In Like a Lion

What's up with me?

About everything!

March has been crazy and I'm seeing some more craziness in my future.

I've sold two items so far this month, which is nice. It's been so slow on Etsy and I hope this is a sign that business is gonna pick up!
Also I sold a huge custom order on Etsy. A lady from California bought 320 custom magnets to give as favors for her wedding. I've ordered all the supplies and those should all be in by Wednesday. After Wednesday, I will be elbow-deep in magnets & gems & glue & loteria cards. I can't wait!

Also I've decided to spearhead an Etsy Craft Show. So I've been e-mailing back & forth with other Etsy sellers in the area and we plan to meet in a few days to start planning.
I don't know when the show is gonna be, but I'll let you know when I know.

So between magnets & craft shows... I looks like March is gonna go out like a lion too.

I'm happy to be busy!

My Snow Project

Everyone has been hit with snow... even Texas! I say that not even knowing if Texas normally gets snow.
We here in NC haven't been hit the hardest, but since we're not at all used to it... it feels hard!

Often I was snowed in or it was just too damn cold to leave the house. And yeah, I could've made a m. ranae bag or wallet or something... but deep inside I needed a personal craft to help pass the time.

I've been feeling the need to journal more... or write more poems... or document my adventures... or all of the above. And I was super-duper close to buying a journal made by someone else on Etsy. But after looking at the journals the DIYer in me said "you can totally make that yourself." So I put down the credit card and instead, picked up some paper.

I decided to make a mixed-paper journal, similar to the ones I saw online. But I made my pages bigger (8"x5") and I put more pages in it (which I later decided was a little too much). I used a lot of the paper items I had on hand (I'm a packrat, you know). And I used a junk piece of pvc plastic (sign materials) to make the cover. It was all pulled together with large binder rings.

Below is a look inside my new journal and a little insight to why the pages are mixed.


I used cards & other smaller bits of paper that had meaning or were beautiful in some way. It will make for a short journal entry, a drawing or maybe a haiku.



I used many different colored papers & scrapbook papers. Many were picked at random and I hope that when I get to those pages the colors or design will inspire my writing.



This picture shows a page with "blue" written on it... again that's a springboard for my writing. The other page is a piece of file folder, cut to fit the book. Honestly, that was just added for fun.



This is a great page! It's part of an old calendar. I put mailing decals on it so I'd have somewhere to write.



This is my version of one of the ideas I saw online. It's an envelope. I put three or four envelopes throughout the book... this one has a photo inside. Again the photo is to help springboard my writing.



Top view of the whole book. As you can see... lots & lots of different paper.



And... the cover. I just picked a piece of scrapbook paper that I liked.

Overall, it took a few days of work to put it all together. But it's a beautiful project that has brought me much pride. As of this post I've only written in it once, but I'm really, really excited for writing the book will inspire.

Want to make your own? Write me and I'll gladly guide you!

Belated Resolutions

Well, I'm a sucker for peer pressure.

All along the web I've seen people (bloggers and such) talking about their New Years resolutions, in the crafty sense. Some talk about all the things they want to accomplish and all the things they want to create. Others talk about things they'd like to avoid or things they'll change.

And I'm usually a firm believer that resolutions don't work. Blah, blah change... blah, blah diet... blah, blah bigger boobs.

But secretly, I've been finding my hate towards resolutions softening. I now see that a new year is like changing the sheets. It's so fresh and crisp and it smells awesome!
Plus, everyone else is doing it (don't worry, this never worked on me with smoking).

So here are a few of my resolutions. Some are personal, but most involve m. ranae.

-- Blog more. No surprises here... especially if you actually read my blog and wait patiently for the next post (which sometimes takes a while).

-- Upload to Etsy more frequently. It's a known fact that the more days you upload stuff to Etsy the more "seen" you are. I use to upload tons of things at a time... now I pace myself (like a seasoned runner... running, of which I know nothing about).

-- Do at least one craft show. This may be harder than I think, because you have to be accepted to do it. I was recently rejected... so maybe my rejection streak will continue. Nonetheless, I'm gonna try.

-- Keep track of my papers. I don't sell tons & tons of stuff, but the bit I do involves some paperwork. This year I'm gonna keep my files organized and easy to locate. Yay!

-- Keep track of my life. I'm forgetful and scattered and sometimes I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I have an iPod with all the right apps... I just need to use them.

-- Learn more about running a business. I feel the key to success is know your enemy. My enemy is bookkeeping and other business related voodoo. I bought a "Gardening for Dummies" book and now I can actually grow things. I plan on buying "Small Business for Dummies" and start growing my biz.

-- Play more Plants vs. Zombies. Nuff said. Really.

-- Get healthier. I take a lot of vitamins and I try to be conscience of what I eat and do. I got into the habit of exercising last year, but fell out of it. This year I'm gonna conquer exercising.

-- Perfect my art. Every day I get better and better are making my bags, wallets, pouches & such. But there is still room for improvement. There are still things to learn. So I'm gonna keep on keeping on.

Well that is it for now. I'm sure along the way I'll decide that exercising sucks, Plants vs Zombies is time consuming and it's more fun to play games on my iPod than work. But I'm a winner as long as I try to follow these resolutions

Eureka! Fabric Flowers!

So I had a dilemma...
My new Pockety Bag needed something.
What did it need? I did not know... but something.
The overall look was good, but something was missing.
Wait...
Wait...

Eureka!
I need a little flower! Yes, a cute little flower pinned to one side.

And I thought about it for a while... I honestly wasn't sure where to start making a flower. I messed with some ribbon and scraps of fabric, but I wasn't coming up with something I liked. I searched Etsy for awhile looking for brooches & fabric flowers. All were great, but I didn't want to jack up the price of my bag because I purchased something from someone else. I needed to figure out how to make one.

So I considered using someone else's pattern. After searching the internet I finally found a flower I could be proud of... Wise Craft's Flowers. There is a downloadable pattern and full instructions.

These were created by this awesome lady named Blair. She's even more awesome because she let me use the flower pattern on my bags. And I so, so thank her.

I made my first one... the yellow one for the bag and I loved it. Wise Craft even says in her blog how addicting they are... and they are. I ended up making four total that day, but as I type this I get the urge for more... one in every color!

Anyhow... the flower was what was missing from the bag. Now it looks awesome instead of just "great." This exact bag is now for sale on my Etsy. You can check out the rest of the Pockety Tote here. And check out Wise Craft's blog... it's one of the best crafty blogs out there... I swear. I'm not just sucking up 'cuz she let me use her pattern. She is super-crafty.

Who? What? When? PART TWO

Okay... so I did some searching on this "Featured on Etsy" thing. I learned that there isn't really a notification system.
But other Etsians have had this problem and they've found a solution; either Google Analytics or Craft Cult. I used Craft Cult (cuz it's cool).

So... below you will find the list I was in. Mine is the orange & paisley makeup bag.
Yay!