nightowlcraftworks

Web page...

2011-09-25T12:40:00.000-05:00

Visit our web page... http://www.nightowlcraftworks.com/

A belated happy holidays and some goodbye news for this blog...

2011-01-16T23:36:00.001-06:00

It's been a while! We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

I haven't posted in over a month I believe. With a new year I've decided to make a big leap and try out a new look and a new blog site. We have already imported all of our previous posts into the WordPress blog, so you will still have access to all of our content from the past 2 years!!! I will leave the blogger site up, but will most likely post everything on our new site. I've loved blogger. I try to remember how frustrated I got with it at first, so as not to get too frustrated at the WordPress site. After you learn how to use blogger it's wonderful. I will miss it immensely. I feel it's time to step out of the comfort zone & learn some new skills. And if you know me, you know I do almost everything backwards.

There are a few reasons for this change. WordPress is going to be hard for me to learn... but I'm hoping you all bear with me... because in the long run we have more control over the layout and offerings of the site. We are mainly going to focus on getting an eCommerce section so you can purchase directly from us. We aren't sure how this will all play out yet, but we're hoping it will be seamless.

So... this will be my last post on the blogger blog, and a new beginning for our wordpress blog. Please subscribe to our feed at www.nightowlcraftworks.com If you need help doing so, just drop me an email at nightowlcraftworks@gmail.com

Giveaway Winner! Rustique Art!

2010-12-17T21:29:00.000-06:00

I wish we could give something to everyone who participated, but there can be only one :P Thank you all for joining the fun and supporting our shop! We appreciate you all very much!

Thanks Cindi! You're our winner!!! I'll be mailing out your package tomorrow <3

You can check out Cindi's shop here... rustiqueart

Mini Gallery; Rough Life... by guest curator RustiqueArt

2010-12-10T09:00:00.016-06:00

Thank you to RustiqueArt for sharing this treasury!  

Visit her shop HERE!

It's Alive!!!

2010-12-04T00:48:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday, after a month of waiting for a new propane regulator and parts for our chimney, we had our first firing. We decided that the first firing should be a bisque. Bisque firing hardens the pottery, but leaves it still able to absorb water. This allows you to handle the pottery more easily when dipping into our glazes.

We were all a little nervous that the kiln would perform as we hoped it would, but soon after lighting the burners all of our fears melted away. There was still a little water in the arch, but other than a little steam, it didn't cause much trouble.

The firing ended with both top and bottom dead even and plenty of propane pressure in reserve. With any luck our first glaze firing will go just as well.

Stay tuned for photos of the next firing and enjoy some photos of the inaugural run

Mini Gallery; Black Friday Etsy II by SweetlyFallen

2010-11-26T08:57:00.004-06:00

Thank you to SweetlyFallen for sharing this treasury!

Visit her shop HERE!

What are your purchases for this wonderful day <3

Mini Gallery; Over The River & Through the Woods to Grandmothers House We Go... by MollysMuses

2010-11-23T11:30:00.000-06:00

Big thank you's to MollyMuses for submitting this treasury!

Visit her shop HERE!

Who are you spending you Thanksgiving with? <3

Trunk Show Nov 30th & Dec 1st!

2010-11-22T10:34:00.001-06:00

Etsy Lab Rats Team is hosting a virtual trunk show!

What does it mean & how do you participate?

There will be many of our teammates offering deals online in real time (you have to be there to get the deals). Some will even get on their webcam so you can meet the artists "face to face". No, you don't need a webcam. You can just spy on us ;)

You do need to sign in to your Etsy account. The event will begin at 8PM EST on the 30th & 1st, if you get there a bit early you can get a good seat & chat with everyone in the room. To find us... you can click on the Community tab, then Virtual Labs tab, then join us in the Moon Room (click the orange box). Don't click on anything until the page loads fully, you might get kicked out & meet the error hamster... if this happens just try again. You'll see a lot of little avatars in the white squares, click on an empty square to "take a seat". Once you've taken a seat you can type in the chat bar at the bottom.

Sit back & enjoy the offering of all our teammies :)

What will WE be offering? You'll have to join us to find out!

Mike & I will (hopefully) both be on webcam on December 1st, so come on out & support the shop!

We'd really appreciate it :D

THANK YOU!!!

Voila! A complete gas kiln!

2010-11-21T14:39:00.001-06:00

Yay! It's all finished up & looking beautyous!

So here's the final pics of the build.

Mike cutting a hole in the ceiling...

I climbed up there & cut out the supports & framed some of it in. No pics of that... it was mostly my legs hanging out of the hole. Mike was too busy (thankfully) spotting me to take pics.

The stack from the outside...

The regulator...

Mike made a little barrel stove for the barn to keep us warm this winter. We were burning the paint off before we brought it in. It's all installed & working wonderfully <3

We also got 1000 pounds of clay!

All put away in the studio <3

We weren't able to fire any ware this weekend. We don't have enough to fill the kiln. Mike did run it empty for a few hours to dry it all out & prep it. It works so well! I can't wait to take some pics of it all full of happy little pots. I've even been throwing a little!

The next question is what glaze colors should we make? :D

Our 2nd Year Etsiversary Giveaway!

2010-11-18T20:42:00.001-06:00

December 17th will be our 2nd Etsiversary!!!

We are very excited! It's been a long road. Sometimes paved with many successes. Sometimes paved with crippling lulls and "Why do we do this?" days. What keeps us here? The drive that we all have to create. The knowledge that I know we can succeed. Maybe it has been just that... that we have stuck it out for almost two years that convinces me that this is what we want to do for the rest of our lives. Eventually we will have our own shop on premises. A physical location. We can sell & teach & foster more creativity.

We are very lucky and happy to have an outlet for now that is a bit more low key, until we are ready to make that final push to our goal. That goal in my mind is very very close.

I'd love it if you would help us celebrate our 2nd year online.
We'll be doing a wonderful giveaway, a mug & journal!
And here's how we'll do it...

For each step leave a comment, it will count as 1 entry.

We'll choose a winner on December 17th.

Follow us on Twitter & tweet "Happy 2nd Etsiversary @nightowlcraft! Join the giveaway! http://bit.ly/afGMSB" and you'll get an entry, leave a comment.

Add our shop to your favorites, leave a comment

Join the newsletter, leave a comment

Like us on facebook, leave a comment

Follow the blog, leave a comment

Submit a mini gallery, leave a comment

Submit your mini gallery...

2010-11-12T15:14:00.000-06:00

How? Like so...

Step 1. Create a poster sketch of either 9 or 12 shops. They can have a theme, or not. I'm just looking for some really awesome looking collections. Bring your A game!

Step 2. Email me the listing numbers. nightowlcraftworks@gmail.com If you'd like to add a screenshot I'd appreciate it... but it's not necessary.

Step 3. Wait for me to get back to you letting you know if I've accepted the submission.

Good luck... you're name may soon be in lights! OK... maybe not lights, but the title to the post ;)

Check out our previous submissions...
Guest Curated Mini Galleries

*the fine print... I will post to your Etsy shop in the blog post & make sure your shop name goes in the title. Don't have a shop? That's OK. We'll talk :) It's all about spreading the love <3 If you submit a sketch I may rearrange it if I deem it necessary for the look of the blog, but I will do my best to keep the submission original.

Questions? Shoot me an email or leave a comment!

Gas lines are all in...

2010-11-12T13:53:00.000-06:00

The door is all trimmed up & closes wonderfully!

And the burners are all plumbed...

And the tank is delivered...

The beginning of next week the regulator goes on & the tank gets filled.

We finally got the stack pipe, so guess what we'll be doing this weekend?

Hopefully we won't get soaking wet & I can take pictures :D

Wish us luck!

Speed Networking for Creative Thinkers and Doers

2010-11-07T18:00:00.002-06:00

What is this? Here's the run down, it's kinda like speed dating... but NOT! My artsy friends and I were having a cup o' joe at a local coffee shop, we were sharing ideas and websites and what works for us. It was such a wonderful night & there was so much great energy Frank Juarez wanted to share that with others. He contacted me and asked if I'd like to collaborate to work to bring creative's together to share ideas and network. I was absolutely excited about the idea! Spend more time at my fav coffee shop AND meet new peeps and gab all afternoon?! Sh'ya!

So without further ado... the details...

How often do you network with others? When you have an idea what type of action do you take? What types of social networks would be appropriate to reach your audience?

Are you looking for fresh ideas? Do you want to learn from the experience of others? Do you want to share what works for you?

Speed Networking for Creative Thinkers and Doers is an event, which will provide you ways on how to get yourself out there by spending 2 to 3 minutes with each participant and sharing what you do to live a creative and self-rewarding lifestyle. Topics can range from social media outlets, branding, online market places, and so on.

Essentially, the first and only round is to break the ice amongst the participants. Once the round is complete, we will then begin to socialize amongst one another to learn more in depth about they found interesting or wanting to learn more of.

Where: How often do you network with others? When you have an idea what type of action do you take? What types of social networks would be appropriate to reach your audience?

Are you looking for fresh ideas? Do you want to learn from the experience of others? Do you want to share what works for you?

Speed Networking for Creative Thinkers and Doers is an event, which will provide you ways on how to get yourself out there by spending x amount of time with each participant and sharing what you do to live a creative and self-rewarding lifestyle. Topics can range from social media outlets, branding, online market places, and so on.

Where: Paradigm Coffee + Music

1202 N. 8th Street

Sheboygan, WI

When: December 5th from 1PM to 3PM

To participate, email Frank Juarez at effjayprojekts@gmail.com to register.

Participation is free.

RSVP by November 18th

organized by EFFJAY PROJEKTS and NightOwlCraftworks

Don't worry about bringing a pen & paper, we've gotcha covered ;)

I gotta Feeling (Black Eyed Peas Cover) Beef Tea String Band

2010-11-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a while, so I'm putting up this wonderful video! The dude with the gee-tar is my friend's husband & the person who taught me a bit about playing my bass. I hope you enjoy the vid until I can get some content to slap up here :D

Getting to that time of year...

2010-10-18T16:44:00.001-05:00

Every year I do the last minute dash to make as many Christmas gifts as possible! This year I've decided to make a quilt for Hailey. I purchased a Moda charm pack and I'm going to try out this quilt:

I cut out some of the fabrics, but I'm not loving the fabric I have for the white areas. I'm not a big fan of dots. Does this mean a trip to the fabric shop? Yes it does! It's been so long since I've made a quilt I'm pretty excited about it!

So what else could I do for the holiday push? If you have any ideas or suggestions for kids and teens handmade gifts leave me a comment! Please feed my holiday gift making psychosis! It's the best kind really... and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Easily adding a link of posts to blogger...

2010-10-18T12:05:00.000-05:00

When blogging you may do a weekly feature or some other sort of posts that you'd like people to find easily. A nice way to show people the many things your blog has to offer is to add a link to these posts on the sidebar. So without further ado...

First things first... make sure you tag your posts with the same tag to make them searchable. This will be important to have the same tag in the posts related to the link on your sidebar.

Next you'll want to open your blog in two tabs. The first to edit, the second to copy your searched url.

In the first window get your "edit layout" page ready. You'll want to "add a gadget" to your sidebar, scroll down to "Link List" and add. With that all open and ready to go, move on to the second tab.

Now remember the tag you used for all your pertinent posts? Go to your first post with that tag and click on it. It will bring up all posts with that tag. Copy that url into your "Link List" and give it a name :)

Remember to save all your work! You can drag the box around your "edit layout" page to position it where you'd like & sit back and ooo & ahh at all your hard work ;)

I'd like to give a little shout out to MollysMuses for always inspiring me to post little how to's... check out her blog & her Artist Interviews!

If anyone has any questions or problems please post a comment... I might have skipped something or confused you somehow. If you don't understand it, there's a good chance someone else doesn't either.

THE ARCH SUPPORT IS OUT!

2010-10-16T22:24:00.000-05:00

Finally! Sorry for shouting there... but it's about time! We get some nights or weekends to work on the kiln, so for the last 3 weeks our weekends have been dedicated to this kiln. We're still not all there yet... but the really hard parts are done. Next is plumping in the gas lines, then building the stack to vent the kiln.

I hope you enjoy watching our little video. We took the support out hoping the whole ceiling would do what it's meant to & wouldn't cave in on us. Success!

If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment :)

The Arch... retry

2010-10-11T09:10:00.000-05:00

OK, so we dry stacked the arch. Dry stacking means you use no mortar. You just hope that all the brick does what it should... all stay & look wonderful. Guess what? It didn't.

We are artists in the best form. Sometimes we throw caution to the wind and do things we think will work without looking things up or doing calculations. Well, we had bricks sliding out and we had gaps after we pulled the arch form. We put the arch form back in & took down ALL the bricks we had cut & put in. It came out much quicker than it went together.

Now what? Now we have the proper calculations for the angle on the brick (thanks to Mike & his math skills). We are also going to mortar it all in... just in case ;) So what does that mean? That means that we will have to cut 160 new bricks for the arch. We got half done yesterday. I didn't realize how out of shape I was. My stomach muscles are getting a great workout.

It also means that my oldest daughter is playing mom while we get this accomplished. She has been so great through all of this. I'm hoping by Wednesday we'll be all done and I can take her to our favorite coffee place for the live paint event. I think by then we'll both need a break.

For those of you wondering why we don't have family coming over to help... we live 14 hours away from all of our families. We moved out here almost 4 years ago for my husbands job. It's times like these that I know how important family is, and how much every moment that we spend with them is appreciated!

We opened a Cargoh shop!

2010-10-09T09:26:00.000-05:00

We're so proud to be a part of the Cargoh family! This site is wonderful! I'm not just saying that. I'd shop there if we didn't have a shop page. I love the look and functionality of the webshops. You can follow people on their twitter, like their facebook page, or comment on their shop page! I really like the favoriting & wishlists. The best part? If you like something, give it a fistbump! It's cool, trust me ;)

Go to our shop page and leave us some love <3

We're still working on filling up our shop. I was going to try to revamp our logo & banner to make it more Cargoh-ish. A little more artsy & cutting edge. I got too anxious to see our shop open so we'll just stick with what we have for now.

And while you're there check out a few other shops...

If you have a Cargoh shop leave a link so I can check ya out!

The Arch

2010-10-07T15:01:00.000-05:00

So... this is the fun part.

First we needed to build an arch support. It needs to be a wee bit smaller than the opening, so we can drop it out after the arch is built. We stilted it up in the hopes that it doesn't collapse.

This photo is at about 9pm... now we're ready to top her off...

So we THOUGHT we had the right arch brick already cut, but it wasn't the right brick temp (it's times like this that i wish Mike was writing this post). Arch brick is cut at a slight angle on each side. That means we have to cut all of the brick.

By hand. Hence the delay...

But it is going together.

And we have the spy holes cut!

Soon we'll be seeing glowing ware though these babies!

Hopefully very soon...

Progess!

2010-10-02T14:48:00.000-05:00

I just hope this work like it does in our heads...

We're almost done with the laborious work, next we build the arch for the roof of the kiln, then...

...the burners & the kiln stack. Wish us luck!!!

A photo down the chimney, just for fun :)

Where did September go?!

2010-10-01T22:12:00.000-05:00

What happened? Oh, that's right! We've been working on this kiln!

She might not look like much in this picture, but we've made progress since this pic. A few more weeks and we'll have a pretty boss kiln to fire! I'm getting so anxious!!!

& Ashley takes some pretty neat photos :)

I'll try to get more pics up tomorrow with some commentary from Mike about the set up we're working on.

NYC

2010-09-01T23:04:00.000-05:00

NYC from Edward Kimber on Vimeo.

Aurora Shoes are amazing!

2010-08-27T11:13:00.003-05:00

And not just because they mentioned me in a blog post :D

(You can find that post here... http://aurorashoeco.blogspot.com/2010/08/whats-your-style.html)

source: lillyella

I submitted this little outfit to showcase these wonderful shoes. I love these shoes. I'm a bare foot kinda gal. These shoes are so completely comfy... even better than bare feet. Another neat feature about these shoes that always amazed me, besides their wonderfully impeccable quality, is how light they are. Really. I can't say enough amazing things about these shoes, but I do implore you to check out this company and the people behind it.
http://www.aurorashoeco.com/

Bicycle smoothie...

2010-08-26T23:12:00.000-05:00

Yep, my favorite coffee shop has one it again!

Thank you Paradigm Coffee & Music!

Last weekend at Earthfest "my" coffee shop had a booth set up complete with a smoothie "machine".

THE best smoothie EVER!

You know you want one!

I can imagine myself pedaling a few miles so I can enjoy some yummy margaritas.

Check out the FenderBlender!

Cedarwell, woot woot!

2010-08-20T15:25:00.001-05:00

Last nights event: Free concert at M.I.K.E. sponsored by Paradigm Coffee & Music

We got to listen to my old bass teacher play (the dude on the left, my rock star days didn't last long).

They are AWESOME!

Cedarwell

Great night. Baby danced.

Heard a new band!

I really wish Ashley was back from her vacation, she would have loved these guys!

Northern Howl

Check out these bands!

Do you have some local bands that you love?

Leave me some comments!

Mini Gallery; { inspired by pixar's UP } by guest littletoad

2010-08-16T11:30:00.006-05:00

WOW.

This treasury seems to be made up of little snippets of UP, the movie, and shows us that you can indeed find the most wonderful things on Etsy! My only question is why o why hasn't this made it to the front page yet?!

Come on Etsy! Up with Up!

We all need a little adventure!

Curated by: littletoad

Art in the Park; sponsored by Sheboygan Visual Artists

2010-08-15T14:02:00.000-05:00

I have to give a huge shout out to the Art in the Park program!

The Sheboygan Visual Artists have created a program where artists make a small 8x10 piece of original artwork, The Small Works Project, and they sell paintings for $25 each. The proceeds go toward Art in the Parks. A program in which, for a few Saturdays this summer, artists come to a different park in Sheboygan and do a project free of charge with families. Luckily I've been able to attend 2 of these weekends. I'm so glad that I've been able to take advantage of such a wonderful service that is trying to spread creativity & the arts in our community.

Sadly, Frank one of the artists said he was unsure of the continuation of the program for next year. I know the SVA has worked very hard on this and really put a great amount of time & money behind the project. It saddens me. I wish every community would start doing more to incorporate the arts into our everyday lives. I think we all need a little art in our lives in this time, and in the future.

What a wonderful thing to have in our communities!

photo cred: Frank Juarez

Art for all ages!!!

Do you have a great community program?

The PGA is in town...

2010-08-13T14:31:00.000-05:00

I totally missed a great photo op the other night. The PGA is in town, and they brought with them this little guy...

Yup.

That's a blimp.

It was directly over my house a few nights ago, with the sun setting. It would've made a really pretty picture. We didn't make it on time. We did go to the airport to take a pic. Not as impressive though :(

I'll have more chances this weekend. Maybe I'll get a nice pic for you all, you know, of the blimp. Cause the chances of me seeing Tiger Woods are pretty slim.

The pen is mightier...

2010-08-12T11:03:00.000-05:00

Ahh, but the real question is... which pen?!

I'm definitely a fan of sharpie. They are awesome.

http://blog.sharpie.com/

Gel pens are pretty snazzy.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/44112283/set-of-10-fruity-gel-ink-colors-popcorn

And a really cool pencils for doodles are essential.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52896574/set-of-five-tiny-twig-pencils-with-green

Colored pencils? Even better!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52382020/vintage-wood-covered-crayon-pencils-in

Choose your weapon & leave a comment ;D

I want to know what you like to use for your doodles, drawings, or journaling <3

Mini Gallery; Birdies, Bunkers, and Bogeys by guest PapersandProse

2010-08-10T23:16:00.000-05:00

The PGA is in town, so in the spirit of the game I am posting a treasury curated by PaperAndProse

To see her full treasury CLICK HERE

Just wanted to share a smile with you...

2010-08-09T16:01:00.001-05:00

Hailey was helping in the garden, hiding in the flowers and jumping up to say "peek-a-boo" :D

She doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, that's for sure!

Psst... do you have a wonderful summer fun pic?
Hop on over to RikRak and add it to the blog hop :D

Yoote Inspiration

2010-08-09T12:28:00.001-05:00

balloons by yoote

I am loving this artist. I ventured further into the shop and discovered that she has done some wonderful children's book illustrations. I'm a sucker for wonderfully illustrated children's books. Check her site out here:

http://www.taeeunyoo.com/index.htm

The link to her blog is at the bottom of her homepage.

Go forth and doodle, draw, sketch, and write!

Kukubee: Sea Monster

2010-08-06T16:43:00.002-05:00

Kukubee: Sea Monster
Originally uploaded by kukubee

This is great! Kukubee always grabs my attention with their fun, quirky artwork. This one made me smile extra big :D *insert jazz hands here*

Check out their Etsy shop for some other wonderful items. I have a few pouches myself. They are perfect & very well made!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kukubee

And I have a secret for you gamers... Mr. Kukubee is working on a new online game called Glitch. I'm worried that my girls and I are going to be fighting over the comp to play this...

http://glitch.com/

Hagin Photography...

2010-08-05T21:38:00.002-05:00

IMG_9616a
Originally uploaded by HaginPhotography

Amazing! My aunt always amazes me with her wonderful photography! She's done it again! I need her to give me some photog lessons! Great work Ginny!!!

How to schedule a blog post in blogger...

2010-08-05T19:22:00.000-05:00

I was in an Etsy lab tonight and had a few people ask about how to schedule their blog posts. This is for you...

Click on the Post Options at the bottom of the post once it's all written...

Then click on "scheduled at"...

Edit your date & time your post will be scheduled...

Then hit publish. It's blogging magic <3

Fun summer dresses for the girls...

2010-08-03T13:11:00.000-05:00

I'm finally getting to post these pics of the girls in their Oliver + S popover sun dresses...

These dresses were super easy to make. I whipped them up in no time. The first I made in a yellow color for the baby, then an Abby & Elmo print which is difficult to see. It's getting increasingly hard to photograph her because she is go go go all the time! Emily chose yellow and purple colors, they're bright like she is :)

I was inspired by blog posts from Kath over at My Little Girl's Closet. She has started a great feature called Sew Along! You should try it out! I learned how I should resize a pattern... when I get time to actually DO it I'll know how :D

New typewriter, plastic bag recycling fun, and Etsy finds surprise...

2010-08-01T17:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was wonderful. We started out looking for some straight razors for Mike. That means hitting all the antique places we can looking for razors in good condition. No nicks in the blade and good scales (handle thing-y). If you antique, you know you can't just walk into a shop and walk back out without browsing! I saw a gorgeous Typewriter. It said $35. It was a little dusty. I was skeptical about it. It was sitting on a case that I thought came with that typewriter. We left the shop and I was going on about so much, Mike turned around. I asked the wonderful man about it and if the case came with it. To my surprise, there was another typewriter under the first! A great deal cleaner & has a very neat look. He took $30! YES!

Then we went to Art in the Park sponsored by Sheboygan Visual Artistsb. We had a blast making kite-type structures out of plastic bags with Michelle, from {almost} nothing new. Here's her Etsy shop... almostnothingnew.etsy.com

And I couldn't let Mike have all the fun...

Then I wake up this morning and check my e-mail and see this...

ETSY FINDS!

( ... sorry everyone, the jug is SOLD! yay! )

What a wonderful weekend!!!

Google reader, i love you...

2010-07-14T11:05:00.000-05:00

If you use google and you like to read blogs, I highly suggest you use google reader.

Check out the dropdowns at the top of your google page.

You should find reader here:

Set it up. I took it one step farther and added it to my igoogle. Just search for google reader in "add stuff"!

Every time I open my homepage I have my blogs right there to read. Yay!

Now, once you've got that all under your belt... check out CraftyPod's post on tricks for google reader! This are great tips. You'll always be virtually organized!!!

What a lovely day!

2010-07-12T14:49:00.000-05:00

I got the nicest convo the other day. A wonderful etsian blogged about a journal she's been keeping.

Thanks Kate!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kateeschbach

Another wood firing gone by...

2010-07-04T12:21:00.001-05:00

Apparently it wasn't warm enough in Wisconsin this last month, because we decided to have another weekend wood firing. Our visitors will be leaving us soon for the glitz and glamor of Alfred, NY and we couldn't bare to have them miss out on one more firing. Especially as Austin, Tom, Chad and I had quite the pile of work stacked up around the studio. Seriously, it was starting to get dangerous around here. Tom was whipping out the crazy ninja cup catching skills after demonstrating how unstable my ware board situation could be.

Another brief and fun filled story from this month...Our electric kiln, that we use for bisque, decided it would teach us a lesson in safety. I have no timer on this little guy, so the only thing that tells the kiln to stop firing is the cone setter or yours truly. After staying up until two AM and getting up at 6AM every day for a week I broke down and went to bed at midnight on Wednesday. When I awoke at 6 on Thursday I found that the kiln, which normally shuts off at 2 was still firing. "This isn't good" you may be saying to yourself. Add to this the distinct smell of smoldering wood wafting from the kiln area and I was almost in panic mode. Luckily there was nothing burning except for a small piece of plywood someone had left too close to the kiln. On the down side my ware and most of Chad's mugs were severely over fired for bisque. To the point that the pieces were sticking together as I pulled them from the kiln.

"How could you let this happen?" you may ask. You see, the previous owner had a spacing challenge between the outlet and the kiln. His solution was to drill a hole 3 ft high through the wall allowing the kiln's chord to have safe passage to the wall socket. The only problem is, once the kiln is properly spaced from the wall the chord is pulled tightly directly over the cone sitter! This is remedied by pushing the cord out of the way and between the two conduit boxes that house the kilns heating connections. Now, I'm smart enough to know that eventually this is going to end badly. I should have gone right out and bought wire to move the outlet closer to the kiln. Instead it takes what I now refer to as " a moment of clarity" to put things into perspective. Thankfully Austin was over that weekend to bisque his pottery and we were both able to go to Menard's for wire and conduit to build a 3ft extension. Thirty five bucks and we were back in business.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Our clay supply kept getting lower and lower as we try to transition from stoneware to porcelain. This left us coping with decisions like, "Should these be tumblers or mugs?" and "How big does a mixing bowl really have to be?" After repairing the cone setter in our kiln (victim of the massive over firing) we were able to finish firing the rest of the ware and get ready for glazing.

I created a new Titanium white for this firing. I lowered the amount of calcium in the glaze to keep it from growing crystals like the Tenmoku does. I owe Pat Robison of Two Fish for helping me out with the Titanium Dioxide as I was plum out of material. Thanks to him we had just what we needed to get glaze ready for Friday night's glaze party.

Yes, that's right, we had a glaze party. What does this involve you may ask. You need only bring glaze, bisque ware, some dipping tongs, brushes, etc. and of course as this is Wisconsin the beer...Oh, and if you have an old tandem bike with no gears and push lock breaks that people can get into trouble with, that's a bonus. I'm not talking "Call the cops" type trouble, but the healthy "Someone's going over the handlebars tonight" type of trouble. Tom and Austin did not disappoint as they began trying to see how long of a skid they could get the bike to do and seeing if you could possibly balance a tandem on your own from the back seat (That is a definite "no" by the way). Despite the hilarity, we finished up glazing all of the ware by about 9PM and began loading the kiln for the next days firing. Unfortunately, even though there was no call for rain in the forecast, it began to sprinkle at about 11. This lasted until we decided that packing everything up for the night and loading the next morning would be better than ruining the ware, but the decision was made.

So, this left me loading the rest of the kiln at 7 Saturday morning. Tom had to work until 10:30, Chad had a disk-golf tournament to go to and Austin went out with Tom the night before. Our plan was for Austin and I to get the kiln loaded and firing by 10:30 which would mean that our night would end at about 12:30AM on Sunday, if the kiln did not stall. I was almost through loading the kiln when Austin arrived about 9:30. It took us another hour to get the cone packs made, dry them, create a small bonfire, prep wood and get the cap off of the stack. Starting the fire in the kiln didn't end up happening until closer to 11AM, but since we created a bonfire first we simply shoveled coals into the kiln for the first hour or so.

Tom showed up soon after we started and we began prepping wood, setting up tables, chairs and our trusty 3ft mirror (It allows me to see the stack while sitting in front of the stoke hole). Once again my lack of good tools cost us time and effort. We found a chainsaw in the barn that we hoped to use for cutting our scrap lumber into burnable chunks of goodness wouldn't start.

Now, when I say this thing wouldn't start I'm not giving the situation its due. I could say that the saw had seen better days, but this also fails to capture my true feelings. Basically the saw seems as though it was run over by a small semi trailer. The bracket that would normally hold the handle in place was demolished and replaced with a wood screw/tie wrap combo. The pull start housing was held in place by a half-inch socket that would frequently fall off of the saw as you tried to pull it to life. I managed to repair it with a machine screw and tried again and again to start this little * expletive deleted*, but it just wouldn't budge. I took out the blackened, craggy looking spark plug and gave it the torch treatment, followed by a thorough scrubbing with my wire brush. This helped, as the saw actually sputtered at me. Then Austin tried starting the *expletive deleted* and the pull-chord came out on the first try. Some more screwdrivers and a wrench later and Austin managed to rewind the pull. Unfortunately the *expletive deleted* thing didn't want to cooperate and bit a chunk out of his knuckle before winding back onto the pull. Apparently a small amount of human sacrifice was needed as it started on the very next pull. We sawed happily until running out of gas, stacked wood and returned to our firing.

At this point the pyrometer is reading about 300F and it's about lunch time. Sally's friend Jen of jennadesigns.etsy.com stopped over to help with getting meals around and to lightly mock our struggles by telling us how cool it was in the house. We ate our Brats, had our water and beer all the while keeping the temperature climbing. We started firing the kiln with boards on top of the grate, and soon we were off to the races and headed toward cone 010 and body reduction.

Everything else was pretty uneventful for the rest of the day. The temperature outside climbed to about 85 by mid-day and it was muggy when you weren't near the kiln. All of us got a good sampling of how large the mosquito population was and found that creosote is not an effective insect repellent. This made you actually opt for sitting in front of the stokes as the bugs tended to stay away from the dry, smoky heat. Chad came out after his tournament (he placed second) and added to our resource pool. He took over for me at the front stoke and Austin and Tom got a break for dinner.

Now I have to make mention here that Sally did a great job keeping everyone fed. Between her, Jen and Jen's new boyfriend Erik (SP?) we were all in good spirits (both emotional and the liquid variety), water and food. For dinner they served Chili- fully loaded, rhubarb crisp and brownies with ice cream. The Chili was home made with nothing coming from a can and it tasted great! I'm sure it would have tasted even better if I didn't have two pounds of wood ash in my nose already from the firing. Yes, she certainly keeps everything working around this place.

After dark, the kitchen crew decided that they should come down and see how the firing was going. The kiln was approaching 2000F and we were looking pretty even from top to bottom, despite the bottom being loaded a little dense, with an even light reduction through the kiln. Everyone took turns looking in the spy hole to see the ware and the flames of wood-gas swirling around the kiln.

As the kiln approached 2100 we started to see cone 6 bending on top, while the bottom seemed to be lagging by a full cone. We tried pushing the damper in an inch to push more heat to the bottom of the kiln. This has the effect of making the kiln more even, but then causes the those who've never fired before to panic as the kiln temp plummets about 30-40F. In reality the kiln is just balancing itself and you have to be patient and realize your firing is still on schedule. We kept the kiln slowly climbing again by adding smaller pieces of wood that we split earlier. By midnight on Sunday we were pushing cone 8 on the top and cone six was down on the bottom. We were pretty excited that it wouldn't be too long before the kiln would be in reduction again and we'd be able to get some sleep.

Unfortunately in wood firing, you should never get too excited. The kiln decided it wanted to stall shortly after 12:30 AM. Worse than that, it wanted to start to plunge. We tried stoking more... still plunged... Stoking less... still plunged... Moved the damper...went up then plunged.... got out the industrial blowers and blew in the coals... Almost caught Tom on fire and the kiln went up then plunged... Finally we settled on opening the damper full and stoking three pieces of small wood with one piece of Ash, turn the coals with the coal rake until the temperature dipped one degree then repeat. This kept us climbing to 2290. We were so close to our goal of cone 10. The kiln decided it would plummet again at 2AM leaving us scrambling to get it back to temp. With patience, a few burns from bricks or metal and the support of everyone we managed to bend cone 10 at 3AM and soaked for 30 minutes in reduction. Finally we capped the stoke-holes closed the damper, inspected for any leaks to plug and turned in for the night. Now it was time to wait for the kiln to cool. We'd know how we did in three days.

The next seventy-two hours seemed to whiz by as we tried to patiently wait for the kiln to gradually make its way to 350F. By Tuesday morning you could open the damper and crack the door. I asked Sally to do it so I wouldn't peek. That night everyone with ware in the kiln showed up for the unloading. The ware had good reduction, plenty of wood ash where we expected it and the new Titanium white reacted very well in the firing. Smooth, and variegated just like you'd expect from a titanium glaze. The bottom of the kiln was just a little cool in the back, but still pretty darn good looking. My teapot spouts unwound just a little further than I thought they would, but the handles were a success. I just need to keep this in mind for the next firing. Our ash glazes ran heavily, most likely because of the long soaks they received when the kiln stalled, but then again, if you wanted predictable firing you're not firing with wood. Our new stamp looks especially attractive with wood ash blushing.

I hope you all enjoyed my long winded story of our last wood firing. Maybe this will answer why hand thrown wood fired ware costs as much as it does. Each piece is special and born of a lot of work by some dedicated people. Unfortunately this will probably be the last wood firing for Tom and Austin before they return to PA and then to Alfred, NY to finish school. It was a real honor for me to have them help and give up hours of their time when they could be doing other things.

If you think this sounds like fun, then get in touch with Sally or me before fall and we'll send you an invite to the next firing. Thanks for reading!

Our most recent throwing demo...

2010-06-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

We got the sound bugs worked out. Now I just have to figure out how to get Mike to shave these down to about 30 minutes. Once he gets started...

Need to know...

2010-06-14T17:47:00.000-05:00

I have my big projects behind me and I haven't made any journals in a while. I'm wondering if I should consolidate my line to one or two types of journals. I currently sell small & large journals. I also make sketchbooks that have a pencil tie.

So, my wonderful loyal readers... I'm pondering and wondering what you think. What journals would you rather tote around? Or are you more of a sketchbook sort of person?

Saving the earth one treadle at a time...

2010-06-01T23:15:00.000-05:00

Check it out, check it out!

When we moved into our home the old owners left a treadle machine. They graciously said I could have it. This means a great deal to me, because I learned to sew on a treadle machine. It was always better to me than my mother's Brother that she bought thinking an upgrade would work better.

Over the weekend my husband and I spent a little time cleaning up the cabinet portion of the treadle. This morning I took the machine down to The Sewing Machine Shop in town. I had no clue what to expect. The owner was so nice to me, he showed me how to take it all apart and what to use to get it cleaned up. I brought Rose (I'm not sure I've settled on that name yet, we'll see if she likes it) home and took her apart and spend most of my day soaking parts, scrubbing and cleaning, and reassembling all the springs and do-dads. In the next day or two I'm going back to the repair shop to get all of my replacement parts.

When we get it all put back together & running that's when the fun begins. I can put it anywhere, because guess what? I don't need electricity. So I'm saving on electricity & our bill. WIN WIN! We already moved the base to my studio, with all my other treasures & wonders. I'm getting really excited and on the hunt for cutesie dress patterns for my girls. I can't wait to put Rosie to good use. She will be loved.

More pics to come!!!

Loving my new purse...

2010-05-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I dusted of my sewing machine and finished a project. Maybe even, dare I say, years?! I have a pile of projects half finished. They've been put to the back burner for so long that dresses I was making for my 7 year old are fitting the 18 month old.

One of my biggest pet peeves is shopping for that perfect purse. You know the one. It has to be the right size. It has to have the right strap. It has to have pockets on the inside, or not. And if that's not enough, it has to be pretty. For me it has to be really pretty. When I get a purse I carry it for a long time, it becomes like a security blankie.

My friend, JennaDesigns (aka JennasAttic), gives me lots of inspiration. She's the type of person that makes no excuses for anything and just goes for it. She never thinks she can't do something or that it's too difficult. Her "can do" attitude is absolutely infectious.

I've had this Buttercup Bag pattern for a very long time. So long that all of my fabrics are pretty outdated. Nothing fun in my fabric stash... Jenna is a whole different story. She has the most beautiful fabrics, bins and bins and bins and bins. I asked her to help me find something in my stash to use, but we soon realized that it was a lost cause. She most generously offered up pieces from her stash, so I got to go "shopping" at her place. She helped me pick out this wonderful Tina Givens fabric for the outside, and some Kona fabric for the liner. By some miracle I whipped it up in a night! My girls want me to make them one each. And the baby can't be left out. Guess that sewing machine is getting a workout this weekend!

Flash mob madness...

2010-05-24T11:57:00.000-05:00

I've been totally obsessed with flash mobs lately (ty Glee). A-MAZ-ING!

Live feed: Mike throwing

2010-05-24T11:38:00.000-05:00

This is Mike's live debut of a throwing demo. We had so much fun doing this, technical difficulties aside. We've figured out what to do about the sound & I'm hoping we have our connections working better. The best part for me through this whole event was the audience participation. Mike took request for what to throw; a vase, a pet food dish, some wall sconces that have all turned out beautifully.

The question is... should we do it again?

I need anyone who would like to see/ participate in another live feed to leave a comment. I'm trying to talk him into this Thursday at 7:30 EST.

Thoughts?

More on the marriage of the shops...

2010-05-20T13:14:00.000-05:00

In case anyone missed it, Mike & I are combining our shops and just sticking with NightOwlCraftworks. I can give both our items more attention that way & it's just fun. Mike got right to work with creating a new stamp for his new pieces. His old items will still have the LampLightPottery stamp on them... so they are sort of a limited edition :D There are items in his old shop that I will be systematically transferring over. Check back for all of our exciting updates!

Lots of great news, oh my!

2010-05-13T08:14:00.001-05:00

Another great firing! We had to postpone it for a week due to a tornado warning, but it was worth it! We had some really great guys come out to lend a hand this time. Austin & Tom are in the Co-Op program where Mike works and have had some experience firing wood kilns. Usually Mike is trying to give us newbies a crash course in wood firing, but these guys were loving the experience in true "boys playing with fire" form!

What happens when you stick a handful of engineers in front of a fire that goes up to 2300 degrees? They build a wall! There were some extra kiln shelves sitting there not doing much of anything and looking a little lonely. Tom was the first to grab a few and prop some shelves against a few posts... it only took Austin a few seconds to follow suit! We spent a good majority of the firing constructing walls and improving our wonderful fire-shields. It made the firing much more bearable. And probably saved a bit of burnt knuckles... maybe.

The weather for this last weekend didn't start out as ideal. We delayed the start of the kiln, opting to start the firing at 7AM rather than get things going at 3. The firing endured wind, hail, rain and sun as we tried to keep our little wood kiln climbing in temperature.

As we got up to peak temp a front came through and the kiln stalled three separate times. With all hands on deck we managed to get the cones bent and a nice half an hour reducing soak and still had time for a nice dinner of Chinese food graciously picked up by Tom on his way back from a short hockey break. Last time the firing took us 20 hours, this time we shaved it down to 14! (Our new wood supply and the extra help added much more heat than we were used to from the previous firing) By that time Austin and Mike looked like they'd been cleaning chimney's all day and I'm sure that we all smelled like it too. We were all pretty tired and ready for bed (Probably suffering from a bit of Carbon Monoxide poisoning). I think we were all glad that the kiln takes three days to cool, because it gave us time to recoup before the unloading.

We were able to unload the kiln Tuesday night. Mike is like a little kid when it comes to firing the kiln. He can't resist peeking early to see if the firing was successful. When firing a wood kiln you HOPE you get the glazes to turn out the way you expect, so the opening is especially exciting. The glazes came out much darker for this firing. We got a great reduction and the new hearth covers we constructed made sealing the kiln at the end much less of a hassle. The Temmoku reacted with the wood ash in some spots and came out a little matte on some pieces, while the copper purple glaze was almost even over the entire kiln! Some of the lids on a few jars were stuck from ash run and unfortunately, in trying to stack this kiln more efficiently, we had a few cold spots, but that's just one more opportunity to get it right next time.

I can't wait to add the new ware to the shop, and that's another exciting bit of info! We are COMBINING our shops! We will be listing all of the new ware on NightOwlCraftworks, and converting the ware from his old shop to our husband & wife shop.

What does everyone think of those t's? We'd like to offer our "Hot Potter" shirts in our shop. Thoughts?

Mini Gallery; Mixed Media Collage by guest JennaDesigns

2010-04-23T05:00:00.015-05:00

This is such a fun gallery & I hope it gives it's curator, and my readers, some inspirations for their own projects...

Thanks so much JennaDesigns!

Focus on... pixiedustfineries

2010-04-21T12:06:00.001-05:00

Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…

My name is Patricia however I go by Trish, I'm 52 years old, married, a mother of two daughters, three grandchildren one girl and two boys. I have one cat named Saxie, she is my 13 year old spoiled rotten baby. I live in Arlington, Texas, which has been my home since 1984, prior to that I was all over the world, my Dad was in the Army. Etsy has been my full time job since March 2008. http://pixiedustfineries.etsy.com

I have always loved jewelry and I love the relationship that women have with their jewelry. It makes us feel beautiful, feminine, and powerful. It affects us in many ways, and even if a piece does not cost thousands of dollars, it is still precious to us. Therefore, I choose Jewelry.

The part of jewelry making I find most enjoyable is designing the piece. Creating jewelry is very therapeutic for me.

Who, or what inspires your creations?

I have always been an artsy/crafty person. When I was a kid I was constantly doing some type of craft from macramé to knitting, to drawing, you name it I probably did it. In 2007, I lost my job; I started making jewelry as gifts for my family. At one point, I made many more pieces than I needed so I decided to try my hand at selling some of them on Etsy.

I get a lot of my inspiration from watching TV and looking thru magazine. Most people watch TV to watch the show or the news, I am only looking at the jewelry 80% of the time.

It seems that I constantly have new ideas popping in my head, to the point that I get up in the middle of the night and make a sketch so I will remember in the morning.

What item do you like to work on the most and why?

Swarovski Crystals are my favorite, I love the way they sparkle, and the smooth texture and they just look rich. I also love natural gemstones no two are alike, and they most of them have interesting medicinal backgrounds.

What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?

Well with it being my full time job, I am working on my shop 24-7. Nevertheless, if I do have free time, I love to watch movies on LMN and the newest DVD release for the week. Play games on Pogo.com and on my PSP.

What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?

As far as my work goes, I taught myself how to make jewelry, so there are many things I would like to do better, but the most thing I am terrible at is wire wrapping and would love to really study and work on that.

Do you have favorite Etsy peeps?

Yes, many, I am a team member of the Lab Rats Team and all of the people on that team are very supportive and friendly. I meet up with them at least 5 times a week in the Virtual Labs. Besides the team, everyone that I have ever met with on Etsy has been very friendly.

What’s your fav thing about Etsy?

I love the sense of community; it is comprised of so many talented people.

One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…

Focus on what you love and you will be successful.

Wow... I can't believe it's been almost a MONTH!

2010-04-20T12:48:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Here is the rock I've been living under... yes it's a very big rock ;)

With the warmer weather I've been very busy with work around the house.

We have a few fruit trees that we've had to prune.

Some gooseberry & black currant bushes that needed to get cleared out.

Some flower beds to tend to.

We are working on seedlings for the garden.

My in-laws came out for a wonderful visit.

My husband and I are trying to get his studio cleaned out and set up to get another wood fire going, and maybe start teaching throwing classes.

On top of all of that the baby is mobile enough now that she keeps me on my toes for the whole day.

We made our own maple syrup this year, with the help of the wonderful neighbor of ours!

The most wonderful part of the warm weather is that the kids and I are doing a lot more things outside together.

My lack of internet presence has been a happy thing, but I do miss all of my wonderful readers. I appreciate all of you checking in to make sure I'm still around & doing OK. I'm going to try my best to post a bit more. It may not be regular posts, but I'll do my best while I'm juggling all my chores & family fun.

And remember... I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Focus on... SimplyInvitingCards

2010-03-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

• Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…

My name is Jen, I'm 33 (almost 34) years old, married to my very awesome husband, Rusty, and dog-mom to our Bluetick Coonhound, Blaster, and our newest addition, a Basset Hound/Brittany mix named Ally. We call Manhattan, Kansas our home, but we like to hit the road pretty often. After all, it is Kansas! Not much happenin' here.

Paper crafting aside, I'm into music, movies, concerts, aquariums, foreign languages, travel, shopping, painting, mixed media and collage. I also enjoy watching college sports and pro football with Rusty. My convoluted creative journey goes pretty far back in life, beginning with a French Horn at age 9 and ending up with a paper penchant in my 30's. My creative spirit has taken on different forms at different points in my life, but I've always had to be creating something.

What makes my crafty passion tick? Hmm. I guess my craft does double-duty. I make things I enjoy and they are often given to people who will appreciate them. I also have something of a need to create things that make you go "ahhhhh". At the end of the day, if I have inky fingers and a messy table, then it's a good day.

• Who, or what inspires your creations?

Lots of random things, really. I most often let inspiration come to me, but there are things that I most often find inspiring. Imperfection inspires me. Any surfaces or objects that are somehow distressed, worn, tarnished, antiqued, torn, rough and tattered. Conversely, I find clean lines and streamlined silhouettes inspiring as well. I am also inspired by color combinations inspired by natural elements and undertones - dramatic skies, sprawling landscapes, animal markings - as well as trendy and progressive color combinations.

• What item do you like to work on the most and why?

My word-shape albums. They've always found a perfect home!

• What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?

I freelance for a small, niche arts and entertainment newspaper based out of Pasadena, CA called Irish News & Entertainment. I basically handle the pagination and design of many of the advertisements.

• What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?

Draw. It is an essential skill that all artists can continually improve and benefit from. Keeping my studio organized is pretty essential to me. All that, and I could stand to drink more water, too.

• Do you have favorite Etsy peeps?

I do, but there are too many to name, and their creative styles pretty much run the entire spectrum! My favorite Etsy peeps - too many to name, in fact - are those who put joy, heart and soul into their creations.

• What’s your fav thing about Etsy?

Just one fave thing? That's tough. But to sum it up I'd have to say: "All the wonderfully nice, knowledgeable, and talented people that have helped transcend my Etsy experience beyond just selling".

• One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…

Life is too short to not do something you enjoy. After all, what would you want to look back and remember?

Look what I found today, import Virtual Labs to your google calendar...

2010-03-23T19:05:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I haven't seen this before. Maybe it's because until now, the calendar on the Community Page of Etsy annoyed me. This is really going to help me to plan my week and not miss the important labs. I am not in the Eastern Standard time zone, and when you add the labs calendar to your Google calendar it automatically changes to your time zone!

Sweet niblets, where have I been? Apparently living under a ROCK! As usual... lol.

If you have been living under a rock too, first I promise I won't tell. Next, go to the Community tab on Etsy, on the calendar there is a cute little button that says "+Google Calendar". Click on that and it will give you prompts. You can add Virtual Labs, Etsy Team Events, or both! I opted for just the labs.

And viola! Now you're cool too! :D

Mini Gallery; Rustic Spring Wedding by guest HeatherJaneDesign

2010-03-19T14:30:00.003-05:00

A big "thank you" to Heather Jane from HeatherJaneDesign for putting together this Mini Gallery!

Focus on... beadsandbotanicals

2010-03-17T05:00:00.005-05:00

Sally: Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…

Carla: I like rocks. A lot. I get fired up about the legends of stones, the possibilities with stones, the colors, textures and variety of stones. They seem alive to me, and that is very exciting.

Sally: Who, or what inspires your shop?

Carla: I’m constantly in awe of entrepreneurs. Doesn’t matter if they sell handcrafted alpaca-fiber ponchos or car parts. There is something magical about those who are passionate about what they do, and committed to taking good care of their customers.

Sally: What item/ product do you like to work with the most and why?

Carla: The gemstone beads are my faves, of course. I also really enjoy working with packaging and promotional items that go in with each shipment. The colorful tissue, ribbon, thank you stickers and other items that go in each box are fun to work with.

Sally: What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?
Carla: I’m a free-lance writer as well as a “bead lady.” I write about non-profit and public organizations that help people. As often as possible, I spend time on the hiking trails and beaches of the Lake Michigan shore.

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?

Carla: Dance. Look good in a bathing suit. Wind surf. Speak HTML.

Sally: Do you have favorite Etsy peeps, or an item that you keep coming back to?

Carla: I’m addicted to the hair bands and fabulous personality of Marisa at www.purplelicious.etsy.com.

Janelle at www.scrapwithstyle.etsy.com is amazing, and I’m not sure I could ever thank her enough for the time she gave to me, a stranger, to help me get settled in as an Etsy seller. She also carries awesome grosgrain ribbon.

Sally: What’s your fav thing about Etsy?

Carla: Etsy is a wonderful place to find people I didn’t even know I was looking for. By maintaining a shop, keeping it stocked and updated, I find new customers, new mentors, and new inspiration.

Sally: One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…

Carla: I wish I could say, “don’t sweat the small stuff.” But I do sweat the small stuff. A lot. I think it is the little things that allow us to add quality and value to our customers’ lives. Whether it be pretty packaging, super-prompt shipping, a convo to notify the customer when the item will ship, or helping someone find a source for something I don’t carry, the small stuff helps me let customer know they are very much appreciated.

Enjoying the weather...

2010-03-16T23:01:00.000-05:00

I haven't been on my blog for a few days because we have some gorgeous weather! I know I have to enjoy it while it's here...

Mini Gallery; The Dreaming, by guest BlueberryShoes

2010-03-12T05:00:00.002-06:00

Thank you to Hollie from BlueberryShoes for putting together this Mini Gallery! <3

Mike made his first front page!

2010-03-11T18:16:00.000-06:00

I'm so proud of you hun! You can all visit my husband's shop at LampLightPottery!

Spreading my wings, any ideas for new product...

2010-03-11T15:52:00.001-06:00

I love spring, it's a time of inspiration and new wonders. I want to branch out and do some journals and sketchbooks with my own designs and artwork. I don't want to abandon my wonderful pretty covers all together, but I would like to streamline the types I do. To make my shop look a bit more cohesive.

I am looking to you, my wonderful readers to throw your suggestions out there. Anything goes. What would you like to see on a cover? What do you like and want to see more of?

Focus on... MilkandHoneyHandbags

2010-03-10T08:06:00.003-06:00

Sally: Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…
Amanda: Hey there! My name is Amanda and I am the creator of Milk and Honey Handbags. Sewing makes me feel good and I love it. It truly is my passion and I love everything about the process: selecting fabrics, cutting, pressing, and stitching. Sewing just feels right.

Sally: Who, or what inspires your creations
Amanda: I love looking at color combinations found in nature and bringing them to my designs. I am also really inspired by fabric and color, and ribbon obviously :) I will find a really great print lining fabric or beautiful color ribbon that will inspire a whole design.

Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Amanda: My favorite item to work on would definitely be my Ribbony pouches. I love picking out the exterior fabric, ribbon, zipper, and lining. There are so many different combinations, the possibilities are endless.

Sally: What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?
Amanda: When I am not at the sewing machine you can find me reading, snowboarding, hiking, and watching movies. I also love spending time with friends, family, and the love of my life, Pat.

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Amanda: I would really like to be able to sew faster without sacrificing the quality of my work. I put a lot of care and time into each piece but I am working on producing things a little bit quicker. That way I can get more done and get started on the hundreds of design ideas I have in my sketchbook!

Sally: Do you have favorite Etsy peeps, or an item that you keep coming back to?
Amanda: My brother Zak has a shop on Etsy, doodlekaz, where you can find amazing unique digital art and more. I love my Summersville journal; the patterned covers are so lovely it was hard to choose just one. I love Zipit where I go for all my zipper needs, so friendly and my zippers always arrive so quickly! RememberWynn is where I get my beehive and honey dipper buttons. I am always amazed by the detail in her pieces.

Sally: What’s your fav thing about Etsy?
Amanda: Wow. I love a lot of things about Etsy: the treasuries, the forums, the featured seller articles. I guess what it really boils down to is Etsy is a wonderful venue where you can find amazing things from a lot of talented people. I love shopping on Etsy because every purchase I have made has been fabulous. You almost get spoiled shopping on the site. I am often disappointed with customer service when shopping on the internet. On Etsy I know I will receive great communication from a lovely person, fast shipping, and impeccable packaging. It really is the way shopping online should be!

Sally: One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…
Amanda: Do what you love, love what you do. Also, dance like no one is watching :)

I am really excited to be adding a new design to my shop this week-The Hobo. I have been working really hard to make this bag and am so happy that it is finished and it is perfect!

Show & Tell: PangeaStore

2010-03-08T14:28:00.000-06:00

This week's inspiration comes from Angie from PangeaStore. She had a special request. She wanted the "handmade" journal with graph paper signatures. This was such a fun custom order to work on, and Angie takes such wonderful pictures I couldn't wait to share with you!

From the flickr pool: http://www.flickr.com/groups/nightowlcraftworksshowandtell/

Angie not only takes some pretty great photos, but she also has a wonderful Etsy shop...

I happen to be lucky enough to own one of her great necklaces, and it is one of my favorite pieces!

Thanks Angie!!!

Mini Gallery; Origami is so cool!

2010-03-05T08:06:00.004-06:00

GOAL! Oh... I mean GOALS!

2010-03-04T05:00:00.006-06:00

Goals, goals. Every success needs goals right? I am a goal setting superstar... I am NOT a goal completing superstar. We're going to try to resolve this right here and now!!! I'm going to make some goals, and I'm giving my readers permission to bug me about where I am in my goals. I am going to format my goals in a neat little list, because it's fun to cross stuff off of lists. My list is in no particular order...

Get through ScoutieGirl's "52 weeks of blogging your passion" e-book. Yes, I bought it, and yes... I LOVE IT! I'm in week 4, "Lofty Goals".
Finish my daughter's quilt, and consider selling the pdf for the pattern in my shop, I'm giving myself 6 weeks from today to finish the quilt... the pdf might be a bit longer, I will post pics when it's done and you guys can tell me what you think!

Learn how to take my drawings and convert them to a drawing program and editing them for use screen printing covers... I'd like to do this within a month of this post. I played with this a little last night for practice. What do you think?

Become an expert canner by the end of this summer... I'd love for my family to eat from our garden for as long as I can stretch it. I made jams last year. I'm hoping to do more jams and maybe some spaghetti sauce, and pickled beets.
Starting this week, I'd like to take one night a week to leave the house and get some "me" time... yes for me this is a goal :) I wanted to last night, but it wasn't in the cards. My husband is working on the syrup shed so we can get some maple syrup done this year. Our neighbor is helping us with this... they've done it for years.
I'd like to be selling 15 journals a month by June. I know part of this goal is making the journals to sell, so this one is a two-fer. If I could list a journal every other day, that would be lovely! I have a stack of covers I'll be working on some more today. Hopefully I'll get some listings up today or tomorrow.

What are your goals?

Focus on... ANOriginalJewelry

2010-03-03T08:06:00.002-06:00

Sally: Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…
I’m Ashley! (*waves*) I’m a 25 yr old NY based Indie Jewelry Designer with a deep love for laughing, music and animals, and a soft spot for frosting of all sorts.

Sally: Who, or what inspires your creations? :
Ashley: I’m inspired by pretty much anything. That’s not to say I look around and have a constant stream of creative tunnel vision triggered by every sight, sound and touch but I do not discriminate my inspirational avenues. I never really know what will stir up some inspiration in me, it always happens suddenly and without warning. Funny enough a lot of my “inspiration” comes from joking around about things that I think are fun or quirky, or childhood memories. To be fair, a good amount of my ideas come to me thanks to songs with great lyrical themes :)

Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Ashley: Well, I have developed a fun obsession with quirky tiny stud earrings. I think it’s fun to challenge myself to see how detailed I can get in a tiny scale. It doesn’t always work out in the end but I’ve really come to appreciate the comedic struggle between my brain, my hand and my jewelers saw :) More recently however I’ve taken a keen liking to working on higher end one of a kind items, so stay tuned :)

Sally: What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?
Ashley: Hmmm, good question! Not much! Hehehe :) I try to have a life outside of my work but sometimes when it comes right down to it, my drive to grow my business and my brand just outweighs my drive to go see the newest Brad Pitt movie. I love to spend time with my family, in the Summer you can find me basking in the beauty of Lake George and I love to hang with my dogs :) More recently I’ve been a bit better at juggling my personal and professional lives as my very best friend has just gotten engaged and I have had the coveted “Maid of Honor” title bestowed upon me, so I have wedding things to attend to :) We just call them “MOH Things” are here...

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Ashley: EASY! Bookkeeping! I am THE WORST. Everyone says ‘Yes, yes, be diligent about your books!”. Well, I just can’t seem to subscribe to that school of thought, so instead, I leave all my bookkeeping duties for the very last minute, about 2 weeks before the April tax deadline :) Don’t try this at home kids, I can testify that it is most unpleasant, but alas, I’ll just never learn...

Sally: Do you have favorite Etsy peeps, or an item that you keep coming back to?
Ashley: I have a Miniature Dachshund and that has fueled a weird obsession with all things “Wiener Dog” so I’m constantly doing searches on Etsy for cool little “Doxie” trinkets, art prints and whatever else I can manage to find!

Sally: What’s your fav thing about Etsy?
Ashley: My favorite thing about Etsy... I love that you get back what you put in! Etsy is a tool for success! If your willing to really buckle down and try to make a real go at a legit indie business, chances are you will be able to build one here. Etsy is fabulous, it gives you all these great tools and tips and tricks, etc. BUT, that’s not to say just because your on Etsy you will be an overnight success. You really have to work hard, day and night, night and day...not only at your craft but at your branding, your packaging, your advertising, your networking...it’s all interwoven in an Etsy success story. I tell people all the time, you CAN make a living on Etsy BUT you have to commit yourself to it just as you would having your own B&M Shop. There really aren’t any shortcuts, it’s blood, sweat and tears all the way.

Sally: One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…
Ashley: Well I guess I kinda answered this question in the previous question but here’s another tip... ALWAYS REMEMBER that your interactions on Etsy (and in life) don’t only represent you as a living breathing human but also your brand, your work, and your livelihood. Just look at what Jon and Kate Gosselin shenanigans did to the TLC/Jon & Kate Plus 8 Brand! They essentially set fire to their future brand security and watched it burn to the ground because they forgot that their “brand” and their “selves” are interwoven no matter where they are whether they like it or not. You really never know who might be behind that user name on Etsy, so always be respectful, be kind and most of all be professional. Etsy is a pretty casual place but you can’t treat it like a “Yard Sale” and expect it to be successful. And of course, that goes for everywhere you go in life, always remember that if your a business owner you are representing something bigger than yourself. In my case, I’m not only representing myself as “Ashley” but also my brand, Etsy, young women entrepreneurs and the entire handmade movement as a whole. I know that’s a whole lot to represent, and maybe I’m only representing bits and pieces of those things, but that doesn’t make it any less important.

Show & Tell: BySaraLynn

2010-03-01T11:56:00.002-06:00

It's always so nice to see what people are doing with their journals, and to gain inspiration, to journey forth and keep creating these hand bound beauties. I thought I would start to share with my readers how other people are using their journals and sketchbooks to record their adventures and lives for future generations.

From the flickr pool: http://www.flickr.com/groups/nightowlcraftworksshowandtell/

One of my very good... excellent customers, BySaraLynn was kind enough to post pics of her journal in use on the flickr pool I created. Check out that song list... there's a wedding to be at!!!

Sara is a great Etsy community member. She is not only one of my best customers, but she is part of the LabRatsTeam, and has a beautiful shop of her own!

Sara, thanks for letting me share with my readers!

Mini Gallery; winter snow, will so soon be melted away...

2010-02-26T08:06:00.000-06:00

You are not alone... the camera made me go grrr too...

2010-02-25T14:32:00.000-06:00

Because it's never just one thing you have to overcome... I'm posting about my severe hatred of taking pictures and my lack of know how or camera savvy.

When I started out I struggled with the camera. OK, I'm still working on it. I have never taken a class. Apature value and time value still confuse me a bit, but not as much as they used to (thank you JennaDesigns). I think I've nailed the macro settings and where the photo brackets, or focuses. I really really HATE editing & adjusting color after the shot. It's not that difficult to adjust your curves, mess with the saturation and hue. IF I try to do this... my colors never look true, or the white pages look so bright you can't see them anymore. So... my photos are a bit dark. Yes, the table I photo on has a bit to do with that... but I feel as if it's become part of my brand. It sets my shots out from anyone else's. So I own the shots that I have taken. I am good with the "darkness" because I know my colors are as true as you can get with a digital image and monitors may vary a bit. Who else has a gorgeous barn board table with THAT much character? I get some comments about it every once in a while. It seems without fail, a day or two later, someone will tell me they love my photos... thank you! For someone who has NEVER taken a photo class I think I'm doing OK.

Obstacle overcome! <3 in my mind at least :P

Focus on... StephanieFizer

2010-02-24T08:06:00.001-06:00

Sally: Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…
Stephanie: My name is Stephanie Fizer and I'm a fulltime illustrator. Right now I run my Etsy shop (http://stephaniefizer.etsy.com), do some freelance illustration work and teach my e-course, Flourish. My work is almost entirely digital now, although I love incoporating handmade textures, patterns and brushes.

Sally: Who, or what inspires your creations?
Stephanie: Well, I'm inspired by practically everything these days, it seems that I've constantly got new ideas popping in my head. So many actually, that I can never quite find time for all of them, so they get scribbled down in my idea book until I find time to start developing them. I'm definitely inspired by nature, I grew up in a rural area so I spent a lot of my childhood wandering through the woods and making up stories about the animals. I'm also inspired by vintage illustrations and teacups.

Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Stephanie: Well for me, no matter what product is the end result, it all starts with an illustration so my favorite thing is that journey from the first doodly sketch to the actual finished illustration. But beyond that, I love dreaming up new stationery designs for my shop. I think the world of email, Facebook and Twitter, we often forget who delightful it is to give and receive snail mail and I hope that my sweet notecards will encourage more people to start writing letters and litlte notes instead of just jotting off a quick email.

Sally: What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?
Stephanie: I'm pretty much always working or at least thinking about my work; I thrive on staying busy and find that oddly I am most creative when I have the least time. But when I do take breaks I'm an avid reader and music listener. I also love to cook, it's so a wonderful stress relief for me. I'm a vegetarian and I live in a town that isn't exactly friendly to that diet choice so instead I always search for exciting new veggie recipes to try out here at home. As I'm typing this, I've got a vegan cinnamon crumb cake baking in the oven!

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Stephanie: I think as a general rule, I avoid doing things that I don't do well, but then I think everyone does that. As far as my work goes, I'm terrible at hand-lettering and would love to have the time to really study and work on that.

Sally: Do you have favorite Etsy peeps?
Stephanie: Yes! I really dig Belle & Boo, Sarah Jane Studios, Nella Designs and Gorjuss right now. All lovely, sweet ladies and very talented artists.

Sally: What’s your fav thing about Etsy?
Stephanie: I love the sense of community and the face that I can really get to know my buyers.

Sally: One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…
Stephanie: More than anything, it's so important to maintain a positive attitude and avoid letting yourself get stressed out, especially about things you just can't control. There was a time when I would absolutely turn into a bundle of nerves when my Etsy sales were slow or when I didn't have any freelance gigs lined up and I would find myself just languishing in stress and misery.   Now I've learned to just push the nerves out of the way, stop worrying and instead just focus my energy on creating new work and thinking up new ways to promote myself.

LampLightPottery... inspired by bibs...

2010-02-23T20:14:00.001-06:00

I love all the lovely bib necklaces on Etsy, but why should fabric have all the fun?

Inspired by all the wonderful bib necklaces on Etsy, we made our own version.

So? What do you think?

tagging meme, lots of goody randomness...

2010-02-23T10:36:00.000-06:00

5 Things found in my bag:
*Wallet (my cutie one from Kukubee)
*Phone
*Pen
*Sunglasses
*Lip gloss

5 Things found in my purse:
*License
*Punch cards from the paper store & Cold Stone Creamery
*Library Cards, mine & the kiddos
*Business cards :D
*Receipts from shipping orders :)
Conclusion: I have no cash in my wallet :( I was hoping for a surprise :D

5 Favorite things in my room:
*My laptop
*My glue & brush, bone folder, and awl
*My stereo
*My huge stack(s) of papers
*My coffee mug

5 Things I always wanted to do:
*Go somewhere warm and not do anything but sleep, eat and walk on the beach... maybe learn to surf too
*Travel Europe
*Sing & play bass in a band... Dave Matthews, if you're looking for someone :D
*Star in a movie
*Find my artistic ability... to be able to draw, I know it's there...

5 Things I am currently into:
*Blogging, blogging, blogging. I love discovering new people and introducing them to my readers. It's amazing the connections you make with people all over the world! :D
*Working on my shop a bit more... getting some custom produced items that I love and enjoy.
*Helping my husband with his shop. I have a feeling when we get his new line all set he'll be swamped with orders!
*Getting excited about spring, family is coming to visit and I'm going to start working in the garden! woo hoo!
*Twinkies... after watching "Zombieland" all I want is twinkies.

The person who tagged me... http://www.frommaris.com/

Your 5 impressions of her:
*She's super sweet!
*She is really outgoing!
*She loves handmade!
*She isn't afraid to try something new!
*She is innovative!

I'm tagging....

*http://jennadesigns.blogspot.com/
*http://grayflanneldesign.blogspot.com/
*http://bysaralynn.blogspot.com/
*http://simplyinvitingcards.com/blog/
*http://curiouspug.blogspot.com/

Overcoming obstacles, I feel like a ringmaster at times...

2010-02-22T14:10:00.000-06:00

We all have obstacles we overcome to make what we are doing easier, more fulfilling, or profitable. An obstacle of mine is balancing my family and work. It definitely not my biggest obstacle (I have a harder time keeping myself on task) but I will say it's my most important. My family comes first, always. That's why I'm trying so emphatically to make my new life work. I love to be at home with my children. The problem here is that they sometimes don't understand that I'm not "playing" when I'm on the computer, or that when I'm in my studio that I can't drop everything to help them build a fort or watch a movie. OK, sometimes I do drop everything... but if I let them get me distracted every time I started working... ooo, that's a fun game.

So, how do I overcome this obstacle? Include them in my adventure! They are as proud of my shop as I am, sometimes more. My 13 year old is my advisor (see my 100th post). She helps me decide what goes with what, and helps with color choices. My 7 year old is my social manager & cheerleader (see "In awe of my daughter" post). She tells me what to tweet, and gives me ideas to promote my shop. They work right along side me most times. I am very fortunate to have a studio with a ping pong table in the middle. It has transformed into a huge craft area... most times filled with drawings and projects. They help their dad with his shop too. I think they like helping dad more... but who wouldn't want to be playing in the mud... wait for me guys!!!

We take it one day at a time & keep our eyes on the horizon, with love in our hearts.

What are your obstacles? What have you overcome?

Call for featured Etsians!

2010-02-22T11:30:00.000-06:00

I am looking for shops with

wonderful product line,

original & handmade design,

intriguing photos,

and most of all a love of talking about it all!

If you would like to be considered for a feature on this blog, please contact me at nightowlcraftworks@gmail.com with a few sentences on why you would like to be featured on NightOwlCraftworks blog.

Hurry to get an upcoming spot!

Good luck & thank you for submitting!

Mini Gallery; Getting a bit excited for "Alice in Wonderland"!

2010-02-21T12:02:00.001-06:00

craftgawker...

2010-02-20T20:28:00.004-06:00

Cool! I submitted my Bumbling Bee Journal to craftgawker, and I was accepted! Yay!

For anyone who hasn't heard of craftgawker, it's a free site to submit your work to. For more info go to the craftgawker about page!

Introducing Velcro, the studio cat...

2010-02-19T09:58:00.000-06:00

I think she's up to something...

Click for more pics of the studio on flickr...

Custom work for a special person...

2010-02-18T21:42:00.000-06:00

This past week I have been working on a few custom orders. This one is for BySaraLynn's finance. She ordered a planner for herself also, they both came out looking VERY nice. I've been pretty excited to get them done.

Here is the book cloth, binders board, and signatures prepped for construction. I screen printed onto the book cloth in black textile ink. The PDF for the signature pages were purchased from droplet. I fiddled around with it a lot at first... then got the signatures all settled. The PDF was great to work with. Fun yet simple. Perfect really. I glued, cut, glued some more, poked holes, and started binding the book together. They came together very smoothly.

Looking pretty good, don't cha think?

She hasn't gotten them yet... I hope they like them! :D

My true love story...

2010-02-13T08:06:00.003-06:00

Jan 1 2002 I made a New Years Resolution in 2002... I wasn't going to date any guys that year. I was done, completely gave up.

Jan 11 2002 So this guy I worked with asked me to get a bite to eat with him. He got stood-up on New Years and I told myself it wasn't a "date date". I thought I could go out and maybe get to know him and have a really great friend. He called me an hour after he was supposed to be there, I thought I had been stood up. No... I had just given him REALLY bad directions that took him an hour out of his way. I told him we could skip it and go some other time, but he said he was already out and was really looking forward to going. It took him 2 1/2 hours to get to my house with the bad directions and bad weather. He finally made it and was looking so good in a sweater, and smelled delicious. He cleans up really nice. We went to D.P. Dough, a local calzone shop & then to Moonshadows, a bar in college town with cork dartboards... remember, not a "date date". We had a great time and I made it home safe and happy. I left my keys in his car... not on purpose! Really! He found them the next morning and drove all the way back to my house, 1 1/2 hours again. I was not there but he did get to meet my grandmother :)

February 2002 So he moved in. It only made sense. He was driving an hour and a half to get to work, come over to see me, drive an hour and a half home, and do it again the next day. And remember... we worked at the same company.

April 2002 OK, I'm pregnant. Really?  Pregnant! How do you go from not dating to pregnant?? We really liked each other. We were very happy, very, very happy. I'm not sure what anyone else thought because we were too happy.

July 6 2002
Don't ever try to plan a wedding in two months, really, it's not fun. Don't expect anything to go right, because nothing ever does. If you were there you'd know. I had an oudoor wedding. It was about 80 with a light breeze. Perfect weather. SO... don't tie the real rings to the pillow. Everyone knows that, right? If you know me you know you can't tell me anything, so on go the rings. And, if you've been to my grandmother's house, you know there is a beautiful bridge over the creek that runs through the yard. The ring bearer decides he is going to run over the bridge with the pillow in one hand, kind of swinging it. The last thing you want to hear is- ting ting ting and all the air being sucked in by your guests (we were outside so that's pretty impressive). I immediately closed my eyes and squeezed my fathers arm so hard, I thought I was going to break it. Yes, the rings fell in the creek. Again, I say they... FELL IN THE CREEK! Luckily, my little brother was standing there at the end of the bridge. I had never seen him move so fast, and probably never will again. He was right there to find the rings so that I didn't have to faint and be rushed to the emergency room on my wedding day. After that we had the most beautiful day. I couldn't stop smiling.

Dec 30 2002
OK, so I can't top that story can I? Watch me... my brother-in-law was talking to my husband at about 11 pm on the 29th. He said something to make me laugh... now when your pregnant your supposed to have some warning when the baby is coming. You hear about women having contractions all day, many many hours later they finally have a baby. Jeff made me laugh and my water broke. This did not happen on it's own with Ashley, so I was a little freaked out. If you have ever seen me when I freak out I laugh more than anything... so I called the mid-wife to tell her we were going to the hospital, I was laughing. Mike had to take Ashley up to my grandmothers (about 10 minutes round trip), by the time he got back the contractions were 3 minutes apart and I couldn't move very far before another started. So the ride to the hospital was fun. Mike thought I was going to break his car. We got to the hospital and Mike tried to help me out of the car... don't move a woman mid contraction, SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT! When I was able to move again I ran to the emergency room doors. I walked in and told the receptionists that my contractions were 3 minutes apart and I needed to get to the delivery rooms. The nurses tried to find me a wheelchair because for some reason they didn't have any right there... I was down the hall pushing the up button furiously by the time they caught up to me. So they wheeled me the rest of the way to the desk in the delivery room. Here I had to get a room, so they stopped my wheelchair by the nurses station. The nurses thought that this would be a good time to calmly discuss what room I should be in. I felt like I had a baby in my pantleg of my overalls. So while they are talking I see an empty room, I got up and walked as fast as I could before my next contraction while undoing my buckles on my overalls. I got to the room and stripped the rest of the way. All of this so far only took about 2 hours. So they got me settled in and the mid wife finally joined us. She was very surprised that I was completely dilated, remember I was laughing when I called her. So she did some magic, that shouldn't be shared, and Emily was born at 2:09 am. Three hours later.

So, in 2002 I vowed not to date. I got married and had a baby instead.

THIS IS MY 100th POST! dedicated to my best friend...

2010-02-12T13:57:00.000-06:00

Sorry for shouting, but it's pretty exciting. In the beginning I was grasping at straws, trying to figure out what to post, who wants to hear about me & what I have to offer. Answer! I don't care! Ok, I care that you love reading my blog, and I care that you are interested. But now that I'm hooked on blogging I think I'd blog even if I had no followers and I was talking to myself :D I'm very grateful for my fans and followers... so I'm not actually talking to myself, I LOVE YOU GUYS!

So, I wanted to blog about something extra special for my 100th post. It took a few hours to figure it out, but when it hit me I got SOOO excited! I talk a lot about my husband's shop, and I seem to talk about Emily (my middle girl) a lot, and the baby some.

The person I'd like to dedicate my 100th post to is my oldest daughter, Ashley.

She is my best friend.

She is my rock.

She is my inspiration.

She is my advisor.

She is my 13 year old "little girl".
I could go on all day, so I thought some pics of her gorgeous face could say the rest...

She is has such a great spirit. She loves Etsy more than I do... that's saying a lot! She has her own shop, LittleLelly. She loves elephants <3 She changes her mind often about the look of her shop, and what she sells. She wants so much to be a good Etsian and a great part of the community. She does everything for her shop on her own, taking pics, listing, and packaging. She is a VERY responsible person!

She loves to shop on Etsy. She proudly rocks her clips and jewelry and pouches when she goes to school. It makes her so proud when someone asks her where she got something and she pimps her Etsy loves to all of her freinds. She's even talking some of her teachers into starting up Etsy shops! She's AMAZING! Single handedly educating her school about our handmade community!

Mini Gallery, Clackity Clack...

2010-02-11T10:24:00.000-06:00

I love making things out of stuff from home...

2010-02-10T16:02:00.001-06:00

I was reading sei lifestyle blog the other day... and they a GREAT container on there for organizing your goodies.

photo: sei lifestyle blog

I followed the link to the family fun site it came from... and it started as snack containers! OK... so that is perfect. I can make these containers and don't have to worry if they get trashed or thrown away accidentally, and they don't have a lid to lose!!! WIN!

photo: the shelf in my kitchen

Instead of using a milk carton, I used a 20 oz. plastic soda bottle... perfect for small snacks! Two things to note... if the edges of the bottle are sharp decorate them with some fun tape! Duct tape would work great :D Gotta love duct tape!

photo: my baby nom nom-ing cheerios

The second thing to consider is when you are attaching your Velcro, make sure the soft side is on the inside of the bottle... the side that your little angels are going to be putting their hands against. Have fun all!!!

xxx's

Sunshine Award!

2010-02-10T14:53:00.000-06:00

Spreading some much needed sunshine! I just found that that my blog has been the recipient of the Sunshine Award! A big THANK YOU to bjwcreative for sending this award my way. Now I get to pass it on to my favorite blogs and spread the warmth. Sunshine makes all the difference.

The Sunshine Award is going to these wonderful blogs that I follow:

http://froggyfibers.blogspot.com/
http://bysaralynn.blogspot.com/
http://adventuresofsweetsnstuffgrl.blogspot.com/
http://compofcute.blogspot.com/
http://simplyinvitingcards.com/blog/
http://yarnabees.blogspot.com/
http://curiouspug.blogspot.com

So there you go. Now once you have been notified of receiving the award, you need to complete the following:

Please pass this award on to your favorite bloggers! Here are the Rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post
2. Pass the award on to other bloggers
3. Link the nominees within your post
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

I'm starting a trend! I made a flickr group for my customers!

2010-02-09T16:24:00.002-06:00

OK... maybe it isn't a trend yet, because I'm the only one that has a photo up... but! I've been asking my customers for pictures of their journals or sketchbooks in use, and I would write a post about it on my blog! I get the best stories from my customers about what they are doing with their journals. Some use them to plan their weddings, some to document the new baby, or just to sketch in and make lists that don't get lost!!! I haven't gotten any photos of journals in use... yet.

That's why I started my flickr group, NightOwlCraftworks Show & Tell! If you've purchased a journal and want a photo of it in action in the pool, this is your official invitation! I would love for you to share your stories with all of my wonderful fans!!! And THANK YOU in advance! My fans are THE BEST!

xxx's

Featured Etsian... blueberryshoes/ imfromthewoods!

2010-02-08T15:15:00.001-06:00

Sally: What brought you to Etsy?

Hollie: The fact that I love creating more than anything, am confident in my craft, hate the 9-5 thing and am very driven when it comes to promoting. Etsy just works out perfectly for my personality. It's a venue that was introduced to me through my good friend ohvotrecoeur :)

Sally: Who or what inspires your creations?
Hollie: -Dark fairy tales and history. Little Red Riding Hood and The Little Mermaid are my favs.
-Fashion: street, couture, futuristic, spaceage, medieval, victorian. I love period clothing. The weirder the better. I adore Alexander McQueen.
-Music: Gaga, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush, The Smiths, Tori Amos, etc)
-Girly Nostalgia: Barbie, old dusty dolls, frill and lace you'd find in grandma's trunk in the attic, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, etc. I love glitter, pink and kittens.
-John William Waterhouse, Alphonse Mucha and Edmund Dulac. They introduced me to pond nymphs, half clad curvy women with long hair and sad eyes.
(see the pics I attatched)
-Life experience, especially the sad parts. I would not create the pieces I do without that bit of longing and sadness. Call me dramatic, but it's true. This is especially applicable for my illustrations. They have a depth about them, and it just wouldn't be there if I had a perfect life. Thank god for hard times, I'm a fan of the maturity it's brought into my life.

Sally: What time of day do you work best and why?
Hollie: Definitely at night! I rarely create a thing in the morning/midday. I like being in the dark. Alot of nights I'll go to bed with my hubby, but jump right back out once he's asleep cause I have an idea I just have to get out. This happens way more than I'd like to admit, lol.

Sally: Who do you market to? Who do you see buying your work?
Hollie: I market to indie types, fashionistas and those who care for the earth and recycling. Sometimes my drawings go to the most random people. Usually people who feel deeply and have that longing I talked about. The bows go to girls and women who love high fashion, Gaga and Japanese street style. So pretty much all people I love! A good amount of young girls love the bows too, which is AWEsome. I'm a huge fan of little girls. They're little princesses I can play dress-up and make believe with :)

Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Hollie: Definitely the bows. They're tangible, and can be worn as many times as you want. They're like the gift that keeps giving. I absolutely adore hand sewing, bunching the fabric and seeing each piece turn into a cute lil' piece of their own. I love thinking of what outfits they would match and where my customers would wear them. A recent bow went to a girl who was going to wear it to a Gaga concert, and that totally made my day! The illustrations are very emotional to create. I literally have to block everything out around me. No one can be around. I blast my music and get into the zone. It takes me about an hour to do an entire piece and it flies right by. I can't really draw well when the mood hasn't hit. It has to hit me hard and then I know I'll churn out a few pieces that I'm happy with. Music is really important to creating great pieces.

Sally: What are your 3 favorite books?
Hollie: I have so many. But I really love Catcher in the Rye (of course), Handmaid's Tale and Day of the Triffids. I like autobiographical novels with a bitterness and sarcasm about them, medieval or period ficion and then science fiction.

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Hollie: Omg I can't draw hands. If you notice my illustrations, all of the hands are hidden. For some reason I have never enjoyed doing hands and thus they're stuck in the 5 yr old drawing style phase. I've never practiced them and so they suck, big time. But I have gotten such great feedback on the pieces WITH hands, that now I know I have to work on them and really include them in more pieces. I have a hard time with arms as well. And I'm pretty bad at drawing men. They look like manly women. It's pretty sad. But I do want to get better at these, cause I'd love to do some really deep maiden and knight pieces!

Sally: If you could interview your main influence who would it be and what would you ask?
Hollie: This is tough. It would be a tie between Morrissey, Lady Gaga, Tori Amos and John William Waterhouse. All I care about is what moves people. I would ask a million questions based on what they love, long for, went through and are moved by.

Sally: What do you listen to while you work? While you don’t work?
Hollie: I have an itunes list called "Crafty" and I play it everyday. It's filled with songs I never tire of and that continually move me. For sewing I've got alot of old school Madonna, Gaga, Heart, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Wham!, Smiths, Billie Holiday, YYY, etc. When drawing I listen to stuff like Arcade Fire, Dead Mans Bones, Sunset Rubdown, Gaga.

Sally: Do you have any deals or promos to share?
Hollie: For readers of this interview, buy either a bow or an illustration and recieve a second one half price :) Just type in "Blog Interview" in the notes to seller :)

Crafters ADHD strikes again!

2010-02-07T23:39:00.000-06:00

OK, I hope I'm not offending anyone. It may not be ADHD, but it sure feels like it! After my complete fail at the whole precious metal clay experiment, I decided I was going old school. Back to the MUD! Here's what I came up with...

I know the lighting isn't the best... but I was excited to get these on the blog. They are going to come out so nice! I can feel it! They will dry this week. Then to the bisque kiln. Mike & I will have to mix up glazes. After they come out of the bisque kiln, they get glazed & fired again... and with any luck I'll be attaching hardware & taking some kick butt photos so they can get listed!

Rediscovering my mission, welcome to my blog!

2010-02-06T17:20:00.000-06:00

A favorite blog of mine is ScoutieGirl. A lot of indie crafters may have already heard of it. If you haven't, I suggest you check it out, in depth! There is a section that is titled "52 weeks of blogging your passion". I LOVE blogging, no really, I absolutely LOVE it! So the first month of the 52 weeks is posted for free on her site. So here goes... I'm jumping in with both feet so I can be a better blogger and give more back to my wonderful indie community! Week 1...

What is my mission, what is my passion? I feel there are 3 parts to my mission...

Part 1, as most of you know... I hope... is that I love to bind my own journals and sketchbooks. I feel it brings me back to a time when things were not as easily accessible or disposable. When you write in a Coptic bound journal, it makes whatever you put on those pages "permanent". To go a step further, if you have blank pages there are no boundaries. You can let your ideas flow onto the paper fluidly and without restraint. It's like recording your personal history there on the paper, and someday it will be worth something! I'd like to share more of my process with my readers so you better understand my passion.

Part 2, my handmade family. My husband also has an Etsy shop, LampLightPottery. Kinda fits with our work-at-night theme, huh? He has his BFA in ceramics and works a full time job as a project analyst in glaze colors. We have 3 girls. It has been our dream to open a pottery studio, to sell his pottery, and to teach lessons. I would love to share more with you about our struggles and successes trying to juggle the family and being able to start our own business.

Part 3, spread the indie love. Part of loving handmade, is loving the people behind handmade. I want to continue to feature wonderful Etsy artist & crafters. I think it is so important to get to know the wonderful people we are buying from and why they do what so many of us are doing.

Now that I have shared my mission with you, I am asking you to share with me. I would love to hear any comments or feedback on the direction of my blog. Or if you have any questions for me, go ahead! Ask away!!!

Which do you prefer?
	small journals
	large journals
	sketchbooks
	bar napkins ;)

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