Success! I have mastered the driving of the Mirage that is adorable.

Yes, it is so. I have mastered the driving of the Mirage in just 1 week. Not bad, I'd say. In the beginning it looked like I was going to have to buy hubby a new clutch. But now I'm doing very well.

I feel naked without my crazy interweb screencaps, but I really haven't found anything mind-blowing tonight.

I just felt like gloating about my 5-speed driving abilities. XD

kthxbyeeee.

Kids Getting High and Torpedo Tits.

This is a sure sign that kids today have too little to keep them occupied. I was searching Google for natural products that can be used as household cleaners, and I have that automatic suggestion thing turned on. This is what I got when I tried to search for "What household..."
Scary, eh?

Also, to all the women out there who rag about having not so much in the chest area? This one's for you. If you've ever been professionally bra-sized then good for you. I happen to like doing everything myself, so I measured myself and found a few online bra-size calculators. This is what happened when I, Torpedo Tits, plugged in my numbers on the Lily Of France calculator:

Error. Nice.

And on that note, stay classy, Earth.

Okay I Lied and French Fry Whacking.

Maybe I'll keep this blog around after all. I mean, I can talk about things here that I can't do on Hands on Handmade. Like this Craigslist posting I just came across:

Or this one:


These are the deranged people that live in my area. Creepy, eh? Makes you wanna lock your doors at night.

Alright, well, I'm off to secure my domicile from any vagrants that might be about.

Alright... So I'm definitely abandoning this blog now.

This blog is officially dead to me. Anyone who wants to see what I'm doing can head on over to Hands On Handmade and see what I'm doing there.

Bye!

I should probably update this.

I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately. I've been working on Hands On Handmade. I'll eventually move all of these posts over to the Wordpress blog on my website, but for right now my concentration is on Hands On. You probably won't be seeing me update this blog very often at all.

YAY!

I'm terribly excited. I just opened the mailbox and I'm so happy that my package from Barefoot Bath and Body just came! I had usually only bought lip balms from Barefoot Bath, but I went for soap this time, too, and I can't wait! I had used one of her sample sized soaps that she sent me the last time I ordered, and I have never felt cleaner. I'm now off to search for some Aloo yard to make myself a soap-saver.

I'm terribly excited about my lip balms and soap!

What makes a successful blog?

What makes a good blog?

-Know your subject, know it well.
-Write cohesively.
-Stay focused!
-Be original
-Be helpful
-Be a friend

These are all things I need to work on.

I seriously need to update this blog. I'll get to that eventually. When I'm not so frazzled.

Yay I made the front page!

That's right, my Infatuation treasury made the front page!

I'm so excited!

I have a lot of ideas in store for my Etsy shops, so keep checking back for new items.

Infatuation.

Yep, that's right. I've finally snagged myself another treasury. I'm so excited! Take a look:


Clicking the picture will open the treasury in a new tab or window.

I'm hoping for it to get a bit of notice so that it has a chance of reaching the front page. I would definitely love that kind of publicity.

Update: I got another treasury on Treasury West! Take a look:


Clicking the picture will open the treasury in a new tab or window.

Yay tumbler! And a fancy dog toy.

Yay, my long awaited package from Progress Machine finally came yesterday! The delay was due to an error with my order and the fact that it was made over the weekend and UPS decided to reschedule my delivery. Nothing bad on their part, just want to mention that. Anyways, I got my pound of stainless steel tumbling shot and my rawhide hammer (which Cleo thinks is her new chew toy...) and I can't be happier.

I immediately went downstairs to try and locate my tumbler barrel, which I somehow lost. Hubby found it for me and I grabbed all the silver I had that needed tumbling and popped it in with a bit of shot. Added some Dawn and water and was good to go! ....Or so I thought. An hour later I opened up the barrel and all of my jewelry was black and greasy and the color of the steel shot. My tumbler barrel was also really dirty on the inside. So I had to rinse everything off, tumble for a half hour with a degreaser, then rinse again, tumble for another half hour with a degreaser, and then finally I could tumble it again with the Dawn. Too much work, but at least everything is nice and shiny now!

My office/studio space is almost complete. I just need to move the rest of my supplies down here, hang up a corkboard or two and it will be complete! Oh, and I need a chair. Preferably a comfortable one, spinny, with wheels. The rest of that will have to wait until I recover from making my last tuition payment (finally!).

I'm trying to think of more tutorials or other Etsy-related how-tos, but I'm out of ideas! Is there anything you'd like to see? Comment on this post with your ideas on what you would like me to show you next!

Only you can save us now.

Forgive me if I start to ramble, I really had no intent behind this post when I started it. It's just what's on my mind right now, with no real cohesiveness to it.

I'm still waiting for this "holiday rush" I keep hearing about on Etsy. Everyone else seems to be pretty busy, especially the soap sellers. Everyone wants soap for the holidays. I wish I had the money to buy all my presents on Etsy, or to make them all myself. Mostly what I need is money to pay my bills, that's the most important thing right now. Not to get any more into debt than I already am. But, that's a side-effect of investing in your own handmade capitalist venture. You need to spend money in order to make money. And I have made money selling on Etsy. A lot, in fact. In the last 8 months that I've been selling I've had 52 sales, one of those being a wholesale order for 28 pieces. All those profits though, went to buying more supplies to improve my business or tools or paying off credit cards that I used to start up my business in the first place. And there's still so much more that I need to make to "get out of the red".

Etsy just seems so slow for me lately. I was hoping that will the sudden drop in gas prices, people would start spending a little bit more. Especially now that it's the holiday season, people are doing a lot of shopping online for their Christmas and other holiday gifts. Trickle-down theory, I suppose. But I guess it's working the other way and people are tightening their belts even more, because of the recession we're in, because of the Bailout Plan. It makes it so much harder for all of us on Etsy, and anyone else who sells handmade.

Now that I've broached the subject of economics, I might as well touch on politics as well. Usually I stay clear of political topics when I'm talking about my business. I don't like to mix the two. But I will say this. To all those people out there who are bashing either candidate - use that energy to CHANGE it. Your vote CAN and WILL make a difference. But not if you don't use that right to vote. Don't just sit there and whinge about it when you can DO SOMETHING. I want to encourage everyone to get out there and make a difference. Please, for the sake of this country, help us.

It's just a flesh wound. Oh, and Ikea!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Hubby and I are going to the Palisades mall to get his iPod fixed, hopefully he can because his warranty just expired... And then we are going to go to Ikea to buy things for my new studio that I am moving into in our basement. Speaking of which, does anyone know how to keep spiders away? I don't mind them, but not in my stuff!

And the best part of tomorrow? My mom is going to take us to see Spamalot at Eisenhower Hall! I can't wait!

Right now though, Hubby and I are trying to figure out where part of his package that he mailed out went to. The person who received it said that there was something missing from the package, a tool kit. I don't see why this kind of thing could be dangerous, I buy my tools online all the time. It was just a little pouch with a bunch of small screw drivers, tweezers, and a razor blade. Hopefully the post office can make this right. It seems like every time he ships something through the Postal system something goes terribly awry.

Well, I need to get some rest for tomorrow, I've got a big day ahead of me.

How to upload your Etsy items to Google Base

Another tutorial, folks.

I've heard a lot of talk about Google Base. If you're not familiar with it, it's a way to upload your item data to Google's search engine that makes it easier for people to find your items in Google Search. Your items may not come up in the regular Google Search, but in the shopping links on the top of the normal search page. There are two ways you can add your items to Google Base. One at a time or through a data feed. What I am going to cover today is how to add your Etsy items to Google Base via Data Feed.

First off, go to Let's Ets (http://letsets.com).
This is where you will produce your data feed.

Type your Etsy username into the box, and click Fetch My Items.



Make sure all of your listings appear correctly.


Click Download Bulk File to download your XML file. Your Etsy name will be the file name. Mine is "paysonwinters.xml"


Now, go to Google Base. (http://base.google.com)

Sign in to your Google account if you haven't already done so.

Click Data Feed on the right hand side. This will bring you to the My Items section. CLick on the Data Feeds tab.


In the upper left hand corner, click the button that says New Data Feed.


You will now need to register your data feed. Choose your target country and your item type. Then you will need to type the XML filename with the extension included. Mine is "paysonwinters.xml". After you are done click Register Data Feed.


You will be taken back to the Data Feeds section where you will be able to manually upload your XML file. Remember, the file name must match the name that you have just registered.

After you upload your file, Google Base will process your items and make them searchable.

Another point I'd like to make (I know I had mentioned it above), is that your items will still show up in the normal Google Search, but Google Base is designed to input them into the "Shopping Results".

For example, I searched Google for "Pebble Stacking Rings" WITH the quotes and this is what I got:



Last Updated: 10/13/08: I realized that some of my screen captures were wrong, so I moved them about a bit, made everything flow a bit more cohesively. I also added a screen cap of my own Google results.

Inspiring people inspiring inspiring people.

A few days ago, on Etsy I came across CoffeePotPeople who had mentioned that my avatar was an inspiration to her. So I sent her a message with the details of the organization to which she replied that she was going to write a blog post about. I figured she would just mention it in passing or something, like "Oh hey check this out blah blah blah" but when she messaged me this morning with the link to her blog post I was blown away. This woman is truly amazing, and I'm so glad that such a simple thing as a forum avatar has inspired her to write a truly beautiful blog entry.

You can read her entry here.

Top Secret Mailers!

Eee, I found a tutorial for making your own bubble mailers! 27things has this wonderful tutorial on how to make your own bubble mailers. I finally have a use for all this cardstock and bubble wrap that is just sitting around. Anyways, my first few weren't that successful, but here are the really pretty ones that I made:





Oh, and the best part: The back is SILVER. Yay for shiny things!

I can't wait to get an Etsy order so I can send someone one of these mailers.

Busy Busy Busy!

Wow, today was a busy day! I sold 4 items in a matter of hours. Busy busy busy getting those packages ready to send. I also want to thank Rebecca from SoapDeli for featuring my Matchbook Note tutorial on her blog.

I don't really have much else to add tonight, this is just a quick update before I go to bed. Goodnight everyone!

Matchbook Note Tutorial

Before I begin this tutorial, I just want to thank AmberSky for featuring one of my items in her treasury!

And now on to the tutorial.

Tonight we are going to learn to make those adorable matchbook notebooks. I make mine out of recycled cigarette cartons, but you can use any thick paper you want. I like patterned cardstock for these as well.

Your finished product will come out looking like these:




Lets get started, shall we?

First you'll need to gather a few tools. Necessities include an Xacto knife, cork-backed ruler, and a self-healing cutting board, and a stapler. I have a fancy paper cutter which makes things a lot easier, but it of course is optional. You can do just fine with your Xacto and ruler.



Your supplies should include the cardstock you want to use for the matchbook itself and the filler paper. I use discarded faxes from my day job as filler paper.





The first step will be to cut all the edges off of your cigarette carton. Cut off the box flaps on the sides and either end of the carton.



Next you will need to cut the carton (or cardstock) to 9 inches in length. After this, we will cut the carton into three 1 7/8" strips, going parallel to the folds in the carton. If you use 100s size cigarette cartons you can get 5 strips out of it, instead of the 3 that you get with regular king size. If you are using cardstock, then you will end up with 3 or 4 strips depending on the size you are using.





After you've got your 3 pieces of carton or cardstock, cut them in half so that they are 4 1/2" in length.



Now we need to score the matchbook so that it will fold easily. Using the paper piercer (or Xacto if you don't have one) score along the piece, starting from the bottom up. Measure 1/2 inch up and score. Then measure 2" from that score line and score again. Then measure 1/4" from that second score line and score again. You should have 3 score lines in total when you are done.



You can put the cardstock pieces to the side after you're done scoring them. Now it's time to cut the filler paper. I use 8 1/2x11 sheets of copier paper that are lightly printed on one side. No use letting this stuff get into a landfill, since my job doesn't recycle paper properly.



I cut the copier paper 1 3/4 x 1 7/8 that way it's not right up to the edge of the notebook. I use 10 sheets of filler paper for mini notebooks. It makes them just the right size and doesn't kill my stapler. If you've got a more heavy duty stapler then you could feasibly do up to 20 sheets of filler if you wanted.



Go ahead and staple your notebook right in the middle of that 1/2" fold. This will overlap the top flap and keep your notebook closed and keep your pages in place.



Repeat scoring and adding filler pages to your last remaining pieces.

Ta-da! You've succeeded in creating a set of mini matchbook notebooks!

The Launch of Luxe

There are going to be 2 posts today, my normal update entry and also following this one is going to be a tutorial on how to make Matchbook Notebooks.

I am excited. I need to pick a different emotion other than excited because it's what I choose all the time, but that's what I happen to be right now. Anyways, my jewelry boxes came in the mail the other day from TheCraftDragonfly and they are even more gorgeous than I thought they would be. I spruced them up with my signature Payson tag (the LUXE version, of course) and some pretty awesome ribbon.



I think they look absolutely fabulous.

I've been working on more product for PaysonToo but I still don't feel that I have enough product to open up the shop with. So for now it will just stay a buyer-only account.

And now I need to go get my fix of fall junk foods. Curse you candy corn, Malomars and Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist!

Stay tuned, I'll be posting that tutorial later.

New look =]

I got bored with the look of my blog, so I decided to spice up one of the Blogger templates. I haven't coded anything in so long, I was completely lost. I've been designing my own websites for the past 5 years or so, but for about a year I guess I haven't coded much of anything. It was so hard remembering what type of tag did what, oh I was so confused. I guess it's time to get myself back into the swing of coding, and since my college doesn't require web design for me to graduate (even though it's a Graphic Design degree, go figure) I guess I'll have to learn myself.

I am going to be purchasing a domain for myself in the near future, so I guess I will get my coding practice that way by designing myself a website layout. I can't wait! And I will be buying my own hosing this time too, so I don't have to deal with anyone else's crap when I set everything up. I can't count the number of times my hosts haven't paid their bills and my entire website was deleted. It's happened to me pretty regularly in the past. But I won't have to deal with any of that any more.

I've been experimenting with stacking rings lately, they're quickly becoming my favourite accessory ever. I made a few sets out of brass and copper last night, and taking inspiration from PaintedMetal I've been experimenting with patinas on the different metals. I used Copper Sulphate on my brass rings, and they turned this lovely olive-green colour, but when I woke up this morning they had turned this salmon colour mixed with the green. They looked almost the colors of Unakite, which is pretty neat. I'll have to experiment with them a bit more. I don't know if I would ever offer them on my Etsy store, but you never know.

I guess I'll have to just keep experimenting with new things and see!

I've also been working on some things for my new store PaysonToo, which I mentioned in a previous post. I've made a few matchbook notebooks out of recycled materials, and I am working on more recycled jewelry to offer before starting to list in that shop.

And now to try and get these things all done... I always feel like there's never enough hours in the day... Later all!

Stacking rings!

I think that stacking rings are the perfect accessory. They're so much fun, so versatile, and they go with just about everything. I've finally got mine up and listed in my Etsy shop, go check them out!





I'm also working hard on my new Luxe line, and I've had this idea floating around to make yet another collection. The new one would be for all of my recycled jewelry, an eco-chic collection called PaysonToo. I have the idea in the works right now, I'm just doing too much at once to really give it my all.

My darling mother has spoken with her jeweler about my foray into metalsmithing and he's offered to teach me some of his tips and tricks. I'm so excited, I can't wait!

All my hard work with my Etsy shop is finally paying off, I've been so busy this month. I love it. I love when I have things to do, pieces to make, orders to be filled and shipped. I have so many more items to list and supplies to buy; sometimes I feel like it'll never get done. It just make me feel all the more accomplished when I finally do get everything finished. It really makes me proud.

Okay, I need to go tend to my Etsy addiction.