Sparkly Pants

We Wrote The Book on Connectors and Discs of Fury, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

For the past week, Hollie and I had been spending our evenings sewing 3 sets of silver lame hammer pants, sequined muscle-tees with lightening bolt appliques, and stretchy wristbands. It was really frustrating at times: these fabrics are incredibly hard to work with, the glue securing the faux sequins to the fabric kept on gumming up our sewing machines. We had draft the muscle tee patterns ourselves, because apparently nobody else in the world has any interest in making them, so there are no patterns available commercially. We finished these glorious costumes just in time...

But, it was all worth it. Last weekend we had the pleasure of seeing Discs of Fury and We Wrote The Book on Connectors play the BEST SHOW EVER. The sparkly costumes (which were worn by WE, as they were playing the Captains of the Future) were incredible on stage.

If you have never seen Discs of Fury, then part of your life has not been fulfilled. It is the most epic, most exciting, most geeky, most incredibly show I have ever seen in my life. I have seen them twice, and they have completely BLOWN MY MIND both times. I was super excited that I got to participate (in some small way...) this time.

Here is a video of them from last year, doing the awesome song "Blades in the Night" :



Also, I have a huge crush on Marvin Lazer. But really, who doesn't?

au natural

grass, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

Ben and I went on a very long walk today, and it was very lovely. Thats all!

Featured on Etsy!

Yay! My Red Fancy Bird was featured on The Storque (the Etsy blog) today!

Super awesome!

Oh my gosh, EVERYTHING featured in the article is AMAZING. Check out these knitted earmuffs, this awesome apple ukelele, and MAKE YOUR OWN CHEESE!

This is why I love "the handmade life." Everyone in the world is so darn creative. It is amazingly inspiring.

Suddenly!

cat owl guy, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

Please meet cat-owl guy! I made him to add to the secret santa present that I made for Hollie. He is good luck! As soon as I made him, I started having all kinds of good luck. He is filled with good luck pennies to keep him standing upright, and its rubbing off for me, I hope it works for Hollie too!

I have had a sudden burst of creativity the past few days. I have wanted to paint and draw and print and sew and knit and everything! Its nice after the creativity drought I was having during December.
I am using this creative streak wisely, however. I am putting a lot of energy towards my friends Kim and Jayme's website, which is already shaping up to look awesome. I can't wait to show it to ya'll! I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the month, possibly with some fancy flash stuff to follow.

Also, I have completed task #1 on my to do list, and will be starting my awesome new job in 2 weeks! Hooray! The best thing about it is that I can walk there from my house! So hopefully that will help with task #5 (losing weight).

Yeah January! You are very good so far!

New stuff in the etsy shop...

brownbearonyellow, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

I FINALLY updated my etsy shop with new pictures and items. I had the brilliant idea of scanning the contents of the kits with pretty paper behind them. Is it too distracting? I love it and think its more interesting then a white scanner background!

I got a mention on Apartment Therapy the other day! Check it out here. I am pretty amused by the title of the article though - "DIY Embroidery Kits and Patterns Without the Kitsch." Considering I am GOING for the kitsch factor here, I thought it was funny that I was grouped under that heading! Oh well, its fine and I am happy to be next to so many other amazing artists featured!

Have a happy weekend!

i got some creativity back

dinosaur love, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

i like these guys! i think my goal for the next week is to whip out a Valentines day embroidery kit of these guys.

new years to do list

pumpkin feets, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

I have a lofty list of goals for the year. If I write them down, they become real, and maybe I will actually get a few of them done.

1. Get a new job that actually pays me well!

2. Develop as many embroidery kits as I can, and sell as many as I can too!

3. Sell crewel supplies on Etsy (specifically crewel yarn and hoops)

4. Say "i love you!" to my husband every single day.

5. Lose enough weight to get rid of my stupid back fat. yuck!

6. Knit 2 sweaters. I CAN DO IT!

7. Eat mostly vegan food.

8. Purchase a new computer that actually works

9. Be creative every day

10. Sing on some of Ben's songs

11. Enter a karaoke contest

12. Make my garden lovely!

13. Try to keep our room and studio clean, perhaps clean it once a week? eh? will that ever happen?

14. See my friends more often.

15. Get rid of this stupid social anxiety that I seem to have developed!

Wish me luck. What are you going to do this year?

New Design ideas!

One of the big pieces of feedback that Tako Fibers has been getting is "The silkscreened image is so pretty on its own, I don't want to embroider over it!" So, my next idea for kits is to have a multicolored silkscreened image where you only embroider over parts of it. The silkscreened artwork would be part of the design. I have a kit from the '70s that uses that technique (even though its kind of an ugly image) and I think the idea is super. What do you think?

I am also super excited, because I have finally opened up a wholesale account at Brown Sheep! Yay! I am planning on selling crewel yarn by the yard in my Etsy shop, as well as packages of complimentary colors. Also, I am going to be selling hopsack by the yard so that more people can do crewel embroidery without needing to make one of my patterns! yay!

Happy new year to everyone, have a safe and happy eve! We are going to see We Wrote The Book on Connectors tonight at the Blue Moon! Awesome night, fun time!

theremins and mellotrons

Ben got a theremin and a talk box for christmas!, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

Being married to a musician is awesome, because I love music, and I get to learn all about crazy musical instruments.

For Christmas, Ben got a theremin (from me! made by this guy!) and my dad gave him a talk box (here is an example... think Peter Frampton).

One day, Ben hopes to have a studio with the most amazing instrument ever, a Mellotron! This is the trailer for the Mellotron documentary that is (hopefully) coming out soon!

look! I'm in a video!

Becky from Craft Magazine did a video re-cap of the Urban Craft Uprising show. Watch me be shy and nervous on camera! I make my debut around 2:40, but you should probably watch the whole thing and check out the other wonderful vendors, too! :)

Craft Show Displays

Lovely display we have there!, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

As you are probably aware, I participated in my first BIG craft show recently. While I had sold my wares at a small show in Savannah, this was the first one where I really needed to think through how I was going to display everything with elegance and functionality, cheaply! I didn't get anything from anywhere exotic - all the display pieces were found or put together from local stores - no ordering from display vendors or anything! It was all EXTREMELY affordable, and I would recommend going this route to anyone going to their first craft show.

1) Tables
The tables were narrow buffet tables from Fred Meyer. I scored these when they were 20% off, but these were the most expensive part of the display at around $25 bucks each. We used 2 of them. They are very lightweight, fold up easily, and I can use them around the house as well.

2) Table coverings
2 twin flat sheets and a tablecloth from Ikea. Cost under $20, and I got so many compliments on the color scheme.

3) Wooden shelves
I went to the hardware store and had a 4x4 cut into equal pieces. Then I painted the pieces. Stacked together as half a pyramid, it made the perfect, portable shelf for the bags of pins I had. Awesome!

4) Signage
My dear friend Hollie painted a sign with the Tako Fibers octopus logo and our slogan: "Crewel Embroidery and Other Fiberful Delights!" The whole sign cost maybe 3 dollars. The sign was painted with acrylic craft paint on a yard of craft felt.
All of our price signs were printed beforehand (looks much more professional!) and were displayed in little placecard holders from Ikea. They came in a package of 6 for 2.99.

5) Fake Grass
This was the MOST AWESOME find! There is a wonderful store in Portland called Cargo. It is a huge collection of crazy things from all over the world. They used fake grass as a display element for everything in their store, and they sold it too! I picked up 4 pieces and used them as shown above. I didn't go overboard and cover my whole table with it. Those little bits of greenery helped convey my product as natural and eco-friendly.

6) Smiles
Luckily, a smile is free! We gave out plenty and got plenty in return. Probably the best display item you can have is a great attitude.

Yay!

Creativity

gouache, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

I am feeling drained. I feel like I have used all my creativity up recently. After spending so much time on my embroidery kits, I have wanted to make a few things for myself - paint and draw in my sketchbook, knit a scarf, make some flash animations. But, I seriously have NOTHING LEFT TO GIVE.
On a similar note, my husband hasn't been feeling very creative either. He has been sad lately, because he feels like he doesn't follow through on his ideas.
My question for you is, what do you do to inspire creativity? When you are feeling down or worn out, what makes you feel good? Where do you go or what do you look at to jumpstart your brain?

Look at all that gouache... it needs to be USED!

Best lunch ever!

Best lunch ever!, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

I have to share this amazingly delicious simple sandwich with you. IT WAS SO GOOD.

Extra-sharp white cheddar cheese, thinly sliced honeycrisp apples, a few very thin slices of onions between whole wheat bread, all pressed on our panini press (but could easily just be cooked in a pan like regular grilled cheese). AMAZING! amazing. I am such a big apple/cheese fan.

Now you know, and now you can enjoy the best lunch ever.

Yeah Urban Craft Uprising!

What an incredibly awesome experience! I got great feedback from buyers and vendors, and sold a LOT of kits! I am so excited to make new fresh designs now. I'm gonna get crack-a-lackin'!

But, my holiday knitting has been being SO neglected... so I am going to go home, I am going to rest, and I am going to knit! And then i'll embroider some more.

I am going to spend all my money at Urban Craft Uprising...

my favorite cloud pin, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

Today Liz and I spent the afternoon setting up the Tako Fibers booth at Urban Craft Uprising. Oh. My. Goodness! EVERYTHING that I have seen there so far is AMAZING!!!!! I might spend my entire paycheck there. Its going to be really hard to buy gifts, because I want EVERYTHING!
The most beautiful felt paintings and amazing little animals from Softlife are in the booth next to us. They are so great! Liz and I both FREAKED OUT when we saw the amazingness.
We are also right next to Cake Spy, which I love already. We set up pretty early, so we haven't seen the cakey goodness yet, but I am super excited to be sitting between 2 awesome artists! Hooray!
Um... you ARE coming, right? Saturday and Sunday (December 5th and 6th) from 11am - 5pm?? RIGHT? You really should. Get all your holiday shopping done, and buy from local handcrafters!

darn proud of myself

finished red fancy bird!, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

After tons of hard work, I am finally getting to the point that my kits are getting DONE and look GREAT! I am feeling super confident about the Urban Craft Uprising this weekend.
Thats right, MARK YOUR CALENDERS and come to the Seattle Center expo hall on December 5th and 6th. I will be selling many little kits with many little designs!
The guy pictured above is now officially on my new Etsy. Exciting! Here is a link if you want to check it out.

I have also been silkscreening more felt for more pin/brooch kits:


and only have about 3 more designs to go. then DONE. done done done!

yay! happy! yay!

This is what 257$ of tapestry wool looks like.

This is what 257$ of tapestry wool looks like., originally uploaded by maybeemily.

Just in case you were wondering.
I did the not so smart thing of picking out all my colors and then having them thrown into a basket. And then forgetting my notebook that TELLS me which colors go with which kits at work, duuuur.

Just 2 weeks until Urban Craft Uprising! So much to do eee!

Yeah swag bags!

Yeah swag bags!, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

Yay!

At Urban Craft Uprising, all vendors donate a few small items to go into their "swag bags." What are these amazing things you ask? Well, the first 500 people to go to the UCU actually GET one of these amazing bags full of handmade goodness for FREE! yes! When I went 2 years ago, there were people lined up for hours WAITING for the goodness.
Vendors only need to donate a small amount, but I donated a bit more - 7 little bags with everything one needs to make my "little cloud" embroidery pattern.

I was up late doing last minute touches, but I think they look GREAT! The shape of the bag made it impractical to silkscreen them, so they are rubber stamped with stamps I carved. I think it looks as good - or better - than a silkscreen, so I'm pleased. I also learned just how much work its going to take to get these all together. Just these 7 little ones took my helper (my momma :) ) and I about 2 hours to get finished. The next too weeks are ASSEMBLY TIME!

In other news, there is no other news. Oh, except my Intermediate Flash class is going really well. I am really enjoying it. I have been working on a little interactive animation where you dress a lady. Very exciting.

Bye!

Working Working Working.....

Little Silkscreened Felt Pieces!, originally uploaded by maybeemily.

Yay! Here are 4 little designs for my embroidery kits. You get a SNEAK PREVIEW!!! I've been cutting and silkscreening and writing and ordering and doing so many things to get them ready. This is a just a little small peek at lots more to come.

I really take on too much. Besides this, I am participating in a print trade, printing all my own business cards, designing the website, taking classes in Flash... and I've been working a full time job too? geez louise!

Business license, credit cards, taxes, oh my....

Today I have entered the world of BUSINESS. I have spent the morning looking up the ins and outs of getting a business license. The entire process is WAY more confusing than I thought it would be. Not only is there a license needed for Washington state, but also for Seattle. I need to have my UBI number to open a business checking account at my credit union. I need to actually BE ORGANIZED which is really, really difficult for me.
First step - cleaning the studio up and utilizing one of the 5 sets of filing cabinets we have in here.

I am also looking at accepting credit cards for the Urban Craft uprising. Etsy members say that ProPay is awesome, and to forget about the iPhone apps. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm not sure how comfortable buyers would be with entering their credit card info over the phone, but I want to be able to accept their business as well!

Off to clean!