Making a Smart Business Card!

Sick of boring templates? I was too and thought it was time for a change from my Microsoft Publisher template-created business card. Ordering business cards was out of the question (I don't need to PAY for boring templates--especially the prices some of those companies want), but I still loved the smart and clean look of the business cards that a company called "Moo" makes. I also wanted to show off my products in the template. I futzed around with a few ideas and also happened to be posting my Etsy Mini on another website. A light bulb went off, and thus, my business cards were born!

Believe it or not, this uses Microsoft Word and the simple cut and paste function. Here's what you do:

1. Make an Etsy Mini by going to the "Your Etsy" section of Etsy. Make sure you have a few items featured in your shop (starred) to do this.

2. Make an Etsy Mini with the following specs:
A. Use items from your shop.
B. Use thumbnail pictures.
B. Make the Mini have 3 columns and one row.

3. Highlight the Etsy Mini that the system generates. Include the pictures and also where it says "Etsy" and your username right underneath the pictures.

4. Open up Microsoft Word (I use Word 2003), right-click and paste the mini into the blank Word document.

5. Erase all the text underneath the pictures, if there is anything there (it will say your item's description, your username, and price). There may not be anything underneath the pics, so if not, just skip this step.

6. In the pasted document, erase where it says Etsy, and type in your business name. Use an attractive but professional font and color--I used Cooper Black in a soft purple.

7. Now erase the next line (it will say your username) and type in your name. Format this text all nice like we did in step 6.

8. Type in the addresses to your shop, studio, Facebook...whatever site it is that you want to get seen. Format this to be the same font as the other lines.

9. Type in a description of what you do or a tagline about your business, if you like. I typed in what I sell, "recycled wallets, jewelry, & home decor".

10. Highlight the whole thing (pictures and text), right click and choose "copy", and paste this underneath the original so you have about 4 cards per sheet.

11. Save your document and print using some nice heavy cardstock! Cut neatly down the sides and between the cards. A guillotine cutter would be a great help in doing this (too bad I can never find mine).
*****Keep in mind, your document is a Word document and not a photo, so if you want to post your card online for some reason, you'll need to scan a card first and use the image of that scan.

This card also gives you the flexibility to change up the items on your card--just go back to Etsy and feature some new items in your shop and follow these steps again. I love making my cards this way. I've been making them this way since September and they really don't seem to take too much time or printer ink (and I have the ink hog kind of printers too--no fanciness here :)). If you want to save on ink, you can always print the text in black instead of color, but the color is one of the things that draws your eye into these cards, in my opinion.

Happy crafting!!

Just Say NO to Etsy Forum Reorganization!

I wasnt pleased to find out today that Etsy's forum reorganization plan is to continue. Important forums for critiques and techniques & materials are about to be shut down & converted to teams instead. This means in order to either get or give info you have to make a commitment to a team. I am part of many great teams but I dont think people should be required to do this simply to get information. It sounds like only exclusive people are allowed to get or give info which ruins objective speech in my opinion. Yes it's Etsy's site and they can do what they want with it, its just that actions like this ruin the free thinking advice that a lot of us on there like to use Etsy for.

Give It Up for Working Moms!!

I really think that working moms deserve a lot more credit than they are given. I, personally, am a working mom--I work full-time at an insurance company Monday through Fridays. My son is now 3 months old, and over that time and also during my pregnancy, I'm starting to sense that working moms are being penalized for having a job to have to go to, especially if you work the 9 to 5 shift. Very few doctors offices are open late or on Saturdays, many baby stores and boutiques are only open till 6 and only open a couple hours on Saturdays, most "Mommy and Me"-type classes and playgroups are only during weekday mornings or afternoons, and people just generally look down on women who just plain have obligations outside the home. That last one in particular is confusing because my logic thinks that with the economy being the way it is, this would be more commonly understood.

Working women need to be recognized for the awesome job they're doing in taking on two jobs--an occupation and motherhood. They need to be recognized for taking the initiative to get up every morning and to have to deal with being apart from their child so they can earn an income and bring their families the gift of financial security. Working also takes a huge emotional toll.

This is not to say that I look down on stay at home moms. I don't; I have a lot of respect for stay at home moms, because SAHM motherhood can be even harder than working when you get to the motherhood part of it. On my leave, I was pretty much a SAHM and it took an incredible amount of mental strength. I also didn't write this because I am a working mom and wanted pity, it's just that working is a huge, selfless sacrifice and it's time that every woman who does this gets a salute.

RIP Fabric Section @ Walmart Part II

Apparently the company had been in talks to get rid of their craft department for a couple years now. This at least dates back to 2008--at that time I found out through a purse group I belonged to on Yahoo that craft departments were disappearing at the other members' stores little by little. At that time, Walmart was saying they were getting rid of the craft department so they could replace it with a "Celebrations" department, which was supposed to be an expanded selection of party garbage (Ooops, I mean GOODS). I haven't really seen any of these departments in the stores I go to, seems like nowadays, they're just chucking the craft department to just get rid of it instead of replacing it with something else. The Super Center in Clarence, NY spontaneously kicked out its craft department just to leave an empty corner of the store where the staff just piles random boxes to be placed on shelves.

I talk to the ladies at my Walmart's craft department pretty often. The company is now moving towards having a small craft department with precut fabrics. Precut fabrics may not neccessarily be such a bad thing (especially if they keep the $5 bolt test program like they have now), but the way I've seen some of the precut stuff they have already there (again, not including the $5 bolts), we'll be paying a heck of a lot more than what we pay now, for the same fabric. One precut yard of some unlicensed graphic fabric ran for around $9. At that point, you're better off just going to either JoAnn's or even your local higher markup fabric store.

I'm tempted to go on a rant about how Walmart is becoming more and more useless of a store as the years go on, but I won't do this, though this is true in my area. I will say, though, that keeping the craft department would fit real good into their "Save Money, Live Better" motto they're promoting. What better way to save money than to make your own stuff?

RIP: Fabric Section @ Wal-Mart

Today I was at Wal-Mart for more zippers and stabilizer fabric for my clutches, and the fabric section was just a really sad sight. Yes, this was a different store than I usually go to as I was in a different section of town, but what I saw was a crafting graveyard. In case you don't know, Wal-Mart is eliminating most of its craft departments, so huge changes in the fabric sections are showing up in pretty much every store.

The huge fabric selection that this particular store used to have (I used to work there about five years ago) was reduced to one aisle crammed with bolts of unloved, expensive fabric. The real pathetic thing was that I saw Christmas fabric mixed in there, and usually when you see Christmas fabric you know it's a fire sale. No interfacing, no felt bolts, no plain colors...

The current store I go to is one of only two Wal-Marts in the area where the craft section is actually stocked and maintained. The company is also making more and more moves towards pre-cut fabric--OK if it's going to be as great of a price as their $5 bolts, I'm all for it, but that's probably just temporary so customers will get used to the precut fabrics idea. Then what happens, though, when you just need a tiny bit for a project? Another great thing about Wal-Mart is that they sell fabric remnants at great prices too.

It's getting to the point where there is only one fabric store left in my entire area--JoAnn's Fabric. There's also a couple quilting stores that sell fabric, but at $10 a yard for regular cotton fabric, that's prohibitively expensive. I love JoAnn's, but it's really not that great of a place to get fabrics from if you don't have the 40% off coupon, especially if its for business. I'm probably going to start looking for online suppliers...I've already found one for my jewelry on Etsy. I'm tired of the driving anyways :)

Dusting Off the Old Tapes...

Does anyone remember cassette tapes? You know, those square boxy-like things that had music on both sides? You could record your favorite song on the radio with em? I found myself dusting off a small stack I had last week when I was bored and wanted to see what I could successfully scan with my new scanner. I ended up doing that, and realized that those tapes had all sorts of funky designs on em. Even better was blowing up the image to the size of a sheet of paper, and playing with the image settings and such. The result? Check it out!!




So now I get to carry my wallet stuff in a giant tape!! I'm so excited. It's even got 4 pockets! I'll be making more of these in different sizes and with different shapes. A much smaller sized card wallet is in the works. Check it out at my shop;
http://www.etsy.com/listing/45186547/80s-grafitti-cassette-tape-clutch

Fringed Fleece Blanket Tutorial

Some call them fringe blankets, some call them knot blankets and some others call them plain old fleece blankets. Ever wondered how to make one? I developed this tutorial from my own special "recipe" of creating the blankets. I was a bit frustrated by having to ask for measurements at the fabric counter each time I would go to make these.

Measurements from these instructions will make a baby or cat-sized blanket. The blanket that is shown in the tutorial was made for my son-to-be. Larger blankets for adults or dogs are made in exactly the same way--just replace the baby measurements with the measurements listed at the end of the tutorial. Happy crafting!


1. Get two pieces of fleece that are about 1.25 yards in length.





2. Place the first piece of fleece FACE DOWN on your work surface. Place the second piece of fleece on top of the first piece with the design facing UP towards you. Line up the edges as best as you can.



3. Cut off any borders or rough edges from fleece. Cut edges so that top and bottom are somewhat even.

4. Measure a 3" square on each of the four corners of the fleece.



5. Measure 3" in from the edge of the fleece, and draw a line with crayon or marker at the 3" mark. Draw the line all the way down the side of the fleece.





6. To make the fleece fringe strips, measure 1" in from the side of the corner square. Mark with crayon. Repeat this all the way down the side of the fleece until you've reached the next corner's square.





7. Cut fleece up to the 3" line you drew in Step 5. Repeat this cut for all the lines you made in Step 6, all the way down the side until you reach the next corner's square.



8. Tie top fringe piece to bottom fringe piece using a DOUBLE KNOT. Double knotting is very important as it makes sure the fringe will not untie eventually with use. Repeat this step all the way down the side of the fleece for all the fleece strips.





9. Repeat steps 5-8 for all 3 remaining sides.

10. You're done, and you now have a warm & cuddly blanket! Unfortunately, these kind of blankets aren't really that photo-op friendly :(





MEASUREMENTS FOR ADULT\LARGE DOG BLANKETS:

-Use a 2.5-yard length of fleece for each side. (Step 1)
-Cut 4" corner squares on all four corners. (Step 4)
-Cut 4" into sides for the cut "baseline". (Step 5)
-Cut 1" wide fleece strips for fringe. (Step 6)