SF Etsy & Rickshaw Bags Design Contest

About a month ago, Rebecca Saylor strolled into Rickshaw Bagworks to collect some heavyweight fabric scraps that they were donating to Fabmo - along with some bags they made for volunteers.

Little did she know...she would spark a partnership that could very well go down in SF Etsy history.

Meet Mark Dwight...Founder & CEO of Rickshaw Bagworks. He's also the Founder of SFMade.

He's a completely talented and creative individual who really knows what it's like to start something from a small seedling of an idea - into something really special.

Read all about Rickshaw Bags and tell me you're not already feeling inspired by these people.

He heard about us through the SF grapevine and he said to Rebecca - I want to team up with SF Etsy and wanted to see if we would like to work together on some fun projects....and Rebecca said "I'll connect you!" The excitement was in the air.

I could hear the smile in Rebecca's voice when she called to tell me about partnering with them.  Shortly after, she connected me with Mark and the three of us started to coordinate a series of partnerships with Rickshaw Bagworks for SF ETSY MEMBERS ONLY :-)!! Yay'

The First partnership starts now...

THE DESIGN CONTEST!

I personally am completely thrilled by this contest...and I just know you all will be, too. Bag makers, embroidery artists and painters/illustrators will LOVE this project.

Basic Concept:

Design the front flap of a Rickshaw Bagworks Medium Zero Messenger Bag.

Materials You Can Use (limitations on material usage):

• For Illustrators/Screenprinters/Painters - use 10 oz. weight canvas & screen printing paint. Make sure you waterproof it also just in case it gets caught in the rain when it's made into a bag
• Bag Designers - heavy-weight upholstery fabric or anything that is 10 oz. weight or more. You can do a quilting technique or use your sewing machine to patch on different pieces to the front flap...the world is your oyster. You can even add a pocket to the front also (sorry, no button though)
• For Embroidery: see above. :) You can embroider on any heavy-weight fabric 10 oz. weight or more.

NO GLITTER - NO SEQUINS - NO FEATHERS - NO EXTRA PARTS

Nothing that could get stuck in a machine when being cut or assembled. 

Bag design should lay flat and be easy to fold up... nothing too thick, sticky or messy.

If you use any of the restricted materials, your submission will be disqualified.

The Pattern:

Download and view the pattern below

http://www.katyatchison.com/messengerBag_rickshawZero_medium_SFETSYFLAP.jpg

your submission will be is 20" by 15"
Keep your main design in the safe area shown below

PLEASE DO NOT CUT IT INTO A FLAP SHAPE

(that way, if you want to make this into a bag yourself later,
you can still do that and have them cut it for you)



Rebecca Saylor's flap design and the color swatches

Designing your one-of-a-kind flap...is really fun!



Mark of Rickshaw Bags hard at work with Rebecca's flap design

Here's a photo Astra Brinkmann took of me working on my bag design

How to submit your flap design:

Send a scan or a take a photo of your bag flap to me (Katy) by September 15th.

I will create a mock-bag with your design for voting.

Make sure you send in the best quality photo to get the most votes!
ONLY ONE DESIGN PER SF ETSY MEMBER

BAG EXAMPLES:
Here are the two bags designed from the flaps that Rebecca and I made. Notice that she used a quilting/sewn technique and I used a painting technique on my flap.

You can really individualize your design to suit your artistic style.


Flap design by Rebecca Saylor using heavy-weight upholstery

Detail shot of Rebecca's Bag - all photos taken by Rickshaw Bagworks



Detail shot of Katy's finished bag



Flap design by Katy Atchison - later assembled and built by Rickshaw Bagworks



This is what the mock design will look like for voting

Voting & How You Win:

Voting will begin on September 18th and will end September 24th on our Facebook Page. The winner will be announced at a September 25th event (see below). To win: you must have the highest COMBINED total of likes and comments for your bag design.

What you win:

You get your one-of-a-kind bag made - for free 
by Rickshaw Bagworks

Valued at over $89. You'll get to completely customize the color combination of your bag by choosing the final colors for the inside, outside and piping of the bag.

Why You want to be part of this:

EXPOSURE! Every design submitted will be posted on our Facebook Page with a link to your shop. We will have blog postings about the contest. And a whole event to announce the winner, too!

Not only that - you'll get the opportunity to really show Rickshaw Bagworks what you're all about...and YOU can build this bag later yourself if you want and wear it around to show off your brand and what you're work is all about.

WINNER ANNOUNCED DURING THE

SF ETSY EVENT @ RICKSHAW BAGS

SEPTEMBER 25th @6pm
904 22nd Street – San Francisco, CA
Right next to 22nd Street Cal Train Station

During our exclusive SF Etsy Event at Rickshaw Headquarters

FREE beverages will be provided by Speakeasy Beer! YUM!

All SF Etsy members can come to this free event! If you designed a flap - please, bring it to the event to show it off to Rickshaw and so we can create a pop-up gallery for all of us to talk about and enjoy during the event. We'll be hanging them all up and admiring your work.

Plus! Added bonus for attending: Rickshaw Bagworks wants to talk to YOU about teaming up with them to create limited edition bags. You do the fun part - put your spin on the front of the bag...

and then they assemble bags to your specs! Come hang with us and Rickshaw Bags (drink a free beer!)  and see why they want to work with you - help you expand your business into the art of making bags along side Rickshaw Bagworks via small batch one-of-a-kind bags & in-store consignment opportunities.  Imagine having access to an industrial sewing machine - a team of people to assemble your work - and a whole company wanting to help you ...create something... magical!

Plus, Mark will talk all about SFMade - what it is & how to join!

Questions?

Ask me or Rebecca if you are struggling with any part of this. We want to make this a fun project for each of you! 

HUGE THANK YOU to Rebecca Saylor. This has been her vision and we are so lucky to have her on our team!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Katy or Steph about joining SFEtsy!

Inpsired by Handmade: What I find "Pinteresting"

We have over 44 boards - and growing!

CHECK OUT THE SF ETSY PINTEREST BOARDS!

I know I'm not the only one that finds Pinterest probably the most addictive thing since sliced bread... that is, if you love bread as much as I do.
 
OK... so maybe not all of your are Pinners... but did you know that Pinterest brings the most unique visitors to sites than any other?...and for this alone - climb aboard the Pinterest Train with me. (and feel free to ask me if you need an invite to start an account)



Some General Rules of Thumb for Success:

• Don't over-pin. Followers will unfollow if you've hidden all their followers behind your steady stream of Pin It Addiction
• New Pins should be pinned directly from the original website where the image/content was found so that the person gets the credit they deserve.
• Remember your audience - you can hide boards that are just for your own personal inspiration...if you want your content to be relivant to your followers, keep your visible content something they will find interesting... like DIY projects, recipes and inspirational quotes if most of your followers are Etsy fans.
• Pin Images that are clear and have good resolution.
• Curate your boards - make them specific and you'll get more followers - such as a color, cohesive theme, or type items (like favorite shoes, recipes or haunted mansions)

I found an article about Pinterest & Small Businesses that really shows the benefit of it for smaller businesses just starting out. About.com said: "Small businesses have started to see the value in Pinterest. Take for example graphic artists, photographers, interior designers and fashion designers, they are able to create storyboards showcasing their work. They have the freedom to display their work using their creativity, personal style and personality creating fantastic portfolios that can be seen and shared by other Pinterest users. This allows consumers to check out their work, prior to contacting them"

Our Leader in charge of social media - Lisa of TickleandSmash - has been SUPER busy building Pinterest Boards centered around our SF Etsy team! You know you'll get beautiful imagery straight from Etsy with our ever-changing boards. Plus! You'll be supporting SF Etsy Team Members with every RePin.

CHECK OUT THE SF ETSY PINTEREST BOARDS!

Lisa asked me to Guest Pin - YAY!
So I got to fill up a board with SF Etsy Peeps that I found amazing and inspiring. I kept in mind the rules of thumb above.

HERE'S WHAT I FOUND "PINTERESTING"! (ALL SF ETSY TEAM MEMBERS, TOO!)
--> clicky here

It was the First Pin that got me inspired!
Welp, it all started with Helen Pappas - my friend through Astra Brinkmann.
I saw a photo of her modeling an adorable yarn hat by FoxTree and I just had to pin it to my guest board because I was excited to see someone I knew who isn't part of SF Etsy (she does however make some rad backpacks that should be on Etsy)

From there, I Just kept my pallette cohesive....I stuck to picking muted colors for the most part, blended with peaches, pinks and oranges. I also kept my theme by sticking to SF Etsy Sellers only... since that way, members can re-pin from my board knowing they are supporting their local team members.

What I love about building a Pinterest board really brings my personality forward. Can you tell I pretty much look like my Pinterest board every day? OK... maybe I don't really... but I sure feel like I do...or I have dreams that I do.

Share links to your Pinterest boards below. I'd love to see what you find Pinteresting!

xo-Katy

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Katy or Steph about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - Baby Shower Planning

So this week I have exciting news - I'm going to be an Aunt! My big sister, Sarah, is having a baby boy...and it's my duty, as best future auntie ever - to throw her a baby shower that she'll never forget!

This week, I wanted to share my tips and tricks on how to plan a baby shower - or really any party without breaking your bank or your back in the process...all the while, looking like a professional party planner!

THE PRE-SHOWER PLANNING
My biggest advice for someone on a budget... use your resources! Ask your friends to take on a little bit here and there - and before you know it...you've got yourself a great party - with lots of meaningful details. This entry is broken down into two pieces...as you know, a lot goes into a great party...and I want to make sure I share my tips along the way.

The Theme for this party: Little Man

FIRST: Pick Your Color Story

For any party you might be planning, it's easiest to start by just picking the color story that you'd like to match everything to. Don't pick crazy colors - because in the end...it will be hard to find matching napkins...but look for something creative. I think I've mentioned this before, but Color Trends is a great online resource for all things COLOR. :) some people have already planned out great ideas for color stories.
Starting here is never a bad idea.

However, I started my planning a little different.
I looked to our own team member Shannon Hegarty who creates lovely digital scrapbook kits to provide the patterning for my invitations. I let her decide on the colors for the patterns – from there... I had my color story which I'll be carrying through the whole party.
Here's what she made:




SECOND: Invitations on the Fly

So this was my favorite part, because I got to use Shannon's patterns in my invitations & do a cute little baby drawing of my sister's baby boy - who has been given the name Odin (the Viking god). After I finished up my design (back and front) in Photoshop I actually ended up going to MOO.com and uploading three different color combinations for some extra whimsy. Look to your fellow Etsy team members if you're in need of a creative invitation for your upcoming party.




I also used my back design to make some great stickers at Moo later, which you will see on the cupcakes next week.

THIRD: Don't forget the cupcakes

I was going to order cupcakes from a local baker...but couldn't for the life of me think of where or how or or or...so many decisions! But then this little light bulb went off... my friend Cara! She runs a small bakery out of her home Brown Sugar Bakery over in the East Bay...and she would be willing to meet me on my way to the party so that my cupcakes are fresh and also don't get damaged.
Cara took the left over stickers I had from my invitation order for decorations... stay tuned for photos!

FORTH: Tie in the theme

To help tie in the theme (Little Man) into a couple other places. I made some Mustaches on a Stick which will be great for party photos.

Lastly, I purchased chocolate cigars as party favors to cheers to the occasion with a little fun sprinkled in!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial: Pumpkin-Crazed Snickerdoodles

On Saturday I was driving through West Marin in search for apples and there were all these sad little pumpkins abandoned in pumpkin patch fields. I asked my friend - "So, do they just leave them there to die after Halloween? Think of all the yummy stuff one could make with that!" I believe that's when I became Pumpkin-Crazed...this happens for most people when Starbucks comes out with their seasonal pumpkin spiced latte...but not me... it took seeing abandoned pumpkins to get my mind thinking about how to use them in my baking.

The next day, I made Pumpkin Biscotti. But the recipe I found online only asked for 1/2 a cup of pumpkin...and there I was with another cup to use up because a can of pumpkin is actually a cup and a half. Whoopsie - guess I gotta make more pumpkin treats - oh darn.
I guess I could have put it to good use inside a soup or something - but Pumpkin Snickerdoodles just sounded just a tad-bit more delicious.

Also - with our winter team show coming up - you can make some of these wonderful delights for the table and impress me...since I'll be there volunteering at the baked goods table.

I modified this recipe to make my version healthier, more moist and also more pumpkin-y.

For the cookies:
3¾ cups Red Mill Wheat Flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 cup unsalted Straus Family Creamery butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated organic cane sugar
½ cup organic (light or dark) brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. Madagascar Vanilla Paste


For the coating:
1 cup organic granulated can sugar
2 1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice

Step one:
Combine wet ingredients... then put in all the dry ones. Usually I skip this step...but this is important here for these cookies since you'll want to make sure they stay fluffy - and this will help.

Step Two:
Chill your dough for an hour in the fridge. Why? Because you want to make sure your butter becomes firm again and your cookies hold their shape during baking. When you are mixing the ingredients together...the butter looses some of it's binding ability. Putting the dough in the fridge will bring the dough back together and make rolling your dough easier later down the line.

Step Three:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees - line your cookie sheet with a cookie sheet liner OR parchment paper. This is so the sugar coating doesn't stick to the cookie sheet. If you use a cookie sheet liner, not only will you be able to get your cookies off the sheet easily, you will also end up with a perfectly-perfect cookie bottom and your cookies won't dry out as much as they would if they were placed directly on the sheet.

Step Four:
Make your dough into 2 tablespoon sized balls. Coat your little nuggets in the sugar & spice mixture. Place them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Take the back of a spoon and lightly smoosh your cookie down (smoosh is a technical term for pushing down lightly). This will help them cook all the way through and also gives a nice "thumbprint" look to them.

Step Five:
Bake for 13-15 minutes each batch - let cool for 5 minutes before transferring your cookies onto a wire rack. Repeat until all the dough is gone. This recipe makes a boat-load of cookies - up to 6 dozen since I increased the amount of pumpkin. Which is why they would be perfect for a craft event - since you can help feed lots of customers who come to shop at our show.

Side Note:
About the Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice...
it's a combo of Cinnamon, Allspice, Nutmeg, Lemon Peel and Ginger - which is why I LOVE this stuff...it gives a great flavor to most all things that ask for Cinnamon and Nutmeg...and takes up much less room in your cupboard for those of us who want to save our pantry space for more art supplies. ;-)

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - Pucker Up with Homemade Lip Balm

It's been a while since I posted...and for that, I apologize! But I hope you enjoy this week's short tutorial on making simple homemade lip balm. This project would be great for small Christmas gifts or a stocking stuffer...and it's a great introduction to what goes into lip balm for someone who is interested in taking some of the mystery out of this type of project.

Gather your materials!

- Pots or Tubes for your lip balm (20 small pots or around 12 tubes)
- lip balm base (see breakdown of this below)
- flavoring
- colorant (if desired)
- disposable eye dropper
- microwave safe bowl

STEP ONE:
To start you'll need a lip balm base.
Now - for mine, I just got a finished lip balm base from Brambleberry.com
BUT! here's a basic lip balm base which would be easy to also make if you wanted to buy the ingredients separately.

-2 tsp. beeswax (chop or grate it, then measure)
-2 1/4 tsp. jojoba oil

I've talked to a few friends who like to make their own lip salves and they say that getting the texture and balance right for your personal taste is the hardest part. If you want a softer lip balm, add more oil... a waxier lip balm is from less oil.


STEP TWO
Melt your base on a microwave safe container until it's melted. Some say you want to leave it in there for about 1 1/2 minutes...but it really would depend on your microwave. You don't want to boil your base...because if it's too hot, it will crack and break when drying in your pots. I just kept an eye on my base until it was melted all the way through.

STEP THREE
Add your flavoring and colorant.

1 oz. flavoring of your choice. (check out all these great options here... all food safe and yummy!)
.25 oz colorant (or a few drops)... also needs to be food safe.. like these

STEP FOUR
Using a disposable eye dropper, dispense your melted base into your lip balm base before it cools. You have to be a bit quick on your feet here so that the base doesn't cool before you've transferred all your lip balm into their finished pots.

TIPS & TRICKS

- I wasn't fast enough during Step Four, so my eye dropper got filled with lip balm and my lip balm started to cool in my bowl! Eeek!!! But... I'm a little smarter than the average bear so I just put that bowl back in the microwave for about 20 seconds until the material was warm again and kept going until I had used up all my base.

- To fix my little eye dropper, I did the same thing...just popped it in the microwave for a few seconds so that it would release some of the lip balm that was stuck inside. You don't want to cook any of the dropper for too long or you'll melt your eye dropper...and probably burn your little fingers when you touch it. So be careful!

- I think this would be a great little project for kids - ages 6 and up who can understand the concept of dangerous hot liquids. Kids would have fun choosing the color and flavors and giving these to friends at school for Christmas presents. For me, this project made about 20 little pots of lip balm.

- Total cost for this project is around $20. So it's truly an affordable gift giving idea.

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial: Make Your Own Bath Scrub

After the success of my Fizzy Bath Bombs, I've felt really excited about looking into what other beauty products I'd be able to recreate on my own. I thought about making some soap...but, to be completely honest...I feel like making soap is a bit too advanced for this Katy girl.

I read somewhere that you can make bath scrubs with just simple items in your kitchen... OOoooo...into it. I mean...what kind of baker would it be if I didn't feel I would have totally have all the necessary ingredients and supplies to create a little personal spa in my bathroom.

Here's the breakdown of a basic Brown Sugar Scrub recipe.

1 c. brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/2 c. sweet almond oil
1 tsp. vitamin E
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Turns out...like bath bombs, some of the ingredients are a bit harder to find than "just look in your pantry".
I dunno who thinks that we all have Vitamin E laying around in our cupboards, but I sure didn't. I didn't really know where to look for this type of supply...and I felt like buying capsules and cutting them open would be a huge mess actually...

Then I remembered Hilary from A Slice of Delight (who is away for a year...we miss her)...she was telling me about BrambleBerry.com. Oh my oh MY what a great little website o' fun! It's a great resource for at-home spa making and they also have essential oils on there as well. To my surprise...they had Vitamin E and Sweet Almond Oil. (Note to reader - I am easily surprised by many things)

I decided that making scrubs for just me...well, just isn't as fun... so I headed to my best friend Lauren's house on Sunday and brought all of my supplies with me as well as some empty jars I had laying around.

HOW TO:

It's almost embarrassing how easy making this is...
all you need is a bowl...measure out your recipe...dump all of the ingredients in together and stir... then portion out your scrub into different glass containers.

TIPS:

We found that there's really no wrong way to go about this...but you would want to make sure that you use a glass container for storing your scrub so that it can have some shelf life. None of the ingredients listed below will go bad over time...so you shouldn't have to refrigerate it either. I also think you may NOT want to refrigerate it since the cold would likely effect the structure of the oils.


EXTRA CREDIT!

What's really totally awesome about making scrubs is that there is that flexibility to find a recipe and then expand onto it. You just want to make sure you keep the ratio between the oils and the salt/sugar about the same so that you're sure the consistency isn't a big muddy mess when you're in your shower.After Lauren and I had so much fun with the Brown Sugar Scrub...we experimented and made out own scrub recipe.

Here's ours for you to try at home.

The Infinity (And Beyond) Huckleberry Pie Salt Scrub:

1 c. salt (we used Himalayan Pink Salt - fine coarse from Bramble Berry)
1/2 c. sweet almond oil
1 tsp. vitamin E
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. Real Huckleberry Honey (you can use any flavored honey here)

And... just for fun... and a good belly laugh...I'd like to share with you our backdrop concept...with thumb in the photo no less (not recommended for use on Etsy.)

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Natural Yarn Dyeing Tuestorial - Part One

As I mentioned in my Button Blog Post a couple weeks ago... my family is a crazy crafty bunch - I wouldn't have it any other way. And you'd think I would have learned my lesson with the button "situation" but I sparked another craft project that's quickly becoming a huge family project. Like Whoa.

Just over 2 months ago I was at Green Apple (my all time favorite SF book store) searching through the craft books. To be truthful, I need another craft book like I need a hole in my head, but I looked anyway and ended up picking up a book called Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes. The imagery is captivating in this book. I walked home while thumbing through this gorgeous book...only slightly tripped on the sidewalk a couple of times...no big deal.



I had my nose in the book the rest of that evening. Each chapter is organized by season...as in the season best to forage for that natural wild flower/plant. And each plant has AMAZING photos of the yarn after dying, the plants, a recipe for each plant dye and an illustrated chart which shows exactly where this plant might be located within the USofA.

I had been planning a road trip to Montana with my boyfriend at the time and I thought...self, let's go walk in the middle of the woods and pick up some supplies.

Just pick up some Supplies?! Not really as easy as that... but at the time I was just really excited about the concept that I could find natural dye on my own, and just POOF, dye something.

Really the process ended up being much more complicated than that. But for all of the work...Natural Hand Dying is possibly one of the most rewarding things you'll do.

Knowing that I couldn't do this on my own...I very "casually" gave my mom my book that I found.... "Hey Mom...thought you'd like this... maybe we can go pick some plants while we're in Montana this summer". I handed the book to her with pages already marked of all things found in Nevada, Idaho and Montana since that's where our trip would be taking us.

The next thing I knew, my mom had called me to say that she'd been to her favorite store in Oakland to obtain the first part of the materials we needed. The game was afoot and before I knew it we had all that we needed to dye yarn on our vacation. Yes, a vacation isn't really a vacation in my family unless we have a serious family project.

BASIC PROCESS:
1 - Gather Materials Needed
2 - Prepare the Yarn for Dying
3 - Forage for Supplies
(Okay, you could do this with step #1, but I separated it out into it's own section)
4 - Preparing the Dye/Extracting Color from Materials
5 - Dyeing the Yarn
6 - Finishing Touches & Tips


STEP ONE: Gathering Materials Needed
Yarn
Strainer (small one (around 6" across) will work well for this)
A Wooden Spoon
Measuring Utensils, like cups and spoons
Small Kitchen Scale
Rubber Gloves
Thermometer
Plant Materials (foraged)
Water
At least 2 Large Stainless Steal Stock Pots - and I mean LARGE

STEP TWO: Preparing your Yarn for Dying



First, you gotta remove the oil from the fiber. For 1 pound of raw wool: fill 3-4 gallons of water in a pot with detergent (like Dawn). Put the wool in and slowly simmer for 45 minutes. After cooling your yarn, be sure to rinse it as well. This will help to make sure you have no contaminants in your yarn.

In order to bring the most life out of the color you'll be dying your yarn, you should likely consider using a Mordant first on your yarn to make sure the yarn takes the color. Using one of your large stock pots (marking it as your Mordant Pot so you don't cross contaminate later), you want to fully submerge and soak your yarn for the time stated within the recipe you've chosen. Mordants are needed to set the color when using natural dyes. Different mordants will give different results.

Alum: (Aluminum Potassium Sulfate)
This is the most widely used mordant. Be careful not to use too much with wool, otherwise you will get a sticky feeling that doesn't come out.
Solution is 4 oz. Alum to 1 oz. cream of tartar.

Consulting a book like the book I mentioned above will teach you the differences between the multiple mordants that you can chose. Your local yarn supply store should carry some mordant or be able to guide you in the right direction.

STEP THREE - Forage for Supplies

What's funny is that when I first thought of doing this...I thought this was the bulk of what you would be doing...and in reality, preparing your yarn takes MUCH longer than the actual foraging. OK...so maybe I got lucky. My cabin sits in a mountain by a lake...we had 3 different types of plants that were running a muck up in the mountains of Montana. If you're a city girl...you might want to consider a short road trip for some of the materials you'll need for this...or you can get some natural dye from your local yarn shop and skip this step all together.

This was by far my favorite part of the process. After reading and practically drooling over that Natural Yarn Dye Book...we had already found that there was lots of Goldenrod and Sage to dye from.

By the time I got up to Montana with my boyfriend, my parents had already found a field about a mile away from our cabin that was speckled with goldenrod wild flowers. The recipe called for basically a whole stock pot full of flowers... knowing that we wanted to do a couple rounds of dye with this plant material... each of us gathered around half a bag full of flowers. Additionally...we did keep in mind that it would be better for the plant if we didn't snip off all of the flowers so that we weren't hurting the environment around us.





TO BE CONTINUED...
I hope I left you in suspense!
Because of the complexity of this project, I have written this blog entry in two parts. Part Two will come next Tuesday the 6th of September and will consist of steps 4-6... stay tuned for more amazing results!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Inspired by a button.

In 2006, I was procrastinating my Master's Thesis project by endlessly browsing the internet. One day while on Ebay, and I found a tin of vintage buttons that I ended up winning for just under $5. I didn't know what I wanted to do with these things... but the uniqueness of each button captivated me.

I sifted through my tin for hours...and hours. Thesis-Shmesis...my creative juices were flowing... buttons just seemed much more important.
I started to collage the buttons together... I made pins and hair accessories for my friends... sold each for $10 and gave all the money to an organization that raises money to give scholarships to women.



Soon, my family started to take notice of my new "obsession" and a line of jewelry was formed. My mom found a "recipe" for crocheted button bracelets that my Great Grandmother made during the depression. Meanwhile, my dad started to sculpt bracelets out of jewelry parts and beads that he would purchase at the local bead shows. The tin of buttons I started with turned into over a million buttons, fully organized between shank and non-shank styles...color coordinated, labeled and stacked neatly in a button-jewelers dream workshop.

One tin of buttons... turned into a button-jewelry business!
Just one little spark of creativity...from a basic search on the web to pass the time...lead my family and I down a path where we've raised a lot of money for an organization that we all believe in.

Do you remember when you first had your bright idea? What pushed you to keep the business going and what inspired you to start selling on Etsy?



HOW TO MAKE A BUTTON HEADBAND!
This is a great project to make for any little ones or to spice up your workout headband.

Materials:
hot glue
elastic headband
buttons (vintage is better than buying new ones...just any extra buttons you have laying around the house)
beads



STEP ONE:
Create a color story. This can be the most challenging part...but basically, you want to chose a color story. There is a great site called Color Lovers that you can find some interesting color combinations made by users and inspiration.

STEP TWO:
Glue your largest buttons first as a base.
I found that two large coat sized buttons work well for a base.
You want to get the type of headband that has the metal clasp on it...otherwise, you would have to glue straight to the elastic and eventually your buttons will fall off.
The metal clasp is the most secure place to glue since it doesn't flex like the rest of the headband.

STEP THREE:
Working from largest button sizes (the base) to the smaller beads...continue to glue onto your base. Be careful of your fingers and the glue...working with such small objects and hot glue can burn a bit... this may not be the most kid-friendly craft project. Also, I tend to use odd numbers of everything (minus the two buttons for the base)...this allows the finished piece to have a very beautiful asymmetrical look with little to no brain work on your part.

STEP FOUR:
I like to use beads to give some character to my button headbands. I will find some stone beads and use them first and then use some cheap smaller beads as accents.

When layering with hot glue and your materials...try to use as little glue as you can. These small buttons and beads don't need much. Luckily, this craft is pretty forgiving. If you use too much glue...quickly place a bead or two on the glue area... your accident will end up looking like a genius cluster of sparkles!

Enjoy!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - BOMB Stress AWAY!

Once a week I take 45 minutes to exit the stress of my week...
I set myself up a soothing bath...grab the latest DIY magazine and (most times) bring a cup of tea, or a beer, or a glass of wine in the bathroom with me. (or all three...ha ha)
It's my once a week ritual that has been helping to keep my stress from eating up my creative soul.

This all started when I went to Lush with my Mom a while back...but at over $5 per bath bomb or bubble bath...I just couldn't keep up with the cost of my baths. So...I decided to learn how to make my own aromatherapy baths. I also wanted to make something that was good for the environment...it's nice to know that what goes down the drain after my bath won't hurt the environment.

Making them is SUPER easy...so easy, that Sunday night I made a half dozen of these with my boyfriend's daughter who is 6 years old. She is very excited about taking baths this week. I guess if your kids hate taking baths - you could try to do this to get them a little more pumped about gettin' in the tub.

Finding the ingredients in San Francisco...surprisingly NOT easy (for me) so I did write down some tips for finding all of the bits and pieces here in San Francisco...which hopefully will help you out wherever you are.

Recipe:
1 cup Baking Soda (This is what will make it fizzy)
1/2 cup Citric acid
1/2 cup Corn Starch
2 Tablespoons Witch Hazel
3/4 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons Essential oils
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 drops food coloring (optional)

Here's how I did it.
Put all the dry ingredients in one medium size bowl
put all the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
combine the two once measured...

put your mixture into molds. Fill the mold all the way up and then press down firmly to make sure the mixture is solid and will not crumble once dry.

keep your molds out of reach of yourself for a few days...then release from the molds and put into an air tight container for use later!

To use: fill up your bath with water... drop in a few bombs and watch them fizz away all the stress of your day.

TIPS!

- Finding the molds shouldn't be an issue...but if you want something Fun... you can make a bunch of mini bombs in those crazy rubber ice-cube molds that come in every shape you'd ever want.

- Pay attention to the details of the recipe: Normally, I'm the lazy kind of DIYer and I usually just dump everything in all at the same time...but since this recipe really is combining chemicals together...I take the separation of dry and wet a lot more seriously. I don't want to fizzle out my fizz by putting the wet ingredients in too quickly.

- What if your bombs never set in the molds and they crumble all over the place? NO worries! Thing is...you could just put all the good stuff you made above and just put it all in an air tight container if you wanted pretty much...spooning it into your bath instead of pressing it into a mold will work just lovely as well. Don't you worry...you'll be fine. However, if you're gifting these...perfecting the molds is a plus. I bought some cloth bags for cheap which make great companions to the bombs.

- Finding Citric Acid - the hardest to find. This was the hardest thing to find for me. the recipe I had found said that you could get this at any craft store or drug store. no...no you can't. But then someone said to me that citric acid is in foods, so I should try a food supply place. The light bulb went off. I ended up purchasing it at San Francisco Brewcraft. I got 5 pounds of it and when I got home I felt so silly since you only need 1/2 a cup. ha! If anyone needs any...I have some extra to go around, clearly.

- Essential Oils and you! A while back I found this gem of a place called The San Francisco Herb company. You know all those bulk teas you see in stores? Yeah...they pretty much all come from here. So knock out the middle man and check out this place. I got my essential oils from here because if you're a business, they GIVE YOU A DISCOUNT! Hollar at my money saving techniques...what what! ha ha... but really...they have pretty much all of the oils you'd want to see there since they also have pretty much anything you'd want to put in a killer potpourri. For just under $20 I got myself some vanilla, peony, jasmine, honeysuckle and spearmint. I have been able to use my oils many MANY times since then...a little goes a long way.

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - Easy Refrigerator Pickles!

With all of the farmers markets out there just overflowing with amazing ingredients this summer & no doubt some of you have gardens that are overflowing...let's talk about pickling!

As you all know by now...I just love taking a bit of my weekend and channeling it into cooking and baking. About a month ago, I was talking to someone about pickling and she brought me a HUGE HUGE BOOK about pickling to read all about the different ways of pickling... so, like I said...that was a month ago. This book is HUGE... huge I tell you...I've been reading all about different techniques and then trying to figure out which of the zillion recipes to use... it's been a bit overwhelming.

Well, last weekend I decided...it's time. It's time for me to just dive in. So I posted a notice on my Facebook page... asking if anyone wanted to come over and pickle with me. Everyone seemed excited for me, but no one wanted to come over. However! My friend sent me her easy refrigerator recipe and it was so non-intimidating that I just thought to my self - self, why didn't you ask your friends for a simple recipe to start with?!
I mean... the recipe is so so so easy that I really would have saved myself a lot of time just putting a little word out there to friends first.

RECIPE:
Refrigerator Dill Pickles

5-7 lemon Cucumbers
3 LARGE cloves Garlic
one bunch of Dill
One spring or two of Thyme
1 tablespoon sea salt
One beet sliced thin
1/2 c red raspberry vinegar (I used fresh raspberries here instead)
3tblsp sugar
2 cups apple cider or white vinegar (I split my vinegar between the two and increased to 2.5 cups since I didn't have Raspberry Vinegar)
1/2 of a HOTtatah pepper

And water to taste

let sit three days in fridge in pint size mason jars.

OTHER TIPS:
- be sure you use cucumbers that are labeled for pickling...this will help them have that "snap" when you bite into them.

- These pickles will keep in the fridge for about a month. But... they are so tasty...they will be gone well before that.

- I didn't use mason jars, since it was much easier for me to just put all of the ingredients in one large jar first and then portion it out later once I got the flavor right.

- Also, I used red beets which did, as you can see, turn my pickles pink... I don't think this is at all a bad thing...but if you wanted, I'm sure you could use some golden beets and side track the whole color "issue".







The next thing I'm going to tackle is canning! :-) I want to go to a fresh fruit stand and get a case of peaches. I know it's labor intensive...but to have canned peaches in the middle of winter will be such the treat! Any recipes out there?... best ask now before I start reading a 600 page book on canning. ha ha

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - Lentil-Power Cookies

Image these little cookies with a cape...flying into the air screaming... LENTIL Poooower! Whether you eat one as an afternoon snack or even for breakfast...these cookies pack a powerful WHAM-BAM 1-2 PUNCH!
They have dried fruit in them...along with protein packed lentils, almonds and dark chocolate that will keep you going all day long.

Recipe and Ingredients:

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 tsp. pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 sticks butter
3 cups oats
2 eggs
1 cup cane sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup cooked/cooled red lentils (if you chose to omit the lentils, flour is lowered to 1 1/2 cups)

(the following is optional and to your liking...just a mix of dried fruits, nuts and chocolate to add to your cookies)
handful of chopped mango
handful of chopped apricots
handful of sunflower seeds
handful of dried blueberries
handful of dried cranberries
handful of dried cherries
1/2 cup raw sliced almonds
2 T flax seeds


2 fancy bars of dark chocolate, or milk chocolate if desired...chopped into random sized chunks.

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

Use a soup spoon to scoop the batter onto your cookie sheet.
Bake for approx. 20 minutes each batch in the middle of the oven.
the cookies should be golden brown on the edges.
Let them cool for a couple minutes on the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Because this recipe will make up to 4 dozen cookies...be sure to remember that not all of them have to be eaten all at once. I keep several of them in my freezer and put a couple each day in my lunch box for that extra little LENTIL-POWER when I need it at work.

I won't lie...they are kinda like little kitchen sink cookies that have a little bit of everything. I imagine...if you were a vegan...these would be just as delicious with egg substitute since they are NON-DAIRY!

Like all my recipes... there's no need to separate ingredients or to make anything another other than a total mess in your kitchen while using your hands and getting down and dirty when mixing these up.

Enjoy!
I have never EVER shared this recipe with anyone before...but, at least in my little SF community, these are the cookies that people ask for...and more than once...I've been asked for the recipe...soooo...here you go, SF Etsy... from my kitchen, to yours. Because, I think you're pretty special.

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial: Group Painting Project

So I've been trying to think of an interactive Group Craft Project that could be fun for a group of friends to do together at a Craft Night as an Ice Breaker...
I guess I'm mentally preparing myself for this weekend's awesome Etsy Party!
Last night I tried out one of my ideas with a group of friends at my house.

THE PROJECT:
Pass The Painting
THE GOAL:
Break the Ice, have fun, giggle and take home a treat!

THE CREW! Some Artistic and Wonderfully fun people...
You'll want more than one person...preferably 4 or more for best results.

Allie Felton (Organizer)
Katy Atchison (Hostess)
Allie Zee
Angela Holmes
Also my friend Stu and his girlfriend came...which made a nice sized group of six people.

A spin off the Drawing Game, Pass the Garbage...this is pretty much exactly the same as that but more challenging because you have to have a basic understanding of how to paint or draw on a canvas.

Materials Needed:
Canvases (I bought a 10-pack of pre-stretched canvases at Aaron Brothers for $21), Acrylic Paint (because it's fast drying), Sharpies & Markers for detailing if you want...timer, water for cleaning, and various brushes.

STEP ONE:
Hand each participant a Blank Canvas...
On the back of the canvas...have them write one sentence that describes the painting.
Be Imaginative! The crazier your sentence is...the more creative your other players get to be.
My Sentence: "Don't judge a rainy day by the unicorns eating ice cream in a sailboat by the bay."



STEP TWO:
Pass the Painting to your left!
Without revealing your sentence to the group...pass the painting to the first artist.
It's fun for the artists to get to read your sentence as they receive the painting.



STEP THREE:
Each artist has 5 minutes with the canvas at a time.
Set the timer the minute people start to paint on the canvases.

You can increase or decrease the amount of time that you give each person...but please note that every person around the table will get 5-10 minutes with your canvas and you'll need to also have a bit of drying time at the end. Therefore, in this case...since there were 6 people who were part of this Painting Party, we were painting for 45 min. to an hour.

STEP FOUR:
Paint! Taking inspiration from the sentence on the back...paint on the canvas in front of you... Try to leave some room for other participants...but get creative...and QUICK! part of the fun is that you don't have a lot of time to think about what you're going to be painting.
Plus, if you're not a skilled painter...you're welcome to just doodle a little flower in the ground or paint some background color in during your 5 minute turn. Also remember that the painting you're working on isn't going to end up being yours...so don't be afraid!

STEP FIVE:
Be sure to let your paintings dry before your friends leave your house....or ask them to be careful while traveling home. What's fun about this game is that everyone takes home a memory of the evening.

STEP SIX:
Present your work to the group.
At the end... stand up and read your original sentence to the group....showing your masterpiece to everyone at the same time.
Here are some of what we did!








ADVANTAGES TO THIS STYLE OF GROUP CRAFT:
No directions... allowing people the freedom to go crazy with no directions to follow also allows you to really get to know the artists around you.

DIS-ADVANTAGES TO THIS STYLE OF GROUP CRAFT:
you need to have the space and the time to do it. A bit messy as well...but I didn't mind using my large craft table for it. Also...it takes a lot of letting go and allowing yourself to not get hung up in the end result. Personally, I like the surprise of it all. Some artists also don't like the pressure of having to work on something for 5-10 minutes...but others really like that type of challenge.

Here's the aftermath of the project: (can you tell we really got into it?)


Have any of you done something similar? What are you most looking forward to this weekend?

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!