I Fell Down the Rabbit Hole

I've gone mad... mad for fabric. I'm not sure what I'll do about it and I really don't think I have time for such nonsense. The last thing I need is another crafty hobby... right? Someone please stage an intervention.

A couple of years ago at a fiber festival, I was introduced to Rabbits Lair. It's a fabric/quilting shop located in downtown Rogers at the CUTEST old bank in the world. After a visit there last year with my mom, I fell in love. The fabric was floor to ceiling, the fat quarter were plentiful and the walls are lined with quilts that will blow your mind. It was that day that I thought I could one day be a quilter.

Since then I've lusted after quilts in Flickr sets, I've scoured websites for quilting patterns that looks easy enough to learn with but still had end results that wowed, and I've stalked Etsy shops with fabric that I had to have in my collection. However, it wasn't until yesterday morning that I fell down the rabbit hole.

It really was an ugly scene. I took my sister and niece along because if you're doing it in groups, it's a social thing and not really some kind of "ism" - fat quarterism? Is that something I need to seek help for? I spent 2 hours walking around the shop. I added fat quarter upon fat quarter to my shopping back. I grabbed bolts of fabric off the shelves and had them cut just for me. I skipped around huging my new fabrics with glee and growled at those who were reaching for ones that I just had to add to my growing collection. It was an ugly, ugly scene.

I managed to make it out of there with enough quarters for 2 blankets and other fabric for a duvet cover... okay, okay and jelly rolls for more quilting projects. It kind of hurts to think about... a little. A stop at Hobby Lobby on the way home for thread and I'm ready to piece together my blanket tops. I'm not yet going to say quilt tops as I'm not going to quilt these together, but oh, they will be lovely. Big blocks of colors and patterns that make my tail wag. I'll be cuddled on the couch with my new blankets in high style and hopefully within the next two weeks. I will not let this new hobby sit in bags, I will become the blanket from fat quarters master!

Who put all of this stuff in my basement?

The recent kidnapping by "whatever comes after life on earth" of my mom has left me realizing that humans leave this earth very light compared to how they lived on this earth. We have too much stuff. We have shelves upon shelves of books, stacks and stacks of boxes full of papers, bins full of meaningless keepsakes and bins full of meaningful keepsakes. We have nooks of antiques, cabinets of vintage collectibles, closets of clothes and racks of shoes. Our kitchen cabinets are full of enough dishes for a small army and hutches packed with enough cookware for the White House. Folks, we really have too much stuff.

I've been bringing a few things home from my moms. I've brought home things that remind me of her, things that remind me of her house (since we'll be selling it - unless a really nice person, or insurance policy, shows up ready to write a check). I've also brought home a few useful things. By useful I mean things I'm going to use right now, not things to pack away until I have room. The addition or more stuff to my already full house has left me ready to purge.

It's time to rid my life and my storage spaces of things that are meaningless. I don't care if it's really cool and I might use it in 2 years, if I don't have great memories associated with it and it's not getting used, it's going out the door. I'm in no way going through my house trashing stuff, but when I clean up a pile, I put forth a huge effort to divide the pile into keep, trash or sell and hopefully my keep pile is smaller than the other two combined.

Last week I tackled my office floor (yes floor - don't you judge me for my choice of storage places) and this week it's Christmas decor. I started with 5 large storage bins and a small ornament organizer this season. I refuse to put all of that back in the basement. Seeing as how I didn't even put all of it out this year, it is silly to keep it all stored away. While I didn't get rid of as much as I thought I would, I did pair down to 4 bins and my ornament box. OH, and one of the bins is only half full. Now that is something! If I can do this with all of my stuff - out of season clothes, extra bedding, keepsakes from college, and kitchenware I don't have room for, I'll be many, many pounds lighter.

I think it's a start, a good start.

Fitting the Mold

Hi.

I'm Erin.

I shop at The Gap, love khaki pants, wear dress shoes to work, drive a Honda, eat processed foods, shop at Wal-Mart, don't wear vintage clothes, don't have bangs, am not a member of the local roller-derby, consider myself an artist (and will say so instead of dodging the question by sounding thoughtful about what an artist really is and how that just isn't me), listen to mainstream music like Dave Matthews Band or Five for Fighting or John Meyer or Jason Mraz, and don't consider my long term boyfriend my "partner" or "partner in crime" (we'll be married someday, right now he's just that - my boyfriend, oh, and crime would indicate that maybe the authorities are after us and that's not a good idea).

As you all know by now, I sell my yarn, spinning fibers and jewelry on Etsy. However, I'm afraid I don't fit the Etsy mold. I worry that because I don't look like "Etsy" when you see me at a craft show that I'll never be interviewed by Etsy. I'll never be featured because during the day I book events at Walton Arts Center at an 8 - 5 job so I don't get to put cool things like "walk by the local creek while coming up with new conceptual ideas for my shop" in a list of daily activities because it's dark when I leave for work and it's dark when I get home from work. I fear that I will never catch the eye of Etsy because I eat corndogs from my freezer (yes, the Wal-Mart brand) instead of shopping all day at Whole Foods or harvesting my veggies from my huge garden behind my house in a pituresque part of the country (I have a drive way and a huge slab of concrete behind my house). Am I too white bread for Etsy?

I don't think so. Oh, I know I'm generalizing what Etsy is. SO many artists on Etsy are not the vintage wearing, mary jane sporting, looking cute in their blunt cut bangs, able to roller skate and gets to go flea marketing twice a week kind of peeps, but a lot are. What sticks out to me about Etsy features, articles, interviews, etc are those people and I'm not those people.

What I am is someone who really connects with all kinds of people. I'm the best friend from high school, the band nerd, the person who can sell a funky yarn to the girl wearing the skirt over the jeans with the vintage glasses but also the girl who can sell some classy yarn to the 78 year old grandma visiting with her family at the local Farmer's Market. I'm middle ground. I can hang with the hipsters or I can talk band camp stories with the non-hipsters (and it's great if I can combine the two). I can be laid back with my spinning wheel dreaming of dyeing my hair pink on the weekends but also be found at a business meeting throwing the next big idea out there about how to raise an extra $100,000 on client events in a year.

I am Etsy... but I'm not Etsy.

Go figure that one out.

Oh, and once again, I will never be too important to say that I'm an artist and leave it at that. I don't need to create a person that I'm not just because I think someone in Portland, OR will read my interview and think I'm totally cool and that we should hang out sometime. I am who I am and I'm not afraid to put that down on paper. I dare someone to interview me - as white bread as I am.

All Things New

I figure that last night was a good a night as any to update my blog appearance. I've been drawn to blogs with white backgrounds lately so I thought I'd try it out. I also updated my banner last night and I'm kind of in love with it.

Next up, buttons at the right instead of the widgits I have.

It's a Start

I've found myself dragging my feet in listing new items in my Etsy shops since, well, since my last update. The Holidays found me lounging on the couch and not really doing the spinning and mass dyeing I though I would. I did manage to squeeze a day of dyeing in this past weekend and really I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

The colors are all vibrant, the fibers soft, and it was the first time I've handpainted fiber in months. I had a blast, but I'm out of wool suitable for this process. Sure sure, I could easily go online and purchase more but I'm tired of purchasing overpriced wool. I'm ready to go wholesale but that comes with strings, many strings attached. First, I would need a tax resale license/permit. This should be easy... right? Wrong. This takes talent and mad skills, both of which I thankfully still have a bit of. I'm many forms and documents closer to having this but I feel like I'm still forever and a day away from getting that darned permit.

Good things come to those who wait... right?

In the mean time, I'll dye mill ends. I'll survive.

I blogged over at the AREtsy blog about New Year's Resolutions today. No, not the dieting, walk more, spend less, clean everyday kind of resolutions, but goals for businesses (spefically Etsy businesses). Perhaps my blogging about that was a bit hypocritcal as I haven't really sat down and taken the time to come up with any of my own. I suppose today is a good day to do that.

1. Advertise more (which would mean advertise... period) - I'm already one step closer to this goal. I purchased a banner spot on Ravelry today. It goes up on February 1 and all I need to do is create a banner.
2. Work smarter, not harder. Ohhhh, I hate that phrase but it's such a good phrase. I started that this weekend by dyeing two batches of fiber in each colorway I played with instead of just one. This saves time because I don't have to mix a ton of different dyes and hopefully it will satisfy those customers who want more fiber in one colorway.
3. Stick to the branding for each shop that I came up with in 2009. DO IT. DON'T STRAY. We'll see if I can stick to this. Creative minds go all over the place so this might be difficult.
4. Be creative at least 5 days a week. This ones easy - I CAN do this... just after I watch that new... NO, I CAN do this.
5. Make setting up at craft shows 75% easier than it has been in the past. This might mean paying for a tent instead of bringing my own, but that will leave more time and more room in the car for setting up the good stuff.

That's my list for now. I might/will probably add to it as time goes on but it's a good start.

So what are your New Years Resolutions?

All Good Things

My 2 weeks of bliss is coming to a close. It's been wonderful having 2 weeks to rest, relax, enjoy my time without getting out of my PJs and to just unwind. I thought I would have been refreshed and ready to head back to the office by tomorrow, but I don't feel that I am. I'm hoping getting back to the office actually helps, but I'm not sure it will.

I watched the last episode of House, Season 3 this evening. The topic seemed to be learning all you can at one place and knowing when it's time to move on. I'm not saying that I'm in the same situation, but I'm wondering if I'm getting there. My day job used to provide me with things to learn, almost daily. It was creative, busy, and left me feeling like I did something that benefits someone else. However, lately it has felt like I'm just doing the same thing every day and I can only help someone if asked (managing our main calendar and booking client events) where as I used to be there specifically to help people (planning special events, overseeing artist hospitality, etc). I want to get back to feeling like I used to but I'm just not sure how to do that. I'll bring it up with my boss... that's a start I suppose.

Other than thinking about work today, I've spent the day dyeing some fiber, enjoying the snow outside my windows (seen above) and thinking about what I want 2010 to bring for my business. Each day that passes is a day that I'm closer to deciding to move my jewelry off of the internet and just do that locally/in person. It does very well in person and moves very slowly online. It takes a TON of energy to keep up with two shops and I'd rather focus on my fiber. I'm not sure if this is the path I'll take, but it's on my mind. I want to put tons of energy into Woolyhands and make it the side business that could one day be my main business. I'm having trouble figuring out how to do that while messing with Idyllhands. We'll see what the next couple of months brings with that. I might decide to continue on with both... but only time will tell.

Oh, I hand painted tons of wool top today (Corriedale and BFL). It's lovely stuff. I hadn't done that since this summer and it felt good to be creative like that. I can't wait to get the pictures taken and list the fiber in my shop. A new year brings new fibers.

Two Thousand and Nine

2009 has been an interesting year. It has brought the hardest times for me as well as some of the most hopeful times for me. Time is funny like that. A trending topic on Twitter tonight has left me a bit nostalgic. 10 years ago sounds like eons but when I think about what I was doing, it really wasn't long ago at all.

Ten years ago I was...

I had left The University of Texas after one semester because I wasn't in LHB. Yes, folks, I left a university because I didn't get a spot in their marching band. I was a music major and everyone I had made friends with in my classes were in the band. I went to the games, as a spectator, thinking that would help. However, it didn't and I hated Austin. So the only thing to do was leave to go home to the DFW area and attend UTArlington (or UT Almost). Some might say it was a bad decision - I didn't do well in school at UTA, had a bad relationship with my boyfriend that left me in tears at least once a week, and worked my tail off at a restaurant. However, it was a good decision. I realized what I needed in school and eventually went back to UT and did very well, I realized what a goober I was dating, got to spend more time with my mom (something I treasure now, more than ever) and found myself a bit more.

On this very night, ten years ago, I was waiting tables at On The Border in Bedford Texas (a job I really liked and still miss, at times). I remember thinking that if Y2K was real, what would happen to what few tables were left in the restaurant after midnight. Perhaps those guests were sticking around to see if the computers would implode and they would get a free meal. Needless to say, nothing happened and spending the turn of a mellenium at a restaurant smelling of refriend beans and tortillas isn't exactly my idea of a good time.

I wore clunky, ugly boots 10 years ago. My mom used to say they were ugly (probably not in those words... can't remember which absolutely kills me) but I thought they were wonderful. We all wore them, don't deny it. I'm glad that at the turn of 2010, I'm not wearing those boots anymore.

I was listening to the same music I am today, minus a few bands/performers that have popped up since then. It's reassuring knowing that I was as picky about my music at the age of 19 as I am at 29.

My best friend was Stephanie. It's also reassuring that she is still my best friend. Stephanie saw me through so much since we became friends. She saw me through a bad break up from the Goober boyfriend I mentioned earlier, she saw me through the death of that Goober boyfriend (long story, we'll save it for another post), she saw me through the break up of someone I thought I'd grow old with, she saw me through the death of my mom. It's amazing what best friends will mean to you. (It's also reassuring that I can say I have 2 best friends now and it's VERY reassuring that one of them is my big sister)

10 years ago I was so green and didn't know where I was going in life or what the next year would bring. It's funny how tonight, 10 years later, I'm still that green and still don't know what the next year will bring.


So many people are posting resolutions, goals and plans for the upcoming year. So much has happened in the past year that has started to shape who I am. I'm afraid not spending some time reflecting on that will do me a disservice. I can't even begin to come up with resolutions, goals and plans until I know how everything in the past has added up. Perhaps those will come tomorrow.

I wish you all a wonderful New Years Eve!