by MissMalaprop on March 19, 2010
RHINO Contemporary Crafts Company in The Shops at Canal Place
I’m currently working on compiling the ultimate list of all the ongoing craft events, crafty supply stores, craft groups, etc. around New Orleans and the greater metro area. I recently posted about the idea on the New Orleans Craft Mafia blog. I was working on a crafty city guide for New Orleans for getcrafty.com right before Katrina, but obviously I never had much of a chance to share it with anyone! It’s hard to find a current comprehensive resource on crafting for this city, so I’d like to put one together… I’m thinking I might put it together in the form of a free e-book. Please let me know if you have ideas for public crafting meet-ups, art markets, craft supply stores or other stuff I should include!
I recently answered a query about unique ideas for marketing your crafts that was posted to the Help A Reporter Out listserv and my answer will be featured in the June issue of The Crafts Report magazine! If you haven’t already, you should check out their website, there are some great articles there, like this one: How to Get Customers 4x More Likely to Buy.
The new online lifestyle & design magazine that I recently wrote a column for is out now! It’s called Southern Flourish, and the column is on artists based in the South who work with recycled materials. Check it out!
I recently listed to one of the Rick Steves travel podcasts where he spoke with Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission To Promote Peace… One School At A Time and Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I really want to pick up these books to read now… The whole thing is really inspiring: basically he and the organizations he works with have been working with communities in Afghanistan for years now to promote peace by building schools, and particularly, by helping educate women. One reason behind this is that in that culture, mothers have a lot of influence… and if they are educated, they are less likely to allow their sons to join the Taliban. You can check out his website, Stones into Schools, to learn more and find out how you can help.
chandeliers made out of clothing hangers @ paper n stitch
decoylab clocks @ poppytalk
Here are some links from around the web that I found interesting this past week:
chandeliers made out of clothing hangers @ paper n stitch
naomilingerie @ Mixed Plate
Decoylab & Summer Tin @ Poppytalk
How to provide relief to rural Americans, create jobs, and lower emissions … all at once! @ Grist
Reduce Multitasking…Mass Fail @ Indie Fixx
How Do You Use Your Fan Page? @ Tara Gentile
Handmade How-To – Pennant Rubber Stamp Roller & Tips From a Buyer to Sellers @ Handmade Spark
Trade Show Survival 101 @ BAKERY
Getting Paid Partially in Time @ Make + Meaning
A New Map of the Two-Way Street: Why Giving Back to the Blogosphere is Key to Growth @ Independent Fashion Bloggers
March is National Craft Month! & TrendCentral clues us in on the latest “IT” terms Gen Y is dropping @ KIZER and BENDER’s Retail Adventures in the REAL World™ BLOG
Favorite Things of Retail Minded @ Retail Minded Blog
Creations by Heather Heffken @ Try Handmade
Eco-Friendly Find: EveldasNEVERLAND @ Modish
When Customers Complain, How Do You Respond? & Three Things That Could Make a Difference @ Smaller Box
by MissMalaprop on March 14, 2010
I’ve seen a lot of neat things done with old vinyl records, but these jewelry storage & display stands made from old 45s really caught my eye. I couldn’t help thinking how great they would be for display in a retail shop or at a craft show.
The base of the stand is made from sewing machine bobbins – so clever! There are so many other cool recycled products in the artist’s shop, Make Shop Live. Plus, there is a great tutorial on their blog about dying buttons! I’d never even thought to try dying buttons, but I think it’s a very clever idea and I love the tutorial on how to do it!
by MissMalaprop on March 12, 2010
We went to Surfside Beach, Texas last weekend to see our friend Adam, who runs a restaurant there on the beach called Pirate’s Alley Cafe. My boyfriend, Dave, shot some web commercials for Adam’s restaurant & beach rentals, plus another hotel out there and he even did a commercial for the city itself! We got to stay in one of those amazing beach houses. This quaint little beach town is what I imagine much of the Florida panhandle must have been like 50 years ago…
My RSS feed is fixed now! In case you missed it, something happened and it was out for a few weeks, but hopefully everything should be working now. Thanks to everyone who commented with suggestions on my post about it, and to the lovely folks at Dreamhost for all your help!
Today is the last day to enter the L’Occitane Shower Gel & Body Lotion Giveaway.
My friend Jene just tipped me off to this thing called Groupon. They’re about to launch a New Orleans program, and they already have programs in place for most major U.S. cities. It’s basically what the name implies – a group coupon. Here’s what Jene had to say about the program: “I highly recommend it. Basically you subscribe, every day you get ONE e-mail of an offer. You decide if you want it, if you do you sign up for it and if enough people request it then it is valid.” She used it when she lived in NYC and says that often the coupons are for restaurants, but that she once got a $75 massage for $40 and a deal on $35 worth of groceries for only $20 at a local natural grocery store. It sounded like a pretty sweet deal, so I’m waiting to see what deals are in place for New Orleans! This sounds like it could also be a great way for local businesses to get new customers in their doors. If you want to sign up, please feel free to use my referral link to do so! (Once you do, you’ll get your own referral link to send to your friends!)
Awhile back, I wrote an article on Southern artists who use recycled materials in their work for the 1st issue of a new magazine called Southern Flourish. The premiere issue, Spring 2010, is scheduled to launch next week, but there are a few teaser images already on Flickr, including one shot from the article I wrote. (That’s the image above.) This magazine is going to be sort of like Southern Living meets Domino with a modern upbeat flair. I can’t wait to see how the whole thing turns out!
Here are a few great recent crafty business links from around the web:
Focus Your Energy @ Handmade Spark
Asking for It @ BAKERY
from in-house production to outsourcing, why you should offer microwave classes, designing sticky products, part 1 @ crafting an MBA
a short rant about business cards @ White Hot Truth
Code for Crafters :: Images 101 @ Tara Gentile
The Keys to the Store: Selling Handmade to Retailers and Wholesalers, Inventory Management for the Creative Entrepreneur @ Meylah
Understanding Merchant Services @ Retail Minded Blog
Thinking about selling your hand made craft and design online? @ Pure Design Blog
BizCamp is this new “UnConference” coming up here in New Orleans on Saturday, March 27th for entrepreneurs. It will be held at The IP Building (643 Magazine) and will include complimentary lunch and a DJ set from DJ Soul Sister. I’ve signed up to go, and if you’re interested you can check out more information and register at their website. It’s totally free to attend and it sounds like a great networking & learning opportunity.
If you’re in Philly, be sure to check out the Philadelphia Designer’s Market for Independent Fashion Designers on Saturday, April 17th, from 11am til 6pm at 123 South 17th Street. Admission is free and there will be free totes for early shoppers!
April 17th is also the day of the Alternative Media Expo here in New Orleans. The New Orleans Craft Mafia will be putting together free goodie bags for the first 100 shoppers as well, so be sure to check it out if you’re in the area, and no matter where you’re located, you are welcome to contribute to the goodie bags and get the word out about your business or organization! More details on how to participate are here.
I just heard about the fiercegrrl fund on Modish. It was formed to raise money to help Nicole Puzan, a 26 year old artist and crafter who was diagnosed with Stage IIIc ovarian cancer. She is uninsured, like so many artists & self-employed folks in this country, and can use all the help she can get right now. Check out the post on Modish or go to the fiercegrrl fund for more info and to donate.
by MissMalaprop on March 5, 2010
I just discovered Londi Creations via Felt Plum. She creates these GORGEOUS jewelry pieces using zippers and felt. I’ve seen a lot of different zipper jewelry, but I think this is a unique take, and I love the splash of color that the felt pieces add! If you’re a fan of the felt, you should also check out a few other posts by Felt Plum. She links to Felt Kits Galore on Etsy and shows off some super cute felted animals by Bossy’s Feltworks.
The Green Project, one of my favorite local organizations, was recently named one of the winners of the 2010 Social Innovators Institute. This means they’ll be able to expand their paint recycling department into Second Line Recycled Paint. Lately the demand for their recycled paint product has far exceeded what they can supply, so now they’ll be able to keep up with demand and create revenue to fund their environmental education programming. Congrats to The Green Project!
One of The Green Project’s annual fundraisers is also coming up in a couple of weeks. Their Salvations 2010 Furniture Competition takes place at The Shops at Canal Place, 333 Canal Street, New Orleans on March 19, 2010 from 7pm to 10pm. Local artists took the challenge to create great furniture and lighting installations out of recycled materials for this competition. You can check out their Flickr photostream to see some of this year’s entries or check out their blog for more details and ticket information.
I’ve seen a whole bunch of great tips for crafty businesses & Etsy sellers being posted around the web in recent days. Here are a few of my favorite posts:
Chrissy from Indie Biz Chicks is offering a free sneak peek of her new e-book, The Yearly Marketing And Blogging Plan. You can see 5 marketing ideas and 10 blogging ideas from the e-book in the sneak peek version. The full-length e-book contains 52 marketing ideas and 156 blogging ideas, ie enough topics for 3 blog posts per week for an entire year. Pretty handy if you’re always struggling to come up with fresh ideas on topics to write about and ways to market yourself.
If you’re looking for more ways to refocus and reinvigorate your blogging, a lot of folks are looking to Scoutie Girl’s 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion as well. I’ve been hearing rave review’s of Tara’s e-book, and The Blooming Wildflowers Project gives it a thumbs up! I just discovered this fab blog which features plenty of handmade goods and indie design. The gal behind The Blooming Wildflowers Project blog also has a sweet Etsy shop, Pineapple Sugar, which features the earrings show above.
These last earrings are by Drops of Sun on Never Ender. The artist makes her jewelry from recycled paper findings which she collects during her travels around the world. Pretty cute, no? You can check out more of what else is new at Never Ender here.
by MissMalaprop on March 1, 2010
I spent most of the day yesterday adding product listings for Sublime Stitching to my new online shop (coming in mid-March!), so I’m on a bit of an embroidery kick right now.
Beth from diffractionfiber just let me know about some new embroidery pieces she’s been working on. Her new embroidery series is called “Out of Place”, and in it Beth explores feelings of isolation and being removed from your surroundings. She’s incorporated original photography into her embroidery work, from which she has removed the subject. She then prints the photograph on cotton and embroiders the subject back in. I love this intersection of art meets craft, and I think Beth’s pieces have turned out beautifully.
Helen of Thimbletop has her own unique take on embroidery with her hand-embroidered housewares. Helen first picked up a needle and thread when she was about nine years old. Helen told me this story:
“My mother first taught me how to sew a basic rectangular pillow. When I was ready to stuff my first project, she tried to teach me how to turn the fabric inside out to hide the seam. I refused, arguing that I had worked hard on my careful stitching and wanted to show it off, not put it inside the pillow where no one could see it. As the years have gone by my sewing has changed and advanced, going through stages of dresses and shirts and bags. However, it seems that I have finally come full circle. Through embroidery, I have once again discovered my love of creating stitches that everyone can see. I think that my nine-year-old self would approve of the fact that I try to keep a sense of humor in many of the items I make.”
These talented ladies are making me want to find the time to pick up a needle and thread again. I’ve had some projects bouncing around that I’ve wanted to start for awhile, so maybe I’ll get back to stitching soon!
by MissMalaprop on February 26, 2010
I always get so many interesting tidbits through my inbox each week that it’s hard to find the time to mention everything. I appreciate everything that’s sent my way, and believe me, I do read every email, even if I have trouble finding the time to properly respond to each one! I’ve been doing sort of a link round-up the last few Fridays, and I’m going to try to keep that a regular thing. Let me know if you like this format or have something you think I should mention here!
A new issue of VivaLaModa magazine is online now. This online magazine focuses on handmade & vintage fashion, and VivaLaModa is currently sponsoring Project Reconstruction, a challenge for designers to create a unique clothing alteration using a men’s button down shirt. The designs will be featured in the May issue of the magazine. Find details on how to participate here.
ANTLER magazine is another great online fashion magazine with a focus on indie fashion and culture. Their 3rd issue is out now.
I found this recent post on Make+Meaning about the author’s trip to Guatemala really thought provoking. How can we use our crafty ingenuity to help the developing world?
Lee from Color Me Conscious is giving away one of her Corsage Cuffs to celebrate the launch of her new blog. Get more details and enter here.
I was recently contacted by Brian Lane, who met my sister last week while in Biloxi running a marathon to raise money and awareness for his non-profit organization FiftyTwo4Mom. He created this organization in honor of his mom, who lost over half of her sight to a condition called Optic Neuropathy twelve years ago. FiftyTwo4Mom raises awareness and money to support research into Optic Nerve Disorders, as well as establish programs to help the visually impaired. Brian is currently traveling the country and running in one race in every state in order to raise money. His goal is to raise one million dollars by getting a million people to donate just $1. You can find out more and donate at www.fiftytwo4mom.org.
Keetsa, the eco-friendly mattress and bedding company, just opened their New York Flagship Store in the heart of Soho, at 69 Mercer Street in NYC. They’re celebrating their new store by offering two Free Biofoam Pillows (a $140 dollar value) for anyone who purchases one of their 7 eco-friendly mattresses. You can call them at 212-343-0333 or visit their store in Soho.
Do you knit or crochet and are always on the lookout for free patterns? Ramona from Inspired Creatives recently posted a Crochet and Knit Heart Pattern Round Up of all of the free heart patterns she found out around the web. It’s a little late to knit something for Valentine’s Day, but never too late to show someone you love them!
The New Orleans Craft Mafia is still looking for submissions for our swag/goodie bags that we put together for the Altnerative Media Expo every year. This year’s event is April 17th and the deadline for submitting stuff for the bags is April 7. Find more details here.
Want to find like-minded bloggers to cooperate with ? Check out SeededBuzz, a new marketing cooperative for bloggers. It’s still in beta, but if you’d like to join, you can use the invite code MissMalaprop to sign up.
On a personal note, my new octopus tattoo has been coming along nicely! I just had my 3rd session with Henry at Electric Ladyland on Wednesday. I’ve got hopefully just one more session to go. You can see the stages of my progress on my Flickr.
