Feature Friday - When Love Happens

It's Friday! That means we get to meet a new Sensation Shop! This week, we'll meet Joan from When Love Happens. I just LOVE her handmade weddings items, especially her sashes. So take a peek and enjoy!

1. How did you get into crafting?

I've always loved crafting. When I was young, I used to make handmade cards for birthdays, weddings and graduations. I experimented with woodworking, paper and scrapbooking, paint and sewing. All through my 20's, I enjoyed working with paper. I scrapbooked, made paper goods and cards and books.

2. How did your Etsy shop come to be?

My husband and I got married in June 2010 and during the year we were engaged, I decided that all the things I wanted for my wedding, I could make for half the cost. I spent that year crafting everything -- escort cards, menus, conversation starting books, ringbearer book, a sash for my wedding dress, fascinators for my entire wedding party and survival kits for my bridesmaids. I enjoyed myself so much and loved being involved in making a lovely wedding that I decided I could make quality wedding related items for a much more reasonable cost than other wedding vendors. I was already familiar with Etsy so I thought this would be the perfect place to showcase my items.

3. What is your favorite part about being creative?

My favorite part is experimenting with color, texture and design. I love figuring out how to make new items and creating new combinations. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I also love spending hours and hours at fabric shops looking through the various materials and fabrics they have.

4. Are you a full time crafter or do you have a "day job?"

I am a 4th grade teacher in California and have been teaching for 5 years. Etsy allows me to do two things I love - teach and craft. If there were more hours in a day, I could do a lot more of both!

5. If someone were to buy you a birthday gift on Etsy, what 3 words would they use in their search?

Romantic because I'm a closet sucker for romance. Love because it's one of the most important things in my life - showing love to everyone around me. And...Hello Kitty. Can that just count as one word? I can leave out the space so that it's just one work. I never grew out of HelloKitty, but my students and I have something in common through our love for Hello Kitty.

6. How do you create your designs?

I've mastered how to create six different types of flowers. I use basic artistic principles such as composition, color and size to help my create my designs. But, I stick with my instincts. If I'm not happy with something, I'll stop and work on it until I get it right. A lot of it is trial and error. If I come up with a solid design, I'll try it out in different colors, then tweak little things here and there to change the look of it.

7. What's in your Soundtrack to Sewing?

I like to listen to mellow music while I'm crafting. I don't like to feel rushed. I want to take my time to make something that's beautiful for my customer. So I listen to a lot of Coldplay, John Mayer, Jack Johnson and John Legend.

8. Favorite spots for inspiration?

I find inspiration in many places, but I am an avid wedding blog and home design blog reader. I also love going to stores like Pottery Barn, William Sonoma, West Elm and Anthropologie.

9. Who inspires you?

I know it sounds cliche, but my husband! He was the one who encouraged my talent and craftiness. He would talk up the things I made to our friends and family and finally suggested that I find a way to bring my items to the public. He challenges me to constantly become a better version of myself. His high opinion of me makes me think I really am that great!

10. If you had to choose one item in your shop as a signature piece, what would it be and why?

I'd have to say that this sash in taupe, coral and ivory is my signature piece because it encapsulates my aesthetic well - airy, romantic and sweet. You'll find a variety of pieces in my shop because I know that there are brides with varied tastes, but if I had to pick one, this one is it. I wear it to weddings, special events and even over my favorite casual dress or cardigan to add a little sweetness to my everyday outfit.

Thanks so much, Joan, for sharing your story! Don't forget to check out Joan's blog, which documents her wedding and her creations as well. 

I had hoped to have a project to share with you this week, but the back is acting up something fierce! It better get its act together by Monday, because that is when I start my new job as a nanny. When I DO feel better, I am going to make a skirt or a top with a zipper...yep, a zipper! Woohoo! 

Feature Friday - Jazzy Custom Creations

Recently, I started an Etsy Team for fellow teachers, called An Apple A Day. I've met some great artists and seen some amazing items in shops as the team grows. You might want to skip on over to the Sensational Shops page to check out the new additions, but in the meantime, let's get to know Mary from Jazzy Custom Creations!

1. How did you get into crafting?

I got into crafting as a means to spend time with my physically disabled mother. Since she couldn't stand or sit for too long we needed something that she could do while laying down or reclining. Since we loved jewelry, we thought that would be a good craft to try. Then we got addicted. We always talked about expanding the business into bath products.

I finally ordered bath supplies in July of 2010 so we could begin our bath line and my mother unexpectedly passed away. My new craft partners are my 2 children, ages 5 and 10, who love to help me make my bath products. They mostly like to decide on the scents and their names. I haven't made much jewelry since my mother's passing, but am trying to get back into it (I have too much stuff to let it just sit here)

2. How did your Etsy shop come to be?

When I was teaching at a junior high school, my neighbor across the hall was also a crafter. She is a very talented scrapbooker. She told me about Etsy and suggested I give it a try. I signed up but never really put much effort into it until August of 2010.

3. What is your favorite part about being creative?

I like the feeling of accomplishment that I get when I transform various beads into something beautiful, or taking some wax and creating a awesome smelling lotion candle. Crafting is helps me relax and cope with things that are stressing me out at home. I feel like I have control over something in my life!

4. Are you a full time crafter or do you have a "day job?"

I am a full-time mom, part-time Developmental Reading instructor at a local university, and a part-time crafter. After my mom became sick in 2009 with the Swine flu, I resigned from my full-time teaching position to care for my mom. I also was able to spend more time with my son. July and August of 2010 were 2 of the toughest months of my life, because my mom passed away and my husband lost his job. While I LOVE spending time with my kids and enjoy staying home with my son, I had to get a paying job to bring some extra money into the house, so I began teaching again. Luckily my husband found another job in September, but I like my teaching job, so I'm keeping it. I craft whenever I get the time- mostly on the weekends.

5. If someone were to buy you a birthday gift on Etsy, what 3 words would they use in their search?

How about 2 words: Gift Certificate! I would be ecstatic with a gift certificate that I could use in one of my favorite Etsy stores! I always ask my husband for a gift certificate as a gift but never get one :(

6. How do you create your designs?

Sometimes my jewelry designs just come to me and I can see it clearly in my mind. Then if I am lucky, I have all the required material to make it happen. Then there are other times when I have to try something, and then take it apart and try something else until I find the design I like.

With my bath products I read various recipes and adjust them to meet my needs and expectations to make then unique.

7. What's in your Soundtrack to Sewing?

As far as what I listen to while crafting, it just depends on my mood of the day. Sometimes I listen to gypsy music when I am in a fun and carefree mood, and I end up with a product that represents this mood. Then there are days when I feel a little edgy and funky, I put on rock music and create something reflecting my mood.

8. Favorite spots for inspiration?

For my candles inspiration comes from everywhere. I notice scents all over the place and think about how these scents would work in a lotion candle. My jewelry designs come from my imagination or from my need to have something that matches an outfit I want to wear.

9. Who inspires you?

My family inspires me. Everything that I do is for my family; they inspire me in more ways than one everyday.

10. If you had to choose one item in your shop as a signature piece, what would it be and why?

Since I make both jewelry and lotion candles, I will pick 2 items. I would choose my cha-cha bracelets much like the one in my avatar and my favorite smelling lotion candle. (It depends on my mood but Cucumber Mint and Apple Harvest are at the top of my list!)

Thanks so much, Mary, for taking the time to let us know a little more about you! Stay tuned for more Sensational Shops, and I have a little project I am working on which I can hopefully finish soon. Have a great weekend everyone!

Baby Shower

Today was my friend Emily's baby shower. I gave her Penni Panda with a pink ribbon and made her a taggie blanket with black, white, and pink accents. I think it's my favorite taggie so far! It's too bad I don't get to make them that often (since I can't sell them), because they are a lot of fun to design! One thing I did with this taggie that I hadn't with the others was a top stitching around the edges. This really helped to keep the taggie flat and make the side more uniform.

A close-up shot of the ribbons. I could spend so much money on ribbons alone. I'm on the 4th Shopaholic book (I got the series for Christmas), and I am trying not to channel Becky Bloomwood when I go into Joann Fabrics. Especially since I am saving for a fancy embroidery machine. ;) Here's hoping for a safe delivery and a happy, healthy baby, Emily!

A Little Update

Well, the kitties are starting to coexist peacefully, and I am happy to report that not only have they been sharing spaces, but Slinky has also licked Sapphire several times and everyone seems fine with that. Whew! The only problem is that Slinky is getting quite fat, as she cleans out the bowl of whatever Sapphire leaves behind. It's a work in progress.

This next week will be my last as Long Term Sub. It's been a long, complicated 5 months since I started at the school. First the job I accepted was changed to part time, then I took on the permanent building sub job, that was eventually cut from the budget. Now the long term sub position is ending and it took me a long time to decide what I wanted to do as I moved forward. I applied for quite a few positions within schools, but became frustrated that many (read: most) were not permanent positions, and I just didn't want to be going through job searching again. The stress of not knowing where my paycheck would be coming from every few months has taken its toll. It has been a year since my back injury. Acupuncture is helping somewhat. But did I really want to continue the stress of job searching for the sake of being in public schools? I couldn't decide.

So I started looking for positions as a nanny. Although the principal at my current job told me that working in child care positions was not helping me to find a job in the school systems, I decided that what will ultimately boost my ability to get a job as a classroom teacher would be my Master's Degree. And frankly, the jobs that were calling me back in the schools just wouldn't fund going back to school. Especially since those jobs would only be 180 days per year. So after a lot of thinking, worrying, and going back and forth, I made the decision to look for a position as a nanny.

So, that is where we are. I have had several promising interviews, and I hope to have something lined up by the end of the week. This year has been....indescribable. But I am hoping for a healthy and stable 2011. And I hope yours is as well. ;)