vanished?

peek-a-boo Grizzy surveys the homegrown this year

No, I haven't disappeared.

Yes, it is a while since I blogged.

Yes, I've been busy - Etsy is visiting Vancouver July 14th (the team has been looking for a meet-and-greet venue), I've done one craft fair and have two more to prep for and I'll be attending the Got Craft Vancouver premier of Handmade Nation plus there's been a stint of solo parenting thrown in for good measure. I've successfully juried for my first Christmas fair and attended my first local artist's co-op meeting.

Did I mention it's the end of term too and I've a week of summer camp teaching to get ready?

And I've managed to make some stuff too!!

I'll blog my way thru it! Stay tuned.

scottish seaglass from 'home'

I'm probably hitting this a little off the blog boil but there have been two articles lately concerning dear old Etsy. The first, accusing the site of peddling a fraudulent feminist myth, is soundly smacked down in a hissy fit by the second, both roundly missing the point almost made in the first. As usual with all things Etsy, the most interesting info is gleaned in the comments, cupcake vs. non-cupcake for the most part. It seems impossible to be merely neutral about Etsy but why the tendency to hang up critical thinking by the forum door - oh, OK it gets a little sticky with the frosting. I get ya!

Blind devotion to the cause is one thing but please don't let the sprinkles obscure the continued insulting of stay-at-home parents (psst! in etsyland, being a SAHM is not a real job). Interestingly this continues to be peddled despite, as stated in the first article, the site being awash with the fairer sex (with some notable and vociferous exceptions ........... oh, they've been muted!).

At last, an outside observer has pointed out that much of the much lauded quit your day job series (QYDJ) isn't. Sure it enables mum to stay home with the kiddies but not without a salaried full-timer partner in the hazy background (who often has to assist with packing Etsy orders into the small hours too). None of the QYDJ-ers I've read are doing anything more than what I'm doing and I'm not glorifying my Etsy-sistence as a quit my job chronicle. Until I can pay for a housekeeper and childcare, I'm still doing my regular day job in addition ....... and so are the majority of QYDJ mums I've read (note: only one was honest enough to admit it).

What irks me is that this sanctioned dismissal of stay-at-home parenting continues .... and that none of the (female) cupcakes bats an eyelid thru the frosting. Would this happen on a male-dominated site? Somehow I cannot imagine a masculine clientele lapping up complete dismissal of a whole sector of male employment, as well as all the other disciplinary, muting, shop closure, smack down crap that goes on.

inspiration in unlikely places

chaotic nighttime crafting desk

this week's inspirations;

1. collecting my unsolds from Steph at Devil May Wear and chatting about the dismal world of retail but leaving with some great thoughts on giving my wholesale efforts some more oomph


2. being invited to display my work at the local city hall with another jeweler in the artist's cooperative


3. learning I have seven students signed up for the wire crochet summer class I will be teaching


4. sunshine


5. getting an email from a chap I sold some wire to, saying it had arrived and that he was now able to mend his clock


6. the Wearable Art exhibition at Port Moody Art Gallery

So I started making some more art clay silver pieces for the exhibit, and I wired up some more cufflinks. It's nice to be making something again after spending a lot of time just mucking about on the computer or dealing with household admin.

:)

morning all!

in-studio entertainment system with live podcast

It's wordless Wednesday to a lot of blogdom, and also for me at home since Wednesday is also childcare day! For a whole 8 hours I have the freedom to get on with projects uninterrupted and possess the mystical ability to leave the house silently and without nagging in a mere 30 seconds!
So, without more ado, I'll leave you to enjoy The Archers podcast from the BBC ......

PS: there are a few more podcast links on this morning's Portable Crafting blog post here.

May - possibly flowers later

This is the garden I grew up in. It's in central Scotland so the seasons are a little later and May flowers are quite often postponed until June. At first the garden was a wilderness then my parents had their house built and tamed the jungle. Where willow herb ran rampant they established lush lawns and exotic herbaceous island beds. Annoyingly, a semi-decent sled run down the garden was 'ruined' by installing a pond and ornamental trees as they pursued their vision. In my teen years I don't think I gave the garden much thought (although the wooden shed did come in for a bit of a hammering late one night .....).

I have long since forgiven them and now appreciate a gentle potter around the leafy pathways when I manage a trip back home. It is now a hidden tangle of pathways, abundant flowers and leafy nooks. What was once a large open space is now a collection of outdoor rooms and vistas. Each season, not just May, brings changes in flowers and foliage, surprising the visitor with sudden unexpected glimpses. Returning from weekend trips home from university my arms would be laden with wrapped bunches of flowers for my room. Since then I've always appreciated bunches of flowers around the home, replacing the garden which is no longer just outside the door. It's also a small haven for my Wee Guy to run around in (as long as he misses the pond). It's become more meaningful for me the further away I travel.
The garden influences a lot of my work. Flower designs figure prominently in a variety of mediums, ranging from metal to stone carving to polymer clay. If I'm doodling a flower will appear on paper nine times out of ten.
... you can't get the garden out of the girl!

product testing

 

It's always worthwhile to thoroughly test your products before launching them on the general public. Luckily, the cat and my wee guy trashed my curtain rod in the privacy of my own house but on the other hand, I'm not about to go into the curtain rod installation business!

My next product test, which I mentioned in another blog post yesterday, "Buttonless Knickers" is for some wire buttons I've been playing with for a few weeks. They need to be sturdy enough to be functional (though decorative is good too) and also pass the laundry test. Since some of the buttons are flotsam ie. felted fibre in wire, they also have to pass some compatibility tests so I can determine which fabrics they are suitable for.

But that will all have to wait cos I'm wrestling with a migraine this morning. Later!

ebb and flo in person

handmade wire beads in tinned copper

There's nothing like an imminent craft fair to focus the mind and the crafting. Add in an imminent birthday, a newsletter deadline and a few other imminent items on the 'to do' list and life gets a little crowded! Excuse me please if I seem a little scatty of late but I'm trying to fit everything in before this weekend ..... and I seem to be running out of time!
So on Sunday I will be selling at my first craft fair of the year (yes, I'm a slow starter!). I will be at the spring Got Craft? fair in the Legion Hall on Commercial Drive (@ E6th Avenue) in Vancouver this Sunday (11am to 5pm, $2 admission - the first 30 thru the door will receive a goodie bag stuffed with samples from all the vendors!). It will be a great chance to buy some adorable Mother's Day gifts as well as to stock up on all the handmade goodness that Vancouver has to offer.
But meantime, I have to get my stock and packaging in order, finish two assignments for my proofreading and copy editing classes at SFU on Saturday, prepare a birthday (almost done - phew!) and keep on top of the usual boring household drudgery.

One of the first things I will do when pomo mama design turns in a regular is income is hire a cleaner!

earth day - ebbandflo is doing her crafty bit part 2

...... cos part one can be found on my other blog here

earth- friendly crafting stuff i have fun with = paper making with my son, felting using handspun sweepings and fibre remnants, seaglass in jewelry, art clay silver (which is made from silver salvaged from medical photography, read here for more information), machine knit swatches felted into bags and purses, DIY from my stash ......... and stored mostly in upcycled salad boxes or in thrifted containers ......... but i still don't think i'm an eco-warrior!

ebbandflo

Buy Handmade

 

the mild panic of not enough personal time

I've got a house guest right now (it's the delightful honeybeedz from etsy, aka my lil' sis) which means life is chock full of being a hostess. As many of you will know, having a guest in the house means extra work and less time to spend on personal time but in this case I've been more than adequately compensated! On Tuesday we spent an excellent afternoon snowshoeing in brilliant sunshine round Hollyburn, and then had a whole day (blimey) downhilling together (her on skis, me on my Burton Factory Prime) on Wednesday. Wheee! (thanks Aunty B!).

.... and I haven't been missing out on crafting either since she's been crocheting like mad following a yarn re-fuelling trip to Black Sheep Yarns!

I've put together a package for jurying at a local arts   boutique, I've been invited to consider teaching another wire crochet class and I finished off a load of wire and fibre promos for the Got Craft? fair taking place on Sunday, May 3rd (soon, yikes!)

 

 

 

 

I've also been packing in some wee crafting projects. Yes, there are some new fuzzy balls on the go. The latest is a much simpler version of the choker necklaces I made in March - just a few wire beads on a steel cable choker. ...... and I've had the time to play with a new design - a brass and glass fidget ring with a copper rivet. Still needs some polishing but I'm quietly pleased with the result so far!

perspective is all

So it's been a bit quiet on the old blogging and crafting front then? Not completely - I've been tinkering away at a few projects and even managed to give a private chainmaille class last week so my energy levels are returning slowly after The Plague.

One of the weaves I taught was this orbital chainmaille pattern. While I love the look of maille on its own, I prefer to use it as a 'host' for other bits of beading paraphernalia. In this case I've included some gorgeous chunky serpentine beads between the links and made a fresh spring choker.

I also had some fun with a parallel weave and some glass hoops. The glass hoops are not linked in but instead held in place by the interconnected jumprings. There is therefore no stress on the glass at all. Another fresh spring piece!

Last night I completed and catalogued another clutch of felty goodness which is being delivered to Place des Arts this afternoon. Goodies include some freshly felted soy and wool heart bowls, and two pairs of felted wrist warmers.



.... and I also delivered a few items for display/sale at my local garden centre (thanks for the coffee and scone, Moira!).


Phew! I was busy. Maybe I'll tell you later what I did with my fuzzy balls tomorrow ...........

a work in progress

It's snowing a(bloody)gain
.. and yes, the astute frequent readers among you might have noticed a few leetle changes (OK it's more a WTF? moment as I wrestled with uploading templates and reinstalling widgets - apologies to anyone trying to view as I tweaked, refreshed and shuffled).

.... but now I have a 3-column blog (portable crafting has gone trio too, it was the 'guinea pig for this little experiment).

There's still a little shuffling around to do as I'm not too happy with the layout - I want clean, minimal and not too uncluttered but with all the stuff that was in the previous version!

I have had plenty of time to do this recently since we are All stricken with a mighty lurgy. The Lower Mainland cold has swept thru the family, forcing mr ebb and The Wee Guy thru highs and lows of fever. So far we've had one trip to ER, one bottle of Tylenol and a lot of sweating. I just feel constantly nauseous with coughing and have no energy.

So there's a forlorn little pile of crafting projects waiting for me, including an intriguing choker with some valentine's fuzzy balls (dittoimage missing!), but I have finished my new beret and the thank you cards are waiting for their envelopes. These are printed on card blanks with room for The Wee Guy to write and decorate - makes life so much easier (especially since mr ebb doesn't seem to think it's his job to oversee the gratitude platitudes).

gaaah! there should be a pic of the cards here but damn blogger isn't letting me upload!!! might edit later but till then, publish and be damned

PS: there's no point in relisting on Etsy these days - see here for why!

addendum: did a flickr workaround for the pics, good old flickr!