My new business cards have arrived, and let me say, Gotprint.com is the way to go. For about $40 I got 1000 doublesided glossy full color business cards, plus 500 of my care and keeping cards, and that includes shipping! You don't have to be a graphics whiz either. they have an in browser designer for the cards, drag and drop, totally easy.
And happy am I to receive such a wonderful response to my giveaway, and I have decided that it is just much simpler to not post any of the comments at all.....easier to keep track of. Anyway, there have been 56 entries as of yet, (no Mom, family is not disqualified). although, some of you are not leaving your email addresses! This is your warning, if I you don't leave your email addy, and it's not easily found on your blogger profile, I'll draw another name! I'm not kidding! I don't want to hunt you down. I don't have the patience for that. Just leave me your email address, or no soup, I mean thread for you. One Year.
For some reason tonight, I'm thinking in a Star Wars Yoda voice.
So perhaps, young Jedi, some Hand Dyed thread you would like?
Hmmmm?
Receive some you shall, If strong in the force you are.
In comment, leave your email address. Win Sample skeins you could.
(sample skeins are what happens when I find a knot/slub in the pre-dyed thread while winding it into skeins. I cut the thread to get rid of the stuff you wouldn't want in your lovely HDT purchases, and short sample skeins are the result. This giveaway is for 4 sample skeins of Vineyard at Dusk, they are anywhere between 20-40 yards. One each in sizes 10, 20, 40, and 80. Leave your email address please! If you'd prefer me to not publish your comment, let me know and I'll be happy to do so while still entering you in the drawing. I just don't want to have to chase you all over the internet to find out where to send the thread should you win)
So Enter quickly young patowan. On October 1st will the name be drawn.
sigh. I'm exhausted. The big transition is happening this week, as of the 30th I'll be unemployed. This past week has been taken up wit handing over the reigns to the person coming behind me.....and even though this whole thing has been hard for me I've been given peace about it finally. I had to go through a mourning process, finding out how much I've identified myself by my position in the church, I think it will be good to spend some time out of the spotlight. The decision we made to step down was for many different reasons, and only after we made the choice have I come to realize how long I have been just running on steam. The season is changing, and now is the time for me to step away from captaining that ship. The team needs to grow and move forward, and I just don't have that in me right now. So, we'll see what I do have in me as God lets me in on whatever it is that he has planned. Now, I don't want to scare anyone away here, but I do speak openly and honestly about my life on my blog, and a big thing for me this week is that I've had an awesome miracle in my life! I've been having anxiety problems for weeks since we started this transition. I mean, I'm throwing away a third of our income....... no job in sight going forward. It worried me alot, and started manifesting as borderline anxiety attacks. I was even starting to think about seeking clinical solutions.....and that says alot if you know me. I don't usually even bother with cold medicine. The only prescription I've had in ten years is birth control. So, for me to even start thinking about seeking medication means that it was really bothering me. I was starting to get mad at God too (good thing he is big enough to handle it). There is supposed to be peace in your heart when you are following his direction.....and the anxiety I was feeling was the antithesis of peace. I could't force myself to calm down and breate evenly....really freaked me out. And I cannot tell you how confused I was, because we had confirmation in many ways that this was what we needed to do! My husband had complete peace about the situation, and I was getting rather jealous. So finally I got really upset in my journal. (that's how I talk to God a lot of the time). I cried out for release from this unchararistic panic feeling, and then I went to bed. The next morning I got up early like usual to go into church and start setting up etc, and I grabbed my bible during breakfast. Long story short, God gave me the perfect scripture, and on the radio on the ride to church there was an author speaking and he was talking about just what I was feeling and going through. And strangely enough, driving alone early on a sunday morning, the anxiety was gone. And I mean gone. The prase came into my mind, that my mourning was over, that He was turning it into dancing right now. And I feel like myself again since that moment!!! Not a single trace of the anxiety symptoms, and it's been almost a week. Miracles still happen in our lives.
So, I am still exhausted, but at least it's peacefully exhausted. :-) Part of my exhaustion comes from trying to balance the work I already do for the church with the work of bringing the new leader up to speed, with all the extra growth from the ETSY shop, with everything that needs to be done at home. Couple all of that with the fact that Hubby is on nightshift this week and hasn't been getting home til almost midnight, I haven't been getting the sleep I should be getting. I've been staying up late doing things like designing business cards on a cranky in browser program...... at the beginning of the post you can see a screenshot of what I was working on. I hope they turn out ok, because I ordered 1000 of them. tee hee.
Well, thank you for making it to the end of that long and dragged out post. I appreciate you all so much, your kind friendship has been amazing.....I covet and am grateful for your encouragement. Tomorrow is a fun filled day with a lace guild meeting, a trip to the fair, and Heart live in concert. My dad takes me to a rock n roll show once a year, and tomorrow evening I'll be screaming the words to Magic man and Barracuda at the top of my lungs. Great way to let off steam. :-) In fact I'll leave you with a little Ann and Nancy. Because they are so cool.
And did you know they like Etsy? And I totally just bought a jacket like that at ross last week.
Took me all night, and part of the morning to get the new Vineyard at dusk thread listed. I got distracted working on a new business card design, but it's finally done. You can find it here.
After much wait and debate, Dr. Vonthreadmore finally had her way.
I wasn't really in the mood for a batch of thread, but she finally won me over with her pouty lip and a dose of "It's for the children!" Ever since she caught wind of my desire to support the family with the Etsy venture, she has been using that against me. How can I say no when she piles on a guilty helping of "You don't want to feed them nothing but ramen next month, now do you?????"
We did learn some things from this batch. The previously puzzling blue has been narrowed to the dilution of a certain color of dye (that I bought on clearance, now I know why!). It separates into the most unique blue, and now that I know that I wish it was a little more controllable. This batch ended up with a little mottled bluey brown, and honestly I really like it. The separation is a little stronger on the larger threads, but at this point I'm considering it a naturaly variation for this colorway. Also the green at the lightest end of the spectrum is a little brigher than I've been able to show in any of these pictures.
I tried to capture to the best of my ability the solid purple for a bloggy friend of mine who has been waiting ever so patiently for this batch to be done.... It is ever so lighty varigated, I leave just a touch of tonal change in my solids. Gives them depth and texture.
You will be able to purchase some of this thread from my etsy shop soon, I will probably not have time to get the listings done until late tonight, so check in tomorrow if you have a hankering for some HDT. I have sizes 10, 20, 40, 80, as well as limited edition color collections in 20 and 40.
In the background you'll see my final aqusition in props, some awesome metal patina leaves. You'll see more of them soon.
I really like to make tatted jewelry that has a contemporary feel to it. Here I used antique brass studs for the centers of my dimentional flowers. I love these long dramatic earring hooks. I am so bad about keeping things for myself, but I think I need a pair of these. or four. What do you guys think? Sometimes I get really excited about a design, I wonder if it has the same appeal for you as well? (the background for these is the inside of that vintage box I used in my moonstone necklace pictures.)
And I'm still on the quest for feature friendly photos. I've been working alot on editing.
I've found that a few tweaks can take photo like this,
And turn it into a photo like this:
To me the second version is much more striking, and will stand out more. I'm also having a blast with my props. This vintage trivet has become my prized posession as I feel it really adds mood and depth to the pictures.
Dr. Vonthreadmore has of course been waiting patiently for a break in my week so she can work up another batch of Vineyard at Dusk. She patiently reminds me that her "fans" are waiting, and I suspect that should I not provide her with the opportunity to create this evening, there might be unfortuanate consequences.....
I am so pleased to have received pictures from Moonika, she was the bride that I did the custom set for back in July. And, she has given me permission to share them with you!
How cute is she! Ah-dorable! It was a traditional Estonian wedding, her dress was handmade and I'll bet is was an absolutely gorgeous and special wedding.
Congrats Moonika! And thank you again for asking me to be a part of your special day.
How does one artfully show the proportions of an item, without using a ruler?
(I'll admit to having done that...)
I won't try on and model all of the earrings for two reasons.
I don't want to be icky, so I would have to switch out the hooks on every pair after trying them on and that would be too much
I would have to do my hair and makeup for the pictures....and that is too much on most days too :-)
So, do you have any ideas? I thought about getting a mannequin head, but I haven't found anything in my price range that would do without being weird. I've held them in my hands in some shots, done the ruler thing, running out of ideas.
Just a note to all of you who have been so kind to (or are thinking of) chiming in on my experimental photography and props- I come from a great environment at church/work where critique is regular and encouraging, so I assure you, I wouldn't ask for your commentary unless I was prepared for it. Keep it coming guys! Don't feel bad about offering an opinion!!!! You have my permission as well as my request :-)
I believe that you all have my best interest at heart so lay it on me!
One think I am really focusing on right now is making my etsy shop "feature friendly". That means many things, like creating a cohesive feeling in my shop as far as banner, avatar, listing photographs, etc. I want my items to be shown well, but the photographs that get features on the front page, in treasuries, are definitely photographs with character and that tell a story.......or evoke a mood or feeling.
In my great quest I have recently aquired (or scrounged) a few items that fit my bill. The background object used in these first two is a brass/copper trivet purchased from etsy. Now, all of these pictures I'm showing you are just the first trial phase with my new props. I'll be taking more refined images in better focus to improve my listings.
I do think this trivet is effective in that it carries a lovely patina, and if done right, doesn't distract too strongly from the earrings.
This next object is a little box that I retrieved from my husband's grandmother's estate. It is lined with satin and frames the earrings well. The photo above is with the earrings laid across the top of the box, I'm still deciding if it's too busy.
These pictures are taken with a little vintage makeup purse that I fell in love with on etsy. It had to come home to me whether or not it made the cut as a prop.
It offers several different options for arranging the jewelry,
As always, I love it when you weigh in with your opinions on all of this. I love to hear how people look at things differently.
This is the necklace created after the defeat of the previous version's broken crystal.
I just LOVE this chinese moonstone crystal, and I think it does soemthing wonderful with the gray thread. It's Lizbeth 20 in silver. Lovely shade of gray, on of my favorite colors to work with right now.
I could use some opinions on the listing for this necklace.
I'm trying to step up my photograps, so I'm working on staging and modeled shots etc. When you list an item on etsy, you get five photos per listing, and the first one is what is shown as a thumbnail....and I'm trying to decide which is better as that first pic. It's the picture that needs to grab people and make them want to see more, so maybe if you have a second, you could take a look and leave your opions. I've been featured in a few treasuries, and I got a lot of traffic from that, so I'm working on staging the photos to be more interesting and appealing and artistic. I've ordered a few vintage things like a small mirrored purse, to use in staging the jewelry, so you'll probably see my photographic experiments here in the future.
Initially I had struggled to capture the colors of my newest Hand Dyed Thread. This is a much better representation of "Sea Glass"
I made a bracelet to show how it works up, and here is a little three year old aspiring hand model helping me out :-)
Really I started dying my own threads because I just love color. This batch well covers one of my favorite color "stories" of teals, greens, and ocean blues.
I have another batch of "Vineyard at dusk" planned, but it might not happen until early next week. I've been so busy on the computer between my transition at work/church and my Etsy shop, that poor hubby has been feeling neglected. I solmenly swore that I'd turn off my computer when he got home today, and leave it off for the rest of the night. So that's why you can see the unfinished ends on the bracelet in the hand model shot, I wanted to post the pics before he gets home (just heard the car door...) :-)
I've braved the big world of pattern making, and after much test tatting, good advice, and revision, I am proud to announce the release of my first tatting pattern! Click the above picture to find it in my shop.
A special thanks to all my test tatters- Crazymom, Jane, Hope, Josie, and Kelly.
I hope to make a few more patterns available soon.
Sea Glass is a newer rendition of the previous batch so lamely named "blues and greens". It's a little different this time. It's not continuously varigated (doing that is a pain in the NECK!) so I lengthened the wrap to 1.5 yds to accomodate the number of colors in the original batch
Right now Sea Glass is available in sizes 10,20,40, and 80, with color collections in size 20.
The deep teals and greens are much more vibrant than these pictures show, I am going to try again tomorrow to properly capture the colors.
I'm making up an earring pattern for the shop and I need two test tatters.
Required materials- 2 shuttles, size 20 thread, size 10 seed beads, two 1/2 inch cabone rings.
Knowledge of split rings required (there is one included to complete the earring in one pass. final pattern will include modifications to be done without split ring as well)
You will also need to know how to cover a cabone ring with double stitches
If you are interested and can commit to completing the project and sending back photos of your results by Thursday, Sept. 9th, send me an email at krystledawne {at} gmail.com. I'm finishing up the pattern and will email it to my testers this evening.
Have you ever spent hours or work and many dollars worth of crystal, putting together a beautiful tatted necklace to sell in your Etsy shop.....only to find that one of the crystals in the necklace is broken?????
Well, I HAVE!
And I guess I don't have much else to say. Other than it was going to be the most beautiful necklace EVER. And I don't have any more of that color crystal..... it has the most loveliest silvery finish over the faintest aqua tint. And it's all gone to waste. I eith
However, I do try to see the positives in all situations. I guess I have aquired myself a lovely necklace, as I can't bring myself to sell this one, or tear it apart and re-do it without the broken crystal. And, to replace the amount of crystal and do another necklace, I believe a trip to Shipwreck beads is in order...... Poor me. Oh, and I've just discovered that I can claim mileage on my business taxes. Woooo!
You may have noticed that I have gone into full tilt jewelry and business mode.....
Part of the reason is that I finally applied for and received my business license. Krystledawne Fine Lace Jewelry is my official business name. Right now I am getting a checking account in order, as well as bookkeeping. Taxes make my brain hurt! Anyway, having the "business" gives me a UBI#, and you technically need that to sell at most major shows. I can buy some supplies without paying sales tax now I guess as well. All of this makes things seem so much more official and I guess motivates me to do more with it.
It is however very interesting that soon after I put all of this in place, my husband and I made the difficult decision to step down from ministry in our church. (meaning I quit my day job). So I am in the saddened position of needing to go back to slinging coffee or some other part time weekend job to hopefully make ends meet. The terribly difficult thing about that is that I can only work on the weekends as Jim is currently in an on-call position at work. Sometimes we don't know until 9pm whether he is working at 6am or 2pm the next day, and sometimes they call him in the morning at 5am and change their minds anyway. He has to maintain this position to become a "chief" (he is a custodian for the school district). The really gooey part is that there are two schools open for bid right now, and he may or may not get one of those based on a technicality that can be interpreted to his advantage or disadvantage in the union contract. If he does get one of those positions, that would put him on day shift only, so I could possibly in the future work weeknights and reclaim the weekends for family time. One really rotten thing is that we have to take (like a kick in the teeth) a 12 percent increase in medical coverage costs. I am already self insured, it would be over $500 a month to have me covered on my husbands plan...... sigh. So anyway, any extra income I can make with my jewelry/thread sales has suddenly become necessary. Honestly, I'm a little (lot) freaked out because I don't know right now how things are going to turn out. The one thing I have going for me is my faith, and I'll tell you the only thing keeping my anxiety at bay is my Bible and about 8-10 pages of journaling a day. God is really using this time of uncertainty to teach me and grow me.
So this friends, is all of the change that I have been alluding to over the past few weeks. To some, leaving a "job" may not seem such a big deal, but even more than monitarily, it is a spiritual decision that puts Jim and I on the same page, and our marriage has grown leaps just because of the trust we are placing in eachother and the support that it requires. That makes me happy.
Until next time, I thank all of you my tatting friends, who have purchased, and may do so in the future, some of my HDT (hand dyed threads). I all of a sudden have a greatly humbling experience every time someone buys something from my little ETSY shop. The emotional support you guys provide is also amazing. If you are the praying type, I'm asking the Lord to help me with the stress and anxiety that I am having trouble dealing with.
We use bibs regularly around this joint. Sometimes they even effectively keep the baby's shirts clean. More often than not however, the small child, and whatever else happens to be within a three foot radius of her highchair, ends up covered in food.
This mommy-bib is slightly more glamorous I think than our spaghettiandeverythingelse stained feeding bibs.
Meet my alter ego. She expresses all of the emotion and behaves in a manner that I never would own to. This thread dyeing extrordinaire only appears in the wee hours after the pitter patter of little feet has faded. Stay tuned for tales from the Laboratory....
My new business cards have arrived, and let me say, Gotprint.com is the way to go. For about $40 I got 1000 doublesided glossy full color business cards, plus 500 of my care and keeping cards, and that includes shipping! You don't have to be a graphics whiz either. they have an in browser designer for the cards, drag and drop, totally easy.
How cute is she! Ah-dorable! It was a traditional Estonian wedding, her dress was handmade and I'll bet is was an absolutely gorgeous and special wedding.
Congrats Moonika! And thank you again for asking me to be a part of your special day. 
Right now Sea Glass is available in sizes 10,20,40, and 80, with color collections in size 20.
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