I've been a-wall ...

soooo, it's been a while. A really looong while. Mostly because I need to get a new light box to make picture taking a lot easier on me. I am currently using one I made with bristol board but it has got scratch-ish lines all over it and when editing my photos I sometimes have to erase them which of course takes time. Plus I really need a better light. Although now that it is getting warmer out I might be able to use the natural sunlight instead. :)

It's also the time of year when I start to think about Applefest. I think this might be my last year going there. The cost of the booth/liability insurance is just getting crazy! It all depends on sales this year. I need to figure out a better way to show case my stuff as well. Or at least the earrings. The earring board is amazing but its soo big it takes up a lot of the table and I can only fit so many items on it. I also plan on having a earring sale bin this year since I have way to many earrings in stock that aren't moving, so it will be nice to clear them out of inventory. That way I can create shiny new ones and not feel so bogged down with the amount I still have.

I just really haven't been feeling to creative lately but that is probably because of a funk I am in. Although thinking about it today makes me want to sit down, throw a season of Seinfeld etc on and just go at it. Hopefully I will have some new shiny stuff to show soon!

A few new pair of earrings..

I just LOVE making earrings. Everytime I go anywhere I am always searching for things to dangle from an ear wire. I really need to balance out my esty shop with more bracelets and necklaces! But who can resist making some ear candy!

Here are two new pairs of earrings that I have made over the weekend. I am really in love with the finishes on these pieces. They also have a very nice weight to them.

You can check them out at my shop, along with all my other creations. www.mouseink.etsy.com
:) More to come of course!

A few new pairs of earrings..

So I just recently added a few new pairs of earrings to my etsy store. Go check them out at www.mouseink.etsy.com :)

The first pair is made with black rubber rings and bright aluminum. I love this pair. I had to make myself a pair after I made them. I've worn them a half a dozen times and love them! They are so light weight that I forget that I have them on half the time!

The second pair is made with all sterling silver components. I adore the heart charm!

:)

Applefest 2009 Street Fair

This weekend that just past was Applefest weekend. I had a booth (my first craft show/street fair) last year. I decided this was one fair that I would definately enter in every year. I have to start somewhere :). This year my booth was in a different spot but that is okay. I wanted to see how sales would be if I was farther down the street then last year. I still have yet to compare totals between the years but I did pretty good this time around. Here are some shots from the day.

This is a street shot looking down main street. The booths went way back there. It was insane how many booths and how many people where there! The street was basically a wave of people for most of the day!

This is me in the wee hours of the morning setting up my booth. We got there around 6am and it took about a few hours to get it completely set up. We did have problems with the tent though but that was the only frustrating part of the day. The street fair ran from 10-4 but people are always out on the street checking things out by 8am. So I was aiming to have most of my stuff out by that time.

This is my earring display board. I love it :) Its nothing more then a cork board covered with black material and clear push pins pushed in to hang my earrings off of. It also has a hinge with a board that swings out a bit so it stands up pretty sturdy.

This was new this year. I decided I wanted to use some sterling silver/Swarovski crystals and thought this would be a great time to see how it sold. I also wanted to appeal to a wider audience. They definately were a big success!

Here is a table top shot of my bracelets and necklaces. I like to organize them by colours of the rainbow.

Another table top shot of my set up. I think next year I definately need another table. Since there was stuff that I didn't put out because I didn't want it to look to crowded. I have all year though to figure that out :)

A better shot of the whole table (with hubby in the background ;)

It was a good day! It was less exhausting then the year before though, but that might be because this time around I wasn't as nervous as I was the last time. I will get better as I go along. Now I just need to attend more craft/street fairs, but at least this is a start.

:)

I'm back...for good this time!

Exciting news in my world and sort of a catch up post. On my 29th b-day in 2008 my bf of 6 years at the time (its 7 now :) proposed to me! So I basically spent that year planning and making crafts/decorations for the wedding. We set it for July 2009. That year went by really fast and I really had no time to work on Mouse Ink, let alone make anything for it. We decided to go for a medieval theme since I think that is what I have always dreamed my wedding would be like since I was a child. Thankfully my hubby was okay with that. It was a beautiful ceremony, the day turned out great (regardless of the wind!) and everyone had a blast.

I made everything from our invitations, reply cards, centerpieces, wedding favours (chain maille keychains in our wedding colours) with tags designed by me, a sheet for guests to fill out at the reception hall, card box, wedding programs (not your normal average everyday wedding program :) and many more things that I either made completely myself or helped my mom and sister make.

Anyways here are some highlights of my wedding crafts :) There are more things I would love to show but I can't find the pictures at the moment. Maybe later :)

This is a pic of me in the most perfect wedding dress ever! Mom made the shrug to go over my arms since my dress was strapless.

She also made the flower that was pinned onto the bible. This is what I carried down the aisle instead of flowers. This is my something borrowed since my sister also carried this down the aisle when she got married. Mom just took off her flowers and added mine. My father's photo is also attached to the flowers since he passed away when I was 4. I wanted him to be near me on this special day.

These are what our two little squires wore ( our ring bearers). They looked sooo cute in this. Mom is the one that put these together and I stenciled the crosses on with gold paint.

These were for the men at arms (groomsmen). Mom also made these and I stenciled the crosses on in gold. I tell you I did that the week of the wedding and I was so nervous because I didn't want to mess it up! They turned out amazing though!

This is the faux cake I made. Basically three boxes with the typical castle top hot glued to it and covered with paper mache and painted grey. The ivy and flowers just rest in the areas around the layers. We also found the most PERFECT cake topper, you guessed it! A bride and groom mice! I never thought I would ever find something like that. I was convinced that I was going to have to make the cake topper as well. I am the mouse so it was perfect!

The card box that I also put together with cardboard, paper mache and grey paint. I think it turned out awesome. I just have no idea what to do with it now! Its soo big! Also my brother made a stand for his armor. The knight looked awesome standing guard of the card/present table.

Now that the wedding is over I can finally concentrate once again on my business. :)

It's been awhile..

So I have not been keeping up with my blog to much lately. I have been working full time and any free time I've had I have been making galores of stuff for an upcoming show. Actually this will be my first street fair. Thankfully its only one day but still lots of stuff to prepare for it. It's this saturday! I remember when I had still two months to prepare stuff and now its down to the grind.

I still feel like I don't have a lot of stuff even though I do. I feel like its mostly the same design but with colour variations. I guess thats not true either. We did a mock set up of my table last week and the table had tons of stuff on it. I thought it was going to look empty but it didn't. We will see how it goes. There are still a few last minute things I came up with that I would love to make more of but I don't know if that is going to happen at all. Which is very sad. One being a necklace design. I made one and started wearing it right away and I love it. It looks similar to this black and red one here, except mine is blue and silver.

I really hope that this weekend goes alright and that it doesn't rain! Cross your fingers for me! Now I'm off to make/organize stuff for the fair!

The Dreaded Creative Block

Has anyone experienced this before? Geez what am I saying? I'm sure everyone at some point has experienced this. I'm currently going through one now. It's sad really. I seem to always have these great ideas when I'm not at home or in a place where I can't whip out my notebook to write them down. So of course, by the time I'm home I have forgotten everything. I think my brain hates me. Seriously. I mean I REMEMBER that I had a GOOD idea, just not what it is. lol. ~shrugs

It doesn't help either that my supplier for my beeeooutiful rings are out of stock of my favorite sizes. ~pouts. So I have to wait for a little bit before going on a creative binge with rings. It's sad, for me at least. I don't have to many items in my shop yet either. So instead I have decided to leap into a different creative route for the time being and work on some paintings. Although i've got the dreaded creative block in that area to. I think I've already erased my canvas at least three or four times. ~sigh, I can never win.

I love all types of crafts and I worry that eventually my shop will be so random with the types of crafts I make that it just won't work. We shall see. This painting that I'm working on is my first in I don't even know how long. Years probably. I don't know why I ever stopped painting because really I love it.


Here are some past examples of my work, each of which enjoy a nice home with friends and family: :) They were really hard to part with - I love them so much. But I know my friends and family treat them right. Plus I can go over to their house's anytime and see my masterpieces. hehe. ;)

(actually I lied, the one above is hanging over my computer desk. I painted this one in highschool and would'nt let it go for the world. My art teacher wanted to buy it from me for $100 bucks, but I was like nooo way. I spent so long on this that I couldn't part with it.)

Just like the first one, it was really hard to let them go :( But hopefully there will be many more to come and lots to be available to purchase. There are so many talented artists already on etsy. I am in love with some of their styles. It's pretty cool to see how each person has their own style. Hopefully mine will complement theirs. Well if I can get out of my creative block that is?

How do you guys handle and get over the hurdle?