1.21.2011

busy bee

it's amazing how quickly i can destroy my  nice clean studio. i swear.

in between cleaning and organizing, i've been reading my etsy success newsletters and trying to meet the challenges. this series of newsletters is about revamping your shop to improve sales. this week, it's updating your listings. last week was updating your photos.

i got home around 11pm last nite and started fooling around on etsy, waiting for my mom to get home from her travel this week. well, i got way into revamping my listings, my mom came home and went to bed, and now i'm still here at 5am working on my listings. i just took some melatonin and i hope that will help.

i added a few original portraits to my shop, too, so go take a look. i'm loathe to part with them but i'm tired of lugging them around, trying not to damage them. better they go to a good home than get destroyed because i keep initiating craft explosions all over the place.

i think i actually feel sleepy now...toodles, everybody!

1.19.2011

more creation station pix

today was another huge stride in making my studio more efficient, more organized and my materials more accessible. i picked up a metal shelf from a friend and while i was there, she offered me an even bigger shelf so i took both. i was cleaning the shelf that had been outside and found a tiny praying mantis. he's now resting comfortably in a potted plant.

i used the big industrial shelf to get all my brother's extraneous computer equipment off the floor since the other half of my studio is his computer room. yes, i make crafts while listening to him and his friends yell on skype about WoW. i need to start using my mp3 player again.

i used the smaller shelf to store all my fiber, felt, yarn and sewing hardware and thread. i posted on facebook about having a craft fortress since those two shelves now stand in front of the window.

here are my new shelves:


you can see my home-made coat-hanger ribbon rack on the right. i'm going to make a better one that can hold more ribbon since hobby lobby is having a 50% off ribbon right now and i just bought everything that was cute.

here is my studio after it was made nice and tidy. of course, i've gone and destroyed it again.



i keep my favorite friend-art up to inspire me. the green rose-man painting was a birthday gift. there's a red portrait in my glitter undershelf basket (from ikea!) that was done by the incomparable Julie Zarate and i have a black cat watercolor that my mom picked up in santa fe, new mexico. i also have a "birthday card" that my fiancé made for me last year. it's the huge neon green poster looking thing in the second photo.

i'm dying to upload a few more items to etsy that i photographed the other nite, but it's the 2nd day of classes and i already have homework. but it's fun, exciting homework!

my sister is opening an etsy shop soon! she had a skype craft-along with our other sister so i've plugged in my webcam so i can craft-along with them, too! my big sister lives in AR and my little sister lives in college station, texas, where she is finishing up her undergrad at texas A&M so i don't get to see them often. oh, and little sister just opened her etsy: kj's shop!

1.18.2011

I know it's corny...



One of 3 new sets of foamy heart magnets up in my etsy shop!

new items up!

finally. took two rounds of photos with my new studio light. i worked on valentine's day cards all weekend and came up with 10 super original and unique sets. here are two of my favs:

  i really love the ribbon i found in my crazy ribbon stash. :)

this is my take on the current steampunk trend. pretty in (steampunk) pink. :)

as always, these and more are available for sale in my etsy shop: Gold & Apel

1.17.2011

my studio around xmastime

i thought that today, before i start a massive photo editing session for etsy, i'd show  you how my studio looks when i'm in the middle of about a dozen projects. the photo below was taken just after xmas. i was finishing a commissioned painting, working on some felt pieces, thinking about some polyclay things. just a massive mess. last nite, i reorganized a bit to make more room on my very cramped studio table. i'll have to take a photo of it with my nice camera, not just my phone. anyway, here you go:

1.14.2011

before i forget!

Gold & Apel on Facebook!

Join now! 100 fans = coupon code! only 25 more to go as of right NAO. spread the word!

i hate wordpress

i really do. i've been going back and forth between this site and my newer wordpress site. the wordpress backend screens are just plain ugly and i hate the gallery functions...even with plug-ins that are difficult to use. i used to code massive sites by hand and hack all kinds of scripts. i guess i have gotten lazy and wanton in my old age.

good news, however, i've decided on this site and i've been hard at work on my Late Winter Collection. unfortunately, my computer died over the holidaze and now i'm back to working on my ancient college computer. it took hours to download product photos and edit them and then upload them to etsy. if my computer worked as fast as i do, i'd have a million things up and done instead of having spent the majority of two days fussin and fightin with this darned thing! *stamps foot*

school starts again for me next tuesday, so it's a race against time until all my extra time is consumed with studying and art projects. PLUS, i'm getting married this summer so i'm trying to save up for those expenses. so, yes, this is me begging strangers to buy my wares so i can haz a pretty dress please.

here is a little bit of something new:

  a beaded hand-dyed cotton organdy & felt flower brooch
a hand-dyed and -felted tentacle ring

check out my etsy shop Gold & Apel for more lovely wares! more coming as soon as i can make it and post it!