a Handmade {NewNew} Valentine

The artisans that make the {NewNew} Etsy team so fabulous are already stocked for Valentine's Day! Wouldn't it be sweet to give your valentine this Secret Heart pin? It has a secret pocket in the back, just the right size for a little love note. Or, use it to present a ring or pair of earrings?

Secret Heart Brooch, handsewn felt, $5.00 by Lipeony

I just recommended a "Sayings" print from Virginia Kraljevic to a friend looking for an anniversary present, and discovered this charmer while browsing her shop:

Magic Bunny, 8x10" print, $18.00, virginiakraljevic

And, if you have no Valentine, this NYC graffitti card from ApertureAgog has the perfect sentiment:

F--- Valentines, photography notecard, $4.00, ApertureAgog

Now, to find a subtle way to make sure DH reads this...

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Shop Feature: Sparkle Beast Designs

If the name Sparkle Beast isn't catchy enough, just check out her wares:


Love it! The artist behind Sparkle Beast, Natalie, sets the rhinestones onto mesh fabric and finishes the necklaces with coordinating ribbons. I met Natalie a few years ago through our shared hobby of cosplay- namely dressing up like cartoon characters and nerding around for a weekend. She's known for meticulous colorful beadwork in her cosplay creations, so naturally she brought it to her jewelry line! I think any of these would look stellar with a little black dress. The crazy thing is- they're only $12.99 - $29.99!
I'm looking forward to seeing Natalie at Katsucon next month, one of the conventions where nerds like us show off our latest costumes. I have a booth in the artist alley, Natalie better stop by to say hello and show me what she's wearing!
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Upcoming Shop Special! NYAF Preview!

I've been making some really cool, one of a kind items in anticipation of New York Anime Fest taking place later this month. Last year's festival was my first show (not counting selling hair scrunchies at craft fairs with my mom) and inspired me to open up shop on etsy.

So, while this is very cool, I realize that most of my etsy sales go far away to other states and countries. It would be very cool if everyone could come to the show, because it'll be a really fun time, but I know that isn't feasible. So here's what I'll do- starting this Saturday I'll list a OOAK piece- it could be a decoupage bracelet, funky necklace, hand-painted kokeshi doll, or quirky kilt pin- and leave it up until the festival on September 25th.

sneak peak of Mini Kokeshi dolls in progress by ~roserevolution on deviantART

I'll announce the listings here, and on twitter. I'll also post a little more about my inspiration for the piece. Thank you to all my fabulous etsy customers (all 47 of you!) and don't miss your chance to snap up something totally unique from me!
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Incoming: recycled bangle bracelets!

These aren't quite ready yet, they need a few more coats of varnish before I can sell them. I really, really like how they're coming out! I bought a lot of vintage plastic bangles from etsy, sanded them, and wrapped them with thin strips of paper. The map one is England, and the other four came from Newtype, a Japanese magazine. The recycled bonus there is that my friend had already crafted with them, so I'm the second person to make something out of them. These will be just spines when they hit the recycling bin!

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Mark your calendar! Celebrate a {NewNew} Season with the Spring Handmade Cavalcade

Spring is in the air, and with it come the social affairs that take advantage of this beautiful time of year. With this in mind the {NewNew} heads to the Bell House in Brooklyn on May 9th and 10th to host the Spring Handmade Cavalcade. This two-day shopping affair will feature gifts for grads and moms, fantastic housewares and pretty paper goods for hosts and hostesses, and apparel and accessories for any occasion.

The local focus extends to the event's collaboration with charity partner St. John's Bread & Life, which addresses the issues of hunger and poverty in Brooklyn and Queens.. A limited edition artists' book will be available for sale to benefit the charity. In addition, shoppers who make a donation will receive a surprise handmade gift.

***Free, limited-edition tote bags*** are available to the first 200 visitors who RSVP on the event's website, and can be picked up by visiting on either day of the event up until 1pm, Sunday May 10. And everyone who makes a purchase at the event will be able to participate in a raffle for one of ten artist-embellished totes chock-full of handmade goods.

What: The Spring Handmade Cavalcade

When: Saturday May 9 and Sunday May 10, 2009. 10am–4pm both days

Where: The Bell House, 149 7th St. between 2nd and 3rd Aves, Brooklyn

*** Fifty of these tote bags will contain a treat from me! *** I love the bag that I got from the Holiday Handmade Cavalcade, be sure to sign up for your own!
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Bright Orange & Yellow & Lime Origami Charm Bracelet

Just listed this morning! I'm wearing it as I type this, it's such a cute bracelet. I debated listing it on artfire, since you can put 10 photos there, but so far it hasn't lead to sales for me. Etsy it is! I've hit a few milestones there recently~ paperelle just topped 20 sales and 200 hearts! It makes me so happy that people like what I create. I have a huge backlog of stuff to photograph, and I'm only halfway through the samples I'm sending to the Spring Handmade Cavalcade.

Shop updates may be slow in the next few weeks, since my husband and I are closing on our new co-op tomorrow! It's scary to be emptying out our savings account, but we're ready to move. We close tomorrow, and this weekend is a painting party! A co-worker leant me her paint chip book of every color Benjamin Moore makes, it's awesome.

In silly chinchilla news- her cage door was left open while DH and I were at work yesterday...and we came home to find her sitting happily on her little house. She's hilarious, any other animal would've been gone in a flash! Silly Chilla.

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...fifty nifty United States...

I've been finding out all sorts of interesting tidbits with Google Analytics. Last Friday I had over 100 hits to my shop for the first time, and most of my referalls come from twitter, followed by the {NewNew}'s team blog, then twittergadget!

At the end of last week I twittered about another Google Analytics fact- only 4 of the 50 states showed 0 visitors! There were a few good guesses, Jen Pepper of Upstate Fancy correctly guessed South Dakota. One of my IRL friends hit the mark with Montana. The other two were West Virginia and Iowa.

As of last night though...all 50! It doesn't really mean much for my shop, but I'm happy that all of America has clicked in. The international stats are even more fun!
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Good news

Yesterday I hit 101 Hearts on etsy! It feels like a level-up. Someone from Greece sent me a convo about shipping, so I did a little research and updated my prices. It's now $2.90 to ship my jewelry to "everywhere else", plus $1 for each additional item. I learned that international first class really isn't that much, and other than filling out the customs form it doesn't really add much time to the selling process. I'm so thrilled that people from all over the world like what I do!

Someone from a little closer to home in Pennsylvania likes what I do to, I was interviewed yesterday by Erin of Ruju! You can read it here on her blog:

RuJu

She found me through a thread on etsy's forums. Despite a lot of dramu that goes on there (woo internet fun) it is a good way to connect with other members. She sews some really nifty items, I really like these organizers that you can snap into different configurations, and this:


A purse made from a toy football, how cool! Thanks again for the feature Erin, I really appreciate it!

It's snowing, and it looks so magical. I'm biased because I don't have to shovel it, or drive in it much, but I really like how snow looks. I'm not looking forward to the rain later, that'll make everything a slushy icy mess. Hmm...too bad the park I work in is flat, I'd be tempted to go sledding. Maybe we'll have an office snowball fight later...

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Thinking Pink...

I tried out taking photos against a colored background, namely a scrap of pink fabric. Overall I'm pretty happy with them, but will look for a background paper so I don't have to iron the fabric everytime I do photos. I made lots of triple dangles~ I think the green pair was first! So far only the pinks are listed in my shop, but the rest will go up as the week goes on.

I also rephotographed my cards, and I'm much happier with them!

Sugar & Spice Gocco Card

I {Cube} NY Gocco Postcard

The {newnew} street team meeting on Saturday was really cool. I went in very intimidated, and that wasn't helped by the fact that I sat about 2 feet away from Maria, the CEO of etsy! I managed to overcome my shyness a bit, it helped that lots of other new people were there. It did take almost all day to get from Connecticut to Brooklyn and back, but it was definitely worth it.
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New item, and a great article!

I listed this new necklace design in my etsy shop last night, as well as a new phone charm. I love these colored aluminum chains!
A few weeks ago I chatted with a reporter from the regional newspaper, and here's the article!
Crafting a Community
Hooray! I missed the paper yesterday, so I'll go to their office on Monday for a hard copy. Maybe I'll make it into stars...

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Glass, anyone?

This is what my husband and I woke up to yesterday morning: We're shaken, me moreso, and it's a big inconvenience, especially since the glove compartment was ransacked of Maggie, our beloved GPS. The window is getting repaired tomorrow, but while sweeping up I kept a large piece of the glass. It's in the found stuff jar waiting to become art. I'm not quite sure what to do with it yet. I adore dichroic glass jewelry, I have two pairs of studs from MoMo glassworks. These are really sexy, and reasonably priced-

Of course I checked out etsy, and see that one of my twittering buds, Chris1, makes beautiful glass pendants-

I love the colors of this turquoise pendant, and the setting compliments it very nicely. While reading the forums I saw that someone else had a car break-in. (I know I'm not alone!) So, not glass, but beautiful wire-wrapped earrings with Swarovski crystals (quartz, close enough!) from Cristy's Jewelry.

Maybe I'll foray into ACEOs with a car window glass collage, or set them into jewelry finding, hmm...

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Etsy Preview

 

The octopus is overloaded with goodies! I'm trying out some new designs, and working to get them all photographed today. The snow makes my apartment much brighter. I can't wait to move into the new co-op...there are windows that actually get sunlight. My standards are oh-so-high.

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Decorating inspiration- birds!

Lately I've been favoriting bird-related art on etsy. Ornithology was a really fun course, even if my professor drove like a madman. On lab days we went all over the east end of Long Island to his birding haunts, his enthusiasm was contagious. I'm a very casual birder, I don't keep a life list or read birding blogs, but I still like to peek out the windows at them. While shopping with my mom at Chelsea Market we found an inexpensive vintage-inspired poster of North American birds. I really liked the look of it, and I think it's a good place to start for decorating my kitchen (whenever we get to move). I'm stuck with green laminate countertops, so this collage really popped out at me-I like the pop of red, the random bit of French, and of course the bright blue bird. Next is this painting from Clinecreations-

The birds look so peaceful! I think it's neutral enough to go anywhere, and I love the way she paints. I discovered this by accident on her blog, which is definitely worth a peek. Last is this set of photos-

The tufted titmouse in the snow is my favorite of the four, although red cardinals are always pretty. Plus, the red in the cardinal would go well with the first print...hmm...

I can't wait to move and decorate my new place! Come on co-op board, let's interview!
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Happy New Year!

I haven't been that active with my shop lately, I got hit with a nasty bug on New Year's Eve. Vacation days seem to trigger lurking bacteria. C'est la vie. I did list these earrings tonight, and I'm just now realizing that one appears shorter than the other in photos, oops. Take pity on me etsy shoppers! I'll fix it later when I have sunlight.

In happier news- I was contacted by the local newspaper, they're doing a story on the "new wave" of crafters. Free adverstising, check! I didn't mention to the reporter that I'm moving in a few weeks...

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My etsy shop helper

This is Momo, a mosaic chinchilla. She helped me post this necklace last night. (I'm liking my new eyeshadow, but it looks funky here. Oh well.) She's such a good helper. She nibbles on my buttons, and makes chilla-poops. If you scratch her behind the ears she makes a cute squish face. My husband and I adopted her a year and a half ago through Petfinder, which is an awesome website. My mom found her dog through them as well.

Yesterday I discovered this shop because the owner has her chinchilla in her avatar:

Etsy Buy Handmade OO0OSUGARO0OO

I'm not sure this post has a point, other than chinchillas are cute. Adopt one today!

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New design!

I was playing around with some of my supplies and came up with this necklace. It's just long enough so that the star rests in the center of your collarbone, so cute. The beads are glass faux pearls, and the star has a piece of the NANA logo on it (which is my favorite series of anything ever). I made another one with black chain, and experimented with another necklace design too. I'll be testing them a little, then listing them in the shop. Today I listed two new pairs of earrings- http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6266247&section_id=5750979

I hope everyone had a nice weekend before Christmas. I personally avoided all the stores, but did get quasi-lost in the Bronx en route to a friend's apartment. C'est la vie.

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Earring preview!

The Fire Mountain Gems order came in on Tuesday, and I've been playing with all the new stuff since. I was way low on supplies, it's great to have headpins again! There are also new colors of the tiny swarovski crystals, lots of teals and greens. Purple too...mmm. One of the map earring pairs are for me to keep, but I'll list the other in my shop shortly. I did photograph them individually, but they didn't come out so great. I need daylight!

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Etsy finds- yummy yarn

Handspun yarns always look so delicious. I have no idea what I would make with them, some are pretty enough to be displayed on their own. Here are a few of my faves currently up on etsy:

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade paperelle.etsy.com

I still have to finish a things using my regular yarn, but it's nice to daydream!
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Back from the cavalcade!

I had a blast at the {NewNew} Handmade Cavalcade! My mom met me at Grand Central, and a co-worker met us at the Knitting Factory. Two of my friends went as well, but I didn't run into them. I bought a sampler from Dirty Loves Clean, and the most awesomest tote bag in the history of tote bags from Fact & Fancy. The swag in the goodie bag was amazing! I love the earrings from Silver Dot Designs, as well as the uptown / downtown pendant and all the pins, stickers, postcards, and other goodies. I've yet to sort through it all.

After the show my mom and I walked to Little Italy for some delicious pasta, then to EMC2 for a talking Tim Gunn bobblehead. We took the subway back uptown to Bryant Park. The holiday shops are nice, but definitely not diverse. Tons of jewelry, lots of knitted stuff, etc. I did get a second pair of earrings at Momo Glassworks, I wear the studs I bought last year constantly. I also got the coolest keychain / phone charm / doo-dad there:

Don't be jealous. There was a really cool stall selling bags made from chains of candy wrappers, magazines and the like, but it was definitely out of my budget.

When I got home I found out that I had a sale, from my husband's cousin, but hey! A sale is a sale, and he picked it up in person! I also had a convo telling me one of my items was featured on this blog- Andee's Designs. Does this mean I'm big in Germany, like David Hasselhoff?

What a good day!

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I lol'd

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Nailed 'Em - Radical Knitting

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

This is a very cute Colbert Report clip about a crochet / knit artist that makes cosies for SUVs.

NY / NJ / CT area people- tomorrow is the Handmade Cavalcade at the Knitting Factory! I'm nervous about going, since I want to join the {NewNew} etsy street team! Well, I'm more nervously excited.
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