Etsy and All of its Wonderfulness

I have to start this post by thanking my Aunt Pattie (she has a blog too, I'll link it when I find it) who introduced me to Etsy during a random conversation on Facebook.  After that conversation in mid August I spent a couple of hours on Etsy, completely absorbed in the collection of creativity its sellers had amassed in one place on the internet.  Everything from the items themselves to the blogs and flavor text people added to their listings.  After that, I decided that I needed to get in on the goods too.  This decision lead to my buying a sewing machine a month later and my first item posting a week or two after that.

On to the good stuff!  Here's a list of my current listings:

Companion Cube!
Can belong to you if you go here.

This is a simple red and white plaid tote bag.  It has a magnetic snap closure
 and red lining.
It can be had here, for a price.

This is a pirate bag.  It is also a treasure map.  This cute little bag has a red
embroidered trail hand stitched all the way around the outside of the bag and over the handle.
Argh, treasure ahoy!

This is made from the same pirate themed flannel material
as the treasure bag, but its a paperback book cover.
Available here.

This is my latest listing, a pretty spring inspired purse with hand embroidered details.  Out of all of the bags I've made so far, this is definitely my favorite.  Oh and its my first real project using the new serger.
It can be purchased here

It Begins!

I created this blog to help promote my ideas and the sale of my products, as well as foster some creativity outside of my craft (in the form of writing).  Besides sewing, which will be the main topic of this blog, I also do some graphic design and am relearning some other fabric related arts, like kumihimo, crochet and inkle weaving.  This blog will also be left open to random postings about my life as well as sewing and other crafting topics.


I will attempt to make updates here at least semi regularly.  I will post current items for sale in my etsy.com shop as well begin making some helpful tutorials and perhaps some witty posts from time to time.


A little background information for those who do not know me personally... I am a recent University of Chicago graduate who has been unable to find a job where I can drink jasmine green tea and read Japanese history books all day, so have taken up teaching a variety of subjects as a long term substitute.  I currently live in Yuma, Arizona, but am actually native to Southeast Missouri.


As for my crafting history: I've been drawing/making things since I was very young, but could never for the life of me color inside the lines.  My mom taught me a love of fiber arts and sewing from the get go.  She was always sewing me outfits and knitting sweaters and socks.  We were both members of a fiber guild and picked up different crafts in bits and pieces from the lovely ladies of the Black Sheep Fiber guild.  However, even under all that influence, I didn't pick up sewing until September of last year.  I was facing the beast of after school bordem, and decided to take the plunge and buy a sewing machine.  I was lucky and picked up my Singer Simple sewing machine for $85 at my local JoAnn's during a sale and with my teacher appreciation card.  After getting used to the basic machine, I started looking at sergers as a way to expand my skill set.  I finally settled on a Singer ProFinish that I invested a good portion of a tax return on and much easier to use than expected.  Since I am still a relative sewing/serger n00b (or newbie for those less l33t savy) you can also expect a lot of posts on new tricks and techniques I've learned about my machines as I go along.


Anyways,  here I am, attempting to make a go at a more serious small home business!