MegsCrochetJewels Featured Artist Friday!

Earlier today I did a feature on my ArtFire internal blog about MegsCrochet Jewels.  The necklace and bracelet I featured sold out of her Etsy shop within hours!  I am so excited for Meg!

She offers free shipping and a lifetime guarantee on her jewelry!

Here's the link to my internal ArtFire blog post and some more items of Meg's:

http://www.artfire.com/users/totallytothet/blog/i-admit-it.-i-am-obsessed-with-meg-s-stunning-crocheted-jewelry






I have a pair of earrings like the ones pictured below, but with rice pearls:



Meg's shops:
http://www.artfire.com/users/MegsCrochetJewels
http://www.etsy.com/people/MegsCrochetJewels

250 Follower Giveaway!

I've decided that once either my Facebook Business Fan Page or my blog reach 250 followers, which ever comes first, I will hold a give away!
To participate, post on Facebook or on my blog your favorite item in my shop. Linking to the picture in the shop is especially helpful so everyone else can see what you are talking about!

Also, in order to reach the intended goal of 250 followers faster,
please Tweet this, make suggestions to friends on Facebook, and Tweet
and follow my blog to get the word out! I will chose the old fashioned
way, by putting your names on a piece of paper and having my husband pick the winner. If there is a large enough response, there will also
be a runner-up chosen.

One entry per person. 

TotallyToTheT on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TotallyToTheT/134067656612426

1st Featured Artist Friday selection is...

Tocadora Leather of Etsy!


I am in love with her leather cuffs! And, if you are familiar with my Etsy and Artfire shops, then you recognize the button on this cool cuff. In short, that is the story of how I found Tocadora Leather on Etsy.com.

The 2 main things I like about the way items are created in this shop:

1) She buys some of her supplies from other handmade artists, giving them credit for their creations when she uses them in one of her pieces. It's professional and spreads the love in the handmade community.

2) She uses recycled, repurposed leather belts and gives them a new life! How many times has my husband just thrown away an old belt because the holes were worn out or an edge was frayed? What else do you use an old belt for besides adorning a pair of pants? You make *sweet* stylish wrist cuffs! This also means that each piece is an individual piece of unique art that is not mass-produced.

"Tocadora Leather is your place for fun and fashionable leather accessories made from primarily recycled materials. Anything is fair game to be repurposed into jewelry that is tough, cool, comfortable...and maybe just a bit unusual."

Another gorgeous example:So in the spirit of Feature Artist Friday and Follow Friday:
1) Check out this wicked cool shop!
2) Buy if you are so inspired.
3) Comment on this post and let us know which of this artist's pieces you most admire.
4) Follow the shop on Facebook.
5) Follow the shop on Twitter.
6) Feature an item from this shop in a Treasury on Etsy.
7) Link Love: Twitter, your Facebook, your blog, StumbleUpon, Amazon Shopping List, Flickr, et al.
8) Spread the word to your friends and family about this shop as an example of how awesome handmade is!
9) Mention this shop in the forums or chat rooms on Etsy.

Rock the handmade love, y'all!

(The author did not receive any compensation for this feature nor did she request any. The featured seller was notified of the feature after the fact. Sort of like an Ambush or SneakAttack!)

Possible wholesale or consignment!

In the process of making buttons for a possible consignment or wholesale opportunity! So stoked! I should have them ready by end of next week to take to a local shop and discuss the possibility. Even if it does not pan out I am very motivated to approach other local stores. Wish me luck!

My hunting trip ;)

I hunt for leaves and other found objects to press into clay. My recent finds around my neighborhood are shown above.

Maybe next time some kudzu leaves. We have plenty right across the street from our house!

All glazed over...

Not my eyes, silly! My pots!

Pictures right before a recent glaze firing. The plates are currently for sale in my etsy shop.

The first pictures are everything that needs to be done before pots can be put in for a glaze firing. It's a lot of work!

Kiln Wash has to be put on the shelves to keep pots from sticking and also keep dripping glaze from seeping into the shelves and ruining them. That's pretty important because one 1/2 shelve costs 20 clams. That can get very expensive!


The kiln must also be vacuumed out before each firing to remove debris and dust, all of which can potentially damage pots and the fragile kiln brick. Adequate kiln maintenance is a must!




And then FINALLY I get to glaze pots to put in the kiln! I put a wax resist on the bottom and anywhere I do not want glaze and then wipe away any excess. Then they are all ready to get fired up!

I really needed to unload...

So I did. Pottery is very therapeutic. lol.

These are pictures I took from a recent bisque (1st) firing. The first firing basically zaps and cooks most of the water out of the clay. The 2nd firing, or glaze firing is to vitrify the clay and set the glaze.

Working on an alchemy order through Etsy

In addition to DIY overload, I am working on an Alchemy order through Etsy. Here's the progress so far.

The leaf is from a Sassafras tree, at least that is what Erik tells me. It borders one side of our yard. And the seashell is from Ocracoke Island. The bowl was made, as seen below, by slumping a piece of slabbed clay over a covered shape. In this case it is an empty pickled beets jar. Yum! This is a simple and effective way to make a handbuilt bowl form. The bowl was scalloped but I excised those portions and pinched the bowl back in. I have to trim the edges tomorrow for a more finished look.

Meet and greet with the TotallyToTheT mascots

Well, just one of them because the other one, my Corgi named Gidget, kept hiding behind the couch! So, included are two pictures of the other pottery pup, relaxing on her favorite pillow and sofa. This mascot's name is LeeLooDallasMultipass, who we also call LooLoo or LooDog. She is a little over 3 years old and a Yellow Lab with a pinch of Boxer mix. She's a sweet girl! The girls keep me company in the home studio when there are no other humans around. Their camaraderie and good work ethic are appreciated.

Behind LooDog is the HUGE picture window we had to special order as part of our pre-house-selling renovations. We are almost done getting the house prepped and will be putting our house up for sale by Tuesday, September 6th.

Milk and Honey DIsh on Etsy

This beauty keeps ending up in Treasuries on Etsy. I am honored other people like it so much!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/50207386/handmade-lace-impressed-ceramic

Etsy Front Page!

My milk and honey dish made the Etsy Front Page the other day! This item has been listed in 5 or 6 treasuries so far. It is only a matter of time before some one snatches it up for a gift or as a coveted piece for everyday use. ;)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/50207386/handmade-lace-impressed-ceramic

And my stoneware Robin Egg Blue Pedestal Bowl also made it into a treasury the other day.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/50212066/pedestal-bowl-serving-dish-ceramic?ref=v1_other_2

AND...
I am on an Etsy Team now! The D Listers. It is a team for new sellers to Etsy. What an exciting week! I still have to catch up on reading the team forum posts, which I will go do, um, well, now.

Ah, the joys of home ownership

... and staging your house to sell it.
It's been quite some time since my last post, but I've been a busy girl! I have been obsessed with setting up and improving my Etsy store, www.etsy.com/shop/TotallyToTheT. My pictures are getting a lot better!

BEFORE:

AFTER:


I have been quite busy with my day job and night classes for my Bachelor's Degree as well as getting the house ready to sell and jumpstarting my Etsy shop. I did find time one Sunday afternoon to make a needle felted cat toy for my 5 cats to fight over. Complete with bell and catnip in the center. Purrlicious!

And some photos of Erik's home improvement and repairs. One of his biggest projects in our 90+ year old house has been replacing the old sagging cellulose tiles with drywall. *Fun*.

Felting Magic

I have been interested in learning how to felt for a while now. I would say that the first time I realized I had an interest in actually learning how to make felt and felted objects was when I saw them at a holiday craft bazaar held every year at Owen Middle School in Black Mountain, NC. Mostly it was pot holders and trivets and the like. But I love visual texture, so I think that is what pulled me in. I am always learning something new, so felting was in the back of my mind for awhile. At the time, I was still taking ceramics classes at Black Mountain Center for the Arts Clay Studio, in addition to working full time and taking night classes through Appalachian State University two nights per week. What can I say, I'm a busy woman!

I took the leap this weekend and bought some dyed wool batt and roving as well as felting needles from two of my favorite craft shops in Asheville, Earth Guild and Asheville Home Crafts. I have been reading books on felting, both wet and needle felting. I browsed several stores before deciding that these two were the best for my needs. Earth Guild sells batting in bulk prices and they also have a buy 6 or more discount system. Asheville Home Crafts tends to specialize in locally provided and artisan goods. They are a little more expensive on some things than Earth Guild but the quality is well worth it. I like Asheville Home Crafts not only for their fine products but also because if I get stumped on anything while felting or knitting, all I have to do is call or stop by and there is someone knowledgeable enough to help me because they specialize in what they sell. Earth Guild has friendly knowledgeable staff as well, but every single person there can't possibly know about every craft they cater to, because of their variety, that would just be impossible. I have found if they don't know the answer or they don't have what you need they often will send you in the right direction.

So... I was going to start small by needle felting catnip filled toys, which I still plan to do and possibly list for sale on my Etsy shop, TotallyToTheT. But the resist wet felting techniques for making bags and pillows described in Christine White's "Uniquely Felt" caught my eye. Pictures of my first wet felting attempt to follow. It did not turn out perfect on my first attempt and I am going to have to try to reinforce the seams and cord attachment by needle felting, which I will be doing today. I went back and reread the instructions and figured out that in order for the seams to felt, I should have left some tufted border on the prefelt sheet instead of folding this over and trying to make it look perfect prior to the construction of the bag. Trying to wet felt two prefelted sheets together simply does not work. There is nothing for the sheets of felt to grab onto if there are no rough edges. So lesson learned I think. I will experiment again this weekend or next and post again. In the meantime, hopefully this post can help someone else who is trying to learn wet felting avoid the same mistake.

Also, the next crafting blitz will probably involve me trying to make this bag, which looks like it would be better for a beginner like myself.

I have learned a lot by reading the blogs of other crafters and continue to do so. I hope that my blog can be a place for sharing, learning and meeting like-minded crafty critters!

Happy Crafting!

-Tonya McDonel