So Much NEW!

Wow! It's been a long time since I've done a decent update on here. I'm sorry everyone. So here's what's been going on as of late.

-New Jelly and Cream filled Doughnut Plushies! In Fun and Mini sizes. So cute!

-July 24th was the 4th Annual Caffetto Craft Fair! Theresa and I were there selling all my fun dinks, plushies and other fun wears! It was a pretty nice day and we didn't do to bad either. Hopefully we can make it again next year. Here's some pics from the table set up.

-Two words: Wonder Knitter! <3

-Here's some examples of the cool, new duck tape beads from my jewelry classes at work. They are pretty fun and easy to make, plus you can make them in any color duck tape you like.

- I'm still working on myself, I'm down 50 lbs! That's a pretty big accomplishment if you ask me!

- My new pal Lauren and I had our 1st craft group meet up, we're calling it MinneCraftapolis! Pretty sweet, right? I take the credit for that one. We welcome crafters from any town, I'm from Owatonna, we just meet up in or near Minneapolis. Hehe. Our 1st meet up we made fun decoupaged gift boxes, like the pink one I made below. We're planning our 2nd meet up later in the month, stay tuned!

MinneCraftapolis
Min·ne·craft·ap·o·lis
[min-ee-kraft-ap-uh-lis]
–noun
1. a craft group, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota
2. a monthly meet up, to learn new techniques and projects
3. a fun night to create and bitch
4. a growing collaborated group of fierce and artistic individuals
5. a place to share skills or abilities used for bad purposes; cunning; deceit

Group Motto:
"Grab It... and Mod Podge The Shit Out Of It!"

Getting Personal: Update #1

So I had a very busy Spring, and we are revisiting some topics from a previous post, 'Getting Personal'. Here's the gist of what went on April, May & June.

• Changes continue at PT Job #1 and I put in my two weeks notice at PT Job #2.
• I'm 25 now and I did get my small tattoo.
• Enjoyed a long, cold, but fun day at the Craftstravaganza Craft Fair.
• My little sister's Bachelorette Party, Bridal Shower, Rehearsal and Wedding all went well with lots on fun and smiles.
  
• Plus my speech was sweet and humorous, considering I wrote it the night before. Not too bad, if I don't say so myself. :-P
  

As far as those short term goals go, let's see where we're at.

• Finish projects that I owe people (Marcy, Karlisha, my sister & my mom).

That didn't happen, maybe some for my sister, but not so much anyone else. Sorry.

• Have a fun (wedding) and profitable (craft fair) Spring.

Very true for both, I already participated in a 2nd craft fair and I got accepted into a 3rd. I'm also applying for 1, if not 2, more.

• Look harder for a FT Job (and if that pans out, move out of my mother's house).

Yea, working 7 days a week for weeks on end, I barely get to sleep. We'll work on this one after I'm finished with PT Job #2.

• And work on myself... This is going to be the hardest... in the short term, losing 20 lbs. for my sister's wedding.

This was actually the easiest one. From March to June I actually lost 40 lbs. That's like an average 5 year old girl, if you need a visual.

Other new things:

• I'm the new Jewelry Instructor at work! If you want to learn some basic Fundamentals or maybe just re-familiarize yourself with them, stop on by my Michaels and sign up! There's also some fun Camp Chic Jewelry Classes this summer. Playing with duck tape, safety pins, leather, etc.
• I will be participating in the 4th Annual Caffetto Craft Fair on July 24th! At Caffetto Coffee Shop, 708 W. 22nd Street, from 11am - 6pm.
  I hope it's a fun and not too hot of a day.
  
• My friend Christina will be visiting from Portland!
• My new pal Lauren, who put together the Unraveled DIY Festival, and I are planning on starting a local craft group. Each month we choose a new craft and we get a whole bunch of people together to learn it! (Costs for materials, but otherwise free tutorials & space.) Let me know if you're interested in participating! Or maybe you have a good name for the group?
• Same old, same old as far as love and personal life goes, but it looks like things are picking up in the right direction.

So we'll see how the next couple months progress and I'll keep everyone posted on new and major events.

The Unraveled DIY Festival

hbDesigns' was at the 1st year Unraveled DIY Festival! Geared towards the DIY Generation and presented by Textile Center, in conjunction with the 2011 International Surface Design Association Conference, held at the Rapson Architecture Center (U of M, Mpls). The event wasn't as widely popularized as Craftstravaganza, but for it's first year, I did make a few sales, so I was glad to take the day off to participate and meet new people.

Maid of Honor

My little sister's wedding was last month and I was her Maid of Honor. It was a tough job, but I feel that I handled it well and got the job done. With my sister's ok, I wanted to share the speech I have at the reception dinner. I'm not big on public speaking, so I tried to make it funny with a little bit of emotion.

The speech goes, as follows:

Hello everyone, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Heather and I am Theresa’s older sister and Maid of Honor for this special day.

Now Theresa, you may not remember this, but when you were born, I became a very proud “BIG SISTER.” I would show you off to EVERYONE, like a prize I had just won from the fair. Shortly after that you were the perfect accessory for playtime, like: the most polite guest during tea, the Skipper to my Barbie or the cleaning lady when we played house. I was grateful to have you as my little sister, it meant twice as many toys and you always let me have first choice for the good ones.

Then as we got older you would tag along with my friends and me wherever we went, say silly things to embarrass or get me into trouble. I won’t even talk about high school. It made me wish that mom and dad had mailed you in a box to Abu Dhabi or that you had run away and joined the circus.

Later on when I was in college, I would look forward to seeing you at home on weekends or volunteering you for projects without really asking in advance. For example, having you model like a prostitute, letting me throw empty cans at you for a photo shoot or helping me paint and hang my senior show in one afternoon. It gave us a chance to talk about life, boys (ahem) and what things not to tell our parents.

Now we’re here today; after all the laughs, stress acne and recent leg pains, celebrating yours and Mike’s new life together. I am glad that we kept YOU. I should actually thank mom and dad for not mailing you off in a box with some holes cut into it or that they didn’t let you learn how to walk on the high wire.

I am still a very proud “BIG SISTER,” and now twice as much, since I have you and a new brother-in-law. Thank you, Mike. I hope you two have a very HAPPY and WONDERFUL life together, because the current cost for shipping to Abu Dhabi is about $650.60.

I even made the cake topper they cut into for their cake pictures!

2011 Craftstravaganza!!!

This past weekend was the 6th Annual Craftstravaganza, a local Urban Craft Fair held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds' Fine Arts Building. There were over 70 artists, including 34 artisans new to the show (yours truly, of course, was one of them) and thousands of returning attendees. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., attendees browsed tables bursting with handmade crafts and met creators. The Minnesota Center for Book Arts and the Textile Center were also conducting workshops throughout the day. The first 100 shoppers received free swag bags with samples of vendors’ work and other goodies. This was my/hbDesigns very first craft fair, aside from the MCAD Art Sale, and I had no clue as to how I would do. Well as it turns out, people really do like my work and even bought some!

My first customer of the morning told me that she skipped breakfast to wait in line so she could see ME and buy 1 specific Shrinky Dink pendant. (Which I only had 1 of!) So that kinda made my day from the get go, despite the cold.

My little sister, Theresa was a great help! I could not have done this without her. You defiantly need two people at a table to run an event like that. We took a few snap shots of my table/set up/display, what ever you want to call it. Considering I made enough to cover the vendor fee, motel, gas and food, I would consider this event to be a great success! I hope Andy & Jen let me come back next year! This was a lot of fun!

hbDesigns also had a nice, little shout out from Betsy, the woman behind the Minneapolis Career Girl Blog! Also be sure to check out my Etsy and be a fan on Facebook for a discount!

Holiday Cards

Last winter I put together some Holiday Cards for a local card/printing company. I never got around to posting them. So here we go, better late then never! Enjoy.

Getting Personal

A lot of things are going on this Spring. Here's the bullet points for you:

• Major changes at 1 PT job, smaller changes at the other PT Job.
• My birthday is coming up at the end of the month, I'll be 25.
• So, for my quarter-life crisis I'm getting a small tattoo.
• Making products for the Craftstravaganza Craft Fair.
• Preparing for it as well, taking credit cards, getting tables, displays, etc.
• Planning my little sister's Bachelorette Party, so making lists, invites, reservations, etc.
• The wedding is in May, so I need to write a speech too.

Which leads into the getting personal portion... I'm not even sure if anyone reads this blog anyways, but here goes.

I've hit a point in my life where changes, as you read above are becoming bigger and bigger... I've hit a wall with my personal life, my appearance and my self esteem. Some of you, who know me more in real life, might think that's silly, because I'm almost always a happy, positive, friendly person. Most of the time, that's true, I like being a positive beacon for my friends and family to rely on... but sometimes the fact that I feel very alone comes crashing down on me and it's quite depressing... Now, I'm not saying I'm depressed. I just feel some things need to change in order for me to be able to pick myself back up when I need to. So here's what's going to happen... Short term goals:

• Finish projects that I owe people (Marcy, Karlisha, my sister & my mom).
• Have a fun (wedding) and profitable (craft fair) Spring.
• Look harder for a FT Job (and if that pans out, move out of my mother's house).
• And work on myself... This is going to be the hardest... in the short term, losing 20 lbs. for my sister's wedding.
  

After this Spring, I hope to come back and reflect on these goals and then set some new one and some longer ones. One of the more important ones, being my health/weight. I mean, I know I'm 'cute,' but things could be better. #narcissism? Now, if I seem like I'm falling off the wagon, please remind me to keep my butt in gear! I hope to at least keeps tabs on myself at least through my Twitter, maybe Facebook, we'll see. For example, walking/jogging on days off or days where I have shorter shifts. Strength/bands on day's I work longer ones. Oh, and keeping regular sleeping patterns, that might help for sure.

I hope that wasn't too self revealing. I'm usually an open book, but in most cases someone else has to turn the pages for me to talk about this kind of stuff. I hope all is well with everyone else.

PSA Thursday

Keep you promises! If you say you're going to do something, be somewhere, then DO IT… Now, I know life happens, so when it does, just be straight forward and reschedule if possible. Leaving people 'hanging' is just rude, in my opinion.

PSA Thursday

When you get invited to a show or outing and the person who invited you didn't ask you to cover the price of the ticket or admission. It would be polite to at least offer to buy them a drink or something before, during or after the event. Kindness wears down on people and they need to be offered some in return otherwise it will fade.

Helpful Donations

Hey Everyone! As you may remember from my last post, I got into Craftstravaganza, a one day craft fair at the end of April. I'm super excited, but I'm also worried about the cost. The cost for the space, getting tables and display supplies plus the cost of materials to make product is adding up fast!

Here's where you, my loyal fans and friends, can help me out! You know that shirt you have in the back of the closet, the one that doesn't fit anymore or has maybe a couple holes in it, but other then that it's still in pretty decent shape... Well I'm looking for those kinds of shirts. Jersey knitted ones (that stretch), so I can make some of my necklaces.

I'm going to list all my sponsors/donors not only here on my blog, but also if you would like in exchange a felt fortune cookie or mustache key chain I would he happy to make you one.

Here's what I'm looking for the left and center t-shirts will work, they are plain, or mostly plain, stretch and it's nice that they don't have side seams. The right one is an example of one that won't work, it has a felted/texture to it that wont stretch. But I'm happy with what ever you are willing to part with... If I don't use it, you could have it back or I'll donate it to the Steele County Clothesline.

If anyone has any other thoughts/idea/suggestions I'm happy to hear them. I've never done a craft fair, so I'm learning a lot. I already have a mannequin that a friend is letting me barrow and my mom is getting some tables and I'm using the Cricut at work to make my sign, so if you have any other ideas, let me know.

I'm also be in the market for more felt, beads of most kinds, cheap displays or DIY ideas for them.

PSA Thursday

I'm starting a new segment called PSA (Public Service Announcement) Thursday. It's just my rants on common sense stuff, some to do with politeness others from personal experiences. I hope you at least take a moment to read them and maybe it will make at least someone out there a better person. Thanks!

PSA #1
If someone leaves/sends you an email, message, text, etc. please have the courtesy to reply. Even if it's a negative response, it's better then not replying at all. I'll admit, I can see exceptions to this idea, but for everyday friends and acquaintances it would just be more polite.

Craftstravaganza 2011 Acceptence!

Some of you may remember this image from last May, where Marisa and I went up to the MN State Fair grounds to look around and shop for handmade goodness!

This year (even with a small email hiccup) I made it in! I'm super excited. I do however have to start working by toosh off to get product made! So if it all works out, I expect to see a lot of you there, at least to say hi and check out ALL of the awesome handmade crafts for sale.

Learning Something New

And then share what you learned with others. That's how I roll. I went to a fun craft gathering the other day and learned how to make necklaces out of jersey knit t-shirts. So simple, they are totally going into my repertoire.

Supplies: A t-shirt (old, new, whatever, as long as it's a knit that stretches), a scissors, some thread and a needle. (You can also had beads (larger ones) if you so choose.

(Note: I happen to be using a shirt with no seams on the sides, you will most likely want to cut those off, use your best judgment.)

Step One: Trim off the bottom seams and then begin cutting 3/4 - 1 In. strips, lengthwise, across the shirt. You will more then likely be cutting up most of the shirt (at least to the armpits).

Step Two: Stretch out each strip, if your seams don't break, you're most likely going to want to cut them anyways, this is up to you though. Once I had all my strips stretching I cut them to the lengths I wanted and lined them up shortest to longest. Since I didn't have any seams, I could cut where ever.

Step Three: Run a needle up and down each side of your strips (I went in the same order). After doing both sides, I stitch them together. I just used a piece of the hem I cut off and used that to hide the stitches. (Just sewing the ends and flipping it over.)

And Ta Da! A fun new piece to wear. Color and options are limitless. This is a great way to recycle/reuse older shirts or ones you can't wear anymore for some reason. Feel free to experiment with how you hide your seams.