Friday Feature: Krystal from Random Wishes

For today's feature I got to interview Krystal. Her shop is called Random Wishes, here is a link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kryslew1987 Krystal has many interests and talents, and her shop features an eclectic mix of beautiful candles, art and jewelry.

Tell me about yourself.

I grew up in the country on a farm. I learned from both my mother and my grandmother how to do crafty things. As a child I always wanted to be an artist. I would draw pictures for my family members and they would proudly display them in their homes. During High School I took all the art classes I possibly could. I absolutely loved it. I wish I had gone to college for art, instead I went for Culinary Arts and Baking and Pastry. I do have a degree in both. I currently work in Cooper's Seafood House in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Tell me about your store.

I started my store about a year ago. I was not sure on how I was going to do it, but asked around to different people and they showed me what to do and how to make things better. I have to say my store has improved in the last couple of months. I got a new camera which made my pictures better, and I have developed my skills a bit better and my items have sold more. I sell mostly jewelry, but I just started doing custom candles. I love doing candles, while making them they make my house smell so great and it lingers for hours. I also do paintings and knitted items. The knitted items will be in more as the weather gets cooler.

What inspires you?

The world inspires me. I grew up in the country and learned to appreciate the little things. I see a lot if not all things as art. I twist things to become my own and create something wonderful. My art teacher once told me the world is your canvas us it to your full advantage. My family also inspires me. They tell me what they like and I tend to put my own twist into it and it becomes a great work of art.

Do you have a strong support system? Who is your biggest cheerleader?

My family has always been there for me no matter what. My mom is my biggest fan. She is always asking what I have that is new. My Aunt Ann is always wondering what I have in candle scents and my father is 100% behind finding me a physical place to sell my items. I have a wonderful boyfriend who encourages everything I do. He is always telling me how great I am doing and telling me to never give up no matter how much stress I am under. My support system is very large and I am very grateful to have them.

What is your favorite food?

Well I went to School to be a chef. My pallet has developed a lot since I was 18. My favorite food used to be anything Italian. I loved Fettuccine Alfredo and Spaghetti. at least once a week I would eat one or the other. Now though I love sushi. I love to get a spicy kani salad or calamari salad with a rainbow roll and edema-me. I love trying new things.

How would you describe your style?

I would say that I am very random. I try to do different things all the time. Hence the name Random Wishes. I like to do a number of different things. I paint, I make candles, I make jewelry, and so much more. This way I never get bored and I always have someone to make smile.

Please visit Krystal's shop, clicking on any picture will take you to her store, and have a GREAT weekend!

♥Erica

It's July Already?!?

Hello!

This year has flown by for me. It has been a hectic whirlwind, and....

I'm tired.

It is so amazing that little Penelope will be here soon, and I am clearly nesting. I made new curtains and some decorative pillows for Autumn and Penelope's room, and re-coverd the rocking chair that we got in a very impractical light color because I am to frugal to spend twice as much on the same thing in a dark practical color.

I like how it turned out, I think it is cute. The pillows and curtains match, and the cushions are actually reversible. It was also a pretty easy thing to do that really made the chair look much better. The cream was a beautiful color, but not appropriate for an item used by a baby or a toddler. It is kind of like white and pastel baby clothes- which for some reason are available in abundance- but not good for more than a few wears because they get so stained. Which makes me want to run off on a tangent about baby clothes, but I guess I have digressed enough. Back to nesting.... I also really want to replace autumns bed. She has been sleeping on a futon mattress, because although her crib turned into a toddler bed, she does not like sleeping in it because it is a "baby bed".

Since we have another baby coming, we will certainly be keeping the crib, but it is really crowded in there with a futon mattress on the floor, so I would like to get autumn a proper bed. Either a toddler bed, or a proper twin bed... or what would be really cool would be to build her a loft that can be transformed into bunk beds later. I have a cool design in mind, that includes turning the bottom portion into a playhouse. Adam is not a fan of this idea, since it is likely that he would be making it. I also really want to paint the walls in thier room.

Oh... and the carpet... I want to steam clean the carpet- but not just in autumns room... in the whole house.

I am also finding that when I am working on orders for Caustic Threads, my mind is really wandering. I have so many fun items I want to make for autumn and Penelope, that it is hard to stay on task. Despite this, it seems like I am doing a better job of juggling orders, helping my dad at the shop, and taking care of Autumn, I just wish I had a little more free time to spend with Adam and Autumn.

Autumn has been pretty difficult lately. I am not sure if it is because there is a new baby coming, or because she gets less attention from me now that I am a little overloaded. It is probably a combination of things. I know why kids this age are so damn melt-your-heart CUTE at this age though.

Finally, speaking of being overloaded, Caustic Threads had a record month in June. Amazing. It was the best month ever, we even beat December of last year. It is exciting, and gratifying. I am not sure what kind of goal I should have for July though. Not only do I think expecting to beat June is a little unrealistic as far as actual sales are concerned, but with a new baby I know that the amount of work I am able to do right after she penelope is born will be limited too.

And to say Adieu, here is my newest design in Caustic Threads.

Tiger RAWR Onesie $14.00

Have an excellent weekend!

♥Erica

I got up a little earlier than usual this morning to get some packages ready for Adam to take to the post office since I dont have any cash on me right now, and we didn't want to run out and get some last night. Oh, they are going to Canada, or I would have just shipped them through paypal.

After all my packages were either with Adam, or in out mailbox with a shipping label I seriously considered going back to sleep. Not only am I tired, but it finally started getting cold here in albuquerque after an unseasonably warm October thus far. When it is cold a few things happen, first, I take longer warmer showers, second, I stay inside more, and third but doubtably final, I have quite an urge to stay in bed much longer. It is like I have hibernation instincts that kick in or something. Anyway, I stayed up to write a blog post instead.

Above is the newest screen I have printed, this image is straight off the scanner, I had to clean it up a lot before burning the screen. I think it is pretty cute, but we will see how it does. I will post a picture of it on a shirt in my Wednesday post, along with the results from my little experiment last week and some other on going projects.

Not at all related to any surrounding pictures, I have also decided to skate in Duke City Derby's championship bout on Saturday... and I am REALLY excited :) I thought I was over roller derby, that I could retire just like that... but even if I dont have time for it anymore, I really love it. In addition to asking me to play Adam was asked to ref, but he stayed strong and said no. I expect the reffing to be questionable since they will be short staffed, but I am sure I have seen worse.

Since I am playing this upcoming weekend I decided to go to the rink formerly known as Roller King this past Sunday, and I had a blast. A few skaters came up and told me I was a great skater with really good endurance, which I suppose is true for the general public. Unfortunately, not true for me, or in relation to roller derby. My actual skating skill was fine, although some of the things I was just starting to get before my surprisingly brief hiatus (specifically crossing over while skating backwards) felt a little shaky. I don't have the endurance I would like to to play a championship bout, but I cant change that in a week, and I did do better than expected after pushing through the muscle aches. I decided I need to make sure to go skating, and JUST skate at least once a week, for myself. I miss it.

Other than that we really didn't do much this weekend. I remember doing some cleaning, but that is really boring. We also went to rocketpants' house Sunday evening, Adam dropped me off at the rink and went over and then picked me up and since he lives so close we went back there for a little while longer. It is always nice to see Jon, but I cant say it was eventful.

I have had a pretty insatiable craving for green chili lately, not chopped, it is very important that it is green chili SAUCE. Right now I would eat it with three meals a day until I couldn't stand the sight of it if it were up to me... fortunately I have other people to feed who get tired of eating the same thing every day, so I have NOT been eating it with three meals a day. It is also fortunate that I live in New Mexico, as it would be very hard to find green chili in abundance if I lived anywhere else. My only guesses are that I am pregnant again (with autumn I was craving spicy V8- which I usually hate, and for my recent failed pregnancy I wanted salsa) or that since I have cut back on fruit (and other sugars, but a lot of my sugar intake came from sweets) per a suggestion from my OBGYN, that I am craving the nutrients that I am missing from all the fruit I had been eating. Green chili has Lots of vitamin C, and some other nutrients.

Oh, the outfit autumn is wearing in these pictures is a silly little thing I whipped up for her on my surger in about 20 min. Cute.

Welp, Adam calls my posts schizophrenic , and this post is no exception. See you all tomorrow for my workbench post.

♥ Erica

Etsy Blogger Team Feature: Dizzy Dragonflies

The featured seller for my etsy blogger team this month is Vicki, she has two stores, Please take a look at her store:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/dizzydragonflies


I don't knit or crochet, but you all may know that I want to learn how (along with tatting, silver casting, soap and candle making, cake decorating, creepy doll making) but as it is I don't really have time for all of the things I already like to do.

Knitting Dragonflies rekindles that desire every time I look at her lovely store. She makes the most beautiful hand dyed yarn in so many stunning color combination. (If you click on any picture it will take you to the listing in Vicki's store.)


Stormy Skies


Rays of Light (beautiful for spring)


Astilbe Blooms

Also stay tuned, Vicki is working on a second store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/knittingdragonflies

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In other news, I have finally added my first item to my new store:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CausticThreads

I have several more to list, but I have not taken pictures of most of those items yet. I am headed out to Savannah with Autumn for a week to visit my mom, so the pictures will have to wait until I return.

I am SOOOO excited to visit my mom! I have not seen her since autumn was very young and I think the three of us will have a lot of fun. I hope my...inquisitive... 16 month old does not bother my step dad too much, and I also hope that they put away anything that she can break.

I am not sure if my trip will interfere with my online class, but I will be taking my camera so I will do my best.

I am also planning to contact the Savannah roller girls and hoping to skate with them. It is always fun to skate with other leagues.

Xoxo

-Erica

The Twinkie Cup

Autumn Admires the Trophy

This Saturday, in celebration of our friend John's ( Johnny Rocketpants in the derby world) 30th birthday we joined him at an indoor race track for a very fun party.

This is how Rocketpants explained the event:
To celebrate my 30 years of greatness, I require a competition of epic proportions. Hence I must insist on reviving one of the greatest challenges ever conceived -- The Twinkie Cup. A battle pitting friends against friends in tiny cars, hurling down the concrete at moderately quick speeds with the victor given the most glorious trophy in all of motorsports -- an oversized Margarita glass full of golden sponge cake with creamy filling.

We will race from 8 - 10 pm, with the winner determined by their top 3 lap speeds. As well, a twist will be implemented to spice up the competition. Those participating may dress in Smokey & the Bandit attire with their ensemble deducting their total time.

In this competition, you can deduct time in the following ways:
1. Having mustache: -3 sec
2. Wearing Bandit attire (pearl-snap shirt & boots): -6 sec
3. Wearing Smokey attire (police uniform): -12 sec
4. Wearing Sally Field attire (wedding dress): -24 sec


Adam and I Prepared for the party by making fake mustaches

We had a great time on Saturday night! I did not race this time because I was watching Autumn. I didn't race last time either... I don't know why...

Adam and I wearing our fake mustaches. Mine is pink :)

Adam Raced and got about 4th place.

Bill won the Twinkie Cup this year, Thanks to his beautiful wedding dress.

I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Rocketpants! He looked awesome in his fake stache, cowboy hat, mother of pearl snap shirt and boots.

In other news I have been very sick for the past week. I have had really awful stomach pain and throwing up daily. Last week I had a cold on top of that. When I Was going to FIDM I had some really bad ulcer attacks, and they acted exactly like this, so I am assuming that is the problem. I am taking some medication that should make it feel better soon and I am also eating really mild foods like oatmeal... but I really want a pickle, damnit! I would also love to eat pasta with tomato sauce or even an orange.


Also, I have created the inner ties in the wedding dress I am finnishing up so it looks MUCH better now. All I have left is the viel, which I plan to make this afternoon. Sorry if you are tired of looking at this silly dress, expect to see it one more time after the final pictures are taken :)

I Was Featured on another blog!

Way awesome!

You can see my Purple Octopus Print In a lovely collection of purple items! ALSO... the print sold so it has been relisted.

Here is the blog link:

http://allthingstangled.blogspot.com/

allthingstangled also has an etsy store! http://allthingstangled.etsy.com/

I love this sweater from her store :)

If you click on the picture it will take you to the listing in her store.

Has it been a whole week already!?!

I missed a few posts last week.

I'm sorry... I was a little distracted.

I had another interesting weekend. I felt sick again for most of it, but it would seem that this weekend it was because I am coming down with a cold or something.

On friday I can't remember what I did. Saturday we were lucky! My dad and his wife babysat Autumn almost all day! Adam got to work in his forge, and I got to get crafty with some arm warmers. We also enjoyed a hike together, and were glad not to have the baby because it ment we could climb on rocks that we couldn't climb on if we were pushing a stroller around. Dinner together at Gardunios was fun and yummy. We came back home and worked in our respective" shops" a little more. A friend of mine was having an awesome Science themed party, that I wanted to go to, but was not feeling up to. By the end of Saturday I missed autumn terribly!

On Sunday the Munecas Muertas (roller derby travel team) had a team meeting to pick a new captain. I was not even planning to run, but I have some great ideas and skater Killer Queen encouraged me to run with her. Our ideas are in line so I thought we would be a great pair. Now Killer Queen and I ( my skate name is Doom Dee DOom) are the new travel team captains. I was planning on voting for Amanda Jammitinya, the other person who ran. I think she would have also been a great captain, and I really hope she is very involved with helping run this team this season. I especially hope she helps with off-skates drills... and she can body block like a madwoman, so I hope she can teach us all that too.

I have also been making lots of arm warmers. I put two pairs up last thursday and they had both sold before saturday, making it a pretty good etsy week. I am considering also selling blank arm warmers, what do you think?

I am going to be making this dress! YAY

After a few convo's and a little tweaking I got the bid to do this wedding dress. I am spending over half of the price that I bid on supplies and am going to get paid much less than minimum wage for my time- but I am madly in love with this dress and am SO excited to get to make it. I guess that is how I know I am a designer. I do it because I love it, and it is more important for me to have the opportunity to make something breathtaking than it is for me to make money off of it.

Initial sketches

I am hoping to get to make another wedding dress!
These are the initial sketches for the bid. The client wants a petal hem and a scoop neack or sweetheart neckline, but I am not a fan of sweetheart necklines, so I could not bring myself to do one, scoop neck it is!

IT's FINISHED

SO, the wedding dress I made is FINALLY finished. It took longer than I expected, but I am generally happy with it. It has tons of intricate details. Check it out.

LETS GET HAMMERED... featured hand forged item # 1

To go directly to this sellers listing just click on the picture! this stylish wine holder was made by Ark Iron on etsy. It is hand forged from steel and is a great deal at $30.oo.

Roller Derby Love Item # 1

Roller Derby Mobile By Salty and Sweet! It is only $30! How much fun is this!? Click on the picture to go directly to the etsy listing!

I did not ask them if I could post this item, so I hope they don't mind.

More awesome roller derby inspired items to come! If you are a roller girl and make stuff, I want to feature your stuff... and if you have roller derby inspired items, I want to feature your stuff! e-mail me and I will get something up. Otherwise I will hunt you down :) Just kidding.