Introducing Kilted Woman

Lori made that treasury for me. She is another of my wonderful Inland Northwest teammates. Lori has a passion for Scotland and makes beautiful jewelry and a fun variety of things. Here is her profile statement from Etsy:
I am married to a Scotsman and enjoy traveling to Scotland to take pictures and pick up treasures on the beach. I also enjoy highland dancing and learning gaelic. I have been a nurse for 20 years and very much enjoy making these little crafts in my free time.
I enjoy having Lori on the team. She is a supportive teammate and always nice to everyone.

Introducing TeraBliss

Last week I had the great fortune of being the featured seller for the Inland Northwest Etsy Team. Many of my teammies made great treasuries to feature my new shop. As a thank you to these gals, I want to highlight them here, and introduce them to you.

Here is Tera's Etsy profile: Thank you so much for stopping by my etsy store! I am so excited to be a part of this amazing community. I am inspired by dancers, performers, vaudeville, burlesque, and all artists that find passion in their lives thru creating and performimg. I am a belly dancer myself and love to experiment with all styles of dance. I love costumes, jewelry, make up, and hair...new and vintage. I love beautiful things that sparkle, shine and move. I've been a jewelry and costume designer for most of my life. I am excited to finally become a member of this amazingly creative community of etsy. For me this is just the beginning!! Peace, love, and art!! ♥☺♥

Artwork Licensing Check out this story

Cori tells it so well on her blog, I want you to read it from her. I am struck by the power of a dream. In my life it has been true that if I wonder what it would be like to do something or experience something, I often get to see that dream come true. I am not talking about a casual sort of wondering, but of those deeply felt soul urges. Read about Cori experiencing that in the grocery store.

dragonfly knot belt

dragonfly knot belt
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

I made a couple of these belts yesterday to add to the BrandybuckClothiers shop. It is a fun way to use up the leftover jute from duffle handles. It is also a versatile waist or hip belt.  I  put this out here to see if there is any interest at all in having a tutorial for how I make them. Just let me know here.

Instant banners and email signatures for Etsy shops

Some of you who know me know that I have been bannerless for a long time. One of Etsy's first big sellers, Littleputbooks, advised me quite a while ago that banners were a waste of precious space. Just get to the items and let people shop. Etsy has made a lot of changes since then. When I found this new instant banner and email signature site, and tried it out - and liked it, I checked over at LittlePut, and noticed she has a banner now. That was all I needed. If you want an instant banner like mine, do this first: renew the 4 items you want to appear in the banner, wait for about an hour, then go to Etsync.com and use the banner maker. The colors of your items will affect the background color of your banner. If you don't like the first try, experiment with different items until you get one that you like. The site is generating PNG files that you can save and use - that is how I have more than one below to show you.

Another cool feature on the site is a generator for an HTML signature you can use on your email that will be a photo and a link to your shop. The photo will always be the last item you renewed or listed. I think it is a nice way to dress up your email.




You just copy and paste the code as your email signature. Here is where to go to get your code.

sketchbook 1

sketchbook 1
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

For Mothers Day, Gabrielle gave me a fancy new journal with rough (watercolor I think) paper and a beautiful fabric cover. I took this weekend off from sewing and I thought I would do something I have not done in a few years. I curled up on my favorite couch with my new journal and a mechanical pencil. My daughter and I sit down frequently and draw things we imagine, but she has never seen me draw what I physically see. The sun was setting, and as we sat in the unlit room, we talked about how we see. Also what it is to actually see and how much easier it is to make something up than to see a thing as it really is. She talked me into giving her my back up sewing journal so she could join me in drawing. It was a good exercise for me. Good times for both of us. I should find something better than a mechanical pencil for future entries.

Fresh Content ideas and my next 2 weeks

My friends don't ask me - Dude, where do you come up with all of that fresh content? But they do say - I would love to blog more but I don't know what to talk about. This article is the most comprehensive list of ideas I have seen. 21 ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don't Have a Clue. I hope it helps you.
Do you want a glimpse of how I am going to carry on for the next couple of weeks? Here it is:

Writing the pattern for my travel back pack. I am really excited to launch this and jamming to get it out before the end of the month.

3 more linen shirts for my writers group friends. Everyone loves theirs so much they want another one. Just waiting for the fabric to come in.

More cute baby change pad bags. Waiting for some special fabric to come from Korea that a customer specified.


5 slip covers that will live with this chaise. This includes preshrinking 24 yards of canvas. This project will carry on through June.

Also high on the list is finding models for my BrandybuckClothiers shop. Obviously they are going to have to come to me because I have my hands full.

So if I don't practise what I preach as far as filling this space with compelling content and taking over the blogging world, I hope you will understand. Feel free to do that yourself if you like. I will probably be reading your blog around midnight on a Monday night.

Spokane Spring

May 7th 2011 Deep Creek Spokane WA
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

I am thankful for good hiking weather again. So many walks cut short this year by stormy weather. The earth is coming to life again. Different every year depending on the weather. This year we get fungus. A morel maybe? I love using the macro function on my camera. On this hike, farther on, we saw an eagles nest and thanks to a lovely older couple and their spotting scope, we also saw eaglets. Winter is over at last. My friends are gardening again.

Things I do in my dreams

There are places I go in my dreams. My dreamscape is my alternate reality in which I dance, travel, wear nothing but a huge ruffle, fly, get weighed (yes, and it was a good dream - my weight said "worthy") sail, dance, grow things in my hair, and talk to centaurs. Sometimes I run and run in my bare feet and just enjoy the scenery and covering ground. Sometimes I run in a panic as I did in the dream where I found Caleb hiding inside a tree (I peeled the bark with my bare hands to find him inside.)I am not sure if the centaurs are people or animals, but they protect us from the wild animals all around our woodland home. Some of my houses have secrets and they make me think of the people who lived there before (like my mother-in-law.) I prefer my outdoor adventures, swimming, flying, running, floating. The cars have a nasty habit of going furiously fast. The bridges can be perilously high. I stay in a lot of hotels. I speak at conferences to which I was not invited. I join sororities.
The treasury is my entry for this weeks challenge. If you are new to Etsy, I recommend the non-team challenges as a great place to make some friends without the commitments you have on other treasury teams. Check them out on their blog.

Listen to Your Mother

We had our last rehearsal last night for the Listen to Your Mother Spokane show.  I am in awe of the women in the show and the breadth of the motherhood experience that we will be covering in a one hour show. If you are in Spokane, I hope you will come out on Sunday to listen to me and some other mothers. I will be wearing my pink slip dress and Alice is making me a shirtdress from the pattern I drew up to go on top.  So it's a mini BrandybuckClothiers fashion show too. Check out the Listen to Your Mother blog. From there you can link to the wonderful blogs of the other women in the show, and the national website too.