So evidently I am the worst blogger ever. I always say things like "I am going to post more often/every day and give you stuff to read/look at!"

But then I don't.

Last time I posted, it was January. I haven't gone back to read that post, so I have no idea what kind of promises I may have made, but I suspect I made some, and made myself a liar.

Pretty typical of me.

So, down to business: there hasn't BEEN any...not really. I had one sale a while back from the Etsy store, but since then, pretty much nothing. Lots of likes, which is good, I need those favorites to keep on coming, and the Facebook Page for the shop has over a hundred likes, which is AWESOME, but I truly need to find a way to get HipScraps out in the open, and in the eyes of some of the dancers out there who would want to wear my stuff, if they knew it was available.

Right now, I spend a lot of time  - a LOT of time - making string belts, and have recently made a couple of costume pieces for myself, and have contributed to some more of Specter's costuming, including her wedding dress. She will be married in less than two weeks! I am really looking forward to the wedding, and REALLY looking forward to some bits and bobs to come in the mail so I can get her veil finished! I'm terrified that I will be sewing until literally the last minute, and rushing to the wedding to fix it in her hair moments before she walks down the aisle...which, I'm sure, is currently one of her worst nightmares and something I desperately hope WON'T happen.

Here in Tulsa, we have this gothic/industrial club night called Assimiliation once a month, and this coming Friday is this month's Assimilation. In honor of the guest DJ, Rogue of the Cruxshadows, I've made winged headpieces for Specter and another dancer, Blu to wear. The latest album from the Cruxshadows is called Valkyrie, and the wings are cyber styled layers of foam in a glittery silver, black and white. Specter's are slightly larger, silver and black ones, while Blu's are smaller, silver and white ones. They are quite fun, so I've added them to the shop, to see if I get any sales that way. They are pretty durn sturdy, too, if I do say so myself. :)

I will be vending at the local anime convention, Tokyo in Tulsa (also called TNT,) this year, which will also be my first year attending at all. I hope to have a lot of jewelry, winged headpieces, and some fun dance tops made for it. It isn't until July, but that isn't really much time to get a lot of stock made when you're broke. :/ I will do my best to get as much made as I can.

The big thing going on for me right now is that I had an idea to have a dance show, mentioned it to my ex-husband, Michael, and he in turn called up a friend who was all for it, and then Michael called a club owner, and he gave the go ahead. So I'm having a dance show! I have a venue that seats 300 people, I have a stage, lights, a huge bar, and even space to have vendor tables! I'm  still working on the details, and haven't got a date yet, but it will be sometime in the next two or three months.

The show will be themed, so every time we have one, there will be a topic for all of the dancers to sort of work with. This first one is going to be Science Fiction. I was going to assign each dancer or troupe a specific song, but have instead decided to let them choose their own music with me able to veto if I find it doesn't fit the theme. I think this could be a great platform to showcase local talent, as well as possibly serve as a launchpad for them to get to other stages.

This first dance show's proceeds will go to bringing a very special dancer to Tulsa, to give workshops and a performance. It's going to take at LEAST $3,000.00 to get her here, so I'm really hoping this goes off well! I have never promoted or organized something like this before, so I'm pretty nervous!

Wish me luck!

Busy bee!

The last few days I have been beading away on a commission! It's a pair of medallions for another costumer, who needs them for a costume she is making for someone else. Here's one of them, with the beading portion finished. They both still need black pleated grosgrain ribbon, and cream colored satin ruffles before they are completely done. I think I will have them done by the end of the weekend, unless I can't go buy the ribbon and satin. I just want it done!

Time Flies, Whether or Not You're Having Fun.

So. Other than last night's post announcing the Twitter account, @hipscraps, I haven't posted ANYTHING since JUNE. Of  LAST year. Sorry.  Since opening the Etsy shop in April, I've struggled with a lot of personal stuff, like 'real' jobs and kids and ex-husbands and fiancee's and all of that, and although I hadn't stopped working on HipScraps, I certainly wasn't thinking about BLOGGING about it.

So...many many 'favorites' on Etsy, and I think a whole two or three treasuries, and finally, FINALLY, I made a sale!  I listed, quite out of desperation, a bunch of jewelry I made a million years ago, in hopes of getting more attention on the shop, and a couple of weeks ago, while wandering around the Tulsa Wedding Show with my ex-husband, I got an email from Etsy saying I'd made a sale!

It was only a two dollar item that had a one dollar shipping charge, and after shipping it it I only made a whopping 80 cents, but it was a SALE. And the purchaser was very nice when leaving feedback, so this is really a great triumph and a major milestone for me and the store.

On May 1st, I blogged about a hip belt I had made, and I think at the time I thought I might have been finished, but I really wasn't.  After about 25 hours of work, and a generous donation of as much of three spools of chainette string I needed and the tool to string it with from Suzy Specter, I finally finished it. It's MY belt, not for sale, but I *am* using it as the example work for my most expensive listing in the store. This belt is crazy awesome, though, and I have gathered some supplies already to start working on several more.  I need to order more chainette, because I simply can't presume to steal from Suzy again, and I need to buy a set of the needles for myself so I don't have to borrow hers.  I need beads by the bucketload, as well as sequins and pearls and coins and spools of chain, too. The shop listing is for a custom string belt with medallions, and I've attached a huge lead-time to the listing as well so I can gather supplies and collaborate with the buyer. The ones I'm working on now are just going to be freaking spectacular when they are finished, I am so excited to get the stuff together to make them!

This is the finished belt. SO not for sale. MINE!

The best part, though, is that since I started the HipScraps Facebook page, I have been getting more local attention, since there's also a local bellydance community Facebook page. I've actually JUST been asked to make some medallions for another costumer who isn't as handy with beading as I am - AND she wants a set of the new medallions I'm working on for herself as well, I think. :) Baby steps, baby steps.

Oh! And I was finally able to share photos and video of Suzy Specter in the costume she and I collaborated on, furiously sewing and beading at our desks while at work, so I will post some of all of that below:

The collar that, while still under construction, many people asked if it was underwear.

This was made entirely AT work at my desk,  with no pattern, and was completely hand-stitched.

The collar and one of the sleeves.

A closeup of the sleeve's jewelry - which later Suzy added danglies to, I think.

The bra top. I'm responsible for the ruffles along the neck, the button details, and for pushing Suzy to get her bead on. Oh, and I added the second layer of beaded trim along the bottom, and later sorted out the extra lace and added a lace tie to cover the back strap.

The belt. Suzy made the base panel belt, I added the lace ruffle, and suggested the 'tin cup' style for the pearl beading. Suzy Did the beading and added the danglies (these same danglies made it onto the sleeves as well.)

YOu can view her wearing and dancing in the completed outfit - which included a spectacular Victorian styled ruffled skirt and an AMAZING headdress by Benne Gezeritt Designs Co - on YouTube here, here, and here.   You can tell *I* took the last video because it's sideways. I am one of those people who do stupid things and even though I KNOW my cellphone's camera doesn't like being turned sideways, I still do it, and then when I lack the skills to turn the video on its side, I post it anyway. Actually, I'm pretty sure when I posted it on Facebook, I was able to turn it there. YouTube does not have a simple video editor built in for morons like myself to use. So you get the wonky side-ways one. Just tilt your heads. If you get a cramp, I cannot be held liable. Remember? You signed those papers, waiving liability..remember?

Twitter

@hipscraps

Pleasant Surprise

I got out of bed this afternoon - the kids spent the night at their grandparent's, so I slept in. It was lovely - and turned on the computer to find that one of the HipScraps has been included in an Etsy treasury! Here's a link to the treasury: Do have a look, there's some really cool stuff  there. The featured item is the Domino, a black and white HipScrap I painstakingly hand-beaded. I've actually worn it now a couple of times, giving it a test-run, as it were, at dance class, and the temptation to keep it is great. But, it's already in the store,and there it shall remain.

I had hoped, today, to take part in an open-stage art show, but didn't get my ducks in a row in time. But, its a recurring event, so I hope to participate for the next one. Basically, artists are able to go to the show, set up a display, mark items as for sale, or not for sale, and then see what happens. It sounds like a good idea. I wish I knew what kind of turnout it gets, though, because if its good, I had an idea for making a folding display thingummy  that I could slide into the jeep, drive to the show, pull it out and unfold it, and then hang my HipScraps up for all to see. I was also thinking about drilling it with holes so that I could put hanging hardware on and off as needed. I need to talk to the Viking about this. He's my favorite Boy Scout/Handyman and a good friend who has always been there when I've needed him. If I can design a  thing, he can build it for me, because he's excellent like that. Plus, it's an excuse to get him to come over and hang out, which is always a good thing. :)

Here's a link to the show's event page on Facebook.

Medallions, medallions, medallions.

As I've mentioned before, making medallions is something I can do for now because I used to make beaded jewelry all of the time, and have a ton of beads to fiddle with. Anyway, I made a new one last night:

I am a little concerned about it because it's completely floppy, unlike the others which have been completely beaded so that the fabric if stiff  with stitching and the beads. I am thinking about attaching this to a bit of thick felt or fleece to make it have some more substance.

My ex-husband and I have been chatting a bit about making use of his leather-working skills in my shop, so he went and bought some leather medallions to work with. I want to see if dying the leather black and then using cabs and studs and spikes will look good. If I know what gothic fusion style dancers like, they could possibly be a hit! Anyway, leather means we don't have to cover every bit of the medallion surface, and still maintain the shape. We can even dye them red or other colors and then add a bit of variety that way. Anyway, we shall see. I'm also noodling an idea around in my head for some belts pieced together from decorated-with-shiny-things medallions and connected with metal hardware, maybe dangle shiny stuff from them as well.

Anyway, keep your eyes open for new stuff in the shop soon - I have a couple of medallions to add and once the ex and I get moving, maybe more!

wedding related stuff..and a new item in store

In browsing Etsy for wedding inspiration, I found the most awesome thing ever: candy buttons. What better way to acknowledge my crafty sewing awesomeness than with candy buttons? When I say buttons, I really mean buttons - the kind you find on clothing, not those little icing dots you used to get in strips of paper for a penny or a nickel or a dime or whatever.

THESE.

NOT these.

Anyway the shop on Etsy wanted 12 dollars just for a SAMPLE of 15 pieces! And they even say in their description that it takes approximately 200 to fill an 8 oz. bowl. EFF THAT!

So I searched for button candy molds online and found a plastic sheet mold for $2.00.

So I can make my OWN wedding candy, isn't that awesome? These buttons aren't as fancy as the ones on Etsy, but so what? they are recognizably buttons, and that's what I like. Also, I can use the recipe that my mother's mother used to make mint treats for my mom and aunts when they were kids, and that my mom made for me when *I* was a kid. My oldest and I also made them in heart shapes with teeny heart cookie cutters for valentine's gifts  for her class once. If left to cure long enough, they become quite stiff, and they are sugary death for your teeth but oh-so addicting! I was going to get Jordan almonds in my colors for the favors, but now I hope to get several molds and go to town making mints! The recipe is crazily easy, and it will be something my daughter and I can do together.

A hour or two ago, I added a new item to the store: a second medallion!

I'm hoping that the medallions will create more interest for the store, because I desperately need sales, and at this point, all I can make is medallions - at least until those supplies run out as well...