Whatever Weekend – Shoes and Tattoos!

Today, I fell in love.

With these:

 

Gipsy Dharma has some of the most beautiful, handmade, leather, festival-style boots I’ve ever seen!

I’ve wanted a pair of boots like this for years now, as the hubs and I frequent our local Scarborough Faire, and see handmade shoes like this on the regular. It doesn’t hurt that I secretly want to be a fairy. (Shh…) I’m also a lover of shoes that keep me close to barefoot, which is hard to find in a boot. If you’re curious about why going barefoot is so good, check out this link. As for me, I’ve always enjoyed going barefoot, and continue to do it for health reasons (as someone with FMS, it’s important to me to walk consciously to put less strain on my body,) but I am a girl, after all, and this girl loves her shoes! Could it get any better than custom-made by hand?

The designer is based in the UK, but she’s obviously accustomed to selling internationally. There’s no shortage of detailed info on her shoes and clothing, including measuring and sizing tips to help you avoid returns. She’s also eco-conscious, which, of course, I appreciate, and her customers are clearly very happy!

In other news, I’ve found a great tattoo artist who I’d like to do a tattoo I’ve had in mind for years now. Her name is Shanti (which means “peace” in Sanskrit, in case you were wondering,) and she specializes in Art Nouveau style. My idea is somewhat general right now – a celebration of life garden with specific flowers to represent specific loved ones and important events in my life, placed on my hip, and wrapping around to my lower back. I have plenty of notes on possible flowers, and would love a swirly, Art Nouveau style background to tie it all together. So, I need an artist with a good sense of botanical work, and I also want bold, rich color, and after looking at some of Shanti’s portfolio, I’m confident she’ll be able to provide just that. Look at this beautiful Iris (a cover-up, no less.) The color variation and attention to detail really drew me in.

 

I’m excited to work on sketching out some designs and meet with Shanti after I’ve saved up enough money to sit through at least an hour-long session!

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Make It Monday – Martha’s American Made Awards

If you look to the right of this post, below the photo of me looking very colorful, you’ll see a new button that looks like this:

Yesterday, a friend from our local Etsy team, Etsy Fort Worth, shared the link for our team members to nominate themselves for Martha Stewart’s Made In America Awards. The finalists from the six categories will receive an AM gift basket, and will be featured on the site and on Sirius radio. The first prize winner receives $10,000 to use toward their business, and a trip to NYC!

All you have to do to enter is click the green button on the right (or the picture below,) check out our profile, of course, and click the “nominate  yourself” button at the top right of the page. You’ll select your category, add any photos, videos, and links you’d like to share, then write a short bio about yourself/your business, and answer a couple of questions. You can save a copy of your profile before publishing it, and once you publish, you can edit your profile if you notice any mistakes or something you may have left out.

A sneak peek of our profile!

 

Voting starts August 26, so be sure to add our profile to your favorites list for later! Mom is looking for a house right now, and we’ve been planning out our studio space (who cares about the rest of the house, right?) So, if we win the grand prize, part of the money will go toward renovating one or two of the rooms to create a space where we can make and market together, and where we can invite customers to talk about custom orders, and host fittings for models. We are in serious need of a collective, designated space for our work, so that we can collaborate on projects, and store our supplies in one space. I’m especially excited to designate an area for taking photos, with different backdrops and a light box, without having to take it all down and reassemble it to save space in our current, small apartments.  

Of course, if we don’t win, we’re just excited about the opportunity for free exposure. By creating our profile, we’ll reach potential customers that haven’t heard of us before, who’ll visit our Etsy shops and other links, and get to know us better. If you or anyone you know has a handmade business, take the opportunity to put yourself out there! It could be craft, design, food, gardening, or style related. Nominate yourself (or make them nominate themselves,) because you never know who’ll fall in love with your product.

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Dark Beauty

Take a gander at these wonderful photos taken by Evelyn Murphy (makeup by our friend, Tiinia Auler) featuring Mom’s custom horn headpiece. At least one photo from this shoot will be featured in Dark Beauty Magazine – so exciting!

 

Friday’s Favorites – Shoutout to Etsy817!

I can’t speak highly enough about the Etsy team we’re a part of. Etsy 817 is a group of artists and crafters in the 817 area code in Texas. We get together to plan events and promote each other, talk about techniques, and generally support each other and our businesses. Maybe I’m a little biased, but that doesn’t change the fact that these people are talented! I mean really, really talented. So, since most of them have ended up on our favorites lists in one way or another, I thought I’d share them all with you:

http://www.etsy.com/teams/6755/etsy-817/members?page=1

Take a look, and I garauntee you’ll find something you don’t want to live without.

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Make It Monday – Easy Sharpie-sy!

Sharpie Lamborghini Gallardo by Jona Cerwinske

So, recently I saw a “DIY shower curtain,” which consisted of a white shower curtain and a black permanent marker. So, I thought to myself, “Self, you could do that! And you wouldn’t have to pay $30 for it.”

Apparently, the trend is catching on. Take a look at this super simple slipcover idea from Fresh Home Ideas . The same technique (known as “doodling”) can be applied to just about anything you want: curtains, lampshades, tablecloths, cotton rugs, stationary, plastic cups, the fish tank, the car … seriously, you could have an entire matching set of customized textiles on the cheap. I think this could be a great idea for kids, too (just be sure to be clear that while a pillow is okay, the walls are a no-no!) The possibilities are literally endless – if you can doodle on it, it’s fair game. So, buy the multipack of colored – or metallic – Sharpies and go nuts!

Share the Love,

Chelsea