January Wrap Up

Here's a new feature we'll be sharing monthly just in case you missed some of our posts throughout the month.  We had some great tips, tutorials, and inspiration to share and we don't want you to miss it.

Developing Success Habits

Tutorial to make a pretty Bunting Banner

Meet our newest member for January

Keeping Track of Etsy Sales & Expenses

Keeping Your Studio Organized

Tutorial to make a Candle Holder Vellum Heart Decoration

Local stores that carry items from HV Etsy : Karmabee and Clay, Wood & Cotton 

Signposts and Guides for the Creative Life

"There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into a sun."  Pablo Picasso

I think the operative word is "transform".  I wonder if that is one of the essential qualities of any work that is characterized as art.  I've seen many paintings that technically may be very good, but they don't seem to have much life.  The painter has not been an instrument of transformation, using her acquired skills to capture and transmit an experience in a unique way.

Frederick Franck is an artist I admire very much.  He lived a long and productive life and  his later years were spent in Warwick, NY.  I saw was a wonderful exhibit of his work in Poughkeepsie before he died.  Early works showed his incredible skills with line drawings, beautiful finely detailed paintings.   Throughout his career he played with every medium imaginable.  Toward the end, as his eye sight was deteriorating he took up the Chinese brush and his paintings became very simple.  But they were so moving.  I remember one in particular of a sun setting over water.  You could feel the heat.

May we focus on essence in our lives, may we be given patience to allow it to blossom.

Tutorial: Candle Holder Vellum Heart Decoration

Here is a tutorial to decorate any glass candle holder with paper! A great, inexpensive way to create candle holders to fit any occasion. This design is a simple, elegant Valentine theme, using vellum and cut paper.  

Materials:
1. Paper. I used white vellum, red vellum, and black paper. The translucent vellum is what diffuses the light and creates a nice glow. Black or dark paper will give you a nice crisp silhouette against the light, a light colored or thinner paper will give you a more muted look.
2. Clear Glass candle holder.
3. X-acto knife with #11 blades, or small scissors.
4. Self-healing mat or cardboard to cut on.
5. Ruler for cutting straight lines.
6. Double sided tape or glue.
7. Votive candle or battery operated tea light.

You can refer to my tutorial for Cut Paper Silhouettes for ideas on finding a design and transferring it to paper: Paper Cutting Tutorial   Measure the height of your candle holder, and cut a strip of vellum to wrap all the way around it. Size your design to fit within this space. My heart design has the main heart image in front, and swirls that partially wrap around the side. You can choose a design or pattern that wraps all the way around also.   Transfer your design onto the paper. Cut the design out with your x-acto knife, on your self-healing mat. Make slow, small cuts, and make sure your blade is sharp.  

  Once your main design is cut out, you can add other colors. I added red to the center of the heart by tracing the space cut out of the heart onto red vellum. Make the shape slightly larger than the opening you are tracing so that it will overlap. Then I cut out the red vellum heart, and attached it to the back of the black paper. Vellum is harder to cut shapes out of, it helps if you hold the paper down close to where you are cutting so it doesn’t tear. You can also try small scissors.   Attach the colored vellum to the back of the paper with double-sided tape or small amounts of glue. Attach the whole design to the long strip of vellum with double-sided tape or glue. Tape is better than most glue because it will be a little more flexible when you bend it around the glass. You can also use a spray adhesive. Wrap the vellum around the candle holder and secure at the back with tape. Light a candle inside, turn down the lights, and enjoy! You can use a regular candle with this since the paper is on the outside, just make sure the paper doesn’t go higher than the glass, and never leave a burning candle unattended.  

  Extra Tip: To remove wax from a used glass candle holder, use boiling water. Make sure the glass is not too cold to start with (or it could crack), place it in an aluminum pie plate to catch any water or wax, and fill the glass with the boiling water. Let it sit for a while and the wax will melt and float to the surface. Pour some boiling water down the outside also to melt it away.

Arwen ~ Arwen Designs

Where To Find The Hudson Valley Etsy Team

And we're continuing to episode 2 of our series of showing you where you can purchase the Hudson Valley Etsy Team's creations at some of the Hudson Valley's best local brick and mortar stores. And don't forget, it's always easy to find us on Etsy itself!

Today we're going to make two stops, one on each side of the Hudson.

Let's start with a visit to the lovely city of Beacon. Clay Wood and Cotton is a lovely shop at 133 Main Street, specializing in sophisticated handmade designs for the home as well as well as paper products, knitting and sewing supplies, craft kits, and more.

4 members of the HV Etsy Team sell their creations at the shop.

Cerulean Blue

Cerulean Blue

Spinning Mule Fibers

Spinning Mule Fibers

Wishbone Letterpress

Wishbone Letterpress

Wicked Mint

Wicked Mint

On the west side of the Hudson in the village of Sugar Loaf at 1371 Kings Highway, Romers Alley #4b, is Bliss Co-op, a wonderful women's art cooperative boutique. Four of our artisans are selling at Bliss:

Beacon Knits

Beacon Knits

Anjali Creations

Anjali Creations

Beyond The Picket Fence

Beyond The Picket Fence

H&J Star Creations

H&J Star Creations

And we have one more addition to last week's lineup at Karmabee in Kingston:
 
SO Handmade

SO Handmade

Happy shopping!

In My Studio: Organizing

This year my first New Year's resolution was to organize my studio- and keep it that way. After the hectic Christmas season my studio was a dumping ground for all manner of craft fair equipment, boxes full of materials, display furniture and other things I just hadn't had the chance to put away.

In order to get back to work in 2013 I needed to do some serious sorting out. Organizing is something I really enjoy; printing out labels and sticking them on countless storage boxes, separating the pencils from the paintbrushes and seeing all my fabrics folded neatly onto color coordinated piles gives me a  tremendous feeling of satisfaction.  Unfortunately when time is short and the orders and craft fairs keep coming tidying up is not a priority.

Keeping a studio shipshape is important for many different reasons:

• It allows me to keep an inventory of my stock so that I know by a quick glance when I'm running low on particular supplies.

• Organized also means it is much easier to clean, therefore avoiding dusty materials and products.

• An organized space= an organized mind, I find it much easier to be creative when clutter is kept to a minimum. 

• Having a studio I feel proud to show off to anyone who might call round unexpectedly, maybe even a potential customer...

• Keeping supplies organized means it is much easier to find them if everything has been put away in the right place, hunting for those buttons I know I have somewhere can be a huge time waster.

With this in mind here are a few tips to help you keep your studio organized in the year to come:

1. Keep a basket dedicated for odds and ends that you have been using. This can be sorted out when you get the chance but in the mean time keeps them tidied away.
2. Use transparent boxes and glass jars so you can see easily what is in each.
3. Bring a box/drawer into your TV room and organize it while watching TV at night. It doesn't feel like a chore then and you're not wasting any 'production' time.
4. Design a simple labeling system with a basic label template saved on your computer so you can quickly print up new labels as and when they are needed.
5. Have an area (or a box if you don't have space) dedicated to packing, keeping all the things you need such as scissors, tape, boxes, tissue paper, bubble wrap and business cards in one packing place. Then when orders come in you can dispatch them quickly and efficiently.
6. Similarly have a box dedicated to craft fairs and keep in it all the basic things you need to set up and run a stand. Print out a basic list to keep in the box of these items so you can quickly check them off.
7. Use your wall space effectively, if its pin boards, pegboards, even shoe storage hangers converted into stationary holders, from studio floor to ceiling, to maximum the storage space.
8. Look online for many inventive and creative ways to store your craft supplies.  Look for ideas on Pinterest, Michaels, Simple Magazine etc.
9. Devote an area in your studio/ house for photographing your products, keeping a backboard, lights and spare camera batteries ready and set up to use when needed.

my packing box

"Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." Albert Einstein

Good luck and good making!

Sarah Omura, SO Handmade

Treasury Tuesday

Treasuries are a great way to check out many of our items at once. See our January treasuries thread on Etsy to view more.

'Grey Serenity' by CharmsofFaith

A beautiful collection of serene greys with a pop of pink!

Embroidered Hoop Art Ch... ittybittybag $10.00	Mr. Perfect Handmade So... ComfortandJoy... $6.00	Fiber Art Jewelry - Sil... ElenaRosenber... $125.00	RARE Rhodochrosite Crys... DumbBunnyDesi... $124.00
Cowl Hood in Neutral Om... HuzzahHandmad... $65.00	Silver Star Mobile - Gr... littlenestbox $45.00	Amigurumi Robot Crochet... BubblegumBell... $40.00	Leaf Earrings - Champag... pulpsushi $12.00
SALE 70's Vintage S... YesterdaysSil... $34.20	Hand Dyed Silk Wrap Bra... anjalicreatio... $42.00	Still life photography,... PhotographyDr... $19.50	charcoal gray hand knit... beaconknits $32.00
Valentines Bird Art Phe... StudioLavaan $32.00	Winter Bokeh - 16x20 Fi... KatieLloydPho... $60.00	Vintage Aluminium milit... PrivetSoviet $12.00	Nuno felted ruffle shaw... vart $178.00

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

'Craft kit.' by mimiandlu

Projects and supplies for these long winter nights.

SALE RARE Antique Sciss... YesterdaysSil... $57.60	RHUBARB Hand Dyed Yarn ... spinningmulef... $18.00	Fall Winter Fashion - K... AtelierTPK $6.50	Doll Kit SophieTilleyD... $16.99
2 Natural Pyrite Cubes ... DumbBunnyDesi... $3.75	Embroidery Patterns, WI... SeptemberHous... $6.00	Calligraphy Starter Kit lineacarta $35.00	Turquoise and Coral Dan... LenniesBeadDr... $21.00
Laundry Starter Kit wit... BeyondThePick... $22.00	Coral Geometric fabric ... wickedmint $16.00	Animal Finger Puppet Pa... HelloClementi... $5.00	Wool Felt Needle Book /... LoftFullOfGoo... $26.00
DIY Kit - Cross Stitche... RedGateStitch... $35.00	Vintage Peach Pink and ... yoyosbuttonsa... $6.50	foxy night embroidery k... dioramatist $15.00	SALE - 5 Tissue Pom Kit... prosttothehos... $15.00

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

'January Thaw' by Drusilla

Hudson Valley Etsy Team half team treasury, featuring the colors that we see as the snow melts away.

Acorn runes - elder fut... amberhlynn $45.00	MOONSTONE Hand Dyed Yar... spinningmulef... $15.00	Brown stoneware tray w... Ceruleanblue $18.00	Natural Anise and Orang... BeyondThePick... $5.00
Digital Mandala - uniqu... emkpainter $10.00	Hand Dyed Silk Wrap Bra... anjalicreatio... $32.00	Pitcher or Coffee Serve... NewProspectPo... $35.00	Tree of Life Dichroic F... GetGlassy $28.00
Birch Tree Leaves 8 x 1... NaturesHeaven... $16.00	Infinity Scarf Gray - C... remixedbyjack... $24.00	Arts & Crafts Earth Ton... StumptownQuil... $180.00	Gray Silver Teardrop Cz... LaBelleGem $50.00
French Script Fine Silv... BlueSailStudi... $69.00	Soft Gray Chandelier - ... janeheller $30.00	Earth Tone Rock Wreath ... BeacheryDesig... $28.00	Stone Hearts - Heart Sh... WaveSong $12.00

Treasury tool by StylishHome.