Most artists and crafters at some point, myself included, have the thought that making a career from their creative hobby would be just swell. Doing what you love, and getting paid for it? Yes, please!
If you are familiar with Etsy, you may have seen some of their blog articles titled "Quit your Day Job". These articles offer inspiring interviews from real artisans who have been able to make a career out of selling their handmade creations. You can read about how they got started, what they learned from selling online, and much more.
The Portland area seems to be a haven for creative types, and many of these artists are able to take that step into professionalism. Here's a few of the interviews about great Oregon artists that are successful in their crafty careers:
Bread and Badger features innovative etched glass designs.
Read the interview
Fearless Fibers features handpainted yarns and knitting patterns.
Read the interview
Piddix features digital collages.
Read the interview
Rachelaustin features original artwork and prints.
Read the interview
Littleputbooks features paper arts, pendants, and more.
Read the interview
27 January 2009
22 January 2009
Crochet Christmas Project Photos
a little belated glimpse at a couple of the christmas presents i made for the mom:
these felted slippers are my second attempt at the pattern listed in Felted Crochet by Jane Davis. they turned out just like i'd hoped! crocheted with (2 strands wool, 1 strand polyester) together, then machine felted, these slippers were surprisingly quick to make! of course, the drying time is the longest part, and considering my time crunch (yes, i waited till christmas eve, shut up) i had to help them along a bit... 
once they'd felted down as much as they would, i threw them in the dryer to get them to shrink a bit more because her feet are quite small. when they were shrunk down to size they were still a bit wet, so i took a hair dryer to them at low temp until they were dry enough to wrap.
it's tough to tell from the photos, but the wool is a deep turquoise. the felting worked much better this time and the slippers stayed fuzzy rather than matted; i think it's because i used polyester for the fuzzy part rather than the super soft nylon i used the first time.
she loved them! so did the rest of the family; i may have to make a whole bunch next time...
and here's the first table runner i've ever attempted. whew, it took a long time for such a small thing!
she uses doilies and table runners a lot, but she doesn't have any handmade ones, so i thought this would be a great gift for her. i used a thin cotton/nylon blend for this so that it could be thrown in the wash. the yarn has a silky sheen to it.
this was made by crocheting 20
circle-square motifs then single-crocheting them together and adding a border. if i had more time, i would have made a fancier, more elegant looking border but i think it looks okay. honestly, if i hadn't gotten a few days off of work due to bad weather, this probably wouldn't have been finished.
it's such a rewarding feeling to pour so much work into something and have it so well received.
once they'd felted down as much as they would, i threw them in the dryer to get them to shrink a bit more because her feet are quite small. when they were shrunk down to size they were still a bit wet, so i took a hair dryer to them at low temp until they were dry enough to wrap.
it's tough to tell from the photos, but the wool is a deep turquoise. the felting worked much better this time and the slippers stayed fuzzy rather than matted; i think it's because i used polyester for the fuzzy part rather than the super soft nylon i used the first time.
she loved them! so did the rest of the family; i may have to make a whole bunch next time...
and here's the first table runner i've ever attempted. whew, it took a long time for such a small thing!she uses doilies and table runners a lot, but she doesn't have any handmade ones, so i thought this would be a great gift for her. i used a thin cotton/nylon blend for this so that it could be thrown in the wash. the yarn has a silky sheen to it.
this was made by crocheting 20
circle-square motifs then single-crocheting them together and adding a border. if i had more time, i would have made a fancier, more elegant looking border but i think it looks okay. honestly, if i hadn't gotten a few days off of work due to bad weather, this probably wouldn't have been finished.it's such a rewarding feeling to pour so much work into something and have it so well received.
posted in:
crochet and knitting
20 January 2009
Listen to This: CraftyPod
CraftyPod is a podcast and blog devoted to the world of handmade.
The range of this podcast is pretty broad; they discuss a variety of creative forms in a variety of media, in addition to discussing the professional side of making things. CraftyPod offers inspiring interviews with big names in the crafting world, highlighting specific aspects of the handmade process.
The most recent episode:
Making a Creative Career, with Kim Werker
The range of this podcast is pretty broad; they discuss a variety of creative forms in a variety of media, in addition to discussing the professional side of making things. CraftyPod offers inspiring interviews with big names in the crafting world, highlighting specific aspects of the handmade process.
The most recent episode:
Making a Creative Career, with Kim Werker
I highly recommend this episode! Kim Werker is the founder of CrochetMe.com and a former editor for Interweave Crochet Magazine. Here, she talks about her progression through her career, what got her where she is today, and some advice about where you let your craft take you.
Here you can see an index of CraftyPod podcasts, including such recent topics as "market your craft online", "crafty holiday gatherings", and "men who craft".
posted in:
crafty business,
podcasts
09 January 2009
Catching up, calming down, and a bit about me as a crocheter
ahhh, friday! the first week back into the swing of things after the holidays is always pretty long and exhausting.
the holidays, along with the record-breaking weather conditions, have now passed and i'm starting to feel like things are back to normal. however, after all the snow, now the whole area has been in the 40's and rainy, and flooding is creating problems all over the place. for the past few days, it's all that has been on the news, and for now it's not getting any better.. whole towns under a foot of water, miles-long stretches of major highways closed for days. whoa. we're all right where we're at, but it's so sad to hear about all of the people who've been asked to leave their now-unsafe homes due to landslides and raging rivers.
anyway, other than the usual back to work tasks, i've been all about crochet lately. i got some new wool that i've been eager to spin, but i haven't picked up the spindle lately because i just can't seem to be able to put my hook down. all of the christmas presents i made for my family were crocheted: hats and toys for the kids, felted slippers and a table runner for the moms... i tried some things that were completely new to me, and i loved the results. and the recipients were all so gracious! it really makes you feel good when you pour so much effort and heart into a gift and it's genuinely appreciated. soon i'll share pictures of what i made (all last-minute, of course, heh).
lately i've been compiling ideas of new techiques that i want to try, focusing on crochet. even after years of familiarity with the craft there is still so, so much to learn. right now i'm in the middle of my first sock pattern (which i think will turn out too large, oh well), and next i'm going to do either tapestry crochet or crochet cables.
it's kinda funny, looking back, because i feel like i've worked backwards in a way. i went on for years simply creating things without instructions, never following a pattern or even writing down my own. this was fun (i don't really like having to record everything), but the process showed its downfalls more and more as time went on. being able to recreate items can be pretty important to sustainability when selling crochet accessories; thus i began writing down my steps for the things i made and held onto a small list of patterns that i designed with the intent to sell the items. it's kind of a pain to add the extra step while you're in the process of creating a new design, but when you can use this same pattern to make many items, you become much more efficient (in a production sense) without compromising originality or the quality of handmade.
lately, through crochet's increasing exposure on the internet, i've become more and more interested in trying new techniques. thanks to ravelry, i've also been drooling over others' projects and designs. i've also realized that the best way to hone and perfect my own designs is to be familiar with the techniques used to put together items that i have no experience with. i've been hit with the urge to create clothing, accessories, and housewares for myself (rather than simply to stock my shop), and my list of "i want" items grows by the day, so right now it's all about me! hence the first pair of (probably many pairs of) socks.
i've been listening to some interesting crafty podcasts lately; the concept is still pretty new to me but i'm enjoying it so far. some of them are general crafting podcasts, some are yarn or fiber centered podcasts. it's been pretty difficult to find crochet-only podcasts (there are plenty of knitting ones, but i don't knit), but i found a couple. i'll be discussing these podcasts more in the future, but if you'd like to check them out, the links can be found right here on my blog's left sidebar.
i also bought the January issue of Crochet! Magazine and the Jan/Feb issue of Crochet Today! Magazine. both of these magazines are interesting/beneficial in different ways; i hope to get deeper into this later. these are actually the first crochet mags i've ever read.. uh, oh! now i have the thirst. i have yet to explore Interweave Crochet Magazine, and i haven't picked up a copy of Spin-Off! yet because i know that if i even open it i'll just have to get a subscription.
hrm, i guess that's it for now. i'll try to get more pictures this weekend of what i've been up to lately, and i'm working on increasing the frequency of my blog posts. but really, i'm not a small-talk kinda person and i don't feel like saying anything unless i feel like it's important, so i try to keep it more interesting than "i made this, then i did this. woo."
of course, feedback on this blog (content, layout, whatever) is always appreciated!
the holidays, along with the record-breaking weather conditions, have now passed and i'm starting to feel like things are back to normal. however, after all the snow, now the whole area has been in the 40's and rainy, and flooding is creating problems all over the place. for the past few days, it's all that has been on the news, and for now it's not getting any better.. whole towns under a foot of water, miles-long stretches of major highways closed for days. whoa. we're all right where we're at, but it's so sad to hear about all of the people who've been asked to leave their now-unsafe homes due to landslides and raging rivers.
anyway, other than the usual back to work tasks, i've been all about crochet lately. i got some new wool that i've been eager to spin, but i haven't picked up the spindle lately because i just can't seem to be able to put my hook down. all of the christmas presents i made for my family were crocheted: hats and toys for the kids, felted slippers and a table runner for the moms... i tried some things that were completely new to me, and i loved the results. and the recipients were all so gracious! it really makes you feel good when you pour so much effort and heart into a gift and it's genuinely appreciated. soon i'll share pictures of what i made (all last-minute, of course, heh).
lately i've been compiling ideas of new techiques that i want to try, focusing on crochet. even after years of familiarity with the craft there is still so, so much to learn. right now i'm in the middle of my first sock pattern (which i think will turn out too large, oh well), and next i'm going to do either tapestry crochet or crochet cables.
it's kinda funny, looking back, because i feel like i've worked backwards in a way. i went on for years simply creating things without instructions, never following a pattern or even writing down my own. this was fun (i don't really like having to record everything), but the process showed its downfalls more and more as time went on. being able to recreate items can be pretty important to sustainability when selling crochet accessories; thus i began writing down my steps for the things i made and held onto a small list of patterns that i designed with the intent to sell the items. it's kind of a pain to add the extra step while you're in the process of creating a new design, but when you can use this same pattern to make many items, you become much more efficient (in a production sense) without compromising originality or the quality of handmade.
lately, through crochet's increasing exposure on the internet, i've become more and more interested in trying new techniques. thanks to ravelry, i've also been drooling over others' projects and designs. i've also realized that the best way to hone and perfect my own designs is to be familiar with the techniques used to put together items that i have no experience with. i've been hit with the urge to create clothing, accessories, and housewares for myself (rather than simply to stock my shop), and my list of "i want" items grows by the day, so right now it's all about me! hence the first pair of (probably many pairs of) socks.
i've been listening to some interesting crafty podcasts lately; the concept is still pretty new to me but i'm enjoying it so far. some of them are general crafting podcasts, some are yarn or fiber centered podcasts. it's been pretty difficult to find crochet-only podcasts (there are plenty of knitting ones, but i don't knit), but i found a couple. i'll be discussing these podcasts more in the future, but if you'd like to check them out, the links can be found right here on my blog's left sidebar.
i also bought the January issue of Crochet! Magazine and the Jan/Feb issue of Crochet Today! Magazine. both of these magazines are interesting/beneficial in different ways; i hope to get deeper into this later. these are actually the first crochet mags i've ever read.. uh, oh! now i have the thirst. i have yet to explore Interweave Crochet Magazine, and i haven't picked up a copy of Spin-Off! yet because i know that if i even open it i'll just have to get a subscription.
hrm, i guess that's it for now. i'll try to get more pictures this weekend of what i've been up to lately, and i'm working on increasing the frequency of my blog posts. but really, i'm not a small-talk kinda person and i don't feel like saying anything unless i feel like it's important, so i try to keep it more interesting than "i made this, then i did this. woo."
of course, feedback on this blog (content, layout, whatever) is always appreciated!
posted in:
art and design,
crochet and knitting,
in the craft room
01 January 2009
Custom and Wholesale Orders
I'd love to make something just for you! Depending on the item, the current turnaround time for custom orders is 1-2 weeks.
Simply submit a request letting me know what you're looking for. I can duplicate an item I've made in the past, or start a completely new design for you. When you send your request, please be as specific as possible. This helps the process run smoothly and ensures that you get exactly what you had in mind.
Custom and wholesale orders require full payment up front. I accept PayPal and money orders. Credit card payments are processed through PayPal.
Items are shipped USPS First Class. Priority mail upgrades, delivery confirmation, and insurance can be added upon request at the buyer's expense.
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.
Simply submit a request letting me know what you're looking for. I can duplicate an item I've made in the past, or start a completely new design for you. When you send your request, please be as specific as possible. This helps the process run smoothly and ensures that you get exactly what you had in mind.
Custom and wholesale orders require full payment up front. I accept PayPal and money orders. Credit card payments are processed through PayPal.
Items are shipped USPS First Class. Priority mail upgrades, delivery confirmation, and insurance can be added upon request at the buyer's expense.
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.
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