Oh, The Places You'll Go........

So, I'll be missing in action for a couple weeks.  I'm taking a European vacation!!!!!!!!  Well, mostly vacation.  I have 20 headstrong teenagers (ALL inner-city kids who raised the $$ themselves over 2 years to do this) to chaperone, along with two other teachers.  So here is our itinerary in photographs......  Follow along with me!  I'll have LOADS of photos when I get back, and I'll try to do a blog post about each city over the coarse of the summer...

We fly out for an overnight flight on Friday, landing in Milan on Saturday in the late morning:

Milan Cathedral

Sunday- Venice:

Monday and Tuesday- Florence:

Wednesday- Assisi:

Thursday- Rome:

2nd Friday- Sorrento:  *my personal favorite*

2nd Saturday- Pompeii:

2nd Sunday- Igoumenitsa

2nd Monday- Meteora and Delphi

2nd Tuesday- Epidaurus and Mycenae

2nd Wednesday- Athens

2nd Thursday- 3rd Saturday- A Greek Island cruise!!

So........ there it is!!!!!  I'll be back July 2nd, and I can't WAIT to tell you all about it!!!!!!!!!

♥Rose

Taking the Plunge!

I've finished the school year!!!!!!!  And QUIT!!!  To craft full time!!!!  In the words of Keanu Reeves....."Whoa."

So, in case you've only recently begun reading my blog... here is how it all started- with SewEcological.

Twas a blanket much like this one....

How did SewEcological begin? This is cautionary tale with a happy ending...sometimes, what you do in your free time is what you become! :)

I've always made all my Christmas gifts. One year it was an amateur attempt at bath salts and soaps, another it was a delectable gift basket of designer cookies, candles another. But in 2009 and 2010, I rediscovered my neglected sewing machine.

One of the gifts I made was for myself- I cut up all my mother's old sweaters (which were far too small for me), and made a keepsake blanket out of them. This was the impetus behind my upcycling- a simple blanket. I liked it so much that most of my closest friends received blankets made out of cashmere sweaters I rescued from the local thrift store. Everyone else got gloves made from the remnants of the sweaters.

Those same friends (thank you Kirsten and Rex!) told me to sell these things! They told me all about etsy. So I researched the site, found out that I had a nice little niche, and got to work. Sales were hit and miss for a year or so...and I started a second shop as a fun hobby on the side. Rotifera.etsy.com was the second shop, and it focused on hair accessories, which I didn't feel "fit" in this shop. Probably due to the fact that I finally figured out how to take a decent photo, it seemed that both shops took off at around the same time, in late 2011.

So much so, that I recently made a very scary decision- I resigned from the teaching profession! As of July 2012, I've traded in teaching high school chemistry and biology for full time independent designing.

I adore working for myself, and am so excited to have taken the plunge into making Etsy and designing my full time work. I hope to begin working craft shows this fall- so I'll keep this story up to date with my appearances!!! :)

♥Rose
--Pisces, free spirit, geek at heart, mother of two, and general quack-a-doodle.

The Return of The Weasley Sweater

So.  I used to make these for my etsy store, and the demand was so entirely overwhelming that I had to stop offering them........

Until July, that is!!!!  That's right.  I'm bringing back the Weasley sweater.  I hand embroider them in the old style of Swiss darning/duplicate stitch.  I put any letter on any color sweater... They totally rule, and I love them!

Weasley Sweaters for the whole family!

The only problem I've run into, is that it looks like, due to demand--- I'll have to purchase the sweaters new.  I'll have to purchase a LOT of sweaters, to have multiple sizes and colors on hand.  I think I'll start with three or four colors in M-XL to start.  I plan on ordering some in July, if I can find a supplier that has a reasonable price.  But, with purchasing new, that means the sweater cost will go up, and thus the price.

Soooooooo... Would you like one?  I plan on listing these on etsy beginning mid-July at around $100 US each, depending on the cost of the sweaters.
If you would like to join the waiting list--- please send me a message on etsy at my shop--- SewEcological.etsy.com , leave a comment here with your email address, or email me @ meister_rosemarie@yahoo.com.  I'll add you to the list, and contact you for specific details when I get the sweaters in!  :)

The Classic- Ron's Burgundy/Gold Gryffindor Colors Sweater

I can't wait to start making these again!

And, if you just can't wait for your own piece of HP fun, I do have this sweater in the shop now---

Deathly Hallows Sweater Jacket in XS

♥Rose

Trying to make it!!! (and NOT fake it)

Just a quick update, folks.  That's all I have time for this week.  Maybe more on Friday, when my co-workers are taking me out for a drink to say goodbye.

Only two weeks of school left.  I can do this.  I can do this well. 
 JUST. KEEP. SWIMMING!

Tomorrow is my 4th annual poetry slam, as well as my son's 7th birthday.  I need to make 27 designer (mud/worms) cupcakes tonight.  Finals start on Friday, Europe trip meeting tonight, and Europe trip chaperoning 20 students begins in two weeks.

The house is a mess.  The laundry has been neglected.  The gardens aren't all planted (let alone DUG UP) yet.  More time, I need more time.  Preferably 36 hours in a day.  Please.  Put in that order for me.

I should hear on June 14th whether or not I was accepted for the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago.

I'm tired.  Exhausted really.  But the end of the tunnel is IN SIGHT!!!!!!

♥Rose

What's on Yours?

What's on yours????  Mine, as it currently stands.

1.  Visit Greece.  Specifically, I want to see Athens, Crete, and Santorini.  I want to wander around Mediterranean Islands, swim in the Aegean, and eat octopus for breakfast.  Who doesn't?
 (SOON to be checked off in June.)
2.  Hike the Appalachian Trail.  I'm hoping to this with my husband and sons.  Some year, someday.  A more realistic goal?  Hike it for an entire summer.  Okay.  Maybe that's not that realistic either.
3.  Buy a Farm, raise sheep, and build a wonderfully fabulous raw milk dairy to make artisan cheese.
4.  Visit all the major Civil War Battlefields.
5.  Drink in a Scottish pub with my husband.  Proceed to eat loads of Haggis.  Don't kiss husband after Haggis.
6.  Ride a camel.  The caveat is that this must be in the camel's native habitat, not a zoo.  That's cheating.
7.  Visit the UK.  Specifically, spend one week focusing on Jane Austen's England, and one week studying and visiting Tudor sites.  Wander the countryside and track down a good old fashioned castle ruins.  Spread out the sleeping bag, and sleep in the heather.
8.  Learn to make soap.  Cold-processed, all natural soap.  Not Fight Club soap.  Think more along the lines of lemon verbena, and rosemary grapefruit.
9.  Teach my sons to drive.  God knows, I can't let my husband do it.  They'll turn into aggressive alpha male drivers.
10.  Sing in a Jazz bar.  Full on Sarah Vaughn.  Black dress, smoky atmosphere.  People should clap.  That's gotta happen for this to be full on amazing.
11.  Learn to fly fish.  Carrying A River Runs Through It in my back pocket, I'll let Norman Maclean look on while I catch a prime time rainbow trout out of a Montana river.
12.  Cook my way through Julia Child's cookbook.  A la Julie and Julia.  Except that I already know how to cook fairly well, and I'm about halfway there already. 
13.  Write a novel.  Historical fiction calls out to me...but there are too many time periods in my head battling for the lead role..... Time travel sparkling vampires who collect young tributes from different time periods for arena death matches?  Probably not my best idea ever.  But they might buy the movie rights for it.... :)
14.  Sleep in one of those ice hotels in Greenland.  Make sure to pack one cuddly husband, and extra wool socks. 
15.  Eat lobster in Maine.  More lobster than any human should attempt to.  Smile.  Pause.  Eat more lobster.  Proceed to a nice seaside bed and breakfast and recuperate for at least 12 hours.  Rinse and repeat, maybe substituting clams for lobster on day two.
16.  Cruise Alaska.  Watch whales from the balcony.  Kayak near enough to glaciers to appreciate their majesty, yet not quite close enough for a West Virginia sized chunk to capsize me as it breaks off and plunges into the Pacific.
17.  Dance in the rain with my husband.  This can be repeated numerous times before removing from the list.
18.  Spend the early morning in Pike Street Market.  Eat oysters right out of the ocean.  Make sure to bring my Gerber to crack those suckers open.
19.  Make my own beer.  A nice chocolatey stout.  Enjoy.  Share.  Repeat.
20.  Visit an Ashram in India.  Alone.  Stay.  Focus.  Become mindful.  For real.  no joke. 

20 outta do it for now.  I'd say that's a pretty healthy bucket list.  For a goofball ubernerd crunchy granola Martha Stewart luddite.

Share yours!!!!!  I might steal some of your ideas.  But at least I'll let you know first.

Craft Fair To-Do List

Okay.  I'm brand new to the craft fair world, but I want to do it RIGHT!  So, I've combed the net and tried to find everything I'll need to be successful.

1.  A Banner and a canopy.  I want my booth to look both professional and unique.  The Canopies I've found online run between $100-$200 depending on whether or not there are sides included (sides, btw are highly recommended by my crafty friends.)


This is where the banner comes in!  I'm thinking one of these might do the trick!

Fabric Banner Tutorial From Craftster!

Buy a banner on etsy!

A large banner is traditional, and easily visible from far away.......












But I like the look of pennant banners.....
I definitely want to show off my artsy-fartsy side, so I'm thinking a combination of a pennant-style banner across the front of my booth.....

... with two vertical signs on either side, one for my SewEco stuff, and one for the Rotifera stuff.








 2.  Tables and Table Coverings.

From the PeriwinklePincushion

 This one looks crisp, elegant, and clean.  I like that!  And the signs in the picture frames are a nice touch!!!

From Adventures in Catnip

 I really like pennants.....so I could probably echo the front banner of my canopy with a banner across the tables!  Very cool idea!!! 












3.  Checkout Area- I need the standard stuff:  Money box, packaging, business cards (the ones from MOO are awesome!) and bookkeeping.  I'd also like to have a fishbowl for business cards, a little sign with my newly minted QR codes on them, a contact list, and a sign letting folks know that I take credit cards with my new SQUARE.  :)  (((BTW--- a 10% discount off your MOO order:  go here:  http://moo.com/share/x5zt2h )

4.. Wrapping Materials--  I'm still on the fence about these.  I don't know if I'll have time to wrap everything, but I do have a preponderance of kraft tissue paper and mini-kraft bags.  Maybe with little stickers?  One of my friends on etsy, Sharon from Vampiton, makes GREAT seals:

5.  Free Candy Dish--  Don't know why this idea strikes me as so necessary, but I can totally see myself going into a booth simply for the candy, and maybe buying something that I wouldn't have seen just walking by.....










6.  Spray Painted Bookshelves -- I have quite a few small bookshelves around, and I'm going to spray paint them bright, funky colors for multiple heights of display.  I want to coordinate colors for the whole booth, so this is something I need to plan ahead in coordination with my fabric and banner choices.

7.  Fun Music Playing --  Since I don't want to pay for electricity at fairs (this is usually an extra cost), I plan to have a CD player going that runs on big D batteries, and have some funky, eclectic music playing.

9.  Tool box- electrical tape, duct tape, safety pins, flash light (with new batteries), etc.  For those just in case emergencies....I'll keep this under the checkout area.  


And, last but not least..... TONS of stock.  I'd hate to sell out completely...  so that is something I should be doing now, tomorrow, and the next day.  (and the day after THAT).  


Anything I missed??????  I am a craft-show virgin...  so if I missed something, tell me!!!!!!!!!!!  :)

Crossing my fingers for an acceptance letter to Renegade in Chicago....  June 14th can't get here fast enough!


♥Rose

New to Social Networking?

Me too.  There are so many out there!

So in typical addictive personality fashion, I joined them ALL.

Up first-- one that I'm sure everyone except for me is familiar with:

1.  Twitter- 140 characters to say whatever you want, pass on cool links, and discover other interesting folks.  There are a whole she-bang of subcultures with twitter which I have yet to discover, least of which is the poetry.  They call it "twitterature".  *faints from the cuteness*  Easy to sign up-- go to Twitter 101 to learn more. And of course, there is an app for this.  :)
My twitter account?  http://twitter.com/#!/SewEcological

Next----  Maybe not so familiar to all, but still in the development stage and requires an invite to set up an account, but one of my favorites and one that I use often.  (read *TIME-SUCK* of great import)

2.  Pinterest---  So, you go all over the web, and "pin" things to your pin boards.  If you're really OCD, this is the place for you--- you can create different boards organized by theme, color, whatever YOU want!  I love, love, love it.  I pretend to be expressing my individuality as often as possible instead of simply wasting time.  It's also a great way to show off other's wares, and hopefully get someone to pin something of yours too!  Etsy just added a "pin it" button under each listing on their site-- so this one has big sales potential, I'm a thinkin.  Drawback?  No android app yet, but they do have an Iphone one!
Go to http://pinterest.com/rosemeister/ to see my boards or leave a comment if you want an invite to join the site!  I'll need your email address to do this...

And still more!  A site similar to Pinterest, and one I have yet to fully explore.  (I literally JUST joined.)

3.  Wanelo--- This one is to "discover" shops from around the internet.  More shopping based than pinterest, at least up front, is the gist I get.  I signed up in less than 2 minutes....  Now we'll see how often I can use it!!!!  Probably less often, honestly, as they don't have an Android/Iphone app for this one yet...
Mine?   http://www.wanelo.com/rosemeister

Last but not least, and up and comer--- 

4.  StumbleUpon---  Another "fly all over the internet and randomly (or not) tag things to be sent to your profile" site.  Items from the web are "stumbled" and all your followers see it.  I've stumbled a few things, but I have yet to get in the swing of things and really go for gold with this site..  Stumble with me:  http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/Rosemeister79

So, there you have it.  A crash coarse introduction to social networking other than facebook.  Check 'em out and find a favorite!  I am!! 

♥Rose

Make your own QR Codes!!

HOLY CARP!!!

I just made QR codes for smartphones--- it takes you to my website!  How freaking cool is THAT?

I'm going to make some of these up on my next business cards, and have some printed out for my booth at the craft fair.  Next?  Figure out how to make ones that lead to a sale and/or discount.

AWESOME.  You want to... scan it!!!!!  (you'll need to download the app from android first, and then make sure you have a smartphone with a camera, yo.)

Go on over to Rotifera!

Or SewEcological!

Wicked COOL.

I made the QR codes absolutely free here:  http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
Just copy and paste your link, choose your size (I chose L for these ones), and off you go!


xoxo

Rose

Something New! And Plans for the Craft Fair...

So, as promised, something NEW in my Rotifera shop!

Little Button Earrings

I'm hoping these do well--- we'll see.  They are kind of ubiquitous on Etsy....  But mine are CUTER, damnit!  Write that down.  It's true.  Because I said it, it's true.

So.....  I'm also planning out in my head how much stock to bring to the Renegade Craft fair, assuming I get accepted into this juried extravaganza.

I saw this picture of a woman who had sold out and left to "make more stuff", and freaked out.

Here is the list in my head as it currently stands.

What do you think.... too much/too little?
1. 200 sets of clippies
2. 100 sets of ponies
3. 100 sets of resin clips
4. 200 sets of rose pair clips
5. 50 dozen roses for craft embellishments
6. 50 sets of earrings
7. 25 rings
8. 100 sets of button earrings
9. 50 rose headbands
10. 200 rose brooches
11. All my SewEcological stuff that's already made....including a few blankets in case I run out of stuff and need a space filler....(thanks for the idea Juls!)

Think that's enough? Way too much? It's supposed to be a HUGE two day show in Chicago......

Well....  it's an undertaking, that's for sure.  :)

Cheers!

 ♥Rose

Oh, my giddy aunt!!!!

I just applied to be juried for the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago September 8-9th. 

Excited?  Heck ya.

Nervous?  OH yeah.

Hoping I can earn enough selling my wares to beat the $400 booth fee?  YES.

I figured it out.  If I sell 120 $5 items, I'll about break even.  *crossing fingers*

$5 Hair Clips from Rotifera.etsy.com

Wish me luck!  I find out on June 14th if I made it into the show or not.

And my friends in Chicago?  I'll need a place to sleep.