things for my shop. It's too cold to stay out, my apartment is nice and warm, which makes it quite a nice environment for creating things.

I made a few pairs of baby shoes and a throw pillow. I listed the throw-pillow yesterday and it already sold! I love when that happens!


Birds and Blossoms pillow.

And I made my first pair of organic baby shoes:


The outer fabric is 60% organic cotton and 40% organic bamboo, and SO SOFT! =) I love it! I plan on making other things with the fabric.

The same day, I made these sea turtle baby shoes which I think are totally sweet:


And today I made these cute baby shoes as I am trying to create more gender-neutral baby items:



Tomorrow I plan on listing at least one new makeup bag and coin purse, and possibly a throw pillow, so stay tuned!

<3 Always,
--Taina

More hobbit birthday purchases!

I have been looking for something special for my mom to give to her on my birthday. She gave birth to me, I thought I could give her something relaxing. I'm trying to purchase all of my Hobbit birthday presents to distribute on my birthday on Etsy.

Today I went to the front page of Etsy and stumbled upon the featured seller: SweetPetula. She makes bath and body items from scratch! Perfect! My mother loves to take baths and hardly ever does. I want her to pamper herself more, as she owes it to herself. I purchased bath fizzies in three different scents:



I purchased "Mediterranean Mint", "Provence" and "Sweet P." I think it's the perfect gift for my mom!

Okay, I have to sew the remaining of my January 10 items and list them by tomorrow. Time to get cracking!

♥ ♥ ♥
I am having a Twitter/Blog sale this weekend! Free shipping on all purchases, enter "twitter" or "blog" in the notes to seller box at check out, and I will send a revised invoice! Click here to check out my shop!

<3 always,
--Taina

February's Coming!

Do you know what that means? Valentine's Day! My Birthday! My trip to the United Auto Workers Health & Safety Conference!

So many things to be excited about! I didn't used to be a Valentine's Day kind of gal, but now that I have two penpals and a number of single friends, I thought it would be fun to purchase/make cards.

I bought a couple from CreativeApples, but can only show one of them because my Etsy penpal reads my blog:



Also, I really love the idea of a Hobbit Birthday. Hobbits give gifts to others on their birthday, and I think that's an awesome idea. So I've been buying little things on Etsy to give my friends. I bought a few things from VieModerne, including one hairclip for myself:



I think I need to check her shop again for something perfect for my birthday. Although, I also wonder how the reaction would be if I wore something super girly in my hair at a United Auto Workers conference! lol.

<3 Always,
--Taina

P.S. There's a sale going on in my shop right now! All pillows are on sale, $18 marked down from $22!

I <3 sewing!

I always wonder what other people's work areas look like. I'm still revamping mine, so I will be posting a photo or two every once in a while.



This is the sewing machine I most frequently use, it was my mother's. My dad actually got it for my mom as a present in the 70's. The brand is "New Home". It's super basic; zig-zag, straight, reverse, buttonholes...I got it fixed up after my mom let me borrow it. It weighs at least 30lbs and is mostly metal, and thankfully has a great carrying case, because I dragged it all the way downtown by subway to a mom&pop shop to get it fixed and cleaned. It now works like a dream! Let's hope my mom never finds a reason to want it back! =) There's something to be said about older sewing machines.

Speaking of...my other sewing machine is a 1947 Singer that comes in a table. I inherited it from my grandmother once my grandfather passed away. It's actually what the "New Home" is resting on. I use the small table when I make small things, like baby shoes and coin purses. Anything larger? I move the New Home to a full desk an old roommate gave me. I will take pics of everything soon.

Here are my newest baby shoes, item 5/10 for January:



I'm off to sew up 6 and maybe 7/10 for the month of January.

<3 Always,
--Taina