Live. Breathe. Create. |

The Craftacular was last weekend and unfortunately, my first show was kind of miserable. About an hour in, I got all shaky and started to feel nauseous. I ended up getting sick in the car on the way home from Madison. It was an unpleasant experience. I am hoping my next show goes much better!

I set up my booth for the Craftacular this weekend. I am going to have a few more things, but I won’t have them until Friday. I didn’t want to wait to get everything established.

Check it out! I am super excited for the show!

Being married to a graphic designer has paid off! I now have an AWESOME new logo! I am so excited! Check it out:

The Gub Factory logo

Having a great visual identity is really important, I believe. My background in marketing has helped me develop this for my crafting hobby, but there are some simple steps that anyone can follow to develop a graphic identity.

First, think about what you want to name your venture. Many people choose to use a variation of their own names. Others focus on the craft or service they offer. This is a very important step and shouldn’t be undertaken lightly. Ask friends who know what you do what they think, but also ask people who aren’t familiar with your products what they think. If you choose a name that isn’t eponymous, is there a story behind it? Does it have meaning?

Second, it’s time to think about how you will visually depict your brand. There are many ways to create a logo. It can be a graphic element. It can be initials. It can be words. Or, it can be some combination of these elements. Think about what you want to reflect with your visual identity. Do you want to be seen as sophisticated? High-end? Fun? Quirky? Playful? Serious? Child-oriented? Glamorous? List some key words that describe your products and your brand so you can really narrow down a look.

Third, start designing. If you have the budget, consider working with a freelance designer. While a good logo looks simple, it often takes someone with years of experience to fine-tune it and make it look balanced and elegant. In my case, I have several years of graphic design experience so I created a rough “sketch” of what I wanted and my graphic designer husband (I have to put in a plug, he does do very affordable freelance work and can be reached at dave [at] davidehunt [dot] com) polished it. I liked my first draft, but his final product was so far beyond it that it really gives polish to my business.

Good luck!

At lunch, my hubby and I ran to a local thrift store. We go the first Monday every month, because they always have 50% off everything. Boy did we score today!

In addition to some beautiful vintage milk glass, we also found an antique buffet in GREAT condition for just $60!

We were so excited! We started cleaning it tonight, but it’s going to take a lot of elbow grease. But when it is done, it is going to be gorgeous! I am not sure what the wood is. Maybe mahogany or walnut.

Here are some of the great things I stumbled on this week!

If only I were a size smaller…

Love, love, love this dress!

If I didn’t already have 100 rings ….

So super cool!

I am totally going to buy this…

Mine! Mine mine mine!

Why have I been gone for so long? Well, because I’ve been getting ready to do my first show ever! Save the date for Feb. 13 and check out the Valentine’s Craftacular in Madison, Wis.!

I am super excited, but crazy busy! I either sold or gave as Christmas gifts every single thing I had “in stock” over the holidays so I have been scrambling to actually have inventory. In fact, because almost everything I do is custom made, I tend to have very little inventory on hand anyway, so preparing for a show has been a big change!

If I am making something for the first time, typically I stare at a piece of fabric, trying to decide what it wants to be. Then I might “think with my eyes closed” for a while, to see if a nap helps me decide. Then I start sketching, or using a pattern I’ve already created. In the end, I often say, “Well that’s cute!” And I list it on Etsy. Sometimes customers want something that’s already sold, which is great. Other times people see something and they want it in a different color or fabric, which is also nice.

For this show, I’ve been making tons and tons and tons of coffee cozies and cell phone cases so far. Each one is unique, so I’m spending a lot of time holding fabrics up to each other to figure out what looks best. That’s fun, but wow! Making 20 cozies in a weekend is tiring!

In my next post, I’ll talk about how I created my “brand elements” — my logo, tagline, etc.!

Whew! The holiday season is over and I survived! I was a crafting machine during the holidays and the last two weeks have been even busier.

After my mom gave me a shopping spree at Crafty Planet in Minneapolis, I came home with a stack of fabric that was itching to be made into something fun. My latest product is a cell phone/mp3/camera case. I brought one to work and the next thing I knew, I had eight orders! I’m not complaining! They are a fun project that lets me be creative with fabric combinations, like the one below.

This last week was a hectic one for the Gub Factory. I had tons of orders, plus Dainty Daisies was having an open house so I needed to restock the shop!

In the last six days I have made:

Four owls

Two monsters

Nine coffee cozies

An extra-large wrap

A gadget case

About mid-way through the week I hit a wall. I was exhausted and tired of making things. But then I got to watch people literally pick up my stuff at Dainty Daisies and buy it right in front of me! It was exciting; now I definitely know I want to do craft fairs! That gave me a second wind that got me through today. Tonight I am going to plot out the rest of the month’s work.

Whew! December is busy!

In the last few weeks, I feel like my creative focus has shifted all over the place! I’ve been making a lot of Gubs, wraps and coffee cozies, which all involve sewing. But I’ve found myself drawn to old favorites, like crochet, embroidery and decopage, and some new things like screenprinting and fabric painting.

Focusing on just one art form — and yes, I think crafting is as much an artistic endeavor as painting or sculpting — is hard for me. I am very much a multitasker, so even staying focused on one project long enough to finish is tough, much less only focusing on one style of crafting!

One thing is certain, though. Creating is as necessary to my life as breathing.

I love pretty vintage things, especially things from the 1930s to 1960s.

Here are some of my great finds, which I’ve listed in my vintage shop, Retro Squirrel.

Roving Eye Shotglasses

JolleOriginals Vintage Handbag

Vintage Pink Cups