Etsy Success Workshop

What an honor to give an Etsy Success Workshop!! Thank you, thank you to Etsy, Danielle, all who attended and tuned into the livestream!



I was so excited and nervous about it I told my boo that he'd better be there or he'd be fired. I needed to see his face in the audience, so he skipped out of work to make that happen. Can you spot Mr. MR?...

my dj set double laptop presentation!


and, the End!

Photography is such a huge, broad topic, and each individual shops needs are specific and varied. So really I tried to make the workshop more about ideas to improve your Etsy photography, and tailored it specifically to Etsy sellers. I talked a lot about the types of images that work best and then got into some of the specifics about actually making images.  I hope that it can be a resource and inspiration to people!!

I think the most nerve wracking part was that the event was livestreaming and would be recorded FOR.EV.ER! You can watch me earnestly, and nervously trying to learn you some photography skillz right here....

Were you watching? I'd love to hear your thoughts, if anything resonated with you or helped you! Let me know yo! That would make me so happy!

Had to clown around in the photo booth...

Thanks again Etsy & everyone who came & tuned in - you made my day....

lately

cantaloupe in the morning is the best thing ever. ever.


blank canvas, and just so happens to be the biggest hoop I've worked!


banjo looking innocent....


...and not so innocent. "What did the five fingers say to the face? SLAP."


Prepping for Renegade Brooklyn


lots of little packages being sent too...

This past week was kinda crazy. I gave an Etsy Success Photography Workshop, which I'll post some pics of tomorrow.

I've put my shop on vacation for a bit, since I'll be out of town June 1 - 5. Where you ask? Well, I'll be in NH at Squam Art Workshops teaching embroidery classes and hopefully exploring the camp grounds, meeting lots of new people, and I really hope I get to go swimming. Living in NY, without a car, I get a little cabin fever. Can't wait for some pine needles, dirt trails, and a little cabin in the woods!

Hope you're having a great, long weekend!!

i just wanna love you dear

Boys in button ups and high waters with that wall of sound that i love – It's a recipe to break my heart.

C'mon let's slow dance...

hope you have happy weekend....

summer wish list....

 photo: anja mulder    

Yesterday, here in NY it was 80 degrees. It's summer time! Um, did we even have a spring though? oh well...

Working from home, I feel a bit cloistered, especially during the winter.  Who wants to go out in that mess if you don't have to? Not me!

But come summer, it's hard to concentrate, hard to stay in and not just take a walk. 

Here's my summer wish list & things I'm just looking forward to:

• a visit to Herkimer Diamond Mines so I can dig up my own quartz crystals!
• collecting old trash at Dead Horse Bay
• Squam Art Workshops: How could I not be excited to teach an embroidery class!!??
• camping- Know any good places around the NY area?
• Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn: If you are in NY June 11 & 12 you better come say hi to me!!
• lots of bike rides
• picnics in the park

Reminiscing about last summer...

visiting home in CA & see my parent's little dogs Dexter & Buddy Lee


Getting a mad sunburn &working my Letter Service at Renegade Los Angeles


We rescued this bear of a cat, who now has a great home & new name, Percopious


Making little letters at a Shiny Squirrel pop-up shop. So glad to have met Jessica, miss Shiny Squirrel herself & Lisa Butterworth too!


Whats on your summer list?!

this may break your heart....

.... but it's not a sad video at all. Quite the opposite, it's just so extremely joyful....

I'm not sure what the words are- it's a Brazilian band singing in Portuguese, which my friend Katrina once described to me as words that sound like bubbles. Kinda like not knowing. The emotion shines through.  I'm also quite a fan of the long take. Notice that there is not one cut in this whole video, even as they move from room to room. (Have you seen Boogie Nights? The opening is the best- a long take! What others are there? The Simpsons opening credits....)

Yesterday when I viewed this it was at 90 thousand views. Today, 1,800,000! Impressive, no? I think it's resonating with others too...

So did you get a little teary eyed?  Made me want to sing!

lately

it's pretty much all cats and dogs!










Not much more from this week, because well, it's an embarrassing story... I did the dumbest thing early this week. I was standing on a swivel chair photographing some paper cuts Chad, of Mon Petit Fantome, sent me – lovely, lovely papers cuts of Jeremy & I – and like an idiot I fell off said swivel chair. Didn't even get the picture! I was pretty much out of it physically the rest of the week, and since Jeremy was away for work until Sunday night, there was no one to help me out in my pathetic state.

This reminded me of a David Sedaris story, Monster Mash, where he visits a morgue.  He describes the people and the unpredictable ways that they died – a woman is hit by a car while waiting in line at a hamburger stand, a man falls from a ladder while trying to change a light bulb. Of this man's autopsy he says it "was the best argument for the buddy system I'd ever seen." Moral of the story, don't stand on a swivel chair and don't eat hamburgers. 

Sunday was the best though! Crafting at Etsy with some lovely, inspiring, crafty ladies, like Nicole of Astulabee, one of my favorite makers! Danielle is fostering Myrtle, that little lady in the bag. Little fuzzy ones + crafty lady mimosa times, best end to a lame week....

Pins & Needles Class

Last week I taught a embroidery class at Pins & Needles where we made Zodiac Constellation Kits together.  It's always a bit nerve wracking to teach, but what I love most about it is making/crafting in a group setting, like an old school quilting bee, meeting new people and the silly joy I feel when someone really enjoys what they are learning.

Speaking of meeting people- One highlight for me was having Carrie Strine in the class! I love her quilts and work in general. It's so strange and wonderful to meet internet friends- hear their voice and experience their personalities- she is a funny one!

Thanks to all who came out for the class and stay tuned if you'd like to take an embroidery class. I'll be teaching again at P&N June 25th and dates at Purl Soho soon too (!)....

lately + this week

highlights from last week included visiting Etsy Headquarters in Dumbo, taking some time for the little things, and teaching an Embroidery Class...

Etsy's headquarters are uh, just amazing. So much to see and so many people wondering around. I was too shy to photograph people working, but just imagine a whole floor of people with no partitions between desks, and art everywhere, even hanging over your head. They certainly make a fun, relaxed working environment!

I love stopping throughout the day to appreciate small, good things, like the light on my pears, little keys or the strange complete satisfaction I feel when I prune the plants. Bug had to jump in and create a vingette for me while I pruned...

Hope you had a great week and Mother's Day!!

p.s you can click the photos for more on Flickr...

Happy Mother's Day...

I have the sweetest, kindest, goofiest, thoughtful mom ever. Being on the opposite side on the country on mother's day puts little guilty thoughts in my head.  I just miss her so.  These pics are from our trip to DC a few years back.  I didn't realize how many great shots I got of her new boot goofin' with her new red, red hair did. She pretty much will direct a photograph or pop up perfectly between two columns... love her!

To all the mothers, grandmothers, sons and daughters out there.... Happy Mother's Day!

Isn't my mom the cutest!?

get messy...

above photo: by virginia, the rest by me...

I really wanted to try this DIY project with doilies, but I didn't have any doilies to use. I do have tons of vintage books that I find on the streets on NY though.  So when Virginia and I got together to work on our booth for Renegade Brooklyn we tried this project at my great insistance. Totally messy, fun and simple diy project that I think would be fun to do with little ones...

Might make some more & paint them too. Super easy to make and I could see a bunch together   being really cute decorations for a studio or kids room.

Here is all you need:
+ balloons or a form to shape around
+ liquid starch or Modpodge mixed with a bit of water. The liquid starch has a matte finish and the Modpodge has a shiny finish.
+ paper

If you try it let me know what you think!  &  Happy Cinco De Mayo!!

lately + this week

 
Loved crafting with Virginia for our Renegade Brooklyn Booth! Lots more pics, but will share sneak peeks as it gets closer.  We both are really into decorating the booth and making a super fun environment- can't wait to see it all up!



Making little letters in the studio lately....


Jeremy working on a lazy Sunday.  We love sitting at our little table, looking out the window at all the people and street cats roaming about and sipping tea...

Painting pottery at Lorrie or Lenny Mud's studio. She gave a great talk on SEO & Etsy for the NewNew Etsy Team.

Happy to spend some time with Virginia's cat, Buggles, who is the goofiest thing ever! Those buggy eyes, crumpled ears, and silly cat tongue!!

This week....
+ 5/7 1:30 pm DONT FORGET! I'm teaching an Embroidery Class this Saturday at Pins & Needles. It's a beginner class and we'll be making Zodiac Embroideries!! Would be a supper fun Mom & Daughter activity for mother's day, or just a fun, crafty afternoon. More info on the P&N blog here, and a my earlier post on the class here. Hope to see you there!!

+ 5/ 4 I'm going to a writing workshop at Etsy with Michelle, who does all the Keep It Weird posts. I'm down for any opportunity to improve my skillz...

+ 5/7 So excited to see the work & hopefully the artist too, J.L of Blood Milk, in the group show, Alchemically Yours. Any local peeps wanna come with?